7 September 2007

I hit the mother lode

I’ve learnt a lot from my blog neighbours. When I left work I thought I might find myself in a cultural and intellectual vacuum. I was excited about reskilling myself in many of the life skills I’d forgotten and needed to relearn, but I expected that it would be a lonely job where the tumbleweed of a thousand yesterdays would roll through my days like a lazy Sunday. I expected my physical spaces to be filled with a million discoveries, but I thought my mind would stagnate and I would seek, and not find, kindred spirits.

It’s funny what happens when you least expect it. I discovered the mother-lode of intelligent, friendly, caring and talented women all tapping away on keyboards in their own homes and connected via millions of cables and links across the www.

This blog community is a wonderful thing. It’s enriched my life to know some of the women I’ve met online. I’ve learnt more than I thought possible, I’ve seen the most beautifully hand made clothing, dolls, knitting, soft furnishings, bags, quilts, curtains, embroidery and crafts of all shapes. I’ve been amazed by gardens producing healthy organic food that have inspired me to be a better gardener. I’ve read recipes that make my mouth water and have made my family and friends smile when I presented them on our own kitchen table.

But the thing that really surprises me and gives me a lot of joy, even now all these years later, are the intelligent, well thought out and defined ideas I discover most days when I’m reading the blogs of other women. Some posts deserve a larger audience as they open minds and expand thoughts but even though we have to be content with what we do and who we reach within our neighbourhood, I’m sure, that in the future, some of the blogs around now will be seen as a meaningful and significant part of our time. Here are just some of the posts from the past week or so that have made me read a second time:
And although it's a month old now, I have to include this profound and wonderful post by the duck herder about living in tutti fruiti time.
Thank you for some wonderful reading.
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17 comments

  1. Thank you my invisible friend! YOu know I always have a little panic if I dont get online for a few days, because I am worried what lovely posts of yours I might miss!!

    Cheers Rhonda.

    duckie xxx

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  2. Thanks so much for mentioning my Wattle Day post. When I wrote it I wondered if others would find it irrelevant, and indeed there were few comments, but I had fun coming up with ideas.

    I'd love to see Aussies embracing our own seasons in unique ways that are meaningful to us. Perhaps next year I should post on Wattle Day a week or two before-hand and we could organise a celebration!

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  3. For many of us frugal, simple living women it is a battle in everyday society to be accepted. I've always confronted life and its challenges in my own way but somehow knowing there are so many of us out there has reinforced my resolve to live a deliberate life. You are right again Rhonda...there is such a wonderful community of us connecting via the internet, all around the world. Lol, I had an horrendous experience at a "modern"? trendy hairdresser the other day where I went to get a once a year, good cut. When the hairdresser came at me with those forms with all the ridiculous questions, I upfront said that I was not into marketing, products or chemicals, and that all I wanted was a good cut! For the next hour and half I was made to feel inadequate and ugly. Regardless of my request I was told by this hairdresser that I should "try and look beautiful" and that I should get a "natural" colour in my hair to cover the emmerging greys! Also, that my eyebrows needed work!!!!OOh, and the $58 shampoo was what I should buy. I was frazzled when I left but more concerned for younger girls and the effects of this toxic idea of beauty. Lol I was tempted to tell him that I washed my hair in sodi bic. and used olive oil as a conditioner (by this stage I knew that I couldn't win against his ignorance and just smiled and went along with the rubbish). I left that salon more determined to be proud of every single grey hair that emmerges and my natural beauty. I gained strength in my conviction knowing secretly to myself that there is this community of women of all ages, blogging away their views and that quietly there is a mini-revolution happening on societal expectations and constraints on women...
    Cheers Bella

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  4. Ooh dear, that was a bit of a rant wasn't it!! I really should go the next step and start my own blog...
    Bella

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  5. Rhonda, I have been wondering whether, when you make napkins, you choose fabric that looks the same from both sides, or whether fabric that is one-sided (if you know what I mean)is OK.

    I want to do a good job on this, my first swap:-)

    Thanks in advance.

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  6. Rhonda Jean,

    How nice to visit your blog again.

    I'm at a very different life stage, but I, too, felt a certain cultural vacuum as I struggled with my ideas of how I view my future life and what I want to achieve. The blogging community has been wonderfully helpful and supportive. I met mothers, grandmothers, sisters, aunts, daughters and friends who think along the same lines, and enrich my mind with beautiful ideas. To sum it up, I don't feel like a freak anymore. :)

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  7. I am continually amazed by the friends I meet because of blogging! It is a small world!

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  8. Hi Rhonda Jean
    Like-minds from all around the world...who knew how much of a blessing blogging could be? You've cheered me right up! Oh, and you're so right about home-made pads, they're much nicer than the shop bought ones and they kind of acknowledge that not every women wants to go roller-skating in white hot-pants when she's on her period!

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  9. Rhonda, I'm so glad I found you. I'm at the beginning of a journey where I know where I want to go but haven't yet decided how I'm going to get there. Looking at other people through their blogs, especially you (even tho you're on the other side of the world from me!) is inspirational.

    And Bella, I'm with you on the hair! My former(!) hairdresser was horrified that I no longer wanted to spend £70 (no idea what that is in $) every 8 weeks to cover my prematurely greying hair. I'd rather go grey disgracefully LOL

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  10. hi duckie. I love your living in tutti fruitti time post. And don't stop coming here because I'd have to come looking for you. : )

    Kate, your post HAD to be included. We should celebrate more things about being Australian and living in our great southern land. Why don't you organise wattle day next year for all of us. Maybe we could all wear a wattle logo on that day or write a special wattle day post. : )

    Hello bella, another thoughtful comment from you, thank you. You should start a blog. I'd read it! And hairdressers! yes. I agree. I get my hair cut for $22 at the local place but I would love to cut my own. I am trying to find someone who will teach a "cutting your own hair" course for me at the neighbourhood centre. No one will do it though. grrrrr BTW, my hair is much greyer than it appears in my photos. I'm not sure why that is. I am proudly grey now but have had my hair dyed most of my life. : )

    Kate, fabric that is one sided is fine, love. Just fold the hem over twice and stitch. : )

    Anna, thank you for visiting. It is indeed a wonderful thing that we can gain enrichment and affirmation from our blogging neighbourhood. : )

    Hi Natalia. Yes, who knew! The sanitary pads post was written by Bel, who is my first guest writer. Isn't it wonderful! : )

    Hello Allybea, I'm glad you found my blog and I hope you continue to find it helpful. It's great to find another aries person who loves The Shipping News, even if you are all the way over there. : )

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  11. On cutting your own hair: I've been doing it for years. I found a book back in the 70s (my "earth muffin days" as someone once described it) titled "How to cut your own or Anybody Else's Hair", and learned from that. Not sure if it's even available any more.
    It usually takes me several days of working up to it, then a few days to complete the job. I don't like to cut too much all at once (learned this the hard way!) I've had my hair long, short, colored (done at home) and now I've let it go natural/grey. I can't remember the last time I had it professionally cut, but have the usual horror stories from long ago - plus the "I paid how much for this?!?!" reaction. So, it can be done. It's that first cut that takes the most courage (smiling)
    Carla in Idaho

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  12. thanks for that, Carla. I just checked my online library catalogue and didn't find that book, but I did find Haircutting for Dummies. I'm going to check it out and teach myself, then I'll teach others how to do it. : )

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  13. Lol Rhonda, I have always wanted to learn to cut my own hair too and as my self-sufficiency in other areas develops I find myself pondering cutting my own hair. This is all very scary, cos I am a left-hander who cuts most things atrociously crooked. Lol, maybe when you do find the book, you could give us all a tutorial :)

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  14. Any help or encouragement I can provide along the way, I'd be happy to give!
    Carla

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  15. carla, great idea on the tutorial. I'll do it as soon as I work out how to cut my hair. : )

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  16. I enjoy reading your blog so much - you have so much good stuff here!
    I, too, have found the blogging community open and receptive to the SAHW (as I am currently one - maybe for only a short time, though)and I have found lots of support reading homemaking blogs, craft blogs, and others.
    I live in the US, but find women are close to the same everywhere and have the same desires to share with each other in friendships. Thanks for your blog!
    Denise

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  17. Why thank you so much for the link love! We have a lot of fun with Make it From Scratch each week! Glad you enjoyed it!

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