Change. It's a good thing.

Clicking on the photos will enlarge them.

There are many way you may express your simple life philosophy to the world. Our ways of living are diverse and singular but we also come together as a group - a group that is growing stronger by the week. It is only about twelve months since I first watched mainstream TV news covering climate change and dwindling oil supplies. Before that, you'd be hard pressed to know there was any kind of environmental calamity happening in our world, now people talk about it on the bus on their way to work. Now governments are setting up environmental departments and appointing ministers to oversee the transition into a world with less reliance on fossil fuels.

Change. It's a good thing.

Here at my home we have set ourselves up on a relatively small (one acre) piece of land that is boarded by an always running creek lined with remnant rain forest. We grow some of our own food, we spend less that we earn, we reuse and utilise all we can instead of buying new, we support and assist those who need it, we try to be good citizens in our community and decent role models for our children and we are mindful that except for legally, we don't own our land, we are merely it's caretakers for a tiny fraction of its history. Life's good.

We started off this life a few years ago, doing as many of you are doing now - taking one small step at a time. Over that initial period we had one or two projects going but as you know, one thing leads to another, one small step leads to many more and soon we were on the march. A brand new life. Who knew.

You will find as soon as you become involved in this way of living that everything is linked. It's like a string of amber beads, in that each small action is a nice and tidy piece of organic loveliness, just like amber. One piece on its own is divine, strung together, it's life changing.

It doesn't matter what you start with, if you stay focused on your change you'll end up in the same place we did - with a new attitude to living and a new life in which to further express your transformation. One of the wonderful things about writing a blog such as this is that it attracts so many people who share the common goal of mindful simplicity.

We all need each other, even though in the past few decades we've been encouraged to believe we don't. That will never change, because we all need the support of people living their lives in a similar way and trying to do their best and be the best they can be. And if we can't get that in our own real communities, and even when we can, we know it will be available here. I am really proud of the community feel that has developed in this blog. Without fail, every time I see someone share information or offer kind counsel to another reader in the comments, it makes me smile.

I wrote the other day that I didn't know why my blog is popular and that caused me to wonder why. I realised yesterday that it is the people who read here that make it. Sure, I write the content and that is why you come here, but if no one was commenting, if there was little involvement with the readers, it would not be the joy it is to write. As it is it's like a little meeting place where you see friends and people you're just getting to know and new comers who've come for the first time. I really like the husbands and partners reading too. I get emails from men who have been shown something here by their partner and felt the need to write. I'm not sure why few men comment here. That's a mystery for another day.

Thank you for being part of this community and for making those contributions in the comments box. As this week draws to a close and Christmas moves closer, I hope you find time to relax and appreciate whatever it is you're doing. Take care, everyone, and enjoy your weekend.

Heather, Margaret Olley, Mary and Anne Shirley out for an afternoon stroll.

Some neighbours arrive.

But what's this! A storm approaches.

Alice, get the chooks in!

Good girl!

Another job done.

It's only 3.30pm but it's getting darker.

And down it comes.

Another tropical thunderstorm.

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