9 February 2015

Family, hard work and sharing

Having a blog like this is like having a top notch psychologist on standby, 24/7. When I blow a gasket about something and mention it on the blog, all you lovely tender hearts ride in on white stallions and lift me up again. Thank you for your comments over the weekend. It's really nothing that it happened but it's everything that you reacted to what was said in the way you did. ♥︎ I've said it before but it's still true, my readers have the kindest hearts and I'm thankful every day for it.

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With not much time over the weekend, I've chosen to do another pictorial post today. I recently restored thousands of daily life photos from a portable drive to my laptop. I hope you enjoy browsing through them.

 Homemade bread and meat loaf. One of my favourite sandwiches.
There is often food-related work happening in our kitchen. Here is Hanno helping get nectarines ready for jam.
These apples were just a few of the dozens of apples we were given a couple of years ago. I forget what I did with most of them but I know there were a lot of apple turnovers and pies made.
 Above and below: making pasta.

Want to walk down memory lane with me?  Here are my sons, Shane and Kerry when they were little boys. Shane (right) would have been six there, and Kerry, five.
 And here we are in this torn photo from the late 1970s. I still have a giggle when I see this photo.
 There is always a drawer to be cleaned and tidied.
 And cook books to read.
Tricia made this very pretty table cloth one year when she was visiting. It's made of scraps, old tea towels and pieces from my stash.
 You've heard of Sarah plain and tall?  This is Kathleen frizzled and round.
These gawky girls didn't know what to do on the first day they arrived to live with us.
This scene is a few minutes from our home. Yes, they are zebras and giraffes.
 It's Australia Zoo, the home of the Crocodile Hunter. This is a crocodile waiting to be fed.
I often write about Jamie being here but here is Alex when he stayed with us last Easter. I don't see him nearly as much as I'd like because Shane and Sarndra live a few hours drive away, but I think of him every day. 

Sorting through our vegetable seeds.
Time for morning tea and a homemade biscuit, and always fresh bread ready to be sliced.
I was asked recently what is the secret to a happy life. There is no secret. It's a long time since we earned the big dollars, but life is better now. It doesn't take much effort to make a happy life. Usually it's paid for in work rather than dollars and it is made better by sharing with our family. And that, my friends, is it in a nutshell - family, hard work and sharing.

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36 comments

  1. Lovely pics and a brilliant post!

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  2. Lovely, lovely, lovely. Thank you x

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  3. A happy life paid for in work rather than dollars. That's lovely Rhonda, and a truth that is all too easily forgotten. The photos are great, thank you for sharing them.

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  4. So very lovely. My life is very different than yours, I don't imagine I will ever own chickens, and yet some underlying shared current flows under the surface. Thank you very much. These posts make me sigh, and relax, and find beauty in the every day.

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  5. I love the photos, Rhonda, thank you for sharing!

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  6. Thank you for sharing the lovely photos and peek into your peaceful life. I always look forward to your posts. We have so much to learn from you -- always a reminder of what's really important.

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  7. I love the photo of you and Hanno in the seventies. Doesn't it feel like it was just yesterday? How the years fly by.

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  8. Lovely to look through your family photos. Thank you for sharing (I feel an echo going through these comments!) It's such an interesting collection looking at your daily 'jobs' around the house, these are the sort of things that give me great pleasure too. I have started a fresh batch of sauerkraut in my croc this week.
    I laughed out loud when I saw the pic of Kathleen, but in a nice way, she looks rather magnificent.

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  9. Love the 1970s photo - I may be crazy but you look a lot like Meryl Streep to me. Very, very handsome couple - as you still are today.

    I just finished sorting through some old "slides" which I want to put onto DVD and it was fun (and a little sad) to look back at us in our youth. When I was young many, many people said I looked like Cher. Today I think I look more like Sonny LOL!

    The photo of the nectarines reminded me a lot of our time in the Okanagan Valley in Canada. When the fruit trees ripened it was all hands on deck to can and dry and freeze and make jam and more jam and more jam. I really miss the fruit.

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  10. Thanks Rhonda for sharing of the photos - simple life, yet so fulfilling! I've picked up an extra days work this year in an effort to try to get our mortgage paid out so that we might be able to retire in the next year or two! Unfortunately it means that decluttering, home baking and numerous other things are well and truelly behind, but with hubby already 66 and quite the mortgage (due to a massive loss couple years ago) - well, things are what they are, aren't they! Have a fabulous week!

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  11. I am very envious you live so close to Australia zoo! It has been on my bucket list for some time now. Once my kids are a little older I am determined we will go there, it looks like so much fun!

    Kathleen looks like she's electrocuted herself, but she is gorgeous :)

    Photo posts are always interesting, I love the little 'snapshots' into peoples' lives :)

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  12. I love looking at your photos of the things of everyday life - thank you for sharing and for your blog; I admire the way you live and have learned so much from you. And what adorable boys you had and have !

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  13. I'm pretty sure Kathleen is my spirit animal!!!!

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  14. So enjoyed ALL your lovely pictures!! Can relate to the 1970’s picture ;-)! In my humble opinion, the secret to a happy life is as variable as are people. For me it is acceptance, contentment and doing the best to contribute in what ever way possible in our various situations.

    My tightly held opinion of work being the secret to happiness and acceptance has been routed with seeing the older generation no longer able to do productive work, babies recently added to our family and the unprecedented arrival of disease that robs one of productivity. My sister recently posted on Facebook: Don’t feel guilty if you are too sick to do things. You have value the way you are, even if you cannot be “productive” in the way in which you are accustomed. Learn to cherish your very existence. Cure MS.

    In reading over your posts from the past, I see you honouring the transitions that one makes as the years pass! Thank you for your encouragement to do all that we can, for as long as we can, in all the ways we can, to as many people as we can. The small ways in which one can do Facebook posts, a short phone call, or whatever can brighten the days of those who may otherwise have limited contact due to the walls of isolation that old age and loss of good health and mobility may bring. Thank you for your posts that bring sunshine into the lives of so many, around the world!!

    Looking forward to your posts this week!! Thanks once again for sharing your “oldies but goodies” in terms of photos!

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  15. thanx!
    love your walks down memory lane

    selina from kilkivan qld

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  16. Thanks for sharing your photos Rhonda. I usually read your blog during my lunch break at work and your photos and blog writing always make me feel more peaceful and happy, before returning to the hustle and bustle of work.

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  17. Lovely photos. I agree with your words Rhonda. xo

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  18. Oh what great photos! I love the family ones!

    It is so true that our lives can be happy and it is because of family and relationships and work. Not things.

    Deanna

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  19. Lovely photos. I am always envious of your bread.

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  20. I think one of my favorite things about the blogging world is the chance to look inside of others lives. (getting in touch with my inner voyeur!) It is such a treat to see the interesting and unusual ways we all differ and yet we have things in common. Thanks for sharing so much of your life with us! (Of course I shamelessly steal all the good ideas I see in these lives I get to glance at!!)

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  21. I love reading your blog....such a breath of fresh air!

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  22. Love your teapot, reminds me of the days I grew up in Fiji. I so want to make homemade noodles, must find a recipe online or just trawl through your blog and see if you ever posted the recipe, My landlord yeons ago used to make it (shes Polish) and put it in chicken soup, it was the yummiest

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  23. Wonderful photos. You always manage to be both soothing/comforting and inspiring at the same time. Love the picture of you and Hanno! You both look wonderful!

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  24. A refreshing and relaxing post. Thanx!

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  25. Beautiful pictures beautiful life.
    💜 christina

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  26. I really enjoyed your post today. Time flies by so fast, doesn't it? We blink and our children are grown with children of their own. It was a comfort to stop by your blog for a visit.

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  27. Loved this post, too, Rhonda.. Your bread always looks so delicious.. The photo of you two is precious.. Where does time go? God bless. xo

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  28. What lovely pictures. Thank you so much for sharing your life so openly.
    You and Hanno are quite the handsome couple and that picture of your sons? Stunning!

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  29. Really enjoyed your post today Rhonda......lovely to visually share your life, thanks and love the 70's photo....they were the days as they say but I think I like my life better now. Have a top week.

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  30. "family, hard work and sharing"...what more can you ask for? Nothing! That is all we need.

    Darlene

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  31. Love that Kathleen she is amazing! Love the pictures, such a lovely way to tell a story.
    kxx

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  32. Kathleen frizzled and round looks like she is on the runway! Fantastic picture from composition to light, color, etc... Her personality comes through!!! Thanks for sharing!!!

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  33. The secret to a happy life? I totally agree with you. With hard (meaningful) work and sharing, there isn't a need for the big dollars.

    Thanks for sharing the great photos. This has been a pleasant way to start my morning. :)

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  34. What wonderful photos! And I agree wholeheartedly with your sentiments as well.

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  35. hi Rhonda and readers. just wanted to PPP on and say hello. I still follow your blog but have missed a few weeks. we live in Gladstone now for the last twelve months. my life has been focussed around home but also study as I've taken on a graduate diploma course working towards Home Economics teaching as a later in career pathway. I'm at uni via online study 4 days per wekas well as waitressing in a restaurant. my family has recently stopped eating grains and increased our saturated fat eating so I've looked at your recipes for butter, yoghurt, green vegetable and fermenting recipes. for me gluten and Gliadin seems to be the trigger for my aches and developing arthritis, acid reflux and gout. I have to develop a pot garden as we are in a rental and can't invest in the in ground garden. I'm learning to cultivate some soil so that I can grow leafy green vegetables. also I'm learning to pickle and make sauerkraut. I have again found so many useful recipes and guides in your older blog posts and the book. I have only just learnt how to store podcasts and haven't downloaded any books online yet, but will learn to do that in the next week or two. love your photo posts. best wishes for a good busy week. I try hrs to follow your lead and keep my lists and goals each week and day. I hope Hanno is feeling better this coming week. lots of love, Karen

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  36. Lovely share. I'm a new follower. I look forward to reading more.

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