A couple of weeks ago I was asked on Instagram what my connection to Clare Bowditch was because she'd thanked me, as one of many, in her wonderful book, Your Own Kind of Girl. I explained that I met Clare a few years earlier when I was on a book tour for The Simple Home. Clare greeted me like a long-lost friend in the ABC studios in Melbourne and after her interview, she told me that Down to Earth sat on her bedside table as one of her favourite books. Thank you, Clare.
Two books I'm reviewing for new recipes to add to what I already cook, and my washcloths so far this year. There are seven in all, I have three more on needles and I'll probably do 12 - 15 all up. That will give me a new baby gift, our dishcloths for the year and a couple of other small gifts.
The person I was talking to had also interviewed me many years before and she told me that she wasn't surprised Clare loved the book because, to her, reading it was like being hugged and the ending always made her weep with gratitude. It's powerful stuff and I'm always humbled when I hear these things.
This is my knitting station. I have my wool and cotton basket on the table - and it's just had its annual clean out.
The person I was talking to had also interviewed me many years before and she told me that she wasn't surprised Clare loved the book because, to her, reading it was like being hugged and the ending always made her weep with gratitude. It's powerful stuff and I'm always humbled when I hear these things.
A lot of readers ask about the yarns I use to knit my washcloths. The wound cotton balls here are what I use. They are end pieces of various projects and they're put to good use with a knitting session at the end of each year. All my cotton and wool comes from EcoYarns.
I love the ending too. I didn't want to end the book with recipes because to me, Down to Earth felt like a conversation with a friend and I wouldn't end a conversation talking about recipes. So I wrote Let's Begin to encourage readers to roll up their sleeves and start, right now, to live a different kind of life.
Everything a girl could want or need - knitting needles, yarn, books, a fan, snips and glasses.
Down to Earth and The Simple Home are available in bookshops or online for around the $35 mark. To order online look at Booktopia, Amazon au or Book Depositary.
Let's Begin
People tell us that alone, we can’t make a difference. I don’t believe that and I hope that after reading this book you might doubt it too. I think that we will all help to change our world by changing ourselves first.
And I think the change has begun. More and more I see it: families who want to work enough to pay the bills but not so much that they can’t enjoy their lives during those working years. I see retired folk happily planting a vegie patch and buying their first chickens. I see younger men and women opting out of a life of consumerism, instead working sustainably towards the future. I see many more homemakers baking bread and preserving their own jams and relishes. There are more hens in backyards; there are many more vegetable gardens and people buying fresh vegetables and fruit from growers’ markets. DIY, home cooking, knitting, mending, sewing and budgeting are returning to popularity. I hope there will be no going back.
I can’t think of a better time to change. Prices are rising, many of us don’t know our neighbours, and the world doesn’t seem to be as simple or safe as it used to be. I am not nostalgic about the past; I do not yearn for it all to return to what we had, but I believe now is the right time to explore the possibilities of a simpler life that takes the best from those earlier and gentler years. It is possible to live simply in this modern world and to be motivated and renewed by this fresh approach to life.
For me there is nothing better than waking to a new day that I know will be full of productive and interesting work around the home and garden. Pottering with this and that, putting things right, sitting and thinking – all the things that make a simple life also make a perfect day. I do not need many of those perfect days to keep me going; just the promise of one tomorrow or next week is enough. And enough is all I’m after.
I hope this book has encouraged you to think about what is enough for you, and that you feel empowered and inspired to make your own changes and to live according to your values.
You are not alone. Many people are making simple changes and there has never been a better time to work towards home production and self-reliance. Making that break away from consumption and debt can lead to a more sustainable future with time spent working in our backyards, making our homes warm and comfortable, cooking real food and being fulfilled by that simple work. Let’s roll our sleeves up and begin.
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