We've continued to get the garden ready for summer but the most important part of this week has been preparing for the publication of the paperback Down to Earth and writing some publicity articles for Penguin to distribute. The book will be ready for sale next week - 20 October. The RRP is $34.99 but Booktopia has its presale price at AU $27.75. It's also available at Book Depositary and Amazon if you're reading this far, far away.
If you haven't read my first book, I hope you get a copy with this release. It's my manifesto and a full description of what Hanno and I did when we decided to make a complete and significant life change in the early 2000s. I think it would make a good Christmas gift too, especially for young people just starting out or for older folk who are unsure how to move ahead during Covid. This lifestyle makes complete sense for a whole lot of different reasons in 2020. It will help you make your home a shelter, it will guide you towards decisions about how to grow, store, preserve, cook and bake food, and it will help you decide how you can make your home productive and move further away from buying everything you need from the shop.
Above: A simple breakfast of scrambled eggs and bacon. I use natural bacon with no added nitrates or preservatives. Below: Getting ready to roll out a batch of dog biscuits for Gracie.
Now that the lavender flowers are starting to die off, I'll cut the top of the bush off, removing all the flowers. That should give me another flush of flowers in summer.
Here are some of the things I've read during the week, I hope you enjoy them:
- Virus that causes Covid-19 can survive up to 28 days on surfaces, scientists find
- Cleaning up: the social media stars making housework cool
- Old-fashioned Cherry Pudding Recipe
- Remarkable wildlife photos - some beautiful, some incredibly sad
- Simple Living With Scandish Home
- DIY foaming hand soap
- Irish Cottage Home Tour
- We Visited a Bruderhof Commune
🧵 🌿 🧵
Kerry asked me to pass on his thanks and gratitude for all the lovely messages of hope he received here and Instagram last week. He's recovering nicely and has just returned to work and the gym. Hanno and I thank you for your kindness and grace too.
So that's all my news for the moment, what are you up to?