19 February 2021

Weekend Reading


Another busy week, this time with more organising and decluttering (again!), thinking about dying, planning for the future, deep cleaning the front verandah and the usual cooking, baking, cleaning, writing and gardening. Oh, and writing notes and preparation for the weekend workshops which this week is all about cooking and baking. I'm looking forward to it. All the workshops have been real fun so far.


This is Gracie's outside kennel, not that she uses it much because she's usually inside.

I decided against continuing with the ABC radio sessions. I have enough to do without it and I didn't want to go back to those really busy times again.

Our news this week has been full of reports of snowstorms in the US and Europe and now the power outage in Texas. I can't imagine how awful that must be for the residents there with no water, electricity or heating. No matter where you are, I hope the days ahead are better and brighter for everyone.



The weather is starting to change and although it's still warm, I'm starting to plan the garden and sent away my seed order last week. I also collected some seed pots from Woolworths in the kids' plant seeds promotion. From Eden Seeds I've ordered: Rosie O'Day Alyssum, Cleome Four Queens Mix, Dahlia Redskin, Evening Scented Stock, Rose Mallow, Nigella, Virginia Mixed Stock, Old Spice Sweetpea, Single Wallflower, Cerise Queen Yarrow and Pirella leaves. I want to buy a couple of Japanese wind flowers too when they come into the nursery. From Woolworths there are seeds for silverbeet, green onions, phlox, aster, tomato and lemon balm.  I'll have to cut the cottage garden back to fit it all in and I may have to move plants around.  But that's okay, it's part of the housekeeping of plants and I enjoy doing it.  Hanno's zucchinis are growing well and I bought six Kipfler potatoes to grow in a grow bag so I put them out to chit this morning.  I can't wait for the season to begin!  What are you growing this year?



Each week inches us closer to autumn, my favourite season. I can feel the markers of transition already so my head is in the right place, I feel optimistic and strong and even though I want to be in autumn NOW, when we get there, I want time to slow down so I notice and feel every minute of it. I'm glad I can't manipulate time because I think we'd all be in trouble if I could. ⏰


Here are some of the articles I've read and watched this week. I hope you find time to browse through them while you relax with your feet up.



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20 comments

  1. Autumn is definitely on it's way here in Armidale and like you, I love Autumn best. After getting off to a good start with rainfall we've had a couple of months of well below average rainfall again. I actually check the rain predictions for your area as well since you mentioned you hadn't had much a few months ago. We are so grateful for the water in our tanks and I hope yours have been filling up too.

    My garden is still full of summer veg but soon it will be time to plant out onions and garlic, brassicas and anything else that will survive the frosts. Soon it will be time for cosy fires and pots of soup simmering on the stove!

    Madeleine

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    1. HI Madeleine. We've had a small amount of rain in the past week, mainly last night. The tanks are full but the soil is still dry. I'm looking forward to soups on the stove too. Yum.

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  2. Rhonda I have to say that photo of you on the front page is beautiful. You look happy, unstressed and kind - I want to look like that!!

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    1. Thanks Jo Jo. I feel happy and unstressed most of the time and I try to treat all the people I meet with kindness. I don't know if I'm successful though. xx

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  3. I thought of you with your water tanks when those poor people in Texas lost their heat, electricity, and water. Living this way is a relief when emergencies come. (especially if you are older.) Your garden sounds exciting. I agree that it's nice not to be overly busy. So glad to hear that your workshops are going so well! I am loving Zoom. It's fabulous.

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  4. I have alot of the woolies seeds but havent got lemon balm yet and its something i want in the garden!

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  5. It will be 35C here on the Darling Downs on Monday Rhonda so I am not looking at autumn just yet; but it is a relief to know that the bulk of the hot weather is behind us. This will be our first autumn on our retirement property and I am so looking forward to planting out the March garden. Very different conditions from the coast but I can't wait to get it started. Kind Regards Shona

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  6. Thank you for the reading links, I often come back to them :) I see you have the wisdom to know when you have taken on enough and the confidence to say no to 'too much' - something a lot of us (including me) need to practice more :)

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  7. Thanks Rhonda for thinking of those of us here in Texas and beyond. We are on day 4 without water but are lucky that we still have heating. Many people are going through extreme hardship at the moment, made worse by the fact we are in the middle of a pandemic. Your thoughts are most appreciated. Thank you.

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    1. The news reports we're getting are shocking. Are you able to go out to get water or is water being delivered to the homes without it? When will the electricity be back? It's bad enough when we have an outage here that lasts a few hours. I can't imagine how you look after a family with no water, electricity or heating in the middle of a frozen winter. Hang in there and stay in touch with us. I'll be thinking of you and I'm sure many others here will be too. xx

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    2. We were lucky enough to get our water back this afternoon - best shower of my life! It rained on Tuesday morning so we collected a lot of water to flush toilets etc. We also had quite a bit of drinking water in our hurricane survival kit for drinking. A lot of the stores are closed and the drinking water is being rationed. There are collection points that you can go to pick up water that is being handed out. In truth we are one of the lucky ones as we had power throughout although we lost internet and the cell phone reception was very bad so found it difficult to get info. Many others have not been as lucky. We are in Houston and it’s much warmer now so things are starting to thaw but a lot of people have burst pipes to deal with on top of everything else. Thank you again for your thoughts. It means so much to know that people are thinking of us at this time.

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  8. I do love hearing what your plans are Rhonda and the links are much appreciated xx

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  9. Hi Rhonda, I am curious about why you are thinking of the subject of dying? I would be very interested in reply as I wonder about this topic a lot myself lately having had an old friend pass away recently. Is it advancing age that causes us to ponder this topic somewhat more? Julie

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    1. If you were the same age as your friend and you're young, the shock of early death may have sparked fear in you. But if you're older, I think it's normal to reflect on death when a friend dies.I think about death as part of the never-ending thoughts I have about life. It's not something I think about constantly, but it's certainly in the mix. I'm in my 70s and think I probably have about another ten years of life. I want to live with awareness of others and what's around me as well as self-awareness - taking time every day to think keeps me on the right path.

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  10. Hi Rhonda. I am in Northern Europe and it is coming up to spring now, our season for planting. Can you explain to me why you are 6 months ahead of us so it is your autumn but now is your time for planting? Surely the days are getting shorter and colder so why plant now? Thanks

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    1. Australia is a very big country spanning from tropical regions in the north to areas in the south with cooler climates for much of the year. I live in the sub-tropics and theoretically can grow food all year. However, the summer here is very hot and humid, there are thousands of insects that fight us for the green leaves and we waste too much water trying to keep the garden going in summer. So we instead of using the hot months for our garden, our growing season starts in March - around the time it starts in England, and extends till November which is when we stop planting. We then rest until March when we starts it up again.

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  11. Thank you for finding that amazing Serger video!!! So many good tips that I can add to my toolbox.

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  12. I was wondering about you thinking about death and then I read your reply to a comment above. I am in my seventies and do think about it, especially since my hubby died four years ago. I got all my financial and other info in order so it is organized for my kids. Plus I am throwing out alot of papers, etc. thinking of them, so they don't need to do it. I love gardening too and wrote many garden articles for magazines. My blog today shows my gorgeous red magnolia in bloom. Gracie looks cute peeking out at us.

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  13. Hi Rhonda. I am late to this post but wanted to let you know that I heard you on the radio and though it was a terrific interview . I too have been thinking about how to best use the years - especially the active ones - that I can hopefully expect to have. I am fortunate with no major health problems but dying is part of living and I want to live with the thought with calmness and acceptance. I heard about people putting together a " Final Folder" with copies of all the important papers, birth certificates, bank details , insurance papers etc. I thought it was an excellent idea and plan to start that in the coming months. I haven't even updated my will and that is a top priority. I have been thinking of other aspects of getting older too and it is interesting how it is often framed as something you either " accept" or " fight". I think I may have to start my own blogpost to explore that one, sometime. At 71 I am stepping back from work - cutting down to one day a week - purely for financial reasons. I am quite worried that we won't manage on just the pension - although we have a little nest egg now. So I will be mining your archives for your wise tips and ideas and getting into what you once called the " shocking secret" of the joy to be found in creating a comfortable, organised home and life. It seems to have been a long time coming but I am now ready - and I have years of tidying up to catch up on!!!!. It is all a bit overwhelming actually. Thanks for your blog - I love it - it is so calming and inspiring and most of all it's REAL - a real life and open and authentic. That I think is why I keep coming back. You two are definitely an inspiriation for the simple life. Like you I am relishing the now cooler weather of late MArch.

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    1. Thanks Melanie. I think the Final Folder idea is a good one and I might ask Hanno to take that on. I hope all goes well when you cut back on work. Of course, no-one's circumstances accurately reflect anyone else's but I have to tell you, Hanno and I do quite nicely on the pension, with a saving of about $200 a fortnight. But you'll find more in the archives, so happy reading and good luck. xx

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