I often write here about building up our stockpiles, creating gardens full of fresh vegetables and making, rather than buying, many of the r...

This post will give me more joy to write than anything else I could think of today.  I told you  there are a few exciting things happening h...

I am in a bit of a rush this morning so I'll just share some photos I took on the weekend as well as some I have taken recently but have...

I clearly remember that split second I became a mother.  Lying in a labour ward in Germany, in a hospital far, far away from my home, this...

I wasn't going to post today but in a lightning flash, things change. They say that behind every good man there is a good woman.  Well,...

There is no doubt about it, when most of us think of living a simple life, we think of the country.  Hanno and I live on the edge of a rura...

 In respect for my good friend there will be no post today. 

Despite being at home surrounded by what should be my housework, lately I've slipped out of my daily rhythm and life has become a disorg...

I think snow is falling on the mountains.  Not the rainforest covered mountains I live at the base of but the cold and frosty mountains a ...

I had the glorious good fortune to be born the daughter of Jean St Claire McGrath.  I was the younger of Jean's daughters, my sister, ...

You don't see or hear of genuine articles much nowadays.  In my youth, it was a fairly common expression that meant something or someo...

So now you've moved into your 40s, maybe even your 50s.  During your younger years I'm sure you heard all the negative silliness abo...

I heard myself say this on radio the other morning: "Being thrifty is not about large amounts. You rarely make those large savings. I...

  I took this photo just 30 minutes ago after I let the chooks out for the day. There is an air of serenity in our backyard.  It's aide...

I've had another email asking for help with ideas so, with the permission of the writer, I'm opening this up so we all have a chance...

The weather at the moment is wet and grey and even though I have knitted my way through spring and summer, the cooler weather, with rain fal...

We had a wonderful time yesterday.  We celebrated Christmas early because our family is full of chefs, and chefs work on Christmas day.  Ou...

Today will be a busy one for me. I'm collecting organic chickens and a grass-fed, local beef roast from the butcher, ice cream cake from...

Around our neck of the woods a typical day goes something like this. I rise at 4 and write until the dogs want to go outside, I let them ou...