Today I am featuring the last of the 'this is where I work" photos and travel to Laura Jeanne's home in Canada to see just what it is she is getting up to there. I'm pleased we are finishing on the work spaces of a woman who seems to be a true worker, making do with what she has right now and working for the good of the family unit.

My name is Laura Jeanne and I live with my husband and three children in Southern Ontario, Canada. We are trying to move towards the simple life, and dream of living in the country--but right now we are living in a townhouse in the city. I wanted to share pictures of my workspace because this is the first time in my life I've had a place just for work, and I'm enjoying it.

My work space is the other half of our laundry room/storage room. We used to use this area as a room for movies and video games--but as our values have changed, this room has gradually morphed into something quite different. In the first picture, you can see the area where I wrap up packages for our business--natural wooden toys that my husband makes in our garage. The toys and boxes are stored above on shelves my husband made, my "table" is a chest freezer which we bought used a while ago in an effort to live more frugally by stocking up on sale items. To the left you can see the solid wood storage shelves my husband built, which now hold my new growing collection of canned goods. Come to think of it, he also built the bookshelf in the centre of the picture that's holding all the packing supplies, and the little shelf next to that which is holding my canning supplies. Above the cans of jam is a little hand-cranked radio which I use to listen to classical music while I work.

The other picture shows my new sewing area. I've been wanting to start sewing for so long now, but I am intimidated by the machine, which always seems to tangle the thread no matter what I do. I am determined now though to just do it. Scattered around the machine (which is sitting on a desk which is also homemade) are various projects I'm going to finish over the next little while--altering a slip, making some new hankies, and adding a panel to cover the slit in a jean skirt. That lovely blue and red fabric on the side table came from my grandmother's stash, and I'm going to use it to sew a cape for my youngest's second birthday. At least, I hope to sew a cape--I've never constructed an actual garment before so I'm a bit nervous about it.

This room looks out over the small backyard, which houses my favourite work space--my tiny garden. This year is the first that we are trying to grow some of our own food. You can read about our efforts to live more simply and self-sufficiently at http://gettingthere.typepad.com

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I'd like to thank everyone who has sent work space and kitchen sink photos. I really enjoyed seeing where a lot of you spend your time. We'll do something similar in the future, but for now, we'll give it a rest.

Today we're travelling to South Africa to visit Wendy who is living simply on her urban homestead, homeschooling her four children.

We are a South Africa homeschooling family of 6 (mom, dad, 2 girls, 2 boys, 3 dogs, 5 chickens, 1 goldfish - oops that's more than 6!) living in Cape Town, South Africa. Nestled between the Two Oceans (Indian and Atlantic) and beautiful Table Mountain where we work from home, homeschool, home church and enjoy a simple life in this urban centre. I have sent this photo with my front door open as "Where I Work" encompasses our whole home and garden.

In 2008 we started on our urban homestead journey by exchanging rose bushes and lawn for growing vegetables. This second photo is of our first veggie garden. Two other sections were soon converted to grow more vegetable which means in summer and autumn we only eat vegetables from our garden. This simple step in growing our own food has spawned new interest in a simple lifestyle and other homesteading skills, like canning and preserving, cooking from scratch, sewing and knitting, keeping urban chickens and a move to a more organic lifestyle.

Wendy's blog is here.

Please note: I'm not taking any more submissions for this where I work series.

Today we travel across the Tasman Sea from Australia to New Zealand to visit Amy and see where she works.

Today we're travelling to a Canadian dairy farm.  Look at all those cute cow bottoms waiting patiently.  I love this workplace and I'm sure Marlyn, whose home we are visiting, enjoys her work very much.  

She writes:

"I wish to share with you my favourite work spaces. I would love to say I have just one, but rather I enjoy two.

There is nothing more joyful then to arrive in the barn at 5am to the sounds of sheep calling you by name "MaaaMaaa" and cattle waiting to be milked. Animals unlike humans know patience. The cows come in one at a time know exactly which stall is theirs and start to munch on their morning feed waiting to be milked. They also enjoy a human hand on their flank and kind words. Sheep are noisy critters in the morning. They seem to want your attention all at once. They can't go out of the barn yard to pasture until all dangers that lurk in  the dawn is gone. On 250 acres of Canadian farmland there are many dangers of coyotes and wolves. They too, even though in  hurry to get to the green grass, leave the barn one at a time with some of the little ones jumping all over the place once they are free to roam.

My sewing & craft room is my love of heart. I have only had my own room for a year now, as we are slowly becoming empty nesters. My sewingroom is my Eldest daughters old bedroom, which I now on occasion need to share with grandbabies. I have always had a passion for sewing, mostly heirloom and smocking. Lately I have taken to stitching cards instead of purchasing them. These cards have become an encouragement for friends needing a smile. I also love knitting, making socks, and sweaters. And quilting of which there is always one in a frame. I was taught to sew, knit and quilt from my mother. A typical Memnnonite mom, she can do everything that needs doing ,at just the right time. She has been an huge encoragement to me as she taught me all the wonderful skills of homemaking. My sewingroom has a lovely large closet in it. I can actually fit the crib in it, but rather have wooden shelves in there to hold sewing projects and stamping/card making supplies, my ironing board. It also has a clothes rack to hang working on projects like quilt tops. I have a large cutting table and a small childs table for my grandchild to work on their artwork and sewing while Oma works on her projects.

Come visit us at Sweet Locus Lane Farm as sweetlocuslane.blogspot.com. You are always Welcomed."

Ann writes:

"This is my Music Room here in the small village of Scullamus on the Isle of Skye, a western isle off Scotland UK.

I teach here for three days every week, and enjoy the peace and quiet and slow pace of life.  I also travel away to judge singing competitions and give masterclasses, but I can never wait to get back to my own piano and home.  I  was a voice professor at the Junior Royal Academy of Music in London for 18 years and the fast life almost killed me off!

 

 

You can see the bird tables hanging just outside the window, and it is amazing how they sit there and cock their heads and listen to the singing - I always wonder what they think! I have a daughter who is also a singing teacher and two beautiful grandchildren of 7 and 3. We are a musical family, but being professionals the children never get 'pushed' - we know how hard the life of a musician is!

I have over 36 pupils here on Skye, from 6 years old to 70 years old, and we give concerts, do full show productions and we even toured giving concerts in Vienna in 2006 and 2008. In the photo you can see the racks of music, and the table for the dreaded theory! Mostly I love watching the confidence growing in them as they become better and better.  I have even persuaded my ladies of a certain age to take exams!!  I have a beautiful old garden with plum trees and lilac bushes, and two raised beds with a few salads and veggies, but I do not have the time for much more.  You can find me at http://singinginparadise.blogspot.com/, but I realize that reading about a classical singing teacher may not interest everyone! I love Rhonda's blog and have followed for a number of years - Oh that I could retire - or at least slow down enough to bake and garden.  Maybe when I am 70!"

Today we're in the Australian bush to see where Carole works.  With changing scenery like this most days, and mail coming in from all over the place, who could complain about going to work.

Carole writes:

This is the sorting room in our little post office.All the parcels are for me to sort into streets and which side of town they are to go to, I deliver these when I get back from the bush. The little pigeon holes are waiting to be filled with mail from the row of letters that await.Some days it is "where do I start"!! but of course there is a routine and rhythm otherwise it just does not work.The bundles of catalogues you can see are also delivered to the country households the towns people get theirs in the local paper.

The second picture is of why it is pure joy to go to work, while the roads are shocking,full of potholes and corrugations, the scenery is to die for. I go past this little waterfall each day, on my blog it shows it flooded. The road you can see is one of the better ones I drive on and yes my car is 4 wheel drive or I would not get to the farms. Lambing time and foaling time is the most joyful as we watch the little ones born and grow until we can't tell the mums from bubs anymore. The best part of my job is I can take my 89 year old Mum with me and she thrives on it all.The bumps at times make an interesting ooh and ahh time but all worth it.I am back home at lunch time and still have time to do other things."

Click here for Carole's blog.