down to earth

When I first started living as I am now, I was searching and hoping for happiness and contentment and thought I might find it with fewer possessions and less attachment to mainstream ideals and what modern life had evolved into. I focused myself on the lifestyle and not what would eventually bring me real happiness, my inner self. I know now that the simple lifestyle is merely the means of attaining that inner peace and contentment; it's not the destination, it's just the ticket to ride.

Of course, when you think about it, the entire package is inner peace and contentment brought about via the daily work we all do in our lives. Everything you do in your day has the potential to deliver or delay that contentment. If we are striving to achieve our own personal happiness that is more likely to come when we work towards it with a purpose without getting sidetracked along the way by incidentals like buying another TV or new shoes. When I began to understand that, it helped me readjust what I did during the day. I stopped watching TV - mainly because I was watching pay TV lifestyle programs where people were looking for their ideal life, or cleaning programs where they'd clean up their lives and homes with the help of an outsider. I realised that I was trying to change my life while watching others try to change theirs. I needed to focus on what I was doing, so the daytime TV stopped. That lead to a kind of domino effect. We didn't watch much TV at all then, the cost of having pay TV was too high a cost in my simplified life, so it went. That freed up my daytime hours to concentrate on planning what I wanted to do. It gave me time to expand our vegetable garden, to learn how to mend and sew, I had time to learn how to make good bread. My goal now was to do everything well and with a purpose. It wasn't good enough just to bake bread, it had to be the best bread I was capable of. There was no reason to bake mediocre bread when we could, with just a few adjustments and more mindfulness, be eating excellent bread.

Being mindful is really the key to this. I discovered that when I slowed my mind down to focus on what I was doing at that minute, without thinking ahead to what was coming later, or what had passed, I was able to work systematically. I could improve what I was doing as I did it, I tried new ways and ditched old ones and eventually, over the course of about a year, I'd developed a new way of working that produced consistent results, I'd taught myself a lot of new skills and rediscovered old ones, and I was happy with my results.

That is the point of simple living to me - happiness. When you're happy with what you're capable of and how you live, whether that is cheering on your child at the school sports day, making the best peach jam you've tasted, delivering a well thought out presentation to your boss, saying hello to your new neighbours, hugging your partner with real affection, enjoying the company of your family and friends or growing the perfect tomato, that will deliver contentment to you. The satisfaction you feel when you do all those commonplace things builds into genuine contentment and self respect. You learn to respect yourself and what you do. That opens up a whole new world of good feelings, it will bring excellence to your life and the ability to be generous.

I know this opinion will be believed by some and not by others, but I know it to be true - as you simplify, consume less and pare back your needs, you will enrich your life. You'll create a new standard of quality for yourself because you'll start making excellent products for yourself instead of buying mediocre ones. And the end result of this new way of living will be that the richness of your everyday life will not allow the mediocrity of mainstream life to impact on you as much as it did in the past. You'll replace the mindlessness of TV, weekly magazines and shopping at the mall with a life full of purpose where you'll want less but be a whole lot more.

I am having a wonderful day. I am alone here today, it's just me with the dogs and chooks. Hanno is off having some medical tests done and will then go to pick up our new kitchen appliances.

I love being alone and haven't been for the longest time. My only alone time now is when I drive back and forth to my job. Today was a real treat for me.

And it's been raining. : )

This morning I took my tea out to the verandah and watched the rain fall, and I thought about how my life has be changed in the past few years. I was sitting here smiling like the Cheshire Cat when the phone rang so I talked to Kathleen for about 15 mintues. She's in Perth this week and we talked while she took the train from Perth to Fremantle.

I spent the morning after that on my aprons. I am doing them as a pair - I cut one out, I cut the other; I cut the ties for one, then the other. All I have to do now is the hemming and I'm done. It's been a real pleasure working on them. I love the fabrics I chose and how they all fell together with few hiccoughs and NO mistakes. : )))

I have just had a sandwich for lunch and another cup of tea and soon I'll prepare a tuna casserole for dinner and tidy the kitchen. Then I'm going to sort through some quilt material until it's time to serve our evening meal.

We decided this morning that we will remove our peach and nectarine trees. I'm really sad about this but know it's for the best. We've had a terrible trouble with fruit fly this year and they are all coming for the peaches and nectarines. Unfortunately they are stinging the tomatoes too. We didn't have fruit fly at all in our garden till we planted those trees and even though they're only in their second year, they'll have to go. The chooks will have a feast on the fruit that we'll probably strip off tomorrow.

I also wanted to thank my lovely readers for ordering your books, DVDs and CDs through my amazon ad. I forgot to look at it until just now and there's almost $10 in commissions there, so thank you for being so thoughtful.

Yoghurt and quark can be made from ingredients usually found in the fridge or stockpile cupboard. With the price of food seeming to rise every week, they're handy recipes as you'll be able to make yoghurt for snacks and desserts, and quark for sandwiches and crackers. Quark is an easy to make from scratch simple cheese that's popular in the Germanic countries, and maybe also in Scandinavia. I hope one of the readers will tell me if that's right. It's a cheese made from yoghurt that can be either sweet or savory.

Here is my way of making yoghurt from scratch. If you buy yoghurt for this, make sure it has no preservatives, colourings, flavourings or gelatin. Greek yoghurt tends to be thick and will make up a good quark. But if you want to make your own yoghurt, this is a recipe I've cut from earlier in my blog:

I made yoghurt today. It's easy, delicious and inexpensive, costing about half the price of supermarket yoghurt. You can make yoghurt with any kind of milk, low fat cow's or from goat or sheep milk. All your equipment should be clean and make sure you use clean tea towels. Adding milk powder to the milk will make a thicker yoghurt.

You can use ordinary bought yoghurt as a starter, but make sure it doesn't contain gelatin. Generally the organic and biodynamic yoghurts have no gelatin. You can buy specialist milk thermometers, but for some reason they have very small dials. I've got a candy thermometer with a bigger dial for my older eyes. You probably need to use a thermometer until you know what the temps feel like on your clean finger. After that, it's easy enough to judge by poking your clean finger in the mix.

YOGHURT RECIPE

makes one litre (quart)
4 cups milk - the milk can be made with milk powder
½ cup instant milk powder, more if you want thicker yoghurt
3 tablespoons plain yoghurt at room temperature

Pour 4 cups milk into saucepan and clip a thermometer to the side of the pan. You need to pasturise the milk again to make sure only the beneficial bacteria grow. Heat milk to 80 - 95 degrees C (176 - 203F) or until little bubbles form around the edge of the pan. Stir the milk while it's heating to stop it scorching.

When the temperature is reached, remove the milk from the stove. Stir in the powdered milk.

Leave the thermometer clipped to the pan and cool the milk to 40 - 50 degrees C (104 - 122F). To speed up the cooling process, you can transfer it to a cool bowl or put it in the fridge.

Add the starter. Place the plain yoghurt in a small bowl, stir in 1/3 cup of the warm milk and mix until smooth. Then stir the starter mixture into remaining milk and mix well.

Incubate the yoghurt in the crockpot (or in a warm place like an oven on low heat). Preheat the crockpot on low for about 15 minutes, until it feels very warm to the fingertips. Pour yoghurt mixture into the crockpot, cover the crockpot, and turn off the heat. At 35 to 45-minutes intervals, heat the crockpot on low for 10 to 15 minutes then turn off the heat. Be warned that if you overheat the yoghurt, it will turn into a solid blob. Don't ask me how I know that. ; )

The mix needs to incubate for 3-5 hours at a temperature of 43-45 degrees C (110 - 113F). Do not shake or disturb it during incubation. After 3 hours, check to see if the yoghurt is set by gently tilting the container. If yoghurt is set and firm, place it in the refrigerator and chill for 6 hours before serving. If not, continue to incubate. Check the yoghurt every hour and place in refrigerator as soon as it sets. The longer the yoghurt incubates the tarter the flavor will be.

If your yoghurt sets within 3 hours, but you'd prefer more tartness, continue the incubation process for another hour or so. Yoghurt making is only successful if you use fresh viable cultures, so check the use by date on your yoghurt starter and make it as soon as you can after buying it. Once you've made your own yoghurt you can use it as your next starter.

QUARK

When you have your yoghurt made and you want to make quark, you need a large jug, a strainer and a piece of clean cotton cloth. Wash the cloth with pure soap, rinse well and wring it out so it's not dripping wet. Place the strainer in the jug and the cloth over the strainer. Then add the yoghurt.

Cover the yoghurt with the cloth, so the mix is entirely covered.

Put a plate on top and and weigh the plate down with something fairly heavy. I have used a pot of jam. The process of making quark involves removing the water (whey) from the yoghurt. You do that by sitting the yoghurt in the strainer, in the fridge, weighed down so the whey can drain from the yoghurt into the jug.

To get a suitable dry quark, you'll need to allow it to drain for at least 24 hours, possibly 48 hours. When you think it's able to be molded into a cheese shape, remove the quark from the strainer, pack it into a mold and then turn it out onto a plate.

The quark below is an old photo of quark I made a few months ago. The savory quark was made by adding salt and pepper to taste to the finished quark and adding some chopped chives. You could also add chilli and chilli sauce over the top of the quark.

This sweet quark below was sweetened with a little honey and then I added a small amount of homemade strawberry jam to the top of the quark.

FROZEN YOGHURT

Instead of making quark with your yoghurt, you could make frozen yoghurt popsicles or dessert. Just freeze some fruit - berries, banana, apple with a squeeze of lemon juice added to stop browning. Make sure the yoghurt is cold after making it.

Popsicles

If you intend making popsicles, put the frozen fruit in the blender and whizz it up. Add about ½ cup fresh orange juice and the yoghurt mix, then whizz it again until the mix is thoroughly combined. Pour the mix into popsicle molds and freeze.

Frozen yoghurt dessert

You could also make a bowl of frozen yoghurt by adding frozen fruit to a blender and whizz to break up the fruit. Add about third cup of honey and the yoghurt mix, and whizz again. Pour into a bowl and freeze.

You might think the subject of today's post is a bit odd but it's the unusual things that aren't generally thought about in today's consumer driven life that make the simple home what it is. Today's topic - corks, lids and food covers.

We had a recent post about jars so lets start with jar lids. Mason jars have two types of lids. You have the general metal screw on lid as well as a variation of that - the two part lid. When you buy these lids and have to replace them, you can just buy the centre piece, which saves buying more metal. The centre disc holds the rubber which makes the jar air tight. It is that part that will wear out, and therefore need replacing. See below.

These lids act as a general lid for a mason jar but I use them when I'm growing sprouts too. I remove the central disc and use a piece of netting or loose weave cotton cloth. I screw that on to the jar with the screw down section and then have a very good glass container that I can run water into, drain easily and stand on its lid so the water can drain out.

And the end result of the sprouting.

There are different types of lids that can be used on glass jars. The green lids below are the Fowlers Vacola lids that you can buy to fit on your preserving jars when you open them. It's not a good idea to keep the metal lid on the jar when it's open. But you don't need to buy the FV lids. The red lid below is in a Fowlers jar but it's actually the stopper from a French mustard pot - recycled from my son's restaurant. If you find any of these tops, or anything similar, grab it and add it to your cork and lid collection. Also below is a pottery lid, originally from a sugar container that broke, I now use it for my FV jars. Anything safe and solid is good. It will be safe if it has been sold to cover some kind of food, and solid if it's glass or pottery with no cracks. Also below is an old lolly jar, it's on the far right. It is partly glass, partly plastic. anything like this is great and if you save these tops, at some point you'll find a jar it will fit. Often things don't have to be air tight, they just need to be covered so the contents of the jar aren't open to the air. For instance, the FV green tops fit fairly loosely, so does the red top, but that's fine.

Next on our list are corks. What a fine ancient food and drink stopper a cork is. Made from the bark of a special tree, cork is becoming quite scarce and many wine companies have now stopped using corks. If you have some corks, save them, they're precious. Below you can see a nice bottle with a cork that I use for flavoured vinegar. You can recycle a nice looking bottle, fill it with flavoured oil or spiced vinegar, cork it and give it as a gift. It looks rustic and lovely and most people will love it. Also below is the pottery top featured above, here it is being used as the cover on a small jam bowl. That jam bowl can also be covered with the large cork and the pottery pot on the far left is the mustard pot that the red top comes from that I have in my FV jar above.

The covers below are cloth covers. The one on the left is a crocheted cover, the other is a light cotton cloth that I've stitched around the edge and sewn beads on to keep it in place. Both these covers can be used for covering your ginger beer plant or sourdough starter as it will allow the wild yeasts to enter your jar while keeping bugs out. Here is a pattern to make a crocheted cover.

Cloth covers can also be made from a clean tea towel or any clean cloth you have at home. You can use a cloth cover instead of plastic wrap to cover cheese that is stored in the fridge. If you do this, simply wet the cloth, wring it out well so that it's just slightly damp and cover your cheese with that. Moisten it again when it dries out. This is a very old way of covering cheese but it still works well.

Our last photo is a dish stack that can be used to store two different types of foods. I generally place my stack on a larger plate at the bottom. On top of that is a bowl that could hold something like salad. The bread and butter or salad plate on top of that covers the salad and also holds leftover salmon cakes or cheese (or whatever) and this is covered by an upturned bowl. It saves space in the fridge and also covers your food without using plastic.

I hope this has given you a few ideas to use in your kitchen. Many things we commonly throw away can be reused, you just have to think outside the square. So if you've started a jar collection, or already have one, also think of how you will cover your jars, and start searching.

I had an email from a dear reader yesterday asking for some thoughts on a life-career dilemma. Although I don't see myself as an expert on such matters, this is what I think about it, I am sure that there will also be some intelligent and thoughtful comments that may help. This is part of the email:

"I would like to suggest a post idea or just tap into your experience. I am 50 in December. My daughter is well educated and has a job in her chosen profession. I have some financial slack, but not masses. I would like to work 4 days in place of 5 days, but my employer refuses, as once these days are gone, they are gone (so they say). I just really struggle with putting my heart and soul into my work, as it doesn't meet my evolving goals of living simply and well. Although I am pretty well paid, I would like to spend more time on other pursuits. I feel trapped when looking for other jobs due to my age, but probably need another five years if not ten of full timish employment.
How did you/ would you cope during a time of transition such as this? Is it normal to lose interest in a profession as you get older?
My job is not dreadful, just feels stale and some of the people are literally waiting for the grim reaper and can be pretty negative company.
Just some thoughts, I know I can't be the only one in this boat."

While I am very much aware that we all need a certain amount to live on, I think you should also consider your level of happiness and satisfaction. In my own situation, I went from being a very ambitious career woman who competed every day against men to secure work for my own company, to realising that I didn't want that anymore. That happened over a period of a couple of months, although I did have nagging feelings of regret for a year or so before I decided to do something about it. I'm not sure if it's common to most women but I certainly know how you're feeling.

I have always had the view that I should truly live every day of my life. I want to be open to new experiences, I want to learn something new every day and I want to earn happiness and satisfaction by doing the best I can, no matter what I am doing. I love the term, "the full measure of a day" - that is what I strive for every day. If each day holds a different potential that needs to be identified and mined to to its full extent, I am there with my sleeves rolled up every morning, ready for it. Some days that potential is glaringly obvious with a day full of works in progress, and some days it's simply to take in the joy of each hour, to observe and feel truly alive and grateful for it.

Each hour, day, week, month and year of your life is yours to make the best of. I have an old friend who, when we lived in a mining town together, used to say she wouldn't put a garden in because it wasn't her real home and those things would have to wait until she moved to her "real" home. I was of the opposite opinion, that those years we spent there were part of my life just as this is now, and I had to find the best that I could in each day. That is when I learned how to garden, keep chooks, preserve and stockpile.

If you don't feel appreciated or enthusiastic about your job now, and they won't let you downsize your job, can you start looking for another job? I know it's tough finding a job at age almost-50 but there must be some companies who need mature, well trained people. Is it possible to send your resume around? Don't wait to find an advertisement in the paper, just send your resume to companies you'd like to work for and see what happens. You might be surprised. Also, go to an employment agency and submit your resume. Look at work in another kinds of jobs too, you don't have to keep doing what you're doing now. I run our Neighbourhood Centre two days a week, it's the most rewarding and interesting job I've ever had and I would never have thought to choose that kind of work before. So look outside the square when you're looking for work. In Australia now we have more jobs that we have people to fill them, I'm not sure what the situation is where you live but you might be surprised if you venture into the job market.

In the meantime though, and this is very important, remember that each day is part of your life that you'll never get to relive when you're in a better situation. Despite its complications, your job is part of your simple life. If you can't change it, don't let it change you. Take your craft or reading to work with you and incorporate them into your breaks, take your lunch to work, take time to relax while you're there with brief deep breathing or stretching breaks, find some library books that will teach you new skills and read them at lunchtime. Do whatever you can within the confines of your work situation to make you feel better about being there.

I think you should try to get another job where you work the hours you want to work, so you can wrap your life around a job you like. It looks like a two-pronged approach to me. Get that resume out to a lot of companies - even for work you haven't done before but would enjoy now, and while you remain in your current job, stop feeling trapped by it, take the bull by the horns and take your simple life with you to work. Realise you're in a period of transition and you are slowly working your way to a better life. And good luck.

I wonder what gems of wisdom we'll find in the comments box today. : )

Yesterday was a day of gardening, cooking and sewing for me. It was quite hot here so before the sun hit the garden I was out there cutting back the pigeon peas. Most of the vegetables are growing well and our nectarines are the sweetest and juiciest we've ever tasted. Sadly there are a lot of fruit fly around and we've had to cover most of the fruit with exclusion bags to keep these tiny flies out. They lay their eggs in the fruit so it all needs to be cut open for checking before we eat it. I'd hate to bite into one and have a mouth full of wrigglers. Ack!

I planted some borlotti beans before I came back inside and I hope they'll give me some more dried beans to store in the stockpile cupboard. Bortolli beans are one of any number of beautiful pink or purple and cream beans that look like jewels until you cook them, then they are a lovely cream colour. They're a really good bean for salads or soups, so a good all round bean for storing. The seeds I planted are a bush variety, so they won't grow too tall.

I made a nice heavy brown loaf yesterday. It's the first time I've used this flour and it's absolutely delicious. The crust was crusty and the crumb was light. The bread was one of my best yet, even if I do say so myself. : )

You can see in the first photo that along with the bread there is also a large pottery crock (the one Tricia gave me) and a Fowlers jar with a cloth cover. I'm becoming increasingly interested in fermented foods and these are two of the fermented foods I commonly make. I'm going to get a book from the library to find other foods that use this ancient method. Bread, cheese, wine, beer, tea, pickles, sauerkraut, vinegar and yogurt all all common foods that use fermentation in their production. The sauerkraut I made in winter was delicious and I'd like to expand my recipe base for fermented foods. I have some vinegar mother here that has developed on my apple cider vinegar and I'm going to see if I can make more vinegar using it.

The picture above is the beginning of my sourdough. I made this starter with one cup bread flour and one cup water. I'll feed it for a few days before using half of it in a loaf, I'll continue feeding the other half for more bread. As the starter ages, the flavours develop more and you get better bread. I hope to keep this start going for a long time.

Unlike the loaf I made yesterday that I added dried yeast to, sourdough relies on collecting the wild yeast in the air. That is why it takes a long time to develop. The wild yeasts need to settle on the flour and water then multiply enough to start fermentation. It's a really interesting process and reminds me how many bacteria, yeasts and microscopic life forms surround us every day in our homes.

So what is in the crock? Ginger beer! I made a plant of ginger powder, sugar and water about seven days ago and have fed it every day since. Yesterday I added some sugar syrup, lemon juice and water to the strained ginger plant and here is the ginger beer. I'm keeping it in the crock for a couple of days to ferment some more and develop more flavour. There are about six litres in the crock, so I also have to find some bottles to store it in. I always have a problem finding plastic bottles from a source I trust. I might have to ring my son and ask him to save me some from his restaurant.

More reading on fermentation.

After a long relaxing lunch, I watched Gardening Australia because they featured the nuns' garden from the TV series, The Abbey. I didn't watch the series, but wanted to. It's on too late for me and we have no way of recording it. So seeing the nuns' garden and the nun who tended the garden was a real treat. She has turned her leaks into perrenials by simply cutting them off at ground level. Doing this she got three harvests of leaks instead of the usual one. Good one, sister!

After lunch was spent talking to Kathleen on the phone and working on my swap aprons. I think I should have them done next weekend. I'm not rushing myself with them as I want to do a good job and I'm thinking of my swap partners while I'm sewing. I'm also thinking of all our swappers and the little community we've built up here. I am really proud to be a part of it.

I'm working at my voluntary job today and tomorrow. My lunch will be a sandwich of my bread with backyard eggs, boiled and mashed, with home grown lettuce, S & P and a little homemade mayo, two nectarines and some organic black tea. : )

I hope you all had a productive weekend and enjoyed time relaxing with loved ones.

As I was doing my work yesterday I realised that our home is very old fashioned. Our kitchen is the centre of our home, it's a place where we all sit and talk, when friends drop by they are entertained in the kitchen or outside on the verandah, when Hanno and I stop for tea every morning we usually sit outside on the verandah. We have a large area around the house for chooks, vegetable and flower gardens, and we have our aquaponics garden and fish, a bush house, garden shed and a large shed where we store hay and where Hanno keeps his tools and repairs broken furniture or appliances. We live on an acre of land but our house takes up a very small portion of that space.

New homes are different. Many new homes are on a small piece of land and the home is built right up to the boundry line, there is very little room for outside activities. There might be an "outdoor kitchen" and a small swimming pool but most of the living is done indoors. And when we're indoors I'm amazed that each person has their own private space. There is an advertisement on TV at the moment where each person is in their own room with their own computer, using the internet. "Princess" has her own pink bedroom and bathroom with her own computer and her own phone, while "Buddy" is down the hall in his blue bedroom, complete with basketball hoop on the back of the door, X Box-internet combo and phone so he can hang out with the boys. In these homes there is an adults lounge and a kids playroom. They are separate so the kids don't disturb their parents.

Am I the only one who thinks this is strange and unhealthy?

Our home has one computer connected to the internet that is in the living room, it has always been like that. We bought our first computer when our kids were 7 and 8. They had a couple of computer games, but they played outside most of the time. I would never have allowed them to isolate themselves with a computer in their rooms. We have a really good relationship with our, now grown, sons. We have that partly because we shared our lives, they grew up in the same space as Hanno and I. They saw how we conducted ourselves when we were in our private spaces and not just when we were out on our best behaviour. We encouraged them to bring their friends home and we'd all share an area where at any given time there would be a radio or music playing, games being played, newspapers read, people talking on the phone or to neighbours who dropped in. I would be cooking, a dog would run through, the kids would have a Lego town built taking up half the floor area, they could lay on the floor on big cushions reading, or make a fort with an old bedsheet over the kitchen table and play under there while I wrote. It was all in together, we all made allowances for each other, we all enjoyed the contact with each other and it helped build us into a solid family unit.

I hate to criticise how others live but I really do think they're got it wrong with these new houses. It seems to me that real estate agents are dictacting how people use their homes by giving everyone their own space, and thereby gain more from the sale of new houses. Bring back family rooms! Allow kids to share rooms with their sisters or brothers until they go to school. Separating everyone stops us building trust and loving bonds. Share one computer and let that be in the family room where everyone can see who is trying to talk to the children on the internet. I'd like to see children expand their horizens outside with cubby houses, swings, gardens, chooks and bikes. Is that too old fashioned? Maybe I'm past it but when I look around and see family life as it is lived now, I can't help but think we need more old fashioned houses.

This is the last lot of routines. I have found them fascinating. We are all trying our best to live simply, we all over the world and yet despite the many differences, our routines seem to me to hold a measure of similarity. I hope you have enjoyed reading how some of our readers live their 'normal' day.

From Margaret in Maryland USA
Get up at 5:15
Make coffee
Read Bible and pray
Take care of the dogs
Put in a load of laundry
Wake up 15 and 19 year old daughters
Drive 15 year old to meet her car pool to Baltimore
Wake up 5 year old son
Take 19 year old to college
Eat breakfast
Son on the bus (it is now 8:45)
Pick up house
Clean for about 30 mins.-whatever needs to be done
About three days per week I bake bread and other goodies
Start dinner, work on laundry
Go on line for a bit
Work on a project (usually knitting)
Eat lunch
Pick 19 year old up from school- Take her to work
3 days a week drive to Baltimore (35mins) to pick up 15 year olds carpool
Meet son's bus
Homework
Dinner
Little guy to bed
Knit and relax
Bed at 10:00

From Keth in Manchester England
12.00 (yes pm) - get up, have multiple coffees while we wake up in front of the computer, reading blogs and whathaveyou
2.00 - breakfast, walk the dog
3.00 - do something for the afternoon (may be baking bread, may be shopping,may be making something - this afternoon i'll be getting the sewing machineout to make a christmas present for a friend)
6.00 - back to the computer, talk to friends who are coming home from work foran hour or so
7.00 - go cook dinner, although i've usually planned it from the night beforeso i have options to spend more or less time on it according to what it needs
8.00 - we sit down to eat dinner
8.00 to about 11.00 - watch the box. If there's nothing on TV i potter around with things that need doing.
11.00 ish - washing up, cleaning up the kitchen and making a quick sandwich if i'm hungry. after that, back to the computer or pottering around (I'm makingchristmas cards at the moment)2.00am - put dog out for final pee in the garden, get ready for bed, snuggledown in bed to read for a couple hoursbetween
3 and 4 am - sleep
neither of us are really morning people, and we don't work (for a living i mean) so our hours tend to be forward of what most other people's are.

Mama K in New Jersey USA
As far as routines go... I'm not so good with sticking to a schedule. On an average day I'd say I get up around 8am. If my son (14mo) is still sleeping I'll check my email and grab a shower. If he's not I'll get him up and feed him breakfast while I check my email. We do some preschool activities, like word flashcards, in the morning. I do some chores like making the bed and straightening up my nightstand. I have some coffee and do the dishes.
Around 11:30am DS goes down for a nap and I go check my email and bloglines. When he wakes up we eat some lunch and if there are any errands to run we do it then. If we stay home, I turn on the soap operas and either fold laundry or do something crafty.
At about 4 I straighten up the living room and start planning for dinner.
At 5 I usually start dinner. DH comes home and we eat around 6pm.
All three of us play together until my son's bath time at 7pm.
From 7-8 is daddy time and I can do whatever I want... ususally get back on the computer! LOL
We watch TV or clean the kitchen or I do some crafts or whatever else until bedtime at 10:30-11pm.

Paula in Ontario Canada
(Paula, I love that you listen to your husband watch TV)
7am - wake up
7:05am - shower and get ready for work, check Meal Plan and make sure there is nothing that needs picking up (ei milk etc)
8:00 - leave for work
8:30 - arrive at work, eat breakfast and have coffee at work
9:00 work
1:00pm Lunch
2:00pm work
5:00pm leave work and drive home
5:30 arrive home (or stop at store if needed something), make coffee and have a cup while winding down for 10 mins.
5:45pm - make dinner and tidy up
7:00pm - eat dinner while watching Coronation Street (not good I know LOL!)
7:30pm - move dishes to kitchen and take dog for a walk
8:15 pm - clean kitchen, put on dishwasher if needed, make lunches, do one cleaning chore, check email
9:00pm - get out sewing or scrapbooking or crocheting and do it while listening to hubby watch TV
10:00pm - make tea and might have a small snack with it
11:00pm - bed

Tam in NH USA
5:30 am wake up, make bed, get dressed
5:45 wake kids up, change baby, do kid's hair (I have girls)
6:00 breakfast for all 3 of us
6:30 start bus (if it's cold, which it is), pretrip etc.
6:40 double check 10 year old's bag, kiss her goodbye and lead baby out to bus
6:45-9 am school bus runs 9-2 various chores, laundry, housekeeping, gardening, errands, barn chores, mixed in with baby's (20 months) play time, walks and Mommy's computer time in between - lunch at noon
2-4:30 afternoon school bus runs
4:30 start right in on dinner prep
5:30 dinner6:00 clean up
6:30 knit (or spin)
7:00 bedtime for baby
8:00 bedtime for 10 year old
9:30 bedtime for Mom
Doesn't look like there's a spouse but there is...he starts work at 3am and is in bed by 7 pm - he does afterschool stuff w/10year old. He's why we eat so early.

Jayedee in Florida USA
make bed
i begin each and every day by sitting outside on the front porch for a few minutes
fire up the computer and download email scan email to see if there is something important
go out to the chicken house and let the girls (and boys) out for the day
check food and water for all the poultry and change the water for the geese
spend a few minutes in the garden
back to the house to feed and water the dogs and my parrot
start first load of laundrybreakfast
get daniel started on school
rinse dishes
read some email
plan dinner and set the bread to rise if i'm baking
tidy dining and living roomswipe down bathrooms
more email if i have timeblog if i have time
errands if i have anyput the poultry up and do my afternoon feeding
start dinner
wash up
final walkthru
watch cooking shows or read while dh showerssleep ( i hope)

Pam in Tennessee USA
8:00 ( I am trying to get up earlier) Wake: get out of bed and make it right away (unless I have to go to the bathroom then I do that first and them make my bed).
Get dressed.
Go into the kitchen and look outside to see what the day looks like.
Take my 3 dogs out for bathroom break
Start a pot of coffee for my husband (I don't drink coffee).
Make myself a glass of Ice water. Take my vitamins.
Go to bathroom and wash my face and brush my teeth, put hair up,
Go to the kitchen and: Put in some toast or bagels. For me and my husband, Eat breakfast
After breakfast:Unload dishwasher from night before and load up morning dishes.
Start a load of laundry. Take out something for my husband to eat for lunch (Dinner) and food to pack his lunch with.
If we have errands to run we do them now.
On Monday, Wed, and Friday we have dump day where we take all our recyclables and garbage to our dump.
Start lunch (Dinner for him) We eat dinner together after eating I pack his lunch and set it by the front door.
Take the dogs out again. My husband and I share this job.
Put in a new load of laundry, put clean load into dryer.
When he leaves I start the cleaning running the vacuum every other day, dusting, sweeping the floors daily.
Once a week I scrub the bathtub and wash the bathroom floor and kitchen floor.
I go through the house wiping walls and picking up things I see on the floor (lint, dog hair). I try to keep up on the dog hair it can get out of hand quickly.
After cleaning is done I relax with my crocheting, or sewing, or reading until the evening. Or blog reading.
Around 10:00 P.M. I shower and get into bed clothes and wait for my husband to get home around 12:00 A.M.
We watch a little TV or play on the computer until around 2:00 A.M. Sometimes it is 3:00 A.M. Then we go to bed

Mary in Oregon USA
7:30ish - get up and shower to get to work by
8:00 AM.I know I should have breakfast, but I generally favorsleep over food. My job is at a computer, and I'mbored out of my mind most days.
Lunch break at 12:00, which I may use to browse the local thrift shops for craft supplies and Winter clothes (amazing what people "throw away"!) but latelyI've been trying to go home and heat up some leftovers for lunch.
Work until 5:00 (and not one minute later ;-)
Home to feed the cats and dog and sit for an hour or so reading or watching TV or just relaxing.
6:00 - 10:00 is my time to clean house or cook or work on various projects if I have no work for Job #2 to do on the computer. Lately it's been sewing aprons and knitting on a sweater.
I try to be in bed by 10:30 with a hot cup of tea and a good book. Lights out at 11:00 at the latest.
Rinse, repeat.

Coleen in PA USA
wake up at 6:00 take pill ( need to do that 1/2 hour before I eat) make bed
get washed, do hair and makeup, get dressed,head downstairs to make lunch
eat breadfast
straighten family room
sweep kitchen floor
put away any dishes from nite before
leave for work at 7:00
arrive at work by 7:25 I'm there till 3:30
4:00head home do any errands that are on the way home
arrive home either clean bathrooms, bedrooms or downstairs depending on the day
do some wash or take down prior days wash and fold and put away read mail fix dinner and clean up
make phone calls if needed sew,read, watch some TV,get bath and go to bed to do it all over again the next day!

Delores who I think is in the USA
First off, I have coffee and read e-mails. Then 15 minutes on treadmill and 5 minutes stretching.
I eat breakfast, (usually hot rice cereal with soy milk) and try to read at least 1 chapter in Bible while eating.
I unload dishwasher, make beds, start load of laundry.
Now I bathe, get dressed for the day and pray a few minutes.
I take something out of freezer to defrost or get ingredients together for whatever I'll have for dinner or that I want to cook.
I walk my daughters dog and take treats to her birds and usually wash any dishes she has in sink. (She lives next door.)

I hang out clothes or dry them in dryer. (Only hang out sheets and heavy things like towels and use dryer for rest.)

I read blogs, check bits in my hometown newspaper online for as long as it takes the clothes to dry and then I either hang them or fold them and put them away.

I try to do some house work everyday such as vac or washing windows or dusting or simply organizing something but if I'm involved in a study or project or good book or in this case reading your blog from beginning to end (I am still reading in August right now) sometimes these things wait except on Fridays (which is today) when it can't wait and I work my butt off cleaning and cooking for sabbath.

I usually have soup for lunch that I have cooked and frozen so no cooking at noon but I do spend an hour or longer cooking dinner. I kinda cook two different meals as my husband eats meat and I stay away from meat, eggs, and dairy products. After dinner I often go visit with my daughter a half hour or so and on Tuesday and Thursday I do watch 2 television shows in sucession that I like ( a total of 2 hours each of those nights.)

I load my dishwasher (dishes soak while I put off doing them) I read on computer or play a game or call my sister or other daughter on nights I don't watch tv. Lastly, I do my facial and brush my teeth and go to bed. I also have 2 dogs and 2 cats that I tend to during the day and before I go to bed I usually open the dishwasher so the dishes will air-dry.

Sometimes I put beans in soak or if ready ( I sprout them before cooking) in crockpot to cook overnight. I, now, since reading your blog, have a garden started...just greens but it is a start.

Melinda in California USA
Wake up
Let the dog (and cat) out
Feed the dog and cat
Harvest some veggies or fruit for breakfast (if I haven't the night before)
Make breakfast
Read the paper and/or blogs
Research and post an entry in my blog
Research and work on various media projects
Take breaks from the computer every couple of hours to work in the garden
Have a bite of late lunch
Tidy up the house, do the dishes
Pick food from the garden for dinner
Feed the dog and cat
Greet my husband (who gets home from work in early evening) and debrief about our days
Make dinner
Eat relaxing dinner and talk about new plans, thoughts Matt cleans up after dinner, then studies while
I work on various media projects
Sometimes we watch a movie together
Get ready for bed
Read in bed

Carla in Idaho USA
get up anywhere from 5am-6am take a shower every other day
get the newspaper off the front stoop
feed kittiesmake coffee
put oatmeal (w/chopped dates) in saucepan w/water on stovetop read newspaper & drink coffee
get partway dress (bottom half) finish cooking oatmeal/make luncheat oatmeal, drink juice, finish newspaper
pack lunch & anything else I'm taking to work (varies -usually some paperwork of some sort)finish dressing, finish hair
after I'm all ready, depending on how soon I have to leave, I'll usually start something to finish in the evening. For example, today I cleaned everything off my bookshelves that was not books, and also took off books that were not standing upright. The project is cleaning off/out bookshelves in preparation for holiday decorating.
put on coat, back car out of garage, lock door, come back through house, grab purse, tell kitties to have a good day& behave, lock door on way out, leave for work.
My garagedoor does not have an automatic opener nor does it lock from the outside.
Saturday - laundry, general house cleaning
Sunday - relax: spend time w/family; get ready for work -oh, and watch NFL football if the (Green Bay) Packers are playing!
.................................................................................................

Well, that's some of us up close and personal. I hope this will help our homemakers who struggle at times with their routines; for the rest I hope it's an interesting read. I really liked noting the similarities in us all, as well as the differences.

I hope you all take some time during your day, no matter how busy you are, for yourself. You need to look after yourself because when the mother and wife is sick, the whole family suffers. This is not slacking off - it's time you need to keep your mental, emotional and physical health in a good state. Having your own time will allow you to relax, think about your life and work through some of the things you want to focus on. We are all here because we are thoughtful people, people who want to make the best life that we can for ourselves and our families. So please be kind to yourself and be guided, and hopefully inspired, by these routines and step one small step at a time towards what you want your life to be.

From Anastasia in USA
5:00am - Get up. Fix DH breakfast and pack his lunch. Visit with him until he leaves at
6:30.6:30am - Read Bible.
7am - Check email, Pay any bills.Get organized for the day! Check a few blogs
8am - shower & get dressed
8:15am - Fix breakfast for kids. Start laundry, Run dishwasher.
9-11am - Homeschool
11am - Fix lunch, Clean kitchen, Get anything out for dinner, More laundry
1pm - Project of some sort. Either cleaning or organizing or maybe sewing or a craft
2pm - Quiet time. Hopefully a short nap.
3pm - Time w/kids. Errands? Maybe library?
5pm - Start dinner6pm - Eat dinner
6:30pm - Family time
7:30pm - Start getting kids ready for bed. Showers etc...
8:30pm - Kids in bed. Time with DH
9-10pm - Bedtime somewhere in there.
If we have a special errand to run or a big grocery shop, we go in the morning instead of schooling and school during the 3-5 time slot...

Hannah from Australia
My new and improved routine is:
5:30 wake get up, have a drink and get dressed
6am go to the gym/or to mentoring meeting Wednesday
7:30 home have breakfast and read an inspiration book or the bible and pray
Do some washing/gardening/sewing
9am Go to work
5:30pm finish work and go to Gym and/or meeting eg volunteer work at church, music practice, seedsavers, food co-op, bible study
Monday and Friday nights I don’t have anything on and sometimes have friends for dinner or go to theirs.
9:30 home tidy/washing/sewing
Sometimes watch some TV
10:30 bed

From Quinne in the USA
7 am up & shower
730 Q quiet time
8 M up & first 5’s
830 S up, breakfast, Bible story
9 school
930 “10 “1030 project outside
11 “1130 playtime
12pm lunch
1230 housework project
1 playtime
130 read alouds
2 MS rest time / Q heavy housework, school prep, etc
230 “3 “330 MQ dishes / S (continue nap)
4 MQ prep supper / S snack
430 housework (training - folding laundry, dusting, etc)
5 playtime / Daddy home
530 supper
6 play or project with Daddy
630 “7 family playtime
730 clean up & baths
8 last 5’s & family Bible time
830 MS bedtime
9 JQ work
930 “10 “1030 “11 JQ date time
1130 JQ bedtime

From Della in Ohia USA
a normal day for me includes;
* let dog out
* make coffee
* get dog, give him water
* check food and water for cats
* coffee while I read email
* breakfast
* shower, dress
* make bed, tidy bedroom and bath
* carry dirty laundry to laundry room
* give dog his meds
* take my meds
* clean one room of house depending on day of week
* lunch
* take dog out
* knit or quilt
* computer time
* watch Dr. Phil
* begin cooking dinner
* watch evening news
* dinner
* dishes, tidy kitchen and sweep
* knit or quilt or tv
* give dog his meds
* take my meds
* take dog out
* bed

From Shaunta in Nevada USA
5:45 a.m. Wake up. Spend half an hour coming alive, checking myemail, reading the news online, etc.
6:15 a.m. Wake up my two teenagers. Spend the next forty-five minutesgetting all of us ready for school (I'm a teacher's aide.) Get stuff ready for my two-year-old for when she wakes up.
7 a.m. Scrape the ice off my windshield, then drive everyone around totheir schools. End up at the high school myself for my job at 8 a.m.
8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Work as a special education teacher's aide.
3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Deal with afterschool stuff for the big kids. On Tuesday, Thursday and Friday we all come home now. On Monday and Wednesday I have class so my hubby comes and picks up the kids and Istay in town to prepare for class.
4:30 to 8:00 p.m. If it's Tuesday, Thursday or Friday: make dinner,play with my baby, hang with my husband until he leaves for work at 6:30 or so.
8:00 p.m. Go lie down with the baby. About half the time I fall asleep with her and wake up sometime in the middle of the night to find that my wonderful big kids have gotten themselves in bed. The half of the time I get up about 9 and spend an hour or so writing.

From Rachel in Tasmania Australia with four kids
Get up
Put the kettle on, make brekkie for 6 of us, of course each kid wants a different brekkie!
Make sandwiches for the older two and if Lachlan is at kinder for that day.
Get kids ready ie - Yell at them to get dressed etc
Go and get the kids to feed the goat and chooks
Put the washing machine on - I do a load a day easily
Get myself ready and Mason the toddler- this may include a shower for me.
Make bed, vaccum, hang up washing and have a quick general tidy up.
Take the kids to school
Go on any errands that need to be done such as playgroup, libraryHome for lunch - put Mason to bed
Gardening - have a big veggie patch - water and harvest or replant
Play with Mason/Lachlan if home, make bikkies for afternoon tea or cake
Bring washing in and put it straight away - dont iron very often
Pick up kids - scoff down afternoon tea.
Start preparing tea
Cook Dinner
Get kids ready for bed
Check menu plan for next nights dinner and get out anything that is needed.
Watch news
Read 3 books to Lachlan, console Zac - my eldest boy is a worry, give Nikki some encouraging words, put Mason to bed.
Ahhhh - another cuppa with Peter and watch some tv or read a book.
Bed usually by 9pm.

Libby in Wollongong Australia
6am Up and dress in gym clothes.
Check e-mails/ read blogs
7 -8am Put on load of washing
Help girls to do morning jobs
Make breakfast
Clean up kitchen
8am Breakfast
Get girls ready for school
Clean up kitchen
8.30am Leave for school/gym
9am – 10am Gym
10am Morning Tea /check e-mail
Shower and get dressed
11am – 12pm Pet care – brush dogs / attend to chooks
Any jobs needing done
12 -12.30pm Lunch
12.30 – 2.30pm Free time – usually try to scrapbook
2.30 – 3.30pm Collect kids from school
3.30pm Make dinner / check e-mail
Afternoon activities for kids
Bring in washing, do any ironing
Water veggie garden
5.30pm Christy Bath Amy homework
6.00pm – 6.30pm Dinner
6.30 -7.00pm Tidy kitchen
Storytime
7.30pm Christy’s bedtime
Watch TV

Karen in Switzerland
Monday - Friday morning routine
Get up 6.35am after listening to the alarm radio of BBC news andlocal Geneva news. Wake children -3 of them. That is their firstcall. Me off to the kitchen. Look at the view of the mountain. In thewinter look at the car lights miandering down the mountain and watchthe snow line fall. In the summer watch the clouds to see where theweather is coming from. Feed 2 cats. Prepare a lemon juice andwater, go to computer, read news headlines and Rhonda's Blog.
7 am Second call for the children. Hope that they all have clothes otherwise panic starts. Do breakfasts. 3 children out of the door at either 7.20 or 7. 50 depending on their bus or train after doing ourcheck list. Comb hair, money, keys, ipod, phones, gym kit, clean teeth. Me, have breakfast with husband. Husband out to work, Me -putload of washing on then shower.
Monday I now have daughter no. 1 at home until either 10 am or 12 noondepending on her schedule so quite housework. Ironing, tidying,washing up, dishwasher, make/change beds, clean kitchen. Lunch for daughter 1 if she goes out late. Son - home at 12. 15. Cook lunch for him.
2 pm go to the Co-op for basics with child no 3. He likes toplay games in Interdiscount whilst I shop. PM more washing andhoover and mop floors through.
3. 15 pm, children start arriving homeso things do do, forms to complete etc. Spend time with children. Prepare and light fire, Cook supper. Eat 7.30 pm when husband gets in. Evening with husband and book or just a fire and peace.
Tuesday - After they have gone, do beds , tidy kitchen, dust house.10.45 am - Me to French class. Pm alternate Tuesdays French Conversation . Otherwise it is more housework, more ironing usually,another load of washing to hang up. Pm same as Monday.
Wednesday -morning routine the same - talk to mother on the phone. Usually 1-2 hours. She likes/ needs to talk. Clean toilets and sinks,
12. 15 child no. 3 home from school, 12.30 pm. Fetch child no. 2 from school. She does Italian as an extra so no bus.
1 pm homeand cook lunch for 3.
Pm more school things, some gardening generalhousework.
4. 24 pm Fetch child no 1 from train, go to dump with paper etc. and then the Co-op for more basics.
Thursday - Clean showers and bathroom, more washing. Pm - me toStitchers, my sewing class with IWCN. International Womens Club of Nyon.
Friday - Bin Bags to go out. Hoover through and mop for weekend. Putwashing machine on. Sometimes coffee with friends. 12 Noon meetdaughter number 1 from train and pm Shop for weekend either in France- 20 minutes away - or at the local Co-op. Cook something nice for Friday weekend tea. Film for evening in front of the fire.
This is my basic routine but there are things like vets, Orthodentistand Opticians etc. to fit in as needed.
Weekend. Saturday Am dump - Wash Gym Kit - 3 lots, Big Rubbish.,shop at local farmers shop or whatever else 'needs' to be bought. Try not to shop as I hate doing it on Saturdays but it is the only chance my husband gets. Lunch usually home-made soup. PM garden, fetch and carry children to their friends or other activities or places, Garden.

Sundays - try to relax, read, garden, go for a walk or in the wintergo to the snow.
I still have to improve on my housework routine but it is madedifficult by the seemingly constant attendance of children in thehouse. Part of the Swiss schooling system.
Our day/week revolves around the three meal times and everythingelse fits in between them. The two unmovable things are the dump onWednesdays only open between 3 and 6 pm and Friday Bin Day.

Brigit in Toowomba Australia
6.00am Get up, let out dog for wee walk, make coffee, put on a load of washing. Make breakfast, eat same. (Not a morning person, so takes a while to get going)
7.00. Check emails, blogs, websites, etc.
7.30 DH leaves for work so, shower, get dressed, make bed.
8.00 Take the dog for a walk
9.00 Back from walk and wash dog's feet from above walk, hang out washing, check vegie garden and pick anything that's ready (this doesn't take long as we have a very small garden, not like yours) Put on second load of washing and do any handwashing.
10.00 Cup of coffee and write out weekly menu plan and shopping list from grocery specials flyers.
10.30 - 11.30 Housework, Monday is vacuuming & dusting lounge and dining room and 2 bedrooms, usually after a weekend when we've had friends to stay there's a bit of extra tidying up to do. Hang second load of washing.
11.30 -12.00 Back to computer to check emails and answer any etc. 12.00 If DH is in town he comes home for lunch, so start making lunch. If its winter its usually soup, so would make that in the morning straight after getting back from my walk.
12.30 Lunch with Don till 1.00pm usually, maybe a bit longer if the cricket is on TV!
1.00 - 4.00 To the shops for weekly groceries. I shop all the specials at each store and fruit and veg at the fruitbarn, so takes me a while. I live in a fairly small town and don't have to drive far to do this and I have the time, so it saves us money doing it this way. Also doing some Christmas shopping as I see things at the moment.
4.00 Take in washing, potter in garden, can't water anything, but use saved shower water on vegies on a rotating basis. Remake beds, sheets get changed on Monday.
4.30 - 5 Put away rest of washing and iron for half an hour
5.00 DH comes home by 5 till 5.30 most days, so our time to catch up and have a glass of wine and check out the garden.
6.00 Start dinner, possibly earlier if something needs longer in the oven, or later if I've made something that lasts two nights (there are only 3 of us). If the oven is on I try and make a slice/muffins/biscuits at the same time, but don't always manage this.
7.00 Eat dinner
7.30 Clean up kitchen and make a cup of coffee and then read whatever I have on the go at the moment, usually more than one book, so whatever I feel like, even recipe books for inspiration! Try and remember to get Andrew's (son) dinner out of fridge in time to heat up for when he finishes work at 9pm (depends how good the book is!)
9.30 Watch Andrew Denton's show, depending on who he has on, my favourite show of the week, he's the best interviewer on TV. I probably watch too much TV at night, something I need to think about.
10.30 Put the dishwasher on and after a quick pick up of the family room and a swish of the bathroom, time for bed.

From Peggy in USA
I don't use a alarm clock but always wake up at 5:45 each morning
Get dressed,brush hair and teeth, wash face grab the milk bucket and any scraps I have for the chickens and head outside
Feed the cats that are waiting on the porch
Stop by the dog lot and give the dogs a treat (they have automatic feeder)
Open the feed room door and get the feed buckets ready for chickens, geese &ducks and rabbits. Check the chickens while I am feeding them, check out the geese and ducks while giving them their feed, and check the rabbits and right now their babies while feeding them and making sure they have dry clean bedding, get the goat feed and milk bucket and head for the goat penmake sure the goats are okay while feeding, get diva and head to the milk stall.
After milking her take her back to pen and get sammi for milking. after milking sammi I pour a little of the milk in the kittens bowl by the feed room.
give the goats some hay and get the feed ready for the momma hens and chicks, the peacock and turkey. Feed them and grab the waterhose to make my rounds giving everyone fresh water.
After watering I give fresh bedding to animals that need it. grab the milk bucket and head into the house.
Strain and put away the milk. clean bucket and straining cloth and put away. Have a bowl of oatmeal and glass of juice while I check my emails for soap sells.
Package soap orders and make trip to post office to mail. Make bed (like to let air for awhile each morning) Fill washtubs for 2 loads of laundry. Get laundry done and hung out. Rake out chicken pen and put rakings on mulch pile. Same with geese and duck pen and decide to do goat and dog pens tomorrow.
Sweep off porches and steps, mix a batch of soaps, make some candles.
Get some tea and a sandwich while I check emails again and read some blogs. Also work on my etsy shop to update.
Work on paperwork, feed the iguana and clean his cage. Sweep the floors and straighten up the house (except kitchen as workman is still in there)
Go visit neighbor and put her new arrived cards in her scrapbook I made for her.
Come home grab the milk bucket and start on evening chores. Same as morning except I gather the days eggs. Make sure everyone has clean fresh water.
Strain put the milk away,
Finish the cheese I started yesterday. Clean up the kitchen from the workman's day.
Bring firewood and stack on porch and build small fire.
Make my evening meal and eat while checking emails and getting soap orders to fill tomorrow. Wash and put away my dishes, take a shower and put on pj's
Relax with a nice cup of hot chocolate while reading today's mail and newspaper and watching a little tv.
After watching the 11 pm news I go out and check on all the animals, make sure everything is put away and cleaned up in the house. Brush my teeth and get in bed around midnight.

Rebekka in Copenhagen Denmark
Got up at 6 am. Took a shower, moisturised, dried my hair, ate breakfast (plain yoghurt with muesli and a cup of coffee), checked my email, did a little bit of makeup. My husband got up at 7:15, right before I left. I'm slow in the morning so I give myself plenty of time to get around.
I rode my bicycle to the hospital where I'm in my clinical placement. It takes about 15 minutes to get there. My placement is a gerontopsychiatric ward (old people). I'm there from 7:30 to 15 most days. Yesterday I had my own patient for the first time, she was very aggressive but she did let me help her be washed in the end. At 10 o'clock I had an evaluation meeting with my clinical advisors. Then at 10 minutes to 12 I ran over to the kiosk and bought a sandwich, ran back to the building and went up to the 3rd floor where there was a lecture and discussion with the other nursing students who are doing psychiatry right now.
At 14:45 we were finished and I rode my bicycle over to the Pharmaceutical Instititute, which is right across the street from where I live. There was an information session for our 6th semester clinical placements, which start in February. It was sort of boring, I've heard most of it before. It started at 15 and was finished at 16:15.
I rode my bicycle down to the closest S-train station and left my bicycle there. I took the train to Frederiksberg, which is a little city like an island in Copenhagen. From the station I walked 10 minutes to Skt. Mariæ Church where I met some people for dinner in the church hall. There is also a convent there and one of our group was one of the sisters, she is so sweet and funny. It was the first time I had been with the group because I just started going there. An old Irish priest came, too. After we had eaten together (potatoes, fried meatballs, homebaked bread, a sort of stewed fruit mix of pears, apples, prunes and bacon--yummy!--and some salad) we cleaned up and then went over to a room under the priest's residence where they have made a sort of mini-church. The ancient priest said Mass (it was All Saints Day yesterday) and then some people went home. The rest of us said a rosary together, and then went home. One of the other people in the group drove me to the train station where I'd left my bicycle, then I biked home from there.
When I got home it was 22:15. My husband was in a bad mood because he had a stomach-ache (he has Crohn's disease). I sat with him for a little while while he watched a police drama on TV, then I washed my face and brushed my teeth and went to bed, where I read a little bit in my library book about a man working as a nurse in Greenland. Then I fell asleep at about 23.

Amy in Pennsylvania
~I get up at 5:45 every morning and get my shower and dress right away.
~I gather laundry to take downstairs,prepare my hubby's and kid's breakfast.
~I start the laundry, then take the kids to the bus stop
~I come back and get a cup of coffee and read the paper for 10 minutes.
~I continue to work on my laundry while I check and read blogs for 30 minutes or less.
~By 8:00, I eat breakfast w/ my 3 yr. old and then get him dressed for the day.
~I do whatever chores are on my daily chore list.
~I then have daily devotions and special time with son before lunch
~Son and I eat together, then he is down for his nap.
~I then either read, sew or catch up on other work while he is sleeping.
~I go to the bus stop again at 3:00
~I spend time with daughter, catching up on her day
~The family is home by 5:45 and we eat at 6:00
~Kitchen is cleaned up and lunches are packed for the next day.
~Son is bathed and get's ready for bed by 8:30
~I can either read or spend time with hubby.
~Off to bed by 10pm.

Jenni in Queensland Australia
5:30 – 6:00am - woken by 3yr old coming into our room
5:45 – 6:15am – DP will get up with 3yr old and make tea, boot up computers and deal with 3yr old.
6:30am – DP brings me tea while I give baby a breastfeed.
7:00 am – Put nappies on to wash. Breakfast, unload dishwasher, check email, make beds, I try to do all this whilst 3yr old is eating otherwise it takes twice as long with his ‘help’.
7:30 – 8:00am – 2nd cup of tea, answer emails, check blogs, organize rest of day. DP has started work (he works at home) so take him cup of tea and check on his plans for the day.
8:30 – 9:00am – hang out nappies and check and water veggie patch. Put 2nd load of washing on. Decide on dinner and get any meat out of freezer.
9:30 – 10:00am – Do housework ie vacuum and mop, or dust or clean bathrooms depending on what I did last and what needs doing….
11:00 – 11:30am – morning tea for 3yr old, DP and self, breastfeed for baby. Hang out washing, tidy up after 3yr old and re-organize his play/toys, help him get his paints or play dough etc.
12:30 – 1:00pm – Lunch for 3yr old and put him down for nap.1:30 pm – Lunch for self and DP plus baby if he is not napping…
2:00 pm – Try to put baby down for nap. Computer time, also crafting time, knitting, cross stitch or I am making appliquéd baby singlets and t-shirts for a friends shop.
3:00 – 3:30pm – If we need to go to the shop for milk or the library we go now. If we don’t need to go we might make biscuits or a cake. The 3yr old will play outside or with his toys and baby and I will join in.. I might even get some more crafting or computer time while they play near me. Bring in washing, sort nappies, fold and put away clothes.
4:30 – 5:00pm - Start dinner prep, if we are all eating together I try to feed us around 6:00, otherwise toddler and baby are fed by 6:00pm.
6:30pm – Bath time for toddler, baby sits with us, story and bed by 7:30pm.
7:30pm – Get baby ready for bed, breastfeed and comfort him. If he doesn’t go to sleep sit on couch with him and DP till he goes to sleep.
8:30pm – Once baby asleep, couple time with DP, we might watch some TV or talk or read, I might do some more sewing or computer time.
10:00 – 10:30pm Bed time for us.
This routine varies a little if the older children are home from school for a weekend or holidays. Also we have regular commitments throughout the week, but this is a fairly typical at home day. I also have to sacrifice an at home day once a mo
nth to do the grocery shopping we live about an hour from a major shopping centre and so only go monthly.

Jeannie in Virginia USA
Through next Wednesday, I’m still working with a litter of Australian Shepherds, so my day starts with getting them to shut up. Before I get dressed or even go to the bathroom I’m shoving puppies out the door and food into their noisy little mouths. Anything to Shut. Them. UP! (I'm sorry Jeannie, but this make me laugh. I can just imagine you dealing with a mad group of Aust Shepheds.)

Normally, though, I get up at 6 a.m., make coffee, feed our usual pack (much more well-behaved and civilized), and start breakfast. Assure that my youngest son is up and supervise him heading to school (he drives himself). Then I pry my husband out of bed (we both work out of our home) and we have breakfast. Then I shower and dress and do whatever cleaning is scheduled for that day (sort of schedule. I don’t clean what isn’t dirty. But I look at it and consider.). That takes an hour or two and, since I do have lots of dogs, always includes vacuuming (though my sons do this on the weekends).
I try to fit a walk in there somewhere, grabbing whatever dog is handy. Then I start whatever for dinner, whether it’s chopping or taking out – whatever I can do to make later in the afternoon go more smoothly.
Then I head upstairs and do some office work or write my column, depending on the day. We all do laundry throughout the day, which is a chore kind of like breathing – constant and automatic. Anyone walking through the laundry room is required to tend to whatever needs to be done at that stage.
After lunch I either continue office work (depending on business) or my column (depending on how inspired I was that morning) or sew or knit or do whatever project. Around four it’s feeding time again for the dogs and time to take dinner to the next step. We don’t eat until 6:30 or 7 p.m. since my son always has an after-school activity and my older son gets home from work around then.
After dinner I’ll sit and do needlework while listening to an audio book or music or read until around 10 or 11 p.m. If there is something on TV – usually an old movie – I’ll watch it, but that hasn’t been the case for awhile. Of course some days I go grocery shopping and we do take a day once a month and travel an hour or so to do bulk shopping at a supply store for stuff like flour and sugar. And that’s it (wake up!).

And I'll finish this post with Kim's very orderly routine from the USA.

Here is the Hedges Homestead routine.

We are a family of 4 adults. MA 18.5 and HM 17.
6:15: Morning routine
bathroom visit (face, medicine, teeth, clean sinks and toilet)
air bed, make bed, vacuum floor, laundry to washer -- start load
breakfast, kitchen cleaned
7:30 School/Garden routine
walk 2 miles or bike 12
school subjects (for HM and the girl I tutor)
KM: clean living room, sweep kitchen, project room, hallway, laundry room, finish washing laundry
first school break: hang laundry, feed and water animals
Garden time: weed beds assigned to that day, plant or harvest assigned bed
KM: computer time (girls back at school work)
12:30 : Afternoon routine
lunch
clean kitchen
Garden time: front herb/flower beds
Check animals water
Sewing, crafts, quiet reading, or radio (HM and I together -- no tutoring in afternoon)
Tea, make bread
Walk 2 miles
5:00: Evening routine
MA: home, shower, take his dog out, clean room, put away laundry, computer time
HM: Feed and water animals, clean barn stalls, computer time
KM: dinner prep, compost heap, running grocery list update, computer time
Walk 1 mile
7:00: Family routine
dinner (kitchen clean up)
family time (movie, game, walk in yard, talk, listen to a book on tape) preparations for next day (men lunches, breakfast prep)
dogs out one final time, quick check of animals
9:00: Bed time
MA and HM pray then to rooms
KM and CK Spanish lesson
Lights out at 9:30.

There are still ten routines to go. I hope you find them as interesting as I do. Back soon with the next lot.