One of the lovely things about first coming to your simple life is that you make your day-to-day living interesting by doing chores differently or mindfully, you change the way you look at yourself and your home and you start to learn a number of skills that some might think of as "old-fashioned". Pfffffffffft The reason you learn these skills is that you will stop buying a variety of things just because they're cheap and easy, and start to move closer to sustainability.

How easy is it to buy a pack of Chux, sponges or some other cleaning cloth. When they're dirty, you throw them "away", although by now we all know that "away" actually means moving your rubbish to a larger rubbish pile that sits for years before (if) it decomposes. Apart from the economics of buying those cleaning wipes (I just checked online and a pack of Chux now costs $3.49 = over $40 a year), they are made, packaged and delivered to your supermarket using oil. Enter the homemade dishcloth.


She is a simple girl, made of pure cotton, quite easy to knit or crochet and will last many washes. I have homemade dishcloths here that are in their third or fourth year and are still as good as the day they were made. They're efficient, absorbent, hygienic and lovely to use - a constant reminder as you wipe your benches that you are now living a simple life.

If you don't know how to knit or crochet, this is one of those skills I was talking about. Knitting used to be taught to small children by their mothers and grandmas, and it is simple enough in the early stages to teach yourself. Patons has a good guide to knitting, there is a learn to knit video here, Lions knitting guide is here and there is a guide to knitting pattern abbreviations here. There is a very good video on learning to knit here. Or you may have a friend or mum who can teach you.

The dishcloth I knit most is Debbie's (Homespun Living) waffle weave pattern. You can find the pattern here. It is just plain and purl, so teach yourself to cast on, then a plain stitch, then a purl stitch and you're on your way. For Debbie's dishcloth you will need to cast on 38 stitches. But you don't have to do Debbie's pattern, you can easily do a border of six stitches with 30 purl, plain or a mixture of both as the body of your cloth. You decide what is easiest for you and go for it.

You will need a pair of knitting needles, about size 5 or 6. I like to knit with aluminium needles because the stitches slip easily off the needle. I have a few sets of the English Queen Bee needles and find them to be very good and easy to use.

Find some 100% cotton yarn that is about 4, 6 or 8 ply. I love using Lions yarn. It comes in a large variety of colours and it knits well. I have been lucky enough to have dishcloths sent to me from America, made with Peaches and Cream yarn. That also makes a perfectly lovely dishcloth - you can buy it on eBay if your local store doesn't stock it. For those of you in Australia, Spotlight usually have Lion cotton. I think our English and European ladies will have access to both Peaches and Cream and Lion cotton.

When you have your needles and cotton, all you need is a comfy spot. If you're like me, you'll find knitting to be a bit like meditating - it's relaxing and allows you to think or talk while you work. One of the many reasons I love knitting is that it allows me to be productive while resting. It is truly a gentle art.

Knitting dishcloths is a wonderful way to learn how to knit, to develop your technique and knit faster. Once you've done a few dishcloths, you will probably feel confident enough to go on to scarves, socks, mittens, hats and maybe even jumpers (sweaters) and cardigans.

When you first start knitting you'll probably be all fingers and thumbs and feel awkward. You'll drop stitches, and needles, but it's just a matter of persevering and doing it. You CAN do this, it just requires of you to slow down enough to concentrate, look at the instructions and give yourself time to practice. As you go through the instructions and build up your rows, you'll see your dishcloth materialise from that long piece of cotton. Once you get the hang of it, you'll knit a dishcloth in a couple of hours - but be patient, when you start, you'll take a few days to do your first.

Take your own sweet time to do it. You are learning a skill that will stand you in good stead all the days of your life. If you enjoy knitting, it is something you will still be capable of doing when you're 90 years old. I have written here about how knitting and sewing fits into my life. I see knitting and sewing as being part of my housework instead of a craft that I need to make time for. I knit and sew because it gives me some of the things I need in my home, not because it is enjoyable, even though it is.


If you don't knit now, I hope you take the opportunity to learn. It is a valuable part of a simple home and a will enable you to make useful items and clothing for your home and family. And don't worry about the awkwardness of beginning, we all have that and it passes in a flash. If you have problems when you start, just make a comment and I'm sure one of our generous and kind ladies will help out. I wonder if there are some ladies who are willing to mentor the younger and more inexperienced girls in email. If you have some time, and the experience to help someone knit, let me know in the comments and we might be able to pair up mentors with new knitters. Sharon, I'll email you soon but is this something you could organise if we get a few people? What would I do without you, Sharon. =:- ()

Dave, Abby and Kate, I'll get to your email on the weekend.

Although I didn't do much in the way of chores on the weekend, I did bake some barmbrack. Barmbrack is a traditional Irish fruit bread made with black tea and it's utterly delicious. The dough is a little like cinnamon roll dough but not as sweet. Barmbrack is great hot, straight from the oven, but this recipe makes a full loaf, so it's just as well it also makes luscious toast.

It's been like a roller coaster these last few days. I have finally accepted that Rosie is gone but I am thankful that I can still see her with my mind's eye. Cathy asked if we would take another dog into our home and the answer is, from me, definitely yes!, from Hanno, well...maybe. I have already looked at the local pound website. Alice has always lived with Rosie and I think she needs a companion. I'd like a smaller dog this time, something I can pick up, maybe the size of a beagle. Airedales are big strong dogs and now we are getting older, it's difficult taking two for a walk alone. I think the time has come to downsize. When a new dog is ready to find us, I'm sure she will.

It was a busy weekend with comings and goings, and phone calls to our sons to tell sad news. Yesterday we had visits from step son Jens and his Airedale, Koda, and Bernadette and her dog, Iona. Alice had a good run around with her canine friends which I think did her the world of good.

Hanno and I have been overwhelmed by the sweet messages left about Rosie. They helped us during that first day, the most difficult one, when we were still expecting her to walk inside or bark at the Pee Wees (Magpie Larks), her nemesis. Any other bird could land in our backyard and she didn't care, but let one PeeWee set foot here and she was after them.

We buried Rosie under the Banskia rose where she loved to sit. It's shady there and she had a view of both the backyard and the front. Hanno planted a daisy bush on her grave, I placed some flowers there for my sister Tricia, and we both had a cry. It was a sad day.

Alice is still looking for Rosie. Hanno let her get into the car to sit on the blanket he brought Rosie home on. She sat there for ages, sniffing and taking in as much of Rosie as she could. Now she is sleeping on a single bed and I don't think she likes it very much. They used to sleep together on a bed on the kitchen floor - on the night before she died, Rosie cuddled up to Alice, it was the first time she'd ever done that.


We went out yesterday. We visited a thrift shop near here and then went down to the beach for a cup of coffee. It was the best thing for us. The water was beautiful, we watched holidaying families cook their BBQ breakfasts and run around playing games; I smiled when I saw the benches were all in the shape of surf boards. When we came home it was like we'd packed Rosie away in our hearts and got on with our chores.


Today Bernadette is coming down the mountain with her dog Iona to visit Alice.

I've been looking forward to today ... Thursday is the first day of the week when I'm home all day. Being at work since Monday has working away from my home, socialising and being in the midst of many people and all that busyness out of my system. Today, and the next few days, I will concentrate on my family and my home and getting my house in order. Yes, friends, I'll be fluffing my nest again.

I want to do some sewing today. I have a few bags of fabric to go through, given to me by daughter-in-law Cathy. What I don't need, I'll give to our sewing circle. I want to work on my pin cushion swap today and hopefully get that finished and ready to send. That sewing room needs to be tidied too. It always amazes me how quickly a sewing room can look like a cyclone has whipped through it, when only the most gentle and calm chores are done in there.

Hanno is taking the Centre's mini bus into Brisbane this morning to pick up our Foodbank stores. The Foodbank supplies food and groceries to charities for a very small amount of money. We buy a lot of the Centre's staples at our local IGA and when we supplement that with what we get from the Foodbank we are able to make up a good parcel of food for people who need it.


I won't bake bread today but there are plenty of other chores to keep me busy. The floors need sweeping and washing, the kitchen looks like it needs a good going over and the front verandah is covered with leaves. A basket of apples is waiting to be turned into a pie and I have several lemons to be squeezed and frozen. There are a couple of loads of washing to be done and hung out to dry.

If I have time later I'll plant some lettuce and beetroot seedlings. It will do me good to get into the garden again. It's always the sweetest of pleasures to be out there on these cool days of late Winter, and when I look around me at the lushness of a garden that provides so much of our food, I know I'm really at home, and this is where I belong.

Rosie is still sick. She is good for a day or so and then is unwell again. We've had her to the vet twice but I'm not sure he knows what he's doing. Tomorrow I hope to take her to a specialist terrier vet in a township about 30 kms away. I thank you all for the thoughtful wishes you are sending us for Rosie's recovery. To tell you the truth, I'm not sure she will survive this. She's lost more weight - she's lost more than a third of her weight now, and she's still not really interested in eating. I hope the new vet will make some progress with her.

For the ladies who asked about the washing soda, here are photos of my supplies. I have two brands of washing soda here - Prepact and Lectric.

I try to maintain a balanced view in my life and on my blog and I generally believe that what others do is their own business and not anything that I should be bothered with, but this is wrong. I want to shout this as loud as I can. Everyone who has some land at the back of their home should be able to keep chickens! Everyone should not only be allowed, but should be encouraged, to collect rainwater from the roof! Everyone should have the right to hang their washing in the sun to dry!

Joanne's comment the other day really surprised me. She said: "Love your new water tank. I've done some checking & found out that it's illegal in Colorado USA to capture water. Can you believe it? I also live with a HOA that doesn't allow clotheslines much less chickens! We're supposed to have all landscaping approved also, but think we can "sneak in" some square foot beds next spring as our land is on a downward slope & we don't have bad neighbors. " I've been thinking about that comment since it was made and I feel I have to say something about it. In doing so, I mean no disrespect.

I don't want to be critical but those regulations are just plain wrong. Is this only happening in the USA or do other countries have similar laws?

There was a time when all those things were so common no one questioned them. All of our great great grandparents would have raised chickens, had vegetable gardens, line dried their clothes and collected rainwater to drink and wash with. Why are you able to carry a gun but not raise chickens for eggs? As far fetched as it may sound, both are linked. From my understanding, guns are still allowed for self protection and hunting. Chickens will help you feed your family just as much as hunting wild game will; raising chickens in the backyard is a form of sustainable protection against hunger and debt. So why are guns allowed but chickens aren't? If they want to regulate, let them regulate the number of chickens allowed, not just ban them outright.

Read this: city residents seek relaxed rules on keeping chickens.

I have no idea why harvesting rainwater would be illegal. Have we removed ourselves so much from the natural world that the things we do to stay clean and hydrated must come from inside the house? We should be asking why these regulations are in place. Here is an interesting article about this very topic. If the argument is that rainwater collection will not allow enough runoff into streams, that's hogwash. Landowners will only collect as much rainwater as their barrels will hold. If they have two 5000 gallon tanks, when they're full, with each fall of rain they will just be topping up. They won't collect 10,000 gallons every time it rains. If they want to put controls in place, regulate the number and capacity of barrels or tanks allowed, but residents should be encouraged to take responsibility for their own water collection is they choose to do it.

Line drying clothes in the sun must be one of those regulations that seemed like a good idea at the time. I doubt there are any valid reasons for not allowing anyone to hang clothes in the sun if they're on their own property. What is wrong with that! Does everything have to be processed by a machine for it to fit within the norms we've set for ourselves?

Regulations like these make residents dependent on their regulators when what is needed in these current times is for all of us who are capable of it to be as self-sufficient and sustainable as we can be. We need to be independent and encouraged to do as much for ourselves as we can.

I don't think it's right to look backwards, and I know that we are far better off now than we were in 1950, 1900 and beyond that, but our ancestors knew how to look after themselves long before our chickens were frozen and delivered to us in plastic bags. We are all here because they kept themselves alive with the things they grew to eat and the water they collected to drink. Why has that right been taken away now?

If I was told I couldn't keep my chooks, harvest rainwater or hang my clothes out to dry in the sun, I'd complain loudly to my politicians, I'd write letters to the editor of my local newspaper and I'd form a group of like minded people to help fight against those controls. I hope I've encouraged those who live with these incredibly stupid regulations to find their own voice and protest. It is your right to do so, it is also your right to keep chickens, save rainwater and hang your clothes in the sun.

Another of the jobs I did on the weekend was maintenance on the worm farm. On Friday afternoon, Hanno and Jens moved the old bathtub I have the worm farm in. I found it too difficult to easily get to the worms and the farm was suffering for lack of adequate care. Now the tub is sitting on a bench in the greenhouse, it has a piece of corrugated iron over it to prevent rain soaking the bed and drowning the worms.

I have written about setting up a worm farm here. It's a simple matter to set your own farm up and if you're having trouble with composting - if you don't have enough material for a compost heap or bin, then a worm farm will provide you with valuable organic nutrients for your garden with less raw materials. Once you've built the bedding up for your worms, all you need to provide them with is enough food to keep them alive and breeding. That is generally done with kitchen scraps, garden waste, old newspapers, old cotton or linen clothes. Worms eat most things but they don't like citrus peels or onions. This is a good fact sheet on the value of worm farming.


On the weekend, I checked out the worm farm thoroughly. We always have reduced numbers of worms in winter but they are quite healthy and when the warm weather hits us, the worm population will double, then double again. I have the farm set up with casts on one side, that I'm constantly taking from, and the breeding and eating worms on the other side. Of course, the worms travel from one side to the other, but I check castings for worms when I take it out and although there generally aren't many there, I usually find one or two.


I removed the old bedding the worms are in and placed it on a tarp on the floor. I had collected all my materials and started placing it all in the bathtub after making sure it was moist, but not wet. The new bedding is made up of straw, a small amount of cow manure, some old silverbeet and cabbage leaves and the old bedding. It's all mixed together gently to avoid harming the worms. Then I added a layer of food from the fridge. There was a bowl of thick vegetable and barley soup, and old chopped up boiled egg, a couple of slices of bread and some apple cores and peels. Then I poured over about a litre (quart) of diluted black strap molasses. The worms love this and it provides them with added nutrients. Finally, I placed another layer of straw, an old wet cotton mat and sheets of newspaper. The mat and paper provide the worms with darkness, which they prefer, and keeps the layers underneath moist. Every few days I lightly sprinkle water on the worm farm to keep it moist.


All I need to do now is to keep the farm moist and feed the worms a couple of times a week. As the population increases in the coming months, I'll add food more frequently, possible three or four times a week.

Worm farming is a great project, especially for the kids. It's easy to do, safe, and, best of all, it is a productive project that will give you valuable nutrients for your soil.

Yesterday held the kind of loveliness that only comes in late Winter here. The morning was cold but it warmed to a mild day which almost convinced me to take off my jumper. Almost. As usual, there was plenty to do with all the normal chores and a fair bit of relaxing and talking on the front verandah. We had one trip out to have morning tea with my step son and daughter-in-law. Cathy gave me several bags of fabric, some of it vintage, for our sewing circle at the Centre and Jens showed us his newly built chook house. They're buying their girls in late Spring, after a trip to Europe.

I have been meaning to mend one of my nighties since I put my elbow through the sleeve a couple of weeks ago. That mending was done now, along with tightening some button holes on one of Hanno's shirts and stitching the hem of a skirt. I think this nightie will be in the rag bag next year but as long as it sees me through this Winter I'll be pleased, and if I get any extra, it will be a bonus. I think the nightie is about eight years old.