I've almost come full circle again, tomorrow is my birthday.  Sixty-three - it feels so good! I know there are people out there who don't like the idea of getting older but I am a staunch advocate of ageing. The alternative - death - does not appeal to me at all.  So here I am, not quite an old aged pensioner, on the brink of a new career, with so many enriching activities and interesting people filling my days. Life's good.

Shhhh, let me tell you this quietly.  There was a brief two minutes in my late 50s when I wondered if life would continue to improve.  It did, it has, and it keeps getting better. I have lead a fortunate life.  I was born into a working class family and went to an all girls' Catholic school. We were never handed anything on a silver platter, we worked for everything we got and we were taught, very young, the value of a family.  That upbringing taught me the true rewards of hard work and set me up for life, and for that I will be forever grateful. I believe that work really is the key to a successful life.  I have had some friends who tell me I'm lucky, but I will tell you this: the harder I work, the luckier I become.  Now that I'm standing at this end of the age spectrum, I clearly see that whether it is in the home, working towards making your home a place of nourishment, comfort and calmness, or in a job earning money to provide for yourself and your family, what you put into your work returns to you in wonderful ways and turns you into a different person.  I have been changed by the work I do - both in my paid work, my work in my home and here on the blog and forum.  

John Ruskin

Just like the Queen of England, I am issuing a birthday photo.  ; - )  This was taken yesterday.

There is so much to look forward to in this life. Don't listen to those who say you must be a certain type, size, height or age to be acceptable. Don't believe that dyed hair is better than grey hair, don't be tempted by plastic surgery, don't fall into the trap of thinking everyone should look young. Celebrate diversity, be the person you really are and not a facade that makes you the same as everyone else. There is beauty at every age. Those lines that weren't there a ten years ago, those few grey hairs, all those signs - they, my friends, are your badge of honour.

I'll be celebrating my birthday here with Hanno and Tricia, then on Saturday, Tricia and I will drive to the Blue Mountains where I'll spend two weeks in cold weather. I'm looking forward to it so much. I'll be working on the book while I'm away and I'll blog when I feel like it.  That might be never, or every hour - who knows what I'll be capable of when I'm 63.

Charcuterie is the culinary term for meats such as bacon, ham, sausages, terrines and pâtés.  I delved into the wonderful world of charcuterie recently with an old favourite - brawn as it is known in Australia and the UK, or headcheese as it is know in north America.  These types of meats developed as a way of preserving meat before canning and refrigeration.  Now they're seen in may countries as specialist meats often sold only in delicatessens.

As you know we're enjoying Autumn here now. It's my favourite season.  It's cool, with the certainty of colder weather to come. Bliss!  I knit all year through and generally knit with cotton in summer and heavier yarns, like wool and alpaca, in the colder months.  This year is an exception to that rule because I'm knitting for the babies and some of the lighter autumn jackets and booties call for cotton.  I am using the Ecoyarns organic natural dyed cotton from Peru.  The colours are subtle, the cotton is strong but very soft, and in addition to being paid fair trade wages for processing the cotton, the women are given a litre/quart of milk each working day.  I really like the idea of that.  

I'm now half way through a blue cotton kimono jacket for Jamie.  The pattern is from the Cute and Easy Baby Knits book which is very easy to use, even for a beginner.  When he came to visit on Saturday, he wore the blue cotton shoes I had knitted for him, with blue and black striped socks - bee feet and very cute.  I must say it makes me feel good knowing the knits I make for our babies, while being soft on their skin, are not harmful in any way.  I like supporting businesses producing organic materials too. Many of them are swimming against the current to get their products out to us.  

This little jacket is an ideal step up project for a new knitter.  It could take you from "beginner" to "intermediate".  All it requires in the way of stitches is cast on, knit and purl, cast off/bind off, and the additional of two new stitches - "sl", which is just slipping a stitch from one needle to the other and "inc" which is knitting into the front and back of a stitch, instead of just into one side of the stitch.  It's a bit fiddly when you first do it but it's not complicated and is easy to remember.  Doing these stitches, along with the knit and purl, makes the curve in the front of the jacket you can see in the photo above.

My good friend and long term helper, Sharon, started a dishcloth swap at the forum and here on the weekend.  Sharon has been very sick for a long time so it's really wonderful to have her back, both here and at the forum.  The swap serves a couple of purposes.  It provides a challenge, a way of engaging with others and it is an encouragement to those who don't knit or crochet to think about working on a simple and quick project.  There are a few new knitters in the swap, so if you're unsure about your knitting capabilities, don't be, you're not alone and, as usual, perfection is not a requirement.  Making dishcloths is an excellent way of improving your knitting while making something useful.  Even if it doesn't look great it is still useable.

If you decide to join, when you start work on your dishcloth, keep the label from the cotton you use and clip that to the dishcloth before you send it.  It will show the recipient what you used and these labels often have washing instructions on them as well.  It's a good habit to get into if you're knitting for others - send them that label, or a hand-written label stating what materials you used and how to care for them.  It's a lovely little touch that I'm sure most people  appreciate.

Another tip: modern yarn is usually sold as a ball.  The old fashioned way was as a skein. The yarns above I got from Ecoyarns as skeins and before you start knitting with them, you form a ball; it's easier to knit that way and you get no knots or tangles. You'll need to hook the yarn over someone's hands or two kitchen chairs and just wind the skein to form a ball.  

Knitting is one of those distinctive skills of simple living.  It's similar to learning how to make bread and soap.  You can get by without it but if you take the time to learn, the quality of what you make is much better than what you buy and in the case of knitting, you can knit useful items for the home like dishcloths and tea cosies, and then progress to mittens, scarves and warm winter clothing.  It's just the most relaxing thing to do, it will give you a portable project to take with you when you go to work or when waiting to pick up the kids, and it makes your relaxation time, both calming and productive.

Happy knitting everyone!

Is it any surprise that today I'm still thinking about Jamie?  They will all be here for lunch tomorrow; it will be Jamie's first outing and Tricia will be here.  I'm serving free range roast chicken, potato salad and a fresh garden salad. You all know we're in the middle of passionfruit season here so dessert will be passionfruit cheesecake.  Yesterday I made passionfruit yoyos.  No doubt our visitors will go home armed with enough passionfruit to sink a small battleship. 

Thank you for your visits this week.  I hope your weekend is a beautiful one.

I am going on a holiday soon.  I am REALLY looking forward to it.  My sister Tricia is coming up next week to see Jamie and the day after my birthday, we will drive down to her little cottage in the Blue Mountains.  It's on the snow line there and although it's not snowing yet, it is cold and we'll have the stove going and wear jumpers, cardigans and gloves to stay warm.  I'm almost hysterical with excitement when I think about it.  Mind you, you would never believe it to see me, I am about the least likely person to be hysterical you'll ever meet.  But my interior conversations tell another story.  Remember the jungle monkeys.

My last holiday was a train trip Hanno and I took to Townsville in 2007, the one before that was Melbourne, by car, in 2004.  But that was a buying trip for our shop, not a real holiday.  The rest of the time, my "holidays" are spent here.  I haven't been on a plane trip for at least ten years.  I cannot justify the environmental cost to myself.  When I travel back from Tricia's, I'll be on the train, even though it's more expensive than a cheap plane ticket.

I wonder if others feel the way I do.  If it is for my own enjoyment, I will not fly.  However, if I have to fly for business reasons, for instance, to promote my book, which I've already been asked about, I will.  If I ever travel overseas again it will only be to promote the book if I get a sale in the US or the UK, then I'll go to America and to Sweden on the way home and pay a carbon tax.  Otherwise I'll stay in Australia and drive or take the train to far off places.

I was offered a trip to Singapore in 2009 when I was a finalist in a blogging thing, I refused that because it involved flying over there.  Tricia has offered to buy me a ticket to Ireland in August.  She and our cousin Susie, are going, and Tricia thought I'd like to go too.  Well I would, but I won't. 

There is not a lot written about the environmental costs of flying now but the problem hasn't gone away. I'd also like to know a lot more about carbon offsets and how the money paid in carbon taxes is used.  If you pay $50 on top of your flight fare and that money goes towards planting trees - that seems a bit weak to me. Who monitors that?  Who plants the trees and where are they planted?  It all seems a bit secretive. Is anyone else concerned about this aspect of travel?  Do your work and travel plans play a part in your simple life?

It's moving slowly towards Winter here and soon the weather will call for hot soups and casseroles.  Hanno does a lot of our grocery shopping now but I was in the IGA supermarket the other day and nearly fell over when I saw a large leg of lamb priced at $40.  I thought it was a mistake, but looking at the other legs close by, I realised it wasn't - the smaller legs were $30 - $38.  I just checked online at Woolworths, they have a large leg of lamb, cut in two, for $13.00 a kilo or $36 for the leg. Lamb cutlets, that I grew up on, are now $36 a kilo!  That is just incredible to me.

After I was shocked by that IGA leg of lamb, I talked to Hanno about buying our next meat order in bulk.  We usually use a local family butcher, who is also a grazier with his farm in the mountains near us, so we know his meat is local, grass fed, excellent value, and he kills it himself.  Instead of buying our usual mix of beef, lamb, dry cured bacon and chicken (which usually averages out at about $12/kilo), we ordered a hind quarter of beef.  The girl on the phone, the butcher's daughter, told us the cattle would be slaughtered on a certain day, that dad would hang the meat for a week and it would be ready for pick up on Tuesday, yesterday.  It was two large boxes full and it cost us $308, or $7.80 a kilo.

When Hanno brought it home, we both washed our hands and started packing it away.  Hanno cleaned out the freezer and defrosted it yesterday, so it was ready to be filled.  I wasn't sure how much our freezer would hold so I got the small hind quarter, but when we packed the meat away, the freezer is only one third full. I was talking to Sarndra on the phone yesterday and told her about this and she was interested in sharing the next order. So the next time we do this, I'll order the entire side and share it with Sarndra and Sunny.  The meat will then be $6.80 a kilo.  We might also get a side of lamb then so we have a choice of meat.  I'll buy a few chickens to have on hand in the freezer too.  Sarndra recommended Aldi's free range chicken to me and when we had some at her place for lunch one day, I have to agree, it was very tasty.  And the next time we're down on the coast, we'll get some fish from the fish co-op.  That should give us a good selection of excellent quality meat to choose from, as well as the vegetarian meals we still eat.

If you have a freezer and a good butcher nearby, I recommend this to you.  You have to be sure of the quality of the meat though, before you buy it.  Don't buy cheap meat just because it's cheap.  If it is good quality it is wise economy, if it is poor quality, it's a waste. If a new butcher is recommended to you, talk to him about the meat he sells, where it comes from, where it is slaughtered, how fresh it is and if it is grass fed or grain fed.  Grain fed beef is advertised as something special but grass fed beef is better.  Grass fed means the animal lived in a pasture and had natural feed.  Click here for more information on what that means.  Try a small selection of the new butcher's meat before you place your bulk order, just to make sure it's to your taste and is the quality you expect.

Any good butcher will ask you how you want the meat portioned and cut when you place your order.  We got rump - in thick slices and thiner slices, round - thinly sliced (I will stuff and roll it), eye fillet in one piece, three corned beefs, many T bone steaks - some large, some small, lots of minced steak (ground beef), many kilos of sausages, many kilos of diced beef and the bones.  The diced beef is the gravy beef and is one I'm particularly interested in.  When you see that gristle line through it, if you slow cook that, the gristle dissolves and releases natural gelatine - it's very good for you and the meat is delicious.  I'll use the bones for soup and stock, and Alice will also have a few. Make sure the butcher gives you the option of the bones.  Please take them and use them.

As soon as you get the meat home it must be frozen.  We use freezer bags and I use the large ones so I can put the meat in the botton of the bag, twist it around, and double the bag up on itself again - giving us a double wrapped package.  This protects the meat from freezer burn.  This giant order of meat is an investment for Hanno and I and it is my responsibility to look after it and not waste one ounce of it.  Make sure you label every bag.  We used halved stickers because the marker pen usually rubs off.

When you place your order, make sure you can eat the meat in the time recommended in these guidelines.  Frozen meat will deteriorate if left too long, so it's better to share the order with a friend or neighbour if it's too much for you to eat in that time period.  If you can find a good butcher with local, good quality meat, buying meat in bulk like this will help you put good food on the table for less.  It might take a while to find a butcher you trust, but when you do, there will be no going back.

ADDITION: I've had a couple of emails asking where our butcher is - here is his website.

Sunny, Kerry and Jamie.

I've been thinking about becoming a grandmother for a long time and to tell you the truth, I couldn't get my head around it and didn't know what to expect. I knew what was expected of me, I was well aware of the responsibilities of a grandmother, but I couldn't work out how I felt about it or what my own expectations were.  I knew my identity would change and I didn't have a problem with that. I see ageing as a very positive thing, being a grandma would be another step along my long and well traversed road.  Bring it on!

I suppose my main concern was making a connection with my grandson as heartfelt and strong as the connection I have with my sons.  Anything less would be a disappointment, but could I hope for something similar, or more?  I also want to have a strong relationship with Sunny, with no feelings of intimidation or awkwardness. I want it to be easy - for both of us. I want her to love me and I want her to feel she is loved and part of our family.  I don't want to intrude on Sunny's space; I remember how protective I was of my babies as a young mother. I am a complex bundle of madness when I put my mind to it and sometimes what is perceived on the outside as a stable and dependable older woman is, in fact, the equivalent of a box full of monkeys being let loose in the jungle.  This was a huge change, who knew what would happen. Would I love him enough, would he love me?  Until I knew that I just had to walk around acting like a normal person and let nature take its course.

Sunny was resting in her hospital bed when we walked in.  She was delighted to see us and quickly showed us little Jamie all bundled up in a cot.  I asked could I hold him and she said: "of course, mum."  I picked him up; he was wearing a little blue bamboo hat I'd knitted and was wrapped like a white cotton cocoon. As I held him, his little eyes flickered for a second and then he looked up at me. I looked into those eyes wanting to see something familiar, and it was there, that easy and inescapable recognition that has connected families for thousands of years.  I still don't know what happened when our eyes met for the first time but as he snuggled in closer to me, whatever it was was permanent, powerful and undeniable.

I know that as a grandmother I am Jamie's link backwards - to the nine generations of my family who have made their homes in Australia since the 1790s, and to the others from Ireland, Sweden and England long before that.  Hanno is his link to his German family, Sunny's mother is his link to his Korean roots. I believe that being part of a family is important.  It will support and guide Jamie as he grows older and help form the person he becomes.  I know now that I changed last week and maybe that first look between us had a significance beyond that of a grandma and a grandson meeting for the first time.  It was the beginning of love and I think it melted my feelings of uncertainly and placed me well and truly deep within the heart of this family. The grandmother who keeps it together even when the monkeys are running loose in the jungle.

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It seems to me that some women have this slinging match over who has the higher ground.  Don't go there, you're better than that.  Support other women, and expect support back from them.  It is not acceptable to criticise anyone for not going out to work, or for going out to work and neglecting their house work.  It's stupid and mean.  Be the friend you hope to find.  Be the woman/man you want your daughter/son to be.  I don't understand where the guilt comes from.  Some women have to work and feel guilty for not being at home with their children and not keeping their home as they would like it.  Other women feel guilty for staying at home and not helping with the family finances.  And some women are made to feel guilt when they're criticised for the choice they made - either to work outside the home, or at home.

A couple of ladies have asked how to answer the "what do you do?"- type questions. We should all start from a position of grace and respect.  When I'm asked, I always presume they want to know the truth, so I tell them about making pure soap or the most delicious bread in the world or that we just dug our latest crop of organic potatoes or that I just put up the summer tomatoes or some peaches - and how doing those things makes me feel.  I usually tell them I have a very good recipe for laundry liquid/orange cake/slow cooked italian beef casserole and ask if they would they like me to write it down for them.  Even if the "what do you do" question was not asked with the best of intentions, sharing helps break down those barriers and shows an open heart.

I know there are many readers here who are homemakers, many who work outside the home, and some who combine both.  I have respect for everyone who, like me, is doing their best and working towards a better future, no matter where their workplace is.  Mutual respect and acceptance will go a long way  towards creating caring communities for us all to live in, so when you are asked about what you do, be ready to smile and write out a recipe.  Generosity is sometimes contagious.