Fridays this year will be about sharing links I think you might find interesting, or even enriching. It might be a blog, article or website but it will always be on our topic so I hope you'll find time to take a look.

Pickles from Norway - without a doubt, my favourite knitting blog. Beautiful photos of amazing creations and many free knitting patterns.

I love this blog. Ivynest is honest and beautiful, which I think is a charming and irresistible combination.

Look at these wonderful party ideas - written at the simple green frugal co-op by Megan from The Byron Life.

Nita on seed saving, and here also at the co-op writing about saving seeds again. Nita writes Throwback at Trapper Creek  and she knows her stuff. For everyone who aims for sustainability in the backyard, especially in a cold climate, you shouldn't miss these posts.

The new domesticity - Washington Post

Chicken breeds in The Guardian

Henderson's chicken breed chart - one of the best practical resources on the web.

I'll write up Hanno's kartoffelpuffer recipe for you on Monday. I've had a few requests. Hanno's really pleased about that and although I've been making kartoffelpuffer for over 30 years, having been taught my his mum, Mrs Hetzel Senior, he's given me his recipe and that's what I'll pass on to you.

Thank you for your kind words, good wishes and wonderful comments during the week. They really gave me a boost as we start off another year together. I hope you have a lovely weekend.

I've been swanning around all summer thinking I live in the perfect climate. We usually have heat and humidity from November onwards but for the past couple of years that hasn't happened, we had a lot of rain instead. This summer has been mild with temperatures around 25 - 28* (77 - 82F) but when Monday dawned all the hot weather hit us at once.  This is a quote from our local weather site, http://www.malenyweather.com/

(35C = 95F, 46C = 114F)

It was not as hot yesterday but it was still hot. At 2pm I wandered outside to water the plants in my bush house. Almost all of them were heat stressed but came back after a good watering. I cooled down the worm farm too. It's very important to keep an eye on worms during hot weather. They will die if it gets too hot or they'll leave the farm looking for a more comfortable home. When the plants and worms were done, I went back inside and thought about dinner. It was too hot to cook.

 The beginnings of my coleslaw.

What on earth do you cook when it's so hot. No one feels like a big meal and cooking only tends to heat the house up anyway. I had already defrosted a small bag of sausages so I decided to go ahead with them and add a salad. But it got me thinking about summer food. We all have our favourite winter meals of stews, soups and roasts, apart from salads and serving hot food cold - like the leftovers of a roast - I don't have a lot of specialist summer meals. I often make quiche and serve that cold but that has to be cooked in the oven. We also have salad with tinned salmon or tuna and salad with boiled eggs, but not much else.

What are your standbys during a hot summer? I'm guessing the answer to this is to cook in the morning before it gets too hot and then serve that cold from the fridge in the evening. Or do you have something up your sleeve that I haven't even thought of? How do you put a good nutritious meal on the table when it's stinking hot, without heating up the house?

Earning money, then spending it, isn't the only way we can obtain the items and services we need in our every day lives. Bartering is trading items of similar value without exchanging money. It's a good way to obtain what you need without having to pay cash. The essential thing when you start bartering is to identify what you have to barter, and be realistic about it - it has to be something that has value to others, not just to you. Each of the two people with something to barter, must agree that what they have to offer is similar in value and the exchange takes place. Then the person who receives each item owns it. I love bartering, I use my blog to barter and because I've been doing a lot of it lately, two readers asked me to write about it.

I guess there are two difficult parts to bartering - identifying what you have to barter with, and finding someone who wants what you have and can offer something you want. It doesn't have to be items, such as bartering a dozen eggs from your backyard for a jar full of honey from the man down the road. You can barter services too. If you're a hairdresser, you could cut someone's hair in exchange for something they have - it might be a similar service like mowing the lawn or it could be an item like a couple of knitted dishcloths or some home made soap. You might barter your cleaning services for sewing, or grow open pollinated seeds and barter the seedlings for sourdough starter, or a batch of homemade laundry liquid for a stack of chopped fire wood. It's really open to your imagination and matching what you have to someone close by. If you're downsizing or decluttering, I encourage you to look carefully at what you're getting rid of because it may have some value for someone else and therefore a useful barter item. If you do this, bartering can be a way of recycling rather than adding to land fill.

You may find it difficult to start bartering but it's one of those things that once started, confidence builds, relationships develop and often the bartering continues for a long time. It could be a simple exchange of backyard produce or something more complex like an exchange of services. The deals could be anything, all they take are a little imagination, the confidence to ask and then an honest transaction. 

When I first gave up working for a living I did that hoping that if we were thrifty, if we cut back, if we gave up a couple of the things we used but didn't really want - like pay TV and a second car, that we would be able to live on much less that we were at that point. The key to this of course was that we had no debt. We'd already put in the hard work to pay off our mortgage - which took eight years instead of 20, we didn't have any other debt and I hoped that by shopping more carefully for groceries, watching our waste and buying needs instead of wants would stand us in good stead. I was right, my idea worked. We reduced our grocery bill substantially, we got rid of the second car and pay TV and our expenses started to look like something we could easily handle. Hanno was still working in our Montville shop at that point (after retiring earlier from work in the mining industry) and when he sold the shop, he went on a pension. Still, we not only managed, we put money in our savings account every month and with the bits and pieces I earn from my writing and bartering, we still do.

I believe the one thing that helped us the most was to track how we spent our money. That was a real eye opener, we couldn't dispute it; we knew how much we were spending and what we were spending it on. That gave us the ability to stop spending in certain areas so we had money for what we really needed. Things like buying lunch when we were out, bottles of water, coffee, magazines, we stopped them all. We just used a pen and paper and wrote down everything we purchased - everything. When those items were added up, they looked more serious than they did as single purchases and seeing the larger amounts helped us make more prudent buying decisions. Everyone has their own achilles heel, tracking your money will help you find yours.

But money is only one part of the equation. Thrift made it possible for me to stop working at a regular job, but if I was going to spend more time at home I wanted joy and enrichment to be part of every day and I wanted to enjoy the day-to-day tasks I set myself. I would have short-changed myself with anything less. When I was working for a living, I wondered why I didn't feel "at home" here. Now I know that to get that feeling of comfort with one's surroundings, to live in a nurturing home, you have to give it time and you have to customise your home to suit you, your family and how you work. That doesn't come over night and it doesn't come with buying a house full of furniture. I have found that it starts to happen when you home-produce what you love having around you and when you cook and bake and fluff up your nest. You have to put time and love into a home. Cooking a meal every night and having a family gather at the table to eat together, strengthens family ties every day and helps form the feeling, for every one in the family, that home is a safe harbour and that you can be your true self there. Now more than ever we all need a place where we can relax and recover from the stresses most of us face in everyday life. My home is that place for me; your home holds that potential for you too.

We have done a number of the things we do now for many years. We've kept chooks and had an organic vegetable garden for over 30 years, we've stockpiled for many years, cleaned with vinegar and paid off our debts fast. But it was only when we did these things with a purpose and in a loosely organised fashion that it made sense and worked the way we wanted it to. Home needs to be the focal point, you need to rely on your abilities and yourself and move away from buying convenience. When you get that, it starts making sense.  If you came to our home you would think it is like any other home. We are average people. There is nothing special about us and if we can do this, you can do it too. We won't all do it in the same way - we all have our own values, family circumstances, income levels, abilities and goals, but that is the beauty of this - there is no "right" way.


So where are you along the road to a more simple life? It only takes one thing, then another, and before you know it, you'll be on the same journey Hanno and I are on. I wonder how you started, I wonder what your next step will be. There is always a next step, there is no final destination, the journey itself is the prize.

Today is the beginning of my work year. I had such a good break with Hanno; we've been watching cricket, snoozing on the lounge, laughing at the chooks, talking and reading, and while he's been doing odd jobs in the backyard, I've been knitting and sewing. I feel thoroughly refreshed and I'm looking forward to the year ahead. I'll take this opportunity to send my sincere thanks to so many of you who sent cards, emails, comments, gifts and kind thoughts to Hanno and me and to our sons and their families last year. It was a momentous time for all of us in so many ways and we've all come out of it stronger, more connected and with our focus firmly on our beautiful babies and the year ahead. We all felt the love sent our way and appreciate your affection and kindness more than you know.

Sarndra and Shane with Opa holding Alexander. 

Hello cousin!  Jamie and Alexander getting to know each other.

We had a lovely Christmas with the family. Kerry, Sunny and Jamie arrived on Christmas Eve and came to the Christmas breakfast with us the next morning. We didn't do any work there this year because we had so many local residents who asked if they could volunteer, we just sat back, had some breakfast and mingled. I proudly swanned around with Jamie in my arms, took a few photos and walked around with the donation jar, and that was it for me. I'd take a guess and say there were about five hundred people there, so again, it was a great success. When we went home, Shane, Sarndra and Alexander arrived and stayed with us on Christmas night. After we opened our gifts, we had a late lunch and relaxed and talked for the rest of the day. It was wonderful seeing the babies playing together on the floor; they are both so happy and content, just as all babies should be. I have to tell you that seeing my sons with their own sons is real joy and it makes me so proud seeing all four of them being the most wonderful parents. I don't think I was so relaxed and self assured when I was a young mother. I hope you enjoyed the holidays with your family and friends and like us, took advantage of the time to connect with your family and recuperate.

As well as being time for relaxation, I used some of the previous few weeks to organise myself and do a some tasks that will help me during the year. The fridge has been cleaned out, the oven and microwave are sparkling, the pantry is clean and organised, the stockpile cupboard has been cleaned out and checked. I have enough soap and cleaning products to do us for a while. The only thing that let me down is the ironing; it refuses to be done. Oh well, I can deal with that because everything else is fine. I've even synched my calendar and music, moved files to a portable hard drive and deleted photos. Whatever is ahead for me this year, I'm ready for it.

Sunny and Jamie with Santa. Jamie wasn't too sure about the man in the red suit.

Opa with cute elf Alexander.

There is so much to look forward to. I have a full list of workshops ready to go at the neighbourhood centre, a number of talks I'll be giving around the place, my Women's Weekly column is continuing, I'll be back on ABC radio and Hanno and I have decided we'll pack ourselves into the car and drive south to promote the book. Penguin is organising some promotion in Melbourne and Sydney and of course we don't want to fly down but hopefully we can stop off along the way in some bigger towns, sign some books and meet up with some of you. We'll take s few side trips and catch up with friends along the way and have a little holiday while we're about it. I'll take the laptop with me so I can continue to blog as we drive around. We haven't had a holiday together for a long time. Hanno went to Germany alone in 2010 and I went to Tricia's for two weeks last Easter, apart from that we had two weeks in Victoria about ten years ago. We're looking forward to this adventure very much.  I'll have more details about it when they're organised.

Jamie as he sets off to discover every inch of our kitchen floor.

This year I'll continue writing about our simple lives, and as there are so many new folk reading here now, I thought it would be a good time to go over some of the core elements of our way of living again; not only for the new readers but to keep us on our toes too. I'm sure you all feel the pull of commerce and pressure to buy convenience. We feel those same pressures and it will be good for us to review where we've been so we're sure about where we are going. Soon I'll be writing about cheese making too because we've just set ourselves up with a little cheese fridge. I've made cheese in the past but here in the sub-tropics it was too difficult to cure the cheese without a special fridge. I've finished the On my Mind Friday series and will be featuring instead a short list of links to articles, blogs or posts that have inspired me in some way. I hope to not only bring new ideas and writers to you but to expose them to a wider audience as well. And this year I'll link my blog with the Down to Earth forum more so we can all explore various subjects in more depth. On the more practical subjects that I write about here, I'll open up a thread on the forum to carry the conversation on over there so I can answer questions, you can add your thoughts and we can all have our say. Every so often I'll throw in my thoughts about ageing, work, babies and anything else that I've been thinking about.

I'm really pleased to be back. I've missed you! But I'm better for the time away and all it allowed me to do. I'm very optimistic about the coming year, there is a lot to think about and discuss with you, and, as always, I'm looking forward to reading your comments.

As we've "progressed" through to this present age, we seem to have lost our communities along the way. Gone are the times and places when we used to meet in communal areas - at the corner shop or market, to talk about this and that and to remain connected to those we share our towns and suburbs with. Like me, you might miss this type of community but you can find something similar online. It may not offer real skin and bone people but the support and encouragement is there, along with acceptance, different viewpoints on various matters (without any nastiness you sometimes find online) and a lot of information absolutely specific to living a simple and frugal life. If you haven't checked out the Down to Earth Forum yet, or haven't been there for a while, I encourage you to take a look. The forum has been revamped with a new look and the threads are running hot. Just to give you a taste of what's happening there, Lisa has just start up another year-long savings challenge. This is the third year she's been running it and it's helped many people save while getting encouragement from others who are doing the same. The thread started on Monday and is already three pages long. Here is her introductory post:

For the third year I am trying my hardest to shrink my mortgage, I've looked at my finances and predicitions of money coming in, as well as money going out, and this year I am aiming to save $6,000.  Thats $500 a month, not bad for a stay at home mum, I think you will agree!

Come join us with ideas, questions etc

This is a personal challenge so if you want to join in then please do so, set your own target and time frame.

The thread is not in any way competitive merely companionship and positive encouragement so please read each other’s stories and offer ideas and thoughts wherever you can along the way. 

Together let’s make 2012 a great year for us all financially!

Krystal has started a grocery budget challenge. Becci has a decluttering challenge going, I'm posting about work life balance, Rose has made up the 2012 Down to Earth Journal and calendar which can be freely downloaded and should help you organise yourself effectively throughout the year. There are many recipes for home cooking and baking and tutorials on making and doing so many things. We even have a competition with a signed copy of my book as the prize.

If you'd like to join the forum, simply click on the link above and it will take you there. You'll have to register (in the right hand upper corner), we do this to keep the forum spam-free, and then you're in. It's all free. When you arrive, please introduce yourself and start reading. There is a wealth of information there, there is a real sense of community too. I hope to see you there soon.

I'll be back with my regular posts next Monday.

Things are very slow here. We're doing what we're supposed to do at this time of year. We're enjoying the sunshine in the backyard, watching cricket and relaxing. I hope you're able to do something similar. If you're north of the equator, I hope you're enjoying warm fires and brisk walks. I'll be back writing regularly soon but I thought you'd enjoy seeing what our backyard is like this morning.

 

Flora and Nora. Nora is a Welsummer, but I now have a suspicion that Flora (left) is our third New Hampshire.

 Martha and Kylie free ranging in the backyard.

Anne Shirley, one of the New Hampshires, with Lulubelle, our barred Plymouth Rock. They followed Hanno around while he pruned the pecan tree.

The garden is a shell of its former glory. We have parsley and a few herbs growing as well as silverbeet (chard) cucumbers, carrots, celery, beetroot, tomatoes and daikon radishes. We're still harvesting a few things - I picked a kilo of green tomatoes and some chillis, and carried them in my apron. The rest is the usual mess at this time of year. Gardens never stay the same. Ours will get worse before it gets better because we won't plant our new season crops till March. 

And now I'm going to sew or knit. I don't know what it will be until I walk away from this computer. But that's the beauty of days like today - it's all flexible and slow. Anything might happen.

It been a very big year at the Hetzel home. Our main excitement and joy was to welcome the first two members of our family's next generation - Jamie and Alexander. I love being a grandma. It's more than I expected and it has given me a new direction in my older years. There are so many good times ahead for us as grandparents to our little boys.

During the year, I finished writing my book, helped edit it and when it was sent off to the printer I breathed a huge sigh of relief. Now it's back, ready to be sold - the publication date is 22 February. I am filled with joy and a bit of terror just thinking of it. In September, I started writing a monthly column for the Australian Women's Weekly. I'm now building my profile there in the hope of showing how good life can be when the conscious decision is made to simply. Earlier in the year I returned to work at the Maleny Neighbourhood Centre, after taking time off to finish the book, and have gone back as a volunteer presenting workshops on simple life and as a committee member.

Online, the Down to Earth Forum continued to grow and now has well over 6000 members. The Simple Green Frugal Co-op has an excellent and engaging group of 12 writers and has had 1.4 million visitors. I fill in when I can if someone is too busy to post. This blog attracted an overwhelming number of requests for advertising space during the year and I'm happy to tell you that I remained true to my values and rejected almost all of them. The ads you see on my sidebar are mostly barters, with a couple of paid buttons. That money coming in and the bartered goods help us live this way and we both appreciate the opportunity to earn a little money and use these top quality goods while we work here at home.

But now I'm taking a short break from the blog to rest and get ready for another big year in 2012. On Christmas morning we'll be going to the Neighbourhood Centre to help with the free community breakfast. Kerry, Sunny and Jamie will be with us and it will be a real pleasure to show Jamie, for the first time, what happens when a little rural community gets together to say hello and reestablish their connections. We expect well over 400 hundred people to attend. When we get home, Shane, Sarndra and Alexander should be here and after we settle in and open gifts, the eight of us will have a cold lunch and some drinks. I am looking forward to it very much. Jens and Cathy have gone north to spend Christmas with Cathy's family in Moranbah. Most Australians will know what we'll be doing on Boxing Day. Yes, the Boxing Day test cricket - I'll be there in front of the TV from the first ball. It's a cricket match that may last up to five days and this year we are playing against India. I want to knit, read and nod off in my chair all through the match. In the following days I will sew and knit and speak to flesh and blood people in my real life, although our gate will be closed to all but family in the coming couple of weeks. We need this time to ourselves.

I send thanks to Sharon who has been helping me behind the scenes here and at the co-op for a number of years, and to Claude who steps in occasionally. Also to all the mods and members at the forum and the writers and readers at the co-op, I send you all my love and appreciation for helping to build an incredibly wonderful and supportive community around my online endeavours. If you click on the link to the forum above you'll find links to the writers' blogs. If you look over on my side bar, you'll find links to the mods' blogs.

And to you dear readers, I thank you for your visits and interesting comments throughout the year. There have been well over 60,000 comments made here since I started the blog and I've read all of them, been inspired by some of them, and learned things about you and me as I went along that I hope helped me improve. I am always grateful for the opportunity to learn. I am ever thankful I have this blog to connect with so many people, all over the world, who strive to live as we do. Those mirror images you sometimes hold up for us to see have been vital and have helped us stay true over the years.

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday with your family and friends. I want to see you back here again next year after we've all had time to rest and relax. 

Happy holidays, Merry Christmas  and Happy Hanukkah from Hanno and me.  ♥

My thanks to the men who commented yesterday. It was really great to hear your opinions and learn a little about how you work.

As I waited for a meeting to start on Monday, I browsed through some blogs I'd never seen before. It made me really happy and optimistic about the future to see so many people making gifts and food hampers from scratch. Hand made and home baking has become part of our lives again. After a history of doing things this way, and a brief fifty year glitch, we're coming back to it. It feels good to me.

These above and below were made by my sister, Tricia. Above was going to be part of a quilt but ended up not wanted and left here after a visit. I use it all the time on my kitchen table.  Below is a linen cushion cover Tricia sent to me yesterday. I have a sneaking suspicion that it's a hand sewn portrait of the two of us. I am in the red striped stockings, she has my polka dot stockings on. I will have to talk to her about it.  ; - )

I came to hand making more from necessity than the beauty of it, although there is an abundance of that. I sometimes wonder what a shop assistant would say if I asked for a cloth for draining yoghurt or cheese, or a set of small to larger cotton circles or squares to cover my fermenting ginger beer and sour dough. But in the end nothing did better than the little open weave cloths I made. Table mats, runners and napkins were the same. Not only did they serve my purpose, they used up the scraps I had left over from larger projects. I think it's a bit quaint to use doilies alone to protect a precious wooden surface, but I'm much more open to sewing a doily into something more substantial that I've made from scraps. My doilies are sometimes from my mother so I'm also sewing memories into items I use on a daily basis. It's the best of both worlds and I smile when I see them.

This charming bird, in my favourite polka dots, was made by Sarndra. It guards our front door.

This make-it-yourself ideology comes into play in the garden too. Instead of buying stakes and fancy climbing trellises, Hanno makes do with what we have, recycling old pieces of steel and iron and using ancient timber stakes, bamboo canes and small raw branches for small climbing frames. I wanted a large stone vessel to place under the palm tree to hold clean water for the chooks when they were free ranging. I knew a stone vessel would be out of our price range if I bought one but when our old stone bird bath was too damaged to use in the front garden, it became that stone drinking vessel. The chooks use it every day.

Very early on in my simple life, I decided that instead of buying products all the time, I would be productive and make them myself, and that has stood me in good stead. I make aprons, napkins, small curtains, table runners, covering cloths, dish cloths, face cloths, rugs for our pets and many other household soft furnishings and woollie wearables like mittens, scarves and socks that allow me to use scrap fabric and wool while I'm producing something I need. Home production feels right and honest to me. I feel I'm doing what I should be doing and that I'm getting the full value of what we have here.

When I need something new in my home, I don't think of getting it at the shop anymore, I start looking through my stash. Usually I have exactly what I need or something I can modify. It's a great feeling to be self-reliant and not to have to rely on what's in the shops to supply our needs. I think I've become a lot more confident since I've lived this way; I'm sure I'm better for it. So while I browse around the blog neighbourhood and see others doing what I'm doing here, but in different ways and often with much more ability and finesse, I smile and feel like I'm part of a soft and beautiful revolution. Those of us who make do with what we have are showing how simply made cotton, linen and woollen items are not only be utilitarian but also make a meaningful contribution to a unique home.

I received this email from a reader last week and I have to admit I'd not really given the topic much thought until then.

I doubt there are big differences in how house work is done by women and men. The homemaker is the one who makes most of the decisions about how tasks are carried out, what products are bought, what food is eaten, how the cleaning is done, what kind of garden is grown, how to deal with household waste, and how much daily work can be done. The person who will do the work must make those important decisions. I think the differences are less about gender and more about values and the willingness and ability to do the work. Choosing what elements will take you to another level, like whether to add livestock, whether solar panels and water harvesting play a part, how much is enough for the both of you, and taking daily steps towards prudent spending and careful saving and how quickly debt will be paid off - they are usually joint decisions. 



If you're aiming to live as we do, there will be a period of adjustment as he transitions from a stressful job to more relaxed, but never-ending, work at home. He will have to learn the skills he doesn't have now but as long as the motivation to live this way is there, generally that makes you spring out of bed each morning because every day is part of a plan that will make your life better. You have control of your life.

I have no idea how skilled your husband is in the tasks he'll need to carry out, or whether he can cook, clean or grow food. I would suggest if he's just starting out that he does a skills audit. You could help him with it. If he can't cook he needs some good  books - I suggest the Common Sense Cookbook for the very basics and The Thrifty Kitchen and The Real Food Guide for interesting recipes with an eye on creativity and frugality. Easy Organic Gardening and Moon Planting by Lyn Bagnall is an excellent vegetable gardening book, and for a good chook book - I recommend Backyard Poultry - Naturally by Alanna Moore, you can get that at Green Harvest (on my side bar). Once he gets the basics under his belt, he can explore food storage, cob ovens, fermenting, preserving, dehydrating and many other old skills. For that he'll need The Complete Book of Self Sufficiency by John Seymour, which is his original book you might be able to buy second-hand, or if you can't find that The New Complete Book of Self Sufficiency, which is still on sale.

Your husband will have to consciously focus on jobs he doesn't like doing. Cleaning the toilets and mending clothes are as much a part of homemaking as the wonderful and enriching jobs like growing food and caring for chooks. There is an element of mental strength needed to be a full time homemaker. He will have the obvious questions from friends and family and he has to do most of the work, whether he wants to or not. From January on, his job is to shop for bargains, clean the home, cook, grow, preserve and whatever else you both decide you want in your lives. He will be in charge of driving your home life to where you both want it to be. That might be a simplified and mindful eco-home in the inner city or it could be a suburban home with a a little farm in the backyard, just like our place. Both are possible, many other types of homes are too. You will have to decide what you'll do in the home. Just like men who work full time away from the home need to take up a fair share of the work when they're home, you will have to do the same. You'll be the breadwinner, he'll be the homemaker. Both those jobs need to be done well but it doesn't mean he does all the work, it means you work together on your shared goals. You'll have to sort that out. Decide what you can do and are willing to do in the evenings and weekends and then do it consistently and in the knowledge that in addition to the money you bring in, you are making practical contributions to the life you're building together.

Deciding to live a more simple life is a big decision. It is for any couple. But it can work well and it's the best way to get some balance in your lives. Life should not mean accruing debt and then working till you drop to pay it off. If you work at it, it can be a beautiful balance of work, enjoyment and real living. It's not always easy, there are days when you wonder why you're shelling the fifth kilo of peas. There will also be days when you may want to be the homemaker or he wants to go back to work. That's normal - just work through those difficult days and the shared joy of a simple life will return.


I admire you both. There is a common view now that there must be a double income to support today's way of living. But there is a more unusual and enriching way to live. It involves hard work and the ability to step away from convenience and having many of the things that your friends might have. But if you can do it the rewards are significant and life changing. The daily work you do shapes the people you will become; you've already started that process simply by making the decision to start. So hang on to your hats, you are in for the ride of your lives.

And while I'm on the subject of men, I know there are many of you who read here. I get emails from some of you. I would love you to start commenting more. This is not a women's topic, it's a human topic - it's life. I am sure the women would love to read your point of view and it would help you connect with the other men here. We are all just sharing our own experiences, share yours too.

Many of you would know we had a broody hen die a couple of weeks ago. She hatched one egg, that chick also died and the remaining five eggs didn't hatch. We're not sure what happened but think it may have been a spider bite that did her in. We were hatching those chicks to help supply us with eggs in the coming months and years. Our current flock has decreased to only six hens, and all of them are oldish. We're getting about six eggs a week.

Here is the beautiful and gentle Martha, our buff Orpington, on egg duty.

If you're living in a similar way to us, you'd know that it's difficult to find good suppliers you can reply on. Many of the things we buy aren't mainstream products, we have to search before we buy. We decided we'd buy pullets instead of trying another batch of eggs but we wanted to look for a new supplier of heritage chooks because when we introduced new chicks into our flock with our old supplier, they would sometimes bring in a disease. So I started searching for a decent breeder, one that looked like they were doing the right thing by the birds, treated them well and had quality, healthy stock.

It's important to Hanno and me to keep the old pure breeds. Like heirloom seeds, large businesses have taken over the poultry industry and have hybridised the stock. If we backyarders don't step up and keep these old breeds, many of them will die out. Many of them already have.

I found Julie at Anstead on the outskirts of Brisbane. I chose her over the others I found because she had good quality rare breeds and sounded like she loved them. The added bonus was that all the chicks where sexed and if one turned out to be a rooster, I could exchange him for a pullet. In addition, all Julie's chicks were vaccinated for Marek's Disease and Fowlpox. Staying true to my bartering values, I emailed Julie and asked if she was interested. She was.

Fiona and Margaret checking out the premises. When they're fully grown, they'll develop fluffy heads and lay blue eggs.

Hanno and I travelled over to meet Julie last Thursday and brought home two Barnevelders, two Welsummers, two Aracaunas and two New Hampshires. We've had New Hampshires and Barnevelders before but never Welsummers or Aracaunas. I am completely charmed by all of them. Barnevelders and New Hampshires are always the same colours but Welsummers seem to have three - silver and gold lacewing and black red. I forgot to ask Julie about the colours but it looks like we have a gold lacewing and a black red. Our Aracaunas are lavender and they lay blue eggs. The girls have settled in really well and I have to tell you, I'm relieved they're vaccinated and in good health.

Julie sells:

• Anconas 
• Araucanas 
• Barnevelders 
• Australorps 
• Silkies 
• Pekins 
• Rhode Island Reds 
• New Hampshire 
• Plymouth Rocks 
• Light sussex 
• Welsummers 

• Day olds to one week old - $15
• Week olds to one month old -  $20
• One to two month old -  $25
• Two months to three months - $30
• Over three months old - $40

Is there any way I can thank your readers? I appreciate every single one. 

And Rhonda from the bottom of my heart I send you my love and thanks, you can not begin to know how much you have helped us all. And Hanno...if only I could give you a hug...thank you...you will always be my role model, I will try very hard. It makes me happy alone to know that you and Rhonda are together, somewhere in this crazy world there are two people shining their light for us all."