Of all the things I do during the course of a normal day, the one thing that is guaranteed to help me relax is knitting.  Who would have thought that winding a long piece of wool or cotton around a couple of bamboo sticks would clear the mind and produce such wonders. And it's such an old craft, unchanged over all our years, and more. I always have some form of knitting on the go. The repetitive nature of it helps me relax, it also helps me think, it's a movable feast so I can easily take it with me when I go out and after all that winding, we have something useful.

If you're new to knitting or you're struggling with a project, we have a group of experienced knitters at the forum who are always willing to help. To start knitting without someone at your side to guide you, simply go to Youtube and search for "how to knit". That is what I do when I want to learn a new stitch. You can stop the recording and go back, many times if you need to. To start knitting, all you need to learn is cast on, cast off, knit and purl. Start by knitting a square dishcloth - cast on 30 - 40 stitches, using knitting or crochet cotton. You'll be able to practise your stitches, work out the tension and still come out at the end of it with something you can use.


Late last year, I finally finished the organic cotton cardigan I made for Alexander. I chose cotton because it allows air circulation and in our climate, it can be worn almost all year. The yarn I used is from EcoYarns. It's a really soft on the skin and I feel happy giving it to my grandsons knowing no harmful chemicals are lurking.

I did finish the little cotton teddy bear though. This is for one of the babies. It's made using Japanese organic cotton which isn't as soft as the Peruvian cotton but it knits up beautifully and I'm sure will last for many years, every with constant machine washing.

I started two new projects over Christmas - a pair of wrist warmers for my sister whose is celebrating her birthday today. Happy birthday Tricia!. Tricia lives in Blackheath in the Blue Mountains, where it's very cold, even in summer. So I thought she'd like some wrist warmers that she can wear around the house while she's doing her housework or gardening.  My other project is a cowl scarf for me in winter. The pattern is on the wonderful Pickles site.

I have no doubt that my northern hemisphere friends are knitting away by the fire, but we down under can continue our knitting on throughout summer too. If you're working on one project or three (or more) like me, I'd love to know what you're knitting.

There is no doubt about it, the cost of living continues to rise and unless we take stock of what we can do in our own lives, we'll be swept along with those rising costs. I watched a TV report on child care costs last week. Apparently, in Australia, those costs are about to rise. When I looked into it further online, Australia isn't the only country this is happening in. I found information about rising child care costs in Canada, the UK and USA, I have no doubt that other smaller countries like Australia are feeling the pinch too.

I guess this is a good time to mention the quality of child care. I hope you're not in the position of having to take the cheapest care you can get, regardless. Whoever you choose has to be trustworthy, experienced and reliable. When you have those three necessities confirmed in your own mind, then ask about the cost. But if what you're paying now is at the upper limit of your spending range? There may be possibilities that don't involve child care centres or child care workers you don't know.

Work from home

When I had my babies, I stayed at home to look after them. It wasn't common then but Hanno was earning a good wage, so we had that option. When my boys went to school I was in the fortunate position of being able to work from home and although it was bedlam some days, most of my work fitted in when Shane and Kerry were at school or before they woke in the morning. If you're in a job where you could work from home, and it's becoming much more common now, think about how it would work in your particular circumstances and if you think you could do it, ask about it.

Home business

The internet has provided a means by which many people earn money at home. If you have an idea for a business, want to make money from a hobby or have a friend or two that could pool resources, ideas and effort, you might set up a business and work from home. If you have the business set up in one of your homes and have three or four working partners, maybe it would be wise for one parent to take it in turns to look after all the children while taking the day away from the business. One of the advantage of this is that babies can still be breastfed and see a parent during the day.

Stagger your shifts
Depending on your jobs, you may be able to stagger your shifts - having one parent at home with the children while the other is at work. This might add pressure because everything would have to run like clockwork, every day, but if it did work, you'd still have the double income and be able to care for your children in your own home.

But what happens if you can't do any of the above or simply choose to stay at home with your baby/children? I believe that's the exciting option. I am aware that for many, it is a big emotional and financial commitment to give up paid work and stay home to raise children, but many people do it, and do it happily. In my own family, Sarndra and Sunny both gave up work to look after their babies while Shane and Kerry continued working to bring home a wage. Both couples are renting accommodation and they're getting by just fine. Of course, it doesn't have to be the woman who stays at home with the children, many men find this a satisfying and enriching experience too. If you've been forced into giving up work, see it as a way of taking control of your home and running it cost-effectively while at the same time, improving the quality of your home and your home life. Babies and small children thrive in a warm and nurturing home, and the housework can stop and start according to their needs.

If you're trying to decide whether to go with child care or stay at home, make sure you make your decision with realistic understanding of your own financial situation and how much you actually benefit from working. You have to take into account things like the costs of transport, work clothes and shoes, grooming, lunches, drinks and the convenience foods or takeaways you buy when you're too tired or too late to cook something. Add all those expenses up and deduct them from the amount of money you bring in every week or month. You need to make your decision based on your net wage, not your gross wage. If you're not earning a large amount, when you have to add the cost of child care into your weekly expenses, it may mean it doesn't make good financial sense to work. Or if you're getting by when you have one child, adding a second child care cost might tip the scale. Whatever you do, make sure you do it knowing exactly what you gain and lose with the decision.


And also consider what you'll  be able to save at home when you actively work at cutting costs, shop for bargains, grow some food, cook from scratch, make your own cleaners and laundry products. You'll also be able to monitor your use of water and electricity, make a good work lunch for your partner, recycle, mend, sew for the baby and your home. You might even get into knitting, baking or soap making. All these activities are possible in the average home and are becoming more popular. They're seen now as not only a way of saving money but also eco-friendly and healthy.


So if you're faced with rising costs, start keeping track of the money you spend so you know exactly what your real expenses are, then sit down with your partner and work out how you can go forward. Life is rarely black or white, there are usually options in between that, with a bit of tweaking, will work well for you. When you decide on the way forward, work hard at it so it gives the entire family the best chance of living well. And if you decide that you'll take that giant leap from paid work to staying at home - you, my friend, have a wonderful opportunity ahead of you. Dive in.

If we want to continue to live as we do, Hanno and I must be organised. Living simply often requires us to hand-make what we use here at home and it means we don't buy convenience food. Among other things, we cook from scratch, make our own cleansers and grow food in the backyard. All that home production and scratching takes time but the one thing that helps me do what I want to do is to be organised. I'm not talking about the perfect well run precision of a ship, or even Fly Lady-type routines. I get through my work well using a loose system of lists, time limits, mindful housework and a routine that builds out of that every day. I think about tasks in groups, make a list every morning and that allows me to get everything done while allowing a certain level of spontaneous additions.

When I talk about tasks in groups, I mean that if I'm in the kitchen, I will group a list of kitchen tasks together. If I'm outside, I'll do the outside chores. I can go back to a certain area, and I often have kitchen tasks in the morning and afternoon, but once I'm in a certain spot, I'll do more than one activity.

I work out of our home and in it and have a family and other engagements to consider, I rely heavily on my calendar. I have two - a written diary-type book and my computer calendar. As soon as I make an appointment, have a deadline, need to be somewhere, call someone on the phone, I enter it in my computer calendar. I set the calendar alarm to automatically send me an email the day before and set an audio alarm for 15 minutes before the event as well.

The other part of my plan is to make a list in the morning. I don't make weekly lists and I don't use a regular daily list because things change a lot and most things we do here are done when they're needed, not to a timetable. I rise at 4am, write my blog, answer emails, check the forum and then I make my daily list. I have usually jotted down some dot points the day before as I go along and the list starts from that.


A daily list might look something like this, it usually starts with what we're having for dinner. If I need to get anything out of the freezer, I do it first thing. On the days I go to the neighbourhood centre, Hanno cooks dinner, so on work days, the list doesn't start with dinner, Hanno chooses what we eat. The blog and forum don't feature on the list because I do the blog before I write it and I check the forum when I have the time for it. I also don't write that we sit down for meals or tea, have showers, clean our teeth; they are a natural part of our day and the other things wrap around them. I want my  daily list to build into a routine so it contains my "compass points", things that change most days and what I must remember.

The following day will be the same, but different:

• Chicken and salad - defrost chicken, pick herbs and cucumbers
• Make bed
• Make bread
• Make yoghurt
• Make ice cubes
• Sweep floor
• Ironing - 15 minutes
• Phone calls and emails - order meat, check library catalogue for that book
• Writing - 2 hours
• Check and water fruit, pick loofahs
• Chickens, look for plant hooks
• Mend ripped sheet
• Late afternoon: download photos and start tomorrow's blog
• Make dinner
• Tidy up

A work day will look like this:

These are delicious! Kartoffelpuffer - or potato pancakes, are one of those dishes that can be part of a meal of a meal in themselves. Hanno's mother taught me to cook kartoffelpuffer and I remember as clear as a bell when she told me that when they were cooked, they had to look like lace. A few weeks ago Hanno made dinner and produced not plain kartoffelpuffer but kartoffelpuffer topped with cheese, tomato and ham. Up until that point we'd only ever eaten them plain but since he went back to Hamburg to visit his family just over a year ago, he has been researching home cooking, German style. This is one of the recipes he found.

KARTOFFELPUFFER INGREDIENTS

• 1kg/2.2lb potatoes - peeled and grated
• 2 onions, chopped
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons of flour - I use self-raising flour, Hanno uses plain. I think the self rising flour makes them a bit lighter.
• Salt to taste
• ½ tablespoon mild mustard

TOPPING

• Chopped tomato
• Chopped ham
• Grated cheese

1. When the potatoes are grated and onions are chopped, place them in a clean tea towel and squeeze out as much liquid as you can.
2. Mix the above together thoroughly. Heat oil in a pan, when it is hot, add as many half cup measures of the mixture as will fit in the pan without them touching - usually 3 - 4 . Cook until the first side is golden, flip over and do the same on the other side. Place cooked puffers on a plate with paper towel on it to drain. Keep them warm while you cook the rest.
3. When you have all the kartoffelpuffers cooked, add the topping and grill the top until the cheese has melted. 

Eat them straight away. The leftovers can be reheated in the microwave the next day.

CHEESE ROLLS
I had some cheese leftover from Christmas that I wanted to use - a really good farmhouse cheddar from Maleny so  I decided to make up some cheese rolls. I used a normal white dough and added a splash of olive oil to make the dough more tender and easier to handle. I rolled it out flat and sprinkled the cheese over it with a bit of paprika - in a way similar to that old favourite, cinnamon rolls.






Using a sharp knife, cut them into pieces about two inches thick. A quick 20 minutes in the oven and they were ready for lunch on Saturday. We still had rolls left on Sunday so I shared some with the chickens and toasted one in the sandwich press with tomato. Delicious! This type of roll would be great with ham or pepperoni added to the cheese if you wanted a roll that was a bit more substantial. I think they'd be an excellent addition to the lunch box because they're quite flat so they're easier to pack and eat than a round roll.

Once you find the key to good bread, it's so easy to make all sorts of bread. Just change the flour and you have whole grain, wholemeal, rye, corn and barley or spelt bread. Bread is a great healthy addition to daily nutrition. For the cost of a cheap supermarket loaf you can home bake an excellent good quality loaf or rolls for all occasions.

I wonder how many of you are regular bread makers. I wonder how many would like to be. There are some very good bread threads over at the forum but if there is a need, I'll do a basic bread tutorial over there so you can ask questions along the way. Let me know.

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.