What a weekend we had here! We went to Farm Fantastic on Saturday. It's a huge farming expo, the largest outdoor expo in Australia. We were in the Food for Thought tent where I talked about simple life, did demonstrations on how to make laundry detergent and five minute bread and we made two 'from scratch' meals from leftover lamb. Hanno set himself up at the front of the tent, sold books, chatted to the passers-by and kept himself warm with hot coffee. It wasn't a big crowd but those who came along looked interested. A few knew me, most didn't, still, there seemed to be a genuine interest in our life way of living and the demonstrations.

Annette Long organised the tent and what a great job she did. Annette has a radio program, every Tuesday morning at 10am, on 101.5FM community radio in the Moreton Bay region. If you're a local, tune in. I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

 Here is the little farm yard on top of the cake.

 Of course, Opa was there to help Alex with the fruit, and to eat some crackers.

 Aunty Cathy and Uncle Jens.

 Shane with Alex, making sure he had enough to eat.

 One of the fruit platters provided.

 My son Kerry with his son Jamie.

 Sunny and Jamie. When Kerry was a very little boy, he used to walk around with a little Donald Duck figure in his hand. I've noticed Jamie often has something in his hand that he likes to walk around with too.

Days like this one are such an important part of family life. They give us an opportunity to celebrate important family milestones, they help us show we love each other enough to put that day aside for the family, they give us wonderful days that will help balance out the bad days and they help us form memories that we look back on later. Strong families don't just happen, they need work, time, the expression of love and a commitment to being part of a tight unit. Days like this, and the memories of it, are the glue that help us stick together.

I am pleased that learning is a lifelong process. It brings interest to our lives, it enables us to improve and change what we do and how we live. A system that offers to sell you everything you could possible need doesn't exactly support the idea of learning, nevertheless, if you step back from a purely materialistic approach to living, learning is what you'll be doing. None of us is born knowing everything we need to know. Being prepared to skill ourselves to do what we need to do in our chosen way of life is an attitude that is developed as we mature.

It's better than it used to be, but even ten years ago, it was much more difficult to find creditable information about many of the "from scratch" tasks we all commonly carry out in our daily lives. It was accepted then that housework was done by women who "stayed at home" using appliances that made it all just as easy as could be. Then and now, there were chemicals to spray and wipe, poisons to rid homes of insects and mice, super phosphates to fertilise vegetables and many many shops where you could buy anything from a bottle of water to anything your heart desired. (I wonder what our great grandparents would say to us about buying water to drink.) Times have changed; there is an alternative now. Now there is a more realistic understanding that we all do some form of house work, that home is our haven, that it's a much safer and sustainable option to reduce the number of chemical products we use in the home, we understand the concepts of seasonal and local produce, developing community, solar and wind power, self reliance, recycling and the wise economy of restraint. We are still tough on women who "stay at home" but I'm hopeful that too will change. Soon.

All of these concepts require something of us. They require that we think about what we hope to do in our lives and then learn what we need to deliver those hopes and dreams. If anyone should ask me what is the major difference in my life now compared to before, I'd have to say mindful learning. First there is learning how to do all the small step tasks that we now take for granted, then we learn how they all fit together. Hopefully the fitting together closes some systems so they sustain themselves, require no new inputs, yet still deliver year after year. When we have all that in play, we improve what we do and how we do it - we become experts in our own homes. And that requires more learning so we keep improving. If you're lucky, you'll never lose the will to learn and it will be a lifelong activity.

Remember though that learning is not done in isolation. Often when you learn, you teach at the same time. Being a role model for your children, encouraging them to spend time with you while you cook, sew, knit, mend, plant, harvest,  construct, clean, create and nurture will show them how to do it too. It may not give them the ins and outs of each tasks, but it will give them the attitude to learn. And that, my friends, is one of the greatest gifts.

Thank you for your good wishes yesterday. I'm fine today, I just needed a relaxed day to recharge. I am learning a lot about myself lately and I do know when I need to step back and sit down. Since the book was published, I have become very busy and in the past month, have gone back as manager of the neighbourhood centre. It's really a full time job that I try to do in about three days. I've also been doing a fair bit of writing, a lot of speaking engagements and have tried to keep on top of my house work while staying in touch with the family and enjoying my new role as granny. I'm not complaining, in fact I think the work load keeps me on my toes. I have always been the kind of person who gets more done, the more I have to do. I like feeling the pressure of work, I like being pushed to my limits, I like going to bed at night knowing I've done my fair share. I like feeling that I'm really alive.

Our daily bread with the remains of the previous day's bread cut up in a bowl, soaked in leftover gravy, and ready to feed to the chooks.

But now that I'm getting a bit older, I also need more down time and for that reason, and so I can spend more time with Hanno and my family, I'm consciously cutting back on a few things. I'm letting go of the Women's Weekly column - last column will be in September, I've closed down the Simple, Green, Frugal Co-op blog, I've closed down my Facebook and Twitter accounts and stopped doing a few other smaller things. I'm staying at the neighbourhood centre for the next couple of months to help recruit and train a manager but I'll leave as a volunteer worker and resign from the committee at their annual general meeting in October. That place has been such a big part of my life in the past six years. I think I am a better person than I used to be because of my involvement there and I will surely miss it. But it's time to move on.

A new season.

A few of the things I'm leaving behind have been very close to my heart but I'm much better off without the flimflammery of Facebook and Twitter. I think they're ugly spaces on the net and I've often felt a bit disappointed and disgusted when reading the stream that flies past. I created both the Facebook and Twitter accounts to link to my blog and announce new posts. I rarely wrote there, preferring instead to put the full measure of my words in my blog instead of cutting them back in FB and Twitter. Until I read Facebook, I thought that, generally, we were kinder people. I thought most people thought in a similar way to me. I honestly don't know how we got to this point. That drivel wastes so much time and a lot of it has an underlying tone of disrespect and self interest; I'm really pleased I won't see it again. I am not inspired by seeing out of context quotes superimposed onto the image of a kitten or the setting sun, and seeing animals suffering or in chains makes me so sad I can barely think. I am inspired and heartened by walking outside, breathing fresh air and working, or by talking to the people in my community. So that is what I'll continue to do.

So, what will be happening here? Of course my blog will continue. I love connecting with you and when I do have to take it slower because of the odd tired day, I miss you. I'm keeping the Down to Earth forum going because there is a wonderful community of people there now and it is a great partner to the blog. My business partner Ernie and I will start our workshops soon - I'll let you know when - and we're also starting up a blog to support the workshops and an online magazine about sustainable homes and communities. One of the good things about the four of us working together - Ernie and Jenni, Hanno and I - is that we'll all take it slow and easy. We aren't out to conquer the world. We want to enjoy what we do, we want to slow down and really see and experienced all that will unfold for us.

But I'm interested in knowing if you've had to do this kind of reassessment and change. If you have, what did you do and how successful was it?

I'm too tired to do a long post today but I'd like to show you this idea I have used in the bird bath in our backyard. For some reason I have a very old blue and white china lid that must have been the top on an old lidded bowl set. It was one of the old things that has been sitting around here for years with no purpose.

I decided to put it into the birdbath to act as a little island for insects to sit on while they drink. Insects and birds need water and we love to have a fresh bowl for them under our elder tree. However, some tiny birds and all the insects, especially the wasps, need a little landing and sitting area. This is perfect for them. They land on something stable and safe, have their drink and off they go.

What is your unusual recycling idea?

Sour cream and yoghurt are just some of the products you can make at home that taste so much better than the commercial brands. They're also cheaper. You don't need any special equipment to make these things, just some good milk or cream to start with and then add a couple of table spoons of a fresh commercial sour cream or yoghurt containing live cultures. There is an old post here about how to make yoghurt.

CHOCOLATE YOGHURT CAKE
125g/1 stick soft butter

1 cup brown sugar

3 eggs

1½ cups self-raising flour
2 tablespoons cocoa
¾ cup natural yoghurt

1. Cream the butter and sugar.
2. Add the eggs, one at a time. When this is nice and fluffy, add the sifted flour and cocoa and fold in. 
3. Add the yoghurt and fold in. 
4. The batter should be fairly thick, but this will depend on the type of yoghurt you add. If it's too thick, add a little water.
5. Bake in a greased and lined 20cm/9" round cake tin on 180C/350F for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Hanno and I will be out and about in the next few weeks. Next week we'll be at the Farm Fantastic expo at Caboolture. We'll be in the Food for Thought marquee from 2pm. I'll be cooking with leftovers, demonstrating how to make laundry liquid and talking about sustainability. On Friday 27 July, I'm guest speaker at Maleny's CWA AGM. I'm really looking forward to meeting the ladies again. The following day I'll be speaking at the Non-Fiction Literary Festival at Noosa.

On 18 August, we'll be out at Bell again! This time it's a workshop on making buttermilk and yoghurt scones, five minute bread and cold process soap. We're both looking forward to Bell, the women there were really lovely and I like the way they're helping build their community. The workshop is $50 for the day, which includes your freshly baked morning tea and lunch. Phone Pips 'n' Cherries on 07 4663 1184 to make a booking. The following week, Permaculture Noosa will be visiting us here to look at the garden. It's going to be a busy month.

I wrote recently about having ten chooks free range around the backyard and the problems that was causing us. Mainly it was that they like sitting near the back gate, basking in the sun and clucking to each other in low contended tones, while their droppings were smelly and they had burnt off all the grass there. Making the walk out to their coop was unpleasant and slippery in the wet weather and a bare dry mess when the sun was shining.

One of the pleasures of being grandparents is that occasionally we have our little people here and we like to have them outside in the fresh air and sunshine - but it needs to be safe, healthy and clean.  Over a few morning teas, sitting on the back verandah with the winter sun warming us, Hanno and I devised something new for our feathered friends. We get the backyard and they get a much larger run. Hopefully, it's a win-win situation.

We decided to extend the grounds of chookingham palace so the girls can still wander around, still eat grass, still have both sun and shade, but they'd be confined to their own area.

 The beginning.

 Construction stopped numerous times because of the rain.

The last two photos above were taken yesterday afternoon. The chooks are contained now and soon it will be finished.

Hanno used as many of the materials that we had here as he could but in the end he had to buy some fence posts and new wire. The old posts and wire were used to patch up the fence along the new section and also along the back on the creekside - which is potentially where foxes and wild cats come from. It needs to be higher.

There are three trees in the palace grounds - a native fig, a pecan and a Eureka lemon and they all fruit in their own season. I'm sure all of them will do well with the extra nitrogen the droppings will provide. We'll grow passionfruit along the wire fence as a permanent crop in summer then cut them back and grow sweet peas (my favourite) for a couple of months in Spring. It looks beautiful already - incorporating the recycled and the new - a celebration of production, self reliance and ordinary backyard life.

Although it's not quite finished yet, the bulk of the work is complete. There is some wire to go along the back fence to make it higher and we need to move in a large stone drinking pond. We have a couple of saplings to cut down to provide some climbing frames and day perches for them - chooks LOVE to climb - and Hanno will put up a small sheltered area where they can sit when it's raining. Even though they can easily go into the coop to stay dry, they never do. Chooks are crazy sometimes, but I bet you all know that.

Thank you for your wonderful comments and contributions during the week. It's those comments that bind us all together. I hope you have a weekend to remember and that you spend time with someone you love.

Grow your own: making Australian cities more food-secure.

This is Alicia, writing at her best, on Posie Gets Cozy.

I love this little winter table at This Whole Family.

OUR MOB - from comments during the week

Julie and her lovely blog Beauty in the Everyday and if you've ever wondered about Amanda Soule's Taproot magazine, Julie writes about it and shows some of the pages. 

Little Green Village is interesting and topical with many great photos. If you look down the page you'll see what a lucky man Mr Techno is. A baked dinner for work lunch! Wow.

The Thrifty Garden/Home is Mrs Mac's blog. It's full of interesting, common sense posts and wonderful photos.

In my real life the other day someone asked if I ever got bored writing my blog. She said it had been going for so long, "haven't you said all you wanted to say by now?"  Erm, no, I'm not bored with it. It feels like a friend that I sit down and share my life with. How can one be bored with that. Besides, I'm not one for boredom, I'm not sure it exists in my world. If it does, I haven't noticed it yet.

Sharing ordinary life with like minded people makes me happy. All of us together, all over the world, make hundreds of loaves of bread every week, we make beds, we wipe noses, change nappies/diapers, sweep, make cheese, soap and candles and we grow food, tend gardens and chickens, as well as other livestock. We're not meeting for coffee in the mall, we're not able to pass some eggs over the fence. The best we can do with our geographical isolation and separation from each other is to blog and write about what we do. From here we send the signal out - this is what I'm doing today. Are you okay out there? What are you doing?

Blogs aren't about one person. Blogs connect us.

I am interested in what other people who work in their homes do. I want to know how you spend your day, I want to know your routines, I want to look at photos of your home, family and meals. I want to share your celebrations and challenges. Seeing how you work, understanding how you made your home productive and comfortable, motivates me and makes me want to work alongside - even though we're far apart.

It reminds me of an Amish barn raising. Alone, it's too difficult, but together, when one friend joins in and another comes along, then another, we all move forward, some faster than the others, some doing it differently, some remaining traditional, some learning, some teaching, but together we raise that barn. We all know that not every day is a good one. When crops fail, when people and pets die, when it rains for days and doesn't let up, when the cat vomits on the kitchen floor, when we feel tired and today it's just too much, those are the days when sharing the load with others keeps us going.


On those days I look for the blog with the perfect loaf of bread, or a baby taking her first step, or chicks hatching or any blog where I see the good life is being lived. If it's still out there, I know it will be back at my place soon and everything will be right again. So no, I haven't said all I want to say yet and I'm not bored.

Okay everyone, let's get the barn up again today.

Bread is one of those foods that, when made with your own hands, gives a great deal of satisfaction and delight. It's only flour and water but it symbolises so much. I bake bread most days and use a variety of flours that I buy in bulk. Often I make a sandwich loaf because we use most of our bread for lunchtime sandwiches and for toast. Every so often I branch out to make a different type of loaf. I have tried sour dough in the past but I've not been happy with any of them. I'll continue to experiment with sour dough because I like the idea of using wild yeasts and saving the starter over a number of years to develop the flavour and become a part of the family.

However, the loaf I've been branching out to most often is just a plain old five minute bread. By five minutes I mean it takes about five minutes actual work to prepare but it's the easiest of all bread to make and to get consistently good loaves from. If you're having people around for lunch or dinner, this is the bread you'd bake, not the plain old sandwich loaf.

I'm sure there are many ways to make this bread, this is how I do it. It is the old New York Times recipe.

Late in the afternoon before the day you want the bread, take a large bowl and measure in three cups of flour - I'm using organic unbleached white and a German rye with grains at the moment. Either of them will do, or any flour you have on hand, including plain/all purpose flour. Add ¼ teaspoon of dry yeast and a teaspoon of salt, or less if you're on a salt restriction. Mix the dry ingredients together. Add 1½ cups water and mix the ingredients together with your hands until all the flour and water have mixed together completely. This mixing (not kneading) will take less than a minute. If you have to add slightly more water or flour to get a moist dough, do so. The amount of flour and water you use will depend on the type of flour you use, and your climate. Flour is effected by humidity and you use less water in humid weather. 

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave it on the kitchen bench overnight. During the night it will puff up and expand, but not as much as your regular bread dough does.

The next day, turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead it. You want it to look smooth and to all come together, but this will only take a minute, no longer. Form the dough into a tight ball, with a smooth top and a folded bottom and place this ball on a clean tea towel - just to help you carry it over to the oven.

About 15 minutes before you're ready to put the dough in the oven, place a cast iron dutch oven, with lid, in the hot oven and let it heat up to about 260C/500F - or as high as your oven will go. When it's really hot, slide the oven shelf out slightly to give yourself a bit of room, bring the dough over to the oven and plop it into the dutch oven, smooth side up and snip the top of the loaf with a pair of scissors. This helps the loaf rise and will give you that rustic look you want in a loaf like this. Put the lid on the dutch oven, close the door of your oven and let it bake for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, turn down the heat to 200C/390F, remove the lid and let cook for another 15 - 30 minutes (depending on your oven).

Same recipe using rye and grain flour.

The type of container you bake in is important. It must have a lid to give the loaf a steamy environment in which to cook. The container needs to get really hot because it's the very high heat when you start that gives the bread a great oven lift so it bakes as a tight ball and doesn't spread out over the bottom of the pan. I don't grease my dutch oven but I do put in a small disc of baking paper on the base that I don't change every time I bake. You can also use a pyrex bowl with lid or an oven-proof stainless steel pan with lid but I don't think they work quite as well as the cast iron. They will give you a good loaf though.

For a larger loaf, use 5 cups of flour, 2½ cups water, 1½ teaspoons salt and ½ teaspoon dried yeast.

Using this method you'll great a great loaf for very little effort and even though it's not a real sour dough, it looks like one and it has a good taste. The crust is crunchy and chewy but it goes softer as the loaf cools. It has a good flavour but it's not as developed or complex as a good sour dough loaf. Still, for an everyday loaf that doesn't take much effort, this one is a beauty. I hope you try it.

Over the years I've been asked many times what is the key to a simple life. I've thought long and hard about it and I reckon there are three main keys and a thousand smaller ones. Of the three main keys, the first one is to think about your life and what you want get out of it - your life is unique and it doesn't have to be like anyone else's. If you define your own path, and have realistic and satisfying goals, you're less likely to  listen to people telling you you HAVE to have certain things. You'll be less likely to be swayed by advertising. If you really KNOW yourself and where you're heading, you're more likely to stay focused. 

The second key is the ability to be content with what you have. Many people don't have that ability and never will. Sad but true. I think there is a way to develop contentment - you consciously think of what you're grateful for. All of us - the folk who have computers, cars and homes to live in are extremely lucky. Most of the people in the world do not have what we have. Don't take anything for granted. Work hard to get what you want out of life and be thankful for it when you have it. Share. Develop a kind and generous attitude. Don't buy things to show off, buy with purpose and function in mind. Buy good quality and instead of frequent upgrading, keep everything going for as long as you can. And at the end of the day, be grateful that you're in a warm and comfortable home with those you love around you. Hopefully, that will bring contentment to you.

The third is to pay off all your debt. If you do that, the rest of it is relatively easy, with a bit of on going hard work of course. The thousand smaller keys are different for all of us, depending on age, income level, ability, ambition and goals.

Mindful living, being content, paying off debt.

When you don't have to pay either a mortgage or high rent you free yourself up enormously - you can choose how many hours you want to work, or if you want to work at all. But how do you get to that position as quickly as possible? You need to have a plan and a budget and if you're married or partnered you need to both work together towards your agreed goals. The real trick here is to keep enjoying life while you're paying off debt because most large debts, such as a mortgage, will take years to pay back. If I were paying off a mortgage right now, I'd want my mortgage to be 25 percent of my disposable income, not 33 percent that many people go for now. I think 25 percent gives you a good pay back plan while not applying too much pressure. I'd pay that mortgage fortnightly instead of monthly. Also, I would work hard to save a little on the side to pay extra payments when I had the spare money. These extra payments make a big difference. When you set up your mortgage payments, make sure you have the option to make extra payments.

Go to the Down to Earth forum to get a lot of ideas about how to save money consistently. You can also ask questions there about saving money and a lot of other simple life topics. You have to make a plan to pay off your debt. If you think about it, just about every product at the supermarket has several brands that range in price from low to high. Consciously choose the lowest price, regardless of brand, that fits your values.  I won't buy any food that comes from China and very little food from Asia in general. I try to buy Australian and I try to buy as close to where I live as possible. That means I shop at farmers markets if I have to buy fruit and vegetables, I buy meat from a local butcher - I do not buy those things from the supermarket. I am rethinking my stance on generics at the moment. I used to buy them but now that most are from China, I buy Australian brands. I never buy the very cheap milk from the supermarket because I believe the way they're marketing milk is going to break the dairy industry. But apart from all that, everything else I buy, is from Aldi or IGA, mostly Australian, and it's the cheapest I can find. If you can stockpile your groceries, it will probably make even more savings, in time and money. So think about your likes and dislikes, your food values and devise a shopping strategy that gives you what you want at the lowest price. Grocery shopping isn't as straight forward as it once was. It's a  jungle out there.

Get involved in your life. Really involved. Stop working on automatic pilot, stop multi-tasking, focus on your work and do it to the best of your abilities - either in your paid job or at home, or both. Both are equally important and you want to give your best to both. Know how much money you're spending, and on what; know what's in the food you're eating - either by growing it yourself or finding a market selling produce you know a bit about; know your family - if they're young or old, never lose touch with them, stay involved in their lives and keep loving them.

There comes a time when there is a sort of automatic switch from being interested in simple life, and carrying out a few simple projects, to feeling like you're actually living the life. I think that switch generally happens when you're really focused on what you're doing - in both your debt reduction and your daily activities. We all do it differently, we all select different combinations of the thousand keys,  but when that swtich happens it's easier to stay on track and you don't have to push yourself to keep at it. It becomes natural and it's just how things are. Simple.

This post was written over the space of a few days ...
Hanno went out this morning and I took the time to work and sit in the garden. It was cold and windy, overhead a black cockatoo screeched for its mate. As the pine trees moved with the wind, acorns dropped into our yard. Luckily, the fence and rain forest protect our vegetable garden and yard from the worst of the winds but when you look up, the trees and birds show how strong the wind gusts are here mid-winter.

Hettie was sitting on the bench and every so often I took a break from my work and sat next to her. She didn't make a sound, or move, but she knew I was there. At 15, she sleeps all day in the sun on that little bench. My main work that day was to water the vegetables and when the soil was moist, to apply homemade comfrey tea to all the green leafy plants. Comfrey tea is packed full of nitrogen and minerals and it's a very useful fertiliser that is easily made in a bucket in the backyard. Easy, economical and nourishing, that's a great trio of benefits. I was going to prune the orange tree too but I looked at it and wanted to see the fruit on the tree for a while longer. It looks so pretty and it's a once a year event, so I'll take it slow with them.

There is something to be said for this kind of gentle work. The type of work that can be done anytime, not to any particular timetable or for any special need. A cup of tea taken outside to sip with legs stretched out, is enjoyed while I look around at the chickens and vegetables and up at the tall trees again to see what the wind is blowing around. Often it's just the acorns, but then a bird will squark and there will be a flurry of feathers or leaves, then it settles down again.

And now it's a few days later and I've done some light pruning and harvested more oranges. There will be fresh orange juice on the dinner table tonight. When the main pruning is complete, I'll have to treat the tree with some eco-oil because there is a lot of sooty mould on the leaves and if I leave it, it will weaken the tree.

All sorts of plans are made out there in our backyard. Plans to prune, move, fertilise, sow, enlarge, cut back and grow. But this is also where we have many of our family celebrations - this is a special place. There is a lot happening here now, we are growing vegetables, fruit and eggs; there will be a lot happening in the years to come. We have two little boys who, I hope, will spend a lot of time visiting us here running, exploring and learning. We have to keep it safe and healthy for them as well as ourselves. We want them to love it here as much as we do. There are plans for a sand pit soon, something that will encourage creative play for Jamie and Alex while they're toddlers. When they're a little older, we'll show them how to sow seeds, plant seedlings, collect eggs, identify vegetables and to see the beauty out there. You don't have to go too far to find beauty if you have a garden. It's right there, in front of your eyes, all you have to do is slow down enough to recognise that even the ordinary and mundane things in life have a reason and often a certain kind of beauty. When you "get" that, the appreciation of it transforms you.

I look around here and know that we are safe and protected. That we can make use of the soil to grow food, that we can harvest water from the roof top and store it, that we can hang our laundry out to dry in the clear sunlight, and that whatever effort we put in here supports our lifestyle and makes us the people we are. This backyard supports our decision to live as we do and I can't think of anywhere I would rather be on a cold and windy winter's day. Where else would I feel so comfortable and at home.

Over the weekend Hanno and I have been talking a lot about our garden. He often watches German TV on the computer and last week he saw a segment about German pensioners on the lowest pension. These people were making ends meet by buying and selling at markets and Hanno said one lady sat in the cold for seven hours to make forty euros. We talked about how lucky and grateful we are to live in a prosperous country with such a good climate. Our land and the climate we live in help us provide for ourselves. Not only do we harvest our own food, this food is organic and fresher than any we could buy anywhere. Yes, we both know that our garden is a great asset and it has enabled us live on our meagre budget, to eat healthy food, and to share a lot of it.

We bought seedlings from the local farmers market yesterday morning and now the bare patches in the garden beds are full again, new potatoes have been planted, more manure dug in, the gardens have been tidied up and the chooks have had a bonanza of food  flung over their fence. Everyone is satisfied.

There is much to be thankful for at the Hetzel house.