down to earth

I left Tricia's on Tuesday morning after my nephew Daniel poured warm water on the windscreen to get rid of the ice. It took about an hour to get to Mudgee where I had a couple of cups of coffee with my good friend Susan. We had a lot to catch up on; it's been too long since I've seen her. I spent the afternoon driving to Armidale and arrived there after dark. Having registered at the first motel I found, I showered and fell into bed, and then lay there for a few hours unable to sleep. The overnight temperatures were minus zero again, and again I had to pour water on the windscreen before I set off in the morning. The car was so warm and cozy but outside I could see sheep gazing on frozen grass. I was pleased to see the sun rise. After a long and tiring drive, I drove into our driveway around 2.30pm. Hanno was waiting in the garage and after a long hug, we walked inside to share the happenings of the previous week.

It was cold outside.

Sunrise just north of Armidale.

Tricia phoned when I was on the road, I pulled over and saw a moving mass in a paddock. It was a few hundred sheep being herded by a dog and a farmer on a quad bike.

The little town of Merriwa NSW.

I'd been looking forward to seeing Tricia and meeting everyone at the workshops but it turned out to be much better than I'd anticipated. Despite some setbacks with the hall, Tricia organised hot drinks and food for all of us and together with the food brought along by several of the women who came along, we were well fed and satisfied. Thanks Tricia and thank you to everyone who brought food to share.

This is the Sunday group. From left, standing: Brad, Alyce, Ally, Corinne, me, Petra, Virginia, Rhonda, Rose, Lydia, seated from left: Alison, Marilyn, Erin, Joy and Leanne.

Tricia is really keen for me to organise more workshops in country towns but I'm not sure of the interest. I'd have to have a couple of towns close to each other and there would need to be about 15 people at each event. If you think that would work in your town, email me and we'll see what we can do.

Here we have some of our Saturday group, from left: Michelle, Cathy, Larissa, Christine, Sam, Michelle, Nadia and Chantel.

Saturday group again broken up into knitting and crochet groups.

Saturday group, with two ladies not yet named: Allison (Rabbithorns), who is a mod on the Down to Earth forum, with Michelle and Nadia, Michelle is obscured and Dru in the pink stripes.

And Saturday's crochet group: Tessa, who is another mod on the forum (Teekay), Chantel, Sam, Tricia, Cathy is next to Tricia and Larissa is in the foreground with back to camera.

Concentrating on their crochet: Ally, Alyce and Petra.

Tricia with her crocheters Erin and Rhonda.

A small group didn't need a crash course in crochet or knitting, they watched the composting video: Alison, back to camera Corinne, Marilyn and Brad.

Rhonda in the middle of her very interesting demonstration of spice blending and roasting.

And what can I say about the workshops. Of all the workshops I've done, this weekend was my favourite. There were so many people there whose names I knew, who I felt I'd already met and when I eventually did, I felt an immediate bond. It's there you know, that invisible thread that connects all of us. I felt it very strongly at Blackheath. We share a way of looking at the world that isn't so common nowadays and when we sit and talk there is a common understanding.

Along with around the table discussions about cleaning, preserving, freezing and housework, I made up a batch of laundry liquid and the other Rhonda showed us all how to blend and roast spices for curries. Tricia taught some ladies how to crochet and I taught some how to knit. Those who didn't do either watched a video on how to make compost and operate a work farm.

This was my view of the Sunday group as we sat around the table discussing this and that.

The as-yet unseen man sitting behind Rose is her husband Tony. Tony helped in various ways during the day and took some photos. Thanks Tony.

Thanks to everyone who presented me with a gift. I appreciate homemade gifts so much and shall treasure those I received at Blackheath. Thanks to everyone who spoke so kindly of me and who whispered such kind words in my ear. Thanks to everyone for sharing their own stories, it was very moving and inspiring. For me, and I'm sure everyone who heard those stories, it brought us closer together and confirmed that we are indeed sharing an enriching and significant life journey.

I had such a wonderful time on the 1500km trip from home to Tricia's. I got up at 12.30am, had a cup of tea and a crumpet, organised myself and drove out the driveway at 1.45am, heading south. The trip to the Gold Coast, which usually takes two hours, took only 90 minutes at that hour and by the time I reached the southern end of the Gold Coast it was 3.30. I pulled over and had a walk around and a cup of coffee, then crossed over into New South Wales at around 4am. I drove down the Pacific Highway until sunrise, then turned inland at Grafton and headed for Armidale.

This is the road from Grafton to Armidale. It's lined with thousands of tree ferns and other rain forest species and winds up across the Great Diving Range, overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

Climbing up through the mountains, the long and winding road overlooks some spectacular scenery, and then, out of nowhere, a red light!

This photo was taken at the summit, from a lonely lookout, where the trees parted to give the perfect private viewing of the clouds below, with mountain peaks poking through.

The New England Highway is bordered on both sides by trees with either autumn colours or bare branches; it is spectacular. The countryside is brown, in sharp contrast to home where consistent rain over summer has kept everything beautifully green. I was surprised to see quite a few businesses and shops with closing down signs, and two pubs for sale. I haven't seen that before. A sad sign on the times, I guess.

Lunch was had in Tamworth and I happily drove on with short bursts of loud singing, interesting and intelligent discussion on Radio National, the window down, then up, and stopping occasionally to take a photo or two. I wanted to reach Tricia's before dark so apart from one stop to fill up on fuel and one for a toilet break in Mudgee, I drove on. Sure enough, I pulled into Tricia's driveway just after five. She was waiting, the fire was blazing and hot soup was ready to be served.

Tricia with Johnathan by the fire.

Lunch with Tricia and David.

Tricia is looking after her grandson Johnathan at the moment. Yesterday, Tricia, Johnathan and my nephew David, all went to the Megalong Tea Rooms for lunch. This little cafe deep in the Megalong Valley has been operating in the same location since the 1940s. The menu is simple, delicious and mostly home-made. After lunch David helped us with the shopping for the workshops and then took the train home.

I'm not sure what we're doing today, Tricia might be coming down with a cold so it might be a day of knitting in front of the fire. Poor us. LOL

I had a great time yesterday sewing and organising myself and my work room. You know that I'm visiting my sister, Tricia, next week and I want to take a few things down for her grandson, Johnathan. He is six months old now, they're just coming into winter in a very cold region, so that presents me with many wonderful options to knit cosy cardigans and sew fluffy fleece sleeping bags. I love helping others stay cozy. I'd like to write that on official forms that ask "occupation". (Not that it's anyone else's business what I do and besides, I refuse to be categorised by a single word. "Retired". Pffffft! End of rant.) I love the cold weather, rugging up and feeling cosy and I take every opportunity to help others do the same. I'll help Tricia start Johnathan on that road early.

While I worked in that little room, rain fell outside, I could see the trees and bushes move in the wind and I was pleased I was in that room.

Warm.

Out in the yard, the wisteria is turning gold and slowly falling, the grass isn't growing so fast and soon the pecan tree will lose its leaves. All signs that winter is nearly here. It makes me think of the alpaca yarn I have here and what I'll make with it. Alpaca is very light but incredibly warm so it's one of the natural yarns that I love to knit. Maybe some gloves for Hanno. Since he had his chainsaw accident, his damaged hand, with compromised circulation, seems to always be cold. It's even worse now in the cold weather. Yes, that's where the alpaca will go.

While I worked in that little room, I could smell chicken casserole slow cooking on the stove. I thought about all the people who have no warm room to tidy up and no casserole to eat.

Fortunate.

Life naturally turns inwards in winter. More chores are carried out indoors, we don't automatically fling open the doors and windows early in the morning to capture the cool fresh air. We keep doors closed to keep the warmer air inside. More cups of tea are enjoyed, lambswool slippers are on, gloves and scarves have been aired and worn, we've stopped keeping a jug of water in the fridge and ice cubes in the freezer. They'll wait their turn to be enjoyed again later in the year.

While I worked in that little room, I thought about writing this post and the people who would read it from all over the world. Coming here from warm and cold parts, living near country lanes and city highways, being part of my day simply because they read what I write.

Thankful.

I'm convinced we all need a bit of downtime during busy periods in our lives. Having that one day to do this and not worrying about anything else, really cleared my head and helped me prepare for what is to come. It doesn't take a lot, but taking as much time as you can to nurture yourself and slow the pace helps. No one will come along and tell you to take time out, it's something we all have to do for ourselves. I don't do it nearly as much as I should but I'm much better than I used to be. Do you take time to look after yourself?

If you're keeping chickens in the backyard, often you'll reach a point when you have too many eggs. Luckily, eggs are always easy to give away but they're also very easy to use up. Two of my favourite egg-based meals are quiche and creme caramel. Both recipes can be made many different ways, this is how I make them.

Quiche

Don't be put off by making your own pastry. Like everything else, it's a skill that can be learned and when you do, it will open up so many other recipes. I did a tutorial on how to make pastry here, so I hope you are guided by that and make your own pastry case from scratch.

The pastry has to be blind baked first. That's just the cooking term for baking the pastry case without the filling in it. To blind bake, you prepare the pastry in the flan dish, cover it with a sheet of baking paper and pour on some chick peas or beans to weigh the paper down. Bake that in the oven till it's a soft golden colour, then remove it from the oven, take the paper and beans off, add the filling and pop it back into the oven to bake.

Quiche filling

Eggs are always the main ingredient for a quiche filling. I used six eggs in my quiche and a cup of cream. The other ingredients were just what I had in the cupboard. Quiche is a flexible recipe and you can add whatever suits your taste and you have handy in the cupboard or fridge. In addition to the eggs, I added mushrooms, leeks, spring onions, garlic, capsicum/red pepper that had all been pre-cooked and allowed to cool down. When the pastry was blind baked, I poured in the egg mixture and baked the quiche in a moderate oven until it was golden brown.

Quiche is one of those versatile meals that can be served hot or cold. I love it both ways with maybe a slight preference for the cold version. It's a good food to add to lunch boxes and the perfect choice for a light lunch of dinner, with the addition of a salad. Your fillings could also include bacon, ham, celery, eggplant, spinach, kale or potato - all pre-cooked and allowed to cool.

Creme Caramel

I think this might be my favourite dessert although we don't often have it at home, if we dine out and it's on the menu, I usually choose it.

Ingredients ...

...for caramel

¾ cup white sugar

1 cup water

½ cup sugar

1 cup cream

1½ cups milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

6 eggs

This dish must be slow cooked in the oven. Preheat your oven to 165C/330F.

In a heavy based saucepan, place ¾ cup sugar and 1 cup cold water and turn on to medium heat. Stir the mix to help the sugar dissolve and cook for 5 - 10 minutes, until it turns into a golden caramel. Remove from heat and when it stops bubbling, pour into 6 ramekins, dividing the caramel evenly. Fill up the saucepan with water straight away to help with washing up later.

...for creamy dessert

Fill the kettle with water and put it on to boil.

Add cream, milk and vanilla to a saucepan and cook over medium heat until small bubbles start to form.

Whisk eggs and the remaining sugar in a jug until pale and creamy, then slowly add the hot cream mixture to the eggs, whisking while you pour. Pour that mixture through a fine sieve into the ramekins, dividing it evenly between the six of them.

Place the ramekins a large baking dish and pour boiling water into baking dish until halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Bake in a slow oven for 30 minutes or until just set - you want the centre to be firmish but slightly wobbly.

When cooked, remove the remekins and allow to cool before storing in the fridge overnight. To serve, run a knife around the edge of the custard, put the plate over the top of the ramekin and turn it out onto the plate.

Tasty and versatile egg recipes are like gold when you have chickens roaming in your backyard. What are your favourite egg recipes?

A couple of years ago, Queensland experienced severe flooding in many areas. I still remember the shock and sadness I felt when I watched TV coverage of the floodwaters rushing through Toowoomba and the Lockyer Valley in 2011. Ordinary life was being lived in Toowoomba one minute, the next, a wall of water shot through the city centre, carrying with it everything in its path. That wall of water moved west across the ridges and then down into the Lockyer Valley. Many people died, houses and cars were washed away and entire townships devastated. My father's family were early settlers in the Lockyer Valley, he was born in Forest Hill and many of my ancestors are buried at the Laidley Cemetery. When I watched that flooding disaster unfold, I was heartbroken. I will always remember it.

Hanno and I visited the Lockyer Valley on the weekend. The small community group, Citizens of the Lockyer Valley, invited us to present a workshop in the beautiful old hall at Stockyard Creek. Inside, not only did we find members of this strong and resilient community, we found framed collections of flood photos - a solemn testament to what happened in the valley.

In the kitchen getting ready to make laundry liquid.

Outside the Stockyard Creek hall. Photos by Hanno.

The workshop began with a welcome and short speech by the local mayor. His council provided funding for the weekend and I was delighted to know there was strong support for the event. Soon after we got down to the business of sharing, discussion and demonstrations. We spoke about simple living, budgeting, growing vegetables, composting, heirloom seeds and chickens, dishcloths, preserving, freezing, green cleaners and grocery shopping. We made up 40 litres of laundry liquid and showed how to blanch vegetables. It was a busy workshop, interrupted only by country hospitality - the urn bubbled away, cakes, slices, scones and salad rolls were laid on the table. There were a number of people there who read this blog so I was delighted to meet them and put faces to what is sometimes "the great unknown" to me. We ended late yesterday afternoon with a community forum. That resulted in several suggestions for projects the group may take forward to help local people transition to a simpler life. It was such a positive way to end what had been a wonderful weekend.

Many of the people who came along thanked us for being there and for sharing our lives with them, but I felt thankful that we'd been invited. This little group is the first grass roots group to ask me to present a workshop for them and from what I could they were are the perfect model for how small communities should be and what they can achieve. I loved every minute of it.

ADDITION 1: If you're attending the Simple Living workshops in Blackheath on June 1 and 2, and will be travelling in from the Bathurst area, can you email me please. Hopefully, if there are a few of you, we might be able to arrange a car pool.

ADDITION 2: Jill, a local from Laidley, emailed and told me my explanation of the flood waters was not quite right. Here is her explanation: The flood waters in Toowoomba in 2011 did not come into the Lockyer Valley. Rain fell along the range and some water fell in Toowoomba and went west and some fell down the scarp and went east to parts of the Lockyer Valley and probably hit Withcott, Helidon, Grantham and Murphy's Creek.
Mind you it rained and thundered all day on the day of the flood here in Laidley so the flooding here was locally manufactured. There is no gap in the range at this point to let the water through and all creeks in T'ba flow westwards.
I also need to point out that the flooding here in Laidley and also in Glenore Grove was far worse on Australia Day this year but we are small settlements and easily forgotten.
The flood in 2011 was 1 metre and in 2013 it was 1.5 metres and also much faster and more destructive, dragging away the topsoil from many farms (remember this is one of the few areas of good agricultural land in Australia) and digging holes of about 50 centimetres in all sorts of places around town. Some businesses have just re-opened and there is still a lot of repair work in individual shops and homes. Thanks Jill.

I originally wrote this post in 2008 and have resurrected it hoping that you'll find it interesting and helpful. I'm too busy to write this morning, I'm teaching myself how to edit a video on my computer. I'll be back tomorrow. :- )

At my sister's house.

Recently Kathleen sent me a magazine article called Grin and Tonic. I don't know what magazine it's from, there was a time when I knew every popular magazine by their page style, now I'm happy that I don't know. Anyhow, it's a very interesting view on happiness. In part it reads:
"While not exactly simple, some of their findings suggest there may indeed be a science to happiness - even a recipe. (And if your own idea of happiness is a flat-screen TV or a pair of Jimmy Choo heels then cover your eyes because the truth is, well, not very glamorous.)
...When University of Wisconsin researcher Dr Richard Davidson hooked up a Tibetan monk to an MRI and asked him to meditate on, of all things, compassion, he got the most surprising result of all.
"There as a dramatic increase in activity in the areas of the brain associated with happiness. There is an inextricable link between personal happiness and kindness."

Well, well, well. Fancy that. So all those times our mothers and grandmothers told us to be kind to others they were really showing us the way to personal happiness.

The article goes on to state that in another study they found that five random acts of kindness a week for six weeks"produced a dramatic increase in the subjects' levels of happiness".
This is one thing I know to be true. I know that being kind to others makes me happy. And it's more than the feeling I get when I am thanked for a kindness, it's more than the smile that sets on my face when I see the delight of someone who has been surprised by kindness, it's more than that, much more. This kind of happiness is within, it's more permanent than a fleeting smile, this kind of happiness stays with you, it can be built upon.

Before I changed my life I was kind to others but never went out of my way to be. Now that it's a more conscious action I make sure I'm kind whenever the opportunity arises and I have deliberately chosen to spend some of my time where I will be in a position to help others. It has made such a difference. It has shown me that my own life truly is blessed, that giving is much better than receiving, that my soul is enriched by people I would otherwise not have met and that my life is better by doing this simple thing.

There is a knack to kindness - it should be quiet and matter-of-fact. Grand acts of kindness, done only for the thanks or what will come from it, are quite the opposite of what I'm writing about. This kindness is often carried out with no thanks or expectations of it. And I'm not talking about making yourself a doormat either. This kindness will make you stronger. Doormat kindness is loud and obvious and done to make yourself popular or to look good. I think real kindness is like a whisper, only you and the recipient know.

I have never been happier than I am now and I owe that to the kind of life I live. I have deliberately made the choices that give me this kind of life and I repeat those deliberate choices almost every day. I knew long before I lived this way that kindness, generosity and sharing would be a big part of my life but until I started living it, I didn't know how happy I would be made by those simple choices.

If you feel that your life is out of control and you're not sure how to steady it, think about what I've written here. You can change at any point by making small, deliberate choices in your every day life. Kindness is easy and simple but the rewards that come from the quiet execution of it are far more complex than I can fathom. All I know is that I have been changed by giving and if you can change one person's life by an act of kindness, then you will start to change your own life too.

I loved the interesting comments that came through yesterday. Parents sharing their experiences in an open way always has the potential to help some parents confirm their choices and it gives others the opportunity to read a wide variety of opinions they may not be exposed to in real life. So thank you for taking part in that important discussion about what kids eat.

It seems to me that parts of the food industry, and supermarkets in general, want to kneecap us. They aren't interested in our well being, they want our money and food is something we budget for on a daily or weekly basis. There is no way they will stop promoting the products they sell, so we all have to step up, refuse to take notice and just keep doing what we're doing.

My main gripe is that this form of selling promotes convenience over everything else such as quality, location, scarcity and the environmental cost of production, packaging and delivery. Convenience wins every time. And the consequence is that slowly, we lose our life skills. Why make bread when it's available fresh every day? Why put the time into making good soap when soap is so cheap? Many people take the convenient option every time and don't know that products made at home, including bread and soap, are far superior to what you buy at the supermarket. I know that many people don't have the time to make such things but those who do have the time and the inclination for it aren't encouraged or supported in their choices.

The saddest part of this whole thing is that it drains confidence. I get so many emails from young women telling me they want to do this and that but don't think they can, or they failed once and they don't have the confidence to try again. If you knew how many times I made bread and soap before I was satisfied with it you'd probably think I was mad for persisting so long. Good works take time. Anyone can walk along an aisle, pick up products and put them in a trolley. It takes time, skills, commitment, passion and, yes, confidence, to home-make what can easily be bought. But the pay off is that you retain those skills, you produce goods that are superior and you know what's in them.

I'm not going to explain why it's a good thing to remain skilled and to be self reliant, I'm sure you know why as surely as I do. But I will encourage you to learn as much as you can and to be confident in your values and the way you live. I hope you'll encourage others to do the same. Because if we don't acknowledge that the marketing of convenience is turning us into a bunch of sooky-lalas, then we'll all go down the drain. I want to yell that out loud for the world to hear, but I guess my blog is the closest I get to doing that.

I gleaned a lot of hope out of yesterday's comments. Seeing women rejecting the convenience of baby food in a jar made me realise there are a lot of us who have chosen to swim against the tide. I don't know about you but when I know my values are mirrored in others, when I know we're not the only ones who don't choose the easy option, it makes me want to keep going, keep enjoying, keep sharing and keep learning. Thank you for helping me feel that so strongly yesterday.