There is something about Sunday afternoons. I'm not sure what it is but I know they feel different to every other afternoon. I'm writing Monday's blog now, Sunday afternoon, and feeling very relaxed and calm. The three of us - Hanno, Jamie and me, have finished lunch and now Hanno and Jamie are having a snooze, while I am her with you.   :- ) Lunch was delicious, by the way, we had buttermilk fried chicken, green beans straight from the garden and Dutch cream potatoes. Jamie played at the table with his animals while Hanno helped me prepare the lunch.

I've been trying to get around to making a new apron and I haven't found the time for it yet. Maybe when I finish here I'll have a few hours. Who knows, when there is a toddler in the house, anything can happen.  I did finish off my pin cushion-sewing kit and I'm very pleased with it. It's only a little preserving jar with a two-piece lid. It's a very easy project and it makes a lovely small gift for the sewers and quilters in your life.




Out in the backyard, the garden has almost given up. We haven't planted anything new for about a month and while I intend to plant eight self-sown pumpkin seedling vines in the compost heap to grow over summer, nothing else will go in until next March. I picked three good cucumbers yesterday and there is one small one still on the vine. I'm not sure if it will continue producing, if it does, I'll continue picking. The beans we had for lunch today were from a few bush bean plants that still look reasonably healthy, there is a lot of parsley, as well as onions and a few tomatoes. The corn is on its last legs and we picked three, although Jamie found one small cob on the dying stalks this morning and immediately started eating it. It's one of the lovely side benefits of having a toddler in a garden. When they see vegetables and fruit growing, they want to eat it. Apart from that, we have a few capsicums/peppers still producing and I picked a bag of small chillies yesterday. As soon as I washed them, I put them in a plastic bag to freeze. They'll be fine for cooking later this year and into next.

It is one of life's true pleasures to be able to slow down, do your housework in your own time and to produce real food for the table with close family there to appreciate it. And now we have Jamie with us two weekends out of four, he's growing up knowing that food is picked in the backyard and put into the harvest basket to take inside with the eggs. And if no one is looking, and even if they are, it's okay to eat what you pick straight away and get the benefit of that kind of freshness.

I wonder what you did on your Sunday afternoon. :- )

Are you getting yourself organised for the end of year holidays? I made up three bottles of ginger beer yesterday and today, I'll make a Christmas cake if I have the time. I hope you enjoy your weekend, take some time out for yourself to relax.

I would be a very happy woman if I went out over Christmas and was served this from Petite Kitchen
How much do I need to retire at 60?
Global warming since 1997, significantly underestimated
Self reliance in LA - You Tube

From the comments this week
My Little World
Cassandra Madge
Twigs and Twine

I love to have a homemade treat to serve when people come to visit and stay for a cup of tea and I usually make a cake or biscuits during the week so I'm not often caught unprepared. At the moment there is a moist banana and walnut cake sitting on our kitchen bench. It's such a small thing to offer homemade cakes, they only take five minutes to mix, then 30 minutes or so in the oven. But what happens when there is no homemade cake or biscuits and someone rings to tell us they're on their way and will be here in 20 minutes.

I'm sure this will be different for everyone but my main two standbys are scones or pikelets. Both can be mixed, cooked and on the plate in 20 minutes. If you don't know how to cook pikelets, here is my quick recipe. They're similar to the flapjacks or hotcakes that some people have for breakfast, although these are apple and cinnamon pikelets. And they are delicious.

Into a mixing bowl add:

Pour half the wet ingredients into the dry and mix

Add the rest of the milk mixture and finish mixing. The batter should be a thick pouring consistency.

Into a hot frying pan, add a little butter to stop sticking, turn the heat down to about medium and pour in small circles of batter. You should be able to fit four into a regular size frying pan. Allow to brown on one side and when you see small holes appearing in the uncooked side, flip them over. Brown the second size and remove.

I used the new Sundowner apples for this recipe. A daughter of Pink Lady, they're a very good eating and cooking apple - crisp and sweet. I'd never tried them before but I'll be buying more of them.

Serve with a knob of butter if they're still warm, or buttered if they cold.  These make a good treat in the lunch boxes as well.

What is your go-to fast homemade treat?

I don't think I've written about travel and transport before and I'm not sure why because I do think about it a lot.  When I gave up paid work, we sold our second car and I voluntarily gave up air travel. That was well over ten years ago and since then, on long trips, I've used the car or train. Plane and car travel cause a lot of greenhouse gas emissions we should all be looking at what we're doing and improving what we can.  Of course, there are times when no matter how much you want it, you can't get rid of your car and you can't change it. You have to made do with what you have.  Here are some eco driving tips to get more kilometres or miles from the fuel you use. From an environmental and financial perspective, we should all be concerned about our own usage.

This is our car - a second-hand 2010 Toyota Camry Hybrid.

Back in the 70 and 80, before we'd heard of global warming, we used to drive six cylinder Fords or Holdens. We usually had a station  wagon so we had enough room to get our boys to where they needed to go and enough room for our dogs. When we knew we had to be more careful with fuel, we moved to four cylinder cars.  A couple of years ago we bought our first hybrid car - a Camry Hybrid. We got a great deal from our local dealer on the car they were using as their hybrid demonstration car. We paid cash, drove it away and I was hooked. Our fuel usage dropped by 30 percent. It is, by far, the best car we've ever owned. It's easy to drive, four cylinder, spacious and comfortable. It's not a plug-in car, it's electric and petrol combined. When we turn it on, there is no sound, we can only hear the motor when the petrol motor starts. It incorporates technology that harvests the energy from using the brakes and forward motion. It's far outside my limited understanding of such things, but the bottom line is we're using 30 percent less fuel than we used to. It still has all the mod cons you expect in a new car but the technology makes the most of the fuel we put in it. 

There are also the options of public transport, walking and bicycling. We are within walking distance of our local shops but we rarely shop there. Occasionally, when we have to go into Brisbane, we'll go on the train rather than the car and I have used the train often when visiting Tricia. I love train travel and see it as a bit of an adventure.  Hanno has a bike and will cycle over to the local shops sometimes but mostly the bike sits in the garage. Of course we all know of Greg and Sophie's bike trip from Melbourne, via Tasmania, to North Queensland. They stayed with us here on the long trip up the coast and reported in their book Changing Gears, how that trip changed them. And here are some tips on travel, transport and sustainable living.

Many local authorities in Australia now have a sustainable transport plan. Ours, on the Sunshine Coast, is here. We do make sure we do as much as we can on each trip out and we are conscious of the amount of travel we do by car. I guess if we were a little younger we might look at other, more sustainable forms of transport.  But now, I'll stick with our hybrid, with occasional long trips by train.

What's your main form of transport?

As I wander around the web, I sometimes find homemakers who aren't really at peace with their role. From what I can see, these are all kinds of homemakers. I don't think that homemaking is only a women's role. I know of women and men who call themselves homemakers, I know career women and men who are part-time homemakers, and I know of girls and boys who help care for disabled parents and that places them in the role of the homemaker.

When I was working for a living, I hated house work. I saw it as a burden and I did it as quickly as I could. When I gave up paid work and started full time housework, I had to think about my place in our home and how I could work there and make it a place I was happy to spend time in. I didn't just want to be there because I had to; I wanted to love it. That was the key for me. If I could work at home and feel comfortable there, then that was my gift … to me, and to everyone who lives here or visits. 

My mission was to create a place where we all felt protected, relaxed and comfortable. I wanted to learn as much as I could about traditional homemaking and to make that fit into my modern life. I identified the work I needed to do and along with the work I added time in for relaxation, learning, knitting, research and self-improvement. I thought that if I was to work in my home and be fulfilled doing that, I needed to give myself points of interest and rest throughout the day so that I would enjoy what I was doing. There were a number of chores I did love. I love baking, cooking, gardening, mending, recycling, knitting, sewing and some cleaning, although not all of it.

In those early years, I structured my day so that I always did my heavy work in the morning. When I came to something I didn't like doing, I would follow it up with either something I loved doing, or a rest break. I was always rewarding myself with tiny things. I know it's much more difficult doing that when you have children to look after but when we're looking after Jamie now, I've found it works well but it takes more time.

I get a lot of emails from people who ask me what the secret is - how can they enjoy being at home when it means doing housework? Like me, you have to first change your attitude about what housework is. If you see it as something you must do for everyone else, stop and think about what you get out of it. Do you feel good about inviting family and friends over? Do you like extending hospitality to guests? Do you factor YOU into your day? Doing that is not selfish, if you're struggling with housework, it's a survival technique.

My beautiful mother, Jean St Claire McGrath, died 20 years ago today. If she were alive now, she would be 94 years old. Even now, there are very few days she doesn't tip-toe into my consciousness. She was a truly remarkable woman. RIP mum. I miss you.

One of my heroes, Paul Keating and I grew up in adjoining working class Sydney suburbs. Both born in the 1940s, he eventually became Prime Minister of Australia and I believe, an outstanding Australian. This is an article about the upcoming series of Paul Keating - Kerry O'Brien ABC interviews. I love what he says about the asbestos suit of motherly and grandmotherly love.

Economic growth has become anti-life

Ruler boxes - a wonderful gift idea
Home maintenance tips - there is everything here from how to repair a screen door to fixing a leaking toilet.

Top ten tips from 10 years as a parent

Exchange Stores at Nundle I was searching for a Falconware 1.5 litre teapot at a reasonable price ($35ish) when I came upon this gorgeous store out in the bush, near Tamworth. What a treasure trove it appears to be. It's like shops used to be in the old days BC (before computers). Check out their history as well as their stock.

Orange self-saucing pudding I can't stop obsessing about food made using oranges. I had some of the most delicious blood oranges in winter and it tipped me over the edge.
The wartime kitchen and garden - youtube
The Noble Knitter

From the comments here during the week
Simply Free
Meadow Orchard
Sweet Journey Home

I hope you enjoy your weekend and use part of it to relax and recuperate. If you're lucky enough to have your parents near by or far away, take the time to say hello to them over the weekend. There will come a time when, no matter how much you want to do that, you can't.

See you next week. :- )

I am inclined towards a solitary life. Even though I have my family and friends around me, they know that this is my preference and therefore let me get on with it. I know they're all there if I need them and when my mind turns to more social occasions, they're there to help me with that as well. Sometimes I go for long periods without seeing some of the people I love and when we catch up, I silently swear to not allow such a time apart to happen again. It always does because I'm a solitary bee. I am what I am.

Today I'm going to Maleny. I have a few errands but importantly, I'm having lunch with my friend Patrick. I haven't seen him for more than six months, although we have spoken on the phone a few times. When he lived in Sydney, Patrick worked as a dress designer, then, after moving to Queensland with his partner, he retrained as a chef. Now he's well known for his raw and vegan food. When I worked at the Neighbourhood Centre, Patrick came in to the embroidery classes and wowed us all with his sewing skills. There's not much he can't do but I'll be content to be the recipient of his food later today and I'm sure we'll sit together for a couple of hours, looking out over the rolling hills, talking about all sorts of craziness.

Everything is good here at home. I'm on the fifth day of my new ginger beer plant. It started fermenting on the second day and is going strong. I'll probably make it up on the weekend. The fruit for the Christmas cake is soaking in good German brandy. I'll have to add more as I go along because the fruit is soaking it all up nicely. I'm still cruising along on the cardigan I'm knitting for Jonathan. I've finished the back and one front so I should have it done by Christmas.  Fingers crossed. It's been slow because it's only a few rows at a time, but slow is good, I can work with that.

Later this morning I'm going to the Maleny Dairies, where I'll take some photos and pick up some of their delicious milk and cream. Then on to Rosetta's, my local book store, to buy a book I want to give as a Christmas gift. After that, lunch with Patrick, then back home to Hanno who is still hobbling around on a swollen foot. Thank you for all the suggestions for treating gout. Unfortunately, Hanno is on Warfarin, so he has to be very careful with pills and potions, and even the vegetables he eats. We appreciate your thoughts though and Hanno asked me to thank you for thinking of him.

What are you doing today or tonight? Are we all social butterflies today or are there some solitary bees staying at home with the honey?

All of us who grow food, keep chickens or bees, milk a house cow or a goat, or keep pigs have to know a thing or two about the seasons. Here in the sub-tropics, although we recognise four seasons exist, we usually have two real seasons - hot and cold. I can't tell you how much I usually complain about the hot season. I am a cool woman, what can I say. But I've decided to enjoy every day from now on. All the sweaty days, all the clinking icy drinks, all the bugs, as well as the silent stillness of the early morning and that feeling of calm just before a tropical storm hits, I'm embracing it all. I realised that no amount of complaining will change any of what I'm complaining about and it just highlights it for myself and anyone within ear shot. Enough. I'm over it. Hot weather is the reason I notice cold weather. If it were cold all the time, I'd complain even more about that. No, from now on, I'm embracing the seasons - all two of them. Okay, I got that off my chest. :- )

If you're a gardener, you might already know that you can extend your seasons by creating microclimates. It's the backyard equivalent of dressing in a cool summer dress or pulling on a jumper and boots.

COOL CLIMATE

If you're in a cool climate, you can extend your season by trying to create warmth where you're trying to grow vegetables. There are a few strategies you can try. Some of them might not work but if you can get one to work, you might get an extra crop of tomatoes that might never have been. 

Some of these methods include:

• Often growing up against a brick or stone wall will help a lot. The wall will absorb the warmth during the day and provide some protection against the cold overnight as the warmth is being released. 
• Mulching the ground with a couple of inches of straw, hay or sugar cane will help regulate the temperature of the ground, and keep the roots warm and the soil temperature constant. 
• If you're in a frosty area, think about growing a small hedge around the outside of your garden to stop frost rolling in. 
• Several stakes and some hessian or heavy black plastic will provide wind protection for plants. 
• Poly tunnels are easy to make and they'll extend your seasons like nothing else. I've drawn a diagram below that will suit shade cloth or plastic tunnels. If you're trying to keep your vegetables going, these tunnels are very portable, they can be put away at the end of the season and can be made using recycled materials. If you're using the plastic tunnel in cold weather, get extra pieces of plastic so you can cover the ends as well. 

WARM CLIMATE

In a warm climate, it's not heat you're wanting, it's shade and the cool air it provides.

• If you're growing taller plants such as tomatoes, beans or cucumbers on a trellis, they love full sun, but if you look at where the shade falls on the other side of the trellis, that is where you can plant things like lettuce, spinach, Asian greens, in the shade provided by the trellis.
• Look for afternoon shade. Many plants love it. You might find a tree or fence provides afternoon shade.
• Make sure you mulch well - you'll need a thick layer to keep the moisture in and the soil temperature constant. It's a good idea in the hotter climates to lay wet newspaper down on the soil before adding your mulch.
• Water your plants thoroughly and deeply, depending on how hot it is, two or three times a week.
• If you've got good mulch down, water in the morning because the moisture will be protected and retained by the mulch. If you don't have mulch down, water in the late afternoon or evening. This will give the water a good chance to soak down to the roots and hydrate the plants overnight.
• Plants will slowly acclimatise to heat but if your plants suffer from an unexpected very hot day, give them a good drink in the late afternoon and follow it up with a watering of seaweed tea. That will help your vegetables get over the heat shock.
• If you're in an area that gets torrential downpours, wind and hail, a tunnel will help protect the foliage and the vegetables in your garden.
• Tunnels to protect your plants can play an important part in your garden and extend your growing season. In a warm climate, you'll use shade cloth instead of plastic and even though it might not seem like much, the plants grow well when they're not sitting in the full sun all day.

I've looked through my photos to find the shade tunnels Hanno built here but I lost a few years of my photos and I think they may have been in that batch. I know I have a couple of photos of our tunnels on the blog somewhere, but I don't know exactly where they are. Anyhow, I've drawn a diagram (no laughing) to show what I mean. They're simple, easy and cheap to make. You'll need:

• star peg or steel pickets - 6 for each tunnel, or 8 if they're longer.
• three pieces of bendable poly pipe that will fit snuggly over the pegs/pickets.
• a long piece of shade cloth or heavy duty clear plastic that covers the area you want covered.
• enough zip ties to attach the covering to the pipe.

1. Attach both ends of the covering to the poly pipe using plastic zip ties. If you're using a middle bracing section, attach that with zip ties too.
2. Lay the shade cloth out on the ground and mark where your peg will need to go in.
3. Hammer the star pegs into the ground.
4. Fit the ends of the plastic pipes over the pegs/pickets.
5. Straighten it all up and if you have a flap at one end, secure it down with a couple of stones or bricks.

The older I get, the more often I'm reminded of my own mortality. Hanno has very painful gout again. It came up out of the blue and has laid him low for the last couple of days. He has been prone to gout for many years and takes medication to lessen the chance of getting it but something triggered it again and the only thing to do is to keep weight off the foot, drink plenty of water and take the medication he's been given. He's got a walking stick, and that helps when he has to hobble in to go to the bathroom, but the main activity is rest. He doesn't like it at all. Luckily we had a visit from Kerry and Jamie and we all sat on the front verandah for a while to talk.

 Jamie with his many animals. When I ask how many animals he has, he always replies: "many".

We had this on Saturday, chicken curry yesterday, with enough left for two more days.

This is how I do my ironing. I take my computer into the bedroom, where the ironing board is, and watch You Tube while I iron. On the weekend I watched 'Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner', a three part BBC series on the origin of mealtimes.

On this slow weekend, I've been watering the garden, cooking our meals, baking, getting glasses of water and cups of tea, ironing, reading, writing and knitting. As you know, I love resting but enforced rest is not as good and Hanno is an impatient patient. He needs scolding and reminding that's he's not 18, or 25, or 40, or 60 anymore. There are some wonderful things I love about getting older - I've developed a deeper understanding of myself and others. I see interesting linkages I never noticed before, or if I did, I didn't understand their importance. I am more tolerant and accepting. Nothing much phases me. If I see a problem, I fix it straight away. I always give a second chance, but never a third. I'm relaxed knowing that Jamie and Alex are my grandchildren and that they will carry on our genes. I'm settled and satisfied. I don't scare easily. My common sense has evolved and is thriving. I know I'm loved.

But on the other hand, when I look at Hanno and his swollen foot I am reminded that we are both wearing out. Our joints are not what they used to be, our bodies don't make the quick repairs of youth. Slowly we're approaching our 'best before' date. When you think about it, it doesn't matter how you live, what you do, how much money you have or who you know, every single one of us will grow old and die. If we're lucky. If we're not lucky we'll die earlier than we should and people will say, 'that's so sad'. I am hoping I've got another 20 or 30 years and that when I die they'll say 'she had a good innings'. But the truth is that even if I died tomorrow, I would feel satisfied and thankful that my life has brought me so much joy, that I've been surrounded by the most wonderful family and friends, and that for a little while I got to write to the world.

And now, it's Monday morning, another week of living ahead for all of us. Let's get on with it.  ♥

This course will be free of charge, being fully subsidised by the Lockyer Valley Regional Council through their Community Environmental Grants scheme. The only cost to participants will be $20 per day to cover facility hire and catering.

I think many of you would agree when I say that there are things on the internet that we don't want our kids or grandkids to see. I don't want to see them either. In certain areas of the internet, there are people waiting in chat rooms looking for children, waiting for adults to befriend so they can steal their hearts and dollars, and in many areas, including the general news sites, chat rooms and forums, there are bullies who hide their real ugliness under the cover of anonymity. There is no doubt about it, the internet can drain the strength from your bones and make you want to give up on humanity.

On the other hand, there is the opportunity to reach out and connect with like-minded souls. We can form lasting friendships, learn from each other's cultures, teach ourselves to knit, sew, mend, recycle, keep livestock, cook, make jam and to preserve it, to grow a garden and produce food for our tables and so many other things. The internet makes all that possible. I like to believe that for every bit of nonsensical behaviour that takes place over the internet, there will be a corresponding act of kindness, gratitude and sharing to balance it out. I can't imagine how many lonely people, who would otherwise not be able to get out, have their social time on the internet - in forums, chat rooms, clubs and craft groups. How many young cooks have started cooking by searching for recipes on the web; how many home work questions have been answered; how proud do we feel when we upload a photo of something we've created, be it a garden, dress, cardigan, cake, cheese or even a newly born baby. For on the internet, yes, there is the unspeakable and the ruthless but there is also a big group of people, just like you and me, who come to their keyboards every day and yell out into the ether: "I'm here! Are you there?" 

And we find each other.

One of the best features of the internet for me is that it makes government and big business more accountable. Pre-internet, there was no way ordinary people could take part in discussions about world politics, finance, society, the arts, politics, corruption or any of the seemingly "important" subjects. Now we can easily comment on news stories, send vision and reports into news groups, or blog about our own experiences and concerns. We've all heard stories about rogue politicians closing down radical or citizen-run newspapers and media outlets but so far, no government has been able to shut down the internet. And that is probably because the internet doesn't belong to anyone and it's not controlled in a formal sense. It belongs to us all.

I think personal responsibility is as important and significant as political ideology. We all have the ability to see what is happening around us, to make decisions based on that knowledge and by taking small steps, change our lives. I have moved away from my consumerist culture to a more solitary life focused on home and on sharing what I know with those who are interested. The internet has given me that opportunity, not only to reach you, but to also reach Penguin publishing and many other media organisations who have helped me spread my message. But mostly I am thankful that I have this community here who support and encourage each other, who learn and teach, and who sit silently reading while never raising their own flag to say "I'm here too." Like every other healthy community, it takes all types, and I love that. I love the fact that while there are other older women here who mirror me in many respects, there are also men and younger folk, and those who are middle aged. What we have here is a carbon copy of what we find in any vibrant community - we have women and men, straight and gay, religions of all denominations and those who are atheist, rich and poor, healthy and ill. We have people here from many cultures and philosophies. There is no one type you can say is typical or acceptable here, we all are.

I have always been amazed at the number of people who read here. I put that down to consistency, my respect for you and the interesting community that has built up around the blog. Overnight we passed the eight million visitors mark. Those people have read over 12.5 million pages here.

Thank you for finding your way here today and all the other times you walked this way. I don't need the validation because I know the way I'm living now is right for me, my family and for the piece of earth we look after. But even though I'm not looking for validation, I am looking for conversation, friendship and the exchange of ideas, and here, my friends, we have that in abundance. Thank you for helping to provide that and for adding to the always thought-provoking conversation. xx

According to this article, handmade crafts are making a big comeback in America, with $29 billion reportedly spent on craft materials in 2011. There are many reasons for the popularity of crafts again; some are working towards self-reliance, some want to learn traditional skills, some want non-commercial and unique items, some want the beauty of something hand made, others just love working with their hands. Whatever the reason, I think the trend towards homemade is just as strong in Australia and from what I can see, in the UK and many European countries as well.

One of the things I'm working on at the moment is replacing some of my household linens. In the past I used to buy tea towels, tablecloths, dishcloths, aprons, curtains, food covers and the other bits and pieces we use here, but now I make all of it. I find when I make it myself, I get exactly what I want and the quality is superior to what I can buy ready-made. And let's face it, it's difficult finding a lot of these unusual linens we use in a simple home. How many times have you seen food covers on the weekly specials table? If we need cloths to drain yoghurt and cheese, a new rag bag, padded coat hangers or a linen apron that is longer than the average apron, those things we have to make ourselves.


Years ago when I started reading blogs, I noticed that many women used their spare hours for sewing, mending and knitting. Some ladies said they felt guilty doing craft work because they enjoyed it. The implication being that they were doing this work for their own pleasure. I don't look at it that way. I see all sorts of craftwork and traditional work as part of my housework. Looking after household linens is part of what I do. I am responsible for having what we need in our home and for keeping all of it in good order. I want to live in a comfortable home and sometimes, to supply that comfort, I need to make new items or repair the old. Sewing, mending and knitting is part of my housework; I see it as one of the duties of the homemaker, male and female.

I  use this food cover a lot, especially during the warmer months, to keep flies off the table. Someone gave me this cover, I wish I could remember who, but it is handmade of soft tulle and edged in a fruit patterned cotton.

Some of the work I've done in the past week is to replace old napkins that have outlived their lives and will now serve us from the rag bag. I have replaced a lot of the "disposable" products, such as the paper napkins and dish cloths, with homemade items. I make them here, choosing natural yarns and fabrics and wash and reuse them over and over again. It's a simple thing but it saves money and it makes you think about all the waste generated by purchasing what is supposed to be disposable.

One of Jamie's toy bags. He uses these bags to store toys he wants to take home and bring back again.

If you've never done anything like this before, I encourage you to make a couple of things, even if you're not a great sewer. Most of it is straight lines and simple sewing. You will get a lot of support and encouragement if you go to the forum and tell the ladies what you're doing, or if you need help. This is the link to our handmade forum that I recommend to both women and men who want to learn how to make and mend. No one will laugh or tease you, it will be praise and support all the way.

You can try tote bags for shopping, fabric bags for kids toys and books, a linen bag in which to store your bread, food covers, dish cloths, napkins, tablecloths, jug covers, covers for your ferments while they sit on the kitchen bench, tea cosies, pot holders, curtains, cushion covers, a rag bag, a carry-all for your knitting or crochet, table runners, place mats or aprons. If you have a stockpile of fabric you have the ideal starting point for many of these useful linens. Some of them would make wonderful Christmas gifts too. Imagine giving your neighbour a loaf of your homemade bread in a linen bag that he could store it in. That would make a good teacher's gift as well. What about three organic cotton face cloths with some of your homemade soap. Beautiful!

If you're hoping to improve your sewing, knitting or crochet skills, start by making one of these small projects. Remember, there is no such thing as perfect, so embrace the results of your beginner skills, if that is what they are, and know that the more you do of this type of activity, the better you get at it. What are you making for your home?