down to earth

I've spent the past few days baking, sewing and knitting. They are such simple, old-fashioned tasks and I know my great grandmothers (and yours) would have been doing something very similar over the years, way back when. I like how these older tasks so easily fit into modern times, filling life with interest, meaning and purpose; and replacing acquisition for many of us. You see it more and more now - younger women and men taking up the needles, learning how to bake and cook, and being satisfied and enriched by it. I am so pleased this is happening because it means that these traditionally women's tasks and crafts will go on and can be passed on to younger girls and boys, women and men.

Date scones - a winter favourite here.

As well as that connection I have with older times and the interest and purpose these tasks give me now, baking, sewing and knitting/crochet also help me cut my household costs. Buying bread flour in bulk helps me produce good bread for my family for less than the five or six dollars a loaf from a good bakery. I completely bypass the supermarket sliced bread, and have done for many years, because I don't want the artificial flavourings and preservatives that come with it, or the plastic it's wrapped in. I believe I can make a loaf of equal quality to that from a good bakery and although I haven't costed it for a few years, I guess it would cost me about three dollars for a good loaf baked at home. It's a saving of about five hundred dollars per year based on three loaves a week.

Similar savings can be made if you have a yarn and fabric stash. Making gifts and the soft furnishings you need at home using the fabric from your stash will save you a decent amount each year. Over the weekend I made a lamp shade using fabric I had here. It's much prettier than any I could have bought, I have unusual taste in these things and I doubt I would have been able to buy anything close to what I like, so it's a win-win. I save money and I also get a lamp shade that suits my taste and blends in beautifully with what we already have here. I'm also using resources I have on hand, don't have to go out to buy what I need and the icing on the cake is the satisfaction I feel when I look at that lamp. Not just now but into the future as well.

We will welcome a new baby into our family soon. Tricia's son Danny and his partner Laura are expecting a daughter and as part of a gift for the baby, I've started knitting a little dark pink hat. It's a washable, organic wool and cotton blend, done on straight needles, because I didn't have a suitably sized pair of circular needles on hand. I hope it helps keep the baby warm because she will live in the Blue Mountains where it's very cold. Once again, I had the yarn and needles here, so getting our gift underway hasn't cost anything. I love being able to welcome a baby with home knitting.

It's a worthwhile exercise to collect any fabrics or yarn anyone offers you over the years. You might also find inexpensive fabric and yarns at your local second-hand shops. Even if you have no projects in mind, building a stash will help you when you do need something. Having the materials on hand helps you cut your costs, it inspires creativity, it gives that all important feeling of self-reliance and if, like me, you believe that homemade comes from the heart, your gifts will be a fine indication of your feelings towards the person you give your gift to.

I think of my stash as another form of stockpiling. It saves time and money and allows me to have my own materials on hand when I need them. Are you using your stash for your projects too or are you trying to build up a stash?

I received an email from a young woman the other day who told me that she's so conflicted about a choice she has to make that she's deliberately not thinking about it and she'll probably end up just flipping a coin to decide. She said by doing that she'll be getting what is meant to be. Phttttt! I don't believe in fate or coincidence. I believe we make our own luck and good fortune by working for what we want. Usually the decisions we have to make are those involving your work, family, friends and home so you should do as much thinking about those decisions as you can. The choices you make, whether they be good choices or bad, will impact you when you make them, and like a ripple on a pond, long into the future too. Flipping a coin to make a decision is like saying you're not worth the effort. Everything you do matters.

Flipping a coin and deliberately not thinking about important issues is side stepping the opportunity you have to make your own decisions. I encourage all of you to plan ahead and live according to your values. Own your life! This isn't a dress rehearsal. You don't want to realise that too late. Plan your life as best you can, but be flexible when you have to be. Planning ahead will give you the best chance of success because you can actively work towards what you want. Non-planning really doesn't take the decision making out of your hands, there will still be an outcome. You're making the choice to not make a decision and then you have to take what comes of that.

When I look back and think of all the people I've met, the work I've done, the places I've seen, the time spent on such a wide variety of things, the countless hours I've spent raising babies and children and teens, the years I've spent working, I can see clearly that my path to here was never straight. It was one with curves, highs and lows, periods of intense happiness but also periods so dark I could barely see what was ahead. Some of my choices were not given enough thought and some just plain wrong, but all those past choices helped make me the person I am now. Sometimes I look back I wonder where all that energy came from, and where it went. I've tried many things, left most of them behind, and am here now with my basket full of what is important to me. I am happy and self-confident and I have the most wonderful family.

So to that young woman who wrote, and to all of you, I encourage you to think about what you want, work hard for it, plan your days and make the most of the intelligence, skill and talents you have. Stay close to your family and friends. I'm not saying this is easy, in fact, I know its not, but since when was the easy option the smart one? No matter what, when you think enough about the issue you're dealing with and then make the decision you need to make, own it, and then put in the effort to make it work.

Are you a decision maker or are you inclined to flip a coin?

One of the ongoing comments I've had since I started writing my blog, and also in my real life, is that simple life isn't that simple. Many people tell me that spending hours growing and preparing food and cleaning products is much more complicated that buying mainstream from the supermarket. Many of them tell me that they're too busy to do those things and that buying what is needed every week simplifies their lives because it's easier.

That's fine by me. I'm not trying to convince anyone that this way of living is the grand panacea for all of life's complexities. I think that to live a simple life, at the very least, you need to cut out or cut back on a variety of things, but how you do that is up to you. I know what works for me and my family and that is how I live. We have cut our environmental footprint considerably over the past 12 - 13 years and we've done it consistently. If you're doing the same thing then you're on the right track.

I've thought about this a lot and I know the following are simplified by doing them at home, from scratch:

baking bread
making preserves
growing vegetables and some fruit
keeping chickens for eggs
making cleaning products and laundry liquid
making soap
cooking from scratch
baking from scratch
disposing of disposables
mending
knitting dishcloths, jumpers, cardigans, gloves, hats etc

That list could go on and on.

Let me explain my beliefs. When I bake bread at home, I buy bulk flour in a heavy paper bag, bulk yeast (or I make sour dough), and I add things I have on hand for other purposes - oats, butter, salt, sugar, nuts, seeds etc. So I buy two products specific to bread making, that I buy every couple of months, and I have the rest on hand. Making a loaf of bread takes me about 15 minutes in work time. I make the dough in the bread maker and then bake the dough in the oven. That way I get a delicious loaf without too much time given over to it. My electricity comes form solar panels.

To buy a loaf of bread at the supermarket, I have to drive to the supermarket and buy the bread - every day if I want fresh bread every day. That bread will have been made in some far off factory that is staffed by people who probably all used fuel to get to the factory, it will be loaded with preservatives and other artificial additives. It will be packaged in plastic with a plastic clip to hold the bag closed. All the ingredients for the bread will have been transported to the factory, the rolls of plastic or bread bags will have been transported to the factory as well. When the bread is made and wrapped, then it's transported to the supermarket, where I drive to buy it. That's a lot of fuel being used for something that can easily be made at home. It's a lot of artificial additives too - I'm sure you don't add preservatives and artificial flavourings to your bread at home, neither do I. It's not necessary when you make it yourself.

The same could be said for every product on that list. I buy the ingredients, yarn or fabrics a few times a year and they are stored in my home till they're needed. Of course it looks simpler when you think you're just going to the shop to buy those goods, but they're all come from somewhere, they all have a chain of production and delivery, and varying amounts of fossil fuels attached to them. That is not simple, in fact it's extremely complex and unsustainable.

Some tell me they frequently use disposable products - that they save time. I've turned my back on as many disposable products as I can and my housework takes the same amount of time as it did before. Disposables don't save time, they're more convenient, yes, less messy, yes, but also unsustainable and much more expensive. Making do with what we can produce here at home has cut down the amount of rubbish we send to the land fill as well. If I was shopping like I did all those years ago, I'd be sending full bins and not composting or recycling anything at home, and still working to pay for it all.

"Simple" shouldn't be confused with "more convenient" or "easy". Simple usually involves you doing some form of work - to bake the bread, milk the cow, make the cheese, kill the pig, harvest the tomatoes, peel the potatoes, cook the meat, pack the lunch, fill the water bottles, knit the cardigan, darn the socks or whatever. More convenient is getting someone else to do those things for you, or buying the same thing over and over again. It is easier, and it might seem more simple to drive to the shop to pick up all those things, but think about what's gone on to get all those products on the supermarket shelves, all the fuel used to deliver the raw ingredients to the factories, all the people and fuel needed to process the products and to get the people to the factories and the products from the factories to the shops.

There are many definitions of simple living but I think it means taking control of your own life and becoming self reliant in many different ways. Through that self reliance comes the opportunity to pay off debt, to live on less money, to connect with your family and friends and to have your home and family as the centre of your world. Home, family, friends and your community become your focus and the commercial world and the flimflammery of modern life take a back seat. But that's my view, how do you define simple life?

I've yet to find a more comfortable winter activity than knitting. Just thinking about my wool, cotton and needles gives me a good feeling. And then there's the important choice of where to knit. Even though knitting is so portable when you take the kids to sport or dancing, a little warm chair to knit in is part of winter for me. I have an arm chair set up in the lounge room where I'm surrounded by knitting, needles, wool, patterns, a little jar of markers, a darning needle and small scissors. Bliss.

Alone is a good place to be when you knit because you sometimes need silence to explore the ideas that will form in your brain when you undertake the simple repetition that makes up knitting. Some say that knitting is similar to crochet and I suppose that's right in some ways, but to me, knitting is more like meditation. The long periods of repetition encourage thought that can sometimes be deep and illuminating. But showing her true versatility, knitting will also see you through your favourite TV program, a tennis match or rehearsal.

These photos, above and below, are the same shawl. I'm not sure what happened to the colour but the top one is true.

I've just finished my second shawl. It was very simple knitting, ideal for a beginner who wants to progress beyond scarves and dish cloths. I made both of mine with organic cotton, one in the colour Diligence, a dark grey and the most recent in Patience, a camel light brown. I thought a lot about those two qualities while I was knitting my shawls. I'm also doing up a few dishcloths to show at my library talks. The one on my needles now is Deb's waffle weave, which is in my book and was asked about at one of the talks. I recently knitted a pair of fingerless mittens (in New Zealand pure Merino) for Hanno but when I finished them and gave them to him I noticed I'd knitted one in a greenish grey and one in a bluish grey. Ahem. I guess I'll be doing up another pair. They'll match this time. :- )

Knitting is a wonderfully creative investment of time in the practical activity of making clothing and soft furnishing for your home. Generally the clothes we knit last for many years so it's wise to use the best yarn you can afford. That yarn will be rubbing against skin when it's worn so try to steer clear of the Chinese acrylics and look for more natural alternatives. Real wool breathes, real cotton is cooling. But think about the time you invest in knitting too and make that time enjoyable by using yarns you like the feel of. Use good needles. I'm totally won over by bamboo needles and although I have metal, wood and vintage plastic, I always choose my Japanese bamboo needles now. I've noticed that Japanese needle sizes are alongside the UK and US sizes on various charts now. I think that reflects the incredible influence that Japanese crafts, fabrics and implements have had in the West in recent years.

I am not the best knitter in the world and my projects are rarely, if ever, perfect, but knitting makes me happy so I'll keep clicking those needles. I really enjoy the time I spend making things from wool and cotton. It feels right. It suits me and my life. If you're a beginner, and you're looking for help and encouragement you'll find it at the forum. There is a monthly thread where members show and tell their latest projects. Chel and Judy are there to keep your hands busy and your mind thinking creatively while the rest of us appreciate all you show us.

What's on your needles?

Purl Bee's knitting tutorials and knitting terms

Purl Bee's knitted home projects

How to knit a bag

Knitting ideas

I have no doubt that a change of mindset towards a less complicated and busy life would help almost everyone pursue their simple life dreams. It's not easy to switch from the culturally-sanctioned spend-up-big-and-then-pay-for-it lifestyle to a simpler life. Almost all good things are difficult to acquire and you have to be prepared to work for them. The easy things are what most people do. So if you were to ask me today how to change a mindset of convenience to something more sustainable, I'd tell you that, like most things, it's a process of small changes.

There is a lot to be said for cultivating respect for oneself, others, our work, our homes and our environments. I doubt you could live this life if there wasn't some respect there to begin with but as you move into it, as your mindset changes, respect grows and builds understanding and contentment into your ordinary days. I never think much about the special days, the births and deaths, the weddings and anniversaries, because those days take care of themselves. It's our ordinary days we need to be mindful of. They need work and commitment.

I want my life to be full of spectacular ordinary days that are sprinkled with special days. I know that no one is going to walk up to me and offer me such a life on a silver platter. The creation of that kind of life is for the person who lives it. For me, respect plays a big part in giving me those memorable ordinary days. I respect the work I do here because it helps give me the lifestyle I want. That includes not only my housework but also my writing in various forms. My housework gives me the comfort and simplicity I want in my life, my writing gives me creative expression and the opportunity to connect with like-minded people all over the world. For me, that's a great combination. But there are thousands of other combinations and it's up to everyone to find what works for them.

But I am doing all this for a reason other than comfort and connections. I am living according to the values that are important to me. They provide an ethical structure in which to live my life. Respect, a change of mindset, mindfulness, self reliance, trust, grace and resilience all play a part. So if you're not really connecting with your simple life in the way you want to, although you're being frugal, organising yourself and doing all the practical things, maybe you need to look at your values and your mindset. Simple life certainly involves a lot of practical things bunched in together but if it's to last, those practicalities are usually built on beliefs and ideology.

Open yourself up to new experiences and read a lot. If you can get hold of some of Wendell Berry's work, he is an excellent guide. In the meantime, read this poem of his. It's sublime. Of course, I'm not going to steer you away from the practical guides and recipe books that teach what you need to know but don't shy away from books that make you think. They can help you build a solid foundation for your life and will give you good reason to continue in times of doubt.

What has influenced you in your simple living journey?

How much is enough by Vicki Robin
The question of lifestyle by the editors of In Context
Enough by me, written in 2010

I've been trying to find the time to clean out my laundry and finally got to it yesterday. I scrubbed the sink and bench, cleaned the floor and went through all my products to make sure they were necessary and usable. I went through the rag bag and it was getting low so I found an old towel, cut it up and added the rags to the bag. I threw out some old soap I had in a container. I didn't know it was there; it was rancid. Note to self: don't hide soap, it doesn't last, you silly girl.

It's not pretty but it's a working laundry so I just need it to be serviceable and productive. I do a fair bit of work in the laundry. As well as storing all my cleaning ingredients, I also use it to store my cheese fridge and to dry out and then store homemade soap. There is a 15 litre bucket in the sink that I use for soaking, which I do a lot of, and on the floor are two buckets and mops. And for Madeleine who emailed asking about mops, I use a cotton mop and bucket most of the time but also a more modern sponge/squeegee mop that I use with a handmade terry cover over the squeegee head. It gets into the corners better than the cotton mop does, although the cotton mop is much easier to use. I don't know what it is about the modern squeegee-type mops. I find they're difficult to move around on the floating floor we have. Do you have that problem?

The main thing though is that the room where all my cleaning is based, is now clean and ordered. There have been few changes in that room over the years and one thing will always remain the same: the work we do in our simple lives is easier if our work spaces and supplies are organised. I'm still making laundry liquid in preference to laundry powder because I can use it for so many other cleaning jobs. Still using oxy-bleach to soak whites and stubborn stains. Still using vinegar and bicarb for general cleaning. I never dry clothes in a dryer, always on the line outside, I'm still washing exclusively in cold water in a front loader. I still hate ironing. I will never go back to commercial cleaners. When the homemade cleaners cost so little to make and they do a better job, using less chemicals, why would I change? I find that as I age, my asthma is getting worse. I think that going back to high chemical cleaners might do me in.

My next task during the coming week is to move all the shopping bags I have in the laundry. The long term task is to remove the old dryer. Even though it still works, it's now 33 years old and I haven't used it for a long, long time. We bought it to dry our new babies' nappies. I hope they'll accept it at the rubbish dump's recycle shop. It's either there or the museum. ;- )