March, week 3 in The Simple Home

There has been a sharp rise in the number of products labelled 'organic' and 'free range' on supermarket shelves in the past few years. Often I am asked if the weekly shopping should include organic or free range fruit, vegetables, meat and chicken, as well as the newer organic products we’re seeing now – butter, cheese, wine and tinned goods. It’s a tricky one to answer because there is never just one clear path to follow, we’re all so different; we have different needs, tastes and incomes, and we all know that 'organic' and 'free range' come at a price.

What I thought was going to be my second eye operation turned out to be a post-op check. But now, vision in my fixed eye is just below 20/20, there is no infection or inflammation, the lens is in place.  I go in for the second op 27 March. I'm pleased it will happen soon, I'm sick of having wonky vision.  

While I've been writing The Simple Home series, you've probably noticed I'm not writing much about what is happening here on a day-to-day basis. Well, my friends, we're still pottering around doing what we do. Currently we're moving from a fairly slow time, when the weather restricted what we could do outside, to our busy season.  March is when we plant our garden every year.  The garden beds are still full of weeds with only one 90 percent ready, the rest are waiting their turn. We hope to visit the market next Sunday and buy a range of seedings. These will be planted along with seedlings we have growing in the bush house, Glen Large garlic from Green Harvest, ginger plants and Welsh onions in poly boxes and a stand of potatoes in a cage. We're keeping it small, having reduced the size of the garden last year, but we should have a good range of what we eat and that will help cut back our grocery bill while giving us the freshest food possible. It will be good to get out to the garden once again.

Above are the new chickens and below are some of the new and old chickens together.

Below are two of our Barnevelders - a silver lace and a blue lace.

This week we'll focus on shopping for food and I'm guessing that will mean vastly different things to most of you. Some will be buying everything they eat, some will be producing a small amount - maybe herbs or eggs, some will produce most of their food and many of us will buy raw ingredients so we can home-make some of the products we used to buy.

It's been a busy week here. We started on another home maintenance project, I cleaned the fridge out yesterday and suddenly I have more room after four months of five people in the house. Gracie had a full wash and groom yesterday, I've been sewing and of course the everyday tasks of cleaning, tidying up, shopping and cooking.

I collect rubber bands and corks because you never know when you'll need a cork to plug a bottle or a rubber band to keep something together or in a bag.  These are sitting on my kitchen window sill.

March, week 1 in The Simple Home

One busy period of our lives ended yesterday with Kerry, Sunny and Jamie moving out and into their own new home.  We wish them the very best and we're grateful to have had those four months together, growing closer.  

We're preparing for another year of healthy chooks and the eggs they'll produce as well as an abundance of home grown vegetables and fruit.  

Now we're getting ready for another busy time - we're collecting six new chickens to add to our flock next week and we're planning our vegetables garden. We should start planting mid-March.  Like all good gardens, there'll be a period of soil preparation and systems checking before we start. All gardens need that because gardening is always more than putting a plant or seed in the ground and standing back.  We're both looking forward to being more active in the garden after a long hot summer.  I'll make sure I take plenty of photos so you can follow our progress.

I'm looking forward to Skyping with my blogging group tomorrow.  Ten people from all around the world, all chatting and sharing. I'm still amazed that we can do that face to face while we're so far from each other.  What are you doing?

20 office and craft room organization tips

DIY hanging rain gutter garden
With your own healthy choices, this makes packing school and work lunches easier
Non-sandwich school lunch ideas
A beginner's guide to whittling
Pegs/clothespins and hangers up-cycled and repurposed - I particularly like the peg animals
11 years living off-grid

Ginger mint tea

February, week 4 in The Simple Home

This is the last week of our money month. I hope you've sorted out what needs to be done, organised a budget and thought about where you're headed, financially. Most of the activities we've addressed this month are simple exercises that will put you on track towards a healthier financial future.  The one thing that will make these things make sense and appear to be easy to set up and maintain over a long period of time is changing your attitude towards money. Many of us grow up thinking we deserve good things and that we should keep up with our brothers and sisters and the next door neighbours.  There is sometimes a feeling now that if you don't look like you have as much as everyone else you're not as good, or a failure. That's rubbish. Although we like to think that things are fair and equal, they aren't and I doubt they never will be. So get rid of those negative thoughts if you have them and just focus on what you need and what you have, everything else is irrelevant.

Why some chickens lay brown eggs and some lay blue

February, week 3 in The Simple Home

The Gender Pay Gap

Throughout the developed world, there is a significant difference between what men and women earn. In Australia the gap is currently around 17 per cent. All through their working lives, women usually earn less than men even when doing the same type of work; they move in and out of employment during the years they have babies and often work part-time when they do return to work. As such, a woman’s overall lifetime income is much lower than a man’s. As well as being unfair, this means that women’s superannuation is much lower than their male counterparts, putting them in a precarious situation as they age. I wish I had a solution to this problem. I wish we had politicians who were strong enough to stand up and work towards a solution. I don’t have the answers, but I do have some suggestions. 

The list below is mainly targeted at women who have chosen to be at home to raise children or those who leave the workforce when a baby is born.  It could also cover men who choose the same path.  The main point of this list is to protect people who are working within a relationship for the mutual benefit of the couple and their children, who do not get paid.