During the week I had a question from a young woman, Ms J, asking: As with all of us life tends to increase its demands at different times, whether it be work, additional family members, sickness etc. I was wondering at times like that, what chores do you tend to leave for when things settle down again?

Well Ms J, you're right. I doubt there is anyone who can say everything goes smoothly, every day. It might be something unexpected, like a family member being sick, it might be extra paid work, or it could just be that I just don't feel I have the energy to do the work I need to do.  When there is a spanner in the works, the first thing that goes out of my routine is making bread, and I buy bread from our local baker. I tend to drop the easy things that take up time - I don't water the garden, sweep the floor or make dinner. But it's easy for me because there's no one here to complain, except Hanno, and he doesn't.

Most things work themselves out. I just have to sweep more and water more the following day, but not making dinner tends to pose a problem. Usually I have a homemade frozen meal lurking in the freezer or I'll just whip up some herby scrambled eggs and toast. That fills the gaps.

Now I'm older with no children to look after I don't have a regular schedule for my household chores. I don't vacuum on Mondays or wash on Wednesdays. I don't set aside a specific time to tidy up. I generally do things when they need doing and when I feel like doing them. But I know Ms J, that you have small children and I'm pretty sure you'd have to do chores when you don't feel like it. I did when I had a young family.

There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to household chores - we should all do what works for us. The trick is to feel no guilt about leaving work undone occasionally. We all know that housework never ends, so if it's not finished, what's the problem? I wrote a post about that same subject, good lord, seven years ago! It might help explain how I go about leaving work undone with the blissful lack of guilt I wear like a cloak of honour. I'll add this one about organising housework too for good measure.

There are many differences between house work and paid work but I think the biggest difference is that when you go out to work, you can choose (or have chosen for you) a finishing time when you can walk away and go home. You know your work has finished for the day. You've been given permission to stop. You don't have that option as a homemaker. There will always be work to do, you know that, your partner knows it and probably even the kids know it. So you have to make the decision when to draw your own line. When do you step away and say, that's it for today. And how do you feel good about doing it?

It wasn't always so clear cut for me. In the beginning I struggled with knowing when enough was enough. I felt guilty about sitting down and having a cup of tea. When I started working in my home full time, I had to rethink a lot of the expectations I had of myself and those my family had of me too. I wanted my days to be meaningful and satisfying, and that didn't involve working like a robot. Now when I stop work, I feel satisfied with the work I've done and I know that it's okay to walk away. I know work at home is not one solid block of unrelenting work. It is up to me to find a balance, to find enjoyment in the work and meaning in my days. I have to establish healthy boundaries for myself, so I won't feel resentful about the work I do in my home. And if part of that is walking away, even though there is still work to be done, then that is what I do.  It was not an easy transition going from a busy-must-get-this-done kind of homemaker to a more relaxed one. Like all processes, it was one step at a time until I felt right about where I was. And I was surprised along the way that my more relaxed approach still got jobs done. A new start every day and an end point too, because housework never ends.

So, what chores to you tend to leave when things are hectic or when you don't have the time and energy to do what you normally do?

It's very easy to spend a lot of money in the garden. Raised beds, top soil from the garden supplier, blocks, sleepers, fertiliser, tools, fences, wheel barrows, water, and then there's the plants. But like many other things, if you're organised you can save a lot of money creating a garden without pouring money into it. Let's face it, if it's going to cost too much to produce your own, you're better off buying fruit and veg until you can grow your own at a reasonable cost.

Before you start, work out how much you spend on weekly fruit and vegetables and that will be your budgeting guide. You'll have to spend a little bit more to set up your garden and that cost should be returned to you over the following years, but if your gardening costs are too high, you may have to rethink. Always work to a year's budget, weekly budgets don't work here. You'll spend a lot the week you buy seeds and seedlings and then you may not buy anything for a month or so. But the main thing is to work out what your budget will be, and then stick to it.

  SEEDS  

The cheapest way of growing vegetables year after year is to use open pollinated (heirloom) seedlings and save the seeds at the end of the season to be planted out again the next seasons.  This is how all our ancestors would have produced their backyard food. It was a source of pride for gardeners to have a large collection of viable seeds to plant out and swap with neighbours every year. You can't plant seeds from hybrid plants, they don't reproduce true to type. They must be open pollinated. If you start out using that seeds, you'll cut down on your costs because, theoretically, you'll only have to buy the seeds once, and when you want to add new varieties to your collection. You can buy these seeds online in almost every country now.

Here are some older posts on:
How to work out what to grow
How to test for seed viability
How to save seeds

  SEEDLINGS  

Sometimes you just miss the deadline for planting out your seeds and before you know it, it's time to plant. When that happens, go to your local market to buy your seedlings. We can buy seedlings from the garden nursery here at about $3 for four or six seedlings but at the market they're $1 for 12.

  CUTTINGS, SLIPS, TUBERS  

As in ornamental gardens, you can grow plants from cuttings, slips and seeds in a vegetable garden too.  Before you buy all your supplies, check the post below for what you can grow from what you may already have in your kitchen right now. Remember, the rule of enriched soil stands for these too. There are several perennial vegetables that will just keep growing for donkeys years. For instance, we have a stand of Welsh onions given to me by a reader many years ago and they're still going strong. You can also find a perennial leek, rhubarb and asparagus.  Even if you have to buy these vegetables to start them, they'll keep you going for many many years.

I've planted up some avocado seeds and they're doing really well. I know some will say they'll never have fruit or it will take too long, but I'm more optimistic than that and I prefer to think things will work. So far, they are. Just today I snapped off a piece of ginger from a fresh rhizome bought at the shop. I'll keep it in the kitchen until it sprouts, then I'll plant it. Gardening is full of these type of plants, keep your eyes open for them because they'll never be advertised.

Sweet potato can be grown from slips. These are sprouts that form on the vegetable and develop into a long vine. You can cut then off, very close to the sweet potato and plant them in a pot. Soon you'll see new growth and you can plant it in the garden.  Please note, sweet potatoes need a warm climate and a lot of room to grow.

We have three new blueberry bushes because I took cuttings from the bushes we have growing here. I took eight cuttings, three of them took and are growing well now the warmer weather his here. Some might think that three from eight isn't much but I just know that for very little effort and no cost, I have three new blue berry bushes growing outside now. (BTW, Jamie calls them blue bellies).

Elder grows really well from cuttings. You can remove the runners from strawberries to form new plants. Pineapples will grow from the spiky top if you live in a warm climate. There are so many things that can be done.

What can be grown from cuttings? 

  COMPOST  and MANURE   

The best thing you can do for your garden is to add compost to it. As soon as you decide to garden, start a compost heap. Even if it just sits in the corner and rots slowly, it will be worthwhile when you come to planting your garden. There is a composting guide here.

Compost is a great help in cutting down on your household waste. All your kitchen scraps, old newspapers, garden waste, old chook nesting material and chook manure can go in the compost and over a couple of months it will turn itself into the most wonderful soil additive.

You may have to buy cow or horse manure, another excellent soil additive, but if you have a paddock or farm near by, ask if you can collect the manure. Often farmers are happy to be rid of it. If you do collect it, ask if the animals have recently been wormed. Worming medication will kill the worms in your soil and you won't want that.

  MULCH  

Mulching will help keep the moisture in the soil and the soil at an even temperature. It's essential in most Australian and dry gardens. You can harvest your grass, dry it out for a month or so and use that as mulch but you have to keep fluffing it up because it has a tendency to matt up and block the rain from getting through to the roots of your plants.

Mulch is one of the few things we buy for the garden. We buy organic sugar cane mulch and it works really well in our garden. It's holds the moisture in and at the end of the season, we can dig it in to add more organic matter to the soil.

  HOMEMADE LIQUID FERTILISERS  

This is a no brainer. If you're growing comfrey, yarrow, nettles, or even weeds, you can pick them, add it to water in a bucket, wait for a couple of weeks, and you'll have excellent fertiliser. Here is a guide that I wrote a while back.

We still buy sulphate of potash, Seasol and trace elements (all organic) and we buy them in large containers so they're cheaper. But our main fertiliser is comfrey which is made for next to nothing and can be used as a weak tea every two weeks on most vegetables.

  BENEFICIAL INSECTS AND PLANTS  
When left alone, natural systems balance themselves out with no help from us. It's when we try to manipulate things, killing insects we are scared of, that things start going wrong. There are plenty of of insects that will help you in the garden by killing off or keeping away other pest insects. If you can attract those insects, you'll help create a natural balance in your garden. So put away the sprays and start growing the plants the beneficial insects love. They'll do the work for you. Here is an old post about what to plant and the insects you want in your garden.

  TOOLS  

At the moment, we need a new spade. The one Hanno has used for years is bent and needs replacing. We could get a cheap one from the hardware store but there is a man at our local Sunday market who sells old tools. They're much better quality than those on sale now, so that's where we'll buy our new spade. I'm not sure how much he'll charge, but I doubt it will be the same price as a new one. If you can buy old tools, often they'll be better quality than those you'll buy new now. Many of them are made in China and just don't stand up to the tough work of gardening. It's a shame that so many people see buying cheap tools as an option because instead of lasting for many years, most of them break and you have to buy it again. And again. If you need garden tools, ask around. Many older people get rid of their tools when they down size. It's worthwhile looking out for them.  Gumtree is a good place to look, so is your local newspaper.

  WATER  

Many of us forget the obvious things and water is one of those. Every garden needs water; some more than others. If you're gardening and you have to pay for your water, I encourage you to collect as much water as you can from your own roof. You can go the traditional Australian route and install a water tank. Unfortunately, most of the government rebates for water tanks have ended but it's still worthwhile looking to see if you can get a rebate and then decide if it's an option for your garden. I reckon the average backyard vegetable patch would need at least 50 litres of water a week during the summer, give or take. You should factor that cost into your gardening costs when you're planning your garden. 

Even if you don't install a tank, you can still rig up the down pipes to spill into a barrel or large container. In addition to our two large water tanks, we have a 200 litre open bin in our garden that Hanno has rigged up to collect the water from the chicken house roof. That's 200 litres of water we can use that is free. A bucket will hold 10 litres of water. If you have a down pour, place your buckets outside to catch every drop you can. It's being proactive like this that makes the difference. And yes, the mosquitoes will breed in still water, so every couple of days, run an old fine kitchen sieve through the water to catch the larvae. Just tip them out on the ground, they die out of water.

There are many other things I could keep writing about but as you can see, this post is long enough already. So take it slow, don't take on too much when you start, try to do as much for yourself as you can, and think about your purchases before you make them.  Happy gardening everyone!

There is no doubt you can save money if you have the space, time and energy to produce organic vegetables and fruit in your backyard. Hanno and I have been doing that on and off for almost forty years but it can be a balancing act because if you're not careful, gardening can become a very expensive exercise. During those years we've worked out how to work a garden, produce food and do it with an eye on the costs too. So I thought I'd spend some time today and tomorrow bringing those ideas together in two posts with the hope of sharing how to save money and showing that a productive garden can be a thrifty one too.

Before we start on frugal gardening though I'm going to address other issues that will effect how some of you garden. It's not the main reason for the post on this topic but unless I address these issues, some new gardeners will waste a lot of time wondering why they can't produce the fresh food they hope for.

I'm directing this post mainly, but not exclusively, at the new gardeners, so, let's talk a bit about our similarities and our differences. Now we have the benefit of blogs and can see what ordinary folk grow, and not just the idealised gardens featured in magazines, that ability to look into each other's backyards can sometimes create problems. I've lost count of the number of times I've blogged about preparing soil before you start, but every time I do my library talks and in frequent emails, people ask me what they're doing wrong. Their problem is that their garden doesn't look like our garden. When I ask how they prepared their soil for planting,  usually the answer is: huh!?

The black kale plant above is one of several we grew about five years ago. They looked like a mini forest because they all grew to about six feet tall.

The health of your plants and abundance of your harvests depends on building up your soil before you start planting. Plants need nutrients in the soil to give the best results and if the soil is depleted or has never been productive, your plants might survive, but they won't thrive. You'll do the same amount of work week by week, but you won't get the great results you will get if you take the time to enrich your soil before you plant. If you don't add organic matter - compost, manures, green manure crops etc into your soil, no amount of fertiliser added later will make up for it. Please prepare your soil well and keep on enriching it between crops. Every time you plant something new, get into the habit of adding manure or compost to the soil. As they grow, plants use the organic matter in the soil to help them grow. This must be replenished frequently.  It is for that reason that you should start composting before you start planting. Here is one of my composting posts about how to start a compost heap. You can buy compost but making your own will make your garden sustainable and it will help you manage your household waste. It's also much cheaper.

There are a lot of differences in gardens world-wide, soil and climate differ but the actual planting methods are generally the same everywhere. If you're a new gardener, or you've just moved to a new location, try to find a local planting guide to help you decide how to start. You might also ask gardening neighbours or join a community garden to find out what and when to plant, and all the things you need to know in your area.

Backyard vegetable production varies a lot depending on what climate you live in. Here in Australia we have a fairly warm climate but it varies a lot from north to south. Our country goes from the hot tropics right down to the cooler regions of Tasmania, which gets the winds right off Antarctica. Overall, but with a few exceptions, we can grow food all year long here. Naturally it's the salad type crops in summer and things like cabbages, cauliflowers, potatoes, parsnips etc in winter.  And because we can grow fresh food all year, in Australia we usually grow small amounts over a long period and preserve whatever excesses we have along the way.

In the colder countries such as Canada, USA, UK, Ireland and many parts of Europe, the growing period is shorter but there are much larger amounts grown. This allows cold climate gardeners to eat the vegetables fresh during the summer and autumn and then to preserve the excess in various ways, seeing them through the winter months when snow covers the ground and gardening is impossible. No matter where you live though, please start slow, planting the vegetables you like to eat or are hard to find. You'll need a couple of years to build up soil fertility, work out what and how to grow and what will work best in your garden. Gardening can be hard work. The last thing I want to do is for you to stop after the first year because it's too difficult. Start small and slow and with the easier vegetables and after you develop your skills you can expand your garden and grow more.

Plant flowers in the garden to encourage pollinators and put some herbs into pots on the side of the garden to add interest and save space.

There are a million things I could tell you about gardening but I've highlighted these paragraphs above because sometimes young gardeners write to me upset that their gardens are failing. The message here is, if you can, connect with local gardeners so you know how to enrich your soil, what the best plants are for your region, when to plant them and what pests to look out for.

I didn't expect that to take up so much space - gardening is a multifaceted topic and it's easy to spill out the words. Tomorrow I'll write all about the thrift aspect of gardening - how you can save as much money as possible while producing fresh organic vegetables for your family.

I usually start preparing my fermented ginger beer around this time of the year. I like having it on hand to offer to family and friends when they visit. It's a simple process but it takes over a week to get the finished drink into a bottle and sometimes, as it's a natural fermented drink, it doens't go according to plan and I end up with a ginger concoction I have to throw away.  This way of living is an ever-evolving process, I'm always hoping to improve what I do, so I decided to look for a healthy drink that I could make up overnight, or in one day, and still be happy to offer it to guests.

Enter ginger cordial.  I wanted to stay with a ginger drink because I can grow ginger here and I think the ginger family - ginger, turmeric, cardamom and galangal - contains many health giving properties. 

The easiest way to peel ginger is by scraping a teaspoon over the skin. When the skin is off, just cut the hard bits off with a sharp knife.

  GINGER CORDIAL  

• piece fresh ginger about three inches/8cm
• 1½ litres/quarts tap water
• 1 cup sugar
• rind one lemon

This is a really delicious drink, and I think it's as good (or better) as the well known ginger beer brands, including Bundaberg. This is the ingredients list for Bundaberg ginger beer: Carbonated water, cane sugar, ginger root, natural flavours, acid (citric acid), yeast, preservatives (202, 211), antioxidant (ascorbic acid). 

I encourage you to try it. It's easier to make than the fermented drink and you can cook up a batch in a short amount of time instead of waiting over a week for it to ferment. Having said that, I'll still be making the fermented drink as well when I have more time. This is an addition to my homemade drinks repertoire, not an instead-of.

When Sarndra was here recently she gave me a very thoughtful gift. It's a beautifully framed hand painted swallow and calligraphy artwork created by her best friend Lissy from Yellow Poppies.  It's the first thing you see now when you walk in our front door.  Isn't it beautiful! It sums up my thoughts about family very nicely: Family, where life begins and love never ends. Thanks Sarndra and Lissy.

Enjoy the weekend, friends. See you on the other side.  ♥︎

Enterprising missionaries, introverted farmers

Meet Maine's teen farmers  I love this story. I believe there is nothing better for teen boys than hard physical work. They're also keeping a tradition alive, learning about working for a living and receiving their first pay cheque.
Admiring apples at the RHS harvest festival
Don't judge the veg by its cover
Green Kitchen Stories - great vegetarian recipes
Life in a 'degrowth' economy
Make your own jelly flu shots
Button crafts
Crochet cowl - very pretty free pattern
Beautiful basket weave baby blanket - free knitting pattern
How to make tea, according to the scientists
How to clean burnt gunk off stainless steel

I was asked recently to write about my decision to stop flying. Before I do that, I have to tell you that I do take occasional flights in my mind and when I found out last week that I was to be a grandma again, I was sky high for hours.

I don't remember exactly when my last flight was. I'm guessing it was in the late 1990s, before I started living as I do now. Back then, I owned a business writing training and induction manuals for the mining industry. I had to travel to the mines fairly frequently but with every flight I hated it more and I realised that driving would be much more enjoyable. I wouldn't be part of the herd being shuffled this way and that, I could pack what I wanted, listen to my own music and stop when I felt like it. Driving replaced flying for me then. It must have been around 1998. Now for long distance travel, I either go by train or drive - we have a hybrid car.

I refuse to fly because I'm concerned with the environmental impact every flight has.

I'm lucky to be Australian because I believe there is no better place to be. If I want to go on holiday, I will do that within my own country and there will be no flying involved. Long distance visiting can be done via Skype and if I'm called to participate in a conference, I can do so via teleconferencing. A few years ago I was tested on how committed I am to these beliefs when I was invited to attend an awards ceremony in Singapore, with flights and accommodation supplied. I declined. It wasn't difficult, I didn't hesitate, I knew there was nothing that would get me on a plane. When I did my book tour, I drove from state to state with Hanno, instead of flying. We had the best time on that road trip and I know that had we flown, I would never have associated the word "best" with anything I did on that trip.

Since 2001 the security at airports has been ramped up and it's not unusual now to see long queues of travellers at airports waiting to be processed. When I see that, when I see and hear how little respect is shown to passengers, when I think of the potential dangers lurking, I wonder why so many people still fly. The longer I don't fly, the more reasons I think of to never put myself in that situation again. But I won't go on about it because I think everyone has to discover their own reasons and be firmly convinced by them for it to have a permanent impact.

I think that long-lasting profound lifestyle change comes about when we change ourselves first and then try for group solutions, starting with our own communities. I am the only one who can put my beliefs into action, I can't make anyone believe what I do and I certainly don't want to blindly follow what others do. So for me, this is a personal stand and nothing that I expect you or anyone in my family to be a part of. And my decision to remain earth bound is not translated into judgement of people who don't. We all make our own choices and I am happy for that.

Why David Holmgren doesn't fly much anymore

It requires few lessons to develop an interest in gardening in young children. They usually like playing in dirt, digging and asking about things. If you allow them to pick fruit and vegetables in the garden to taste as they play outside, they usually connect the dots and don't grow up thinking that tomatoes and lettuces just appear on a supermarket shelf. They know because they've experienced gardening first hand or someone took the time to show them how plants grow.

Jamie is developing a real love of gardening. He's three and he's planted capsicum and chilli, he weeds, he scatters seed, digs and waters. When we are in the garden, he's there with us. He doesn't have to be asked. As soon as we head outside, he is with us, unconditionally, until we come back inside. It's the best kind of learning - learning by doing. That stays with you for life.

Whenever I hear the words: we've got something to tell you, I know I'm in for something very special and, maybe, life changing. I heard those words when Shane and Sarndra decided to get married, when their son Alex was on his way and again from Kerry and Sunny when they got engaged and when Sunny was pregnant with Jamie. I heard it again when Shane and Sarndra visited recently (photo below). They announced their wonderful news when we gathered at Sunny's for our family dinner. Yes, they're having another baby! I can't tell you how happy I am to see my family grow and get stronger.

I'm so proud of Shane and Sarndra, they're both hard workers, they're active and interested in so many things, and they're wonderful parents to Alex. And now another baby. My heart is so full I can hardy express my feelings, and to think we have to wait until next April before we can welcome another little life into our family. I'm crossing my fingers for 15 April (my birthday). :- )

Before my own sons were born in 1980 and 1981, I'd never really thought much about my family. I'd met assorted cousins, aunties and uncles, my mother's mother and father and my mother's sister and brother. My father's family lived in Brisbane when we lived in Sydney so I only met my Swedish grandma once, when I was two, just before she died. I knew most of my extended family only through old grainy black and white photos. But when Shane and Kerry where born, it was like a switch had been turned on and I just had to find out more about who I was and where I came from. I think this is a common thing among Australians - all of us, except our aboriginal friends, came from somewhere else.  In 1982, I wanted to know where somewhere else was and I started looking.

I knew we'd been in Australia for a long time. When I was born the prime minister was Ben Chifley, the monarch was King George VI and the population of Australia was 7.7 million. I knew my father's family had come out from Ireland during the potato famine in the mid-1800s and I certainly did confirm that when I started my research. I looked into my family history for a few years, but then life took over and I had no time for genealogy. When I returned to it, technology had made things much easier. Instead of searching microfiche at the local library and sending letters of inquiry to the archives office and waiting weeks for an answer, I could join ancestry.com and geni. com and not only get answers immediately, but also link up with other people in my family who I'd never heard of but who happened to be researching a different branch of our family. The early online family trees I found were so interesting!

The most endearing part of my research was discovering that on my mother's side, I am a seventh generation Australian, descended from convicts William (Lumpy) Dean and Elizabeth Hollingsworth, who arrived here in 1797. They married at Parramatta and when they served their time, they were granted leave, and started working in the very young town of Sydney. They were given a land grant out on the road to Parramatta, and they operated the government toll on that road as well as a pub called the Corporation Inn, where they lived with their eight children. That area is now know as Eastern Creek. When Lumpy died, aged 78, he was a wealthy man and an advocate of good education for the poor. It was said he could dance the hornpipe as well as any man half his age. (LOL) Below is a photo of the Corporation Inn which was the house Lumpy and Elizabeth lived in until they died. It was situated on Parramatta Road but was demolished to widen the highway in the 1960s. There is now a suburb and school in Sydney named after him.

Family is such an important part of us. These are the people we share not only our genes with but also our history. I'm very lucky to have been born into my family. Sure there have been ups and downs - we have convicts and politicians, but we're an interesting family and I like that.  And soon our family will have a new member. I'm looking forward to meeting my new grand child and then adding their name to our family tree. One more link in our family's strong chain. ♥︎ 

If you've never done any research into your own family roots, I encourage you to do it. It's fascinating and sometimes surprising. I started on ancestry.com.au but there are other websites too. If you have some time, go exploring. It will give you a good idea of where you fit into your family.

Alex, Jamie and Opa watching Octonauts.

I'm really savouring the last cool nights and warm days before summer turns up the heat. There is a lot to be done here. I'm finishing off my last book but there is also my daily housework so I generally settle into writing after that is done. I hope your home life is bubbling along nicely. Thanks for the wonderful comments left this week, friends. I'll see you again next week. Enjoy the weekend!

= = = ♥︎ = = =

Small changes are happening all around the Western world with more people realising that simple  life is not only better for us but better for the planet as well. (Did you know we've lost 50 percent of our wildlife in the past 40 years?)  Many people are being guided towards a simpler life by blogs and books, and it's wonderful to see community groups taking on the challenge and applying for funding to provide workshops on how to become more self-reliant while guiding their communities towards a more sustainable future.


I wish more people would give up on recreational shopping and comparing themselves to their neighbours. I know that change is difficult and starting any thing new is often so challenging that some folk stop in their tracks and decide to stay where they are. When change does come about and there are difficulties adjusting to new ways, or the work involved in daily life, often the temptation is to go back to your old life. It looks easier and it's so familiar. I don't often talk about the difficulties, not because there haven't been any for me but because I worked through most of my issues before I started blogging. I'm also at an age when I don't worry when things go wrong. When they do, I think about the problem and then start working on solutions. I can't be bothered with the drama now. I just get on with it.

But the truth is this way of living can be difficult, especially when you start. Bearing in mind that we all structure our lives differently, usually there is more work to be done living this way because you stop buying ready-made. When you make your own it takes more time and so many people are time-poor now. I think simple life is easier for people who have a more relaxed frame of mind and that perfectionists can struggle with it. But if you do struggle with the time aspect, just take one day at a time, take on one new task at a time and don't be hard on yourself if you have to make adjustments. I'd like it to be easier, but it's not. It is what it is. We all have to find our own ways of making it work.
We give up a lot of what is taken for granted in our modern world. For instance, I haven't flown anywhere for over ten years. It's something I felt strongly about - still do, but again, that decision is not for everyone and I don't expect anyone in my family to follow my lead. We spend most of our time here. We enjoy being here but we have to be here to look after our garden and chickens, to cook from scratch and to keep house the way I want to.  I would not be able to do what I do if we had frequent trips out. There are other things we've given up but I prefer to look at what we've gained. Personally, I love growing some of our food and being able to cook an entire meal from scratch, using the thrifty ideas more aligned with the 1950s than the 21st century.  Knowing I can do that gives me the confidence to continue to peel back the layers of modern life until I am left with what is plain and simple - never done to any particular plan or ideal, it's just ordinary life lived every day according to our values.

And I think that's the key to all this - a change of mindset and to think of this way of living as flexible and changeable. I certainly would not be working as I do today if I were a younger woman with children to care for. I have time now for entire days of cooking, gardening and knitting. You can still do it when you're young, but you'll be doing it differently. Even ten years ago I worked differently. So give yourself a break. Don't look at anyone, especially me, and think this is what you have to do. You should do what is needed in your home - whatever that is. And if you can't do all you want to do yet, accept that, get over it and get on with it. Because I will tell you one thing I know is true for all of us. If you live your life according to your values and beliefs, if you plan your time and do what you can, if you take one small step and then another, you will be enriched by it and have the strength and confidence to do it again tomorrow.