After we changed how we lived, going from crass consumerism to a more mindful way of living, I looked around and thought that Hanno and I might as well be living on an island because we'd isolated ourselves so much from our friends and neighbours. All that mindless buying was still happening in the general community and in the rare instance of telling someone what we were doing, I was always asked the most pointed of disheartening questions: why!?!

I knew I had to connect with like-minded people and the only way I knew how to do that was to volunteer to work in my community. I started working as a volunteer in a local neighbourhood centre and very soon after that, was appointed manager. We helped people with food parcels, warm blankets, clothes, budgeting, we offered a place to be during the day to connect and have coffee. I taught bread baking, soap making, and cooking from scratch. We set up a Centrelink office with a visiting worker one morning a week, we offered free workshops, a sewing circle, community garden, counselling and we had a variety of free services such as parenting support and playgroup, a free legal service, Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous. There was a Flexischool attached, with 25 students.  Although I was tired at the end of every day, I was happy that I was surrounded by good people who shared many of my values.  During the time I was there we moved twice, from one old house to another, and then to a magnificent two million dollar purpose-built facility. I stayed there for seven years and only left when Hanno nearly cut off his hand with a chain saw and he needed me at home.

Quite a few things changed while I was there. I stopped judging others, made myself available to help whoever came along and I began encouraging and supporting those around me. I'm still proud of those personal changes because I believe they made me a better person, but I'm far from ideal and still have a lot of improvements to make. The biggest change was in 2008 when the global financial crisis hit. Many jobs were lost and although Australia faired better than most countries, many people were in dire straits here. The community relied on the neighbourhood centre more and after I left there a couple of years ago, it continued to grow to be a significant part of a caring community. 

Surrounding yourself with like-minded people can happen in many different ways. Often there aren't the people in the community that you want to befriend but you can find them online. There are many people who comment here and the mutual feeling of friendship and support that has built up is amazing. I don't reply to as many comments as I'd like but I build up an idea of people just by reading their comments.

Volunteering in your community can place you in the middle of a group of people you'd never have met otherwise. It can be challenging but you can make it less threatening by joining a group whose values you support, such as the CWA, WI, a local craft group or church.

Support and encouragement can also be found in books and blogs. There are many others like me who write about the lifestyle changes we can all make. You might never meet the people who write what your read but just knowing you share similar tasks and seeing how others work can be incredibly motivating.

I'm heartened by seeing the changes that have happened in recent years. There are more people thinking about the consequences of consumerism and climate change and making positives changes to move towards simpler lives and sustainability. Farmers markets, local food and micro businesses have slowly moved into the mainstream making some food and lifestyle changes easier and cheaper.

There is no reason to feel isolated any more. Of course you have to make the move to connect with those around you, and it will take some effort on your part. If you're buying all, or some, of your weekly food and groceries at small businesses who make good soap and green cleaners, local producers of milk, vegetables, eggs and honey, the farmers of free range meat and chickens, then I'd be surprised if you remain isolated. The people who run those community business, and those you meet when you're shopping, will be able to tell you about community gardens, free workshops and activities you can get involved in. And when you do that, there will be no turning back.

How have you connected online and in your real life? What have you done that made a difference.

It's Friday again. What a week it's been here. Hanno is not feeling well but is taking Jamie to kindy every day and I've been working away like a trojan, dividing my time between writing, editing, housework and cooking. Consequently, there are not many links this week as I haven't had time to read as much as I usually do. As my mother used to say, at least we know we're alive. ;- )  

Thank you for your interesting and supportive comments during the week. I often wish I could respond more but I do read every one of the comments, I often smile when I read them, and when I close my blog down for the day, I always feel like I've spent time with friends.

17 excellent binding tutorials

A few readers have asked me to do a post about blogging, which I'm happy to do. I think the internet is one of the most powerful changes that ordinary people have had access to in my lifetime. The internet is one of those systems that is usually controlled by governments, and mere mortals like us don't often get anywhere near such influential and important technology. I'm pretty sure that if they'd known what it would develop into, there would have been government controls and we'd be paying through the nose to use it now. But here we are, able to Skype each other from one side of the world to the other, we can see how total strangers live by reading their blogs and just by writing what we want to write, we can publish those words to the world simply by pressing a button. It's the stuff revolutions are made of. It's truly remarkable.

If you've grown up in the age of Facebook and Skype, you probably take the ability to communicate freely all over the world in your stride. But I'm still in awe of it and probably will remain so till I stop tapping away on this keyboard. I grew up in a time when the only way you could have anything published in the newspaper was by taking a degree in journalism, and even then you had to brave the overabundance of editors and filters before your words were seen by a reading public.

Blogs changed everything. The filters disappeared and we got genuine free speech for the first time; although that has a down side too. All of a sudden there was an easy to use, free platform that anyone with a computer could use. It was too powerful a temptation for me and I started blogging in 2007, this will be my 2347th post. 

There are hundreds of websites with so called 'experts' who will tell you how to be a successful blogger but usually they equate 'success' with how to make money. I wanted to blog to get information out and to connect with people who understood what I was talking about. As a result, a diverse community has built up here. Some are quite vocal, some are silent, some email me with their news because they don't feel comfortable writing public comments. That's all fine by me.  

If you want to start a blog, I'd suggest you sign up to Blogger. It's a free site, owned by Google, so the site very rarely has any problems with downtime or hackers. You can start off with a very simple template, which gives your blog the look it displays to the world and as you learn more about blog technology, you can modify it to suit your own style. If you have an iphone or a digital camera, it's a simple process to take photos and videos and with a couple of clicks, they'll be published along with your words.

If you were to ask my advice about starting a blog, I'd tell you to write the truth in the best way you know how, to respect your readers, to be polite and interesting and to write about what you know. Decide straight away why you want to blog. Do you want to stay in touch with your family and friends? If so, you can have a private blog and invite those you know to join you. Do you want to develop your voice and an audience? You'll have a lot of competition, you'll have to write well, be interesting, write to your subject in an original and convincing way and in the beginning, you'll have to write every day, often with no audience.

Just to give you an idea of your competition and the work load: 

• according to Wikipedia, in 2014, there were around 172 million Tumblr blogs and 75.8 million Wordpress blogs. Blogger is the most popular blogging platform in use, however Blogger does not publish their statistics. I've seen an estimate of there being about half a billion blogs world-wide.
• bloggers who blog every day have five times more traffic than those who blog every few days or weekly.
• quality content and page design are the two main factors in building your audience.
• you'll get more links and readers if you use photos on your blog. Readers are more likely to connect to genuine bloggers and photos can be a way of telling your truth.

• Write well and often.
• Know your subject.
• Share what you know.
• Encourage others.
• Don't expect to build up a huge audience writing about your pet bird. Your subject matter needs to be fairly broad to attract readers.
• Don't expect overnight success.
• If you really think your blog is good but after a year you still have no audience, don't give up.
• Visit other blogs writing the same topic and leave comments. If they're interesting comments, other people may follow the link back to your blog.
• Don't steal words or photos from other blogs.
• Read a guide to internet copyright.

Having a blog like this is like having a top notch psychologist on standby, 24/7. When I blow a gasket about something and mention it on the blog, all you lovely tender hearts ride in on white stallions and lift me up again. Thank you for your comments over the weekend. It's really nothing that it happened but it's everything that you reacted to what was said in the way you did. ♥︎ I've said it before but it's still true, my readers have the kindest hearts and I'm thankful every day for it.

With not much time over the weekend, I've chosen to do another pictorial post today. I recently restored thousands of daily life photos from a portable drive to my laptop. I hope you enjoy browsing through them.

These apples were just a few of the dozens of apples we were given a couple of years ago. I forget what I did with most of them but I know there were a lot of apple turnovers and pies made.

Tricia made this very pretty table cloth one year when she was visiting. It's made of scraps, old tea towels and pieces from my stash.
I often write about Jamie being here but here is Alex when he stayed with us last Easter. I don't see him nearly as much as I'd like because Shane and Sarndra live a few hours drive away, but I think of him every day. 

I was asked recently what is the secret to a happy life. There is no secret. It's a long time since we earned the big dollars, but life is better now. It doesn't take much effort to make a happy life. Usually it's paid for in work rather than dollars and it is made better by sharing with our family. And that, my friends, is it in a nutshell - family, hard work and sharing.

To the person who emailed, telling me in no uncertain terms, to categorise my links, I hope you aren't as rude in real life. The links are placed in the order I find them and will remain like that. Some days I wonder why I do this. :- \

The Australian’s obituary of Colleen McCullough is a sad reflection of how women’s lives are valued

I quit my job to set up a post-apocalyptic commune

Easy floor mattress for kids - I love this idea

Hurry up and slow down

How to clean your sewing machine
Preserving lemons without salt
12 Ways Self-Sufficiency Will Make You a Happier Person

Latest issue of From Scratch magazine

We've lived here for 18 years, longer than we've lived in any other home. Before we arrived here, we'd moved 22 times. We're still refining our home, still settling in and allowing ourselves the luxury of changing things to suit our age and idea of ourselves. I still think of my home now as 'the new place". I guess I feel that because so many things changed when we moved. We developed a new way of living here and changed ourselves right down to the core in the process.

When we moved in we spent a couple of thousand dollars on the garden, we bought new furniture, added a bedroom and a new kitchen. We were supposedly putting "our stamp" on our home. Funny, no matter how much we spent, it never felt like much in those early years. My life was caught up in work, I didn't think about home; it was part of my life but it wasn't part of me. Of all the surprises that came my way in the past 18 years, knowing the relationship I have with my home now is one of the biggest. I feel that the house and land are a part of me now, part of my family and part of my history. I have no doubt that on the last day I'm alive, I'll be here, enjoying the birds, the aroma of the pine forest and the splendid feeling of warm, comfortable isolation I feel every day I live here.

We eventually put "our stamp" on our home but it wasn't by buying furniture or an instant garden. It was by living our ordinary days here. By doing house work and weeding and collecting eggs. The house knew much better than I did that buying things to feel at home is just temporary gloss. What it needed was time and love and years of bread baking in the oven and soup simmering on the stove. It needed the soft glow of candle light, the sound of newborn babies crying, the experience of hearing so much good news and some very sad news. I think all that living has been drawn into the fabric of the house now, even though it stands as a silent witness to what happens here.

Soon there will be the sound of another newborn baby's cry here, there'll be more out of tune renditions of "Happy Birthday", more garments produced with soft organic yarn, more Christmas trees being decorated, many more twinkling lights on humid summer evenings, more story books being read and maybe more books being written. And Hanno and I will live many more ordinary days here being totally fulfilled and made happy within the boundaries of our land. 

A few years ago, I wrote that we should all bloom where we are planted and over the years since, many people have told me that they took that to heart. I think I wrote that with such passion because that is what we've done here. Our twenty-third move was our last because this home compelled us to slow down and just live. There was no other requirement, no need of fancy furniture and appliances. All it needed from us was to work within these walls, to take the time to notice and appreciate what is here and to add many more memories as the years slip by.

I used to wear my hair longer when I was younger. I think I was in my late fifties when I had it cut short. Through all my young years I bought a variety of hair clips, most of them good quality French clips, and when my hair was shorter, they spent over a decade sitting in the bathroom drawer.  As many of you know, I haven't been to the hairdresser for a long time. Short hair is now longer, the weather is hot and I went searching for my clips to pull back my hair and get a little pony tail happening.  

I'd only been using the clips for a few days and my favourite one, which must be 35 years old, felt a bit wobbly. When I removed it from my hair, the top had almost separated from the stainless steel clip it was sitting on. For a wide range of reasons, I did not want to buy a new clip - that would mean going to the shops and I'd rather stay clear of them. I decided the best way forward was to repair it. It seemed a simple repair to me. Just a few dabs of glue and time would probably fix it.

This is probably the strangest selfie I've ever taken.

I found some PVA wood glue that I'd used previously on metal. I cleaned the clip thoroughly, dabbed on some glue, then pressed it down with my fingers. Excess glue seeped out the sides, I wiped it off and cleaned the clip again, then secured the top to the bottom with a bulldog clip. It stayed like that overnight. The next morning, the clip was useable again. I have it in my hair now and it makes me wonder about how long I'll be able to use it. I think it will be with me till the grave. The steel clip and the ornamental top are both in good shape and as long as the glue does its job, it should be fine. Small steps.

What are the more unusual things you've repaired?

… it has become too easy in our time to assume that childrearing, housekeeping, and caregiving, along with all the varieties of manual work, are somehow undignified and unworthy. And we have attempted to lighten and improve them by means of gadgets and institutions. But I would argue that these are the most basic and the most noble vocations. How can we live, or how can we live for very long, as a people if we don’t take care of the children, keep house, and give care to all things needing care? I think the hierarchy that places work done away from home above work done at home is utterly phony. 
Conversions with Wendell Berry, University Press of Mississippi 2007.

This is one of our local lizards, climbing out of the chicken coop after looking for eggs. This old boy is about 6 feet long from nose to tail.

The very hot weather and humidity has eased up a bit here. The days are warm but pleasant.  I hope you're not too cold or hot. Enjoy the weekend as we cruise down to autumn.

Are non-stick pans a health hazard?

Meet the farmer - Jo Salatin @ Polyface Farm | You Tube

Australia will get hotter than the rest of the world

Piketty turns down France's highest distinction on grounds that government should not decide who is honourable  (Hear, here.)
UK church ladies fundraiser cake recipes
Bueno Vista Farm From Scratch Workshops
Good news for Jeremy
Coffee cup holder tutorial

If you have a large freezer, a fairly easy way of saving money when buying meat for the family is to buy your meat in bulk from a family butcher.  We don't eat as much meat as we used to but we used to save a lot of money with a bulk meat buy every so often.  It doesn't seem to be a popular option now and I wonder why.  My guess is that most people are used to buying food on a small tray at the supermarket and the thought of a bulk buy of many kilos or pounds of meat is overwhelming for them.
The best way to go about this is to find a butcher close to where you live, go in and talk about the meat you need.  Before you go, work out if you want beef, pork or lamb and let the butcher guide you with prices, cuts and delivery. Beef is very big and instead of going for a side, you can order either a forequarter or a hind quarter. A hind quarter will weigh about 60 kg/130lbs and is made up of  T-bone, round, topside, eye fillet, rump, silverside, skirt steak, shin, mince/ground beef, sausages, bones and fat. My local price for beef now is around $8 to $9. In Woolworths, just for comparison, eye fillet is around $40 a kilo and T-bone is $22 a kilo. But what you're getting, even though it's the best end, is some of the cheaper cuts too - the shin, mince, sausages are all cheaper, but taking the hind quarter as a whole, is cheaper than buying smaller portions at a supermarket. I think the quality is better as well. So if you bought this 60kg hind quarter at $9 a kilo, you'd pay $540. Remember, these prices are only an estimate.


Of course, $540 is a lot of money to pay out for meat so it's a wise option to ask a friend or relative to go halves with you. You would each get around 30 kg/66lbs of meat for $270 and that could be made to last quite a while. It's a good idea to get back to the butcher before that beef runs out and buy a different type of meat to add variety to your diet.

Pork and lamb come in smaller portions so you can get a full side of these meats. A side of pork weighs around 30kg/66lbs and (locally) costs about $7-$8 a kilo.  So a side of pork will cost about $240. A side will give you leg roast, shoulder roast, chops and sausages. If you can add that to your freezer while you still have beef, you'll be serving up a wide variety of meals.

If lamb is your preference, that too comes in a smaller side, about 20kg, at a cost of around (locally) $9 - $10 a kilo. If you bought the same thing at Wooloworths, you'd pay well over $20 a kg for lamb steak, chops or cutlets. In a side of lamb you'll get leg roast, loin chops, shoulder chops, chump chops, the lamb flap, shank, fat and bones.  Again, if you can get one of these into your freezer while you still have a selection of the other types of meat, you'll have the equivalent of a small butcher shop in your freezer.


Maybe you can form a small buying circle and get a small selection of beef, pork or lamb divided up between all of you. Or if your group is a large one, get a side of beef and a full lamb and pork. You may be able to do a better deal with your butcher to supply that kind of order.

Please note: all the prices and weights I've written about are in my local area and will vary according to how far the meat is transported and how much rain has fallen over the pastures. When you're looking around for a suitable butcher, ask where the meat is from and was it raised in a pasture, as well as the price. In Australia, most cattle and sheep are free range but you have to ask about pork and chicken. I prefer them all to be free range.

The butcher will expect you to say how you want the meat cut, if you want sausages or mince/ground meat, and if you want to take the fat and bones. I always take the bones but not the fat but if you're a soap maker, maybe you want to experiment with rendering the fat down to make soap. The decision is your and you have to make up your mind before you place your order.  When I make a bulk order of beef, I usually say I want some roasts, silverside, steak, sausages, mince and the bones. If you're buying with others, tell the butcher that so he knows how to portion everything and when you pick up the meat, or have it delivered, the meat will be packed in plastic bags as you ordered.

Don't expect to make an order for bulk meat and go in to pick it up that day.  Generally you'll need to order about a week before you want the meat because the butcher will have to order extra meat in to cover the order.  When it arrives, it's usually hung for a while and then it has to be cut according to your requirements. It's not a fast process, so remember that and give the butcher plenty of time to give you what you ask for. So as you can see, when it's explained it's not so overwhelming or weird. It's just a different, and I think better, way of buying meat. Make friends with your local butcher, say what you want and ask the butcher to give you an estimate for that order. I'm sure you'll be surprised at the savings that can be made.

Have you bought meat in bulk? How do you do it? Are you part of a large order with a friend or do you go solo?

We didn't go over budget during the holidays but there have been many years when we did. If this has happened to you and you're now facing a lot of unwanted bills, I hope we can help. I invite all the readers here to join together to help everyone who needs to get back on their feet again.  Every day, in emails and comments, I'm reminded that this blog has the potential to help people. If you're in a sound financial position, or if you're paying off debt successfully, I encourage you to share your knowledge to help fellow readers.

I hope there will be a number of you who comment with good ideas below. We all have our ups and downs in life. Today you might be helping someone recover from overspending, tomorrow it may be you or me who needs help.

Even if you have one or two incomes coming in, you will have to wait to work the time needed before you collect your pay, and when you do, will there be money leftover to help you get back on your feet? I think the best thing to do is to actively look for ways to make a bit of spare cash. And I guess that will take some work on your behalf but it's better than having to pay extra interest on your debt or fees because you can't make a payment.  Try to pay your mortgage or rent on time, as usual. If you can manage that, these steps to earn extra cash might make all the difference towards getting back on track.


Here are some of the things I would do if I needed to find some extra money:

• Live off my stockpile for two weeks.  This would leave two week's food budget money to be put towards the holiday debt.
• Declutter my entire house, shed and garage and have a garage sale. You're hitting two birds with one stone doing this - getting rid of "stuff" and, hopefully, paying off debt.
• Eat vegetarian meals every second day for a month. This would free up two week's of money usually spent on meat, chicken and fish.
• See if you can find a temporary job or freelance work.
• If possible, if you're not on a contract or at the end of your contract, cut off services such as an extra phone, Netfix, pay TV etc to maximise your savings. You can reconnect again later (if you want to) when you're in a better financial position.

When you put in the time and effort and it starts paying off, make sure you put all that extra money towards your debt. Temptation is a terrible thing. Don't start thinking that the extra money is for spending. You've been down that track and now you're trying to repair the damage. Nothing can beat the feeling of being in charge of your debt and then being debt-free. So stop the guilt trip, just do what you need to do, pay off the debt and when you're back on track, continue to pay off whatever you can as fast as you can. Because when you have no debt, life will change and you'll feel that anything is possible. And maybe it is.

What are your ideas to get back on track after overspending?