One of the traditions I'm bringing back to my home is Sunday lunch with family and friends. When I was growing up, this was the big mea...

This will make about 9 x 250ml jars of tomato paste. 50 large tomatoes 3 chopped red capsicums (sweet peppers) 2 bay leaves 1 teaspoon salt ...

To make the equivalent of a tin of condensed milk: 1/3 cup hot water 2/3 cup sugar 1 cup powdered milk - this can be full cream or skim...

You can enlarge this photo by clicking on it. Another project I'd like to share with you is this one - my Christmas decorations. I made ...

Now that some ladies are starting to knit dishcloths, and I know we have quite a few knitters among us, I wondered if you'd all like to ...

It's minus 2 here this morning! That's the coldest I've know it to be in this subtropical area. The photo above is my dishcloth ...

Our older son, Shane, came over to see us this morning on his way home from Brisbane. I cooked him breakfast of golden yellow eggs and brand...

I've never been a lover of the colour yellow. I'm more a blue, green or lavender kind of gal. But now I'm surprising myself in t...

Picture from allposters.com Lea rning how to stop spending is one of the most difficult things to do when you first start living m...

The 90/10 principle. I spent the first 30 years of my life expecting the exeptional to be the norm but ninety percent of life is not except...

I slept the sleep of the dead last night, boy, was I tired. After two big days at the Neighbourhood Centre I am ready to put my feet up and ...

I have been nominated again for Bloggers for Positive Global Change Award by Kate at Our Red House . Thank you Kate. At first I wondered wh...

It's difficult when one person in the family decides to change in certain ways and the rest of the family want to stay the same. I th...

I made some lemon syrup cakes on Saturday, recipe from Lisa at Altered Cutlery . I made three cakes - one we are eating this week, the ...

It's a beautiful, crisp, winter day here. Mid-winter, my elder son's 27th birthday. Unfortunately we won't see Shane today as he...

I wrote about neighbours yesterday and have been thinking since then about how we connect with others and become friends. I failed to realis...

The second stage of a revolution started yesterday. I went out to the front verandah at 3ish and found a box of food scraps. It was a large ...

I wonder sometimes why our paths lead us to this simple way of living. None of my friends live as we do, neither do any family memb...

I discovered the benefits of good homemade soap several years ago; I love how it nourishes my aging skin. I usually make a cold pressed soap...

I made a delicious cherry slice yesterday that H and I had warm for dessert last night. It works equally well with any stewed, preserved or...

One of the things H and I are trying to do is to bring as little as possible into our home from outside. We try to make or grow what we need...

Someone wanted this stitchery pattern. It might have been Jenny. I'm not really sure now. Anyhow, everyone is welcome to use it. : )

If you believed the advertisements on TV, washing clothes is one of the most difficult things to do if you don't have THE special magic ...

I've been meaning to post these photos for a while. I took them when we attended the funeral of a dear friend of H's a couple of mon...

I've just realised that Frugal Gifts is my 100th blog post. I've been blogging almost eight weeks and so far, I'm loving it. I t...

It's Christmas in July here next weekend. For our international friends that is the time when many Australians - at least those in area...

One of my current projects in the garden is to cultivate more fruit. I would love to be able to have days when I eat all raw food, preferabl...

I nominate the following blogs for the Bloggers for Positive Global Change Award: Towards Sustainability Julie is a stay at home mum to thre...