It's my birthday today, I'm 76. ?  I love being my age. Every stage of life brings new joys and challenges and now is no different. I know some people fear ageing but I think life gets better the older you are. I have all the time I want to do as I please and when I was younger it was the opposite. I have no doubt there will come a time when it will get harder but until then I'll live every day to the full and enjoy each day. After 13 years on book shelves in Australia and around the world, Down to Earth looks to be on its last legs. My royalties are telling me that story and I think ..read more

I've been writing about change recently, mostly because I've undergone significant change in the last two years but also because that’s what we all do - we change. Change is healthy, it shows we’re evolving and not standing still. However, my change topic today is not about personal change, I’m changing the shape of my bread, it will be square, and the recipe is changing to suit the shape. I have many posts here about baking bread and yes, I've been through all the changes you're currently going through - sourdough, artisan bread, sandwich loaves, ancient grains, rye, milled oats and the rest ..read more

One of the things I love about living alone is that I can do whatever I want to do. I've always been independent and a loner but this puts a new sparkle on the edge of it. This is REAL freedom. But hand-in-hand with that freedom is the importance of maintaining relationships with family, friends and neighbours.  My family continues to support me with phone calls, messages and visits which I know will carry on until I die. Thankfully, we are that kind of family. I have a couple of online friends who I speak with online or on the phone and two other friends I see every few months - it ..read more

I gave up looking through supermarket specials catalogues years ago when I realised that 90 percent of what they reduced in price was junk food: fizzy drinks, sweets, chips, biscuits, sugary cereals, cake mix, canned soup etc.. Grocery prices started rising before Christmas and while many of us are used to higher prices, we're all looking for value for money so it's still very difficult shopping for fruit and vegetables, meat, fish, dairy, eggs, staples and cleaners. I put cleaners in there because although I don't buy washing liquid, spray and wipe or any of the common cleaners, I do buy bora ..read more

When I simplified my life I thought not much would change in the future. Looking back on it now, things didn't change for many years but when the changes came, they were terrifying, challenging and, eventually, wonderful. I’d never thought about living alone until it happened and then I thought I’d just carry on as before. But it didn’t turn out that way - many of my changes were big and difficult and now my life is very different to what it used to be. So I thought it might be a good thing to write about here - to help others as they age and because I want my blog to be a journal of my life a ..read more

When I started living a simpler life over 20 years ago, I saw it more as a collection of skills rather than a way of life. It took me a few months before I connected the dots and that showed me that when each skill was seen as part of something bigger it made more sense, and all these things made life easier. For example, we’d kept chooks, grown vegetables in the backyard and eaten organic food for many years. I’d baked bread on and off for that time too and when we lived in the bush, we stockpiled. But all these things seemed to be disjointed and random. They were things we did when we ha ..read more

I used this quote at the beginning of chapter five in The Simple Home, Laundry Love. It's one of my favourites: “Without ambition one starts nothing. Without work one finishes nothing. The prize will not be sent to you. You have to win it.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson That is how I feel about the work I do here in my home. I end up with the prize, this is how I win it. Back in the day, I used to multitask, take shortcuts and do only the work that was necessary for a clean and tidy house. I didn't think about comfort, warmth, wellbeing or safety. It was only when I started to slow down and appre ..read more

Summer hasn't been too bad here so far this year. We missed the very high temperatures experienced down south so it gave me a chance to weed the garden, declutter, do some Christmas preserving and deep clean various cupboards and drawers. I also had a looooong talk with Grandma Donna on Skype last week. We have so much in common and it feels as if I've known her for many years.   Decluttering is so good for the soul. When it's been done it reduces the amount of time it takes to do the daily chores because there's so much less to look after.  Moving stuff around from A to B "beca ..read more

I'm still living in the outernet, still loving it and still glad to be alive. I wrote about the outernet here if you have the time to read about it. Every time I walk out into the backyard and look around, I have a feeling of gratitude for everything I have, especially the gardens and access to the private, open space. The garden brings balance to my days, keeps me active and reminds me of the benefits of the past and the promise of the future. Earlier this morning, I planted my rose, Pinkie, in a large pot so she can climb up the lattice. When Pinkie flowers she will create a beautiful backdr ..read more

I've been battling the bush fires here since Saturday and it's been very stressful. I'm close to the area that was evacuated so we were all on a Prepare to Leave warning all Sunday but thankfully, I was able to stay. Gracie didn't know what was happening as I kept walking outside to see what was happening. Bush fires are unpredictable and fast so you have to stay alert and follow the guidance of the local fire brigades. I'm amazed and so grateful for all the work the volunteer fire brigades, helicopter and fire bomber pilots did to keep us safe. They worked around the clock to fight the fires ..read more