ramblings

Oh my its been cold. The two tamarillos I planted have been hit hard by the frost so today I will move then under the verander to protect them.
Its been so cold here that its been a real shock to the system. We had a hot summer and a mild autum that winter has really hit with a bang.
I will check on the native trees we planted that we got from the council, my mother in law also got me some so we had a few to plant. Hopefully they have survived the cold, wet and rabbits and will kick off.
Have a good day whatever you do

Well arnt I clever, I finally figured out how to set the time and date on the blog so it shows the correct time.
I hope it works !
any who Its Friday morning and boy am I glad its the end of the week. Dont know whats wrong with me but I,m so tired all the time. I whent to bed at 7.30 last night and got up at 7.30 this morning and only woke up once during the night.
I feel much better but still plan the have a slow day.
Nieces birthday today
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TASH

fuel prices

wow all over the news last night the price of fuel.we all knew it would be going up but the reality of it is staggering. I dont work outside the home therefore I only use the car when I absolutly need to, but still Its costing me between fifty and eighty dollars a week to run. I cant imagine if you had to get to work everyday what percentage of your pay goes into your tank. Between fuel prices and the cost of child care I wonder if its worth working at all. Staying at home, raising your kids, growing food and recycling, mending and making do, may just be the better option in the long run.
I,m sure many people will do the sums and make sacrifices and will come out better in the end.

taking control.

What makes you happy?
This question will help you plan your life and choose where you will spend your money.
Does having lots of stuff make you happy, does helping the enviroment make you happy?
These things will allow you to priorietise where you need to spend, want to spend and the things you would like to spend on if you had the spare cash.
This is the start of your budget.
Dont forget to always put away for an emergency. I think this is were all budgets come undone. If you an afford to only put away $10.00 a week it will still add up and if the car blows up or the hot water system fails there is some money to help pay that bill.
This is the start of being self sufficient, get your money undercontrol, pay your debts and take control of your life.

becoming self sufficient

Just finished reading the blogs I read everyday and Rhonda from down to earth has ask what we have done to help us on our own journey towards self sufficiency. She had listed what she had acheived so I will tell you how we have changed our lives.
We have changed our power to green energy and still try to save as much as we can buy changing lightglobes, turning off lights, and switching appliences off at the power.
we have installed watertanks which have been used to produce as much food as we can, thus reducing the need to have it trucked in for us, futher reducing our carbon miles.
I have gone back to mending cloths like I did when first married and we have always passed cloths along to family and friends.
I have also learnt to crochet, knit and Quilt, so I have been able to produce lots of things my family love to use at a fraction of the price it would of cost to buy.
what is it you can do?
leave a comment and let me know

mondayitis

It was hard getting out of bed this morning. The teenagers have left for school and work and I am still fluffing around in my pj's. Its great the kids are self sufficient and I am able to take my time. I tell hubby I'm like a tractor, hard to start but once I'm going I keep going.
Visited a dairyfarmer friend yesterday at the dairy at milking time and I was amazed how the cows all new what to do. They line up and enter the milking circle one by one and get milked as the huge lazy susan turns. Then at the other end they back up and get out.
Who said animals were dumb!
We also scored Two litres fresh milk straight from the cow so I'll be having some for breakfast.
see ya!

lazy sundays

Its just a lazy sunday, got up late, teenage children mine and others all still sleeping the house is warm and I feel very content.
Husband had to get up and move the geese from their night time home into their daytime grazing area so I decided to get up and blog.
Its a dream of ours to buy a farm and be real farmers but until then we practice on our 5 acres. we have chickens for eggs and goats for milk, but I'm scared of big animals so they never got milked.Good farmer I'm going to make. Anyway we also have sheep for lambchops and geese for weeding and lawn mowing. We also have cats for mice and dogs for the foxes so all up we are kept very busy.
It all fits into my plane of being self sufficent. I will have to get over this fear of large animals and I am getting better. I can now pat the goats when they come close and not panic and run away so who knows I may become the very best farmers wife yet
see ya

good old collingwood forever........

what a night. I went to the footy last night to see collingwood absolutly kill geelong with nancy.Two girls out on the town. We trained it into the MCG and sat down to watch a great game. Well it was great for me but not for her! She supports Geelong and it wasnt their finest hour, but hey it was all good for us collingwood supporters and when that final siren went it was soooooooooo good.
Very tired now because I didnt sleep till after midnight so I'll go now but
Good old collingwood forever........

I'm back

hello everyone I'm back.
the computer had a meltdown last friday and refused to turn on. so its been to the computor doctor for a week and 120 dollars latter and I have it back. This means the kids are especially happy and have already come to an agreement on who is going to be on the internet at what time and for how long.
meanwhile Thanks liv for your comments and I hope to update daily so keep on checking regularly.
since the meltdown I have tryed to do some gardening and the first day pulled muscles in my belly trying to move a large pot. Having rested the next day I then attempted some weeding on the following day. A blue bottle bull ant attached itself to my hand and would not let go.After i got it off my hand swelled to twice its size for the next 3 days so I have decided that its time to stay inside and read.
So the fire is going toasty warm and I have all my nana blankies I have made so thats what Im off to do.
see ya

just another day

well the sun is up and shinning but its very cold and frosty.Here in the meadows it is often foggy. Must have something to do with all the wood fires in the area. This is a semi rural area and we dont for the most part have natural gas connected to our homes so wood heaters are the go. I dont really mind as I think they have the best heat and make a house into a home. I always love our house better in the winter. I just isnt right when the fire isnt going and buy the end of summer we are all just busting to get it going again.
on the down side when the fire is going I dry all our washing in the family room because I do not use a dryer.I makes the place look like a chinese laundry but hey I know I,m doing my bit for the enviroment and our back pocket.
Thats another thing I like doing, being frugal. My family call it being tight but I dont mind. That might be my next post. I,ll tell you all about the sights I visit do help me be tight, frugal or as I like to call it live simply. until then
see ya!

adding links

well I did tell you I was computer illiterate. It took me half an hour to set up my links but I,ve done it now so please visit these blogs as they have inspired me emmensly.

hello

well I'v finally done it. I have started to blog!!. I have been reading your blogs for so long and now I have begun my own. There are two blogs in particular that have ledme down this path raihn drops and down to earth. thank you ladies for inspiring me. I am computer illiterate and so this will be a slow learning experience so it anyone is reading this please be bear with me. thats all for now will