Weekend reading

The kids have gone back to school, the weather is cooling a little and time is marching on. 



I finished the final reading of my book yesterday so that's been sent back to Penguin; hopefully it will be published in late March.



I took the opportunity last week to make more lemon cordial and gave these two bottles to Cathy and Sunny. Hope you have a  wonderful weekend. Thank you for

Weekend reading - UPDATED

The long summer school holiday in Australia ends next week and everything will be back to "normal" again. It's been a hot summer here, especially in the west and down south and I think most of us are looking forward to autumn. I hope all my friends in colder climates are staying warm and safe. Enjoy your weekend, and to all my Australian readers - Happy Australia Day for Sunday. We'll be having

Weekend reading

If you have a little time up your sleeve I hope you'll have a look at my DIL's facebook page, Bluebell Alexander. When we visited them after Christmas, Sarndra was having a little break from sewing but I saw her work room all set up nicely, ready to spring back into action. That time has come. Sarndra works from home and also at the local fabric shop. She's got a good eye for design and is

Weekend reading

Take care of yourself over the holidays and stay safe. I want to see you back here next year. Merry Christmas everyone. I'll see you soon.  ♥

Bella is a magazine for teenage girls. Here is a free sample of the online magazine. I think you'll agree that the images and ideas presented there are age-appropriate, endearing and very different to the sadly sexualised photographs and topics often in

Weekend reading

I've been seeing the heavy snow falls and storm footage from north America and the UK on our news here. It's such a tragedy that people are dying because of the weather. I've never told you this before but quite frequently when we have bad weather here, and especially when we're in drought, it's hot and it seems like the rains will never come again, I go searching your blogs to find photos

Weekend reading

I hope all those ovens are being cleaned along with all the other pre-Christmas tasks. Try to stay calm and focused. In less than three weeks, Christmas will be over and we'll be in the seasonal doldrums waiting for the cricket to start. Thank goodness for the cricket.  I hope you have a wonderful weekend. See you next week, friends.


- - - ♥ - - -




Congratulations Katie and Reuben at House

Weekend reading

Happy thanksgiving to all my American friends. May your day is full of family, friends and good food.

Quick Tip: If you need ice over the Christmas holidays and you have room in your deep freezer, start making ice now. Whether it be cubes or blocks of ice, you've got three weeks ahead to get it organised. I'm making two litre blocks using a tall 2 litre plastic container. The made blocks are

Weekend reading

Thank you for your visits this week and for your comments. The comments create a point of interest for me, help me build up a picture of you and they remind me that we're all in this together. Enjoy your weekend, friends. I'll see you on Monday.







If you're a new knitter, treat yourself to Fringe Association's Beginning to Knit series.

And, hot off the press, if you're already knitting and

Weekend reading

Are you getting yourself organised for the end of year holidays? I made up three bottles of ginger beer yesterday and today, I'll make a Christmas cake if I have the time. I hope you enjoy your weekend, take some time out for yourself to relax.


The passion of parenting
Guide to food forest planting in temperate zones
Spice angel tutorial
I am loving the Eda Shawl at Tread and Ladle
Gen Y

Weekend reading

My beautiful mother, Jean St Claire McGrath, died 20 years ago today. If she were alive now, she would be 94 years old. Even now, there are very few days she doesn't tip-toe into my consciousness. She was a truly remarkable woman. RIP mum. I miss you.


= = = ♥ = = = 
One of my heroes, Paul Keating and I grew up in adjoining working class Sydney suburbs. Both born in the 1940s, he eventually

Weekend reading

You guessed it. If I have time this weekend, I'll be clicking away on the needles. I hope you can do something you love on the weekend too.

Please check below for details of a Permaculture Course in the Lockyer Valley.

Off the grid - Dutch documentary 2011 in English with Dutch subtitles - youtube
Meet the farmer - Joe Salatin - you tube
Living pay cheque to pay cheque
Make your own wine

Weekend reading

Another week has come and gone. Time seems to go so fast now. Does that mean I'm old(er)? Thank you for joining me here during the week. I'll be spending time in the location pictured above - our front verandah. Enjoy your weekend, spend it with those you love and recharge for next week.  XX


Michael Pollan's family meals

Putting a meal on the table, even when you're dead
Butter and

Weekend reading

Hanno and I hope you have a wonderful weekend ahead. We are both fine and looking forward to some work and family time over the next couple of days. Thanks for your comments during the week. There is a beautiful community of like-minded souls here and we love sharing and learning as much as we can with all of you.

A short note to everyone who created a Google account so you could comment

Weekend reading

What a week we've had here. So busy, but productive and exciting as well. Our vegetable garden is starting to wind down with the early hot weather arriving so we've been trying to do a bit of seasonal work here in addition to our normal work. We hope to get another three or four chickens as two of our old girls died recently and we have another two the same age, and therefore not laying. If you

Weekend reading

Hello everyone. I've been working diligently during the week and made great progress. I'll be back with you on Monday with some posts that I hope you find interesting. In the meantime, have a great weekend and make sure you take time out to relax.  See you soon. :- )

Special offer $20 organic veg and fruit box from Aussie Farmers Direct, via Slow magazine, check the banner ad at the top of

Weekend reading - UPDATED

I've been meaning to mention the wonderful comments that come in. I read every one of them and many of them make me smile. I would love to have enough time to respond to every comment but I try stay off the internet as much as possible. It's captivating and I think it robs me of time to do other things. But I do appreciate every comment and that you take the time to write what you're thinking.

Weekend reading

I know I've said this before, but I have the most wonderful readers here. Thank you for making Hanno's day yesterday with all the birthday messages. He sat down and read every one of them. He sends his thanks to all of you who wrote. Thanks from me as well. :- )

I hope you have a good weekend. If you're busy, please take some time out for yourself. Even if it's only 20 minutes for a coffee and

Weekend reading

There have been a lot of questions about my book this week. It's a bit complicated but let's see if I can explain. At the moment, the copyright for the print book and the ebook is for Australia and New Zealand only - that means you can only buy it in Australia and NZ. However, you can buy the print book here and some book shops will send it internationally. Some international readers have said

Weekend reading

If you want to smile today, really smile, deep down to your bones, watch this - youtube

Got too many tomatoes?  Try fermented tomato paste.

One of my food mentors is Sandor Katz who wrote the book Wild Fermentation. I've just discovered he's doing a fermentation workshop for Milkwood in February next year. I won't be there, even though I'd love to be, but I thought I should let you know

Weekend reading

I'm looking forward to a seeing Shane and Alex this weekend. We'll be looking after Jamie too so having the two boys here together will be wonderful. I hope you're doing something you love over the next few days.




My simple living masterclass at the Brisbane Writers' Festival is booked out now, it's on next Friday. If you read my blog and have booked a place, please introduce yourself