Simple Life Farmer Blog

a bit more back-story

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Back in the middle of last year, we bought 1.5ac in the foothills outside of town, in a beautiful part of the northern Queensland Tablelands.
You can read about that over at the Strigidae Farm blog, so that I’m not wasting time by rewriting about it here. 🙂

So – for the last 8 months or so, we’ve been slowly working our way into making the shed a home, and getting our house in town presentable for sale.

Whilst most of it has been very enjoyable, it’s also been difficult.
My darling Spouse works a lot – and works long hours – pretty much 7 days a week, and loves the job with obsessive passion.
I only work a couple of days a week, and am now at the point of being very ready to wave goodbye to my job – and I’ll talk more about that decision later…

Up until mid last year, we used to take to breaks of about 3 weeks each, every 5-6 months – but since we found the Farm, we’ve decided that for the time being, all our finances and energy needs to be directed toward the goal of moving there permanently.
This won’t be able to last for the long term, as the only time my Love can really relax is when we are out of the country – so I think this is a decision that is going to need to be revisited…

We tried to do a ‘stay at home’ holiday in December, and it lasted about 3 days before she was back at work 😐 – and even though she adores her work – she needs a break…!

Anyways – back to the process of preparing for moving from house to farm – and the difficulties therein.

We’ve been slowly doing the shed conversion – and it now resembles a home enough that we could pretty much happily move in tomorrow.
The only things we don’t have, that the ‘normal’ home has is septic, and running water inside.
We currently use a system of buckets and jugs for water inside, we have a camp shower under an awning outside (which we love love love!), we do dishes outside under the awning also – which I’ve spoken about in another article, and we have a portable camping loo – which currently needs emptying every couple of weeks – but if we were there full-time, it would need emptying weekly.

I am the loo emptier – as my Love just doesn’t have the stomach for it.
Just the thought of it, and the facial colour changes, and the gagging starts.
Its pretty funny actually!
Emptying it doesn’t bother me in the least – and we are lucky to have a designated dump-point in town, which is free.

Oh yeah – the other thing we actually do need to be able to move out full-time, is to finish the fencing for the house yard, as we can’t bring our small dogs out until that’s done – or they’d just wander off and go make friends with the neighborhood – which probably doesn’t want them as friends. lol

Now this is where some of the difficulties come into play…
I am not in the most fabulous of health or physical condition – and some of the things that need to get done are just beyond me.
I also have a very small car, so the likes of moving furniture, just aren’t a physical or logistical possibility.
All I can contribute to that chore, is moving what I can to the patio at the house in town, so that it can be loaded in my Loves truck, and bought out.

And therein lies another couple of the problems.
a) I pretty much can’t help with carrying anything heavy down the stairs
b) the truck is almost never bloody home, to be able to put stuff into – and when it is home – there is no one around to help my Love get the stuff down the stairs and into the truck!
Aggghhhh!
I can help at the other end – cos the Farm is flat – so I don’t have to be wrangling stairs…

I’ve managed a lot of the packing of things like books, linen, clothing, and general ‘stuff’, and have been able to bring a lot of that out on my own.
Each time I come out, I load the car up as much as I can – so that the trip isn’t a ‘wasted’ opportunity.
But then there is the problem of not having anywhere to put stuff we need, once I get it to the Farm, because all of our drawers, cupboards, etc are still at the house.
Its ok with the stuff we can store – like books, blankets and winter clothing – as we have a storage container – but there just isn’t any place inside our Farmhouse to put stuff, (except for the kitchen shelving) – other than on the floor!

When you are living in a 9 metre by 7 metre space, one of the last things you need is stuff stacked up all over the already limited floor space.
Besides – I would quickly go a special kind of demented at the mess of it all…!

Soooo – we have still yet to find a work-around for that particular dilemma, but hopefully lotto will land on the doorstep – and I’ll just hire someone to come move everything. lol

At the moment, we also have a friend coming to the house in town, to do some of the bigger jobs that need doing prior to sale.
A lot of the little stuff I can do myself – but until the big jobs are done, and the majority of the “stuff” is out of the house – the just isn’t any point in getting into the little jobs – as a lot of them (like deep cleaning) will just need doing again once the building, sanding, painting, repairing etc has been completed.
And there’s no point cleaning to do the painting, until all the repairs are done.
Catch 22 again…
‘
Soon(ish), I will tell you about the plans we have for the gardens on the Farm.
There’s nothing quite like a productive (& pretty!) garden to make you feel more centered and relaxed 🙂

And remember, if you’re enjoying Simple Life Farmer, please sign up to have updates sent directly to you.
(you can do this in the ‘please join me’ box)
I hope you do 🙂

Until next time, look after YOU!
Sarah

Back when we first started converting the shed into our home.
Here, we are putting in two sliding-glass doors – on either side of the huge window in the centre.

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coincidence?

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If you’re anything like me – as happens when you start out afresh with something or reinvigorate an old ‘love’ for something – whether it be cooking, knitting, gardening, diy or even fixing engines – you do a lot of reading…

This week I had a really weird ‘coincidence’ happen to me – which I didn’t realize until I sat down to have breakfast, on Saturday morning.

Most Saturday mornings have become a bit of a ‘ritual’ for me.
After we’ve woken and sat and had our coffee together, chatting about our individual planned days and the world in general, my Love goes into town fairly early to tend to our other animals, then goes to work – so I get to start the rest of my day deliciously slowly…

First thing is to get dressed, otherwise I’m pretty sure I could happily spend my day in jammies.
Once dressed, I pop a couple of bits of bread in the toaster, and while its cooking I do a sweep of the kitchen benches, gathering anything that didn’t get taken out to the dish-washing area the evening before, and I get everything set up ready to do the dishes.
(and for me – doing the dishes is its very own ’strange pleasure’ lol)

Once that’s done – my toast is ready, so me, my toast and my juice spread out at the dining table, with either my pen and lists, a book or an internet article I’ve been saving to read while I eat and just look around at the beauty outside.
As an aside – I seriously can’t wait until we have a decent outdoor table to have breakfast at!

Now, bear with me while I back up for a minute…
A couple of days ago, I had to go to BigW in town, to get some stationary supplies.
I of course somehow ended up going to the Stationary via the Books section, having a quick glance about as I passed though – trying super hard not to get sidetracked by alllll those books that would love to come home with me…

However — a small book, not much bigger than a notebook, with a grey and white cover drew me in.
The title was ‘Destination Simple’.
I flipped over to the back cover – and read only the first line: “simplify your life – from the inside out”.
I didn’t need to read any more, or know who it was by, or how much it was.
This book had chosen me!

Fast forward back to Saturday morning breakfast time, and that quiet bit of the day when I like to catch up on some reading – and I remembered that I had the book that I’d bought the other day, to make a start on!

Bite of toast, slurp of juice, and I smooth open the cover to the first page – which is the Acknowledgements:
“to everyone who has read of listened to Slow Your Home over the past few years: thank you”

Somewhere on the back of my neck, a few little hairs begin to raise…

I put down the book, and drag the laptop to within reach.
I wake it up, and pull up my browser.
Typically – there are about 12 tabs open.
I skim across the tabs, hovering my cursor over each one – reading each title as I go, but not opening them.

At the fifth one, I read: ‘Slow your home – slow right down and live the simpler life you want’
😐

I open the tab, and its a blog: Slow Your Home
Author: Brooke McAlary

I look down at the discarded book beside me – Author: Brooke McAlary

I grab my phone and double-click my way to my podcasts app, and scroll through the list of podcasts still waiting for me to get to.
Amongst those waiting to be listened to is: The Slow Home Podcast with Brooke McAlary
😐

Those little hairs on the back of my neck are zinging by now…

I’m sure many would say that in my subconscious, I came across the book because I already knew about it, because I had seen it on the website, or heard about it on the podcast – but the thing is this: I had yet to even open the website, had yet to even listen to even one of her podcasts, and as such had no idea that a book even existed!
I had no idea Brooke McAlary even existed.
And just to cap it all off – she’s and Aussie too!

Added to all of this, the fact that the BigW in our town is not known for stocking anything that even remotely resembles ‘alternative’ reading!
Its pretty much narrowed down to either cook books, kids books, or the paperback equivalent of chick flicks!!
~ Ugh ~

So – the dishes might just have to wait a little bit longer this morning.

I think I’m going to spend a little bit of quality solitary time, getting to know this woman – and to see what loveliness she has to add to my Life.
I’ve got a feeling already that its going to be enjoyable…
I’ll let you know how it goes!

If you’re enjoying Simple Life Farmer, please sign up to have each new update sent directly to your inbox.
(you can do this in the ‘please join me’ box)

Until next time – have a good one and look after YOU!

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a strange pleasure

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Many would think I’m very odd – but one of the lovely things about the early part of my day when I’m at the Farm, is doing the dishes.

I have an old ‘bench’ of sorts, outside partially in the undercovered area, where I have my plastic dishwashing tub – which I fill with water from a bucket and a boiled kettle.

Standing out there, amidst the trees and our collection of potted plants, up to my elbows – swooshing warm sudsy water over the dishes, just gives me such a peaceful feeling – and at the end of it all, I have lovely clean dishes, and a sense of accomplishment to start my day off with…

It’s one of those times when it’s all about how you view the task at hand.
I choose to view it as a relaxing, cathartic accomplishment which I’ve done well, and that I have every right to be proud of.

What better way is there to start the day, than in being proud of a job well done! 😏
Sarah

Not everyone’s idea a of an enjoyable chore, or an ideal place to do dishes – but it sure is MINE

one step at a time

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I’m changing my Life.
One small step at a time…

I’m moving myself slowly and gently back towards being a Simple Life Farmer.

What does that actually mean?

To me and for me – it means that my Life will no longer be about working outside of the home.
It means that I will spend my days working our small 1.5ac holding (known as Strigidae Farm) growing as much fruit and vegies as I/we can manage to sanely look after.

It means I’ll be cooking the majority of our meals from scratch.
It means pre-prepping and freezing some meals – so that when I have busy days and just cant be bothered with dinner – there will be something tasty and nutritious easily at hand.
It means canning and dehydrating our surplus food, so that we have plenty of stocks for during non-peak growing times.

It means I will be sending my Spouse to work with a thermos of coffee, an insulated water bottle and a lunchbox of yummy home-made stuff, instead of drinks and lunch having to be bought.

It means I’d like to recycle and upcycle as much as I can – particularly when we’re DIYing around the Farm.

But – what it also means to me – is that I am planning on looking after not only my Spouse in a better way – but also looking after ME better…

Until next time – have a good one and look after YOU!

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a year ago…

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Editors Note:
I wrote this on another site on the 19th January last year.
Since that time – a lot of things have changed – which I will update you on in the next post or two – but I thought you might like a bit of background as to where my ‘head-space’ was leading me, over a year ago…

Not exactly in the vein of “a new year, a new you” – but some may think it so.
Twenty something years ago, I went ‘back to my roots’, and moved to a thirty acre block in the middle of the backwoods of south west Qld, that didn’t have sealed roads, running water, electricity, plumbing of any sort, or any neighbors.
When we first moved there – it didn’t even have gas.

All we had was a big unlined one room colorbond shed, with an annex slab added, for a ‘kitchen’, and we did have a nice big dam!
I also had four small children – the youngest being just 6 weeks old, and the second youngest still in cloth nappies.(none of that disposable business when my kids were little. lol)

It was a lot of hard work – pretty much from sunup to sundown, but by the time we sold up and left – we had a 5 bedroom home, a visitors cabin, a genny shed, a huge 3 bay work shed, 2 large tanks, and a smaller header tank, another huge dam, a massive thriving vege garden that had shade cloth cover, so we could grow all year round, chook yards, a pig pen, a fully fenced house yard with gardens, sheep, over an 1ac of fenced protea plants, and orchard trees, an 8′ x 8′ walk-in larder/pantry, with gas fridge, a wetback wood stove, a pot-belly stove, solar power, with generator backup, and plumbing with a real bathroom, with a bath, shower, and flushing loo!!
We even had a library!
(I’ve been known to be a little book-crazy!!)

Even though we put in our loo, we still kept the old pit toilet going.
It was in a nice spot, which we moved round every few months, and it had a nice outlook.
On a beautiful day, it was nice to still be able to ‘go’ out in amongst the forest, and just sit and contemplate…And each time we moved it, we’d plant something on top, that would grow in leaps and bounds from all the nutrients. lol

Now, well over twenty years on – I’m feeling the need to get back to the simple life.
Back to basics.

Not to the extreme that it was in those very early day – although it wouldn’t bother me in least if it turned out that way – but definitely back to a Life that has meaning and feeling.

I’ve started growing my own veggies again – and whilst it’s only baby steps so far – we’re trying with the rare spare time that we do have, to work towards making some differences in our Life.
So far in the garden, we’ve got:
two different types of potatoes,
Lettuce
Tomatoes
Two types of beans
Zucchini
Pumpkin
Coriander
Basil
Spring onions
Carrots
Beetroot and
Chillies
We’ve also got a number of fruit trees awaiting to go in the ground.
It’s a start!!

We’ve also been working on ‘reclaiming’ more of our yard, so we can put in more beds.
At the moment, we have what can best be described as a sort-of Balinese rainforest type garden.
Lots of lushness, ferns, palms etc.
We’ve been gradually paring back, so that we will have the privacy that we so desperately crave, but so that our yard can also be a whole lot more productive than its currently being.
Just yesterday we had someone come in, who wanted our old woodshed, and he came and tore it all down, and started carting it off. Free gardening in exchange for a free woodshed!
The amount of room that that alone will give us to put gardens in, will be staggering.
Wheeehee.

And on the news the other day, there was rumor about Masters (the big hardware store) possibly closing down, and therefore having huge sales.
We wanna be there for those sales I can tell you!!

We’ve also just bought a more economical car, which thankfully, is a ute – so that will make it a whole lot easier than its been for a long time, to get plants, supplies etc, from point A to point B!

On a slightly different topic, I have been unsubscribing like a demon of late.
All these things one subscribes to, that just end up wasting your time and cluttering up your inbox (& your mind!) – I’ve been unsubbing from as fast as they come in.

A very liberating way start to each day.
Give it a try! ☺️
Sarah

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A Story of Determination

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This is the story of a girl with the most amazing determination…

MaryKatherine was born 6wks premature, in an era when preemies that early often didn’t survive.

Even though at that age she didn’t know anything about her very difficult start to Life, a couple of months before her fourth birthday, she was asked what she wanted for Christmas.
Her answer was, that she wanted to be “a baby doctor“.

A couple of weeks ago, she had a huge exam which she sat a year early, and was the youngest to do so.
It’s a notorious exam – with very few passing it on the first attempt – and it’s only held once a year.
Some of those sitting it were in their third go round…

Today, that determined, amazing, tenacious brave woman got the results.
She passed her final exam.

She is now a Paediatrician.

MaryKatherine is also our youngest daughter.
We’re two very proud Mummas…

Determination

Stepping back a bit.

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Editors Note:
I started writing this a few weeks back, and realized that i just keep adding to it, when i really should be just posting stuff as soon as its written, and then writing a new post as things happen…
I’ll try get more organized! lol

Not exactly in the vein of “a new year, a new you” – but some may think it so….

Twenty something years ago, I went ‘back to my roots’, and moved to a thirty acre block in the middle of the backwoods of south west Qld, that didn’t have sealed roads, running water, electricity, plumbing of any sort, or any neighbours.
When we first moved there – it didn’t even have gas.

It was a lot of hard work – pretty much from sunup to sundown, but by the time we sold up and left – a 5 bedroom home, a visitors cabin, a genny shed, a huge 3 bay work shed, 2 large tanks, and a smaller header tank, another huge dam, a massive thriving vege garden that had shade cloth cover – so we could grow all year round – chook yards, a pig pen, a fully fenced house yard with gardens, sheep, over an 1ac of fenced protea plants, and orchard trees, an 8′ x 8′ walk-in larder/pantry, with gas fridge, a wetback wood stove, a pot-belly stove, solar power, with generator backup, and plumbing with a real bathroom, with a bath, shower, and flushing loo!!

Even tho we put in our loo, we still kept the old pit toilet going. It was in a nice spot, which we moved round every few months, and it had a nice outlook.
On a beautiful day, it was nice to still be able to ‘go’ out in amongst the forest, and just sit and contemplate…And each time we moved it, we’d plant something on top, that would grow in leaps and bounds from all the nutrients. lol

We even had a library.
(I’ve been known to be a little book-crazy!!)

Now, well over twenty years on – I’m feeling the need to get back to the simple life.
Back to basics.

Not to the extreme that it was in those very early day – although it wouldn’t bother me in least if it turned out that way – but definitely back to a life that has meaning and feeling.

We’ve also been working on ‘reclaiming’ more of our yard, so we can put in more beds.

At the moment, we have what can best be described as a sort-of Balinese rainforest type garden.
Lots of lushness, ferns, palms etc.

We’ve been gradually paring back, so that we will have the privacy that we so desperately crave, but so that our yard can also be a whole lot more productive than its currently being.

Just yesterday we had someone come in, who wanted our old woodshed, and he came and tore it all down, and started carting it off.
Free gardening in exchange for a free woodshed!Gotta be happy with that!
The amount of room that that alone will give us to put gardens in, will be staggering. Wheeehee.

And on the news the other day, there was rumor about Masters (the big hardware store) possibly closing down, and therefore having huge sales.
We wanna be there for those sales I can tell you!!

On a slightly different topic – I have been unsubscribing like a demon of late.

All these things one subscribes to that just end up wasting your time and cluttering up your inbox (& your mind!) – I’ve been unsubbing from as fast as they come in.

A very liberating way start to each day.
Give it a try! ☺

Happily Home

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I’ve been ‘home‘ for a week now – and it’s been heaven.
We’ve been socially busier than usual, starting with the night when we arrived.

We went for a walk, planning to go out along the dock.
Sort of a ‘coming home’ ritual…

On our way we went past “Sallys”, and Sally, Graham (her hubby), Tracy (Graham & Sallys adult daughter), & Amy (Tracys friend) were all sitting outside the cafe, after door-closing, having a couple of end-of-the-week drinks.

We got huge hugs of welcome home, and offers to sit and share some wine – which, of course – we did 🙂

We sat with them for about an hour, then continued on our circle walk, until we arrived back at our home for the duration.
A really nice way to start our break…

The next night was “Pink Drinks“, and the December one is always a big one being the end of year bash, and Christmas do all rolled into one – and as usual was held at Mike & Johns place at Haruru Falls.

So we got the ferry over to Paihia, then cabbed it up to their place.

About 50 or so ended up turning up throughout the evening, and it was great to see the boys, and meet some new folks too.
Jo & Jackie (sisters) dropped us back to the ferry, and we made it in plenty of time, managing to catch the second last one of the evening :))

A couple of nights later, we went out to dinner with them in Paihia, which was nice.
And they gave us some lovely photos they’d taken, as a pressie – which was a really nice surprise!
I think we will both enjoy spending more time with them next time we’re back 🙂

We’ve also briefly seen Ida, for a quick cuppa before our wedding anniversary lunch.
Lunch was at Sallys – it’s tradition – and we got wonderfully spoilt, with lots of hugs and well wishes.

It’s good to be Home!

A letter to my Son

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I had always imagined that this was always going to be a really special year.

Grandma & Grumpa would be 90, Uncle John 60, me 50, You 30, Rian 25 and Tom 21.

Amazing landmarks for our Family, worthy of awesome celebration.
But that wasn’t to be….

I had 15 years with you, and I’ve now had to have 15 without you.

I’m sure many – maybe including you – would say that that’s been my choice, but it hasn’t been…
We both know that.

Whilst our lives may have gone in very different directions, and you’ve chosen that you don’t wish me to have any part of yours; which I’ve respected – but I can’t begin to explain the depths of sadness within me, not having you in my Life brings – and there isn’t a week, a day, that goes past, when you aren’t in my thoughts – both waking and sleeping.

One day – if you have your own children – I can only hope that you never have to make a decision that you believe is in the best interests for your child, that they disagree with…

I do however, hope that you can understand (but never have to experience), if you become a parent – what desperate agonising torture it has been, to not be allowed to go to your graduation; to have no involvement in – or even get to talk to you – on your 18th or 21st; and every other day, plus Christmas and birthdays etc.
To not ever get a reply to any attempts at communication.

But most of all – to not be able to tell you how very much I Love You, and how very proud I am for you, of the man you have worked so hard to become.

I hope you have a wonderful birthday Sweetheart, and that you get to share it with people who love you.
I’m sure your Lady will spoil you silly – and that’s a good thing :))

I love you Josh and will continue to, well beyond this Life, and the next – please never forget that…

Happy Birthday my Love.

Mumma xxx

Choice or Decision – is it either?

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Almost every single day, something happens that reminds me that we don’t have long on this planet – and that maybe I’ve got a little less than that.

But some days it crashes in on me, and almost suffocates me.

I get so overwhelmed with such a deep fear and sadness, and such a feeling of helplessness that I almost can’t breathe.

And I feel like I’ve got so very little control of my future.

It makes for a decision that I just don’t know how to make….