The cover page for "The Resilient Homestead" Calendar 2026 Sometimes little dreams achieved can be big steps forward in confidence and growth. For some years I'd dreamed of creating a calendar celebrating the simple life in pictures - and highlighting a humanitarian or ecological 'world day' each month, to grow positivity and unity. Using photos I'd taken around the homestead (apart from 2 donated by family), each month also has an accompanying inspirational quote. In a time

21 November is World Tree Day. So many ways we can celebrate this! Across Europe, the UK and even in Victoria, Australia, each year there's nominations and a competition for the Best Tree Award. "Celebrating and recognising remarkable trees for their cultural and ecological significance", trees nominations are short listed then put to a public vote ( geogrpahical.co.uk ). This year the UK winner was an Argyle Street Ash and last year the Skipinnish Oak - a 400-year-old Scotti

Nothing like boiling the Billy to lift the spirits In the southwest of Western Australia, 2025, spring was a long time coming! The cooler weather and increased rainfall was a winter from childhood :) Wonderful for filling up dams and lakes for summer water use and irrigation - but concerning that due to the cooler weather, plants needed for markets just were not growing! While the planned income is reduced, there's always many more jobs than time allows, so it's a case of fin

It took a health scare some years ago, to realise much 'food' existing in the Supermarket 'middleman' between producer and consumer, are...

A while ago a friend asked me what it is that I actually do. The concept of Living Simply is so vast; it's tricky to put that into a...

Gardeners do more than just tend plants. And while it may seem and feel that the whole world is distracted (and may have gone mad?),...

For some years, in the workforce, I felt like a hamster on a wheel. At the bottom of the pyramid of commerce, running on my little...

May 20th is World Bee Day!! We all need bees to pollinate our fruit and seed-bearing plants, not to mention their delicious honey and...

The two previous blog posts dealt with the power of positivity and love and the power of thought. Both have a lot of bearing on the our...

We often forget how important our thoughts are, but thoughts are the predecessor to material reality and events. When I began my journey...

Sadly, the word, “love”, is so misused now, we distrust its sincerity. Often “lust” is branded as “love” for social media and TV shows...

Land art or earth art is an artform that uses a palette of natural media (stones, leaves, flowers etc.), often using the earth itself as...

Sharing the homestead journey and my thoughts about 'Living Simply', via short videos has been another dream of mine for many years. My...

Workshops speaking about the Anastasia (Ringing Cedars) books are part of my business plan. But having the courage to speak in front of...

This October was about getting serious with being self-employed. Having spent many years working physically in seasonal agriculture jobs,...

The reality with leaving paid work and self-employment is sometimes there's a gap in the finances; and eventually the savings run out. So...

Someone recently asked me, "What do you do?" That needed some thinking about.  I have done a heap of different things.

Tuesday 23 July was International Gardeners Day! Anastasia from the Ringing Cedars books began a day to celebrate the great work Gardener’

Sometimes being at the bottom of lifes' pit is an opportunity for growth in unexpected directions.

Gardens are living artworks. Co-creations that are constantly changing and growing. It's the most complicated form of art as one needs to...