Yurt progess

The yurt building has oficially begun.  Thank goodness!

Clearly, Little Puss (the grey one) And Max are super excited about the progress.  Can't you tell?

Is it valuable?

I have been reading a bit lately about the push to be successful and about the art of the hustle.   It seems there so many people feeling the pressure to capitalize on every element of their lives, even their hobbies.  That if we are good at something we should promote it and work out a way to value add to it and build it up.

Grant is the king of the pancake making here.  A title I'm happy for him to have if it means brekky in bed.  Ha! (photo credit to Will.)

I'd be lying if said I didn't at times feel the pressure too.  I think many of us do. 

Weekend Reads

NOTE:  Thank you to all of you who leave comments, they really mean a lot and help me gauge what people are engaging with.  I may be a little slower than usual at replying at the moment due to the whole off-grid thing and internet access is often limited to day time hours when the sun is shining and the solar battery is charged.  

Well, it seems the rain that is well overdue is finally beginning to hit us here.  There have been varying amounts of rain on the farm over the last three days which is absolutely wonderful.  We are managing to stay nice and dry with our camping set up which is fortuante.  No leaking tents!   (Always a bonus.)

Remember when I had an actual kitchen?.....*sigh*

Camp cooking and meal planning

Our cooking facilities are basic here, but we do ok considering.

Our little caravan table, little fridge and kitchen area.  The BBQ and gas burners outside, with a trestle table nearby which adds to the cooking area.  

The same, but different.

It feels like we have been here longer than a month now.  Places are becoming a little more familiar, we are getting used to the very different weather, the boys are settling into school.  Angus, helped by the wonderful care and support of the school, is slowly finding his feet too.  The familiar routine of homework, packed lunches and forms to sign has come flooding back.  

It's the same, but different.  

weekend reads

I thought this year I would use Friday to both highlight blogs, books, articles or links I have enjoyed this week which I have been doing, but also as a time to reflect and share some of our challenge year of  'Our Families Year of Less So We Can Experience More' on a week to week basis.  As a kind of accountability/reflective post.

Bedtime rituals.  A snuggly blanket, a good book, favorite 'Bunn-Rabbit' and a cup of milk.  

camping

It appears Grant is taking our frugal year challenge very seriously.  He found an old cattle trough on the farm he has dragged to the back of the caravan and is converting it to a bath/shower trough.  I'm yet to be convinced it is a particularly good idea but perhaps after it has had a good long scrub I will see his plan a little clearer....

Going for an early morning walk with Aggie and Ronnie.

Challenge: Our families year of less so we can experience more

Last week I floated a challenge idea for our family I thought I would name "Our Families Year Of Less So We Can Experience More."

The Landcruiser loaded up as we moved our family, three dogs, two cats, and Squirtle the turtle 2000kms across Australia to our new farm.  

In many ways we are pretty good at buying second hand, buying only what we need and embracing a simpler lifestyle.  In other ways, we could do better.  More importantly, I WANT to do better. 

Weekend reads

Happy Friday!  I hope you have time to sit and do something you love with a cuppa or a glass of wine in your hand this weekend.  I think Friday night here calls for a chilled bottle of sav blanc and pizza for dinner after a long week.

School, childrens anxiety and ideas to ponder

Hello there, shall we sit and have a cuppa?

a little tour

I promised more pictures of our camping set-up on the farm so here it is.  With the aim of keeping it real, I'm going to show it all.  It is not fancy and it's certainly not a glamorous camping set up but it is enough.  As with most industries, the camping and off-road industry are full of beautiful fancy things you can spend an absolute fortune on.  Clearly, we do not have them but our camp is neat, clean and tidy and it provides us with all our basic needs.