Just a reminder that if you would like to continue to follow us and our journey to a simpler life you can pop over to our new blog at Barradale Farm. You can follow the link to it HERE. We look forward to seeing you there! xx ..read more

 Dear readers,  After much pondering and consideration, I have decided to close this blog. Simple living is an inherent part of who we are. It has helped shape us and move us from the life we lived towards the life we value and as such, my writing will always reflect that. But don't worry I have a brand spanking new blog that better reflects where we are today and what we are trying to achieve. We have recently decided to name our farm Barradale Farm and it makes sense to rename the blog at the same time. As the farm grows it is more practical to have everything under the same, e ..read more

We have had visitors this week, who arrived Monday. My very dear friend, her husband and their three lovely children. Before they came I attempted to clear space so we all fit, which was challenging, but it was also a good excuse for a much-needed declutter. They too are renovating their home and have been for several years now on and off, so I was reassured they wouldn't look at the various projects we have on the go.   This is my lounge as I get ready to upload this post. Reusable shopping bags waiting to get put in the car, clean washing waiting to be folded, book shelves in use and ..read more

We have just come back from a beautiful week away. As always it was a mammoth effort to get everything organised before we left. To make sure the animals are all in good pasture and freshly moved.  Henry and Elsie on their first flight. Elsie was not a fan of the descent.... Upon leaving I was a little frustrated with the basicness of our life here. I was sick to the bone with feeling like I was cooking and cleaning all the time.  But after a week away of easy living, I came back to the rawness of our life and felt renewed. Our funny little round home, managery of farm animals an ..read more

I rather like the idea of spring cleaning. Of taking everything out, giving it a good wash, hanging the rugs in the sun and beating them out. I would like to say I am working throughout little yurt top to bottom in a methodical, industrious and thorough manner but alas, that is not the case. I am working through it, but it's a snippet at a time. You might think that living in a small space would mean that it would be a quick job, but there are 6 people's belongings to sort through and some of our nooks and crannies are pretty full. Though I did scrub Elsies cubby top to bottom and toss ou ..read more

It has been a promising start to spring with the safe arrival of the first kid (of the goat variety I should clarify) of the season. A lovely, strong healthy girl born to a doting mother with oodles of milk.  I think given all the baby animals in the world a baby Boer goat might have to be up there in the top 10, maybe even the top 5 sweetest babies, although I may be biased. There really is nothing quite like stroking their long soft velvety ears. Perhaps if there was more goat-ear stroking in the world, we would all be less stressed. A worthy experiment for a study if there ever was ..read more

Grant starts a new job this week. It's full-time seasonal work with the forestry department. It's a good solid government job, and he is really looking forward to it. To be honest, so is our bank balance. It's a job he has wanted for a while but with Elsie being a baby and things so basic here, he didn't feel the time was right to apply as he is required to work away sometimes. But Elsie is getting bigger, the track is slowly being improved and the farm is becoming easier to manage.    These photos were taken on a recent afternoon spent fishing with Grant's parents when they were ..read more

It's been a busy couple of months here with a stream of Grandparents, Aunties, Uncles, and cousins visiting. It was wonderful. It is not easy living so far away from everyone, especially after the past two years of border closures, so these visits from loved ones are particularly special. Everyone has returned home and things have returned to normal. However, there is still a visit from dear friends to look forward to at the beginning of October. Yay! There have been some new additions to the farm in the way of two Friesian heifer poddy calves. Friesians are a well-known dairy breed and w ..read more

Recently we had a friend over for dinner and he offered us 30 meat chooks that were surplus to his needs. He kindly grew them out until they no longer needed heating and then passed them on to us for a carton of beer.  We have no experience growing meat chooks, so it will be an interesting experiment. So far they are living very happily with our egg chooks, scratching about on pasture and able to freely undergo their natural chicken behaviours. I foresee a lot of chicken dinners in the future.  We will have to process them at various sizes due to only having very limited freezer sp ..read more

It's 3am as I'm sitting writing this and when I got up to load up the fire I discovered it was nearly out. I am nursing it back to life before I return to bed to try and ensure the yurt is warm when everyone wakes in a few hours. I'll fill the kettle and put it on the stovetop before going back to bed so it's hot for Grants morning cup of tea when he gets up at 6.   The yurt has very little thermal mass, so once the fire is out it quickly cools down. Last night I slept through and the kids grumbled all morning as they shivered getting changed.   This is the reality of living off-gr ..read more