Around here - Rhonda from Down to Earth Blog

Hearing the sad news today that Rhonda's husband Hanno passed away yesterday.  Thinking of her and her family at this very difficult time.  Hanno had been in hospital for a while and then palliative care passing away yesterday.  I think even if you know someone is at the end of their life it still comes as a complete shock to the family.

I came across Rhonda back in 2008 when I was staying with in-laws in Melbourne reading through their gardening magazines.  Rhonda was a contributor on simple living in one of the magazines which is no longer published.  This lead me to her blog "Down to Earth" which lead me to starting a veggie garden, getting chickens and generally looking at life through a different lens.

Whilst her website isn't updated any more due to Rhonda looking after Hanno over the last year or so, all her recipes, budgeting tips, and posts about simple living are still available.  She has a wealth of information on how she went about giving up her career and staying home to have a better quality and simple life.  Rhonda and Hanno have two grown up sons and grandchildren who live close by.

Hanno

Rhonda, myself and my friend Karin at a local Library talk on Simple Living

A few of Rhonda's recipes are her home made biscuits which are super economical.

Rhonda's book call The Simple Home.

I made some soap after reading Rhonda's blog posts on the subject.

I made Ginger Beer following Rhonda's instructions.

Rhonda's post about the NYT Five Minute Bread recipe.

Flat breads from Rhonda's book.

Around here - Mother's Day

Just posting one of my favourite photos of the kids and I at the beach on a very early morning, hence why I'm in clothes and not togs it was too early to swim.  My sister snapped this for me November 2008 [yes 13.5 years ago] and it's still one of my favourite pics of us.  Happy Mother's Day to all the Mum's out there I know it's not really a rest day but still it's nice to be acknowledged.