Well, we are well and truly on our way to becoming self suffcient. We have a bit of land to build on and have planned a lovely little home. Little... yes, so now I have to work out exactly how much we can take with us and what will have to be sold or left behind. Less is more! I think that is the saying. We won't be without anything when we move, solar power, water tanks, veg garden and fruit orchard... are all in the works. We will even have a toilet (which will hopefully be made into a bio loo a few years down the track!). We are planning to move by December, even if the place isn't finished. I could live in a caravan on the land right now, but hubby thinks I will miss all the mod cons. And then again it is just the end of winter where we are, so it is a bit wet and miserable. I can't wait for all the space and freedom! But of course it all means I am doubly busy. Home educating, caring for 4 children, looking after the house and garden, tending hubby (he must be kept well fed at all times LOL) and now planning, building and moving. You would think I would be utterly exhausted, but I am the happiest I have ever been. Our dream is slowly coming true and it is so exciting. I am so glad we are able to do this while the children are young, so they can experience this lifestyle as they grow older. And it is going to be one amazing experience!

Well, last week was Daniels last week of kindy. I am now homeschooling all of my children. I think I was just allowing him to go to kindy to keep my parents happy (they don't agree with homeschooling) and that wasn't making me happy. Anyway, Daniel arriving at kindy on Monday morning and giving his teacher a hug and a kiss, and telling her how much he loves her and that I am a nasty mummy, made me realise that I should be doing what I believe is the right thing to do. Not what my parents want me to do. So he had his last day on Wednesday, said his farewells... So now we are incorparating a 'kindy' day into our homeschooling routine. Monday will be 'kindy' day. A day of paint, playdough, colours, alphabet, counting etc... Which at the moment also includes cooking and gardening, as I am ultra busy cooking produce from the garden and getting seeds and garden beds ready for planting. Amber is excited about having a 'lazy' day. Thats what she thinks of kindy day, but she will still be learning lots, even if she doesn't realise it. Life is the biggest lesson of all in this world! I much prefer to be teaching my children that lesson, than sending them off to strangers. So this week we are learning about nutrition and all the foods we should eat and which ones we should limit, and the benefits of a healthy diet. Which is a good subject as I can incorporate maths, reading, cooking, gardening, english, science, health studies, phys ed etc into one lesson. Hopefully it will stop raining long enough for us to take a walk! 

Well the seasons are passing quickly. maybe a little too quickly! I can't believe it is nearly September! Time for me to start sowing beans, peas, tomatoes, zucchini, rockmelons, pumpkins, cucumbers... The list goes on. We will all be busy seeding, watering, weeding, planting... Amber is particularly excited. She is a member of the Little Diggers Club, and received a packet of seeds in the mail. She will be planting peas in a couple of weeks and tending them as they grow. Now I just have to find some space in our little back garden among all the other vegies that need planting for the spring/summer growing season. But I guess that is the fun of back yard gardening! The lawn needs mowing but it is being ignored, as the weeds have tried to take over the onions and need to be removed. The turnips are ready to be picked and the tamarillos are slowly ripening. Waiting for the pepinos to ripen is driving us mad. They are the size of a rockmelon and still refusing to go yellow! I want to have a go at making pepino jam, I think it will make a very interesting condiment. The children are keeping their strawberry garden beds weed free, but it isn't the right time of year for fruit. Although they still check for fruit every day. They are kept busy every day checking for eggs (we have a chook who has a taste for egg), playing in the sand pit and dodging the rain. O what fun to be a child!

We have a busy weekend ahead. Trying to become self sufficient in small steps seems to be the way to go at the moment. We have been able to grow enough onions, garlic and pumpkins to last us a year. So now we are moving on to potatoes! We have to plant 45 (!) seed potatoes to keep us fed for only 4 months and so we have enough potatoes to seed for the next four months. Of course this is if everything goes to plan and all 45 seed potatoes give us a good crop of potatoes. But it's good practice and the children are looking forward to planting the potatoes on the weekend. We built the garden bed last weekend out of rocks strewn about the property, and will be adding the soil and seed potatoes on Sunday. The children had fun picking up the little rocks and looking under the larger ones that hubby lifted with his crow bar and sack trolley. After an afternoon of carrying rocks and wheelbarrow rides we were all thoroughly exhausted! Which was just fantastic!