Two aging hippies
Say cheese
Its funny how making a choice can change your whole life isnt it? I met Steve the very first time that I used a computer. My son was showing me how to use “chat” a now defunct way to meet people and Steve was on his very last post after having been totally fed up with chat and all it entailed. This was back in 1997 and ADSL wasnt even dreamed about. We met in a chat room called “Comedy Chat” with Steve’s query “What is the meaning of life?”. Having watched the Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy, the answer to that was obvious “42!” Half a world later and we were living in Western Australia and my father who lived in Tasmania mentioned that he had one of his houses vacant and would we want to live in it? It took us all of 10 minutes to decide and a day to clarify that it was time for a change.
We want to grow our own veggies, keep chooks for eggs (no killing here, I am vegetarian and neither of us could kill one of our girls, Emo dog and El Chupacabra however are a different matter!) and use our skills and knowledge to keep learning, make as much as we can as cheaply as we can, find sources of what we need at the lowest cost and preferably barter our way to a better life. Want to join us?
Do you believe in Karma? We do. We called one of our dogs Earl! 2 of our dogs are born on the same day. Its amazing how small the world really is and Serendipity is just how all of these little atoms managed to collide together to form our “happy accident” that we are leading now. Hopefully you will enjoy reading about our endeavours to achieve nirvana on a students budget. If we cant make it ourselves, find it online or work out how it goes, it aint worth doing.
I just need to add something here…I am quintessentially a magpie. I find things online including recipes, pictures, information etc. and if I put it into this blog, I am not laying claim to it, I am merely offering it to my readers to share your fantastic online offerings. I figure that if you didn’t want us to see it, you wouldn’t have put it online in the first place?! Ok, that saying, I respect everyone’s rights out there to make a living and should I ever inadvertently use anything on this site that someone gets a bee in their bonnets or their knickers in a twist about me using, please feel free to contact me and I will remove said item forthwith! I am not here to rip people off, I am here to share and thats all that this blog is about. If I use something that you have put online, its because I admire it, I lust after it or I want to show other people how great it is, and in so doing this, surely I am promoting your product? Perhaps you should even be paying me to do so! Let me know…we will work out a deal ;o)
theroadtoserendipity 
Oct 09, 2011 @ 16:26:41
Brilliant blog Aunty Fronk 🙂
Oct 09, 2011 @ 18:49:00
You gave me the idea :o) We had often thought about blogging and I had always said to Steve that I was ‘going to start a blog’ but after we saw that you were doing it, and someone else started one that we were pretty impressed with, we decided to give it a go. Its just ramblings about what we do here from day to day. I am glad that you like it, I love your blog as well. Is there some way that we can link our blogs? They are both WordPress. I guess I am going to have to delve into that scary part of blogging “The Dashboard”! Give me a bit and I will figure it out. Thanks for the thumbs up, its good to get kudos from your peers but even better from your family :o)
Oct 14, 2011 @ 17:29:22
This is one blog I want to read forever Pen! Keep it going, it’s
so entertaining for this old duck over here. Besides, I now know what & where you talk about too. Hey, I thought you said Pink was a pregnant sheila?
Oct 14, 2011 @ 17:30:11
You might also see I got the blog by the follow button okay!
May 03, 2012 @ 12:27:11
Hi narf, I have finally got around to reading your blog. Whew! Long posts! Takes ages to load, but I will persevere.
You are doing great things down there in Tassie. Congrats and keep it up. Thanks for the humourous and interesting posts.
May 03, 2012 @ 14:35:54
I used to post every day but cut it down to twice a week and now I have words fighting to get out into my posts. One day I will learn to simplify them down to their essence, but for the moment its a matter of release them or blow! ;). Thank you for saying that we are doing great things but half of the time we really don’t know what we are doing. I would love to do a permaculture course to put all of the horticulture that was crammed into my head into the perspective that I need to do what we want here. I am trying to find everything that I can online to help us do this with minimal cost. That is where I found your blog… your wicking beds are a really great resource and something that we are actually using in our sustainable landscape plan. I love to learn from people and I always learn something from your posts. The fact that you are somewhat closer to me than most of the other sites that I predate on a regular basis is great because we have similar climates and temperatures and I can relate to what you are doing with your property. I love your chooks by the way. Mine are insane…I think EVERYTHING that comes to live here has been rejected for some terrifying reason. I hope that all of our hens don’t gang up on us one day and do us in…they just need to learn how to drive the car and access the bank account and they will be right… thanks heaps for your great posts and you are really giving me a lot of fodder for our place 🙂
Jun 19, 2012 @ 06:07:55
Dear Narf, you have left me in stitches with your last paragraph about your hens.
Jun 19, 2012 @ 06:26:38
You are welcome Jean…I must be channelling the hen equivalent of Billy Connolly there! 😉
Oct 23, 2012 @ 12:55:48
Duh – just got around to following your blog. Apologies for my lateness to the party ;-). Hugs from Utah.
Oct 23, 2012 @ 17:29:10
I am amazed that you guys find time to scratch yourselves with having to post every day for Vegan mofo! I dumped all of my omni (albeit gorgeous) food blogs and cleansed myself with a whole heap of new delicious vegan blogs in my rss feed reader. NOW I am armed for summer (and Somer 😉 ) and am ready to start experimenting with the harvest of veggies that we are going to get this year. Cheers for following. Its great to see you here on Serendipity Farm. Theres a little saying that I am going to make a sign up for our gate that says “Ring the bell…if no-one answers…pull some weeds!”…Thats our ethos. Make yourself a cuppa and you can have some of the good chocolate biscuits in the tin on the top shelf 🙂
Nov 01, 2012 @ 06:53:46
Narf, you are an inspiration for someone like me and Sweet Man, just starting out on our organic farm. Lots of great information in here!
Nov 01, 2012 @ 07:00:25
Our “farm” is really just 4 acres of overgrown wilderness and steep inclines on a hill overlooking a river BUT we are planning on “farming” our buns off using permaculture principals and thinking laterally rather than mainstream. We are in the process of planting out all sorts of things to facilitate growing an edible food forest and are learning on our feet. We are horticulturalists BUT we are not “practical” horticulturalists…we are hort students on paper without the dig-in-the-dirt practical experience so this is all a big learning curve for us! We are loving the process and hope that you enjoy them along with us :). Feel free to drop by any time that you want and bring sweet man with you…the more the merrier! (Literally merrier if Steve brings out his skeeter pee lemon wine 😉 ). Consider us homesteading permaculture “Hill Williams”! 😉
Nov 07, 2012 @ 09:01:18
Oh I HAVE to ask… skeeter pee lemon wine? Oh PLEASE, do tell!
Nov 07, 2012 @ 11:26:34
Yup…lemon wine! Well…its more like a cross between ginger beer, lemon wine and lemon beer! Very unusual dry strong lemon and very reminiscent of a non sweet ginger beer. Steve loves it and I got drunk on it so I guess it worked! The orange wine that we made is WAY too sweet and I don’t think it fermented. I think we are going to have to use it like cordial to temper the skeeter pee lol 😉
Dec 02, 2012 @ 14:47:58
Just jumped over from RabidLittleHippy after I read your comment about your available walnut trees. I live in Southern Tassie, Huon Valley area but the in-laws live In Launceston and know that we are after some walnut trees for our block so maybe we could come to some sort of arrangement! I’d love to hear from you. Cheers,
Jan
Dec 03, 2012 @ 05:16:19
Hi Jan…We are heading in the Launceston pretty soon for our final lecture with our hort lecturer and could meet your parents (or drop some trees off to them) then. They are not big yet which means that they should transplant out well. I would let them grow on a bit and plant them out next year in autumn. Did you want a couple of chestnut trees as well? Lovely shade trees and valuable nut species. Let me know 🙂
Dec 15, 2012 @ 01:15:34
Hello guys, I just wanted to share this with you:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-20723455
Miranda is on the front page of the BBC News website! How cool is that?!
Dec 15, 2012 @ 05:18:53
That is AWESOME! Miranda is an amazing ambassador for the trees and is truly someone who stands up for what she believes in and we are very proud of her 🙂
Dec 26, 2012 @ 08:15:07
I came here the other day and didn’t do justice while reading your info, so forgive me. I just came back and was more mindful with my attention. I wanted to say that what you wrote about, making it yourself or finding out how to (which obviously includes growing it yourself)…if more people even thought like this, our economically starved world would be a whole lot better off. Self reliance and sharing are key elements to helping people get out of their mental and physical poverty. Thank you. Paulette
Dec 26, 2012 @ 10:22:33
Poverty is our lot! We are rich in comparison to those in the third world but thanks to a most Serendipitous piece of luck, my hermit father left us 2 houses, one in town where my daughters live and 4 acres out in the Tasmanian bushland where we have put down our roots and are using everything that we learn to effect change with as much hope and anti-consumerism as we can. We have never been happier and as middle aged students, we are able to put what we have learned horticulturally into our day to day lives. People have the power to change their lives magnificently or maliciously in their own two hands…it’s our choice how we choose to live and to see the world. We choose hope and live each day like we CAN make a positive change. We want to share that with everyone and a healthy dose of good humour can’t hurt :). Thank you for your lovely comments and for coming back. You are welcome on Serendipity Farm any time you like. Pull up a chair, get that tin of chocolate biscuits down off the top shelf (have to keep them away from the dogs 😉 ) and make yourself a cuppa…life is too short for stilted introductions, welcome 🙂
Dec 27, 2012 @ 09:13:09
Thank you and very glad I did come back. I was confused by earlier communications which you have clarified here and I feel your heart, so please forgive my misguided ignorance. I/we (my husband) included are on the same page and although we have degrees and professions, a house, etc. we also chose to live simply, help others for free, and share what we can. Our passion is dogs (a being tolerance advocates) and we do what we can to help raise awareness to dogs (and all animals in this situation) in cages, at no fault of their own, for simply being born, being put on death row. We’ve been into dog (rottweiler in particular because it’s a breed many are reluctant to take on) for 28 years. We also, like you, love trees and when we have an overgrowth of seedlings on our property we post adds to have people come and replant them. Yes, friend, life is way too short. Blessings. 🙂
Dec 27, 2012 @ 11:43:29
We have 2 Amstaffs (pitbulls) and champion them as well. Our big boy Bezial looks like a Rotty and we have always liked them as well :). We are just about to give a lot of plants/trees away because I would rather see them given a good home than hoard them and have them die from lack of water or a good repotting. I totally agree with you about dogs…it isn’t their fault that they were purchased by people who just weren’t ready for them or the wrong people who just want to dominate something/someone. Life can be really tough and I was only just saying to Steve the other day that it would be impossible for us to foster dogs because we would keep every single one! ;). I am so glad that you stumbled onto Serendipity Farm, we are going to be good friends 🙂
Dec 28, 2012 @ 02:30:51
Just went and saw their photos and stories. They are so handsome! Most of my extended family have pits. Personally, I haven’t met a dog I haven’t loved, no matter their personality or history, but we’ve fallen in love with and took on rotties, with an occasional other dog we pulled out of a kill shelter as circumstances demanded (the only way my hubby could stop me from moaning and whining, lol). I am glad I came here also. You, your life, your dogs, what you write, resonates well with me, in that life is here, make the most of what we have, be kind to our earth and fury family. Blessings. And, if you ever would like to read my book please let me know I can give you the pdf of the text if you don’t mind reading on computer or if you want you can download for free a kindle from amazon (to your Mac or PC) and I can gift you a kindle book. All profits are going to help the first and only no-kill shelter in Ventura County, where I live. Plus the story line is very pro-tolerance and has gotten a lot of support from the LGBT community (as well as press and national magazine coverage). I believe in human rights for all and aside from dogs my other passion is leveling the labeling playing field (antibullying, etc). I’ve written articles that I’m happy to share just let me know and feel free to e-mail me. I don’t want to hog your blogsite but honestly did want to share with you. I don’t like self-promoting but with my passion to want to get dogs out of kill-shelters, and help in the effort to shine a light on persecution and bigotry, I’m motivated.
Blessings to you, Steve, your family (all fury and nature included). Paulette
Dec 28, 2012 @ 06:44:57
Paulette, feel free to share your love of dogs and your desire to prevent their mass extermination due to their owners complete lack of responsibility to your hearts content. Steve and I are right there with you in those stakes. We didn’t realise how ingrained the antipit, antirottie, antianything big feeling is withing society until we purchased (what we thought at the time was an English Staffy 😉 ) from the pet shop. Since we bought Bezial, local pet shops no longer sell puppies. As a vegan with pretty strong opinions about animal cruelty my dear constant readers all tend to have similar responses to animals and especially dogs and your words and story would resonate strongly in their fold. My niece Tahlia takes in rescue dogs and houses them until families can be found to take them. I would love to read your books Paulette. YOUR words resonate in my soul and your desire to level the playing field is my ethos and creed. I think that some of us were born with burning crosses inside us (no pun intended) and here in Australia we have fought class systems passionately. We don’t like people getting “up themselves” ;). We like everyone to have a fair go. I am really glad that what I am talking about in my posts resonates with you. I share what I see and I feel about the world around me and how we are trying to effect positive changed in our little patch of the world that mesh together with other peoples little positive changes to form a net of kindness and hope that links us all across the globe…we truly are all one big family and we need to remember that…animal and human we share our world. I love that you share you passion for equality (both canine and human) in your comments and please feel free to continue doing so. I strongly admire people who put their actions where their thoughts are and you are doing just that :). Now I just need to work out how to download and use an online reader…”STEVE!…” (49 year old ludites unite! 😉 )
Dec 28, 2012 @ 12:05:15
I’m laughing at you screaming for STEVE to help you download…I’m a tech dummy and it takes me forever to figure things out. The book offer is there if you ever… no pressure from me. Been so lovely chatting with you, all of it. Blessings to you, yours, fury & ones with leaves, etc. included. Happy New Year and a big cyber hug.
Feb 09, 2013 @ 04:03:48
Paulette from The Persecution of Mildred Dunlap sent me to your blog. I’m glad she did. So much in common. I am an aging hippie. You still look young.
Feb 09, 2013 @ 05:00:27
A smiling face always looks younger ;). Cheers for coming to have a visit and big thanks to Paulette for bringing you :). It’s all a bit chaotic here on Serendipity Farm. We are constantly evolving our ethos to suit the local environmental conditions and sometimes we have to shave a bit off our idealistic visions but we are learning from nature and have never been happier. I am now off to check out your blog and I can feel another addition to my rss feed reader coming on :).
Feb 22, 2013 @ 05:27:57
Am I being really dim (not unlikely as I often am!) or is it that I have my varifocals on upside down – but how the heck do I follow your blog? Can’t see the button!
Feb 22, 2013 @ 05:43:28
There is a follow button at the top? I am sure of it 😉
Feb 22, 2013 @ 21:58:15
No, maybe my wordpress is doing funny things?! Oh well, will just keep popping back to check up on you!
Feb 23, 2013 @ 04:00:05
Still can’t see it? I have had a few people say that they can’t find the follow button so perhaps WordPress is indeed doing “funny things”! I love it when you drop in for a metaphorical cuppa, anytime girl! 🙂 (remember the good chocolate biscuits are in the tin on the top shelf 😉 )
Mar 07, 2013 @ 15:09:38
‘Aging Hippies’??? Wonder what that makes me, then . . . nope, you are still very young; try using my New Age Ruler: 0 – 50 = Young; 51 – 100 = Middle Aged; 101 – 150 = Old; anything after that and you’re Ancient 🙂
Reading what you have to say about dogs (I’m a long-haired, working dog person myself, and if I have to bend over to pet it, it’s probably not a dog . . . well, I do like the smaller breeds when they belong to other people . . . but I like a DOG!); oops, guess I was digressing again . . . how come some people just bring that out in me? I’m normally a very serious type . . . anyway, as I was saying some time ago . . . I think you might be interested in the books by Juliette de Bairacli-Levi (the first ‘i’ in Bairacli has an umlaut, but I don’t know how to make that here): she wrote several books; I refer here especially to “Herbal Handbook for the Dog” and “Herbal Handbook for Farm and Stable”. Once I came home to the farm where I was living, to find my big collie dog lying down and unable to get up. He couldn’t even lift his head. I searched my HH dog book, but could find nothing for paralysis. I had no money for a vet, so resorted to searching the HH for F&S; I found a treatement for paralysis in sheep and by a stroke of luck or whatever, I had all the ingredients on hand, including the slippery elm bark. I made up the potion, formed it into little pellets and sat up all night pushing them one at a time down his throat at the recommended intervals. In the morning, he was able to stand, but was wobbly. By afternoon, he was back to running around as usual. I have no idea what caused the problem, but was sure happy to be able to treat it so easily. I used many of her suggestions and medicinal treatments over those years, always with great results. She’s worth researching, if you aren’t familiar with her already. There is a short film about her, too, called “Juliette of the Herbs”. She studied with gypsies and aboriginal peoples all over the world; raised her own breed of prize-winning Afghans; raised two children naturally (and wrote a book about that, too); and much more. She was the first person to cure distemper in dogs, all with herbal treatments. She died at 96 in 2009. Anyway, just thought you might find her books useful. As my brother-in-law would say, “one good tern deserves another”. ~ Linne
Mar 07, 2013 @ 19:15:31
Came over to read this as you had me well intrigued by your comments Linne and I am even more intrigued now by the books you’ve mentioned. Dying at 96 is a HUGE positive for following her treatments too. Must have been doing something right there! How wonderful to be able to treat your Collie naturally too and hooray for it working.
Mar 08, 2013 @ 03:42:22
Ditto to Rabid’s comment Linne :). The only “work” that our two dogs to involves them acting as tractors whenever we go for a walk and Earl is on cat duty 24/7, that’s about it 😉
Mar 14, 2013 @ 23:34:12
The other day I said we had a lot in common. I, too, met my husband over the computer, but through email, rather than chat. He called me the next day, and then every day until we met a couple of weeks later, and it was love at first sight. We have been together eleven years. I also had a first marriage that lasted 24 years. Also, we live on my father’s farm, which I inherited. And, of course, I think we are both doing organic and recycling, etc.
Mar 15, 2013 @ 03:51:21
That IS a lot in common :). I was married for 15 years first up and have been married for 13 years to Steve this year and we are recycling and using organic and permaculture practices on Serendipity Farm. I wonder how many more people like us there are out there? 🙂
Mar 26, 2013 @ 13:20:11
What a lovely story. I believe in Serendipity, definitely. You’re lucky to live in Tasmania where you can enjoy all these things you’re doing right now – chooks and all. Btw, thanks for leaving a comment on my blog post. Really appreciate it. xx
Mar 26, 2013 @ 13:22:18
Cheers for coming to visit I love your site and recently signed up to it through RSS feed reader to follow your exploits. I love good Aussie blogs and yours is a really good example of a fantastic vegan food blog with ethics 🙂
Apr 05, 2013 @ 23:49:47
Hellooo, I have ‘nom’inated you for the “very inspiring blog award”. Love your blog you can see the post here – http://veghotpot.wordpress.com/2013/04/05/blogger-awards-thank-yous-and-nominations/ 🙂
Apr 06, 2013 @ 03:06:15
Thank you SO much for the nomination…I am chuffed to bits 🙂 I don’t actually participate in blog awards but love that I get nominated :). Cheers again for the thought and the nomination 🙂
Apr 06, 2013 @ 09:08:52
You’re welcome 🙂 really love reading your posts, always grab a cup of tea to sit and have a good read!
Apr 06, 2013 @ 12:29:26
Tonights post is a real mishmash of old post and new stuff to pad it out…I thought I really SHOULD recycle my post and not let the brainpower that forged it go to waste (you never know when the old brainbox might just seize up! 😉 ). A fellow tea drinker is ALWAYS welcome on Serendipity Farm :). Go on…grab a chocolate biscuit as well…and you can have some of those vegan bunny chocolates that my daughters bought me for Easter as neither of the dogs will eat them and Steve is still working his way through his own Omni treats…I tasted one and they are delicious BUT if “I” eat them, I might not be able to fit through the door 😉
Apr 06, 2013 @ 05:10:11
What a magic space you’ve created here. Thanks for sharing your lives and light. Peace and love, lee and janex
Apr 06, 2013 @ 05:17:24
Hi Lee and Janex :). Welcome to Serendipity Farm on the banks of the river Tamar in far flung Tassie Australia. Just hopped over to check out your blog and it is wonderful :). Right up my convivial alley and now tumbled in with a wonderfully ecclectic bunch of other blogs. I am vegan and Steve is omni (but doesn’t eat much meat) and together we are trying to turn Serendipity Farm (once a weedy wasteland) into our own little piece of paradise with a food forest, our own home grown just about everything and as much happiness as living real lives can give you. Who cares if you are so tired you end up asleep at 7pm I say! If you got up vibrant and ready to take on your days in full, you win! :). Cheers for coming to visit and for your own magical space in the ether. I am a prolific commenter and can’t wait to read future posts 🙂
May 05, 2013 @ 12:34:25
Hi
Thought I’d reply here to save Alexander’s readers from reading my ramblings!
Are you regarded as locals in Tassie yet?!
We are originally from Sydney, now living on the Far North Coast of NSW, about 1/2 hour from Byron Bay. Been here over a decade. Will prob be locals in another decade!
May 05, 2013 @ 12:40:19
Nah…not too sure I would WANT to be considered a local 😉 I have to hide that I am a vegan sometimes as it’s just not worth the agro with the loggers…sigh… Lucky I look like a logger chick eh? 😉
Jun 20, 2013 @ 07:38:37
Dear Narf & Steve! (did I get the names right?) I really like your about page, it is generous of spirit and warm and just wonderful. I’m SO GLAD to have found your blog. One might say it was serendipity! 😉
Cheese!!!
Jun 20, 2013 @ 12:51:35
I adore your blog as well and crammed you into my overstuffed RSS Feed Reader between “FermUp – The Fermented Food Blog” (kind of speaks for itself really 😉 ) and “First Ways” a most interesting blog that deals with foraging and utilising native plants. Steve and I (Fran…narf backwards 😉 ) are both horticulturalists and are trying to use everything that we learned to turn our 4 acres of Serendipity into something productive and inspiring (and worth handing on to the next generation). Hopefully you will like our exploits and won’t fall asleep reading my long posts. I can’t help myself…I am being channelled by too many muses and they are all bolshie. At least I never have problems thinking of what to say in my posts ;). Have a fantastic day wherever you are in the world and keep on posting those amazing posts. I have a predilection for Turkish food and your blog is channelling my stomach as I type this…note to self…”you are going to HAVE to do something about these treacherous body parts!” 😉
Jul 02, 2013 @ 18:53:08
Hi there, Thank for visiting my blog, liking my posts and leaving such kind words. I wont be wrong if I tell you that after reading your posts I can say that we believe in the same philosophy. We are vegetarians, have terrible love for animals, want to give up living up in the town and go to some remote village in the Himalayas, grow our own food, have hens for eggs, have lots of pet animals and thus live in tune with nature with is calming, nourishing and energizing. This mad rat race of the cities and materialistic society really saps up and is not our cup of tea. I have two children and i homeschool them. I love slow pace of the life. We had a school till recently, now we are out of it. So there is a lot of peace!
I loved your posts and would love to be updated so I am subscribing to them.
Thanks and Love,
Namita
Jul 02, 2013 @ 19:04:55
I have been following your blog for a little white now and just wanted to thank you for your fantastic recipes. As a vegan I don’t eat eggs or milk and milk is the easy thing to substitute. I love how your cakes all look delicious and moist and I hope you don’t mind me pinning them to my Pinterest boards. I hope that lots of people come to your blog and learn how to cook these wonderful recipes. You are right about the world being a topsy turvy place at the moment and how people just want to go back to nature where we belong. I hope your dream will come true and that one day soon you will get your chance to live in the country and raise your children in that healthy environment. Until then, your children are getting the very best with the wonderful food you feed them and with you giving them a quality education :). Thankyou for subscribing to my blog. I read your blog through my RSS Feed Reader. I really love your latest cake (the dimply plum cake). It looks wonderful 🙂
Jul 23, 2013 @ 00:49:58
What a lovely story! And yes, I totally believe in the kind of destiny you talk about. The father of my husband (just married!) was in the Navy posted on a ship called The Miramichi. Miramichi is where I grew up! The odds are beyond impossible! I think the universe just loves to have a little fun with us now and then… 🙂
Jul 23, 2013 @ 02:47:56
Life would be so much more boring if we didn’t have these little reminders that everything is tied into itself and all of the ends are tucked in sometimes :). My ex husband and brother shared a birthday and my new husband and my ex husbands brother share a birthday as well ;). Thank you for your lovely comment, at the moment we aren’t doing much here on Serendipity Farm because it is the middle of winter and its very cold. Come spring we will be very busy in the garden but at the moment we are studying so it works out well. Have a wonderful day wherever you are in the world and thankyou again for your comment 🙂
Jul 23, 2013 @ 11:37:49
I really like what you guys are doing! Since it’s winter and you may be finding yourselves with time on your hands, if you want to share your story with some of my readers, I’d love it!
I’m building a site to share the inspiring stories of brave people from around the world who have broken off the shackles and are living the life they WANT. It’s something I’m doing to ‘pay forward’ the inspiring people who’ve helped me along the way.
If you have a few minutes to take a look, here’s the home page (http://wodara.org) and here’s the ABOUT page that says what I’m doing and why (http://wodara.org/about-3/) I hope you’ll consider it!
All the best,
Krista
Jul 23, 2013 @ 11:46:57
I’m not so sure that “brave” is the right word for us ;). We are a couple of middle aged urbanites who had the incredible good fortune to inherit 4 acres of overgrown wilderness with a stunning view (once we cleared the jasmine and honeysuckle from the trees that were blocking it 😉 ). We are both horticulturalists and sometimes it would probably be better if we weren’t because we KNOW what it is going to take to get this place knocked into shape. We are also studying full time and so that takes a fair chunk of our lives over. I would love to share our story with your readers. I know how hard it is when you are time rich and money poor. It has certainly taught us to be innovative I can tell you! We take advantage of any and everything that we can to get what we want here. If it’s free, and it isn’t toxic, we can probably use it! ;). Cheers for the great comment by the way. Let me know the where’s and why-fors of posting and I will rustle a post up and send it to you.
Fran 🙂
Jul 23, 2013 @ 11:53:13
Superb, Fran, that’s wonderful!!!!
I wouldn’t be the person I am, living by the philosophy I am, without the help of inspiring people. And I have too many friends who feel ‘stuck’ in their situation and see no way out. I’m so excited to share stories of people who are doing it anyway, figuring it out, making it happen. You guys are definitely doing that!
Here are the details of how to share: http://wodara.org/share/ and here are tips for people who want to write it themselves (I’ll write it for people who want to share their story but don’t like writing): http://wodara.org/tips-for-self-authors/
If you have any other questions, please drop me a line (mywodara@gmail.com).
Looking forward to it!
Krista
Aug 24, 2013 @ 21:15:03
Hi Fran,
I figure the summer has been hectic for you, but I just wanted to see if you were still up for sharing your story on wodara.org, or if you’ve changed your mind. Hope to hear from you.
All the best,
Krista
Aug 25, 2013 @ 06:37:44
OOPS! Sorry Krista…we are at the tail end of winter here and I just had a school friend from high school stay with us for just under a fortnight and what with enjoying her company and sharing the sites (and wine) with her and trying to catch up with our online studies that were seriously neglected while she was here I completely forgot about my story! The wine has leached out of my system now and I am primed up and raring to go. I will get stuck into writing my post/story today for you and will submit it to Wodara ASAP. Please accept my appologies 🙂
Aug 25, 2013 @ 09:19:48
Hi Fran,
Oh, that’s lovely. No, no worries at all. I was just updating my publishing calendar and wanted to double check before deleting your details, that’s all. Looking forward to sharing your story!!!
Cheers,
Krista
Aug 25, 2013 @ 10:06:11
I just typed half of it this morning :). I will finish it today and will find some quintessential images that back up our ethos and story to share as well :). Cheers for reminding me and sorry about the wait 🙂
Aug 25, 2013 @ 10:11:45
Brilliant – I can’t wait! Cheers, Krista
Aug 25, 2013 @ 16:32:39
Hi Krista, just sent you off a barrage of emails with our story and images for you to choose which ones you want to add to the post. Let us know if it (story)/they (images) are OK and if you need me to rewrite or submit some more images 🙂
Aug 25, 2013 @ 17:30:28
Hi Fran,
I’ve just come back from lunch to see them all in my inbox – it’s like Christmas! Thanks so much. I’ve got a to do list a mile long for the next few days (we’ve had terrible internet so everything has been piling up) so I’ll work on it and forward you the final draft when it’s ready for your approval.
Thanks again!
Krista
Aug 26, 2013 @ 04:07:03
Cheers Krista, I didn’t want to hold you up any more than I had. Hopefully it’s what you are after but if it isn’t, let me know and I can add more or give you more information to amend it :). Same goes for the images.
Aug 25, 2013 @ 21:06:28
Fran, I love what you wrote! It’s wonderful!
Aug 26, 2013 @ 04:08:17
(blush) 😉 Glad you liked it and let me know if the images are OK or if you need some more. I tried to give you enough variation that told something about our ethos and how we are trying to live but I may have missed something (easy to do 😉 ). Thankyou again for letting me tell our story 🙂
Aug 26, 2013 @ 09:36:24
Fran, it’s PERFECT! It’ll be online in about 18 hours… It’s a real heart-warming story; I love it!
Aug 26, 2013 @ 12:14:54
Cheers Krista, you just made my day 🙂
Oct 19, 2013 @ 08:49:36
Thanks for visiting my blog, leaving your lovely comments so I could discover your blog. Life in Tasmania just sounds so idyllic to a harried Sydneysider, particularly since we are living in a cloud of ash and smoke and ash at the moment, look forward to reading more of your adventures and have popped you into my blogloving feed.
Oct 20, 2013 @ 04:22:12
I was really impressed with your blog Elizabeth and can’t wait to try most of the recipes. I am vegan but Steve isn’t and loves the look of just about everything on your site so you get the tick of approval there ;). I LOVED that pistachio, chocolate cake and love cakes that don’t need icing and that can stand alone as something special. That’s my kind of cake! I can usually replicate them in veganese so I love a challenge ;). Glad you dropped by and look forward to seeing you in Serendipity Farm’s ether-space. I was just saying to Steve the other day that Tasmania is the best place in Australia to be penniless student hippies who hate the heat. I hope that ash cloud heads off soon, the wind you guys have been having should at least have that benefit! Again, so glad you dropped by. I love it when like minded people can visit each others blogs. Social media does, indeed, have its benefits 🙂
Nov 23, 2013 @ 19:46:12
Hello! I have just nominated you and your wonderful blog for the Versatile Blogger Award. Please follow this link to see what to do next http://paulinekingblog.wordpress.com/2013/11/23/the-versatile-blogger-award/
Nov 24, 2013 @ 03:50:16
I am MOST chuffed to be nominated oh dear contentedcrafter but I don’t accept awards. I am just pootling along here in my atmosphere trying to make sense of this crazy maniacal world that we live in and sharing the narf7 love with my dear constant readers. I don’t need an award to love you all from the bottom of my little cotton socks or to complain about the government, middle-men, anything that got my goat over the last week, I should be giving YOU all awards for still coming back week after week ;). Thankyou so much for nominating me though, I am dead chuffed that you thought my blog was worth it 🙂
Nov 24, 2013 @ 05:13:08
I quite understand – it’s a bit of a crazy thing really. Just accept the compliment – as Wendy says – I chose bloggers I enjoy reading and who warm my heart 🙂
Nov 24, 2013 @ 14:04:32
Right back atcha ma’am 🙂
Feb 15, 2014 @ 16:33:26
Hi Fran been a long time since my last comment – life has been FRANtically busy here, but stopped by for another dose of humour and to catch up on your adventures. It’s always a good read and laugh. Love following your journey long distance – take care from way too hot and dry QLD! Anne 🙂
Feb 15, 2014 @ 17:32:11
Hi Annie, good to see you 🙂 Its just as hot and dry here in Sidmouth…My little protected oasis is my haven though and thanks to mum and you I have somewhere to hide when it gets too hot ;). The best thing was stopping the possums! They still bounce on the top of the enclosure and snap off anything that gets too close to the top but I call it natural plant selection…I am breeding things short and wide 😉
Feb 15, 2014 @ 17:37:31
Ah yes ‘Possum Pruning’ – Great attitude and solution! Work WITH nature – don’t fight it. I’ve really only had one naughty nabber – a bush turkey who met his maker (karma?) on the road one day after totally destroying an entire 16m garden bed in an hour including 80+ ready to harvest garlic plants I’d been waiting 6 months for! Netting was the only solution. Ditto with bats on our paw paws. Apart from that I am happy to share with wildlife. Happy gardening!
Feb 16, 2014 @ 03:20:39
My attitude was to share and share alike but possums (and wallabies…just ground possums 😉 ) have different ideas and although they aren’t as destructive as your bush turkey by ANY means, they certainly did some damage which was incredibly cheeky of them as I was feeding them fruit, peanut butter sandwiches and chocolate chip cookies at the time on a nightly basis (in order to prevent them from eating the tender shoots of my precious potted plant babies). I guess sometimes you have to take action and our tennis court sized fully enclosed veggie garden was the only way that we could see to grow veggies without them being attacked from all angles. It has worked magnificently aside from a minor breech initially where a sneaky possum found a small gap in a fork in a tree and managed to sneak in and eat all of my silverbeet leaves. Steve left the door open as well and another one walked right in overnight and ate a small apple tree and a green lime fruit (that was how I knew it was a possum…nothing else would eat a small bitter green lime 😉 ). Your garden sounds so exotic! 🙂
Feb 18, 2014 @ 04:14:10
Thanks for your interest in our blog! We are quite new to this but loving it. Our end goal is to leave a sustainable simple life like you, somewhere beautiful. We are waiting for an opportunity or a chance, if it is too long coming we will make one ourselves. I look forward to following your journey. Jack (Independentkitchen) x
Feb 18, 2014 @ 04:25:16
We inherited Serendipity Farm when my dad died back in 2010. We are 2 middle aged penniless student hippies who NEVER thought that we would get a chance like this (thus the name of our property 😉 ) we are attempting to turn this steep rocky arid sloping property into a thriving self cycling food forest using permaculture principles. It is taking a long time due to monetary constraints and us having to do pretty much everything ourselves but we are learning HEAPS in the process and enjoying every single little success :). Cheers for following the blog and here’s to you finding your own little patch of serendipitous paradise in the near future 🙂
Feb 18, 2014 @ 04:40:22
It sounds like quite an undertaking, surely the best way to live with the lowest negative impact though. Serendipity is one of my favourite words, you use it so well. Sending you goodwill in your mission!
Feb 18, 2014 @ 04:47:42
Cheers and ditto and loving your blog as well 🙂
Dec 14, 2014 @ 08:52:42
I’m so touched by your story, I shed a tear … but only one. 😉
Dec 14, 2014 @ 16:49:52
We gypsy’s love the tears of strangers. We collect them. Cheers for adding to our collection. We are going to cash them in at Walmart when we have enough for something appropriate to our circumstances 😉
Dec 15, 2014 @ 06:28:36
Great that I was able to add to your collection. Oh my … a WalMart in your area? I had no idea … and not sure whether to congratulate or apologize for that fact.
Dec 15, 2014 @ 11:38:53
No Walmart here just an assurance that we, far flung antipodean gypsy’s, can spend with impunity using Paypal and the interweb and that Walmart is closer than you think…
Dec 15, 2014 @ 12:39:24
I simply didn’t realize how much the world knew WalMart.
Dec 15, 2014 @ 13:07:48
Walmart and the Paleo diet. Whodathunk eh?
Dec 15, 2014 @ 13:31:20
Interesting combo … but legally available in only a few states.
BTW … did you see Santa at the party? I’ve got the feeling you will appreciate his style.
Dec 15, 2014 @ 13:38:05
Santa? Nope? But then I point blank refuse to wear glasses (even contemplate them) so sometimes I miss the 54 inch monitor (don’t tell ME I can’t see the screen!) right in front of me let alone a small red fuzzy out of focus blog strategically placed tastefully stage left…Must go check again…
Dec 15, 2014 @ 22:40:25
… and it’s OK not to see something on a large screen … then again, screen sizes are increasing … so get rid of that small one.
Dec 16, 2014 @ 06:17:07
Yes, I have been on at Stevie-boy to rig a very large King sized white bed sheet up and to get us a projector. I recon I might just be able to squint and see…
Dec 16, 2014 @ 07:32:53
That’s a start!
Dec 16, 2014 @ 10:47:08
He needs to find his glasses before he can start work…
Dec 16, 2014 @ 11:07:05
On a serious note, the majority of the world hates the news out of Sydney.
Dec 16, 2014 @ 11:20:48
Yes. Terrible situation 😦