#popuprestaurantdreams – simple pelasures in life#popuprestaurantdreams – Chicken pie (dont ask where the noisy rooster is)#popuprestaurantdreams – Dog treats#popuprestaurantdreams – fried sourdough bread#popuprestaurantdreams – healthy farm produce lunch#popuprestaurantdreams – light lunch on the farm, all produce on the farm#popuprestaurantdreams – the perfect sourdough specimen#popuprestaurantdreams – Sourdough Chocolate mug cake#popuprestaurantdreams – Sourdough PizzaAttempting a gluten free sourdough starter#popuprestaurantdreams – birthdays on the farmCasual dog walking attireColour blocking when dog walkingcuddlesDo I have to explain what these are used for?Facts of lifeFrikkie the catPreparing for marketLearning about organic compostingLivestock meds – Aloe crystalsMadonna and childrescued lamb-letdaikon radishespreserving dried radishespickled radishespreserving celery for celera salttale of two tailsthe crockery cupboardthose repairs of last month?The two terrors’ first victimvirga – promised rainsworking dogsworking the sheep
Genuine, I was going to start the new year with a bang – writing a post which I had not done for weeks, and activating my new YouTube channel with new videos, along with a cross revitalisation of my digital presence. And read to the end if you want to know what Hypengyophobio means.
Let me rephrase that – I was going to start the new year with a digital bang. Revitalising my blog, my YouTube channel and my digital presence.
But then life unfolded itself by way of surprise visitors for a late afternoon cup of coffee, that turned into a leisurely game drive on the farm, followed by an emergency Jaffels late supper because they had not left by 8.30pm yet. 10.15, PM!
So, the message is this, best laid plans…… must remain flexible. And cut the @#$!, very little of what we plan for ourselves are of such urgency and importance that they need to be done right away, at the expense of good neighbourliness.
Therefore, on the 2nd day of the new year, I am dedicating my morning to processing videos, and resetting my intellectual profile. Which turns out to be a good thing, because today I am full so determination to reach my goal, no matter what obstacles technology puts in my way.
And with that, I will end today’s post with a sample of photos of the last 8 months of adopting, and adapting to, a sustainable living off the land lifestyle.
For the month of May 2023, I selected photos from a variety of activities:
my first sight on my first day of my new lifestyleapplying sheep medschecking up on Mabel and the gangfarm velliesfiguring out some repairsfresh produce – cilantro aka corianderfresh produce from cucumber patchfresh produce – rainbow carrots#popuprestaurantdreams – Galjoen in the KalahariGetting to know youGlamRock ala farmstylegrowing new SD starterlivestock auction take awaysMy other job#popuprestaurantdreams – bayleaf cake#popuprestaurantdreams – BLT on fried sourdough#popuprestaurantdreams – Chevre#popuprestaurantdreams – does not get fresher than this#popuprestaurantdreams – goat feta#popuprestaurantdreams – Kalahari comfort food#popuprestaurantdreams – naked chocolate mousse#popuprestaurantdreams – savoury rice (aka what is in the fridge for lunch?)#popuprestaurantdreams – throwback to “Nawlins”preparing for winter – the lemon treePreserved – dried spinach for smoothies and the likeSheep weighing inTick treatmentWatch out – dont step on the new puppy
June 2023 follows in the same vein, but you will have to wait till tomorrow for that post. In fact, every day for the next 7 days, I will post a month’s memories.
Now get back to those new year’s promises you made yourself 2 days ago!
I am going to have to change that title, it is rather boring. But then again, I have not yet made up my mind on the direction, nor the speed of today’s flow of thoughts.
A rapid-white-river-rafting tale of dealing with sheep herding and training two rescue puppies, or a languid retelling of my latest all-consuming sourdough fixation.
Ah, can you tell? While I have sat down before to blog, with no idea what the topic of discussion will be, usually once I start, the thoughts just flow. But today, it is the first time this has happened to me. What a shock, there is a vacuum where the words usually come from.
Here are some random pictures while I stir the grey matter a bit.
50 shades of brown
arty farty fun
assistant to the office assistant
beautiful bread
Bella’s baby
Chocolate Ganache Birthday
Coincidental colour coded veld outfit
Daikon radish inspired pickle
produce for market
early am Kudu gazing
Farm produced sustenance
Getting to know you
Grounded
Kitchen Chaos
Preserving what you can when you can
Ma Wie, but of course
Mary had a little lamb, I have my kids
Outcome of one birthday goat
Product line expansion
No pen, no problem
And here it comes, the inspiration for today is kind of linked to the minimal words.
Making do, vs minimalism.
I don’t know where I was when I jotted this lighting bolt realisation down, but a quick search of document history shows it was on the day of some Independent Directors training, where we undoubtedly were discussing trends and changes, and how the world has become so bespoke, while at the same time trying to regulate uniformity.
So this close to my 6-month anniversary, I would like to share some thoughts about my self sustainable lifestyle, to give friends, family, and readers an inkling into why one would choose to give up things, shopping, the theatre, international travel, an ambitious career; and settle on a rural farm with a small old house, with very little storage space.
If you have some mind reading skills, you may have picked up that it is not all moonshine and roses. Sure, I miss having all the kitchen gadgets, a fully Le Creuset equipped kitchen, a convertible coupe, and a fully stamped passport. But really, I have perfectly functional roasting dishes, a gorgeous SMEG oven, and have visited at least 50 countries thus far. (Thus far…. Can you hear it, I have not excluded international travelling from future adventuring….).
Having more of the same, i.e., that perfectly colour coded pie dish to match the traditional orange roasting dish, means I then have 4 pie dishes to store, in the unlikely event that I will be baking 4 pies in one go, which will need me to build a second pantry, which will need me to work for someone else, to afford the things I would like. As opposed to loving what I have.
And that is a practical explanation of making do, as opposed to minimalism.
Minimalism: At its core, being a minimalist means intentionally promoting the things we most value and removing everything that distracts us from it.