Welcome to Techno-Billies

There seems to be so much going on at the moment. I am always busy. There is always more to do. That's not to say I don't enjoy a snooze on the verandah after lunch or catch up on a favourite TV series on Netflix in the evening. But the days are full of things to do and I can't seem to get to the end of the list - in fact I am almost never able to even cross off a job. The To-Do list is full of items like: weed veggie patch or process the remaining sheep fleece. Weeding is no sooner finished than it must be started again and it's unlikely I will get to the end of the sheep fleece before I get more. The giant pile of unwanted plastic has gone to the recycling. Hurrah! The garden shed has been cleared and tidied and with help from our volunteers children, items have been washed, dried and put away.  As a reward for helping me I gave them a stick weaving experience - they made dreamcatchers to take back to their home when their travels are over

Many of you may think I have already achieved a better life. Compared to my previous incarnation in the world of work I certainly have, but there are no destinations, only journeys and it's how we travel that counts. For years I worried about the overuse of detergents and what they would do to the environment. I started washing my clothes less frequently, wearing things longer and spot cleaning and airing rather than throwing lightly soiled items into the washing machine.  I never put more washing detergent into the machine than was necessary because in this instance the more you use does not mean that your wash is any cleaner.  I stopped using a softener altogether since it damages the clothes and inhibits towels from absorbing water. I cut down on the number of washes I gave my hair - with very beneficial results for the health of my scalp I might add. I even showered less, having 'top and tail' washes on alternate days. Basically I returned almost to the hygiene p

As my regular readers will know I  have a passion for spinning fibres. Well I came across a startup project that piqued my interest. Check out www.ulaandlia.com to see for yourself. Intrepid travellers are going to be producing Mongolian Yak, Cashmere and Camel wool for hand knitters.  I have a husband who, a few years ago now, trekked to Everest Base Camp and has ever since had a fondness for the curious beast that is the Yak. The under belly fibre of the Yak is famed worldwide for it's softness and so I decided to give 18$ to this start up in return for 100g Yak wool in September. I had plans to make the man a hat. All well and good until I realised that the postage on 100g of wool was going to be 16$.  That makes my 100g ball of wool just too expensive.  So I have questions,  Postage from where? One assumes Mongolia? This has stopped me from participating in what I thought was a good thing. But is it a good thing? Does this postage cost really reflect the cost of sh

This is the proposed new cotton patch. Steve has marked it out, borrowed a rotavator and was poised to begin, when... One rather large boulder emerged.  He started digging down thinking it could possibly be released and levered out but alas no, it, like an iceberg, is mostly below the surface.  The solution is to plant around it. This makes using the rotavator a bit tricky. But we are careful and we only rotavate once, ever. Well that's not strictly true. I am not a fan of the rotavator and after the initial breaking up of the soil I prefer to use a spade for subsequent years. Steve likes his gadgets and would happily rotavate any chance he gets. We don't fall out about it. We are used to rocks here. They are part of the reason why we fell in love with the place in the first instance.  They make wonderful natural looking walls and add architectural interest to the flow of the landscape. Meanwhile the weather has been very cold. A biting wind has made blue