April 2023 update: Since I last updated, the beautiful Bean - a Ridgeback - has become part of my life. She arrived here aged 4, from owners who had health problems which prevented them from looking after her. She and I bonded very quickly and we are more or less inseparable now, almost two years la Read more...

April 2023 update: Since I last updated, the beautiful Bean - a Ridgeback - has become part of my life. She arrived here aged 4, from owners who had health problems which prevented them from looking after her. She and I bonded very quickly and we are more or less inseparable now, almost two years later. She features in many of my blips.

My simple self-reliant life has also been enhanced by becoming a sourdough-baker and cheese-maker. I am quite obsessed with both.

My days continue to be largely occupied in the garden, orchard and kitchen. And I’m as happy as I’ve ever been.

June 2021: At last I decided to take the plunge and start blipping. I enjoy blips so much that it seems only right that other blippers see something of my life...

I live on the edge of a small village in North Otago, New Zealand, on an acre of land on which grows all my fruit and veg. Hens provide me eggs. I'm far from self-sufficient, but I barter for meat, fish and other food, as well as for treats.

A combination of good luck and good management means that I can scrape by on my savings. I stopped conventional work in June 2015, aged 53 after a stressful career in public service. Now I live lightly: a simple life which meets all my needs. It has been a revelation to discover that I am significantly more fulfilled and content being self-reliant, and no longer part of the world of constantly wanting stuff.

In 2008 I arrived in NZ: originally from England, via Scotland and Australia. A job brought me to this country and within a couple of weeks I realised I would be here for good. I lived in North Canterbury for eight years before I stopped work and moved south in 2016 to find cheaper land and no earthquakes. 

2018: Yet to blip, but enjoying others' with fascination... Maybe in time, when I have time, I'll commit some of it to contributing to this wonderful site...