Soudough Discard Crackers

I hear a lot of sourdough bakers mention the waste of flour during the sourdough mother feeding process, but there's absolutely no reason to waste any flour at all. 
When I'm baking loaves regularly (four days a week) there's never any waste to deal with because I'm feeding and using the sourdough mother with each bake.
You can read about my method of sourdough baking here and here 
At the moment though, I'm not baking loaves for selling in the Farm-gate stall, so I'm baking just a couple of loaves each week.
There is discard, but not waste.
Our supply of shop bought crackers has been eaten, and as I'm still not going into shops (sixth week of no shopping) I searched for a recipe.
I can't tell you how many times I have attempted to make crackers, only to end up with hard lumps of unchewable cooked dough that were good enough for dogs only.
So I searched and found lots of recipes for these Lavosh style crackers. I've seen them for sale in gourmet  shops, but crikey, I could buy enough food to feed us for three days for the cost of one pack of those fancy crackers.
As you will know me by now, I can never stick to a recipe. I almost never have exactly the correct  ingredients on hand, so I substitute, plus I like to find an easier way without all the palaver. Honestly, some recipes go on and on don't they?
So, for the purposes of recording this (fluke?) success for future reference and for anyone else who may want to whip up a few,  here is my new crackers recipe.
So save your excess sourdough mother in a separate bowl or jar in the fridge. There are lots of ways to use it up.

  
Sourdough Discard Crackers - Often called Lavosh or Bark (in the Barossa

200g sourdough mother - It need not be active but should not be smelly.
1 cup (120g) bread flour - I used white unbleached
2 desert spoons of olive oil
1/2 teaspoon fine salt

Salt flakes, sesame seeds, chopped herbs, poppy seeds -  Choose one or more for topping.

In a bowl combine sourdough starter with flour, olive oil, and salt. Mix to combine until it comes together as a medium stiff dough. If it feels too dry add a dribble of water, 1 teaspoon at a time. It should be the consistency of pastry.  Work it into a ball, wrap up to be airtight and place in the fridge for at least 30mins and up to 24hrs.
The recipes all said to wrap it in cling wrap but I used a waxed food wrap because that's what I have.

The next bit is just like rolling out pasta. I use a hand-wind pasta machine, but if you think you can roll it thinly with a rolling pin do have a go. If you're OK with rolling pasta you'll be fine with this too.
Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees C (350 degrees F)
Break off small lumps of dough, roll into an oblong shape on a floured bench with your fingers. Roll the flattened oblong dough shape through the thickest setting on your pasta machine. Don't forget to dust your pasta machine with flour first. Work your way through the settings until the dough is thin. I stopped rolling at number 7on the dial.
It takes a bit of dexterity but honestly, if I can do it, so can you. If you haven't rolled pasta before you will work it out, just persevere. Practice makes (almost) perfect.
Lay long thin sheets onto baking trays lined with parchment paper. Do not overlap. You may want to cut the shapes into smaller pieces to fit more easily on the trays.
Spritz with water using a spray bottle and, working quickly, sprinkle lightly with salt flakes, plain sea salt or Himalayan salt. Then sprinkle on your toppings of choice.
Put trays in oven. Cook for approximately 10 mins, rotating the trays mid way through. They will burn very quickly, so watch carefully.
When cooked, place on cooling racks until cool, before packing away in airtight jars.
Repeat with remaining dough. This amount made two large jars of crackers.
I have no idea how long they will maintain their crispness, but I estimate maybe a week. Ours will be eaten before the end of the week. 

Apart from all the obvious ways to enjoy crackers, they were a delicious accompaniment to our lunch of leftover Moroccan Beef stew, having eaten all of the couscous last night.

There are so many ways to use up sourdough discard. Crumpets and pancakes are delicious, and very high in carbs too, which is not such a good thing, so I'm super excited about these light and versatile crackers.

I'd love to know how you go with making these.

Cheers,
Sally XX

Icecream

A reader (Kathy) asked for my ice-cream recipe.  I have a few that I use depending on various factors; 

- the type of cream on hand, 

(shop cream, cream from our own cows, very thick, or thin cream)

- the amount of eggs I have on hand.

(are the hens laying or are they having a spell?)

- do I want to use the ice-cream churn or not?

The ice-cream that I made this week is the original recipe from the instruction booklet supplied with my cheap ice-cream churn purchased approximately eight years ago.  

The freezer bowl of this churn lives in the freezer until I'm ready to use it.
This is a quick and lazy ice-cream but of course, as you will know me by now, I have adapted it slightly to improve the texture and flavour. The original recipe is below and my adaptions are in red. 

Vanilla Ice-cream 
 1 1/2 cups milk     
1 1/2 cups cream          2 cups cream
1 egg                            Separate egg. (Save egg white until later)
1/2 cup castor sugar    Icing sugar for a smoother texture. Icing mixture is OK too.
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence   or 2 dessertspoons runny honey

Method; Process all ingredients (except egg white) in a blender or food processor until well blended.
Place mixture into a pouring jug or bowl, cover and place in freezer for an 1 - 2 hrs until chilled and starting to slightly freeze at the edges.  
Stir mixture quickly and pour into rotating freezer bowl.
Just before pouring into ice-cream churn beat the saved egg white until fluffy and fold into chilled mixture.
Process until it begins to look like soft ice-cream.  

Scrape into a bowl, cover with lid and freeze.
Ready to eat after 4-5hrs.

With so much cream and no artificial fillers this ice-cream is rich. The ice-cream addict here takes just one scoop instead of his usual two.

However, if you don't have a churn this Mary Berry Ice-cream is very very good. 

And my old blog post here for easy ice-cream without using a churn

We're ticking over to four weeks of isolation and no shopping.  The trade economy in our neighbourhood circle has kicked in; bringing with it a deeper sense of appreciation for things we may have taken for granted previously. 

I filled Meg's bottles with fresh milk and received these treats that we don't have growing in our own garden. 

Brian and Damon are doing some poultry trading......but I got the best end of the deal. 

This was a total surprise, and delivered to our gate too!

Never before have flour and yeast, eggplants, beans and capsicums, made my heart sing quite to this extent.

I hope there is the joy of a generous community where you are too.

Cheers,

Sally XX

Every Day Feels Like Sunday

....but without Landline (ABC TV)  at lunchtime.

We are well into week three of self isolation and every day is like Sunday.
With no structure to my weeks, library volunteering, visiting elderly friends, shopping, meeting friends for coffee, and visitors, each day flows into the next. As a self confessed introvert I'm rather enjoying it.
We're both busy with our work here on the farm,  and never before in my sixty four years have I valued our lifestyle, growing our food, as we do right now.
 Brian is finding isolation more difficult than I am, which is to be expected.  Just three months into "retirement" and transitioning from his previous sociable work life to this one.
And what a transition it must be!
Into this new territory that is affecting the global population in ways we could never imagine.

However, we are counting our blessings. There is so much for which to be thankful.

Never before have we felt this intense value of all that surrounds us, the ability to live well for as long as it takes without the need to buy anything from a shop.

With well stocked pantry, cellar and freezers there was no need to go into a state of panic bulk buying when I last did my fortnightly shopping. I did buy an extra packet of tea and ground coffee though.
Now into week three; the packet of potato crisps, the bag of mixed nuts, the Aldi block of chocolate and the tub of icecream are memories of the past.
All luxury items that we can well do without. However we are not feeling deprived of anything - the wine cellar is well stocked - and with this challenge we're probably eating better than ever, to be perfectly honest.

 Garden pickings for our daily juice. Necessary to maintain immunity.

Daily routines for healthy mind, body and soul.

This morning I was able to gift some butter to one of my young friends who is five months pregnant. She is finding it difficult to find butter in the shops, along with all the other shortages.
 The round of cheddar remains maturing in the fridge.

 My days are busier now that I'm using all of my homesteading skills to produce all that we eat from scratch. 

Making our ice-cream was one of those jobs that slipped off my schedule these past couple of years. The flavour is far superior to the shop bought stuff because I'm using our own cream, milk, honey and eggs.

My ice-cream recipe would probably read something like this;

First milk your cow,

Put milk through the separator.

Chill cream whilst washing all thirty something parts of the separator, feeding the poultry  and collecting the eggs.

 The Barossa Valley has been locked down since last week owing to a spike in Covid-19 cases. All tourist related, and some community cases as a result. 

All non-essential travel between the towns of Angaston, Nuriootpa, Tanunda and Greenock has been discouraged.

With this in mind it was an easy decision to close the Farmgate Stall. Our last day of trade on Monday was a record breaker as I had notified our supporters via the Facebook page giving them one final day's notice in order to stock up on our produce and honey. I was kept busy all day restocking the shelves and pouring honey into more tubs and jars.

Closing up this funny little stall at the end of day was sad, but it's just for awhile.  However, I felt a new calm, less anxiety and an acceptance of this quiet time ahead, just Brian and I, comfortable and deeply grateful to have all that we need to survive the duration.

Eating well with what we grow. 

Eggs, milk, honey...

Bread and Butter Pudding baked in the wood oven and served with baked apples from our abundant harvest. 

We don't know when we will enter a shop again so I'm using my most frugal living skills to stretch  out shop bought supplies to last as long as possible. 

Used tea bags can be used a second time to make a pot of chai for two.

Ginger, turmeric, cloves and a cardamom leaf. 

If you don't grow cardamom a couple of pods will do. I keep ginger and turmeric (from our garden) in the freezer and scrape off what I need with a knife. 

Simmer spices in 1 cup of water and 1 cup of milk with 2 used teabags (for two cups of chai) allow flavours to infuse for five minutes before straining into cups. Stir in honey or sweetener of choice.
Save the spices in the pot, and keep in the fridge.  You will get another two lots of chai before the flavours become too weak. Replace teabags with another used tea-bag or two for each batch of chai.

Without focusing too much on Covid-19, (I'm becoming information fatigued are you?) I think it's really useful to document our experiences during this surreal time.
I hope to spend a bit more time writing and sharing some of the frugal things we're doing with a positive outlook.
Not only is it allowing us to stay away from shops and people, we're not spending any money either.
As self funded retirees, too young to get aged pension and not eligible for a pension when we are old enough, our superannuations have taken a severe hit. Fortunately we were prepared for a financial down time and we're confident the stock market will come back eventually. We don't qualify for any of the stimulus packages and government assistance. We will be living close to the bone for the foreseeable future and all I can see are the positive challenges ahead.

"Fear is contagious, but so are faith, hope and love"

Take care. Stay home. Be kind.

Sally XX







 

We're Still Here

Hello friends,

As summer draws to an end and the hectic pressure of summer is easing, there's time now to take a look back on the past few months since I last wrote here.
It's always a very busy season here on our place and I'm not going to bore you with all the details, so here's a pictorial snapshot of our summer.

The original apricot tree, already past its prime when we moved here fifteen years ago, and kept alive with lots of TLC,  this was it's final harvest. The apricots were not suitable for jam making or preserves, so the wildlife carers in the family made good use of the fruit for the rescued animals in their care.

Swamp wallaby Ivy visiting with her foster mum carer Indi and puppy Molly.

Between October and January we hosted three Beekeeping workshops and connected with thirty three new beginner apiarists. 

We also maintained our own hives.....

rescued so many swarms around our area that we lost count...

harvested over a tonne of honey..... 

visited and mentored various new beekeeper students......

made and sold more bee boxes, bees and beekeeping equipment than any previous year...

Christmas came, and with it came Honey Biscuits... because this is the Barossa and no Christmas is complete without them.

 Brian and Michael butchered a steer that I raised from a wee calf we brought in last year.  At a year old he didn't look very big but when hanging up, the carcass was huge and, although cut into four quarters, only just fitted into our refrigerated cool room.  After two weeks hanging, our butcher friend came over for the morning and did a fantastic job of cutting into all the correct cuts.

 Packing up an entire beef carcass took three days, and once again we were grateful for the cool room, where more than 200 kilograms of beef was stored safely until I could get it all into our freezers.

We have enough steaks of all types for a year. We made lots of mince and some preservative free sausages too.

Linking snags (sausages) like a pro..!

The driest and hottest summer in living memory, with bushfires covering more of Australia than is bearable to think about now.

We folks on the land and country dwellers' anxiety levels reached a new high, day after day, and nights too.

Is it any wonder that we breathe a sigh of relief as we herald the coming of Autumn?

There are pumpkins! I hate to think of our summer water bill when it comes, but we have been picking enough tomatoes to restock our supplies of sauces and chutney.

Zucchini, cucumbers, and the usual summer vegetables have been landing on the kitchen table daily. Jams, relishes and preserves are a daily task right now, but oh, how grateful we will be for these jars of supplies throughout the rest of the year.

A hand made gift for a special baby girl.

During the hottest of hot days with temps soaring above 45C degrees there were plenty of things to keep me occupied inside the house. 

After the yearly purge of cupboards cleaned out, "stuff" donated to the local op-shops, I did a bit of sewing and made this bunting for a friend's baby girl. 

Don't look too closely at the stitching - sewing is not my thing - but I did enjoy making this with love.

The cows are on dry feed (hay) as South Australian summers are dry. (Our wet season is typically winter and spring)

It's always interesting to note the colour difference in the butter that we produce here. The yellow butter was made in Spring time when the cows were eating green grass. 

(I freeze and vacuum seal the butter as I make it, for use throughout the year.)   

Butter that I make during summer is colorless due to the lack of carotene that is present in green grass. The flavour is still very good, but is missing the Vitamin A (carotene).

There's plenty of thick fresh cream to enjoy after a hard working day.

Raw milk cheeses.

Brian's "retirement" has seen him busier than ever. We're slowly getting the hang of this new type of living with occasional days out - the only way we actually stop is to go out, shutting the gate and never ending work list behind us.  

Every couple of weeks we try to go out somewhere new, have lunch, and see new things. We're not able to actually take a holiday at this time of year, but we can take a day off.  

A 'mental health' day does wonders for our spirits and when we spotted some (very expensive) quaint bird nesting boxes at a trendy garden shop in the Adelaide Hills, The Handyman came home and whipped these up.

This is certainly something new that I'd never seen in The Handyman in all our years together. Time for creative pursuits!

 I asked him to make some carrying boxes too...

.....and sold them all at the market last weekend.!

Meanwhile, all is well here as Autumn pokes her head around the corner. The weather has been cool enough for the wood oven these past couple of days and the sourdough mother has come out of retirement in the back of the fridge. 

From all of us here at Jembella Farm, we wish you good health, calm and productive days, and peaceful nights.

Cheers,

Sally XX

A New Calf and Other Happenings

Baby Asher made her way into the world without a hitch on the night that a bush-fire had caused havoc, just over the hill from us, earlier in the day.
It was a tense day. Brian had gone with his fire unit to assist in dousing the flames while I actioned our fire preparation plan at home.
We were exhausted after the day, running on fear and adrenaline, and needed sleep more than anything.  It was during our evening rounds, locking up the poultry into their night sheds, when we noticed Poppy was in her early stages of labour, five days early.
A new form of anxiety then set in, I'm always fearful of birthing difficulties in new heifers, so sleep was the last thing on my mind.
What a hot night it was. The daytime temperature was 43C degrees and fiercely windy, hence the fires sparking up in all over our district. The evening was still hovering around 39C degrees and although the wind had dropped, it had blown in billions of flying insects that clung to the torch beam and found their way into my shorts, rubber boots, t-shirt and bra every time I walked down to check on Poppy's progress through labour.
At 11pm, just 40 minutes after my previous inspection, I found Poppy licking a perfect little silver heifer calf. It was a perfect delivery and, feeling extreme relief and highly emotional, I took myself off to shower and fell into bed.

Three days after calving Poppy was eager to trot into the milking parlour, while leaving her calf to sleep in the grass. I had begun training her to be a milking cow when at just five days old we brought her home from a friend's dairy to raise here on our farm. Over the ensuing two years her and I have developed a firm trust in each other, and this trust and love was evident when I put the milking cups onto her teats for the first time.
Her udder is tiny compared to Lavender's which is ample and pendulous, having fed three calves and supplied hundreds of litres of milk to us over her six years.

Today I have a batch of feta cheese on the go from the combined milk of both cows from this morning.

In other news, I completed sewing the shade panels for the outdoor kitchen/deck.
I planned on buying some light canvas from Spotlight to make up panels that can be removed and stored after summer is over. We enjoy the warmth from the sun during winter.
How lucky I was that Aldi just happened to have painting drop sheets out on special the week before my planned trip to Spotlight. I bought four at the knock down price of $10 each, and all I had to do was trim and hem one side of each drop sheet and sew a pocket at each end for the curtain rod to slide through.
However, the trip to Spotlight could not be averted as there were rods and brackets to purchase but, as usual, I had a list of things to purchase whilst in the 'Burbs', a forty minute drive from here.

 The outdoor kitchen is useful when it's too warm to light up the wood stove in the house.

One of the highlights of the past months has been meeting my blog friend Tania and her husband Phil. If you don't already know Tania you can read her blog  Outback  here.
It was an early morning catch up over a cuppa when they came to buy some bees from us.
I experienced Tania's true country generosity when they arrived loaded with jars of Phil's pickled olives, two of Tania's home made Quondong pies, (otherwise known as Native peach) and lots of Quondong seeds for us to plant in our gardens. 
The olives are the best I've ever tasted Phil,  better than those I pickle myself, so I'll be looking on Tania's blog for the recipe next olive season.

We have chickens and more chickens. Chickens hatched in the incubator. Chickens hatched under hens. And surprise chickens that suddenly appeared from under a hedge with their proud mother hen.

 Summer is here and thankfully we have had a slow start to long stretches of really hot weather. They will come though and my garden will dry out and go into limp mode, just surviving, until the rain arrives next autumn. I always snap a few pictures to remind me of the good times when 'the dry' starts to get a bit much for everyone's mental health.
Earwigs are destroying almost every new vegetable seedling I plant in my small patch near the house, and I'm reminded that, in the past few years, they have been at their worst  and most destructive early in the season. So, I'll plant again in another few weeks and hope for better success then.
I just can't imagine a summer without a glut of cucumbers, zucchinis and capsicums.
Brian's rows of tomato plants are doing well down in the big vege garden where the Jap bantams roam and keep the earwig population under control. The Pekin bantams up here in the house yard are a bit too well fed and don't seem to be working at earwig control as they should be. They redeem themselves  however, with their cheeky personalities and good looks.
So here we are, December already. I hope to catch up with a bit more blogging this month so I won't share Christmas greetings just yet.
Thanks for dropping in.
Cheers for now,

Sally XX 

Talking about $$ and that 'Enough" Figure

Meg and Jack ready for work. Photo taken last summer with paddocks looking vastly different to the lush green of our present Spring 2019.
 

There was a pleasing response to my previous post What News? where I talked about Brian's impending 'retirement' and our collective need to quash some of the taboos around discussing and sharing financial planning and monetary strategies/advice/ideas.

So I thought I should run another post to open more discussion and address some of the issues raised in the comments received.
Thank you to all who commented and sent emails. Your generous well wishes are wonderful and very much appreciated.
 
One of the comments on the previous blog post mentioned having a contingency plan for our old age, if we can no longer manage the physically demanding aspect of running the farm.

We do have a plan for when that occurs. Maybe in our eighties? Hopefully not until then.

We would need to sell this property and purchase something smaller which would also deem us eligible for the age pension. 
Some people are not aware that, according to current Age Pension rules, the primary residence and up to five acres is not included as an asset when assessing an individual's age pension entitlements. In our case, we have sixteen acres so we would not be eligible for the age pension as the rule stands at present.

Where the Age pension is concerned the goal posts seem to move according to which party is in government, so in our $$ calculations we have factored in a lifetime of being self-funded retirees. If we do become eligible for the age pension, for whatever reason, it would be an added bonus that we would gladly accept.


The writer of the comment below (wishes to remain anonymous), is finding it really tricky to know how much they would need to live on at their current standard of living.
 
"Deciding that magic figure which is 'enough' to retire on is truly

doing my head in. One website based on extensive research of retired

couples suggests the amount of around $60,000 a year and states

that by the time retirees reach 80 they live on $50,000 or so a year

and that includes inflation. I have asked my retiree friends what

their magic ‘enough’ figure is. One couple are on $72,000 per year as

they travel extensively and will continue to do so for the next 5

years. Then they plan to pare it right back. Another couple are on

$50,000 a year and they also manage to have overseas holidays every

couple of years."


How do we know how much will be enough to live on? 
She is already very savvy about her spreadsheets and projections, she seems to have thought of all the possibilities, inflation etc.

There is no ONE answer to how much we're going to need. It depends on our lifestyle, interests, hobbies and what we expect to be doing to fill our days. 
Do we want to travel? What type of travel?
Do we want to regularly eat out in restaurants or will it be fish 'n chips on the beach twice a year? 
Do we want to own the latest car or are we content with a good second hand car that we will keep for as long as it performs safely?
Will there be a possibility to earn money from a part time job, a market stall or a skill that we can do from home and earn some money?
Do we have expensive food tastes? Wine, beer and spirits?

That 'enough' figure for us will be different to someone else's 'enough' figure.
 
One way to get an idea of how much we will need is to track all of our spending for a year or preferably two years.

I have a Money smart app on my phone and I write down every dollar that we spend. Some months are big spenders when rates or utilities bills come in, or we need to mend or buy new equipment. Our house and car insurances are deducted from our joint access account each month. I include these figures in our monthly spending.

Every outgoing is written into my phone app. (Or just in a notebook if that works better for you). At the end of every month I write the total expenditure figure into a notebook next to a column that tracks all that we have earned during that month. 
Credit card purchases are written into my spending app too, so there are no purchases that slip through without being tallied. 
Our credit cards are paid automatically every month. A simple procedure that can be done through our bank or on-line banking.
 
Incomings and outgoings. My method is unsophisticated but it works for me.

It's amazing (and interesting) how a few dollars here and a dollar there, in either column, adds up over the month... and the year.

Once you have an 'enough' figure in your head, try to live on that amount for a year; try it for size. You may be pleasantly surprised, but you may also get quite a shock.

I'm quite shocked at the amount we pay in outgoings (registrations and insurance, tractor, trailer, farm and livestock expenses) but pleasantly surprised at the in-comings from selling our produce at markets and the Farmgate stall, the small bee-keeping business, and writing for Grass Roots magazine.

Keeping this record was one of the clinchers towards knowing that we could cease employment. Working for the boss will be a thing of the past, and gosh that's a feeling like no other.
For self confidence in managing our own money we need to educate ourselves. Read, study, explore, research. There is so much free information at our fingertips (on-line) and at our public library but sadly, there is a shortage of places where we can get advice at no cost or have informative discussions/ sharing knowledge and experiences.
It's our money, we worked hard for it, I don't want to fritter it away on costly financial guidance and an advisor who is out to feather his own nest on my hard earned savings.
I'm so very pleased that I found  Scott Pape - The barefoot Investor a few years ago and recommend the book to everyone of all ages. Every library has a few copies, have a read, buy your own copy, give a copy to each of your children. It will be the best $20 (approx) you ever spend.

To the younger readers who imagine retirement as two lifetimes away; get involved in making your money work for you now by paying attention to your superannuation. Do as Scott Pape says and flick it from 'default mode" ASAP. Your'e likely to be paying higher fees because that's exactly what your superannuation managers want you to do.


For great advice on managing money and savings, tips and inspiration on how to save money, go to Rhonda's Down to Earth blog for her gentle wisdom and traditional, but still absolutely relevant, common sense and logic. Rhonda's books hold bible status to many people. Mine is well thumbed with sticky notes at relevant (to me) pages.


There are countless valuable nuggets of wisdom on Scott Pape's blog and you can sign up to receive his free regular and educational emails. Scott Pape Barefoot Investor


Education and advice on investing in shares at Dave's blog Strong Money Australia

and Phil's generous wisdom on Mr Homemaker are both incredibly informative.

(Mr Homemaker's blog is about to move, but we can follow it through the links on his current blog)
Mr Homemaker (Phil)  has taught and guided me through some stressful moments when I needed independent advice more than I needed a stiff drink. For that I am forever grateful and this is why I want to pay it forward, open the discussion, prevent someone else from making mistakes that we almost made.


For inspiration and an interesting female viewpoint on all things finance I regularly check in on Miss Balance at All About Balance

In all things, I try to gather as much advice from all directions before making a decision on which method is right for me or us. Always being open to new, different suggestions can be an enormous help, and this is where other people's ideas are valuable.

I hope you find this discussion as helpful and enlightening as I have.

Do you have any anecdotes or words of wisdom to share? 
Hop in and join the discussion... your experience may help us.

Cheers,

Sally XX

What News?

Some big changes will be happening around here next year.  There's a list of maintenance jobs to be done that is as long as my arm, plans to re-jig some of the gardens, ideas of hooking up the van and going fishing occasionally, and dreams of living less by the clock and rather by the sun and moon rhythms.
It's official.... Brian is "retiring" at the end of this year.  What I actually mean when I say "Retiring" is that he will be leaving his paid job after forty five years with Yalumba Wines, but he won't stop working. He will instead be his own boss, working his own hours at doing the things he enjoys doing, and with no staff to manage.
His position at Yalumba has grown with him over those years, so much knowledge is in his head, not written down or documented in any 'procedures' manual.  He will be difficult to replace, but replace him they must.
It's now his turn to live the life of his choice, and my turn to see more of him.

Turning sixty in June, and a minor health scare that made him think about his mortality, has brought about a change in his way of looking at life.  It also happened to me at around the age of sixty, and I was wondering when, or if, he might start to consider making some changes to enhance the quality of  the time that we have left.

A few months ago I gathered up all of our financial figures and asked a couple of finance people to look over the numbers that I had crunched.  It seemed too good to be true that we would be able to live on our superannuation and some investments until the end of our days, hopefully into our nineties. When they gave us the nod we were justifiably ecstatic.
Euphoric, but difficult to get my head around for many reasons; firstly I don't feel old enough to be "retired" but I'm certainly reminded of it every time I look in a mirror.
Secondly, we have become so accustomed  to living a frugal and simple life that our savings just kept growing to this point where there's enough to live on.
And there's that word. Enough!
When do we reach the point where we feel that we have enough?  I suspect that in our modern society many people will never feel that they have enough, regardless of how abundantly wealthy they are.
We are so very lucky that, as a team, we are both on the same wavelength regarding excessive consumerism. A simple and meaningful life of living within our means and close to nature is our manifesto, and we plan to continue living this way as long as we possibly can.
I mention this because I wonder if you can imagine the surprised look on the faces of the professional money people that we spoke to.
"You can live comfortably on that amount?? Per month??"
and
"We need to come and learn how you can live on that amount of money."
And yet, here's the thing, we don't feel deprived of anything. We live a beautiful, simple, abundant and thriving life.
We're rich!
Admittedly our meaning of 'rich' may differ from the way many other folks define the term.
We're happy to own and live in a small but comfortable home that we worked on to make it suitable for our needs. There may be a couple of small changes made as we age, small tweaks to assist us with our decreasing mobility in later years, but here is where we hope to be.

So this retirement thing!
I don't describe myself as retired.  After those first few months of "retirement" turned out to be busier just as full as when I was in the paid workforce, I soon decided to use the term, work from home.
I love having things to do, being busy. I love caring for the animals, growing our food and operating this small cottage industry that quietly churns along here with the Farmgate stall outside our front gate.
We both love teaching and running workshops. The people we've met, the warmth of the new friendships made, the community belonging-ness of it all. Sharing our produce and our knowledge, paying it forward, is immeasurable on any monetary scale. There's no price on it.

 Funnily enough, no one has asked "What will he do after retirement?" because we all know that he will have plenty to do. Well, that long list that I've got will keep him busy for awhile, but he has plans.
So, apart from the bees and maintaining our farm and livestock, he will be taking on small jobs that will come his way.
.

Sheep management for hobby farmers looking for someone to shear their sheep, mark lambs and general livestock maintenance.
Pruning fruit trees, regenerative land management consulting, and spraying of biodynamic preps, to name just a few of the jobs that will fill his days and keep him socially involved.
There's no denying that it will be a big change for him, and indeed for us as a couple, but I believe we're ready.
Bring it on.

We could not have got to this point without the financial advice and helpful guidance of Mr Homemaker   I am indebted to Phil, for his easy to understand, informative blog posts on superannuation, financial planning and shares investing. His generous personal guidance has been the clincher for us.

How do ordinary folks like us find their way through the maze of conflicting, (and expensive) financial advice?
It's a jungle out there, full of sharks who will weasel as much commission and fees as they can get for their own benefit, whilst maintaining they're interested only in our best interests.
In our society talking about finances seems to be a taboo subject, but surely it ought to be discussed more to educate people about their options. Almost every day we hear about someone who has been robbed of their life savings by a shonky bank or dodgy financial advisor.
Or people with no idea of what fees they are paying to have their money managed for them. You would be shocked at the high percentages that some folks are paying.
For the internet savvy there are many forums and financial education blogs at our fingertips, but for those with no access to the internet I believe there should be local discussion groups where people can exchange ideas and become informed through the sharing of  knowledge. But it's all kept to ourselves because it's not polite to discuss money matters and this is where the sharks get the advantage.

What do you think?
What has been your experience in navigating towards funding your retirement?
Do you have an interesting story to tell? Do you have a warning for us all?

Your comments and sharing of your experience just may help someone avoid making a wrong judgement or decision. If you prefer to remain anonymous, send an email so I can share your story without your name appearing.

Thanks for dropping in.
Cheers,
Sally XX