It is no secret that I love reading and books. And lately I have had a lot of time to do so. So seeing as I am trying to blog more regularly, I thought I would start doing a book review on a Sunday.
Today's book is 'Down to Earth: a guide to simple living' by Rhonda Hertzel. I have been following Rhonda's blog for a long time. Her ideas impress me. I was a little bit excited when she said that she was going to start writing a book. It is also good to see her in the Australian Women's Weekly with a column too. When I first started reading Rhonda's blog I thought I could do this. We were trying to live more simply. The move to Benalla was on the cards. A fresh start and the scope to live even more simply. Well that all went out the window didn't it! But here I am thinking about my future and my new life and knowing that some of Rhonda's ideas will form a part.
I like the way this book is set out with a clear introduction to Living Simply, Ages and Stages, Saving and Spending, Home, Housework, Organisation, the Backyard and Recipes. These are not all of the chapters but the ones that stood out to me. Also the important bit on resources and where to find more info. I have read through the book thoroughly and so has my mum. My mum is roughly the same age as Rhonda so a lot of what she is saying makes sense to her because they are the same age. Although there are some things that my mum disagrees with that Rhonda talks about. But I guess they are things that come down to personal preference.
Mum has been great on actually taking up some of the ideas. She had always wanted to make her own clothes detergent so she did. The initial outlay is what costs the most when it comes to making your own clothes detergent. However mum said that there were only a couple of things she had to buy and the rest she had in the cupboard. She followed Rhonda's recipe and produced a considerable amount of detergent. We have both used it in the washing and it is more economical than even the cheaper detergents in the supermarket. I like how the clothes smell after they are dry but that is something that mum can't notice.
The clothes detergent has led us to look for a recipe for liquid soap which is something that gets used a bit here.
So this is a great book and it is something that can be used as a resource for single people, large families and small families. There are somethings in it that I just don't have the ability to do but I would outsource and buy the things to use.
0 comments:
Post a Comment