Contrary to what I first thought, growing and selling food is not going to cut it in terms of bringing in money. Sure, it means that I won’t starve, but people don’t buy handcrafted farm-made goods anymore. That will be purely for my own enjoyment. And yes, I plan to enjoy it thoroughly! We live…
Author: Tessa
Bullet Journaling, the best way ever to keep track of scattered thoughts!
I found a thing. It’s big. And scary. And really, really effective. And – like all things that are big, scary, and really, really effective – it’s deceptively simple to implement. The thing is called BULLET JOURNALING! I can’t really describe it – it’s not quite a To-Do list, nor is it an appointment diary,…
Cutting the Italian Elephant into Bite-Sized Portions
With the “Botswana Idea” now well and truly in the circular file, I have decided to revisit my original plan to take my dream to Italy. It’s still a massive elephant, in many respects. Imagine discovering that your dream house has half its back wall and a big chunk of its roof missing! To…
Bundu, bashed!
All fired up, I contacted a friend who had spent many years based in Maun, Botswana, as a bush pilot. Mostly to ask him about what to take on a viewing trip. And then he gave me the bad news… Foreigners are not allowed to own property in Botswana. Even citizens are only allowed to…
A twist, a translation and an energy boost in (what I feel is) the right direction
First, the background. I am a 44-year-old Afrikaner woman, currently working for the local government in Rustenburg, South Africa. I would like to start a small Permaculture-based homestead/backyard farm, and as South Africa has become increasingly hostile to farmers and smallholders alike, I am seriously considering bringing my energy and resources, such as they are,…
Hooligan Incorporated
No, that’s not really the name I chose, but it should have been if you know me at all! Yes, I bowed to the Man, and am fully planning to register a Closed Corporation. It’s basically a “lite” company, in the sense that it also protects me as an individual, but is not as heavily…
To monetize or not to monetize… that is the question!
Almost every book or article or blog (!!!) that I have read about blogging makes a big fuss about monetizing one’s blog, either by affiliate marketing or by allowing advertisements. Frankly, I do not like either of these ideas – the one seems extremely contrived, with SEO and blog articles that are designed around…
Too big for the box
Let’s start off with some good news. I have found out today that I should have more than adequate funds to launch my backyard farmstead IF I take it slowly and not splurge on wants before I can safely afford them. I won’t be rich by any conventional definition of the word, but I won’t…
Committing myself to a Permaculture lifestyle: booking an online PDF course
The moment one commits oneself, it is indeed true that Providence moves, too! I have set aside the month of May to take stock of my current situation in life and design a way forward. I know where I would like to be in 5 years’ time, but until now, the path to get there…
I have a shop!!!
I will let you in on a little secret… as of last weekend, I have a shop on this blog of mine! But before you start jumping up and down and wondering where you have last seen your credit/debit card, I must also confess that it isn’t operational. Yet. I have opened a (free) account…