Comments on: Dreaming the good life

By: molly

molly — Sat, 11 Mar 2006 23:17:33 +0000

thank you so much for sharing this book. i have been reading “the guide to simple living”, which sounds like it has some similar themes as this one. I will definitely be checking this out of the library

By: courtney sue

courtney sue — Sat, 11 Mar 2006 10:49:47 +0000

This reminds me of my favorite T.V. show “Good Neighbors”, or as it was known in Britain “The Good Life”. A middle class suburban couple decide to become self-sufficient, to the disdain of their neighbors. It was one of the best British sitcoms ever. All eps are on DVD now, so check them out!

By: dewi

dewi — Sat, 11 Mar 2006 10:45:57 +0000

‚ÄúLiving without‚Äù is something that continually interests people of financial means and the well educated, only an over indulged population of people would find this something to aspire to (to not spend money)!

Poor people make due without contributing to the consumerism culture by default, we do not have any money, some of us barely sustain themselves on meager earnings, and forced to grow food and barter with neighbors to have delicious fresh food or trade our services.

By: Heidi

Heidi — Sat, 11 Mar 2006 10:32:48 +0000

I just tried to find a way to order this book, but couldn’t… how do I go about ordering it?

By: Anthony Baker

Anthony Baker — Sat, 11 Mar 2006 03:24:45 +0000

This sounds brilliant. Now if I could only find the book here in the United States… damn you, Austraila! (Heh.)

Don’t know if you’ve written about it here before, but there was also a couple from Canada who took on a 100-mile diet for a year and wrote about their adventures. The idea being that they’d live off of food grown or animals and animal-based products raised within a 100-mile radius of where they lived.

I’ll have to dig that link up for you.

By: kathreen

kathreen — Sat, 11 Mar 2006 02:55:15 +0000

inspiring – YES

By: Maddy

Maddy — Sat, 11 Mar 2006 02:31:04 +0000

My ten year old son and I planted our first veggie patch last year, it was great fun. The six foot sunflowers were the best surprise, with flower heads as big as dinner plates.

By: Shannon

Shannon — Fri, 10 Mar 2006 21:15:33 +0000

You are like my bookclub leader! I just finished ‘Julie & Julia’ last night and am not sure I can cry myself to sleep with ‘My Sister’s Keeper’ by Jodi Picoult just yet. I will head of and buy this book! After buying my partner ‘The Weathermakers’ last christmas we have attempted to make lighter footprints, more bikeriding, saving water, more recycling…small things like that. If only we had a yard half full of grass not concrete to contemplate attempting a vegie patch. Maybe soon?

By: Emmaline

Emmaline — Fri, 10 Mar 2006 20:25:25 +0000

Hi Claire, I must say that I did live for 12 months in a share house in brunswick where we grew a large potion of what we ate and got the rest from a food co-op. We had virtually no rubbish at all (e.g. we made soymilk rather than buy bottles of milk), and it was reasonably bearable once the routines were established. But the good bits could only be managed over a long term period – we really needed to bottle a *lot* of tomatoes in the summertime to be able to eat them on pasta through the winter. Also, after a while it was obvious that really strict self sufficiency is a bit of a crazy hardship and it is better to share, swap and trade than to be rigidly independent. I think its much more fun and gentle to try to eat mostly seasonal, mostly local, food and to grow those things that are fun and beautiful to grow than to devote one’s life to this stocism … but I am fascinated by those determined Cockburns…

By: Regina

Regina — Fri, 10 Mar 2006 20:05:27 +0000

Thanks for sharing this amazing book. It’s something that I think about a lot and am very interested in. My hubby and I talk a lot about living in a completely eco-friendly home someday! This book sounds amazing!