In this episode, I am joined in conversation by my dear friend Rhonda Hetzel - award-winning blogger (32 million + views) and best-selling author of Down to Earth and The Simple Home. Rhonda's blog is also called Down to Earth. You can find her on Instagram too.

Rhonda and I speak about finding pleasure and purpose in a simpler way, and of being home-based. We spoke in the midst of the covid-19 lockdown here in Queensland Australia via zoom. Around the world, we continue to be encouraged (or mandated) to stay home for extended periods of time. This calls us to reconsider what a more local home-based life means for us, and how we can make it work.

In our conversation we also explore how to make ends meet. The pandemic has brought a massive shift in patterns of work. For over a decade, Rhonda has been sharing simple practical advice for how to do more with less - with simple practical elegance.

In the introduction to her blog, she writes:

'If you haven't already discovered the power of your own home you are in for a delightful and beautiful shock. Come closer and let me whisper in your ear, because if everyone knows this, it will cause a revolution. The work you do in your own home will enrich you and make you a different person. It saved me from a life of ridiculous spending and mindless acquisition and slowed me down enough to allow me to see the beauty surrounding me.'

Rhonda's books and blog are guides to simple living, and are with such useful advice - especially now.

Rhonda and I meet about 5 years ago when I was interviewing her on the author stage at the Real Food Festival in Maleny. We have been close friends since. It is Rhonda in fact that inspired & encouraged me to start blogging, and offered me a regular segment on ABC radio. I love visiting her and her husband Hano ..and her chooks and wild Scottish dog, Gracie, for a cuppa in her garden - not too far from here.  I hope we can do this again soon.

How have you been reconnecting with home in 2020? Getting out in the garden and growing more food has definitely been a popular way.
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This podcast is hosted by Morag Gamble, founder of the Permaculture Education Institute - the leading international online school for integrated permaculture design, education, leadership and [pr]activism.⁠

CLICK HERE to learn permaculture design, gardening, education, communication and leadership with Morag Gamble

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This podcast is broadcast from a solar powered studio in the midst of a permaculture ecovillage on Jinibara & Gubbi Gubbi country.