2025 has been another dark and dreary one weather-wise. Again, not a great year for the solar power.
However, this December marks the 14th anniversary of my journey living life off the power grid. It feels like such a long time, but it makes every sunny day a win. When the rain returns after sunny forecast – a relief to know the water tanks have been refilled.
One of my grandmothers passed away in July 2025, which was very sad but also a blessing as she had been suffering for some time with cancer and dementia. She managed to stay at home throughout her hospice care period, and she had some wonderful people who surrounded her with support and caregiving during those last few months. We celebrated her 92nd birthday in May with her, and she had a fabulous time. Then she quietly slipped away.
While we lost some good people in 2025 it was also a year of new connections and a lot of activities. We’ve made new friends and had quite the calendar full of social engagements and it is wonderful to look back on the calendar I use to manage the household to see all the things that have marked up the pages. Memories.
Speaking of new connections, we adopted two puppies in September who have been a handful, but we love them very much!
Their personalities are very much what you can imagine from looking at this photo! The tri colour pup on the left is very intelligent and quite sassy. She was the runt, and she’s determined but very snuggly. The black and white pup on the right is the easy going goof ball. Both girls are very loyal and we are lucky to have them. The story of how we came to have them is quite random. We were driving to pick up some farm side-by-side vehicles, and on the way we stopped for a quick break. I spotted a sign on a shop window for “Free Puppies.” Needless to say on the way home we called in, looked at said free puppies, and ended up bringing home the runt. After a week we decided that she really needed one of her siblings and so on the Sunday afternoon we went back and we brought home one of her sisters.
We still have Shadow the cat and Mr Socks who we adopted over a year ago in 2024. They are not best buddies, but they tolerate each other enough now that when they share the bed they are almost touching.
Sadly we are down to one goldfish – Speedy – who is thriving and grown quite large. We’ve had him nearly 4.5 years and he’s happy to have the tank to himself… more room to grow!
Home:
We’ve added some property improvements; a nice new wooden railing fence around the orchard and along the back of the house to our big shed and some gates. It’s to keep the sheep in their paddocks as well as tidy the place up. Along the boundary fence we had to install some netting because we’ve had lambs escape too many times onto the busy shared access way.
We’ve also scraped out the back yard with a little digger and are getting ready to pour a concrete pad that will be an extension to what we already have, as well as give the area surrounding the washing line a better base than dirt and mud in the winter.
Work is tough.
We’ve weathered many delays this year caused by clients, suppliers, subcontractors, the weather, staffing issues and the impacts of the rising costs of living. At the moment it feels more like muddling through rather than managing. Hopefully things are brighter in 2026.
Personal projects –
In April 2025 my biggest content creation project was incredible.
I reached out to a huge number of people from around the world who are a part of the Podcastage community and the audio/tech community on YouTube to pull together messages to celebrate Bandrew Scott’s 10th YouTube Anniversary for his Podcastage channel! I was blown away by the number of people willing to participate and their heartfelt messages of thanks and celebration wishes for Bandrew.
We shared the compilation video in the Discord server in May 2025 on the date of the anniversary, and I made a note – HUGE SUCCESS!
My deepest gratitude to everyone who took time to record a message via text, audio and video.
I loved putting together a special song to celebrate the 10th anniversary to the tune of Still Alive from Portal! (Not only is it a great song, but Bandrew and I made a cover of it several years ago which you can find on my Recordings page.) With this new rendition I had to get Bandrew to help me mix the music, so he got a sneak peak to the audio of the song, but I created a lyric video to accompany it which was a surprise for him. I pulled footage from some of his videos, and used some of the emotes and the latest animated Celebrate emote created by AscotHero (who generously gifted both the original Celebrate emote for the 5 year anniversary video, and the updated animation of it this year).
Over 10 years of providing fun, interesting and helpful content for people looking for a microphone to use is an awesome achievement, and it has made an impact on so many people.
I’ve had a freshen up of this website, with more work to be done. I’ll also be working on updates to Sunshine & PowerCuts.
Over the past few years my library has developed into a dedicated library room with custom built shelving and a collection of books I love. Though my reading has slowed down a bit in 2025, I’ve been very lucky with my thrifted book finds this year! My library and reading bring me so much joy!
With reading, I like to try and complete the 52 Book Club challenge, the seasonal Goodreads challenges and occasionally request books from NetGalley.
Recently I updated my NetGalley profile because in 2026 I want to be very intentional with the books I request to read advance copies of. I want them to be more useful in helping me achieve my goals and aligned with my tastes and preferences especially since I am giving the books my time, energy and digital content real estate.
In 2026, my spare time will be taken up with a dedicated study project I began in October of this year that I am loving. It is hard to do all the required reading every day, but it has been thoroughly nourishing, and I know I’ll get my groove eventually.
My office has started to transform to accommodate the study resources – but there’s still a lot I need to do in terms of re-organising things. For now it works.
Health:
The hay fever season that is currently in full swing is quite the challenge. Vigilance with filtered air and prompt allergy medication is a must.
My blood pressure has been pretty good this year thankfully! I’ve added more heart healthy foods into my diet like oats, oat milk, beetroot. My exercise has increased with the puppies which has also helped. But I think I need to get my iron levels tested again – I’m feeling pretty fatigued (I often get anaemic if I don’t manage my iron intake with supplements).
In November 2024 I had anaphylaxis which was very scary. I had been unwell for a couple of weeks in the lead up to the event with extreme stress and symptoms of foggy brain, migraines and heart palpitations. Then one morning as I started to eat a late breakfast I broke out in what I thought were hives, but the worst stinging over every inch of my skin that I’ve ever experienced. It quickly developed into the swelling of my hands and legs. I took off my rings, my watch and changed out of jeans in to track pants, and then was in excruciating pain on the floor of my bedroom while my family were on the phone to the emergency services. I was very lucky that day there were two first responder vehicles that were travelling around and able to reach my rural home fairly quickly. The first one gave me an EpiPen and that was a huge relief. As they were preparing to take me to the hospital I still had swelling. On the way, I was recounting the events while two paramedics were monitoring me and I told them it felt heavy on my chest. The paramedic behind me could see swelling rise up my neck and then my airway closed up. They were quick to administer a second Epi-Pen and waited for the doctor to rejoin us so he could determine whether or not I needed to be put on a drip of epinephrine, but thankfully he didn’t think it was necessary. By then I was feeling a lot better except when the after effects of two doses of epinephrine kicked in. I didn’t have any further reactions and so just had to wait for 8 hours in the hospital to be sure. It was exhausting and took a long time after to fully recover from. But I am extremely grateful to be here a year later to tell that story.
How has 2025 been for you?
And what’s on the horizon in 2026?
I’m looking forward to the new year, and I hope that the festive holiday season is a safe and happy one for you.
Until next time,
Heather x