A Year of Living More and Spending Less
by Michael Kelly
“Calling all fans of The Good Life, this book should be your bible” Food & Wine Magazine
Want to turn the doom and gloom into a better, more enjoyable way of living? Want to eat better, save money, work those muscles without the treadmill, and know where your food comes from? Interested in making your back garden or allotment work for you? This could be the new, recession-proof you! Five years ago Michael Kelly chucked in the corporate life to try his hand at “the good life”. It's been the most rewarding thing he has ever done. Based on his own, sometimes hilarious experiences, Michael shares what he's learned, taking us through the year on his small home farm.
Included:
What to grow and when. What's worth it? What's not?
Hens and pigs - the ups and downs
Cooking and storing your bounty
The health benefits - physical and mental
Linking up with others - food swapping and markets, and the return of the meitheal
For more information please see http://www.obrien.ie/book856.cfm.
Tales from the Home Farm will be available to buy from most good book stores in September 2009. It will also be available to buy from the following websites:
http://www.obrien.ie
http://www.amazon.co.uk
http://www.easons.ie
Book Details:
Forthcoming - September
Price: eu14.99
Binding: pb
Pages: 400pp
Size: 234x156mm
ISBN-10 1-84717-168-0
ISBN-13 978-1-84717-168-9
From Rat Race to Hen Run
by Michael Kelly
Does this ring any bells? Mortgaged to the hilt, rising at 5.30 to commute across three counties to jobs in Dublin, fed-up, bleary-eyed and only in your thirties?
Michael Kelly and his wife were classic Celtic Cubs. Then they simplified, down-sized, opted out. Now they live happily in a leaky cottage in Dunmore East, their ties with the capital severed and their careers as corporate drones abandoned.
They grow vegetables and rear an ever-expanding coterie of animals: laying hens, a cock named Roger and pigs called Charlotte and Wilbur. And they don’t hate Mondays anymore!
This is an extremely humorous, thought provoking account of one couple’s discovery that there is an alternative to the consumer driven lifestyle. As Michael Kelly describes the hilarious hazards of rural life as well as the advantages, he demonstrates how one brave decision can transform your life. A funny and inspiring account of the ups and downs of letting go of the Tiger.
“Kelly's enthusiasm for his new life seems genuine, and he is honest about the pitfalls. He seems to have taken to the self-sufficient life, almost by accident, like a free range hen to fresh pasture.” Irish Independent
Trading Paces is available to buy from most good book stores and the following websites:
http://www.obrien.ie
http://www.amazon.co.uk
http://www.easons.ie
Trading Paces - From Rat Race to Hen Run was launched in 2008 and for a (thankfully) short period, it seemed like it was everywhere! It received publicity in the following TV, Radio and print outlets:
Print Media - National
The Irish Times (Feature)
The Irish Independent (Feature)
Gloss Magazine (Review)
Metro (Review)
The Sunday Tribune (Review)
The Mail on Sunday (Feature)
The Sunday Mirror (Feature)
The Sunday Business Post (Review)
Farmer’s Journal (Feature)
TV
RTE - The Afternoon Show (Interview)
TV3 - Ireland AM (Interview and OB)
Radio
National
RTE - Today with Pat Kenny
RTE - The Green Light
Today FM - The Last Word with Matt Cooper
Newstalk - Weekend Blend with Clare McKeon
Phantom FM
Regional
BBC Radio Ulster
WLRFM
East Coast Radio
Tipp FM
Shannonside Northern Sound
Clare FM
Dublin FM
Cork 103 FM
Other Publicity
The Panel (Live) - Live version of popular RTE show
Team Treehugger - online review
http://www.emigrant.ie - online review
A sample preview of the book, click the link below (PDF viewer required).
