Not negotiable.

My parents have just spent a wonderful week with us. We celebrated my birthday, we toured around, we played games and walked and ate and most importantly we talked. They came to visit us at a time when our feet are still on this road trip but our hearts and heads are on their way home.

It was wonderful to get a new perspective on our thoughts. My Dad who is living his second chance at life and my Mum who has the gift of really seeing things.

We spoke of our future, we put our dreams into words, we planned for the come-down of those first few weeks back after the trip, we chatted about the roads we've travelled and the paths ahead, we spoke of our family, our business and our life. We started to feel inspired and to look forward to going home and putting some of our new plans into action.

And then all of a sudden, in the middle of their week with us, we started to have so many ideas. Great ideas. The type of ideas for our lives and our business that we had when we first moved out of the city. We will become more self sufficient, we will teach, we will build, we will write, we will redecorate, we will design, we will get more extreme, more social, more involved...

And then one afternoon sitting around the table my Mum suggested we work backwards. Simplify. Instead of making huge changes and pulling our lives apart and putting them back together again, we needed to start closest to home.

What in our lives is not negotiable?

Its almost like that food pyramid that is on the back of the cereal packets. What is most important to us goes down the bottom of the pyramid and we work upwards from there. Like a personal permaculture.

For me its pretty simple, my top three non negotiable parts of my life are: My family. Great food gown and prepared and eaten by family and friends. A creative outlet.

It wont work if we build this business up so that it demands so much time that we aren't able to be with the girls. It does not make sense to be so busy growing great food to send to market and then opening a tin of tomatoes and a packet of pasta to feed our kids for dinner. It will make me unhappy to have so many commitments that I have no time to create.

Sure I have other priorities like the environment, like a lovely living space, like a great social life, like exercise and community and time alone, but I would give up any of these for my top three so they have to come second.

So that's what we're doing now. We are looking at those parts of our lives that are not negotiable and working hard on them. We are making plans that enable us to spend lots of time alone with each member of our family and together as a five as well. Plans to grow our home kitchen garden (as opposed to the farm paddocks), to add some more animals, a pizza oven, a better stove/oven, some more recipes to our repertoire. And timetabled time to write, sew and make. Time to work on my thing without feeling guilty, that I should be doing something else.

Once we have made plans for the big three we can look at the next layer of importance.

Does this make sense? Are your three the same as my three? What three parts of your life are not negotiable?

Travel safe. xx

Six things & a winner.

(The fanciest caravan park bathroom so far in Mandalay in Busselton).

Hello!!  Firstly, an enormous thank you for all your beautiful birthday texts, emails, twitters and comments. Every single one read and appreciated and loved. xx

(Birthday me.)

(Birthday lunch.)

(Busselton pier).

(cake!)

Secondly, I had the best birthday ever! It was the type of day where I remembered it was my birthday all day long.

We woke up and had birthday cuddles in bed. We ate K shaped pancakes, I opened prezzies and unwrapped cards. I chatted on the phone and got sung to and serenaded with the ukulele. We ate lunch on the water, made birthday speeches and cheersed with bubbles. We walked to the end of Busselton jetty and back. We made and ate delicious pizzas for dinner. I blew out the candles of a caravan baked chocolate cake. We watched a few episodes of Modern Family before bed. And I wore my birthday tiara all day long!! A very happy birthday indeed.

Thirdly. The green magazine giveaway. In the tradition of road trip giveaways, the camp site number chose the winner. In this case it seemed most fitting for the guests to decide. I am so very, very lucky that my parents flew over to join us on the road for my birthday week and their site number is three.

So number three it is. Comment number three is Miss Gourmet Girlfriend Ruth!! Hooray!!

Hugest congratulations Ruth. I hope you love your two year subscription to green magazine and find it endlessly inspiring.

Fourthly, I have another great giveaway coming up very soon so watch this space.

(Yarn bombed chair in front of Margaret River Wool shop.)

Fifthly, we are loving the south west but are freeeeeeeeeezing. Its so nice after many months of red dirt and sand to be surrounded by green and trees. Its also great to be able to access things we have missed on the road like organic food, wool shops and good coffee.

(Gorgeous chair and my minestrone lunch at Samudra in Dunsborough).

Sixthly, the first few days of my forties have been great. Beautiful food, lovely places, great company, inspiring conversation. I am feeling very blessed indeed.

Thanks so much for traveling with me.

See ya! xx

Birthday guest blog.

Hello! Its my birthday day. Today is also a day of so many firsts for me. My first day in a new decade, my first trip around the sun as a 40 year old, the first time I've ever spent a day in Busselton, Western Australia and the first time I've ever had a guest blogger on my blog.

Who more qualified to guest blog on my blog than my own mum!

Here she is:

OUR BEAUTIFUL KATE IS FORTY

and we can hardly believe it!

When our four daughters were growing up, we marked each of their birthdays with a sign on the door with photos of the birthday girl at various stages of her life up to that point.

So Kate, here's a virtual sign from your mum and dad on your virtual door.

The first night we brought you home from hospital Dad was so afraid we wouldn't hear you cry that he slept on the floor at the foot of your bassinette. This is you with Donkey. You talked to him for hours.

Dad used to dink you on his bike to school in the morning when we lived in Parkville. How young he looks there - that's because he was.

We travelled quite a bit when you were young. You lived in London and on a kibbutz in Israel, and we travelled with a tent through Europe. This is on a bridge in Safed, Israel.

Your middle name is Simone for your grandfather Simon. He went to Errol Street Primary School too. 

You're eight here, and you now have three younger sisters. You looked so grown up to us then!

Your last year of school. You're about to enter the world on your own terms.

Ohhh. Obviously this is your wedding day. We all cried so much that day. With love, with joy and with anticipation that for you the best was about to begin.

We're so happy and honoured to be spending your birthday week with you and your family in Busselton, WA. Thanks for having us.

Thank you so much mum!

Happy my birthday y'all! xx