twenty five

This past week...

I used every spare second I had to throw clay pots on my borrowed wheel. I have a whole post in my head about being a beginner that will hopefully make it onto the blog before too long. It's such an interesting and humbling process. I am completely addicted though and am wondering if I might have to buy my own wheel when the borrowed one has to go back.

Our coffee machine broke!!

A nearest and dearest had a health scare and thank goodness is now clear.

I fought long and hard with one of my kids and then we made up and now our relationship is heavenly. If only it could stay this way.

I went to gym five times! I think that must be my record.

The world got a little less colourful when we lost Cam @curlypops last Tuesday.

We thought we were definitely destined to run out of water in the next few days but this morning farmer Bren went up the hill with a ladder, climbed up and peered in the tank and discovered it is half full after all. YES!!!! Not quite enough for a bath, but possibly enough not to worry.

We rediscovered Roman Mars and the 99% Invisible podcast.

We had our first camp-fire cooked bbq dinner of the season.

We picked armfuls of flowers.

I still haven't labelled the dahlias.

We pulled more of the summer crops out of the garden and replaced them with winter ones.

We went to a few garage sales and bought a cane chair, a punching bag, some paints and brushes, a tin of buttons and a tub of wool.

I crocheted four granny squares just to see if I still could.

We started the countdown until we see Indi.

We discovered that our kitten loves eating cucumbers.

We picked and podded thousands of beans.

My niece stayed with us for a few nights.

Miss Pepper swept up three cratefuls of golden leaves that had fluttered down from the grape vine and landed on the back deck and become a sludgy, slippery mess.

Farmer Bren turned some beautiful wooden bowls.

I spent ages searching instagram for beautiful ceramic shapes.

We started watching The Marvelous Mrs Maisel and we're absolutely loving it!!

I started knitting a blue beanie just for something to do with my hands on a big driving day last Friday.

We're still picking and eating tomatoes and cucumbers and strawberries.

I finished reading Flames by Robbie Arnott which I absolutely loved and last night I started kaddish.com by Nathan Englander (my mum called it 'a romp' when she handed it over - I'm actually not quite sure what that means - but I'm intrigued).

That's all I can think of off the top of my head but I might include some more if I think of some.

How about you?
Quickly tell me a couple of things that you've been up to.
If you feel like it.
I'd love to know.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

See you in a week.

Love, Kate x

wish i may - wish i might

Hello my lovelies,

Another Friday, another Foxslane post.

So much of my last week, if not the past three weeks, or even the last year, has been affected by the fact that I can't sleep. It feels like I've spent so much time talking about and trying different preventatives and cures, working on my sleep hygiene, pushing harder at the gym, cutting down on coffee, learning meditation, taking herbs, writing lists...but still I can't sleep. My body has forgotten how to sleep. And so I've been walking around feeling like the front of my head is filled with soggy cotton wool and hoping the right words will come to me in conversation when I need them.

It's frustrating and exasperating and scary. I feel like I'm wasting the days of my life working at quarter strength. Wandering around in a daze, dazing around in a wonder.

But late last night when I was preparing myself for another eight hours of lying in the darkness, my farmer boy suggested that whatever happened or didn't happen overnight wouldn't matter because all I had to do today was sit up in bed, knit a couple of rows of my shawl, edit some photos and write my blog.

I hardly slept at all last night and feel like I'm in slow motion again today but it's been kind of nice taking the pressure off and not expecting to get anything done but the bare minimum. So please excuse me if I'm a bit incoherent in places, I'll totally forgive you if you lean on the pictures instead of the words. And let's just cross our fingers and hope that by some miracle something changes soon and I sleep and make sense again.

So how about we get back to the photo, or five, a day, okay?

may twelve

Last Saturday we picked the last sale-able apples from the trees. Five crates of Jonathan's. It was so cold that I couldn't feel my fingers, the rain was dripping off the trees and nets down my neck when I looked down and up my sleeves when I reached up, and it wasn't an altogether pleasant experience. But the apples were bright red and beautiful, they came off easily and we filled the crates in no time.

As we walked the rows of the orchard afterwards and noticed how the leaves were turning golden and fluttering to the ground, we thanked the trees for the beautiful apples, made plans to take the nets off before we pick the grannies, and acknowledged the fantastic season we've had and all that it involved.

We put those apples on the farm gate stall and by the next evening a box had been taken for an apple pie cooking lesson at a Women's prison nearby and the rest had been sold to passers by. We took the signs down, we put the scales away, we emptied the money tin and then we closed the stall doors until next season.

may thirteen

On Sunday we helped Indi paste one of her photos on the water tank at the top of the hill. It's part of her year 12 art folio and has all sorts of theory and meaning behind it, but like I said I'm not in the right head space for explaining anything complicated so you're just going to have to take my word for it.

She printed up some more yesterday that will hopefully get pasted around our farm over the weekend, I'll report back next week.

After the trek up the hill and the pasting we ate pancakes for Mother's Day lunch.

may fourteen

After school on Monday we went for a walk through the sunflower patch to assess the storm damage. Being such a late crop they're probably not as strong as they could be and many were lying down or bent over, but still there were enough standing upright staring at the sun for us to get lost in the magic of and bask in their glow.

may fifteen

These are the chrysanthemums I bought myself for Mother's Day. Bren bought me a blue handled pocket-knife which is equally as pretty and I probably should have taken a picture of, but I forgot.

may sixteen

On Wednesday Bren and Jobbo built the roof of my studio. I had been worried that adding a roof onto the structure would make it too big and overpowering in that space, but after they played around with angles for a while I think they got it just right. I love it and its little pitched roof.

Bren's parents drove up for lunch which was fun.

And then I walked up and down each row of flowers until I found enough for a bunch.

may seventeen

Yesterday I planted some more garlic, I pulled the basil out of the garden and saved the seeds, I watched as they wrapped the studio up in sisalation and Miss Jazzy got her braces put on her teeth.

may eighteen 

Today. A few days ago when they were discussing ideas for the ceiling of my studio, I sent my farmer boy an instagram photo of a ceiling I love. It was one of those dreamy cabin photos with a pitched roof, chunky rafters and big, wide, dark boards covering the the entire space. From there the boys went into action pulling bits of timber out, sanding, staining, oiling and then holding them up to be discussed. At one point Jobbo remarked that he'd always wanted to see what sump oil did to the colour of a wooden board and the next thing he knew Bren came back from the depths of an old shed with a bucket full from an old tractor. From time to time we laugh at him and his hoarding tendencies and then at other times we are swiftly reminded that he's the one laughing. Or feeling smug anyway.

Eventually they sourced some hardwood offcuts and spent today getting them ready. Jobbo cut them to size, Bren sanded them down and then they played with the ratios of linseed oil to sump oil for the dark and richness.

They got rained out this afternoon because sanding is not an inside job, but with any luck by this time next week I will not only have had some good hours of sleep - but I'll have a studio ceiling too. How exciting.

And I'm still knitting my Merricks shawl in Abbe's Noble Fox yarn. I've just finished the second colour and am about to make a start on the border, it's the most beautiful blue and I'm so excited to use it.

Which brings me to now, still sitting up in bed, staring at the late afternoon shadows dancing on the wall, wearing the new to me cardigan I bought myself this afternoon on our local buy/swap/sell Facebook page, wondering what to make for dinner that Jazzy and her new braces will be able to eat.

And that's me!

Please tell me about you. Are you building? Wallpapering? Is your team winning? Are you excited about something? Dreading something else? Please fill me in, I'd love to hear it all.

Love! Love!

Kate x

mid summer meanderings

This is always a funny little time of the year, don't you think?

The girls are on school holidays, the days are warming up, things seem to be speeding up and at the same time getting ready to slow right down. There are parties to go to, jobs to finish, gardens to water and weeds to pull. Finally the veggie garden feels like it's starting to give back to us, but we're still a long way from fruit. Part of me feels like I'm on holidays - reading in bed in the mornings, watching episodes until too late at night. And part of me feels like it's time to gear up - this is the beginning of crazy time on the farm and the more I get done now, the better I'll feel later on.

So in order to capture this moment in time and make some sort of sense of it all, I'm going to borrow an oldie from such a goodie - Pip at Meet Me At Mikes - the Taking Stock List.

Here we go.

(photo at the top is of Indi's 17th in the new sun-room)

(Indi's 17th once they had left the table to go and dance on the deck)

Drinking: iced coffee with lots of ice and no ice cream...right now even...yum! 

Reading: The Woman Who Fooled The World: Belle Gibson's Cancer Con, and the darkness at the heart of the wellness industry. Gosh what a crazy story.

Next read: My Mum's library book - Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward. And then maybe Indi's VCE literature books.

 (the corn flower crown I made for our birthday girl)

Waiting: for some lettuce seeds to germinate. I've had such a bad lettuce season this year.

Disliking: cabbage moths and caterpillars. Leave my veggies alone!!

Playing: the best of 2017 play lists that Spotify is making me.

(our birthday girl)

Bookmarking: ideas to investigate when I start my flower farming course and have more knowledge.

Opening: packets of flower seeds and getting butterflies in my tummy.

(here comes the packing crate deck)

Giggling: at the study timetable on Indi's wall and wondering where she came from.

Enjoying: long sunny summer days and feeling a teensy bit sad that after today they start getting shorter.

Questioning: whether I've planted everything, and enough of everything, and if there's still time for more.

(the first of the two bits of the deck)

Feeling: that old familiar guilt that arrives on school holidays when the girls want to play with me, but I have so much farm work to do.

Looking: at the new deck along the front of our house and wondering where I can find some beautiful outdoor chairs for lounging about, reading books and sipping cocktails.

Admiring: the new deck and feeling so proud of my farmer boy who saw some old packing crates on an instagram page and had the foresight to imagine them as something beautiful. 

(my parents celebrating 50 years of marriage)

Making: knitted crowns for my Mum and Dad. The Ravelry details are here.

Deciding: on my next knitting project, either a pair of socks or a cardigan.

Considering: buying myself some sock blockers. Should I?

Wondering: if I should start a new macrame plant hanger instead.

(my sisters and parents at our golden 50 year anniversary party)

Wearing: my uniform - work overalls and a tee-shirt

Needing: to write up the notes from the interview I did yesterday before I forget the context and can't read my writing. 

Pondering: recording my next interview, so I can capture more detail.

Knowing: that I have four stories to write and that despite my best intentions, I'll probably leave writing them til the very last minute.

(the zinnias start to pop and add some much needed colour to the market garden)

Thinking: about how beautiful the garden will look when it is filled with colourful flowers.

Buying: geraniums for my hanging baskets.

Liking: mowing the orchards and getting ready to net them.

Hoping: for a really good apple season.

Waiting: to open the farm gate stall again, it feels like it's been forever.

(oh my goodness! oh my goodness!)

Following: lots of flower farmer accounts.

Cooking: broad beans in butter, with garlic and herbs on toast.

Hearing: the crash of cutlery being put away and hoping that it's one of the girls doing it and not Bren.

Snacking: on the fresh currants we picked a few nights ago.

Wanting: to go and pick more before the birds discover them.

(the prettiest little dahlias I bought from our local botanical gardens plant sale recently. I should have bought more)

Marvelling: at the magnificence of the flowers as they open up in the garden.

Watching: last season of Australian Survivor - don't judge me.

Cringing: at having to admit that's what I'm watching. I'm calling it research tho as we have a few friends who are auditioning for the next series.

Next watch: I don't know. Do you have any suggestions?

Noticing: the soil on the leaves and petals of the flowers in the market garden and wondering if watering them from above might not be the best thing for them.

Smelling: the next flush of roses.

Coveting: the fabulous photos of dahlias coming up in my instagram feed and wondering how the 20 tubers I planted are going to perform.

(farmer Bren's favourite thing in the garden at the moment - the leek flower!)

Loving: the flowers on the vegetables in the garden; the tomatoes, the potatoes, the leeks, the beans, the peas, the cucumbers and the rocket. It's such a beautiful and exciting time of the year.

Sorting: the seeds and pulling out those that need to be planted in mid summer.

Getting: ready to start braiding the garlic harvest.

Wishing: for a safe, exciting, inspiring and love filled new year for us all.


And that's that! 

If you want to make your own list you can find all the prompts on Pip's blog here.

Or if you feel like telling me what you're snacking on, hoping for, marvelling at, making or any of the other ...ings, you can type your answers into the comments section of this very blog. I'd love to read them.

Wishing you and yours a fabulous summer/winter solstice, a merry Christmas, a fabulous weekend, and enough time.

Lots of love,

Kate xx

under the blackwood tree

There I was for weeks counting down the days until the school holidays arrived. Imagining slow mornings when our body clocks woke us rather than our alarms, when we ate when we were hungry and all pitched in to clean up afterwards, and when we hung out together in the days on the farm getting things done and at nights playing games or watching movies. It would be the perfect mix of restful and productive. Everyone would get what they needed.

This morning, on the very first day of the holidays, I woke up to the sound of Bren on the chainsaw getting an early start and the girls only looking up from the film they were watching to ask about food, their own arrangements, or about the weather.

And all of a sudden the bubble of my idyllic holiday popped and it hit me that for the next two weeks I wouldn't be able to just grab some secateurs and gloves and go down to the plum orchard to finish the job I started yesterday, I wouldn't be able to grab a snack on the run, and there wouldn't be a time when someone wasn't talking to me or asking me to do something.

As I sat at the kitchen trying to drink my coffee I decided it was probably easiest to give in to them and give up my personal expectations of work for the day. I listened to a discussion of someone's camping arrangements, someone's birthday party plans, and to someone else's cough. I answered questions about boots, bus timetables and movies. And in my mind I saw all the spring planting and pruning and weeding that I needed to do over the next two weeks as a butterfly, slowly fluttering its wings and heading for the skies.

While the school holidays would be a lovely rest from all the driving, the homework, the exhaustion and the alarms, it looked like it was going to be rather unproductive on the farm front.

But just as I was contemplating the new plan and trying to come to terms with putting my own needs on hold, my farmer boy came in and reframed the whole scene. The girls would come down to the plum orchard and spend the morning helping us pull blackberry out of the rows, and in return we could look after them this afternoon.

It took me a few minutes to get rid of my earlier disappointment and fall in love with the new plan but when I did, I saw that it was golden.

With the smallest suggestion everyone got dressed in farm clothes, grabbed their gloves and secateurs and headed down the hill. We mowed, we raked, we yanked all those prickly blackberry vines out of the rows of plum trees and currant bushes and then we fed them to the fire.

After a few hours the girls took themselves off to find the swing Bren had made and hung for them when they were little under an enormous Blackwood tree. When they discovered that since their last visit a couple of years ago it had grown a thick thorny jungle, they started cutting a path in. Vine by vine they cut and then carried to a pile outside the tree. Vine by vine their path lengthened. Until they reached their dad-made swing.

After we had finished what we were doing we helped with their path for a while. It was gorgeous working for them and listening to them reminisce about playing under there when they were tiny and make plans for lots of swings under there in the future. I still can't decide if I should take the brush cutter to the blackberry jungle and clean it all up for them, or if the path between the prickles makes it a bit more fun and magical.

I am feeling a bit more optimistic about these holidays now too. With four extra hands (two are away camping), we should be able to get things done a bit quicker than usual and have extra time for their plans. I like it.

I hope you're finding some sort of balance in your world too.

Are you good at remembering what you need when life gets a bit crazy?
And how do you manage to fit school holidays into your routine??

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Lots of love,

Kate xx