10 random things

Blogging is a funny old thing isn't it. I think that probably eight out of ten times when I think about writing a blog post, the first thing that crosses my mind is - who cares? Who would even be interested in reading that? But then I load the photos and I write it anyway.

And then when I'm finished I press publish, and I exhale, and it's gone, and it often occurs to me again that blogging is so self indulgent.

And then soon after that someone in my family texts me the edits and sometimes they tell me they liked it. And then some comments come in…maybe an email or two, and I am reminded that you feel it too, you do it too, you want it too. You advise me, you commiserate with me, you question me, you compliment me, you tell me your stories. I love hearing your stories.

And then it all makes sense. I understand why I press publish and not save. It's a community thing and I love it.

So in the spirit of self indulgience, here are 10 completely random things that are going on in my life right now.

ONE: We have tomatoes. Finally. Cherries and romas and pears, oh my. If there's one thing this heat-wave has been good for, it's ripening our tomatoes, hooray!

I cannot tell you how great it was to finally break our tomato fast. To eat them in salads, on toast and straight off the vine. To have that little plate up on the window sill for ripening the greenies. And for the colour. What a difference that red makes to a dish.

I'm so pleased that we waited though. It was totally worth it.

TWO: The kitchen garden is pretty awesome all together at the moment: carrots and leeks and onions and lettuce and rocket and basil and tomatoes and peas and beans and beetroot and other things that I'm sure I've forgotten. There is nothing quite like telling the girls to go and pick their own afternoon tea.

THREE: Part of me feels like I am dealing with all my girls being at school this year for the very first time. Last year when it really was the start of this new phase, I was writing my book, and then we went to Israel, and then I spent the rest of the year publicising my book and I was too busy to notice. But now I'm noticing. And it feels a bit empty. And the house feels quiet. And I miss them.

FOUR: I'm asked often what wool I am using to crochet my blanket. The answer is anything 8ply I can get my hands on. I have raided all of my baskets of odds and ends left over from olfd projects. And once, only because I had used up all the fun colours first, I bought eight new balls of wool from a shop in Malvern. All different brands, all different colours.

I've crocheted 162 squares of my summer blanket so far. Every time I finish 12 squares I join them to the main blanket. I think I'll keep going for as long as the white holds out. I'm loving this project but I'm starting to think about the next.

FIVE: I'm reading Wild by Cheryl Strayed. I am seriously loving it. It's slow going though, reading and rereading each bit because I want to savour it, and I want to take it all in, and I want to remember it.  Such a great story. Such an incredible story teller.

It's made me think about a journey of our own. Maybe for a week? I love the idea of walking a long path through wilderness. Carrying all our own gear, slowing down time, noticing what's out there, thinking thoughts all the way through….maybe….


SIX: The blackberries are ripe for the picking and we've been picking. And eating and making this cake. In the next day or so I think there will be enough for my first jam of the season. I've been looking forward to standing over a bubbling cauldron for a while now.

SEVEN: This morning on my run around the big block I got a notification on my phone telling me that there was a bushfire a few kilometres up the road from our farm. Let's just say there's nothing quite like the rush of adrenaline to make me pick up the pace and make a run for it. Luckily I came home to find that it had been a false alarm…phew!!


EIGHT: I took this picture of fighting roosters a while ago and keep forgetting to post it. It terrifies me and at the same time makes me think of my run in with the white rooster.

NINE: My farmer boy has trained and is now a projectionist at the local Daylesford Rex cinema. My girls laughed when I told them I thought it was sexy to be dating the projectionist. But I still think it is.

TEN: I heard a senior weather forecaster on the radio today talking about the fact that we've had almost all of our extreme heat for this season. It will still be hot but not as hot and not for as many days in a row. Even though some of the heat has been scary this year, it made me feel sad. Summer is coming to an end. I kinda miss it already.

So how about you?
What have you been reading, growing, baking, thinking about?
If you feel like writing 10 random things on your own blog leave me a comment and I'll come and visit.

Thanks for reading.
Big love,
xx