Friday, February 3, 2017

capturing + creating

Hello honey bunches - here we are again.

The whole of January I wondered if I was doing the right thing by sticking to the Friday Foxs Lane, rather than blogging every day the way I had for the previous two years. Every now and then I'd pop back into my archives to remind me of what we were doing on the same date a year ago and I'd love the connection to the seasons, the summer rhythm, and our past.

Our summers look so dreamy in blog posts. They're filled with fruit picking, girls in floral dresses with messy braids, vegetable pickling and long sunny days spent together as a family.

But on the last day of this January, just a few days ago when it was waaaay too late to change my mind, I decided that I'd made the right decision after all. It was a warm early evening on the day before the summer holidays ended. We'd eaten dinner, the girls had laid out their clothes for the next day and packed their school bags but we still had a few hours before bed time. Indi announced that she wanted to head down to the front of the farm and pick some flowers for her friend and Pepper and I decided to join her. We pulled our boots on, grabbed some secateurs and a bucket for blackberries and headed out the door. Only once we had well and truly left did it occur to me to bring my camera along too. Just in case the light was just right and I felt like snapping some pictures. So I went back and picked it up.

On the way down, I asked the girls if they remembered the previous January and what it had been like when I was blogging every day. Mostly they remembered my 7pm panic and inevitable hustle of everyone out the door to go and check on the quinces, or go and pick the plums, or get the eggs, or do any other family activity that I could photograph and then blog about that night. 

They both agreed that this year was so much better and thinking back over the last thirty one days I tended to agree. Without the constant blogging at the back of my mind and my camera slung over my shoulder, life felt smoother. We probably ended up doing all those same activities, but they happened when the time was right, and I got to be part of them rather than shooting them from the outside. And while the phone camera in my pocket still gets quite the workout, it doesn't feel like it leads me along, it's just there for the pretty bits.

We all agreed that last year it felt like I was making the moment, whereas this year with only the Friday blogs it felt like I was capturing it.

So while in January 2015 I posted 31 blogs, in January 2016 I posted 28 blogs, this past January 2017 I only posted six blogs, and I'm happy about it.

At the end of the conversation Indi suggested me that I should write about the capturing versus the creating thing for this Friday blog and because I'm such a good and obedient mum (haha), I am.



But just incase you were wondering about the rest of our January, here's a bit more of the picture.

We ate cucumbers, lettuce, beans, peas, plums, strawberries, blackberries, beetroot, rocket, broccoli, cabbage, currants, eggs and gooseberries from our farm.




I read Music And Freedom by Zoe Morrison which I liked, The Healing Party by Micheline Lee which I found interesting, As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner which I read because Indi is studying it in class but which I struggled with, Wasted: A Story of Alcohol, Grief and a Death in Brisbane which I could not put down and ended up reading in one night and feeling quite distressed by, A Long Way From Verona by Jane Gardam which I loved, Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offil which I LOVED!!! and most of Wedding Bush Road by David Francis, which took me a while to commit to but then I did.

I listened to hours and hours and hours of the StartUp podcast by Gimlet Media. I'm not sure why I stuck to the one, instead of listening to all the other podcasts I usually subscribe to, but I've really enjoyed every episode, so why not.

I went to the movies once and saw La La Land which I enjoyed.


We watched This is Us and LOVED it, Code Black, and Nashville.

I knitted two pairs of socks, one blogged here and one to be blogged soon, and I sewed a top.

We hung out with the girls, with family and with friends, we did farm work and a lot of work in the garden, we went to the beach, we spent a night in hospital, we cleaned out my grandparents' apartment, we celebrated our farmer boy's birthday and swam at his beach and caught and raced yabbies, and celebrated my Mum's birthday too and we had a girl in our forest.

We discussed: leaving our farm (we're not), leaving the description 'farmers' (we feel stuck) and finding ways to make it easier on ourselves around here (fencing, sheep, help). We discussed separating the feelings of failure from that of disappointment, ways to lead a more creative life, and changes we can put in place and projects we can take on to make sure we are always feeding our souls. We spoke a lot about getting the kid/farm/us balance right too. It's a work in progress, I guess it always will be.


And while we're talking about January, I do have to make note of the fact that so many people wrote to me and pulled me up in the street to let me know that they've switched over to natural deodorant too after reading my January First post, yay team! I love that we're in this together.

So thanks you guys for hanging out with us here in January, it's been up and down and everything in between.

And just like that we're into the school year. Years, 11, eight and four. Fingers crossed for a year filled with inspiration, interest, celebration, light bulb moments, friends, work, passion and fun - for us and for you too.

As much as I'd never want to go back to school myself,  I do love the thought of sitting with a group of people analyzing books. Maybe I should have done literature when I was at school.

That's it for me this week.

Please feel free to share any books, podcasts, movies, series that you're loving.
Oh and we're trying to cut down on processed sugar this term so please share any family favourite unsweetened recipes too.


See ya's next Friday!

Love Kate x




25 comments:

  1. Such a lovely post, and yes I have been guilty of doing things just to post about them, probably something all bloggers can relate to. What are the flowers are that you are picking? Happy weekend to you all.

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    1. So true. I was just thinking about how in my early days of blogging there was a thing called 'blog finished' which meant you'd finished something enough to take photos of it and blog it but not necessarily finished enough to be worn or used. There were often still loose ends, unmade hems and bits stuck together with sticky tape hidden from view.
      And the flowers are purple loosestrife which have self seeded profusely around one of our bottom dams.
      x

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  2. Books: I'm loving Norwegian Wood - such a great book on all things wood, wood fire, cutting wood, stacking wood etc. Makes me wish I had my own forest to log. Also loving clocking up my 9th month of using natural BO buster thanks to the beeswax labs (no connection with them, just love their product). I agree with you, I don't smell at all, and notice my clothes smell better too. Yay! Thanks for sharing with us your beautiful blog. It's like little gift every time I get a little alert in my in box letting me know there's a new blog!

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    1. to be clear! The Norwegian Wood by Lars Mytting!

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    2. That book sounds awesome, thanks so much for the recommendation - I'm ordering it from the library now. And yay for not stinky underarms!! I've never heard of beeswax labs but it sounds like I should look them up too.
      Happy weekend!! xx

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  3. I love your recommendations for reading etc so helpful thanks x

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    1. That's awesome!! Thanks so much for letting me know. Happy reading x

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  4. wow you have done so much in just one month. I need to try your deoderant as I've had to go back to the dark side, struggling to find something which doesn't leave me smelly.
    Those flowers are beautiful, how lovely of them to put on such a show for you.
    Your baby looks so much like her big sister.
    I love your blog.
    cheers Kate

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    1. thanks for popping in lovely, your comments and lovely messages never fail to make me smile. xx

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  5. oh my, these flowers are so beautiful and I am absolutely in love with Miss Peppers dress! It's so gorgeous!
    I think that blogging shouldn't feel like work. You shouldn't have the feeling that you HAVE TO write a blogpost. Just write it whenever you feel like it and I loved your posts in January! They were so beautiful and honest and real.

    I'm trying to reduce my sugar intake as well and would be happy if you maybe could share some of your recipes that you're getting? Also I'm trying to switch totally to natural cosmetics and reduce my waste production. The world really needs less plastic!

    Wish you a happy weekend from the other side of the world,
    alle the best from Austria

    Michaela

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    1. I completely agree with you that there should be no should in blogging but sometimes it's hard for me to separate the truth of what I want to do, what I feel like would be best for me to do and what would be best for my blog. I feel like I have the balance right at the moment and hopefully for a while.
      I'm interested in your trying to reduce your cosmetic plastic waste. We buy all of ours from an organic australian brand but I probably haven't done as much research as I should about what else is out there.
      Thanks so much for popping by and commenting Michaela xx

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  6. I'm totally loving your commitment to Friday posts and capturing the moments. I look forward to them each week
    The idea of a small holding captures my heart but sadly not available so I make do with my cottage workshop hidden in a local village - pure bliss and my hidey hole
    Currently reading The forgetting time! its captured and pulled me in already :) x

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    1. Hi Deanne, so often these days I feel so overwhelmed by our farm that I dream of a cottage workshop. It sounds heavenly. Thanks for the book recommendation, I'll look it up now. xx

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  7. That was one busy January but then you always seen to cram so much into your life anyway. The Friday blogs are wonderful I look forward to them thank you.

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    1. thanks so much for popping by and for your sweet comments Jackie, they make my day. xx

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  8. You capture and create so beautifully Kate! x

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  9. "getting the kid/farm/us balance right too. It's a work in progress, I guess it always will be." .....that is so very true. Nothing is static. It grows or stutters or dies.
    But isn't that what makes life :)

    Always love reading your blog. It is refreshing and pure in this artificial world. Keep it up :)

    Alexa-asimplelife visiting from Sydney. ...love your neck of the woods x

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    1. Thanks Alexa, I guess life is exactly what it is.
      I hope you have a gorgeous weekend xx

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  10. I like your weekly posts. Currently, I'm experimenting with blogging everyday, but only for the month of February, then it will be back to just a few times a month. It's always difficult for me to balance documenting my life with just relaxing and enjoying it.

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  11. While I was missing your frequent posts, I totally get & respect the slower pace choice. Creating posts shouldn't distract us from living in the moment with our loved ones. I love your story telling, your images and learning with you about finding balance between loving life, work, creativity aand posting... and I love these field flower images of purple!

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  12. Oh yeah, forgot to say, I found the deodorant your mentioned in a local shop - Hawkes Bay, NZ.
    Love it! Cheers!

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  13. What a lovely holiday. I'm not one for cinema but I ended up going to see Lalaland with my daughter. Twice. Because we loved it. I don't know how you find the time to do so much reading though!
    I'm happy to read the new relaxed blogging pace is working for you. It is so easy to get carried away with it. When I started, my challenge was to blog once a fortnight, then it got into once a week and now, when I feel frustrated that I haven't done the weekly post I wanted, I just remind myself that it is okay to make the intervals as long as necessary and quality over quantity is an equally valid philosophy.

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  14. A bit late to this, but a recent magnificent read is the wonderful adventures of nils (also can be in two parts, that's what reminded me) ❤️

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  15. I love your openness and sharing! It's funny, but until I saw your Instagram posting about considering shutting down, I really hadn't realised how HUGE your following is--and I mean that in the best of ways. When I see your Instagram or read your blog posts, you come across as very genuine; being here is like checking in with a lovely friend who happens to take spectacular photos. Once upon a time, I blogged and loved it (most especially I loved the ability to connect with people of similar interests well beyond my immediate community), but I stopped for many of the same reasons you consider now. Truthfully, I miss it every day. I never had a personal brand. I think my highest daily visitors never topped 400. I was small potatoes, which was completely fine because I didn't write and share with that goal. Yet as other blogs grew and incomes along with them, I thought maybe I did want that, that I should be that, that it wasn't worth it if I didn't have that...but how to be genuine while achieving that and the pressure, oh the pressure... For those and other more personal reasons, I ultimately just walked away. And as much as my values align better with less screen time and less online presence, I miss it. I am thankful that a few well-intentioned bloggers have stayed the course, yourself included. Whatever you decide going forward, warmest wishes to you and your lovely family.

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Thanks so much for stopping by...

I do read every single comment you leave and appreciate it very much, but I should let you know that I can be a wee bit on the useless side when replying to comments, that's just me, everyday life sometimes gets in the way....so I'll apologise now, just in case.

Kate XX

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