Friday, December 1, 2017

simple



It's the first of December and the first day of summer and I have a head ache. I went to bed with it last night and woke up with it this morning. I'm not somebody who usually suffers from headaches and I'm unsure if this one is due to pmt, to the stress of the past few days getting prepared for the crazy amounts of rain forecast to fall this weekend, to some sort of barometric pressure (?), or if it's just here in my head telling me to slow down and have a quiet day on the couch. In any case it's really making it impossible for me to think straight, let alone type coherent sentences.

So it's another post that's heavy on photos - light on words from me today.

This week we pulled out a bunch of old tea pots that we inherited when we bought our farm. We filled them up with herbs and flowers and popped them outside the front door.

I spent a lot of time this week shuffling plants around the new green-house space. I made big colourful groups of pots, then I thinned them out a bit, then I stuck to the same colour scheme, and then I changed my mind and started all over again. I'm definitely a 'the more the merrier' type of plant lover, but I also want it to be easy on the eye. I guess I'll keep on moving them until they feel right and then I'll move on to a different corner of the room.

This week we found out that due to the impending heavy rains, our big girls were coming home from school camp a day early. Because I'd been busy in the garden, I'd left all the usual jobs I do for the girls when they come home from camp to the last minute, and so they wouldn't be returning to fresh bed-sheets and their favourite meals. Instead I made a mad dash around and picked them some posies for their bedrooms. Luckily they loved them. 

This week we finally made a start on the tomatoes. I forgot to take a photo but you can just see the patch between the bean tee-pee and the cubby. So far we've planted over a hundred plants with more to go in next week.

This week we tied up all the tall, gangly plants so they don't fall over in the rains.

This week our over-wintered carrots went to seed. I offered them to a local wedding florist who might use them for her functions this weekend, how gorgeous would that be.

This week we started eating peas from the garden.

This week I spent a lot of time looking out of these windows into the garden, and in these windows to the green-house. I still can't believe how much I love it every time I see it.


And this week we watched a few more episodes of Ozark, I started reading my sister Abby's review copy of Fen Stories, I finished turning the heels and began knitting up the legs of my tree socks, I was humbled and excited and slightly terrified when The Soul Craft Program came out and my talk and class are included, I picked and ate loads of strawberries, I didn't listen to any podcasts because I've lost my head-phones, I sat by the lake and watched the Daylesford kids swim, I hilled the potatoes and weeded the onions, I pulled some of the garlic and left the rest, I listened to Bren's tractor working in the apples until late every night, I loved Pepper's class play, I missed our big girls and I felt exhausted but oh so happy with the choices we have made that have bought us this life we live.

I hope you've had a lovely week.
Tell me a couple of things you've been up to. I'd love to read them.

Until next Friday...(can you believe there are only four more left for this year??!)

Love Kate x


13 comments:

  1. Dear Kate,

    Love reading your blog. I have been supervising uni exams and finished on Monday. Tuesday was a "stay in my PJs day" because I felt so tired and so I just pottered around the house all day. Now I am racing to catch up on jobs I had not done in the past 3 weeks, and making Christmas presents. Don't like this Aussie heat and the impending summer months to come.

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  2. It does seem funny you talking about summer when we in the UK had snow yesterday. This week I've made some flapjack - trying to get a softer, less crunchy hard recipe. I cooked it for 15 -20 mins instead of longer. I may bake it in a larger, flat tray next time as the slices were rather thick. I've very nearly finished a crocheted blanket. The fire and chimney work for our house is finished and the gable end of one side of our house has been re-mortered and weather treated. The damp proofing will need doing next yr.
    I'm listening to the amazon audio books - The Full Dramatization of The Chronicles of Narnia BBC and loving it. Have a good week.

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  3. So sorry to hear about your headache. Hope you feel better quickly! The garden looks lovely and your beautiful new space is divine.

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  4. Your greenhouse space is divine. I spent this week waiting for my baby to arrive, trying not to melt. I sewed some things for me, things for the baby and things for the house.... one week to go... maybe!

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  5. When I went to Sicily there were so many wild carrot flowers growing along the roadsides, I thought they were so pretty. I think I might plant some carrots just for the flowers. I hope your headache goes away, somedays a day on the couch is just what we need. Mx

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  6. I love that you put fresh flowers in their rooms...so thoughtful.
    This week we received results from our 1st 2 assignments handed in that made me feel like giving myself a big pat on the back.
    My hubby made edible flapjack for the first time...proud moment!
    Enjoying your summer photos as we are cosying up with fires and jumpers.
    Booo to headaches xx

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  7. "I felt exhausted but oh so happy with the choices we have made that have bought us this life we live."........such powerful beautiful words...... the fact that we have a choice and respect that privilege of choice, the fact that we work hard with the land, on relationships and in community......i love your photos that ironically show a life of simplicity and appreciating the everyday......thank you Kate xx

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  8. I always LOVE your posts.
    Hoping that your headache soon disappears
    THis week I've been planting more seeds of Zinnias and dried seed heads of Cosmos, Calendulas and Alyssium for continual flowering over Summer...love being in the garden ❤️

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  9. What a delight it would be to find a posy in my bedroom. You are a thoughtful mum. I have been making and eating vegetable soup, watching Rosehaven, baking gingerbread, enjoying the wonderful French film Faces Places, celebrating wonderful friends' birthdays with Vietnamese food and longing for this moment...Friday, and the weekend ahead.

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  10. Beautiful pics kate, hope you are feeling better now..I too would just sit and enjoy that room of windows you made, envious of all your plants, been so dry here we have very little farden this year. Cheers
    Jane.

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  11. Sorry, that should read garden, not farden ..lol.
    Jane.

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  12. Except for the headache and maybe the rain this post sounds lovely. I hope the storm wasn't too destructive in your area.
    Im curious what do you do with so many tomatoes?
    My week has been just about the right amount of full, yoga classes, beach walk and talk with my bff, uber driver for my youngest, nurse for the child at home with a broken leg and normal household tasks. I have felt a bit overwhelmed by the mental load.
    Hope you are feeling chipper again your headache didn't lead to any other illness

    Cheers Kate

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  13. Hi Kate,
    So lovely to see the photos of your green house, it is beautiful. My kids are off on adventures this weekend while I stay home and work. I have cleaned out all of the old linen from the cupboard and ripped them all into strips, rolled into balls and crocheting up a storm. My round rag rugs are easy to make and an inexpensive gift. The kids love tightly wrapping the balls, tying the ends and throwing them to each other. These balls weight 1.2kg and the kids enjoy throwing multiple balls at once. I weighed the balls because one smacked my glasses onto my face and ended up with a bruise. It has been a nice break from screen time and it warms my heart that teenagers enjoying throwing balls with their Mum again.... "heads up Mum, time for catch!"

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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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