Hello sweet peas, welcome back.
Another week has passed, another season has begun. And while I'm not looking forward to the coming wintry months at all, I guess the sooner they start - the sooner they finish. Someone told me there are 93 days until spring-time, let the count down begin! Let's get on with it.
I'm pleased to report that my past week felt so much better than the week before. It could be the fact that I had a couple of five hour sleep nights in-between the insomnia ones, it could be the fact that I spent a good part of three days off the farm in the big wide world, it could have been the generally improved emotional tone of the house, or it could have even been the moon. Who knows. I'm just so relieved to be able to follow a train of thought and to have a spring in my step again.
It has been very interesting to me to read of your sleep difficulties. Until this past week I think I assumed that most of the world slept through the eight hours, cozily tucked into their beds, dreaming their fairy tales. Now when I wake up in the night and lie there staring out into the darkness I no longer feel as lonely. It's probably not a good thing, but it helps.
may twenty six - part a
Last Saturday we spent most of the day splitting and stacking firewood. These photos are of my parents but it was a team effort. Bren's dad on the splitter, me loading logs onto the splitter, Bren on the chain-saw, Bren's mum burning the heads, and my folks building the stacks.
may twenty six - part b
While we were hard at work on the fire-wood, Indi was cutting and pasting her photos up and around the farm for her year 12 art project. She pasted Bren hanging from a shipping container, arms reaching around hugging a tree, an arm reaching under a door, a Jazzy popping up out of an old drum, and the arm above holding the ornamental kale bed.
It's the most incredible feeling to be inspired by your child, I can't wait to see what she comes up with next.
may twenty seven
I finished my Merricks shawl. I didn't get a chance to block out that beautiful lacy edging this week but hopefully will soon.
may twenty eight
This will be the view from my big studio window.
may twenty nine
On Tuesday we took my car into Ballarat for a service and spent the few hours watching Breath at the movies, drinking coffee and wandering around a garden centre looking at, but not buying plants.
Late in the afternoon I visited the sunflower patch in-between picking Pepper and a friend up from their face painting class and rushing off to gym. This close to winter they're definitely not looking their best, but there are still enough glowing golden faces in amongst them to make me smile.
may thirty
I spent the entire day on Wednesday in Melbourne with Jazzy doing jobs. We walked a hundred miles, we ticked a heap off things off my list, we ate yummy food and I learnt what a difference a properly fitted bra makes. It's miraculous!! Later on when we got home I took off my old bra that was full of holes and had long ago stopped supporting me, and I chucked it in the fire and burnt it. Good riddance.
The big lesson I learnt on that day was that it's probably not a great idea to share a changing room while bra shopping with a teenager. Let's just say that even the most body confident among us might feel a little wobbly at the sight of and memory of what once was and what now is.
The delicious box of yarn samples from Rosabella was waiting for me when I got back home.
From their website -
Ethically grown kid mohair, cruelty free fine Australian wool and fair trade silk blend together to create mohair yarns like no other...
The inspiration behind Rosabella is the desire to maintain the threads of traditional knowledge and the skills that are passed down through the generations.
Sustainable farming practices, care for the environment, cruelty-free animal husbandry and ethical trade are the values woven into every skein of yarn we make.Sounds, and looks, and feels pretty wonderful. I've been sitting here squishing them and dreaming up a project that will showcase the gorgeous colours whilst making the most of the incredible softness. I'm thinking a pair of spotty socks, or a patterned beanie, or long arm warmers....
may thirty first
Yesterday Jobbo and Bren made the window frames for my studio. Hopefully next week they'll pop them in.
Today. The first day of winter. Sitting in the lounge-room with the door to the sun-room open to bring in the fresh air. Frankincense, wild orange, lemon and peppermint oils in the diffuser for invigoration. Five hours sleep last night. Wondering how many little socks I have to knit before I feel confident enough to teach other people how to knit them. Trying to remain calm at the thought that my talk and class at Soul Craft Festival are only one week away! Looking at pictures of people's beautiful bulb plantings in neat, straight rows and laughing at the fact that I am a messy flower farmer who chucks random handfuls around and digs them in where they land. Hoping to get the rest of the bulbs in by the end of the weekend. Listening to season 2 episode 8 of Missing & Murdered: Finding Cleo. Drinking the coffee my farmer boy just brought me. Feeling happy that Indi has agreed to interview me on stage for my Soul Craft presentation. Wondering how many of you guys will be there on the day? Busting for a wee. Thinking I should probably press publish and go and do some outside jobs while the sun is shining.
So how are you anyway?
Have you been sleeping well?
Are you wearing a bra that fits and supports?
Are you a neat row gardener or a wild and random one?
Can you imagine lying on the bed on the mezzanine in my studio looking out at the forest through one of those windows?
Too exciting!
Sending love and good, restful sleep to you wherever you are.
See you next week.
Love, Kate x
I really need new bras, even my husband has said the ones I wear need to be thrown out, but somehow it's just one of those things I never get around to buying.
ReplyDeleteHappy to hear there was some improvement on the sleep front. I have had rotten sleeps this week due to kids having coughs & needing water at 230am each night. I am the kind of person who once I am awake I am awake. I keep thinking I need to get my little book light out of the caravan so i can read a book, and not my phone, when those sleepless times hit....
I started Breath the other night.It has sat on my bookshelf for years unread and the ads for the movie have finally made me pick it up. I am very uncertain of Winton books. Cloudstreet is an all time favourite but Dirt Music made me want to throw it across the room.I haven't had a good run with books this year, discarding more than I've finished, so fingers crossed it's a keeper (otherwise it can go straight back to the op-shop it came from).
Enjoy your weekend Kate x
I hear ya, I put off buying new bras for years. The teenagers get new ones whenever they need them but mine were awful. Go and do it for me (and your husband haha), you won't know yourself.
DeleteSorry you've had a crap sleep week. I hope the smalls feel better and leave you alone to catch up now.
And I just read Breath last week. I'm not generally a TW fan either but almost all of Breath blew me away, magnificent.
I hope you have a lovely weekend too honey, and finally get stuck into a book you love. xx
Hello Kate. I'm glad you're having 5 hour sleeps. Indie's art installations are fabulous. What a fine thing to be inspired by your own children. I didn't know they'd made Breath into a movie, it was a great book.
ReplyDeleteI posted a parcel off to you yesterday so prepare for incoming. Keep getting happier. xx
Hi Kate - so pleased to hear your nights have been good to you. I don't think I've slept a night through in ten years since the menopause hit and it's just something I know will happen now in the early hours, at least an hour of waking up and staring at the ceiling. I usually get up and do some knitting but the creaky floors in our house always seem so much louder then. Have a great week. xxx
ReplyDeleteHi Kate.....i am so in love with your shawl. I have a hankering to get something on the needles as i haven't knitted for ages - like 20 years!!!! I have just watched the hauntingly sad movie, with a wonderful performance by Juliette Binoche on sbs.com.au - Camille Claudel 1915. Her shawl!!! This and your knitting is my inspiration..I think i have found it on ravelry as a dovetail wrap....i can hardly wait until you are confident to teach as i would love to sit in on a sock knitting session with you.......blessings for a deep luxurious sleep xx
ReplyDeleteMy word, your Merricks shawl looks beautiful! Can't wait to see it all blocked.
ReplyDeleteI am having major studio-envy, too ;)
Definitely team wild & random, on the garden front
Feel like I'm repeating myself here every week. Another great post this week, beautiful photos. I love Indi's art project, just wow!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad that you have had some sleep and found your spring a bit this week.
There is nothing better than a well fitting bra, but any new underwear is awesome. I'm terrible for putting the replacement of said under garments off, there are always other things that are so much more important/urgent and because no-one actually sees how sad they are I find it too easy to put them at the bottom of the list.
thanks for taking the time to share with us.
cheers kate
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ReplyDeleteI hope this works, but anyhow, years ago I remember reading that at 2 in the morning there are a lot of women awake with you. I don't remember why but it gave me comfort that I wasn't alone.
ReplyDeleteAnd Edna Walling used to garden like you do - throw things out and plant where they land. A more random natural approach. Onwards and enjoy. Julie
The one thing about going through a challenge like not sleeping is you really appreciate it when you do sleep. Your daughter's art project sounds amazing.
ReplyDeleteBra-fitting is a THING! Next month marks the 17th year since our mum Susie, known too as Fluff - passed away. She was a whirlwind force to be reckoned with in the change room! So many years afterwards my sister & I needed to accompany each other for regular bra-fitting trips - as we couldn’t bear to go alone without her. She was actually qualified ‘undergarment fitter’ - a once buyer for Myer many decades ago. And she was always spot on! I remember randomly an episode of Sex & the City, where the usually fiercely independent & feisty red-headed lawyer character named Miranda has a showdown with a well meaning bra-fitter, insisting she has been a 36B her entire life only to be CORRECTED to a 32C! Miranda has unexpectedly finds herself in a strange city to attend her mothers funeral & needs a dress & bra. The bra-fitter & Miranda bond by hugging awkwardly after a heated discussion when Miranda realises she will never have the chance to argue with her mother ever gain. So - treasure those rare & oh-so-real mother & daughter moments, they will become memories one day xxx
ReplyDeleteKate,
ReplyDeleteFrom sleeping problems, to a well fitted bra I have sympathized with your struggles. Sleep has been a problem for me, too, for at least a decade. My heart goes out to you. ❤️ A good fitting new bra can make a woman feel wonderful for at least a week! And I hope Jazzy will remember the fitting room day when she is your age and feel a loving kinship for all aging women! Ah, your studio. That sight of sunflowers and the prospect of seeing the sky through those windows is a joy to look forward to this winter. Your spring, summer and fall flowers have gotten this severely deppressed woman through her fall, winter and spring. Thank you!
Just watched a stunning series called, "How We Got to Now" and the episode on "Light" described how, until we had all our artificially extended days, humans actually had two sleep periods in the night, and that it was just standard to get up and do stuff in the middle of the night and then head back down for a second sleep. So we are probably all completely normal in our sleep, but the way our daily lives are now structured clashes with that function.
ReplyDeleteCan I also just say that those teaching socks are the most gorgeous things ever and that anyone in your classes will be just so thrilled to be given a chance to make a pair. Not only that, having someone like you take the time to impart those skills is such a gift that you should never devalue yourself. And no one cares about nervousness or even mistakes because it just bonds them to you even more. I saw an interview with the woman who created "Play School" and she explained the reason she insisted that the show be taped live with no do-overs,was because she wanted to show children that it was OK to make mistakes and demonstrate how to fix them. I literally cried with happiness as I cast on my first ever knitted garment because I was so excited to be taught by someone how to do it. Your students will feel the same way.
Thank you for this lovely post. Please share more of Indi's installation in future posts! It looks amazing.
ReplyDeleteSo look forward to your Friday catch up Kate.
ReplyDeleteKerry