How to make a decision

Last year, while I was doing the publicity for my book Vantastic, I found that at some stage in almost every interview I did someone would ask me about the process of decision making. How did we decide to go on a six month caravan trip around Australia? Where did the idea come from? Why did we need to do it? Once we'd come up with the idea then what did we do? And why on earth would a family of five make the decision to leave the comforts and safeties of their own home and business and make the risky decision to set off on an adventure? Why indeed.

Considering the fact that I was doing most of these interviews a year and a half after we'd returned from our trip, it was often hard to remember all the minor details that led us to the decision making time three years before.



For the past couple of weeks we've been making a similar decision. We've been discussing and planning our next adventure. Another possible trip, another lot of crazy thoughts. But this time I've been aware of the decision process the entire time. I recognised the seed of the idea when it was planted. I watched and noticed how we as a couple looked at that germinating seed from every angle, discussed the pros and cons, analysed the dreams and the realities, our fears and expectations and then introduced it slowly and carefully to the girls and then our extended families.

This time we left the idea as an idea for a while not making any concrete plans or doing anything to make this dream come true. 'This is what we are thinking about doing' we'd say, and it felt safe because it was only words. Words are so easily spoken and then forgotten.

Until a few days ago when someone asked us for potential dates and we realised that it could all be happening less than a year from now and it was time to knuckle down and do some research and write some emails. But before that we had to make the decision to actually do this. Were we serious? Did we really want it? Could we really do it? How on earth were we going to make the decision to leave the comforts and safeties of our own home and business and set off on what sounded like another crazy adventure?



We talked, we wondered, we dreamed and we googled, and then I flicked open page 124 of Cheryl Strayed's Tiny Beautiful Things. A page I'd marked a few weeks ago and now knew exactly why. An interviewer asked Cheryl what she does when she doesn't know what to do about something and Cheryl replied;

I talk to Mr Sugar and my friends. I make lists. I attempt to analyse the situation from the perspective of my "better self" - the one that's generous, reasonable, forgiving, loving, bighearted, and grateful. I think really hard about what I'll wish I did a year from now. I map out the consequences of the various actions I could take. I ask what my motivations are, what my desires are, what my fears are, what I have to lose, and what I have to gain. I move towards the light, even if it's a hard direction in which to move. I trust myself. I keep the faith. I mess up sometimes.

And then my sister Meg emailed me with a quote out of my Dumbo Feather article. She quoted me!! I had no excuse not to listen.

My feeling is that there's never going to be a right time for anything. There are excuses for everything. The caravan trip taught me that you can do it. How do you know what's around the corner? I felt that really strongly while we were away. Everyone we spoke to had these amazing stories of why they were away. And most of them were because something terrible had happened in their lives and they were recovering. Somebody had had a horrific heart attack, someone lost their job. Crazy things happen. So you just have to live now. Your family are so precious, time is precious. They're more important than schooling or the same olds. So that caravan trip really gave me the courage to think that we've got to live our lives. We've got to take control of them and engage with them. Not sit back and be passengers.

Not long after reading those two paragraphs I sat down and wrote an introduction letter, this is who we are - this is what we want to do. I sent it to farmer Bren for approval and edits and once he sent it back I took a deep breath and sent it on. Now we're waiting, (and pressing refresh on my email a few times too many each day).



This is how we made this decision. I promise to fill you in on the details as they become a firm plan. I'm excited but also a teensy bit terrified. I'm nervous to even press publish on this post. But I guess all the great adventures have to start somewhere.

Now to make the next big decision for our family, what to have for dinner tonight, lasagna or felafel and salads?


Be well and make the good decisions lovely friends.

Bye!

xx

my story in eight

These are the last eight photos I took off my camera.

Mostly with photo taking, I take a bunch of pictures all at once and download them soon after and blog them not long after that. In those cases I pretty much know what to expect. And as the photos flash onto the screen, more often than not, the words that tell their stories come too.

Other times, my camera sits on the kitchen table or near the front door for days at a time, only picked up for a quick snap here and there. After these times the downloading is more of a surprise and more fun. Random snapshots that tell the tales of my life at a moment in time. 

As the eight photos in this post downloaded I was half looking and half eating a feijoa. As they popped onto the screen I noticed how autumnal their colour pallet is. I realised that I am so very obviously the Mum of school girls now as none of the photos has little kids in them. And I saw that although a huge amount more than these eight events has gone on in my life over the past few days, these photos do tell the story of my late autumn beautifully.

Photo one of the kitchen garden up there, tells the story of tiny little lettuces and spinachs trying to put on as much growth as possible while there is still sunshine and a bit of warmth in the air before winter really kicks in. Our kitchen garden is my happy place these days. I am always kicking my clogs on and picking some herbs or greens for a meal, doing a spot of weeding or transplanting or admiring. Yesterday we noticed the first few broccoli of the season which was cause for much excitement.

Photo two is of the loveliest, chunkiest wool I am currently using to knit my farmer boy a new beanie. I don't know about you but I find it very difficult to source really chunky, soft, pure wool. This stuff is from New Zealand, I bought it in Ocean Grove last week and now I'm thinking I should have bought more. Details here.

Yesterday I drove past farmer Bren on his tractor wearing two beanies at once, so I think next up once I finish this beanie will be a balaclava.

Photo three is of a marker for a seed tray filled with onion seeds in the hot house. On Tuesday we filled the hot house with trays of onion seeds and leek seeds. I'm hoping they grow big and strong soon enough to transplant them into the garden and leave us the space to start the tomato season all over again in August.

Photo four is of the bottle tree in Autumn. I love how that tree and its bottles tells a different story each season. After a summer of thick green foliage that practically hid the bottles from view, the leaves slowly turned golden and reflected in the bottles' glass. And now as the leaves fall to a carpet below the tree the bottles remain, swaying and occasionally clinking in the cool wind.

Photo five is of the basil seed we saved from this year's crop to dry out and plant again next year. There may not be any fresh, green basil leaves to flavour our cooking for some time, but our freezer is filled with containers of pesto for the winter.

Photo six is of the carpet of autumn leaves I mentioned above. I remember when I used to live in suburban Melbourne autumn was always filled with raked up piles of autumn leaves to be burned, composted and sometimes run through. The leaves on our farm are a bit more free range, blowing around, making a pretty mess and then disintegrating back into the earth. I think they are terribly beautiful and they make me happy even though I know that the leaves on the back deck and in the entrance way are a sign of my bad housekeeping.

Picture seven is of a big bowl full of green-manure seeds I mixed up before planting. Doesn't it look like soup mix! This mix of fenugreek, broad beans, peas and vetch went in where the tomatoes came out of the garden. Our garden worked super hard making the vines and fleshy tomato fruit over the past six months and this green manure crop will feed the soil and prepare it for next spring's plantings.

And picture eight I took a few minutes ago. Picture eight is of some gorgeous wool felt I bought off lovely Lizzie this morning at Mill Rose. I have book mark plans for this pile. Book marks with little vintage caravans parked on top. The publicity campaign for my book has begun and these book marks will be a part of it. I'm both excited and nervous. The release date is still a few months away but there's loads to do before then. Eeeeeeep!

I hope your week is telling a wonderful story.
I hope it is warm, delicious and pleasing to the eye.

Ciao x

These wintery days days...

I cast off my scrappy hottie cozy. Details raveled here.
To be honest I thought I was making my hottie a cozy so it didn't burn my skin, but I've since discovered that a woolly jumper insulates and now my hottie stays hot longer. Yay!

We've been trying to eat from the kitchen garden as much as possible. There's not a huge amount of variety at this time of the year but we still have rainbow carrots, lots of salad greens, herbs, rainbow chard, spinach, the beginnings of broccoli and the very end of the peas. Yum!

I've been thrilled and surprised at a thrifted package in the mail from Christina.

It's funny, people ask me all the time how I feel about my whole life being out there for the world to see. I always reply that they don't really know me. They just know the tiny bits I choose to share on my blog. What surprised me about Christina's prezzie, is that every single thing she included, I would have bought from the oppy myself. Maybe she does know me.

I was spoilt.

I watched my farmer boy add another feather to his bow and become a tiler.

And I loved knowing that the construction zone kitchen is coming to an end. Our new wood cooker is coming TOMORROW!!!!!!!

I have loved snuggling up on the couch by the fire every night with my girlies and reading the stories of long ago times.

I have wondered if it is possible that the Daphne might be getting ready to blossom already. In my mind I thought it was closer to September, but I'd be thrilled to be wrong. Oh how I adore that sweet Daphne smell.

I've enjoyed watching the bottle tree change now it's tree has lost her leaves. I love how the old bottles fill up with water, sometimes tinkle in the breeze and reflect the low winter sunlight.

I have been completely indecisive with my knitting. Casting on and then unravelling. Choosing a pattern and then changing my mind. Trialing stripes and then wanting plain. Deciding on a size and then not liking it. One of these days I'll get it right, until then I'll just keep knitting the first two rows over and over.

I've been hanging out with this little chickie. All day and most of the nights too. I've been wrapping her up in woolly goodness and snuggling her close. She's a funny little thing.

And the random number chooser chose comment number 12 for my Japanese crochet book giveaway!!
Commenter number 12 is Kylie!!!
Hooray for Kylie.
Email me your details lovely lady and I'll pop the book in the post.

So that's me, what have you been up to?
What are you cooking/knitting/planting/crocheting/listening to/reading/thinking/noticing??
Do tell.

Travel safe and happy my friends. xx