twenty eighth - tom

So you guys have met our new sheep, our new kitten and now it's time for me to introduce you to our new Maremma pup, Tom. Tom is four months old and the son of a Maremma who was born here on our farm.

Tom lives with and looks after our chooks.

He also lives with his best buddy Bingo the Maremma.

And our four sheep, Mittens, Beanie, Socks and Cardigan.

He doesn't live with Miss Pepper but she certainly does spend a lot of time with him and with the sheep trying to get them to eat a cucumber or grain out of her hands.

Tom loves to run up and down his fence and bark like crazy if anyone he doesn't know comes by.

He's not too sure about the game where Pepper pretends to ride him.

And his favourite thing in the whole world, apart from dinner time, is a big tickle on the tummy.

Welcome Tom and thanks for doing such an awesome job.

And thank you guys for doing an awesome job of reassuring me that we'll be OK in the next stage of our family's life. Your messages were filled with such kindness and understanding and they mean the world to me. Your suggestions of talking books and podcasts and conversations will definitely be taken on board. And your personal stories of how your lives have changed, what's worked for you and what hasn't and your opinions on how best to tackle long commutes have made me feel like we are not alone in this and that it is definitely worthwhile. A little part of me is even getting excited.

I'd love to think that I'll get back to each of you either on my blog or in the message you sent to me, but realistically I may not so please consider this a massive THANK YOU!! You are wonderful and you never fail to hold my hand and walk with me down the track and I appreciate it beyond words. I have a whole blog post in my head about how important my blog and your feedback is to my life and this is a perfect example of how and why. So thank you again.

And goodnight from me and Tom and the rest of the crew here at Daylesford Organics.

We hope you have the sweetest dreams.


xoxox

Hello happy & beautiful (almost) winter list

It's freeeeeezing cold here. Today was dark and grey and stormy and wet. Winter feels like it has well and truly settled in two weeks early. Although this weather feels like it could drag me under, this year I am determined not to let it. I'm determined to stay on top of it all. And what better way than by noticing and remembering and appreciating and being grateful for the good in my life. The great in my life. The beautiful in my life.

So here we go, here's my HELLO HAPPY and BEAUTIFUL (almost) WINTER list.

I love watching my little girls and their dogs. It reminds me of what we wanted, what we dreamed of, when we decided to move to the country to bring up our family. Jazzy and Willow.

I love the bits of bright colour in our garden. We're pretty good at growing the edible and the functional, but we often forget about the purely decorative. The decorative serves a pretty important function too, so I am learning.

I'm so happy that the kitchen garden is looking almost ready to take on the winter months. Kale and lettuce and rocket and herbs and garlic and broccoli and carrots and beetroots. I've got a bundle of seeds to plant in the hot house next time I get a chance too.

Pom pom parties!

We bought a Clover pom pom maker last weekend and it is rocking our world. It is quick and fun to use and makes the best, fluffiest pom poms around.

It may be freeeeeeeeezing, but Daylesford does autumn beautifully. This tree up near the poly tunnels seems to change colour and glow as the day goes on.

A sneaky, mid-week, wintery getaway with my farmer boy. We had the caravan park and the beach to ourselves and spent a whole luxurious two days alone. (Thanks heaps M and D xx)

The very last of autumn's colourful bounty. Yesterday I spent a bit of a disgusting few hours poking through the sloppy, mouldy vines in the poly tunnels for the final time of the season. Tomorrow the chooks will go in and clean them up. It's been a wonderful season but the time has come to say farewell.

A sunny Sunday's work in the kitchen garden resulted in a ute load of garden scraps for the compost. Out with the old and in with the new. Hooray!!

I've been catching glimpses of the cubby-house in different lights, from different angles and falling in love over and over again. 

Keeping the home fires burning. Cooking our food and warming our home. Late in the evenings we like to pull chairs up to her and open an oven for extra warmth. Then my farmer boy reads some Michael Pollan out loud and I knit. It's cozy. And MP is a great writer. And my farmer boy is a great reader and he took that photo and he's a bit cute too.

Ahhhhh, I feel better already. I think I might have to make this a regular thing.

Do you want to play too? Here in the comments or on your blog?
What are some of the little things making you feel up and happy at the moment?
What's chasing your grey away?

Big love peeps.
Be good. xx

Springy!

Oh springtime, I have fallen head over heels in love with you all over again.

The smell of your sweet pollen filled air, the way you make the farm chores fun, the smiley, playful Maremmas, the fields of daisies, the busy buzzy bees, the shoes instead of gumboots and the tights instead of leggings.

Oh springtime, I love the warmth of your sun on our backs as we fill the wheel-barrow with weeds and cut back the green manure crops and fertilise and plant out the spring vegies in the kitchen garden. There is nothing quite like the planning for the abundant seasons to come after the hungry winter.

I love the way the quantity of eggs we collect seem to multiply by the day in spring and I adore watching our feathered friends find little pockets of sunlight to dust bathe and gossip with their hen friends.

I love watching Jo-Jo run and climb and play without the constant worry about his muddy locks. And that blue, blue sky...swoon.

And I love only keeping one fire going. I am a bit over the constant shlepping and splitting of the wood, I am.

I feel excited beyond words at the discovery of spring's first asparagus spear and I am still loving finding new and exciting ways to eat the very last of the broccoli.

And eating outside, and having the windows open, and the brightness and lightness, and sharing a cold beer between dirty farmer's hands at the end of the day. Love!

But I think my very favourite part of spring is that feeling of the world opening up again. There are endless possibilities and choices and ways. Like a spontaneous icy-pole and walk around the lake after school. Holding hands and telling stories and joking and laughing. And smelling the sweetest, yellowest wattle and bumping into friends and being in love.

I'm happy.

I hope you are too and that you've had the most bright sunshiney start to your week.
Do you love springtime?
Or is autumn where you're at?
Have you got anything exciting planned for the next few days?
Do tell.

Bye!

Today.

Today I cast on a new knit. A test knit for a girl in Canada. After the grey, grey, grey I've been knitting, I decided to make this one stripey just for fun. I like the changing colours bit. Perhaps I'll work towards a bit of Fair Isle at some point. Maybe.

Today was hot and humid and at times felt like there wasn't enough air to breathe.

Today I sewed a dress for a little girl to wear to a wedding.

Is that the sort of thing you had in mind Cath?

Is it a bit too mixy matchy for you?

Today it poured with rain and hopefully got rid of all those pesky locusts that invaded our house last night. They might do awful things to the farm, but when they were flying around inside last night, it felt just like a horror movie.

Today when it poured with rain it made the usually white Maremma puppies grey. They are still pretty cute though.

Today my big girls went back to school. It was so quiet without them.

Today I did lots of stuff but none of the stuff I should have done. No housework or baking or jam making. Plenty of time for that on the weekend.

I hope your today was great. Did you get much done?

I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

See ya?

Loving...

The Rainbow Eden Dress!

I love this wool! I love how the colours bleed into each other.

I love this pattern! So perfect to show off the fancy colours.

And I love how soft merino wool is.

Raveled here.

I love that Jazzy loved her new Rainbow Dress so much, she was happy to brave the icy wind for a photo shoot.

I love that none of us has gotten dressed today. Lazy daysies.

I love, love, love the puppies. Puppy love - I totally get the full meaning of that term now. They are all huddled up together asleep right now in a bundle after a day spent feeding voraciously.

I loved scripting, casting, rehearsing, shooting and editing The Friendship Movie this morning.

I love the way Indi is moving into the spare room and the touches she is putting on it to claim it as her own.

I am not loving the sore pimple on my chin.

I love having my farmer boy at home with us all day long.

I love that the girls are all working together as I type this to make a batch of chocolate balls. Oh my goodness the mess!!

I love that her sticker chart is making Jazzy behave like an angel.

I love coffee and salad with haloumi and salty pop corn and summer fruit.

I love it that the girls are working through a book of fairy tales. The little girls take turns choosing and Indi reads them one each night before bed.

I love that there are no plans, no time-tables, just slooooooooooow summer days.

What's going on at yours?

What are you loving??

See ya later alligator

XX

Slow puppy Sunday.

At our house today we are all tired and slow after being up most of last night watching Willow the Maremma give birth to her six puppies, three girls and three boys.

It was such an incredible and emotional and humbling part of life to witness.

Willow has been napping on and off all day while her still closed eyes pups guzzle hungrily at her teats. She is such a great mama, so attentive and patient and adoring. And we have all been drawn to her like magnets, watching and stroking and checking and admiring.

I've been knitting a few rounds of Jazzy's rainbow dress here and there.

And taking lots of pics of it too.

We have been doing the farm chores and picking raspberries, strawberries, currants and gooseberries.

We have been making cubby houses and sand tea parties and we have been drawing, colouring in, dressing up and stirring yet another frothy pot of strawberry jam.

What are you up to?

I hope all is merry and happy and bright at yours.