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

fourth

Farmer Bren is laughing at me because I just left the room to write my blog somewhere quieter and told him I'd be back in ten minutes. He obviously doesn't believe me so I'm going to put a stop watch on. 

GO!

Today, on the fourth day of the new year I got up really early and watered the garden. It was the most beautiful morning and I loved the time alone and the thought of setting the garden up for the day with a big drink.

Then our cousins from Melbourne came to visit and the skies opened up and it POURED!! It rained and rained and rained which was awesome because everything was so dry and the garden didn't mind a bit extra at all.

After the rains and after our cousins went home we went for a walk to admire how beautiful everything looked all soaking wet and lush. We had to take big, deep breaths of wet eucalyptus smell and walk around in wet, muddy boots, it was gorgeous.

First stop was the peas to pick a pocketful for the way.

Then we checked on the apricots, the plums, the potatoes, the berries, the pumpkins, the zucchini, the cucumbers, the beans and the sunflowers. We didn't get to the apples, under the nets in the background of this photo, but hopefully we will spend a bit of time in the orchard tomorrow covering more rows and checking on their progress.

Some of the sunflowers look ready to burst which is exciting. Hopefully by the end of the week we'll see some yellow action.

And then back up to the house to walk through the kitchen garden to pull a few weeds and tie a few trellises.

One of the old potato crates broke down recently, well actually I fell out of it while forking it and broke the side, leaving us a big pile of soil filled with potatoes. We ummed and ahhhhed for ages about how to manage the pile and in the end built a wall out of bricks. I don't love it as much as I love the crates in neat formation but it's growing on me. And the the spuds are growing really well in it.

A quick water of the hot house and a mental note to spend the next chance I get planting a lettuce succession and some winter veg.

And then home to do a few rows of my Artista shawl before the night time rituals begin. The Ravelry link to my Artista is here. My sweet instagram friend Lori sent me the yarn and the pattern so we could become shawl twins. I'm almost there, five rounds of pattern, then the tassels and I'll be wearing it.

And that's that. Our fourth has been a pretty and wet and fun day.

How about yours? What did you get up to and what's the weather like there right now?

See you tomorrow.

Love Kate
xoxo

STOP!!!! So I already had the photos loaded but the words for this blog took me 16.55 minutes to write. Not that much longer than ten.

PS Big thanks for all of your gorgeous messages on my blog these past few days, I'm loving reading through them. I'm trying my hardest to reply to you in the comments but sometimes I run out of time.

PPS Indi is incredibly grateful for all the love you've been showing her, thank you. x

still making…x

This afternoon I spent a while in the tee-pea.

The sun was shining for the first time in days and it was actually warm when I was standing in it. Farmer Bren was reading seed catalogues out to me for our orders. And I should have been doing a million other things but I wasn't.

At first I felt a bit silly as I climbed up on the chair, reached over the little pea plants and started to wind my wool. Wouldn't my time be better spent weeding the garlic, or planting out the leeks, or pricking out the tomatoes, or cutting the spinach, or mowing, or, or, or….?

And if I had listened to that nagging voice I'm sure I would have felt great when I crossed something off my mile long list, but I'm still glad I ignored it.

And the entire time I was making something that would never be worn, or eaten, or used in any way, my heart felt happy. 

I was making, just for making and it felt great.

And my world was still for a while. For the first time in the longest while.

It's funny but I think this afternoon was what I had thought a lot of this year would be like. All three girlies at school and so much time to create. 

And even though we're so close to the year's end, I'm hoping that now I've started I wont be able to stop.

I feel really happy!

And I'd love to know what made you feel happy today?
Or what you made just for fun?
Do tell.

xx