fourteen

14 good things from the past week

one - the tomatoes have arrived! If there was any fruit or vegetable that heralded true autumn for me, it would have to be the tomato. Without fail every January and February I panic when they don’t seem to be producing properly yet, and then March arrives and I remember. Here they are again. Those dainty yellow flowers have become red bulbous fruit, have become crackers adorned with thin slices for every meal, have become stinky black finger-tips, are covering the kitchen table. Oh tomatoes, where have you been all my year? I heart you!

two - moving right along with the great autumn clean of 2022. We completely emptied the sunroom and hothouse of furniture and plants, then we swept the cobwebs, wiped the windows and pressure washed the floors. There is no greater feeling than fresh and clean. Now we just have to move everything back in.

three - watching how quickly the grass has grown where we dismantled the potato boxes around the bean tee-pee. It’s been two weeks and you’d hardly know they were ever there.

four -so many texts exchanged with three friends who had covid at the same time as I did. It was so incredibly comforting to compare symptoms, and empathise and sympathise, and care for each other while we felt so rotten and as we began to recuperate,

five - recovering from covid. I don’t have a headache, or an earache, or a bad taste in my mouth. I don’t have a fever, or any aches, or even a cough. Thank goodness! All that’s left is some fatigue, but hopefully even that feels like it is lessening by the day.

six - an hour long phone conversation with my best friend after our plans had to be cancelled due to covid. I weeded the beetroot while she took me with her to the fruit shop, the butcher and to pick up one of her kids from school. Of course it wasn’t nearly as good as the whole day together we’d planned, but these days we certainly know how to be adaptable and make the most out of annoying situations.

seven - I read and absolutely adored Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy.

eight - some of our seedling dahlias started to flower. Until this year we have only ever planted dahlias via their tubers, which are bulbs that contain the exact DNA of the plant, ensuring an exact copy of the parent plant. This year, just for a bit of fun, we bought a packet of seeds from another grower as a cheap and fun experiment. Dahlia seeds, like apple seeds, are not an exact copy of the plant they came from. It’s been so much fun watching the new blooms open up, each one a surprise of colour, petal shape and stem length.

I don’t think that we’re going to keep the tubers from any of the new seedlings we’ve grown this year, but I do hope to save some of our own seeds and see what they become next season.

nine - in the middle of his covid fog one day Bren did a tidy up of the kitchen table and in the process somehow lost an important notebook. We spent hours over the next day and a bit turning the house upside down looking for it. We emptied the rubbish bin onto a tarp and searched through it, we emptied the compost bin and hunted through it, we retraced his steps and looked everywhere we could think of. It completely consumed us. Eventually we found it under Pepper’s homework. That was a really great moment. I truly hate losing things.

ten - I returned to the gym after covid. I’m still not working at my full strength but I’ll get there.

eleven - I took the dressing off my breast after the surgery and it has healed beautifully. I still can’t believe that whole saga happened. On Wednesday I told the whole story to my hairdresser Sali and it almost felt like I was describing a dream. Or actually a nightmare. Anyway, I love that scar now that tells the story of my near breast cancer miss. How grateful am I!

twelve - has to be having a haircut and spending the time with my hairdresser Sali.

thirteen - chatting with my kids and hearing their stories and adventures.

fourteen - watching the season start to turn in the garden. The cold weather and shorter days make me feel melancholy, but I do love watching the colours change, crops fade and make room for winter plantings.

That’s it! I’m off now to move the goats and sheep into a new paddock. I wish the wind would stop blowing, it’s rattling me.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

And I hope you stop for a moment and tell me a couple of good things from your past week.

Love, Kate x