It's late Saturday morning, my farmer boy is off taking the smalls to their friends' houses and I'm in bed with my big girl. She's doing homework, analysing a song abut mental illness, and I'm looking at photos, doing rows of my knitting and now I'm writing this. I feel a bit guilty that I'm not hanging out the laundry, I'm not heading down the the orchard to do some more mowing and I'm not planting more seeds in the garden, but it's Saturday and it feels good to be taking it slowly and besides, I like keeping Miss Indi company while she does what she has to do.

We've been home for two weeks, life has clicked into its usual crazy spring gear and the days are spinning by while we madly try to fit as much into them as we possibly can.

This week we celebrated our apple blossom princess with pancakes, a picnic in the orchard, a family dinner and a hand knitted circlet ( details here). Twelve!! I just can't believe it. And then again I totally can.



This week we started filling every pot we could find with compost and seeds.



This week we spring cleaned the hot house and the kitchen garden to house those precious pots of seeds and celebrated when they started popping their little green heads up to salute the sun.



This week we made  pretzels for the first time ever. I think we were more excited about the cute pretzel shape than anything else, but they were delicious.



This week we remembered what it's like to suffer from freezing feet on concrete floors, so I whipped up a pair of simple house slippers for my farmer boy. Simple, easy, quick, warm. I think I need a pair too. ( details here).



This week the Daphne started fading, dropping her flowers and farewelling us with the last of her intoxicating fragrance. I feel ever so grateful that she was in full bloom to greet us on our homecoming two weeks ago, filling our noses with sweetness and reminding us of just how much there is to love about home and spring.



This week we watched hungrily as other blossoms opened up and showed off their incredible beauty. Coming home from walks around the farm with arm loads of peonies and camellias and Waratahs and  plum blossom, and pear blossom, and apple blossom, oh my!!



And this week we've spent hours and hours in the blossoming orchards slashing and mowing. Now all that's left is a spray of 500, a generous arm full of mulch around each trunk, and a couple of rugs and a picnic I think.

I feel like over the past week I really settled back home. My jet lag sorted itself out, I stopped coughing and I worked really hard on the farm and loved it.

People ask me all the time what I plan to do now that we are home. One day last week I ran out of petrol on the whipper-snipper in the orchard and looked up and felt this overwhelming sense of being exactly where I needed to be. I felt full to bursting. I love what we are doing here, I love that I work alongside farmer Bren and the girls, and I love that spring is leading our way, making our to-do lists and rewarding us with sunshine and bees and blossom. I love that we are growing food with love and integrity and girls with the same. I love that we are questioning, making decisions, enjoying and loving. And I love that I have grass stains on my knees, dirt under my fingernails and scratches on my arms.

This is what I am doing now that we are home. Exactly this.


I hope your weekend is filled with the sweet songs of birds out your windows.

So much love,

Kate

xoxox