Our solstice days

With Christmas coming closer and the Summer Solstice now past we have had a week of family, hot days (over 40 degrees Celsius at one point) and now some Summer rain to keep the garden growing wildly.
Rosie is happily home for the holidays after a full year of school (albeit with lots of homeschooling days, as is our bent). Its a lovely thought to know that she'll be around all day everyday for imaginative play, reading, adventures and whatever-takes-our-fancy.
Bethany is now talking more too, after a couple of months of that frustration that comes from not being understood. I'm sure she must have been telling us detailed stories and asking complex questions, and yet we were oblivious.
A new side of this little girl is now emerging, to the joy of everyone.
And so, with friends and family in tow, we journey to Melbourne tomorrow for Christmas festivities and begin to think about the new year.

Wishing you connection, creativity and joy over this holiday season.

Carolyn x x

Rosie painting Ian's nails ready for a 'play' she wrote.

Nana needed her nails done too!

Miss Rosie has actually become a lot better at applying nailpolish

Miss Bethany deep in play by herself - so lovely to see

Nana and Pop bought this 'paint by numbers' for Rosie for her birthday - but I think they like it more than she does...








Purple-podded peas growing well in the warm weather


Our substantial strawberry patch is still producing thanks to some selective watering over the hotter days

Miss Pippy, our largest hen, in the chook yard.

The day that didn't happen

It was meant to be a day for me. To focus on a new direction for this blog. To pause and reflect. To dream and plan ahead...

A day for me. Just me.

But it became a day to look at a new car. And a day for me to be a Mama to our two girls. A day to work in the garden.

I felt frustration, yes. And I considered anger and self-pity for a while. But, really.

The sun was warm on our back as we played in the garden. The sourdough loaves filled our home with that delightful, yeasty smell. And Ian found the car we'd been looking for. For the right price. In the right location. And that means our trip around Australia next year is one step closer to being a reality.

And then Ian arrived home, flushed from his success in finding our dream car, and we eagerly worked together for the afternoon to complete the additions to our chicken's accommodation. Our two feathered girls, Henny Penny and Poppy, now joined by Pippy(2) and Sam (more on these beauties another time) can now roam in the sun all day long without disturbing any neighbours. They can scratch and dig and fossick as much as they like. And I can't tell you how happy this makes this Mama.

And then, after all this work in the garden the sun was still shining. So I asked myself and what of this day for me? Just me?

I'm thinking that maybe I got it. I got just what I wanted after all.

This week

It's been a dreary, grey week in Mount Beauty - quite unlike most of the weather here. And, as if in response to the grey clouds, this Mama has had a grey week too.

It often happens when family leave that the following few days feel low and flat and this week was no exception. Time for writing has been scarce, the garden is wet and muddy, I cut my thumb through my fingernail and one of our poor hens (Pippy) was taken by a fox (and another - Poppy - has a gash in her rump from said fox). To say this Mama feels bad is an understatement. It's been one of those weeks with lots of jobs and not much reprieve and I'm feeling tired and stretched thin. *Sigh*

I tell myself...
It happens sometimes doesn't it?

So I focus on how good it will feel when things swing back my way, and know that they'll be even more beautiful because of these low times. And for that I AM grateful.

Carolyn x x x

How does your garden grow?

Our Winter gardening continues with the planting of new asparagus crowns and two new rhubarb crowns. Also in are a lemonade tree, an Emperor mandarine and we've transplanted some strawberry plants to create a larger area of these lovely delicacies. We are of the firm opinion that you can never have too many strawberries! So these newbies were planted with love and are settling into their beds for the rest of the Winter, ready to wake up and grow once Spring arrives.

 Bethany watering our newly transplanted strawberry plants

Rosie and I made a study of our edible plants and created together some plant markers for the garden. I loved nurturing Rosie's creativity in this way.

Rosie is drawing her pictures of edible plants for the plant markers we put in the garden

The delightful camomile marker

Rosie in the winter garden

I'm also seeing a wonderful love of animals growing within our girls. They are really becoming more friendly and more comfortable with them as each day passes and its a joy for me to see this development of their identities.

The beautiful Miss Bethany with snowy the guinea pig

Rosie and Poppy, our least adventurous chicken, share a cuddle

This week's harvest includes lemons, oranges, parsley and red hot pokers (see photo) - a wonderful way to warm a Winter garden.

And for me? Well, a new pair of gumboots (yes they actually fit my long feet) are just the thing I needed for getting in with the chickens, digging in new plants and walking around in the wet grass. Now for some more gardening tomorrow before lots of rain arrives. Wish me luck...

My lovely new gumboots for working in the garden

Our Red Hot Pokers (Kniphofia) create a lovely, warm boundary to our garden

Lemons growing well in the front garden

Our days

As the Winter solstice slides past and we feel ourselves move into the second half of the year we begin to look forward to the growth of Spring and Summer.
School finished up for the term with a special day of activities and the bringing home of much delightful artwork and storytelling. I do so love Rosie's drawings when she is engaged and full of stories about what is taking place in them. My favourite at the moment is her drawing about Little Red Riding Hood (see photo) and the Big Bad Wolf (there was another about the Three Little Pigs too). They are so priceless, these drawings, like snapshots into the fantastic world of a 5 year old where anything is possible and everything is in technicolour.
And for me? Well, I've taken what feels like a natural break from the blog and really enjoyed some times with the girls while it's school holidays. We've played and worked, and much of that was one and the same.
Our days have been filled with garden work, playing with friends and a big family trip into Albury-Wodonga for our monthly shop, annual purchase of fruit trees and new plants for the garden and a big play at an adventure park.
Oh my, the joy on Bethany's face as she swung to and fro at the park. And the joy on my face as Rosie quickly and easily made new friends and smiled constantly. A proud mama moment again.
The kitchen has been a busy place with pumpkin soup, homemade pasta sheets, more sourdough loaves and homemade butter starring on our menu repeatedly. And are they getting better, these loaves and pats of butter? Well, the proof really is in the tasting but lets just say that these are still a hit with the Ian and the girls and I admit to a certain amount of pride at these homemade achievements too.
In the garden the chickens remain healthy and adventurous and are often to be found in our neighbour's yards during the day. So far there have been no protests, and I'm sure the cat next door is more afraid of our hens than they are of her, however we have plans to add to their current pen so that we may concentrate their manure-producing capacity and allow them to keep our fruit trees free of pests. This is our permaculture solution in action (providing we can convince the chickens to stay in their area!).
We're also adding to our fruit trees this year with a new dwarf cherry, a dwarf apricot, a lemonade tree (mmm...I can taste the homemade lemonade already) and an emperor mandarin (for easy peeling). Add to this 2 new rhubarb crowns and 5 asparagus crowns and a whole lot of rain and you have a lot of garden work for this mama to get her green thumbs into.
And with rain falling down here in Mount Beauty and snow falling up in the hills, the fire has been our constant warm companion these last few days. This has inspired much knitting, finger-knitting and crocheting. Several beanies and fingerless mittens have been churned out by this mama as she's sat, warmed by the flames, while her little ones play and run. Ahhh, I love this part of Winter....the time indoors, the creativity, the chance to make something to warm a loved one, the crackle of lovingly collected timber and girls in thermals and handknits...
sigh.
Happy holidays to you all.

This was the first beanie I crocheted (I had to be my own guinea pig!)

This was the second, Rosie chose her rainbow colours and was adamant that it must have a pink stripe.

The girls in their matching thermals

The first loaves

The second loaves - better looking I think!

The delightful Little Red Riding Hood, drawn by Rosie at school and brought lovingly home

The girls at the adventure playground

The sourdough fruit loaves I tried next - needs more work I think, but tasted good.

The Weekly Harvest

This week I introduce a new weekly post about our garden. In order to appreciate what our garden offers us, and the importance of its role in our natural and authentic lifestyle, I will bring you images and recipes of what's growing for us up here in Mount Beauty.

This week in our garden there are but a few pickings on offer. Henny Penny continues to lay a small, clean egg most days and Pippy and Poppy are growing nice and plump to get them through the Winter.
Today I'm preparing a lovely slow-cooked beef stew to enjoy with my loved-ones tonight and tomorrow. And from our garden came several welcome additions. Parsley, rocket and rosemary have added some lovely, deep flavours and I also picked some small beetroot and added them, leaves and all, for colour, sweetness and vitamins. Henny Penny's egg has been put aside for breakfast tomorrow (oh how I look forward to that bright yellow yolk...) and I also picked our first lemon and orange for the season (handy for this Mama's head cold!).

Ahhh, eating from the garden is refreshing and grounds me so. Wishing you a down-to-earth day.

A collection of fresh garden produce - even in June!

Chickens in the sun

Our new chickens; Pippi, Poppy and Henny Penny have been released into their new pen, much to their delight. We have observed with excitement their scratching, dust-bathing and general happiness in the sunshine.
It feels good to have chicken who free-range in green grass under fruit trees.
We look forward to more eggs and planting more fruit trees in our mini chicken orchard in the next few weeks.
Ps. Photos taken by Rosie :-)