by Krista | Jul 18, 2013 | Bits 'n' Bobs
“The richness of the rain made me feel safe and protected;
I have always considered the rain to be healing — a blanket — the comfort of a friend.”
Douglas Coupland
It has felt like Spring here the last few days with gorgeous rain that lulls me to sleep and leaves the whole farm smelling earthy and green. I absolutely love it.
Yesterday before the rains came I got to spend a few hours in my gardens pulling weeds, transplanting seedlings, and eating asparagus straight from the plant.
It felt so good to be outside in the sunshine, basking in the unusual winter warmth, tossing weeds over the fence to the goats who eagerly munched them up.
I love seeing the random plants growing from seeds planted by birds and wind. I’ve got tomatoes growing in the strangest places, strawberries leafing beautifully, and fennel thriving again after the goats got into it a month or two ago. The chicory has come back too, emerging lush and beautiful in all sorts of wondrous shades of green and purple. I can’t wait to use them in green smoothies and one of my favorite pasta dishes I first had in Bologna, Italy: penne with chicory and Italian sausage tossed with olive oil. Mmm. Good rainy day food for sure.
It isn’t Spring yet but it is absolutely wonderful to have glimpses of it, to remember what it’s like to spend each day in a sundress and flip-flops.
“When spring came, even the false spring,
there were no problems except where to be happiest.”
Ernest Hemingway
I love that. 🙂
I have had some wonderfully happy days this week – cozy, comfy days at home puttering away at all sorts of projects while the rain falls. Today I’ve spent in the kitchen making coffee liqueur and cherry brandy for an upcoming article and trying my hand at sauerkraut that tastes so good I can hardly bear to let it sit uneaten for another week or two while it ferments. Carrot Dill soup is on the stove and corned beef is simmering deliciously in the crock pot. It makes me smile to have so many good smells swirling together.
This afternoon I’ll be sorting through seed packets, seeing what I have on hand to plant and working on my new seed list for Spring. I’ll be focusing mostly on all sorts of herbs so I can use them in the medicines and toiletries I make for home use and share in my medieval medicine talks. It feels so good to make things from scratch and learn all sorts of new skills and information.
Now I’m off to brew a cuppa to go with my daily nip of dark chocolate, and cozy in for some reading.
What’s your favorite thing to do on a rainy day?
by Krista | Jul 16, 2013 | Bits 'n' Bobs
The sunrises have been so gorgeous this week thanks to skies filled with scudding rain clouds. They almost make up for getting up at 4:30 a.m. in the winter to feed goats and dogs and assorted ducks, geese, and chooks. Shiver!
In all honesty, once the initial shock of stumbling around in the frigid darkness wears off, it’s downright magical to be out there under a sky full of stars, the dogs so excited to see me as they wriggle in for pats and belly scratches.
One of the first things I noticed about Australia is how different the stars are. I’m used to Northern Hemisphere night skies where I can spot the Big Dipper and North Star in just a few seconds. Now I look for the Southern Cross. Gazing up at the strange skies always gives me a bit of a start, a strange yet rather delightful feeling that perhaps I’ve fallen into another world by accident. When the weather warms up I’m going to drag a few of my folks outside on a clear night to point out Aussie-style star pictures for me.
This week my friend Jackie talked me into selling my wood-burned items (pyrography) at local Queensland markets, so I’m having the jolliest time dreaming up new patterns and picking out new items to burn. Bear is in on the action too, helping me figure out the best woods to use, which ones need to be preserved and which are best just on their own.
This week I started on wood-burned rolling pins and I can’t keep from smiling when I look at them. They’re such cheery little things and make me want to dash out to the kitchen to mix up pie crusts or cookie dough just so I can use them.
The first market is next month, so if things are a bit quiet here from time to time, just picture me curled up in a big, green armchair listening to audio books and old movies whilst I burn, burn, burn.
I’m also excited to make plum brandy for the first time. Doesn’t it seem like the perfect drink for chilly evenings by the fire? I can’t wait to try it.
What is your favorite creative pursuit at the moment? Is there anything in particular you’d like to learn to make?
by Krista | Jul 12, 2013 | Bits 'n' Bobs
It’s been a good week. A wonderful week, really. A week of reflection and celebration and a really, truly happy heart.
Was it only five months ago that I wrote this post about PTSD and depression, those awful, painful things that I was battling with every moment of every day? I read it again today with a huge smile on my face, so thankful for the light that has come back into my heart and life, for the clarity of thought and genuine peace, for the glimpses of a stronger body and restored immune system.
I’m so thankful for the amazingly kind people that have and are helping me to heal in body and spirit.
My lovely counselor who makes me laugh heartily and cry healingly at every session and gives me tools that have done wonders in freeing my battered spirit from the traumas of the past.
My dear friends who didn’t give up on me when I could hardly make it through each day, let alone reach out to care for them the way they cared for me. I think of their notes and visits, phone calls and gifts and I’m teary with thankfulness that I didn’t have to go through this alone.
Most of all my beloved Bear. Sometimes I sit and look at him working at his computer or snoozing in his green armchair and wonder how I ever got so lucky to be loved by a man like him. He didn’t sign up for any of this, but it hasn’t altered his love for me in the least.
He tells me all the time, “My number one goal is to get you better.” And he means it. He has sacrificed so much for me, covering my bills when I was too sick to work and taking time off work to make sure I got to all my appointments with doctors, surgeons, and counselor.
It’s the little things that stand out to me most: a cup of tea waiting for me whenever I wake up each morning, holding me tight after horrible nightmares until I can fall asleep again, phone calls on his breaks, huzzahs and hugs for any bit of progress, reading aloud to me from favorite books or enduring my beloved British murder mysteries when he’d much rather be watching football or car racing. He’s a good man and I feel so lucky to share this life with him.
It is so good to take time to look back now and then, isn’t it? To see how far we’ve come in whatever we’re struggling with? While living in the moment is healthy and wise, it’s also essential to nip back to the past occasionally to give perspective.
This week I’ve been celebrating the progress in my own life and as a result finding greater courage to face the things I’m still soldiering through. By looking back I can say to myself with confidence, “C’mon ol’ girl, you can totally do this!! Look how much stronger you are now, how much braver. Feel that peace inside? That joy? That creativity? You did the healing to get to this place, and you can do the healing to get to the next. You’re going to be just fine.”
So I’m celebrating growth and courage and strength and hope, allowing myself huge grins and startling Bear with huge hugs out of the blue.
And I’m making time for creativity every day, whether it’s making up new recipes (Braised Celery Gratin – yum!!) or figuring ways to keep kangaroos out of my paddocks (sneaky buggers!) or creating new designs for my wood-burning projects. It makes me so happy to make things. I love what Susannah Conway wrote in her newsletter this morning:
“Making something new, something that didn’t exist before, is surely one of the most satisfying achievements there is.”
Absolutely.
How about you, luv? What is one thing about yourself that you could celebrate about yourself today? And what “new thing” would you like to create today?
by Krista | Jul 10, 2013 | Bits 'n' Bobs
“At the beach, life is different.
Time doesn’t move hour to hour but mood to moment.
We live by the currents, plan by the tides, and follow the sun.”
Unknown
As winter moseys along here in Australia with frosty mornings and chilly nights, I often find my thoughts drifting to the beach.
I close my eyes and dream of hot sun on my shoulders, soft sand underfoot, the screech of gulls as they dive and swoop for French Fries tossed by little kids.
I long to amble along the beach collecting smooth stones and gnarled bits of driftwood, perhaps even a shell or three to bring home.
Mostly I want to sit on a fallen log and gaze out to sea, thinking little and feeling much.
“the mind wakes, comes to life again.
Not in a city sense—no—but beach-wise.
It begins to drift, to play,
to turn over in gentle careless rolls like those lazy waves on the beach.
One never knows what chance treasures these easy unconscious rollers may toss up,
on the smooth white sand of the conscious mind;
what perfectly rounded stone,
what rare shell from the ocean floor.
Perhaps a channeled whelk, a moon shell, or even an argonaut.”
Anne Morrow Lindbergh
“My day is done, and I am like a boat drawn on the beach,
listening to the dance-music of the tide…”
Rabindranath Tagore
What are you daydreaming of?
by Krista | Jul 9, 2013 | Bits 'n' Bobs
Before giving my talk on medieval medicine at Abbeystowe last weekend, I was able to get away for a bit of a ramble through the various encampments and merchant stalls at the festival.
I enjoyed every one of them, learning about the history of so many different people groups, cultures, and countries, getting to see firsthand how they lived in medieval times.
One of my favorite spots was the medieval gypsy camp, especially because most of the gypsies were elsewhere dancing in their stunningly beautiful costumes and I could wander at my leisure.
I was delighted by the brilliant color everywhere, from the thick carpets underfoot to the flags dancing in the breeze and richly hued tassels dangling from tent poles and tree trunks.
And I could happily sit around that campfire for hours, chatting with dear friends or just gazing contentedly into the flames.
The tents made me feel like a little girl again when I used to build blanket forts with every afghan, scarf, and throw I could find. It was so lovely to hide away in there, my own little world.
I loved the jewelry, the headdresses, the ropes of necklaces and layer upon layer of garments perfect for twirling. It’s the sort of garb that makes every woman look and feel dazzlingly beautiful.
I was most intrigued by the details: the richly embroidered cushions, gorgeous ceramic drums, and cheery flower pots overflowing with blooms.
I was particularly charmed by the children’s toys that hung around the camp within easy reach of little fingers: a leather camel with orange tasseled saddle, a basket of tiny rag dolls, and a beautiful bear dressed in her very own gypsy dress. I would’ve loved such things as a girl.
The encampment was a marvelous escape, a place of fairytale dwellings and fanciful garb and very pleasant daydreaming.
What is your favorite part of the medieval gypsy camp?
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