by Krista | Nov 5, 2015 | Spring
It’s dark and cloudy today, the air fragrant with the scent of rain-dampened earth and my cup of Earl Grey tea steaming next to me.
We’re moving slow this morning, weary and bleary-eyed from hauling, stacking, unloading, hauling, and re-stacking 170 bales of hay this week. When we finished sliding in the last bale yesterday afternoon, we were drenched from three rain storms and plastered from head to tow in hay and hay dust. Is there anything more glorious than a shower on such occasions?
It was a huge project but a fun one, mostly because we got to take beautifully scenic drives through the country and spend time with our friends, Doug and Avis, whose gardens I wrote about a while back. Their gardens are still stunning and inspiring, and when we took breaks from stacking hay, Avis and I got to wander through them a bit, sighing happily at all the flowers, vegetables, and fruit trees. She gave me poppy seeds from ones growing wild in her patch and a Pride of Bolivia tree that is going to be planted next to our chook yards where it will provide both shade and beauty with its leafy branches and gorgeous yellow flowers.
This morning I’ll be planting them along with the other treasures I’ve been collecting from sale bins and market stalls and seed packet displays.
I’ve got five varieties of tomatoes, multi-colored bell peppers, lush little basil plants, Jerusalem artichokes, Butternut squash, dill, lavender, leeks, red-cored carrots, and these gorgeous little oca yams that have sprouted marvelously.
Once everything is planted, I’m giving myself the rest of the day to cook, bake, simmer, stew, and make all sorts of delicious things. Bear is craving cookies with crystallized ginger and sultanas, and I’m pining for a good potato casserole with ham and caramelized onions and cheese. After so much hard physical labor this week, it’s time for comfort food and pottering in the kitchen.
What are you craving today? xo
by Krista | Oct 30, 2015 | Spring
A while ago Bear surprised me with my very own spinning wheel and loom. I was thrilled! Spinning and weaving is something I’ve wanted to do since I was a little girl. I remember being enamored by pictures in my fairy tale books of women in lovely old cottages in the woods churning out skeins of yarn and beautifully woven blankets. I was thrilled, yes, but also bamboozled. I had no idea what to do with either wheel or loom.
Last week I got to spend a day with my new medieval friend, Mim, who volunteered to teach me how to spin wool on my dear but unused spinning wheel. She is a highly skilled spinner and weaver who has mastered drop spindles, spinning wheels, and looms, creating stunning works of art based on medieval patterns and techniques. She comes by it naturally for her grandfather made spinning wheels and her grandmother taught her how to use them.
I, on the other hand, have not mastered anything related to spinning, and have no experience turning wool into yarn. Although I come from a long line of fabulous knitters – mother, aunts, and grandmothers – the only knitting I’ve mastered is finger-knitting. If you ever need endless lengths of finger-knitted cord, I’m your gal.
Thankfully Mim is a patient teacher, and soon helped me navigate the unique vocabulary of spinning and knitting. Before long she had me carding wool for the first time, using firm rocking motions to transform twisted lumps of tangled wool into smooth, knot-free batts of wool ready for the spinning wheel.
Mim showed me how to take apart the wheel for cleaning, where to rub with lanolin to keep things running smoothly, and how to adjust the tension.
Then she showed me how to spin. It looked so easy when she did it. Fingers expertly stretching the wool so it fed in evenly as her foot pumped rhythmically, keeping the wheel going at a steady clip.
Then it was my turn. Within seconds the wool I was holding was a mangled bunch of fibers, the spinning wheel was running backwards, and my “thread” was a lumpy, bumpy mess. Clearly I am not a natural.
But that’s OK. Mim assured me that I will get better with practice, and that it’s perfectly normal to thoroughly muss everything up the first time around. Bless her for that.
I’m going to keep trying, and try again until I learn how to coordinate everything, figure out the feel and give of the wool, and remember to keep the peddle going so it doesn’t suddenly lurch into reverse. I’ll get there.
And if I keep messing up for a good while, that’s alright too. There’s always the Russian bakery near Mim’s where I can drown my spinning sorrows.
Have you ever spun wool before?
by Krista | Oct 29, 2015 | Spring
It’s been dark and stormy the past few days, luscious rain falling, cool winds bringing wondrous relief from the searing heat and humidity of last week. It’s lovely.
Our responsibilities have taken us all over the place in recent weeks, back and forth to the city and town, running errands, keeping appointments, and, for me, taking on new work. It’s been fun, interesting, challenging, and, it must be admitted, utterly exhausting.
But we’ve learned that in order to avoid letting ourselves get run down, we have to plan as vigilantly for relaxation as we do for work. Sometimes we stop mid-journey for a walk in a park or along a mountain trail, others we stop under a shady tree for a picnic or nap. Last week we stopped at a bakery we’d never been to before, Banneton in Woolloongabba.
We settled in with cuppas – flat white for me, long black for Bear – and chose decadent desserts to spoil ourselves.
We both chose sour cherry desserts – who can resist sour cherries? Bear had the dark chocolate sour cherry tart and I had the sour cherry custard topped with toasted almonds. Both were lovely, delectable treats to lift our spirits and cheer us on through our to-do list.
It was good to linger, visiting about this and that, watching the resident pigeons toddle about underfoot feasting on fallen crumbs. If I was a pigeon, I’d move to a bakery too.
Before we left we got a loaf of bread that was so scrumptious we returned the very next errand day to pick up 6 more loaves for our freezer so we’d not run out in a hurry. It’s a wood-fired multi-grain sourdough that is chockers, and I do mean chockers, full of deliciousness. There are poppy, pumpkin, and sunflower seeds, hazelnuts and walnuts and who knows what other goodness. We are smitten, and I’m excited to start experimenting to see if I can replicate it.
What little moments keep you going through the busy times? xo
by Krista | Oct 27, 2015 | Spring
Deep breath.
These are precious words to me. Words that have helped me get through every difficult moment in my life. The words I recite to myself when life gets wobbly and I feel off kilter.
Deep breath.
It always helps. Always.
It’s been a Lots Of Deep Breaths couple of weeks for me. Not terrible, not traumatic, just, well, wobbly. One of those seasons where my body decides it’s time to dig deep again, to wrestle around with fears and insecurities that my weary self would rather just shush for awhile. But shushing doesn’t work. It just makes the Fidgety Things shout louder and make a fuss.
So I’ve stepped back a bit to deal with those things, to look into the scared places and uncertain spots and wavering moments and figure out what my body needs to get back to well-being.
Some things are better now. And I don’t have to remind myself to breathe when I think about them. They’ve lost their power and I’ve gained strength.
Other things will take a while. They require a bit more courage, a bit more love, a bit more understanding before they can be resolved. So I’m waiting quietly with them, wishing them well, trusting that the It’s OK Now will come in time.
Hence, the silence here. I find it quite impossible to write Mid-Wobble.
Soon I will write again, and share my little adventures and small celebrations, but for now I need to breathe and look after the things that need a bit of extra care right now.
Wishing you peaceful hearts and the sure knowledge that you are loved. xo
by Krista | Oct 15, 2015 | Spring
For awhile now the sun burned grass has crunched underfoot when we walk across the farm, tree branches hang heavy with dust, the air filled with smoke from nearby bush fires. But yesterday, the rains came. Not a lot, not enough, but it came, and we’re so thankful.
This morning the air is clear and fresh, smelling of damp earth and soggy leaves, the ground is spongy, sticking to my boots and making me an inch or two taller by the time I get home again. The whole farm is clean and sparkling and dust-free.
It is glorious.
Yesterday I hustled from pen to pen, hastily feeding up as the storm clouds darkened and thickened and thunder rumbled ominously. I made it back to the house just as the first drops fell and quickly decided that all plans for writing projects, laundry, and dishes were off the table. I was going to enjoy this rain.
I brewed a big cup of Earl Grey tea, grabbed my journal and stack of outdated but still treasured Victoria magazines, and went to the back veranda where I could sit and luxuriate in the storm without getting drenched.
I love Earl Grey tea when it’s raining. It just fits somehow. The scent of Bergamot, the creamy combination of milk and maple syrup. It delights me.
Victoria magazine has been my favorite for as long as I can remember. My Mum had the very first issue and we started collecting them, spending hours reading and rereading them, finding nourishment for our spirits as much as inspiration for life. They were like old friends and I missed them deeply when I had to leave them behind when I moved to Australia. Now and then my friend Parker sends me a few issues, and I cherish them, hoarding them for rainy days when I can sit quietly and thoroughly enjoy each photo and article.
And my journal, dearest non-human friend of all. Isn’t it good to have a safe place to pour out thoughts and feelings, frustrations and fears, hopes and wonderings? To work through all the nitty-gritty of life and relationships and somehow, in the writing, come to clarity, understanding, and peace.
I used to reread my journals, laughing uproariously at my dramatic turns of phrase and my passionate “the world is ENDING” moments. It helped me to see all the highs and lows I’d already navigated, to be reminded that most of the things I feared never took place, and even when they did, I found the courage and strength to face them. There’s something about looking back now and then that gives me the pluck I need to tackle whatever is facing me now.
Mostly my old words remind me to breathe. In and out until the racing heart and thoughts calm to a sensible pace. Life is always going to be topsy-turvy. Always. But we’ve been through so much already, we can handle this, whatever this is.
Bear joined me on the veranda near the end of the storm, taking a break from his to do list to rest a while and have a chat. It made me smile.
What is your favorite thing to do when rain falls? xo
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by Krista | Oct 13, 2015 | Spring
Do the things that make for peace.
I don’t know where I heard that line, but I like it very much. And I needed it this frazzleicious week after utterly neglecting the self-care that is so necessary for my peace. I easily get caught up in the “have to’s and forget about the little things that make the “have-to’s” so much more bearable. So I stopped myself in my tracks over the weekend and got back to doing the things.
I put on an audio book while I did dishes and made meals, letting myself enjoy someone else’s adventures while I worked.
I migrated between the big green armchair and bed reading an entire book, cover to cover. My reading usually consists of a page here, a chapter there, squeezed in between chores, so this was sheer bliss.
I started a new journal with a gorgeous peacock on the front of it. There’s something about fresh, clean pages that inspire me, and it always does me good to write, write, write until the anxiety and stress are gone.
I met up with Bear around the farm for chats, discussing project priorities, fixing this and that, taking a few more steps towards getting our farm to the place we want it to be. It’s amazing how finishing one niggling project, no matter how little, makes such a great contribution to my sense of well-being.
I went to bed early so my 4:50 a.m. wake up for work wasn’t so shocking.
I harvested beets, asparagus, and peas and planted the seedlings I’ve been nurturing in my greenhouse: purple beans, Jack beans, mystery beans (I always think I’ll remember what seeds I’ve put in and never do!), elderflowers, and heaps of rogue tomatoes I found growing near the base of one of our cider apple trees.
And I started each day with delicious and healthy breakfasts, things that make us happy when we look at them AND when we eat them. Like fried eggs on sweet potatoes sauteed with onion, kale, and butter.
And fried eggs on fresh-picked asparagus sauteed with beef sausage, butter, and nasturtium leaves.
I started this week feeling so much better. My heart nourished, brain stimulated, body rested. Funny how the have-to’s now don’t seem daunting at all.
How do you take care of yourself when life gets rather frazzled? xo
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