by Krista | Oct 1, 2017 | Spring
I’m listening to the sound of clanging steel and shields being thumped as Bear and Brett, our newest medieval member, practice medieval combat out back while cold wind whistles through the trees.
I’m cozy and warm on the veranda under a fluffy red blanket while I watch them swing and block, surrounded by books and journal, camera and pillow, thoroughly enjoying this beautifully dark and chilly Sunday.
It’s been a wonderful weekend. Truly. My heart is full after visits with dear friends, bike rides with Bear down the bumpy back roads near our farm, and time in my gardens planting purple beans, rosellas, cucumbers, and scarlet runner beans.
We had the loveliest smattering of rain this morning, not enough to even dampen the ground, but enough to clean the air and brighten our spirits. Hopefully one day soon we’ll get the drenching rains we so desperately need.
There wasn’t even a hint of rain yesterday, when our good friends Gary, Lorraine, and Leah arrived to spend the day. Instead, clear blue skies and hot sunshine sent us out to our bush for an afternoon hike.
I love it out here. So much. Just us, massive gum trees, and the occasional wallaby and kangaroo hopping away through the long grass.
It’s incredibly peaceful standing under those massive trees, listening to the wind sigh and rustle through the leaves like waves on the shore.
There are tiny beauties as well, bright orange fruit from the gumbi gumbi trees that look like vivid red raspberries when you crack them open, feather fronds of moss on fallen logs, and this seashell that Lorraine spotted sitting on an old tree trunk. We have no idea how it got there, but it made us smile to imagine its journey from the sea to our bush.
It’s incredibly dry here right now. The brittle grass snaps underfoot, and the usual carpet of wildflowers is nowhere to be found. But there are still lovely things, like the huge rabbit we startled and this gorgeous ruffled lichen looking like a bit of lace against the roughness of the wood.
It was a lovely hike, leisurely and slow, with lots of time to bask in the wildness and solitude of the bush.
Soon our neighbors’ horses will take up residence here, and we’ll have new beauties to look for as we amble through the trees.
The blokes are done combat now, so it’s time for a cup of curried carrot soup and toasted sandwiches with caramelized onions and sharp cheddar cheese. The animals have been fed, gardens watered, and we have a whole afternoon stretching before us. On such a cold, blustery day like this, I can’t imagine anything better than reading, cuppas, and perhaps even a nap.
What do you like to do on a quiet Sunday afternoon? xo
by Krista | Sep 30, 2017 | Spring
On these hot spring days, I love getting up well before sunrise, basking in coolness and darkness, listening to the world slowly wake up: kookaburras first, then roosters, and finally the sheep and goats, eager to start grazing before the searing heat sends them scuttling for the nearest shade tree.
Yesterday I spent the morning pulling weeds with my friend Avis on her farm a few hills over. We do a trade: hay for pulling weeds. It’s a great trade, since we both receive what we need and have a jolly time visiting for hours while we dig and yank and tidy. It was so good to talk about life, real life, while we worked. The hard and sad stuff, the beautiful and inspiring stuff, the stuff that is so hilarious it had us bursting out laughing over there in the middle of nowhere. I returned home with a full heart and a trunk overflowing with freshly dug turnips, just picked tangelos, lemons, and limes, and a potted jasmine that will soon be clambering up and over my gardens. It’s good to work with friends.
This week I needed some extra rest, so I brought in some yarn to play with while I recovered. I did some finger-knitting and made tassels and then remembered some handmade glass beads a friend had given me awhile back. So I brought those in too and made cheery beaded tassels to put on our Christmas tree and wherever else I fancy.
It was lovely sitting there, the late afternoon sun shimmering on the walls and setting the beads aglow. I’ve loved beads since I was a little girl, and have always had jars or bowls full of my favorites sitting around the house. Just seeing them with their rich colors and intricate patterns makes me happy.
The tassels make me smile too, mostly because they look like dancing women, twirling and bobbing with nary a care in the world.
In a few hours, good friends are coming over to see our baby chicks, go for a hike in the bush, and visit for hours. I’m looking forward to it so much.
The sun is up now, so it’s time to brew coffee, tidy up, and put the bread rolls on to rise.
What are you looking forward to this weekend? xo
by Krista | Sep 27, 2017 | Spring
After several days of blistering heat, deliciously cold winds blew in last night, and today was blissfully cloudy and cool. The change is so welcome.
Last week I was very ill with migraines, the worst I’ve ever, ever experienced, so this week I’m especially thankful for life. Everything seems more precious, and I’ve stayed close to home cherishing the simple things that make life dear to me: Bear, our farm, contact with good friends.
I’ve spent most of my days outside, soaking up sunshine and wild winds, watering orchards, vineyards, and gardens, sighing happily to see fruit trees and grape vines I thought were dead and gone start sprouting leaves and blossoms and the tiniest of fruits. As I feel new life in my own heart after deep healing this winter and spring, it makes me quite teary to see it around me as well. Sometimes the bleak times in our life feel so long and dark, but spring always comes. Always.
When I’m not outside, I’ve been pottering in the kitchen, roasting tomatoes and making sauce, pureeing bananas and freezing them for smoothies, juicing oranges, limes, and lemons, and making a new batch of apple cider vinegar. The animals are loving it, because they get all the peels, pulp, and trimmings to feast on.
Bear and I have been working on projects together, hauling tools across the fields to mend fences, going into the Big Orchard to fix a leaky hose, and planning the best way to get all three orchards covered with netting so the birds don’t pinch our fruit this year.
I’ve also been spending a lot of time on the back veranda.
I go first thing in the morning with my cup of tea and journal, getting my thoughts and plans sorted before the day starts.
I have breakfast there with Bear, chatting away as we sip our coffees and nosh on scrambled eggs, ham and cheese crepes, or baked beans on toast. It does us both good to begin the day like that.
I pop in throughout the day, sorting seeds to plant, trimming herbs to dry, or just to take a break with a magazine or a good book.
I do my art there too, listening to the wind in the trees and wood-burning spoons and cheeseboards as I get ready for the annual flurry of Christmas orders.
Sometimes I even sit there at night, snuggled under a blanket while I read.
The other evening I was joined by dozens of moths fluttering around the light. One kept landing on me instead of the light, a beautiful pure white one with a bright red body. I’ve never seen one like that before, but it made me smile.
Tonight was rather chilly for veranda-sitting, so instead we had popcorn and Greek salad and made it a movie night. A good respite before a big day tomorrow of installing a watering system in the apple orchard, and planting rosellas, elderflower, purple king beans, and scarlet runner beans in the gardens.
What is something that makes life beautiful to you? xo
by Krista | Sep 21, 2017 | Spring
The kookaburras are hollering loudly this morning, letting me know that the sun will be rising soon. A quick glance out the kitchen window reveals tree branches etched against a brightening sky. The kookaburras were right. They always are.
It’s been a week of building good things, inching closer to my goal of a business that supports us well and brings me joy.
A couple of months ago, my friend Lizzie asked me what it is that I love doing. It took me a while to figure it out because I’m interested in, well, pretty much everything, so to narrow it down to what makes me light up took some time. But at last I did, and as soon as I spoke the words my whole body said, YES!
I love sharing stories and art with the world. Both my own and those of my clients. That makes my heart swell in excitement, sets my eyes all sparkly and my face all glowy, perks me right up and floods my imagination with ideas and plans.
So that’s what I’m building. A safe, jolly, and love-filled place where stories are told, art is made, and both are shared with the world through gorgeous books, beautiful Etsy shops, and personalized social media that is easy to manage and fun to do.
I love it so much.
There’s something about bringing someone’s dream to fruition that fills my heart with excitement. To see someone realize that their handmade jewelry, paintings, or knitting are valued and worth sharing, makes me rather teary. To watch someone discover that others need and want to hear their stories, brings the best possible lump to my throat. Because these things confirm what we all hope but sometimes doubt:
We matter.
Our stories are worth telling.
Our creative work is meaningful.
I love my clients so much. Hilarious and talented women who think it perfectly sensible to have our business meetings with iced tea in a garden, cuppas over Skype, or a picnic in the park. I love watching them grow from “what’s Instagram?” to having their own Etsy shop and blog, managing Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest with ease, and, most of all, seeing their faces light up with confidence and joy knowing that not only is their dream a reality, but they have the tools and skills to keep it thriving.
This week I’ve also been building for me.
I met up with a wonderful woman who helps run a market in Toowoomba. She’s definitely a kindred spirit, and I love the supportive, community mindset of the market. Soon I’ll be giving demonstrations there on how to make herbal remedies, cheese-making, and other fun things. I’ll also be opening my own market stall where I’ll get to share my tea, art, and books with the community.
I continue to build my tea shoppe, growing, harvesting, drying, and storing tray after tray of elderflower, borage, spearmint, lemon balm, pineapple sage, and other beautiful herbs that nourish and support good health. The borage is making me especially happy this week, for those bright blue starry flowers are so gorgeous. And it always makes me smile to know that borage was used in medieval times to give strength and courage. A cup of courage tea.
I’ve also started writing a new book, the first in a series, and I’m having so much fun as I choose the recipes, pictures, and stories that will fill its pages. I’ll tell you all about that soon.
The sun is up now, and so is Bear. It’s time for cuppas and breakfast and chats about our day. I’m off to visit my dear friend Bernie to work on the wonderful book she’s writing, and Bear is building new bee frames for our hives. It’s going to be a good day.
What work is bringing you joy this week? xo
by Krista | Sep 14, 2017 | Spring
“Surviving is enough. Then slowly, we grow stronger.”
My friend Tom wrote those words to me this week, and I love them so much. They’re such healing word, validating and comforting and hopeful all at the same time.
I’ve been thinking about how so many good things in life happen slowly: gardens, relationships, education, physical strength, art, they all take a long time, but are well worth the wait.
Today the temperatures plummeted, clouds rolled in, and fierce winds are tossing trees about in a wild dance that sends leaves skittering across the farmyard.
I love it.
The wind woke me early so I bundled up, grabbed a few blankets and hot cup of tea, and snuggled in to the couch on the veranda to watch the wildness.
It was wonderful, laying there, cozy and warm while the cold winds blew, watching the day wake up.
The goats are not fans of wind, so they hung out close to the house, nibbling the leaves tumbling from the trees. A pair of crows soared back and forth, building a nest in one of the gum trees. Our windmill twirled madly, filling our water tanks beautifully so we can keep watering gardens, orchards, and animals in spite of no rain.
I’m so thankful for our orchards. When they were decimated by three back-to-back hailstorms this year, I didn’t know if any of them would survive. I did a severe pruning then waited and hoped. Many of them came back to life this week, in a flurry of buds and leaves and ethereal blossoms. They bring me much joy.
The weather folks have warned us that it will be a dry, hot summer, so we’re putting helpful things in place that will make the most of our bore water, save the rainwater tanks that keep our house going, and enable us to keep our gardens, orchards, vineyards, and animals thriving no matter what the weather does.
I’ve been setting up drip hoses for my veggie gardens that are gravity fed so I can keep everything alive without spending hours each day wielding a hose.
We set up a sprinkler system in the chook palace to keep several pens lush and green with an assortment of wild grasses. The house paddocks are cracked and dry, so we need to employ other means to provide the birds with green feed and bugs.
I’ve been spreading thick layers of soy bean mulch everywhere to keep the ground damp and cool and give the fruit trees, grapevines, and plants a fighting chance.
This week, Bear is going to set up an outdoor shower for us in the elderflower hedge. I’m so excited about that. Not only does it make me happy to think of showering whilst surrounded by flowers, it will save the rainwater for drinking, cooking, and dishes, and the water from the shower will keep the thirsty elderflower hedges and asparagus patch in fine form.
As difficult as weather conditions can be sometimes, it does make us quite creative and resourceful, and I like that.
Today we are doing a medieval demonstration at a local high school, so we’re bustling around collecting medieval swords, shields, knives, medicines, food, helmets, and clothing. This wind may blow us away before we even get set up, but it should be a jolly time.
Our happy thing this week was the arrival of 6 newborn chicks, maybe more since I haven’t checked the nest yet this morning. They are so gorgeous and adorable and hilarious. A lovely distraction when life has its difficult moments. In fact, I think it’s time to head over there for another cuddle and crooning session.
What is your happy thing this week? xo
by Krista | Sep 9, 2017 | Spring
It’s a deliciously quiet Saturday morning. The animals are sleeping in, basking in warm puddles of sunshine before they get up and start feeding. Bear and I have had our coffees and chatted about our plans for the day, and I’ve got my to-do list ready.
It’s been a good week of healing and rest and work, with each day bringing along something interesting to do.
I finished building and launching an Etsy shop for a client, Wilde Prairie Rose, who makes beautiful chain maille jewelry. I loved working with her, doing photo shoots of her exquisite work, writing descriptions, and making sure everything runs smoothly. She’s a kindred spirit, so our meetings were held in parks and on verandas, photo shoots conducted in the woods and gardens. It was brilliant, and I’m so excited to see her flourish.
I’ve been doing a lot of product photo shoots lately, and have found it so fun. I love being outside, so getting to spend hours in the sunshine, setting up delicious and beautiful products to photograph, has been sheer delight. I finished a project for Harrow and Finch, photographing their wonderful hampers filled with scrumptious products from the Granite Belt region. If you love things like Spanish Onion Jam, Raspberry Vinegar, and luscious Garlic Olive Oil, you’ll find lovely hampers here to send to friends, co-workers, and employees.
When I’m not working with amazing clients, I’m at home working on our dear ol’ farm.
My first two harvests of elderflowers are dried and stored, looking so pretty in a red-topped jar.
The heaps of pineapple sage and mint I planted are doing so well, lush and green and smelling wondrously fragrant.
This week I spotted my first asparagus of spring, and that makes me so happy.
It’s strawberry season now, and we’ve been eating heaps of them. Yesterday we were so tired and, it must be admitted, a bit cranky, so we stopped everything and had strawberries and cream on the veranda. It’s amazing how something so small can make such a huge difference. We continued on our day with merry hearts.
A couple of weeks ago I put our roosters into the Apple Orchard to clean up all the weeds for me. They did a splendid job, and yesterday I hauled load after load of soybean mulch to cover the ground and keep the roots cool and the weeds down. The roosters are spreading it out for me – they really are fabulous creatures – and today I’ll shift them into the Big Orchard to tackle the weeds there.
My favorite project this week was wood-working with Bear. He is an artist and designer himself, so I love when we can do artsy things together. This time we designed a new cheeseboard/cutting board for my Etsy shop.
Bear etched the design on the wood in pencil, then I cut it out and together we sanded it. I do so love the smell of freshly cut wood, and the look of clouds of golden sawdust billowing in fragrant piles at my feet.
I’m so delighted with the new board, with its curving lines and handle that fits in the hand just right. We use ours for a cheese platter/cutting board, piling it with cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, olives, smoked ham, and crispy crackers, then setting it between us while we watch a movie or have a chat.
Click here to purchase one of your own, and feel free to request personalizing or a custom design.
This morning I spoiled us with sourdough French toast slathered with sour cream and piled with with fresh strawberries. With a big day ahead of us, a decadent breakfast is definitely in order.
As I finish my coffee, I run my eyes down my to-do list: move roosters, water gardens, do laundry, cut out new boards, bottle-feed goat, harvest radishes. It’s going to be a good day.
What work is bringing you pleasure these days? xo
