by Krista | Nov 11, 2015 | Spring
“I was born to find goblins in their caves
And chase moonlight
To see shadows and seek hidden rivers
To hear the rain fall on dry leaves
And chat a bit with death across foggy nights.”
James Kavanaugh
I woke up early this morning needing to be outside. I needed cool breezes on my skin, dew on my bare feet, the gentle warmth of the sunrise on my face.
I walked through the grass, utterly delighted that after months of little but sun-baked earth we actually have grass, real grass, long, vivid green, and lush grass coated in morning dew. After a drought or a long winter, is there anything more soul-nourishing than strolling through dew-covered grass?
I took my sleep-addled self into my gardens, feeling the stress of unwanted dreams dissolve in the luscious, golden light of sunrise as it slipped and shimmered its way onto leaves and blossoms.
There’s something about quieting one’s soul in nature that dissolves anxiety and returns us to peace. It grounds me, centers me, helps me breathe deeply again. And it renews my excitement about life. Helps me take my rumpled feelings by the hand and step forward with courage and resolve.
I did that this morning, buoyed by light and scent and beauty.
Bear and I had a lovely time running errands. We stocked up on fresh fruits and veggies at the farmer’s markets – massive stalks of rhubarb, new crop Red Delicious Apples, and ridiculously juicy pears – and found treasures at the thrift store. We popped in to the nursery and found rosella and eggplant seedlings, just what I needed to complete my garden.
Bear treated us to fresh-baked cinnamon pastries and coffee at the bakery, and got a bag of bread rolls that will be lovely accompaniment to a big pot of potato soup for dinner. Such a lovely thing to do in the middle of the week.
Now we are home again, thoroughly enjoying an overcast sky and deliciously cool breezes. It’s quiet and peaceful, just the sort of afternoon for baking and cooking and reorganizing the house. I never want to clean house when it’s hot, but give me a cool, blustery day, and I’ll happily scrub, tidy, and organize.
So now I bid you farewell, and head off to the Granny Flat to pull out my boxes of Christmas decorations and start festooning our house with anything glittery, shimmery, and sparkly I can find. xo
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 | Jun 12, 2015 | Winter
My whole world seems rather higgledy-piggledy at the moment, but that’s not such a bad thing.
Our crazy weather has my plants thinking it’s Spring or Summer instead of the dead of Winter. Rather than living off of hardy greens and root veggies, I’m picking blueberries, collecting tomatoes, and looking in astonishment at fruit trees sending out blossoms.
My dear ol’ body decided to go wonky too, keeping me in bed much of this week. Thank goodness for a big pot of ham bean soup and stacks of movies from the library to make things easier. Even the worst sick days are made immeasurably better with marathons of “Grimm” and “Rosemary and Thyme.”
In the midst of the weird and hard stuff, there have been good, good things: a wonderful weekend away with our medieval friends that I can’t wait to tell you about, our first attempt at apple wine brewing beautifully, and our orphaned twin goats now fully weaned and healthy as can be.
To top it all off, my actor/singer friend, Kristopher, now a producer in New York City, sent me tickets for a concert by the oh-so-fabulous Mary Wilson, original member of “The Supremes.” I was thrilled!! So Bear and I rugged up against the cold and spent an incredible evening listening to this awe-inspiring 71-year-old belt out powerful ballads, standards, and favorites as if she were 40 years younger. She was cheeky, hilarious, down-to-earth, and made us shake with laughter, wipe away tears, and go home feeling that this truly is a wonderful world.
I’m so thankful that life rarely leaves us saddled with only bad and hard things. There’s always something good and beautiful along the way to shimmer light into the dark places.
What is one good thing in your life this week? xo
by Krista | Mar 24, 2015 | Autumn
“Finish every day and be done with it.
You have done what you could.
Some blunders and absurdities, no doubt crept in.
Forget them as soon as you can, tomorrow is a new day;
begin it well and serenely, with too high a spirit
to be cumbered with your old nonsense.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
It’s been a rough couple of months as I’ve weathered another bout of glandular fever. Every project has been preceded and followed by naps, each day a fog of pain and exhaustion. But the past few days I’ve felt the fog lifting, the pain receding, my energy returning. And it is marvelous.
This morning I woke early enough to go for a wander in my gardens just as the sun rose over the fields. It felt so good to be outside, breathing in deeply of cool, rain-washed air, finding all sorts of beauties glimmering in the morning sunshine. I love this time of day with its exquisite light, so clear and clean and fresh. The world feels like a welcoming, magical place.
We’ve had glorious rains the last couple of days, and the gardens have surged back to life. Brittle leaves are lush and unfurled, blossoms bursting from their casings, tiny veggies emerging from soil that has been dry and barren for so long.
After feeling parched and withered for months on end, it is wonderful to see damp earth and dew-drenched flowers and know that the seeds and seedlings now have a fighting chance to produce delectable things for my winter kitchen.
With the return of rain and my energy, I’m excited to start dreaming and planning again. When you’re sick, days consist of The Essentials and little else. But now I get to make plans knowing that soon I will have the strength to follow through. That’s a lovely thing.
So today I’m moving gently through my day quietly working on things that have had to wait: cleaning closets, organizing my kitchen, getting seedlings out of their punnets and into my gardens.
It feels good to start this day “well and serenely, with too high a spirit to be cumbered with [my] old nonsense.”
Old nonsense. I like that. Illness isn’t nonsense, it’s just something that happens, but the accompanying frustration and discouragement are unwelcome companions on any journey. It feels good to thank them for dropping by, then wave farewell and breathe a sigh of relief that they are no longer hanging about.
What is lifting your spirits today? xo
by Krista | Dec 11, 2014 | Summer
The sky continues to rumble with thunder and dance with lightning as one storm after another hurtles its way through our farm, saturating us with rain and turning our meadows into an unrecognizable maze of waterfalls, creeks, puddles, and ponds. It’s marvelous. We’re celebrating the glorious coolness with wine, pasta, and a Leverage marathon.
I’ve been working hard this week, catching up on writing projects that had to get set aside while I was sick. It’s such a wonderful thing to send off the last article tonight and get to sink down into my chair, wine glass in hand, sharing Belgian dark chocolate truffles with Bear.
I’ve also been wood-burning a lot, sending off a flurry of Christmas orders to England, Washington, D.C., and New South Wales. I’ve got a stack of audio books to keep me entertained as I work, and find it such a therapeutic activity to balance out hours at my computer keyboard.
Being self-employed and running the farm with Bear, there’s always something to do, but I’m renewing my efforts to make time for people no matter what. Yes, I need to meet deadlines and fulfill commitments, but that’s never an excuse to miss out on building relationships with people who make my heart happy.
I’m so excited to be done my work and have a few days to hang out with Bear and visit dear friends and get ready for Christmas.
Earlier this week we went hunting for our Christmas tree and even though we didn’t find one, we happily wandered through a nursery filled with gorgeousness. I’m completely smitten by artichoke flowers and am excited to grow my own.
And after seeing this stunning water lily, I’m more determined than ever to make a water feature in my secret garden. The secret garden is still in its infancy. We’re working on getting the ground prepared and collecting stones to outline the beds and make hidey-holes for the bright green frogs that live around here. I think it’s going to be something that we’ll potter at for many years, and I don’t mind one bit.
Now another storm is coming through and it’s definitely time for a cuppa before bed.
What are you looking forward to this weekend? xo
