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 | May 11, 2016 | Autumn
I’m taking advantage of a lull in our lovely but chaotic week to have a coffee, a bit of coffee cake, and a new episode of Midsomer Murders. It feels so good to sit awhile and catch my breath, think through my errand list for this afternoon and relax knowing dinner is in the crockpot and will be ready by the time I get home.
Although it’s dark, cloudy, and cold today, we’ve had spectacularly gorgeous days of late, clear blue skies, hot gold sunshine, and delectably cool breezes blowing in from the South.
When I’m not working, I’ve spent as much time as I can outside, gardening for hours and heading to our bush for hikes in the late afternoon.
I head out across the fields, wading through nodding grasses that glisten and dance, past prickly pear strung with spider webs.
I love entering the woods, the flickering dance of shadow and light that is both mesmerizing and invigorating.
Luna runs hither and thither sniffing in hollow logs, bounding eagerly after wallabies and kangaroos that pop up from their hidden napping spots in the grass.
I love how the late sun reveals so many layers of color and texture in the gum trees: papery white, shimmering silver, rust and grey and pale yellow.
We usually have a herd of our neighbors cows roaming our bush, keeping the weeds and grass down as a preventative measure against fire. But they’ve returned to their home in the outback and our bush is quiet again.
My sacred grove is as beautiful as ever, the trees grown taller, branches stretching out to each other across the circle of grass below until they’re nearly touching.
It’s such a lovely place to wander, birds overhead, wildflowers underfoot, leaves glowing lime green in the setting sun. With the sun on my face and the wind in my hair, a deliriously happy dog running up to me for cuddles and pats, well, it’s all rather wonderful.
Where do you like to go for a wander on a gorgeous afternoon? xo
by Krista | Feb 25, 2014 | Summer
Do Small Things with Great Love.
I found a magnet with this saying last week and have it on my fridge now to give me courage and purpose every day.
When I was little I had dreams of running an orphanage in Romania. A big, beautiful orphanage with lots of grass and trees for children to play in, and the dearest, kindest, lovingest people running it so that every child would feel treasured.
When I got older I still wanted to run the orphanage, but I also wanted to build a safe and wonderful hideaway where anyone who has been abused can go to restore their bodies and spirits and learn to thrive again.
They are good dreams, marvelous dreams, but they aren’t possible for me right now. I’m too sick and too poor and sometimes that has made me sad, wishing I could do something big and meaningful.
So reading that fridge magnet was such a gift, because I can do small things with great love.
I started hiking in our bush again and it has been wonderful. The woods are such a special place to me. The light, the trees, the wind, the air, the kangaroos hopping by, my dog Luna trotting happily beside me, and this week, the small things that are growing on the forest floor.
I am amazed by the number of small things underfoot. The tiniest of orchids – no bigger than a baby’s thumbnail – miniature ferns, and other exquisitely formed blossoms in pure white, vivid yellow, pale blue.
They aren’t huge and majestic like the trees, but they are beautiful and delightful in their minuteness.
And that makes me smile and take heart.
I may not be able to live out my big dreams right now, and that’s OK. No matter how bad I’m feeling or how poor I am, I can still do small things with great love.
And as I pondered that, delighting in it, my mind was filled with all the small things others have greatly loved me with recently:
- Bear making me a cup of tea every single morning no matter how stressed or busy or overwhelmed he is.
- friends coming over to visit with cookies and juice even when they were exhausted from a really difficult week.
- a friend giving me a jar of her homemade plum jam just because she knows I love it.
- a cousin taking time to write me real letters in Canada and send them all the way to Australia.
- a friend meeting me on Skype even though she was sick and I was sick just so we wouldn’t have to be sick all by ourselves.
Such little things that mean so much and make me feel loved right down to my toes.
So this morning after my walk, I eased my achy self into Bear’s oh-so-comfy green chair and happily plotted small things I can do with great love this week.
What small things have made you feel loved recently?
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