busy, busy, busy -doing what?

gardening.
not planting seeds yet ... just spreading manure!

reading. am almost finished 'Wildflower':

"Stayed home all day - always plenty to do. I never catch up", she wrote in october 1994. She noted nights when huge bull hippos fed outsude her bedroom window and pearl-spotted owls were catching and hiding mice and twenty-four waterbuck were prancing across her garden.
How she loved this lake, its stillness, its peace. "Quiet day on my own," she wrote that October 1994. "Letter writing. Planting aloes and snipping plants. raining gently at night. grass green. Garden and lake looking lovely."

i also bought the first volume of Thomas Keneally's history of Australia. when i got home i thought i'd check the index in case one of my notorious ancestors featured. five generations back my maternal (great x 5) grandmother came to Australia aboard the 'Lady Penrhyn'. my (great x 5) grandfather arrived as a marine aboard the 'Friendship'. and guess what?! she is in there! 600+ pages... hopefully i will finish before volume 2 comes out in 2011!!

and we've simply been enjoying the outdoors.
working lots. many changes are in the air at work, and my area seems to be at the centre... exciting, but demanding.

parenting. i read this the other day. Choose to follow the examples of our pioneer forbears; live simply, live close to the earth and close to your loved ones. i like that. i think by the time your second baby comes around you realise how much is simply not necessary! yes, i'm all for simplyfying...

and to relax, some good tv - a wildlife documentary on Yellowstone National Park is featuring on ABC. and rightly predicted, Nicholas is loving it. his great-aunt has been sending wildlife animal flash cards, so he has been a sponge as far as information goes!
David and i have also been watching River Cottage. enjoying all of the ideas that come with preparing your own vegetable garden and living according to the season...

taking it slow (for other reasons)

Audrey was sick last weekend. strange sick. she had no other symptoms other than vomiting randomly. now i am sick. and Nicholas too. Audrey left early this morning with David, and Nicholas and i had toast and then tried to sleep some more.
i hung out washing this morning. slowly. i now want to do the ironing. slowly, while i have the energy!
instead, i'll tap away here. slowly.
i am reading an interesting book called Wildflower, about Joan Root. She and her husband introduced Dian Fossey to gorillas. Joy Adamson and her husband lived nearby. when i was young i loved the movie Born Free, about the Adamson's living with their lions. i think i saw that movie every time it was on tv! it was a nice reminder of a happy memory
but other books consuming me at the moment are:

i made the superhero cape from 'Stitched in Time'. i plan to make cushions for our outdoor table from 'Sew Pretty Homestyle', linen napkins from Simple Sewing... and i haven't decided what to tackle from 'Handmade Home' or 'Weekend Sewing' yet.

i am all but finished the table runner - just don't have the motivation to pull the sewing machine out today.

today i read some of this cookbook. David devours cookbooks, and keeps ideas and recipes in his mind. i like to read them and feel inspired by the pictures and ideas!

oh, and am still planning for the vegetable garden. we decided there is no point planting hings that you can buy fairly cheaply at the supermarket (so no corn this year) but i am hoping for:

~ beetroot

~ asparagus

~ artichokes

~ rhubarb

~ tomatoes (cherry and roma, because we feast on them through Spring/Summer)

glorious weather = good times outside

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

last night we bought a rug. when we rolled it up, i saw this, which made my heart glad! it means that people are taking notice, and bit by bit, changes are occurring.

love the small things

the new Toast catalogue is here... David thinks it is funny how much pleasure i get from looking at these catalogues. he laughs at the small pile in the bottom of my cupboard- Toast catalogues for the past 6 years.

i am on a sewing roll again. yesterday it was Nicholas' superhero cape and today i will start a table runner. thankyou Lord for lovely weather... the children can play, and i can sew!

things of stone and wood

i met a Japanese woman. she is gorgeous - she cooks, has an amazing vegetable garden and she is a potter. just what i needed. :) next time i visit it will be for a set of plates, bowls and platters. when the uni semester finishes (i can't wait) David will be making a timber table for our deck. ready for lots of summer dinners.
* * * * * * * *
while in Braidwood on the weekend we stopped at this antique store. oh for a spare $3,000... i'd have a provincial French workbench to use as said timber table, some old tea chests, kitchenalia and some gorgeous French linen...

Braidwood 2009

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

and if we had our wedding again, i'd want this one! i love the dresses and the shoes. and i love the doughnuts and the biscuits. and the bags of tea and coffee. can we do it again??

the good life

so i am going to try and enjoy the suburban life (i don't want it to be all about paying a mortgage!) and while i don't think Dave and I will go to the lengths of Tom and Barbara, i was reminded how good, 'The Good Life' was...