Today I woke later than usual but still I rose before the sun. A gentle aching in my shoulders reminded me of yesterday; a productive day full of children, animal care and building a shelter for the animals from recycled pallets. 
The ache is probably from lugging the pallets without waiting for Belle's help. I was keen to finish the job though, because our new rotating paddocks are going slower than I would like. I was also conscious of being back in the house in time to make a rhubarb pudding to complete our meal. In the morning I had prepared a broccoli soup with my own chicken stock and broccoli from the garden. A lovely meal which created few food miles - very satisfying for the soul but not so satisfying for the hungry tummies of busy people. Hence a yummy, stodgy pudding to round out the meal.
This morning began with a light frost which saw me running outside in my slippers to tend to the newly planted avocado. The sun is rising now and revealing a gentle mist in the valley. The leaves on the gums are sparking with gold under the sun's bright rays. It's going to be a beautiful day and I intend to start on the next shelter and perhaps move one of the electric netting fences if I find time. Yesterday I broke a promise to the girls that we would sit together with some colouful wool to do some felting. Maybe today... I was also going to take a neighbour some wheat. Maybe today... I should fix the grey water pump, plant the seeds that should have been in a month ago, do some baking, weed the garden, turn the compost. We'll see how far I get.
It's always hard to know how the days will progress. Unexpected things happen. Animals get sick, fences stop working and need immediate attention, chooks find their way into gardens they shouldn't be near. Today a friend of mine is not well and will possibly need a hand. If this is the case, it won't be a problem. I have a couple of jobs I need to do in her town so I'll just rearrange my day and achieve those jobs instead. I'll complete today's tasks tomorrow.
Life ebbs and flows and the pace is hectic but the work is simple, gentle and very real. As a family, we are well connected to our lives, our food, the seasons and our friends and family but there's not a lot of breathing space left.
I tell you this because today I should be writing the month by month, slow living link-up and I can't bring myself to do it. While, in my head, I write to you every day giving you snippets of gossip, recipes, tips on gardening or farming, or simply sharing an amusing anecdote of something the children have done, I rarely find time to sit in front of the computer to put my thoughts down.
While I intend to continue writing because I love it so much, I can't commit to a regular timeframe in our busy, overly filled lives. I apologise to those who love being part of the monthly catch up with others travelling a similar path and I thank you for having taken part. It's been a wonderful way to connect with a community of people who share a common love of striving to live gently and respectfully in this world of ours. Thank you Christine (Slow Living Essentials blog) for beginning this idea and allowing me to continue with it. It's been great fun over the past few years.
Cheers, Linda xx
I must admit I too quietly bowed out of the monthly link up, I found it a little time consuming, and often hard to come up with things for each category, but it was a great idea, and I had fun reading others posts. I had a giggle about you posting on Belle's blog! That's something I would do!! I loved this post today. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI have found, the more I align my life to the needs of living elements (be that the garden, livestock or family members) it didn't bode well for man made schedules or lists. Living elements have seasonal elements which change on a daily basis, and the rigid schedules and/or lists, quickly became an inefficient means to track what I do.
ReplyDeleteThe only way I could keep my blog going, was to treat it differently every day too. When I thought I had to bring a certain script to continue the "theme" of my blog, it quickly became inefficient as well. The themes change, as the seasons do. This is not any criticism of the monthly link up, as I'm sure that works on another level (very successfully too) but its not how I seem to work best.
Your avocado tree looks healthy and the goat shelter, extremely useful! I'm glad you're still able to share your goings on. You're developing your own way of doing that best. :)
That sounds like a wonderful day Linda! I wish I had more time at home (our weekend are similar to this). I use my blog to keep up with things I research or learn so that I remember them for next time, but I dread becoming a slave to it or to an imposed posting schedule. I couldn't keep up with that monthly link up, it had too many categories for me! But I do like to reflect monthly to mark our progress of certain projects and how many chickens we have etc. I really enjoy what you write and you have so much to contribute, so I hope that you will continue to write when you have time :)
ReplyDeleteI so want to be at home on beautiful sunny days like today. I want to celebrate the beginning of Spring in my garden.
ReplyDeletethis is a wonderful blog & Belle is a very creative writer as well! please tell her to keep up the good work!
ReplyDeletewonderful posts (i read all of hers too!)
thanx for sharing