rainy days

It's been a funny old weekend. I got up super early on Saturday morning to drive up to Callawadda to harvest our garlic crop. Michelle & I arrived to find a pretty depressing sight,  a lot of the garlic had rotted and about a third hadn't formed into individual cloves yet. Not enough sun and too much rain meant that this year has been a real dud. We did salvage some garlic, and some shallots though. We ended up leaving the silver skin in the ground (you can see if above, behind the shallots) & we'll go back in a few weeks to see if it has divided. Fingers crossed.

Although it was disappointing for us we are lucky that it isn't our main occupation. I really feel for all the farmers who have had a terrible year, whose crops have failed, who have been affected by the torrential rain and lack of sun. What a tough life it is.

So all of a sudden we had finished pulling out garlic and it was only 11.30! We hung out for a while with Terry, who was crutching sheep,

checked out the new sheep dogs, 

 and William's new buggy.

Back home it's been raining all day and I'm well & truly sick of it.

I'm hanging out for some sunny days and blue skies.

Have you had a look in my shop lately? There are some lovely bunnies

looking for good homes so do have a peek.

And don't forget to enter my giveaway!!

It's not too late,

bye for now lovely friends, I hope all is well in your world,

see you soon xo

Garlic & ducks...

On Monday I drove with Michelle up to Callawadda to check on our garlic crop.  Normally we mulch the garlic in August but unfortunately we didn't get up there before the huge rains that fell all over Victoria. The rain then filled the creek bed (which had been dry as a bone for many years previously) and we were not able then to cross the creek.

 Rain + sunshine = weeds!

Normally I'm a fan of daisies and the kids have been having fun lately making daisy chains, just as we did as children. But when they are en masse & right up snug to our beloved garlic plants,  grrrrr! We voted them our least favourite weed (there were many to choose from!) as they were the hardest to pull out.

We had a fair bit to do before mulching so we started just after sunrise. It's a beautiful feeling being out in the field, a sweet breeze blowing & birds flying high above. As Michelle always says, "it beats being in an office!"

 Despite all that annoying weed the garlic is growing well, although as you can see the ground is quite dry.

 We finished just before a huge storm that then dumped 11 ml's of lovely water onto that parched ground. Hopefully more rain will come so our garlic can grow big, and fat, and juicy! 

We managed to get most of the work done and have a good old chat too, of course.

Time to say goodbye to Terry, who was busy shearing rams, & Sally, above. We packed up and left for our two hour drive home but didn't quite make it back for school pick up. Thank goodness for my mum who picked up the kids and took them to the ice cream parlour, lucky kids! Thanks mum x

Today I'm in recovery mode as I managed to hurt my back earlier in the week and made it worse yesterday! Sitting here with a hot water bottle trying to get better so I can get through the week and also enjoy a wedding we are going to in Shepparton on Saturday. 

   Zsa Zsa

                                 

                                                                                                              

                                        Venus

                                     

I'm also thinking about our new duckies and how much fun they had in the rain yesterday! I love the way Venus still has some fluff on her neck, and the sweet smiles on their faces!  Gee I love ducks.

What are you up to today? Hope you are having a fun one, see you soon xo

Chaos & happiness

It's been a cold & grey week so far, here in Daylesford. But in amoungst the somewhat dreary weather there has been some sunshine breaking through the clouds and some lovely cosy times at home & out.

A friend visited last week, for the first time, and looking around at my house she was obviously struck by the clutter/mess/chaos. As a reader of my blog perhaps she had imagined my home in a different way, I hope I don't portray it as a tidy and organised space, because it isn't! It was late when she called in, the kids school bags and projects were scattered around and yes, there was that Friday night-it's-been-a-long-week type feel.

It's funny how a fresh set of eyes, or a harmless comment, can make you go into a tail spin! The next day I tided like a maniac, fussed and flapped and chucked. And guess what? It doesn't look much different. The leaves are still finding their way under the front door, the kitchen floor could do with a wash, the piles of washing keep growing and the sense of happy chaos is still here.

Our house is our home and a space where we can be ourselves, be a family. It will never be an immaculate show piece but I hope it will always be a place filled with colour and imagination, questions & adventure, comfort & cosiness. The dishes get done, the kids have clean clothes and lots of cuddles, they are warm, fed, listened too and loved. So I'm not obsessing about it any longer! Do you keep up with all the housework? Are you a good organiser? Is your house super tidy? I like things to be organised and tidy but I have had to surrender to some of the chaos and disorder, otherwise I would go mad.

So yes, life can be messy both at home and sometimes in relationships, or in the community where we live. Some recent events have got me thinking about the ups and downs of life. There will always be challenges, it's really how we deal, cope & grow with life that makes the difference. I always aim to be positive and try and work things out, even if it is hard sometimes. Just as I hope my home is a welcoming and happy place it's important to me to try and be a thoughtful & caring person too.

Housework will always be there but lets face it, there are some much more important things to be doing! Like making a String of Hearts for new baby, Rose. Oh how lovely to see a new baby, the dear little sweetie, so adorable.

And meeting up with some ace local women at Craft night last night! What a fun evening we had,

chatting and sitting by the fire at Peppers, sipping soothing drinks, having a laugh and crafting, of course. I couldn't think of a nicer bunch of people to hang out with & I can't wait for next Craft night!

I was also so happy to this week to receive this gorgeous little frame from Bec as part of her recent giveaway! Thanks so much Bec for making this especially for me, I love it!

I'm thrilled too that our biodynamic garlic is now for sale at Cliffy's in Daylesford! Have you visited this fantastic local cafe/grocer? Filled with locally grown & sourced produce it really is a little piece of heaven. So many delicious things, and excellent coffee too. I love the atmosphere of Cliffy's, the low lights and warm fire make it such a cosy place to meet for a cuppa.

So, enough about me, what's been happening with you? Hope all is well in your world, see you soon xo

Fleamarket finds..

Hi Thrill seekers! Do you like the overalls I found for a $1 at the Trentham Op Shop? Perfect for Bill who is planning to be a builder (and author) when he grows up.

I've had this unknown family portrait found at the MS op shop for a while but I finally got around to putting it up today.

Luckily I have a resident handy man who was only too happy to help.

Not a huge amount of time of shop the oppies this week but I did come across this ace basket today at the Tip shop. Perfect for storing firewood. It's definitely fire wood season, freezing & grey today.

Another bonus of heading up to Callawadda this week was stopping in at the Avoca Op Shop. This time I found some spare Swatch bands that will fit my watch..

and a nice pile of vintage linens.

This Australiana tablecloth is so special.

Nice and worn and soft & covered with gorgeous depictions of Australian flora, fauna & cities, it is a definite keeper. No cutting this one up, it's going straight on the table, well after a wash of course! One day I'll show you my whole collection of tablecloths, it's quite an addiction...

Hope you are having a great weekend, this is the last day of my giveaway so do enter if you haven't already. I'll be drawing out three winners tomorrow, how exciting!! In the meantime pop on over to Sophie's for more fleamarket treasures....see you soon xo

Callawadda dreaming

It's Saturday morning and I'm sitting in bed having a cuppa and thinking about the last couple of days I spent in Callawadda.


Michelle & I arrived early to find Terry happy & well and busy as usual with the running of his biodynamic farm. He directed us to our newly ripped piece of land which we found after winding our way through the dry creek flats under stands of massive river gums. Each year we have been in a different spot and this time is the best yet. So beautiful, clean and serene, and the earth was like soft, brown cocoa powder.


I'd love to tell you this is our garlic that sprouted as we planted but no, it's the adjoining crop of oats.

Michelle used Simon's homemade hole puncher to make the holes..

which we then popped the cloves of garlic in. This year we are growing Oriental Purple, Monaro & the beautiful pink skinned Silverskin. We also planted a bed of shallots, red & golden.


This year we were better prepared and made sure we stopped for smoko. Not that we smoked but I do like that expression, it so Australian. We had cups of tea and banana bread and fruit and got back into it feeling refreshed! I love working with Michelle, we seem to fall into a rthym, chatting and planting, being outside in the fresh air, under a big sky - doing something we love.

One of the benefits of visiting Callawadda for me is the farm itself. Clusters of tools tell a story of hard work and simple living.

History is written in the dust.

I love the earthy, practicality of the wood stacks

This unfussy house is a such a warm and happy home.



All the images speak to me and tell a story of years gone by, of a time when things were different. In a sense it's still different here, Internet access is dial up only and mobile access is unreliable.

You really get the feeling of being in the now, of slowing down and seeing things in

a less cluttered way.

Even though we were only gone for two days it felt like longer. Terry & his son, William, made us feel so at home and I can't wait to get up there again and see how our garlic is growing.


Do you live in the country? If not have you visited it lately? There is something so timeless and special about this amazing country we live in, I love to drive through it, to be in it and find it in my dreams at night. Hope you have a beautiful, dreamy weekend & don't forget to enter my giveaway, see you soon xo