| A simple living journey

Goodness, how time flies!

We have recently come back from a wonderful week away in Canberra where we were able to finally introduce Elsie to Grant's family. Gosh, it was lovely! We ate out, took the kids to all kinds of interesting things and generally did all the kinds of "town" things that are hard to do here. Also, an indoor bathroom was a huge luxury. I'm not going to lie, I miss the indoor bathroom.

I wasn't sure how I would feel returning to the farm and our little yurt which continues to be a work in progress and still has a functional but very basic outdoor bathroom. But when I arrived back, for the first time since moving here it felt like I had come "home". It was wonderful to see the animals, to check on Hagrid and his goats and see how much the veggies had grown.

The floors are dusty and I have a mountain of washing I am slowly working my way through but none the less it's good to be home and even better to realize this place has made its way into my heart of hearts and the roots of belonging are finally established.

We have a renewed sense of enthusiasm since returning, which often comes from a little breakaway and being able to look upon things with a fresh set of eyes. Grant and the boys have been busy moving the goats, pumping water and the boys have been helping him weed the veggies, which although had a good rate of germination, they have been slow to establish. There is some soil tweaking yet to do which will no doubt take a few seasons.

I have had my hands full looking after Elsie who has been very unsettled since going away. Though she seems to be happier today and I hope to make some sauerkraut and kimchi with our organic homegrown cabbages this afternoon.

Kimchi. So delicious and a mix of recipes from Nourishing Traditions and online.

It's been hot and dry here. We have a small water hole left in our creek and we are topping up the tank daily in case it dries out. We have a digger coming at some point to clear out the water hole as the water is there, it's just underground. There is plenty of rain on the horizon apparently, but it keeps getting delayed or skirting around us. Though they are predicting a wet summer for the region so we will see.

Yesterday afternoon Grant took one look at me trying to settle a hot angry baby and declared we were all going to the river to cool off. So, we grabbed our towels, a cold beer each, loaded the kids and the dogs up and drove to the river. It was just what we needed, it was incredibly special to introduce Elsie to the river for the first time.

Stopping to do things like that as a family is key to getting through all we have to do here. The list of jobs is never-ending and up-to-date isn't a thing right now and I doubt it is ever going to be. That is a reality of the life we are choosing. Which is perfectly ok but it can be all-consuming and overwhelming if we don't put it down and walk away from time to time.