January

January

This year has not started the way I anticipated. Beginning on Christmas Eve and lasting until mid-January our household was affected by a wave a sickness. Nothing too serious, but enough to warrant visits to the doctors, prescription medication and lots of rest. It quashed some loosely discussed plans of travel and resulted in a lot more time spent at home than I expected…

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November

November

This month seems to have whizzed by in record time. For me it both began and ended with a cold – with perhaps five or so days respite in between. We’ve had flood induced visitors (at one point, there were four adults, two kids, a dog and a pair of goldfish residing at our house) and done lots and lots and lots of planting in our new garden…

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October

October

If I could sum up the last month in two words, they would be ‘rain’ and ‘gardening’. October has proven to be a very soggy month in Wagga Wagga – the river’s been in flood twice in the last few weeks, and it feels like every other day rain, showers or thunderstorms are forecast. The timing of the exceptionally wet weather has come at a time when Adam and myself are working hard to try and landscape our new garden. So in between the rain, we’ve been spending virtually all of our spare time outside digging, mulching and planting…

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August/September

August/September

It’s hard to believe the last time I wrote here was nearly two months ago, on the eve of our little family’s departure to the United Kingdom. We had the most wonderful five weeks away and it’s only really been these last few days that it’s felt like life has returned to normal. It was one of the warmest and driest summers in England on record, which was incredibly evident in the countryside around us. The long, long sunny days though felt like a treat after a very rainy winter in Australia (it’s turning into a very rainy spring too) and certainly made sightseeing and catch-ups with friends and family easy to plan.

Whilst the trip was technically holiday, it almost didn’t feel like one. As we were returning to an area where Adam and I had lived previously it really felt like we were just living back in England again. We knew the region, the roads, shops and eateries. We picked up groceries every few days, saw loved ones on multiple occasions and returned to places we love.

These were some of the highlights…

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July

July

All going to plan, Adam, Paul and myself will depart for the U.K. tomorrow. It’s been almost four years since Adam and my last visit. A pregnancy and a global pandemic thwarted previously planned trips, so to say we’re a little excited is probably an understating it. We’ll have nearly six weeks with Adam’s family in Worcestershire to reconnect and enjoy the last month or so of what’s proven so far to be exceptional English summer…

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June

June

It’s been a week since Adam, Paul and myself moved into our new house and we’re starting to settle in nicely. There are still boxes that need to sorted through and unpacked; there’s a lot of styling to do; and our yard is still mud- but we’re in!

It’s been a long process to get to where we currently are. There were a number of unforeseen, out-of-our-control situations that came up during the purchase of our land and during the build, at one point Adam and I were thinking it was all too difficult, but we’re so glad we persisted…

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May

May

May seems to have arrived and (almost) departed with quite a frenetic pace. It’s been a busy few weeks – Adam and I have had some long days at our respective offices, we’ve both had work trips away, there’s been a rather nasty cold that ‘s affected the entire family and working bees have started in the garden of the new house – next month is moving month!

Adam and I are putting in a great deal of thought into our new garden. We plan on establishing several distinct “zones” around the house, including a large grassy play area for Paul, a sizable allotment style vegetable garden and an extensive terraced garden. It’s a project that we know will take many months of work and before we launch into it all, we want to make sure we’ve got a clear vision for how we want our outdoor areas to look.

A couple of weeks ago I got the opportunity to visit go to an open day at local nursery, Ladysmith Park Perennials. What I discovered was the dreamiest space. The living embodiment of what Adam and I had fallen in love with in magazines, books and online…

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April

April

A little while ago I signed up to a locally based fresh produce service. It’d been something I’d been considering for a while, but for one reason or another I never made the commitment – What if the box contained something myself or Adam didn’t like? What if Paul went on a toddler induced ‘no fruit or vegetables’ strike? What if I ended up wasting food? In the end though, I decided the pros outweighed the cons and quite a few weeks int my subscription, I’m so glad I decided to take the plunge…

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