Wagga Wagga to Worcestershire & back again
As I sit here typing away, rain is falling steadily on the roof. Out of the window, mist enshrouds the paddocks that lie to the south of the house, there is crow squawking away on top of a lamp post and the air has a chill about it – autumn has well and truly arrived.
It’s only in the last few days that it’s felt like the season has changed, and that shift seems apt for life at the moment…
Continue reading “April”
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…
Continue reading “January”
The big day is over, work has finished for the year and the temperatures are on the rise. For me, December’s been a blur of Christmas preparations, birthday celebrations and spending time with family and friends. It’s been lovely.
Continue reading “December”
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…
Continue reading “October”
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…
Continue reading “June”
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…
Continue reading “May”
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…
Continue reading “April”
Hello! Here we are, at the end of the first month of the year. January’s a funny one isn’t it? At times, it feels like both the longest and shortest month of year. A mix of long, languid summer days and the chaos that is getting back into the work/school/daycare routine once again.
In 2022 I’ll be doing things a little differently on the blog. I’ve used my break to have a really long think about how I want this space to look, feel and sound, so there’ll be a few changes moving forward…
Continue reading “January”
For me, December isn’t December without some Christmas baking. Growing up in those weeks leading up to December the 25th there was always a supply of rumballs, white Christmas, and shortbread stored in baking paper lined Tupperware containers in the fridge. As a child I had a particular dislike for dried fruit, so the shortbread was the treat I enjoyed the most and the one I have the fondest memories of.
My grandmother’s shortbread recipe has almost legendary status in my family. I can’t even imagine how many batches she would’ve made over the years. I can remember one December, watching her knead the shortbread mixture together, marvelling at how easy she made all the ingredients come together (then realising later in life she had incredible strength in her arms to be able to do that!)
This is the only shortbread recipe I’ve ever made, and to be honest probably the only one I’ll ever use…
Continue reading “Shortbread”
Despite and wet and frankly quite chilly weekend, we are halfway through spring in the southern hemisphere. The light filled evenings are getting longer, the open toed shoes are back in rotation and I’m generally spending more and more time outside.
Over the last little while a few items have helped ground that sense of a new season, so I thought I’d share with you what’s been helping me get into a spring state of mind…
Continue reading “Something to share: the spring edit”
Wattle and Ash 