~living this beautiful messy life~
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One of the things that makes my soul feel satisfied, gives me a sense of pride, and brings me such JOY, is to be able to provide for my family one of the most very basic of foods:
BREAD
🌻
Mixing up some bread dough
Dough proving in a warm spot
1 loaf done.
and some rolls…
All done for the week!
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For me, the next couple of weeks will be all about leaning in to working out what sort of rhythm I want for my days and weeks in the coming year. Continue reading “Intentional Rhythm”
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With each day that passes, I am more and more glad that I left work when I did.
I am also very very aware of how incredibly fortunate I was, to be in the position of having the support (in all ways) from My Love, that meant I was able to have that choice to leave work.
With the clamp-downs that have been happening now surrounding COVID-19, and all the associated job losses that are going along with it, I know that Continue reading “how fortunate am I?”
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When you’re feeling a bit flat, one of the very best therapies is to get outside.
If you can plant something and immerse your hands in the dirt, it makes Continue reading “feeling flat?”
I’ve always been a bit careful of cooking with herbs and spices.
Truth be told, I’m a bit scared of them – as I don’t know how they Continue reading “RECIPE: Butter Chicken”
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It’s been months since my last post cos I’ve been all over the countryside doing alllllll the things.
There’s soooo much to write about, but for now, I’m ripping the bandaid off and posting a simple stocktake of where I’m at right this second, to hold y’all off until I can finish up with a proper update…! Continue reading “stocktake [dec19]”
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Without further ado, I’m going to do the “Take Stock” thing.
Here’s what’s going on with me right now…
Making: a bit of a tidier ‘nest’ for our daughter who is due to give birth in less than 36hrs.
Cooking: not much at all just yet, but it will be our ‘turn’ in the coming days.
Drinking: coffee always, and finally back to having the occasional tea.
Reading: 30,000 bottles of wine… Continue reading “stocktake [jun19]”
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Its only a matter of days now, before we leave on our much-needed vacation, so as you can imagine I am neck deep in planning and organising, which for me means the there are lists aplenty going on!
Lists for whats already packed, lists for what still needs to be packed, list for things that need doing around the house and garden, and lists about whom we still need to see to take care of our Home, Farm and animals while we’re gone.
Lists to remind us of what needs printing out, a list that spells out our semi-intended itinerary, and a meal-planning list so that there is hopefully minimal amounts of food that will need to be composted prior to us leaving.
As I’ve said before, its two years since we last went to New Zealand, and it will be our very first extended leave away from the Farm, since we bought it.
And I’m freaking out just a wee bit! 😐
Its such a double-dilemma for me personally…
New Zealand is my soul-home.
It is where I belong.
It is where my insides quieten, and my heart feels full.
Had Life panned out differently, we would currently be nestled in our home at Okiato, overlooking Opua Harbour right now…but that didn’t pan out – so compromises had to be made, and dreams re-developed.
Now – we have our beautiful Farm, nestled in the foothills of the Carrington Ranges – and we live in a small 63m2 (678ft2) home that we’re in the process of converting from a machinery shed.
And I love our Home and Farm fiercely!
They too, now feed my soul and fill my heart…
The Farm is my haven.
Its where my soul gets replenished when the rest of ‘life’ drains me.
Its my safe place.
Its where no-one judges me.
It is where I grow food to nourish our bodies while the serenity nourishes my mind and spirit.
Because of this, there is a part of me doesn’t want to go away and leave them, for what feels like soooo long!
I know…. first world problems right?! 😐
So – I’m more than a tad angsty right now.
The list-making helps me feel more in control of that – and I keep reminding myself that I’m going to my soul-home for a while so we can both rest, relax, regroup and reconnect – I’m not leaving our Farm, never to return!
I am going somewhere special to spend time with someone special.
I am going to go and make memories to hold deep in my heart.
I’m going ‘home’ for a little while… And we’ll be back wrapped in the safety of our gorgeous serene Farm before we even know it, wondering how on earth the time passed so damn quick!
What’s not to love, with the changing of the colours of the trees signalling the changing of the seasons.
THIS is what we’re off to spend time soaking up…
Theres noooo business like snowwwww business….!
The most gorgeous scenery in the entire world.
I’ve spent my “free-time Friday” this week, moving furniture around a bit within our little home.
I’ve now made room for my writing desk to go into our living room space so that it will front on to the big glass doors, which means I’ll now have a lovely view of our garden to look out on when I write, instead of only being able to see the top of the trees – which was my previous view from the dining room table – due to me being ‘horizontally challenged’ 😀
I love our garden so much – and love to take my laptop outside to write, when the weather is being kind – but of late its either been blisteringly hot, or pouring with rain – and as we don’t yet have a covered outdoor area, it means I am confined to indoors during those times.
Right now, we don’t use our lounge-room area a whole lot – its more of a winter area for us in the evenings; but when I’m home alone, I’ll often use the area for reading, otherwise it doesn’t get a lot of traffic – so I’ve been looking at ways to re-jig it, so that it not only gets more use, but is a more practical space for us.
And what better way to do that than to incorporate my writing desk into the area!
I have also been keeping a look-out at the tip-shop and the second-hand shops for a day-bed, which I will put along the wall that currently houses a huuuuuuge lounge-chair and a chest of drawers.
The drawers will move to the next wall over, and the lounge-chair will probably be sold.
We don’t use the lounge-chair, and rarely have visitors who would use it – so its just being a space-sucker!
(although our puppies may disagree with my opinions on this particular piece of furniture)
Its all a work in progress, and today I’m loving’ the progress I’ve made! 🙂
My lovely calm writing space.
You can see the view I have, in the title Image for this post 🙂
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![stocktake [dec19]](https://simplelifefarmer.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/stocktake-dec19.png)
![stocktake [jun19]](https://simplelifefarmer.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/fig-04-06-2019_11-00-35.jpg)
