Happy New Year - A Fresh Start

Happy New Year for 2014

It's been such a long while since I last wrote.  I haven't forgotten about my blog, it's just that, well, life has taken different directions and it hasn't been such a passion for me lately, but then feeling a little guilty about not having posted any updates recently, I thought I'd add a couple of posts to get back into writing again.

Now I have been thinking, since all of us are a 'work in progress' I felt that I should extend the content of my journey to include all aspects not just about weight loss.  You know, I actually find that constantly talking about weight loss and whether or not someone has put on or loss a pound or a centimeter can be somewhat boring.  You know it, we've all been around one or more of those people and no we don't need to see facebook posts every day of 'I'm at the gym'.  Boring! (ok I apologise, that does sound somewhat judgemental), but there is more to life and I'm just not that insecure, well not about that anyway, in fact, I'm probably a lot less insecure about myself now than i ever was as a skinny version of me.  Yeah, have you heard that saying 'I wish I was as thin as I was when I thought I was fat'.  So really, without boring you any further (whilst still trying to encourage others), I was thinking that this year I'll add some posts which will highlight upon other areas of transformation, because as I mentioned earlier - we are all constant 'works of progress'.

Part of our journey involves currently living in a smallish unit, with the kids sharing the nice big room, which should have been mine and me slightly cramped into the smaller room, but hey, for now it is comfortable, cozy and we so far (thank you God) have not experienced any real trouble where we are.  For a change of scenery and a bit of a 'cheats' holiday, sometimes we go house sitting (as well call it), but is more about going 'pet sitting', usually to properties flasher than ours and therefore more comfortable, with more space for us to spread out.  We have house sat dogs (even though we are allergic to dog hair, so are constantly vacuuming and washing our hands) and cats, and most recently the addition of chickens, fish, goats and sheep.  We find it (house sitting), such a refreshing experience to have that change of scenery away from the area in which we live , usually involving a short spell of living out in the country, plus it helps us to appreciate what we have and where we live upon our return home.  Most recently, we have been staying on a small farm just 5 minutes (car drive) from town, but too far out to walk into town.  We found the experience to be very refreshing with the fresh farm air and the space, oh the space, which did wonders for our family after the christmas rush and end of school term, to just be able to do things together on the farm as a family, but to also spread out across the property, each having their own space.  What a treat.

Here is a short story about our stay in the country...

Had a fun time staying on a small farm for a couple of weeks over the Christmas season.  I was left in charge of a few tasks including checking the drinking water for the goats & lambs, changing the swimming pool filter and topping up with water if necessary, but mostly and more importantly, watering & picking produce from the garden of a famous local gardener/author.  Was a tad nervous about this aspect being a non-gardener myself but a map & roster was drawn up for me upon request and thankfully there was no expectation nor requirement to actually weed(Im sorry, which is the week and which is the seedling?) or mow the massive lawns, therefore I found I actually quite enjoyed it.  Was quite fun for the short while that we stayed there, much like painting, crocheting, baking or knitting (remember I'm the non-gardener), however, the question remains - would the novelty wear off quickly if I looked after gardens of such big scale 365 days of the year - probably, but after finding how incredible the organic produce tasted compared to produce from the supermarket, I'm now feeling confident that I could actually look after some potted gardens without killing them in the process.  The fresh farm air and exercise of walking back & forth across the property was all good too!

Here’s what I learnt about gardening and life on the farm.  Potted flowers seem pretty easy overall.  Roosters wake any time from 5am (I hear that some never sleep – ever, so I guess we were pretty lucky).  Getting up at the rooster’s crow can be most beneficial, resulting in completion of all major tasks indoors and out by 8.00 am.  I learnt that chickens in general are very cheeky and at times quite naughty.  The occasional one even likes to have its feathers stroked.  As for the actual vegetables I discovered that zucchinis can camouflage themselves extremely well resulting in the odd one or two being missed during picking and without a few days have turned into massive marrows (still yum and useful).  I discovered just how incredible and sweet fresh peas taste picked and eaten straight from the vine.  Picking was quite fun, although they also like to camouflage themselves.  My mum instructed me to go around the vines twice so I wouldn’t miss any and it did cause a little bit of eye strain (but I think that is just because of my particular eyes sight problem).  Oh yes, I also learnt very quickly, that any vegetable belonging to the zucchini / squash family are very much like triffids.  Seriously, with each search through the patch looking for and picking the produce, one will end up with scratches, rashes and welts up one’s arms.  Honestly, I began to wonder if they are all descendants of the same triffid family!  Be careful of your eyes!!! (who else remembers that movie?).

Probably the aspect I most enjoyed was not having close neighbours, plus the feeling that one was closer to God, having such amazing ‘farmscape’ views as far as the eye could see, truly highlighting God’s creations.  It’s as if one can actually see and think without the constant noise and bustle of the busy towns and cities,  built up with houses and sectioned off with fences and trees for privacy but somewhat blocking ones distance vision in the process.

I thoroughly enjoyed the country experience, however there is no place like home and it feels really good to be back.  Maybe I won’t aspire to live in the country just yet, but to have best of both worlds instead, by owning a country property just on the very edge of town.  Yes, that sounds more like me!  A girl’s gotta dream right?