For the last week I have been enjoying a break from work.
I think my soul has really needed this one.
My sons are out of town spending time with their dad so the house has been very quiet.
I miss them beyond words but know I have to make the most of this time, it wont be long before they are home and arguing with each other again.
I 've been keeping myself super busy doing things around home.
The weather has been amazingly sweet making the chores a lot more enjoyable.
If chores can be enjoyed ;)
I wrote myself a long to-do list and have crossed off all but one job.. painting the hallway!
I prepped it and was going to get stuck in today but Elvis has scattered things all through the shed and I can't get to the paints.
Maybe it's not a bad thing, the sky has been trying to rain and it's only reached about 18 - which feels like winter after the beautiful sunshine we've been having!
My body needed the day off too.
I've pushed myself quite hard to get through my list and finished big jobs like paving a crazy path, removing the garden shed to relay the foundation pavers and putting the shed (and the gazillion things inside) back in place, the giant spring clean inside the house.
Then all the other things that just needed to be done like mowing the lawn, fixing garden fencing, baking trays and trays of moon and star shaped cookies.
*gaaaasp*
I am puffed!
It has felt good to be physical and productive, I just need to keep it up.
The garden is between seasons but giving little bits of yums still.
We had lots of cauliflower bakes the last few weeks and have pickled up some more jars of beetroots. Next batch will be chutney-ed.
One of my favourite things to grow is carrots.
I made a big pot of carrot and coriander soup with this bunch and am thinking strongly of another carrot cake for the next lot that are bursting to be picked.
Have a look at how big the chookababies have got!
This picture was about a week, maybe 2, ago and they are even bigger again!
We still don't know if they are hens or roosters but think that at least one is definitely a boy as it has some pretty colourings showing through and a comb developing while the others don't.
The boys have named them.
Blackberry, Rosie, Castaway (has always been a little bit left behind) and the yellow fluffer is called Barbara, Babs for short.
They are super cute little eggcups!
While I was doing some shovelling in the backyard a couple of days ago I smelt something.
It was familiar and comforting and made my eyes mist up with happy and sad tears.
It was my Dad.
A mix of his deodorant, his clothes, cigarettes.. it was all of him.
He was sitting with me in the garden.
I'm not crazy.
I'm a big believer in souls, the afterlife, spirits and ghosts, and I tell ya, my Dad was with me.
The house next door is vacant and I couldn't hear other neighbours out - and I was tucked in a bit of a corner where their scent couldn't have reached me anyhow.
It was like he was right beside me, sitting on the edge of the trailer, thinking as he did, dreaming up garden plans.
Since the day he left I have prayed that he would visit me.
I wish every day and night that I could talk to him, just talk about the nothings and the everythings we used to.
I needed to know he was around.
I love that that was the moment he visited me.
Just he and I, in the garden.
He was always doing work to his garden, making new beds, tidying up, fixing things, adding quirks.
That's what I was doing.
And I was using his tools that I'd watched him use since I was a little girl, shadowing him around the place.
It makes me happy, relieved, overjoyed and overwhelmed that he was there.
I hope he stops by again soon.
Well I need to go a get a box of tissues again!
And I might go get some air in the garden while the sun is peaking through, though the wind has picked up so I don't think it'll be a warm sun.
Please, wind, don't blow away my nectarine babies!
