Looking forward to the work

There will be much hustle and bustle here today. This time next week the first of our guests will have arrived - my sister, Tricia - and we will be building up to my birthday celebrations. I don't want to do too much when our visitors are here, so this week will be busy with cleaning, preparations and fluffing the nest (ours, not the chooks'). We'll have three extra family members staying and several people visiting for lunch so I'll try to get the guest bedrooms in order today. There isn't too much to do in each bedroom but I want to dust, change bed linen and find some reading material.

We have four bedrooms in our home - one has been turned into a sewing room, there is one large guest room and one small one. My sisters will be in the larger room and one of my sons will be in the smaller one.

I like preparing for guests. I want them to feel at ease here, to be able to relax and unwind, and when it is time to go, to feel refreshed and better for having spent time with us. If someone is too cold or too hot, if they feel out of place or don't like the food I prepare that is a good indication that I didn't put enough time into thinking about their needs and how to fill them. Looking after family is easier because you know them so well, but it's still a challenge and it's important that I am mindful of my preparations.

Today I'll be making bread and doing the washing. There are also rosellas to be picked and dried for tea and made into cordial. I'll take some photos of the chicken coop later. Hanno hasn't done any work on it for a couple of days but one of the new roosts is being used and now he only has to finish off the other one and make the new nesting boxes. It should be finished this week but I'll take a photo of the work as it stands so you can see the progress made.

I hope there will be time for gardening too. I'd like to add some fertiliser to the greens and tie up the newly planted tomatoes but if I don't get to it today, it will be there tomorrow. It's no big deal if any of it is not done today, it will be done tomorrow or the next day.

I mailed my tote bag parcel to Chas yesterday so this afternoon I'll be doing a little bit of work on Helen's stitchery. Which reminds me, I must phone my chook lady, Margaret, to see if there are any hatchlings yet.

It's cold here this morning and I have my warm lambs wool slippers on. The baby chickens are just outside the window where I'm sitting and I can hear the first of their wake up chirps. Rosie is sitting here starting at me, waiting to be let out, Alice and Hanno are still sound asleep in warm beds. It's time to set to and start my chores, it will be quiet at first, then noisy as the day unfolds and settles into itself. It's good to look forward to a day of work here at home. I am a lucky woman to have it all ahead of me.