Ahhhh, the serenity

Hello friends. I'm almost back to normal and with the exception of a bung knee, I'm feeling pretty good. I had the exceptional gift of being able to rest and take my time with recovery and even though in years passed I would have become impatient with illness and the time it takes to recover, now I feel grateful I have the time and good sense to appreciate the process.  Thank you for your patience and the lovely comments you sent.

The Montville rose, and visitor.

Life goes on here whether I'm well or ill and I'm pleased I now have the opportunity to get back to the ordinary tasks I enjoy. I'm currently modifying our vegetable and herb garden to become more of a kitchen garden - a mix of vegetables, herbs and flowers. In the past week I've taken cuttings, transplanted, cut back and sown seeds and even though I'm not quite sure of my exact plan yet, I'm planting groups of plants that will eventually merge together to become a productive and hopefully a beautiful and charming garden. 

It's far from instagram "perfect"and I'd never want to bore you with perfection but when it starts to make sense, I'll take a few photos for you. Ours is an ordinary garden, there are weeds here, we have bugs, thorns sometimes catch and rip my skin but all those things are normal and the way of the natural world. Cutting down on weeds and non-benificial insects is one of my jobs now and having my hands in the soil makes me feel really connected with life out there in our backyard.

I've continued on with the dishcloths I'm making for Jonathan's school fete.

Meanwhile, inside our home, I've been thinking about the ongoing work I do. Housekeeping is often about repetitive chores and ticking off to do lists but it only takes a small adjustment in thinking to reimagine it as art that can be reinvented every day.  Each home, each family, each person is individual so there are 100s of decisions to be made to make a home that suits you and fits like a glove. The trick is to do something every day and to stop seeing it as drudgery, and more a way of changing your surroundings to enrich your life.

I started on another knitting project that I'll show you later in the week.  Gracie is very suspicious of my wool winder. Every time I use it, she sits nearby and keeps a close eye on it.  

When I was working for a living I was ambitious and hardworking. Stopping work, coming home and closing the gate didn't change me, I was still that ambitious person. And I didn't change into a homebody overnight, it was a gradual process, step by step, and my personality modified itself as time went by. I mellowed and changed what I thought success was. Instead of wanting everything I settled into my home and it changed me. It made me calmer and more accepting and instead of focusing on success I strived for generosity, inclusiveness and working with an open heart. 

When you close the gate you create a unique space that can be absorbing, calm and empowering. No matter what madness goes on outside in the streets of our beautiful country, here, on this land we live on, when we close that gate, the gentle air of freedom, generosity and contentment lives side by side with us. And you never know what each day will bring, even though it looks like the same from outside our fences. Some days people visit, new projects start and some are finished. Other days we enjoy the repetition of the familiar and sail through the work we do. In the long run, the busy visiting days and the repetition balance out and it all inspires us to continue. Ahhhh, the serenity.