Farm days

It's been a couple of weeks between posts and so I thought it was time for some farm life updates. Despite promises in the forecast of rain last week, we only had one day where there was proper rain, rain that tumbled down, turning the mountain a sea of mist and drenching us when we went outside in it. It didn't last long though and after a couple of downpours, it disappeared again. The forecast kept promising showers, but they didn't come, and instead, the clouds cleared and patches of blue sky took over as the sun streamed down. I'm sure that come winter, I'll be complaining about the cold and the rain, but I wouldn't have minded a bit more of it this week.

We've had more visitors at the farm which has been great. And I've been settling into farm life, by turning the farm into the site of my very own academic writing retreat - which you can read about at my worky blog here:DIY writing retreat

Leah came up a couple of weeks ago and we spent a lovely day feasting and catching up, while David and Rohan worked at the old house, plastering and painting in preparation for selling. It's amazing how the old house is starting to take shape under the coats of white paint and I wonder why we didn't finish the plastering and painting when we were there! (Well I know it was the houseful of furniture preventing us!).

David came back again this week to put in another day of painting while Rohan and I were at work. He's a painting, sanding and plastering machine and we can't even begin to thank him! Proof of his generous nature was when I dropped in to the house in Melbourne a couple of weeks ago as I left my car there and walked to a meeting nearby. I came back and he'd washed my filthy car to the point where I thought I was breaking into someone else's car as I put my key in the lock! That wins major votes in the father-in-law of the year competition!

My Mum and Dad arrived on Thursday morning for their regular swap meet adventure. They weren't sure how far out of town the new place was or if they would find it, but they're loving it now and spent a lot of time soaking up the sun through the kitchen windows, reading or watching the birds in the yard outside.

Our hope was that the new place would be filled with visitors, with talking, with laughter and with food and it has been this way so far. It's great being able to walk in the paddocks with family, to sit around the table sharing a meal with them, or to see Rohan and his Dad heading off into the back paddocks together in search of rabbits. 

We've installed a makeshift bird feeding station in the yard - but so far they seem less interested in their bird seed and more interested in our fruit! 

My evolution to country/ farm life person continues as I decided that what I really needed was to teach myself to quilt. HUH? I'm blaming country life magazine, the weekly times and removal from constant stimulus of shops for this. I've always liked sewing but with no space to spread out projects, I'd kind of abandoned it. But I woke up with an idea for quilt throws in two colour schemes. Fabric purchased and a quilt cutter at the ready, and I'm going all how to make an australian quilt - truth be told I loved 'How to make an American quilt' in both book and movie form - the combination of quilting, academic writing, and Winona Ryder in the film version - you can't go past it. So we'll see how I go, I'm not convinced I have the time to do this as I'm not sure I can fit everything I need to do in, let alone everything I want to do, but hey, having ambition and a plan is always good right? 

Tonight's farm life adventure will be to cook Spaghetti Squash. I've never cooked them before but have been looking at recipes for them, tossed with garlic, herbs and parmesan cheese and I reckon it could be worth trying as a Sunday night farm recipe. Let's see how it goes :)