Sundays.

It’s become the routine at our place that Sundays are a bit of a ‘tidy-up’ day. And I know it might be daggy, but I really enjoy it. Saturdays are often for getting all of my uni work out of the way, and then a little bit of socialising, and after the bustle of the week, Sundays are just for being around the home, putting some time and energy into the space, and just going slow.

Today, we had a lovely long sleep in, after going out for dinner with friends, and then to see one of my very favourite performers, Mikelangelo, at a wonderful, intimate venue in South Melbourne last night.

Then, I made us fresh orange juice from the abundance of oranges we received in our veggie box this week, followed by an old breakfast favourite of mine: tomato and onion on toast, with some fresh herbs, spring onions and sprouts from the garden.

And then it was getting stuck into the clean! We have a house inspection later this week, so it was a little more vigorous than usual. And it was such a glorious sunny day outside – such a welcome break from a relentless winter – that it was a struggle to stay indoors long enough to get everything done. As it was, I kept going outside every half an hour to just soak up the sunshine.

Another great thing about this warm weekend is that I finally get to wear the ‘summer socks’ I made last Easter and then haven’t had a chance to wear because it’s been too cold. They're 'yoga socks' designed to keep your feet and ankles warm and your toes and heels free for yoga and pilates poses.

But I've found another practical use for them. The perfect combination: thongs AND warm feet!

Then we had a Transition Darebin meeting at a local café. I almost didn’t want to go – I really didn’t want to be indoors. But as usual, it was so inspiring and motivating to hear about everyone’s projects and ideas, so I’m glad I went.

And now I’m home again, pulling the washing in off the line, potting out a few plants and just settling in, preparing for the week ahead. Enjoying the clean and tidy house. How was your Sunday?

The Visit

Last month, for my birthday, my mum visited me and my sister here in Melbourne, which was wonderful. It was great to be able to show her where and how I live: my home, and my lovely big back yard. We cooked a lot, and sat in the living room in front of the 'fire' (gas heater) chatting and knitting. Sarah came over and we went out to lunch in my favourite local cafe. We went op-shopping at the marvellous op-shops on Sydney road.

And we spent a day out in the garden. My mum is a biodynamic farmer and a permaculture wiz and as we wandered around the garden, secateurs in hand, she had a wealth of advice for what to plant where, how to manage the gore wasp in the lemon, how to prune the peach in time for spring.

I love my mother's approach to gardening -- it's very practical and direct. We were replanting some seedlings: I, gingerly pulling them free, delicately placing them in a hole as if they were precious (and they are!), softly tucking them in. Mum would unceremoniously push them into the ground with her thumb.

'I used to think like you do, but now I plant out so many seedlings that I haven't got the time or patience,' she said burying up to its leaves a tiny, out-of-season tomato seedling that had grown in the compost. 'It probably wont survive the rest of winter,' she warned.

For me, who, for all my cyclical enthusiasm has never been much of a green thumb, took heart in her approach -- clearly these fragile things are hardier than they look. Maybe it wont matter so much if I get a few things wrong. Its all the encouragement I need to dive right in!

And then, she boarded the train and went back to the farm.

Yarn Along

Once, quite a few years ago now, I had finished working for a man in a kilt who lived on the west coast of Scotland. I planned to head South again, perhaps back into England, and told him so.

'Oh no, you can't!' he said in a voice like Sean Connery's. 'Not when you've come so close.'

The balcony on the front of his house looked out over the harbour, and every day, just at the same morning hour, a very large ferry left for the Outer Hebrides.

'You must see the Islands while you are here. They're amazing.'

And he was right. Such wild, treeless islands of wind and ghosts. I stood on a bluff and looked out over the sea and hills and could see nothing made by man. I could have been standing there at any point in history. It broke my heart and healed it all at once.

So I stayed with the daughter of the man in a kilt with the voice of Sean Connery, in her cottage attached to a haunted manor. And we cooked rustic meals of produce bought from farmers, and went looking for ghosts, and fended off Jehovah's Witnesses who knocked on our door-at-the-edge-of-the-world, and we sat around and knitted. There was a book there, too, all about an island even further out in the uncaring sea, which had once had inhabitants who had more in common with the Norse, than they did with the Scotts (although they still had to pay the Laird their taxes). I didn't read all of this book, I left before I could finish, back to a part of the world just a little less magical.

This is not that book, but it is about that furthest-flung island, St Kilda. It is a fictionalised account of the time that a missionary and his wife went to save the natives from themselves, much to the detriment of everyone concerned. It's not a bad book, but it's not that good either. Mostly I keep reading it because it is about my favourite part of the world. And my knitting skills have progressed somewhat since sitting in that cottage too. This is the first of a pair of legwarmers, lace stitch, knitted in the round. The wool came from a jumper I bought at the op-shop and unravelled. It's going well.

Kitting and reading: two of my most favourite things. Joining in with Ginny (and Mum) for Yarn Along this week.

While I wasn't here...

While I wasn't here, I:

turned 30

And had a surprise dress up party (good thing I always have lots of dress-ups)

received outrageously expensive gifts (thats a Macbook Pro in there)

and had a lovely time.

I also had visits from

friends

and family

from far away.

I got a new job. I no longer work at the kindergarten; I now work for a company were I lay out horse-racing form guides for the newspapers. It's a step in the right direction.

I have been living happily:

gardening,

and crafting

and reading

Hopefully, I wont be away so long next time.

See you soon.