Who needs the gym?

We are certainly well and truly into farm-mode now!

Although it is officially spring, it's still been pretty cold at night here. Which means keeping the fire lit. Which means firewood. LOTS of firewood. We seem to burn it faster than we can collect it, chop it, stack it, and bring it in. It's a constant chore: The fire is hungry and constantly must be fed. Hubby just bought his first log splitter and tomahawk, and BOY have they been getting a work out! And so has he: Working out 'Lumber Jack-style'!

 

Since we just moved in, we've had no time to stockpile any firewood. And the former tenants didn't leave any. There's plenty about in the paddocks, but it all requires collecting, chopping, stacking, and drying. So: Job for next winter! STOCKPILE WOOD. 

 



I, too, am developing big callouses from shovelling clay aside in the garden, and carrying firewood to and fro. And splinters. Lots of splinters. Under my nails.

Note to self: Acquire some work gloves.

The other reason gloves maaaayyyy also be a good idea is that I am constantly wheezing and sneezing, and my arms are coming out in constant hives from carrying armloads of hay around the farm to the horses.

Yep: I'm allergic.

(Nope: I'm not joking.)

So has the novelty worn off yet?

...what do you think? ;)

 

I hope you're keeping warm through these first days of spring, and that the blossoms are starting to come out at your place! I'll be planting my first Hill Shadow harvest soon! So much to choose from!

 

What should I plant?

Have you planted yours?

The beginnings of a garden, and settling in.

Spring is in the air! 

We're still cleaning and unpacking - and probably will be for many weeks to come - but we're finally beginning to get into a bit of a home routine. the girls spend so much more time outside, whether it's collecting eggs and firewood, or just playing around my feet while I hang out the washing. 

I'm constantly scouting for potential kindling and firewood! I forgot how much a fire devours fuel! Especialy on a cold, COLD Melbourne winter's night! I have a funny feeling the chimney might be a bit blocked though... *sigh* I'll add it to the list of maintenance to see to!

My mum came down and brought my older daughter Katie home (She took her for a week to the Snowies, while we moved - THANKYOU MUM!!!). She stayed for a few days, and I wanted to pick her brains about the garden, seeing as my mum has the greenest of green thumbs (A trait i don't seem to have inherited. Dammit.) 

I felt a bit overwhelmed about the garden. I didn't know where to start! My head seemed to be spinning with 'aspects', and 'companion planting', and no-dig/organic/climbing/pruning/mulching/feeding/weeding snippets and tips crammed into my head from Pinterest!

What if I did it wrong? What if everything I plant withers and dies? What about possums? Frost? Grubs? Crows? Mould? Rust? Rot? Fruit fly? Slugs? Rats? Roos? 

Mum's advice: "*shrug* Just dig". 

So I started. I stuck the shovel in and I dug some little rows. And it's true: 'Begun is half done'.

I have a vegie garden.

...yeah ok it's got nothing growing in it yet... but I have soil! and worms! LOTSA WORMS! Which I think has to be a good thing, right?

The soil is pretty compacted and clay-ey. Luckily, the chooks and Will our Resident Retiree Racehorse can keep us in a constant supply of manure! Plus I've started composting my kitchen scraps (those not eaten by the chooks!) and newspaper, and dry leaves. So: I've started! I'm on my way! HURRAAAAAHHH!!!

Ever psyched yourself out of trying something new, cause you had TOO much info?

What do you mulch your beds with?

What have you planted?

Take care, plant something. 

And just dig.

xx

Blogging from my bed.

We're exhausted.

Yesterday I literally cleaned until my fingers bled. This poor old place has not been loved. I hesitated about writing about this for fear of offense, but I don't think it matters anymore. 

I cannot describe how much Hill Shadow Farm is run down. Yesterday, as I was scrubbing walls and window sills, it was as if the house was a poor old rescue dog getting a bath and a scratch after years of neglect. 

Everywhere there is mould, dog hair, dust, webs, stains, cracks, mud and debris. Everytime I start to clean something, I unearth a can of worms. And what was supposed to take a few minutes, takes hours. Yesterday "I'll just hang these 2 curtains" meant 4 hours of scrubbing mould and nicotine stains off walls, windows and the inside of the front door. 

I think I may be cleaning, painting, repairing for weeks to come. That's aside from the unpacking! And cleaning the house we just left for the next tennants there! 

Its all overwhelming and just makes me want to stay here in bed. But just look at this view...

Got any cleaning tips for me?

An odd thing though: I keep finding money! Not much, 20 cents here, a ten cent piece there. Yesterday Ben found 2 old pennies and a half penny dated from the late '40s! Do you think the house is trying to encourage us? 

Do you believe in 'signs'?

There's no place like it.

Well it's moving week! Boxes are appearing, cleaners are coming and going, trailers, trucks, belongings scattered to the wind.

I hate it. This is my most feared state.

I HATE feeling unanchored. I always have. I am a Cancerian through and through, and "Home" is the most important thing to me. I like to know where my safe 'nest' is. 

At the moment I am constantly on the edge of anxiety. There's so much to do! And so much to move! And I just want it all in, and done, and unpacked as quickly as possible so I can know where I am. 

So it is a huge challenge to me personally to 

Slow

Down. 

It is a process. I can take my time. I can unpack slowly, think about where I want to put my things in our new home. I do not need everything perfect now. 

I don't NEED everything perfect NOW. 

My 'home' is my family. I can carry it within. It is not 'stuff'. I am building it. Again. 

*DEEP BREATH*

But in the meantime, I may need lots of cuddles, warm tea, and a familiar favourite book to resort to now and again... ;) 

A childhood dream come true.

I've always wanted to look out my window and see my horse in his paddock. 

(Or being a sticky-beak at the front door!) 

This view will never get old ❤️ 

We puttered around today and did some jobs. Pulling rubbish out of gardens, shovelling mud, and checking fences.

I went walking and checking fences with my little Buddy :) It was the first time I had walked the entire perimeter of the property.

It's such lush beautiful bush land. And we took our dogs, who went crazy with the mud, smells and freedom! 

And I had my first cuppa at Hill Shadow. The first of many! 

What did you get up to this weekend?

Hollow.

Empty houses are so hollow. It's cold and echoey, and it's a weird impersonal feeling. It's someone's 'former home', not yet made someone else's. A strange purgatory. 

Hill Shadow House was cold today. The icy winter wind blew the eddies of dead leaves and dog fur around the cold wooden floor. The doors rattled. It smelled... alien. Unfamiliar. The girls and I stood blinking in the dim cave. Could  this ever feel like 'home'?

Immediately I defaulted to 'get busy' mode! I ran to every room and threw open every window, curtain and door! Let the weird unfamiliar out! Let the icy fresh mountain air in! 

Everything needs cleaning. Everything needs repairs. It's all tired and dinged, and worn and yellowed. Dust coats every surface. The mud. The detritus. 

Dear god. What have we done?

Ok. So there's nothing I can do about all that right now. It's work to be done after a cleaner has been. It's so, so much work to be done.

So with the baby on my back, and Katie in her gumboots. We leaned against the wind with our jackets and buckets of feed to tend to our two horses. They dug appreciatively into their food, hunched against the blasting wind. 

Finally we blew on our frozen fingers and tended the chickens - bequithed to us with the house from the former tennants. Five ageing ISAbrowns and a very handsome rooster. They haven't been laying for weeks. Maybe it's the cold.

But, today... 

Maybe it's a good omen?  

What do you do to cleanse a new place? How do you make it yours? What things can you do to make it feel more like your home?

A day of firsts!

The keys are ours! Yaaaaayyyy!

While removalist trucks and commotion were at Hill Shadow House moving the former residents today, Katie and I took our gumboots and bucket and headed off up the paddock to the citrus grove to pick our first Hill Shadow produce! 

The trees are laiden with fruit. There's smooth Meyer lemons, and bumpy strange common lemons. We've been told there's limes and grapefruit, though I didn't see any. Katie and I picked and picked and soon the sweet tangy smell of lemon was in the air. 

Lemon tree hideout! Perfect cubby! 

Good boots are essential Hill Shadow Farm wear! 

There is mud EVERYWHERE at the moment, as the animals have churned up the well-worn tracks and the cold rain has turned it to slop. 

Ah well - it's only good clean farm dirt!

Now, I'm off to make lemon curd with my first Hill Shadow harvest! 

What's growing at your place?