Taking stock: May/June 2016.

I know I should apologise for and try to explain my absence again, but we all know life happens, that we’re all busy with families and friends and homes and work. It’s the story of everyone, every day, these days. This blog hasn’t been a priority of late, but I’m getting back into the swing of it (as I say every post). It’s a little like the start of an AA meeting: Hi, my name is Louise. It’s been nearly three months since my last blog.

Things have been happening for me on the home and work front. Staff changes and absences at work have meant it’s been busy there. I’ve started setting up my own gig with the hope of one day moving into that more permanently. Probably. (Commitment isn't a strong point of mine.) I’ve been making plans for renovations (much to my boy’s dismay – his dream of a bar for downstairs seems to be moving further and further away). I’ve been writing other things and gardening and cooking and spending time with family and friends. I’ve been reading more and watching less TV.

The therapeutic gardening course I did was quite interesting – and almost all of the cuttings I made during it have lived to tell the tale. I'm planning on doing the advanced course when it's up and running. I’m not sure if it’s taking off as a 'new' industry or if it’s because I’m more aware of it now, but I’ve seen a few stories about therapeutic gardening and its benefits in the media and online lately. I like to think it’s the former and I can muscle in on it in its infancy.

I’ve also completed a magazine and newspaper writing short course and a how-to-become-a-freelancer short course, in addition to:

• Making: Slow progress on the freelance/herbal career front. (Slow progress is better than no progress…)
• Cooking: Potato and leek soup with cannellini beans; pumpkin, carrot and quinoa soup; lentil soup; ANZAC biscuits; dahl; silverbeet and zucchini frittata. 
• Drinking: Lattes of the matcha, turmeric and chai varieties, green tea, lemongrass and ginger tea, and matcha white hot chocolate from Raw Trader (oh my!).
• Reading: Just finished The Lake House and The Beast’s Garden. I've just started The Lightkeeper's wife and How to do it all. My boy also bought me a book about women going out on their own in business (the name escapes me right now). I don’t think I’ve opened Buddhism for mothers of young children since I last posted. Eek! 
• Wanting: Less murder and rape and abuse and violence in the news and other media (actually just less murder and rape and abuse and violence in life, full stop).
• Looking: At the big, fat raindrops clinging to everything outside, the orangey yellowy red autumn leaves, grey sky. My kind of day!
• Playing: More music. 
• Deciding: What to do with the bathroom and laundry downstairs in the way of renovations. 
• Wishing: Offspring would hurry up and start already.
• Enjoying: Reading – I've started reading more at the gym and in the evenings instead of watching trash. I missed it.
• Waiting: For a tradie to arrive to give me a quote on said bathroom and laundry downstairs.
• Liking: Peanut butter and honey sandwiches on Alpine spelt bread. 
• Wondering: If I’m cut out for freelancing/running my own business.
• Loving: Winter.
• Pondering: Holiday locations for New Years’ Eve.
• Considering: Braving the rain to pick some silverbeet to add to the lentil soup.
• Buying: Chocolate, bliss balls, lots of organic winter veggies.
• Watching:
 Have you been paying attention? and the original NCIS. 
• Hoping: The smoothies and raw vegan cakes are as good as ever in Byron when we head up there in October.
• Marvelling: At Mother Nature (still).
• Cringing: When Little Red calls ladies men. Loudly. Repeatedly. In the supermarket queue.
• Needing: Another cup of tea (as always).
• Questioning: My intentions when I say I buy bliss balls for Little Red (and I scoff them).
• Smelling: Lentil soup. 
• Wearing: A hoodie, t-shirt, skinny green jeans, socks and a blanket. Nothing flash. My leggings, tracksuit pants and alpaca jumper have also been getting a work out of late (not when I'm at work, obviously).
• Following: Veggie Mama more and more. Love her work.
• Noticing: How quickly Little Red is growing up.
• Knowing: I’m pretty blessed with all I have.
• Thinking: I should really be working on setting up my freelancing/clinical work instead of writing this.
• Admiring: My lavender bushes out front – they’re smothered in gorgeous purple blooms and smell divine.
• Sorting: Out flights and accommodation for our Byron Bay holiday.
• Getting: Excited about hopefully getting some renovations done at last. And raw vegan treats and smoothies and Byron.
• Bookmarking: How to make a no-dig garden bed.
• Coveting: A house and garden that is in tip top shape. A thriving freelance business. (I’m working on it…)
• Disliking: Bad and sad news.
• Opening: Many, many bags of manure and compost to make our new front garden.
• Giggling: At Little Red’s attempts to delay bedtime. One favourite is her repeated requests for ‘big cuggles’ – which equates to a big group hug between my boy, her and me. Too cute.
• Feeling: Peckish.
• Snacking: Bliss balls, raw vegan cakes, ANZAC biscuits, peanut butter and honey sandwiches, the entire menu of smoothies at Nutrition Station in Wodonga last weekend (almost).
• Helping: Little Red dress herself. (I am probably the least patient mother in the world.)
• Hearing: The heater working hard to keep it toasty in here.

Taking stock: February/March 2016.

Almost two months have flown by at blink-and-you'll-miss-it speed. Everyone I know is commenting about how quickly this year is going. It seems to happen when you get older, though. When you're younger, days stretch out painfully between school holidays and birthday parties. But hit your mid 30s, and the years seem to speed up just as painfully. You wonder what happened to the footloose, responsibility-free bohemian/clubber/raver/indi rocker/Brit pop lover/jock who had all the time in the world, as you start looking for good schools, quality investment opportunities and the time to indulge in long-neglected interests (like art, music or going to the toilet without a toddler in tow).

Since I last wrote here, I have had a lovely solo mum's weekend retreat in Kyneton, where I drank a lot of tea, ate a lot of chocolate and cake, and did a little writing and reading, mostly from the comfort of an old-fashioned miner's hut with the most exquisite secret cottage-y garden. Sadly, I did miss my family. It was weird being on holiday without them. Not so weird that I won't do it again, mind you. 

I've also had my head buried among seemingly endless research grant applications at work. We've checked and submitted almost as many in the past three months as we did in the whole of 2015. We celebrated getting over the hump with whisky and treats last week in my colleagues' office. 

To help me work out what to do with my future self (and hone my literary skills), I signed up for a short course in magazine and newspaper writing. I also signed up for a short course in gardening therapy. I've been writing some short stories about gardening therapy, not realising it was an actual thing, but Google tells me it is, so I'm going to learn how to do it. For a couple of years I've been saying I want someone to pay me to play in my garden (while drinking tea and writing). This could be the answer to my prayers!

Despite its neglect of late, my garden is overflowing with tomatoes, thanks to the late warmth and rain. I have to make a big batch of tomato chutney before it all goes to waste. We're also getting lots of cucumbers, strawberries, silver beet and rhubarb, and a few late raspberries. And the way the beans are going, I'm expecting a bumper crop of those too. I'm always surprised at how well my garden produces considering how little effort I put into it. It probably helps that dad pitches in when he visits. He loves gardening even more than me.

My folks have visited a few times in the past couple of months, too. They have enjoyed countless tea parties, drawing and walks around the garden with Little Red. I don't think my dad can quite get his head around being summoned (very firmly) to drink pretend tea by an almost-two-year-old. 

And in taking stock news, I've been...

• Making: Progress with things at home and work. Slowly.
• Cooking: Potato and leek soup, egg custard, roast vegetable frittata, bliss balls, dhal and brownies with sweet potato or beans. 
• Drinking: Matcha green tea lattes. My new obsession. Plus the usual excess of chai, wattleseed-flavoured black tea, peppermint tea, detox tea, dandy tea, and lemon grass and ginger tea. And many, many smoothies.
• Reading: Big magic (still). I haven’t finished Buddhism for mothers of young children yet either. But I will not be beaten. It's just that not a lot of reading of grown-ups books gets done around here these days, sadly. This I want to change.
• Wanting: A nap. 
• Looking: Forward to Easter with my folks. 
• Playing: Tea parties.
• Deciding: What to do with work. (And how to stop eating so many treats.)
• Wishing: Little Red would draw ONLY on paper. And not on herself, her clothes, the walls, the bedspreads, the floor, the kitchen cupboards, the dishwasher, the high chair, the iPad, the etcher sketch, the table, me…
• Enjoying: The beautiful day today. The perfect amount of sunshine and warmth and blue skies, and cool breeze. 
• Waiting: For Winter. It makes me ever so happy. 
• Liking: Autumn mornings.
• Wondering: How many matcha green tea lattes it’s healthy to have a day.
• Loving: Doctor Foster. I started watching it this week and was hooked after just one episode. Not that I'm condoning it by any measure, but you have to kind of admire people with families who have affairs. My boy and I have discussed it and have no idea how on Earth you would find the time to romance or shag someone else between existing work and family commitments. 
• Pondering: What to put on the home page for my new freelance website.
• Considering: Getting up super early so I can do more me things, like write, walk, meditate and garden, in peace and quiet.
• Buying: Too much chocolate and too many bliss balls.
• Watching:
 Doctor Foster, The Doctor Blake Mysteries and Death in Paradise. I am hanging out for A place to call home to be released on DVD, and the new Bridget Jones' Diary movie to come out (I'm so making my boy watch that with me at the movies).
• Hoping: The world isn’t too crazy and ugly, and retains and increases its beauty, for Little Red and her kidlets (if she has any). 
• Marvelling: At Mother Nature. She knows just what to do, and when and how.
• Cringing: At my extra padding courtesy of an excess of sweet treats to keep me going during the peak part of my working year. (Healthy eating/lifestyle starts again right after Easter…)
• Needing: To write some more interesting and varied content for this blog.
• Questioning: How smart it was of me to let Little Red play with the tub of dirty dish water and her watering can so I could finish this off in relative peace. I think her clothes have had more to drink than the plant pots up here on the deck. At least only one of her socks is soaked (I have no idea where she’s put the other one). #winningatparenting
• Smelling: Not much lately. We have all had colds.
• Wearing: A hoodie! Yay, for autumn! (Also other clothes, obviously.)
• Following: House prices in my area. They’ve increased at a crazy rate. No way we’d be able to afford a place here if we were looking to buy now. 
• Noticing: That everyone is into simplicity at the moment. I think it’s 2016’s kale.
• Knowing: We should really potty train Little Red, but it seems a bit daunting. Mum was saying she wants new carpet so maybe we'll do it over Easter at her place.
• Thinking: Of getting rid of my credit card.
• Admiring: People with better time management than me of late (actually, always).
• Sorting: Out my priorities.
• Getting: On the Simplicity bandwagon.
• Bookmarking: Peanut butter recipes, apparently. Out of the last five bookmarks on my phone, three feature peanut butter. This may be because I bought some roasted and normal peanut butter on special last week. The roasted one is especially moreish (especially by the spoonful).
• Coveting: The inner peace, quiet and serenity that people who work with energy and natural therapies seem to always have. 
• Disliking: How much bad news there is.
• Opening: Too many bills. And big ones at that.
• Giggling: At Little Red shushing me - the cheek of it! I was talking while she was watching boats on TV. She put her finger to her lips and said 'Shhhhush mummy. Mummy, shhhh'. I nearly wet myself laughing.
• Feeling: Very tired of late, but on the up thanks to my naturopath and kinesiologist and a couple of good nights' sleep.
• Snacking: Bliss balls ahoy! And chocolate, of course. (This blog is brought to you by The Chocolate Yogi’s Dreamy Chai.)
• Helping: Little Red up and down the stairs. Still.
• Hearing: Happy birds. They love this weather as much as me.

Taking stock: December 2015/January 2016.

We've been back from our somewhat epic European/Asian holiday almost a month, making it two whole months that I've been absent from here. I really need to prioritise my time better (although it seemed fairly important to binge watch the first two seasons of A place to call home at the time).

Whomever said travelling with kids was easy was either a whole lot more organised than us (and I like to think I’m pretty organised) or has angel babes who don’t scream with jet lag ALL NIGHT LONG for A WHOLE WEEK or throw themselves to the ground at tourist attractions, crying, while people take photos of them (note: these are likely the same people she pinched and punched as they passed by her minutes earlier). Despite the tantrums (and there were a few) and bad nights’ sleep (and there were many), Little Red was pretty good on her first overseas trip. At least half of our time was spent finding local kiddies’ parks or playing in them with her, but we did get some sightseeing, shopping and quality family time.

Since our return, we have spent a lot of time catching up with friends and family, and the house and garden (which the house sitters managed to keep alive despite the disgusting heat over Christmas). My boy and I have hunkered down into our new jobs and Little Red has moved into the toddlers’ room at day care. Admittedly, that made me a little sad. It’s also made her a little sad – she cries now when I drop her off each morning. Turns out she takes after her dad when it comes to change.

In other news, I’ve been…

• Making: Excuses for doing as little as possible.
• Cooking: Delicious (and ridiculously easy) vanilla bean cupcakes, to which I added some home-grown raspberries. I also made a healthy oat berry slice, some fried rice and a big pot of pumpkin soup.
• Drinking: Lots of tea (dandy chai, lemon myrtle black tea, green tea, white tea, rooibos), fizzy water and the odd smoothie.
• Reading: Just finished The Tea Chest (got about three-quarters of the way through it on our holiday). Giving Buddhism for mothers of small children another shot and quite enjoying it. Just started Big magic and am loving it.
• Wanting: Ah, nothing changes. More quiet time, more tea, more chocolate.
• Looking: Pretty tired – to say Little Red has been sleeping poorly of late would be an understatement. We don’t know why this is the case, but it’s not much fun (especially when you have to go to work in one of the busiest periods of the year). We’re thinking some sleep training is in order. On top of that, Indi and Bella have either been fighting through the windows with the neighbours’ cats or crying at our bedroom door to be let in. Kids and cats, hey? Who’d have ‘em?
• Playing: At the park. A lot. 
• Deciding: On my working future.
• Wishing: Someone else would make hard decisions for me.
• Enjoying: These few minutes of time out for myself (and my dandy chai – haven’t had one in a couple of months).
• Waiting: For Little Red to wake up so we can hang out with one of my friends and her wee bub.
• Liking: Working in the city one day a week. Mainly for all the smoothies, raw vegan treats and life it entails. I have actually put on weight since I got back from my holiday. Go figure!
• Wondering: What to do on my solo retreat weekend away that starts tomorrow. (Yay!)
• Loving: A place to call home. Days off work.
• Pondering: How I can become a best-selling author and quit my day job to drink tea and write from my deck while admiring my handiwork in the garden.
• Considering: The pros and cons of becoming a best-selling author so I can quit my day job to drink tea and write from my deck while admiring my handiwork in the garden.
• Buying: Too many raw vegan treats.
• Watching:
 I was watching A place to call home every single night until I ran out of episodes. Now it's Farmer wants a wife, the new series of NCIS and that's about it really. I need to do other stuff.
• Hoping: They make a season 4 of A place to call home.
• Marvelling: At Little Red’s ever-increasing vocabulary.
• Cringing: At how whingy I’ve become of late.
• Needing: To stop getting sucked into the procrastination tunnel via Facebook and random new stories about blackhead squeezing, the latest Die Hard movie or a new super food discovery.
• Questioning: My self control (or lack thereof). Actually, I know I have little to no self control. There’s no questioning it. Who am I kidding?
• Smelling: My deodorant. I’m not sure if I just picked up the wrong one or they’ve changed the recipe, but it’s a little stronger smelling than I remember.
• Wearing: A long singlet top with Audrey Hepburn and her cat on it and a little orange cardi.
• Following: Surprised by five. Incredible. (& good luck, lady!)
• Noticing: The neighbour’s spot light that’s on outside (it’s 1.54pm so there’s no need for it). It’s been on for about five days straight. They’ve gone away on holiday I think but their parents are house/dog sitting for them. I should probably tell them it’s on in case they’ve forgotten.
• Knowing: We all have it within ourselves to follow our dreams and passions. If we can find the motivation to get off our butts and do it.
• Thinking: About our next holiday…
• Admiring: Mum’s who cook properly every day.
• Sorting: Out new menu options. Well, not really. But I should. That and a plan of action for our house and garden for the year.
• Getting: Organised for the new year. Or intending to. There are a lot of things I want to get done. 
• Bookmarking: Noisli.com
• Coveting: Snow. We missed it by about two weeks on our trip and have come back to 40 plus days. 
• Disliking: So much sport on TV. That the third season of A place to call home isn’t out on DVD yet.
• Opening: Up to more people.
• Giggling: At Little Red running around saying she loves everything. This morning it was my boy, me, Bella, Indi, tea and cake (she’s so my daughter).
• Feeling: The love.
• Snacking: Toasted spelt bread with honey and peanut butter, coconut ice cream, lots of fruit and just a wee bit of chocolate (of course)!
• Helping: Little Red up and down steps (her latest obsession).
• Hearing: Someone sawing something across the road. Ahh… the serenity.