posted by Lily on chatter, chickens, homely

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There’s a lovely stillness to our home this evening.  The air is heavy with Vicks, the furniture is softly gleaming after a good dusting with warm water and eucalyptus oil, the curtains are closed against the night chill.  Julian has just arrived home after a long day out of state.  Abby is in bed, snuffly and achy with cold.  Fu is curled at my feet.

Yes, it’s been a slow week of sorts.  I’ve barely raised my hand to a needle of any description.  It’s a silly thing, but when times are quiet and I’m not sure what’s coming next, my energy simply ebbs away.  Just getting through the essential chores and errands consumes almost all of my day.  Yet, throw in a few deadlines, exams, outside-the-home-work – and I’m capable of squishing amazing amounts into one day :-)  Oh the contrariness of it.  I know that when, if, I find a good new job, I will lament these days that I made so little of.

And yet, they have been happy days.  Nothing like a dramatic moment and a realisation of the need to all “Keep Calm and Carry On!” to bring us closer.  We’ve read together (Oliver Twist – which we are loving more and more each night), we’ve gardened together (autumn planting … so looking forward to rainbow silverbeet, creamy golden onions and sweet peas!), we’ve cooked together, we’ve sewed together (a fabulous costume for Abby – all hands on deck!) and laughed together.

So, whilst I’m waiting for my stitching mojo to return, I’m concentrating on what is at hand.  As I dust the furniture, I’m appreciating the beautiful swirls in the wood’s grain.  As I’m folding the washing, I’m listing what needs to be mended, what needs to be replaced.  As I’m planning for dinner, I’m making use of the dried beans and pulses I love to store and marvelling at how much further our grocery dollar can go when we try.

As I prepare our fruit and vegetables, I’m finely chopping all the “scraps” into the saucepan ready to boil up each morning with milk and oats to make the warm “podge” that our feathered girls go bananas for.  As my darling girlie lays croaking in bed, I quietly potter about her room, cleaning, decluttering, reorganising, listening to her stories, brewing her cups of lemon, ginger and honey tea, replenishing the inhalation bowl, stroking her soft head when she lays it in my lap.

As I’ve taken care of some things, that should have been taken care of months ago, I’ve sighed (and cried) with huge relief, acknowledging that giving voice to a bundle of fears and anxieties, that have been itching away at me for months, does not result in them leaping free from my frantically sought control and gobbling me up.  Phew!

By the end of each of the days that we’ve lived this week, there’s been a freshness, a sense of calm, an understanding that all is cared for.  That makes me happy.

Now – I’m off to bed with the latest Eden Seed Catalogue – they sent me a complimentary copy with my autumn seeds.  ’Cause as much as I love the internet and trawling through online catalogues, the arrival of this soft, gently printed, recycled volume has reminded me just how thrilling it is to hold the information we seek in our hands.