corners of the garden

spent a blissful amount of time right here this weekend. weeding, watering, grilling, lounging, laughing, relaxing and even working. it was the last of the long spring weekends, but i am rested and ready to jump headlong into the week. 

the prairie girl likes the beach

nothing can relax you like an afternoon at the beach. tho' we didn't expect sunshine (it was raining at home. the kind of rain that makes you think of building an ark.), we were pleasantly surprised. tho' my attire was honestly more temperature-appropriate than the girls'. they're little vikings, i guess and didn't freeze.

but nothing takes your cares away like a couple of hours of the wind on your skin and the sound of the waves. beaches are a very good thing. i am fortified for the week ahead.

hello from sunday evening

quite possibly the cutest cauliflower in the world.

there's a cabbage in there somewhere.

eggplant-to-be

and more eggplants. we like them.

these will be sweet red peppers.

sunset, golden, but with the slightest tinge of autumn.
the air still and clear after an early evening shower.
a calm has settled over the house.
our visitors are all gone.
there's laundry in the washer and dishes in the dishwasher.
everyone's showered and scrubbed and relaxed.
we feel sated after a weekend filled with good conversation, good food and good weather.
it's hard to imagine feeling more relaxed.
so bring on august.
we're ready.

a change of scenery

a lovely couple of days with friends and family.
in the midst of it, the sad and shocking news from norway.
which i'm still finding quite hard to believe.
it seems so unreal somehow.
incomprehensible.
like everyone else, i'm still processing what i think and feel about it.

but otherwise, i'm feeling relaxed.

it's good to get away.

but it's good to come back home -

to animals

and garden

and one's own bed.

time for reflecting on this project of ours.

this old farmhouse.

this garden, this simpler life.

and feeling at peace with it.

feeling it's right. 

even if it seems overwhelming at times,

how much work it will take before we're really there.

sometimes it takes talking about it.

and sometimes it just takes living it.

but best of all...

i feel a new surge of energy.

new ideas are being discussed

and some old ones are coming to fruition.

sometimes all it takes is a change of scenery.

even just briefly.

the flow of laziness

jægerspris slot

the home of some or other countess danner who was the mistress of some or other king

(undoubtedly named frederik or christian).

she surely spent a lot of time in a state of somnambulant laziness,

hanging about, waiting for the king to show up.

i've very unwisely spent the next-to-last day of the decade in a state of somnambulant laziness. i slept in 'til almost 11 (bliss). i braved the grocery stores, just as everyone (including myself) was hamstering (direct translation from danish) for the days ahead when the stores are closed - but i was so relaxed from all that sleep that the lines and the crowd didn't even bother me. i bought food for a new year's feast. i made homemade lemon curd for a passion fruit roulade that i'm going to make tomorrow. i picked up some great hummus sandwiches from sundwich, a local sandwich place. mid-afternoon, we watched hercule poirot (he really gets a lot of grief for being belgian). i baked a loaf of bread on which i sprinkled sunflower seeds. i did four art journal pages in a state of total flow (thank you clary sage).

and i did it all in a very advanced state of relaxation. because i know that we're not running around with anything that we HAVE to do for the next few days. we're making our own leisurely new year's dinner tomorrow - some gorgeous madagascar prawns (was so relaxed i didn't even think about food miles). a beautiful beef roast with all the fixings, the aforementioned lemon curd and passionfruit roulade, a bit of champagne - just for ourselves. after all of the running around and hectic feelings of christmas, we're bringing in the new year in an utterly relaxed style at home. and i guess i've reached a point in my life where that sounds just perfect.

here's wishing all of you exactly the new year's eve you'd like.