Pre-planting ponderings

Murphy the cat joins in for the tail end of the walk.

Somehow two weeks have flown by! I’d like to say I’ve been a busy bee but bees aren’t out ‘n’ about quite yet so perhaps more like a productive robin (?). It kind of works but not as catchy. Hmm, oh well. The pre-planting fervor has only gotten stronger and with the snow finally melted off, seed deliveries, warm sunshine and light winds… You can see how any farmer would be itching to get into the field. About the only deterrent yet is the possibility of getting stuck in the mud. (Although hubs is hoping to roll into a light start at the week’s end.)

Hubs and Scooter are busy putting the final touches and updates on the planter. Well, Scooter is more in the role of resting his eyes under the planter or supervising from his sun tanning in front of the shop doors. The cats, of course, using him as their cushion. Meanwhile, I’ve plotted out my garden and am prepping to head south for planting.

I debated and debated over starting seeds in the house this year. It mostly hinged on planting plans and my actual motivation to do the work of starting seedlings and keep up with the watering. Hubs encouraged me to start a few anyways this year. He even said he would spritz down the seed trays while I’m gone!

A nice way to unwind from a day of hard work, or busy work, is going for a walk. We try to walk every night with a few exceptions for meetings or catching up with friends. This is no Sunday saunter but a brisk, power walk. Guaranteed to cover serious ground. A nice side benefit of these evening walks is that they wear out the dog. Because all that ‘walking’ Scooter does during the day isn’t enough exercise for a high-energy dog like him.

For something new and diverting from those all-consuming planting/seeding thoughts, we went bowling with our church family this past weekend. I haven’t gone bowling since I moved to Canuckland. Even then, it’s been a few years yet. I was excited because it’s fun and I usually have a decent score.

Well. We walk in and request our shoes. I’m looking around to see what bowling ball I want. Hubs heads over to our lane and I follow still trying to figure out where the bowling balls are at. Color me confused. We all enjoy a nice laugh with hubs over his pink shoes. Mine were the standard color. I’m talking away when I’m tapped for my turn to bowl. I walk up to grab a ball from the return area.

The balls are the size of soft balls approximately. No finger holes at all. I turn to my group and ask if they were serious. Yup, they were and hilarity ensued. Guys, I felt like I was at a ball game or at a track meet for shot put.

Then I look down the lane. It couldn’t get worse, or different right? I count and count again. I was starting to wonder if the glow bowl lights were making me see things. I counted only five pins. Yup, the other lanes all had only five pins. Since when was five-pin bowling a thing?

I go for a nice sliding soft lunge for my throw. Only my wrist remained locked and the ball went for a hard left straight into the gutter. Not even close to the pins. This whole throwing a bowling ball that fits into your hand with no finger holes thing was a unique experience. Let’s just say if I was golfing I would have had first placed locked in. Hubs on the other hand, had some serious flair when he was bowling. He had this arm wind up reminiscent of baseball and then this leg kick as he leaned into the throw. Too bad I didn’t think to take a photo, perhaps it was because we were so entertained with his antics.

May your week be filled with warm sunshine, robins chirping nearby and a full cup of coffee.

Silence calls to me

A frosty evening

The past two weeks I haven’t posted; I opened my word document and let the cursor blink for a couple of minutes. Then I closed it and put my laptop away. What to write?

Farming is at a nail-biting, anxiety-inducing lull. The in-between, stretched out moment of waiting. It’s neither winter nor spring; judging by the snow and frigid temps. Oh and the forecast is saying snow this weekend.

The silence calls to me.

It’s the peace before the storm, the flurry of activity that we fondly know as planting. This is followed by a season of hard work, sweat, rain (hopefully), spraying, cultivating and finally harvest. Not necessarily in this order although harvest is usually the culmination. 😊

It’s a time of going farther down the work/repair list and doing those little things, the final spit polish. And apparently, it’s the beginning of auction season. I still lack the ability to follow an auctioneer so I volunteer to hold the place down and do bookwork (and maybe blog).

The silence calls to me.

I search for words to describe the beauty of hoar frost that we had visit us for a couple of days. A photo barely does it justice. The words? Well, the soft silence and sheer enjoyment gently closed the door on any words. Some things are better appreciated in the moment.

Creativity’s spark was muted and quiet. I appreciated the coffee moments with friends more. The usual endless racing litany of words, ideas, phrases, scenes and on serenely strolled on by in my mind; without demanding they form as words on paper, to wait for another day.

The silence calls to me.

The call isn’t a shout for attention, it’s a soft whisper like a willow tree gently waving in an unseen breath of wind, to come sit and stay a while. The silence is peaceful and a welcoming place to gather thoughts and order the passion, the zest for life.

Life can neither be ordered nor can it be predicted. If you sit and stay a while in the silence calling, you can plan the steps to direct it. A time to mull and savor ideas.

All kinds of thoughts and plans happening!

The silence calls to me (it doesn’t say much). It rarely calls often and it’s like a good friend you see once in a great while so you take the time to sit and catch up. Life shouldn’t be always lived uber busy, although its nice, silence every now and a rare then is pleasant. Sometimes its exactly what you didn’t need in the ‘now’ but in the ‘then’ it was perfect.

May your week of ‘sprinter’ (spring & winter) find you contentment, coffee with friends and robins on the lawn.

The last days Down Under

Waterside view of the opera house

The last days were filled with sun, beach time, hunting coffee shops and other tourist-like behavior such as shopping. We spent our last days in Sydney with a quick hop up to Melbourne. In between times we stayed with amazing friends in Geelong.

Beautiful, postcard perfect days invited us to walk the streets of Sydney forgoing the train. We found out on our second to last day that the train is quite a reasonable (price) mode of transport. Ah well, we enjoyed the city life walking everywhere and seeing the city at hustle and bustle moments. The walk now signal jarring beeping did get old after the second day.

We took ourselves on a walking tour around Darling Harbor. The sun refused to play hide and seek with the skyscrapers and instead amused itself in the reflections of the glossy buildings. I must note, the shade was sparse as the trees were young and we were on the sun side of the tall giants.

Stairs here and there challenged our muscles when the hills went flat. The steps quickly accumulated, the miles rolled on and still we walked. Sunglasses out, hats on (okay, I ‘borrowed’ hubs cap) and fueled with water we ventured on. (We walked 12 miles and change that day or approximately 12 kilometers.)

Eventually we found the Sydney harbor bridge and a bit longer later we found the stairs to the bridge level and the walking path. Briefly, we contemplated doing the bridge climb but the reality of limited time left in the city nixed that one. So we walked the whole bridge (and back).

Our last day in the city we headed for the beach. Originally we had thought to head to Bondi beach. Turns out, as we were vehicle-less, it would involve quite a few bus and train switches to get there. Next choice up, Manley beach. A short train ride to the land of ferries, a ‘fast ferry’ later and we were walking the handful of blocks to the beach. They weren’t kidding about the fast part. We practically skated and flew over the choppy water. Thank you strong winds.

Passing the other ferries

It was a beautiful day, perfect for the beach. Sun’s out, really windy and no swimming. Apparently the riptide was strong and the only ‘swimming’ allowed was wading in ankle deep water. I chilled on the beach and soaked in a few rays while hubs determinedly changed and, channeling his inner five year-old, sat in the water. He managed to enjoy the water and the warm sun, even in all his blinding winter tan glory. Haha.

A short scold from the life guard because Hubs went out to his knees.

Then we were packing up and flying back to Geelong and our friends. The camaraderie, coffee and chats with our Aussie friends are something that we will always remember. As a last hurrah, hubs suggested we pop up for the day to Melbourne. And so we went via train. It was so fun to see the countryside roll by with the swaying of the cars with the occasional gentle, timely stops interspersed.

Melbourne was overwhelming as we only had the day. We headed for the Yarra river and found respite in the shade of gently rustling trees. Coffee was a little harder to track down and find. While hubs roamed the shops along the river, I scouted for the appropriate seating to while the day away. A family vacated the perfect bench under a big shady tree with a view of the river and its travelers.

Now that is the way to spend the day. Sipping coffee, talking (or not), watching people head for somewhere and the boats or rowing teams troll the river. Serene, peaceful and relaxing.

View from the sky deck

Our one touristy thing we had to check off, at hubs’ insistence, was the Sky Deck. Its only 89 floors above the ground. The building sways slightly in the unseen wind but the 360 view offsets that slightly disturbing feeling. I don’t know what I’m looking at besides the general ‘cityscape’ view but it was inspiring.

The exit sign at the sky deck :)

Eventually we located the correct train back to Geelong and our friends. The day of departure back to the wintry land of Canuckland dawned and found us with our bags packed. The bags may have been slightly weighed down with souvenirs and gifts. Hugs, smiles and goodbyes all around and we were off to the airport! Hubs Aussie parents drove us back to the airport. Disbelief had us wondering how the time went so quickly.

No matter how quickly the time went, the sights we saw and the people we met; the photos and memories will always go with us. And our friends are just a phone or video call away. Until then. And until Australia calls us to return.

 May your week be filled with grace, sunshine and a cuppa rose tea latte. I leave you with this beach view at Manley beach.