from the farm: billy tea

Ingredients include: the 3 of us. And a quad bike complete with Tip Top Bread crate for carrying supplies. Passengers must ignore the WARNING sign that clearly states: "You should not ride this vehicle as a passenger!" Pirate facepaint optional

Collecting necessary stones to create a circle and then finding wood for the fire.

Voila! Fire. And a Billy. Now...all we need is a billy holder - thank goodness for the meticulous and creative Virgo.

Sipping hot tea by a fire as the sun sets. Perfect

Ps. This is the last farm post. I took over 500 photos and wanted to put the best up here in this space. Tomorrow? Another birthday.

from the farm: detail

Where photo opportunities abound. Chickens lay eggs in the hay stack, strawberries are picked from a nearby farm and lemons fall to the ground from an abundant citrus tree. The cherry tomatoes were the sweetest and the fresh water creek at the bottom of the property provided so very many stone-throwing, frog hunting, billy tea making adventures. Ramshackle sheds are truly chic and barbed wire is beautiful. Farm life is sweet. And inspiring.

from the farm: alive

In retrospect what I enjoyed most about our time away was the opportunity to press 'pause.' It felt like our everyday life was whirring by without the opportunity for stillness, quiet or reflection. Yesterday I saw Christmas cakes in Woolworths and today a girl at work mentioned it was 12 weeks till The Eve. I still feel like it's the middle of the year. I could get used to pressing 'pause.'

While away it was oh. so. good. to just be amidst the beauty.

The Sunshine Coast Hinterland is renowned for being green, lush and very much, alive. It was nice not to have to watch for cars or worry about Che. He could just run and we could let our guard down. It was huge relief actually, a freedom that only a big open space in the middle of the country allows. I know why so many of us long for a house in the countryside for our families. It's seems so very natural. To raise children under a big open sky and to send them out into an endless garden; to explore all. day. long.

I dreamt of such a move while away. Can you tell?

from the farm: home again

Six days on a farm is damn good medicine. We're home again after a blissful holiday in South-East Queensland where the rolling green hills of Maleny had me swooning. Daniel's Dad recently moved to a 136acre property - perfect for a relaxing and ultimately rejuvenating getaway. We rose with the sun and enjoyed evenings around the fire, visited sweet friends and ate the best gelati we've ever had. Che also fell in love with plane travel and this afternoon managed to fall asleep on take-off. Over the next few days I'll be posting about farm life. Chapters will include: "How a meticulous Virgo builds a campfire." Stay tuned