sugar and sunshine

It's been a while between drinks, friends.
My sweet sisters comments about not updating my blog in a while with some images and words for her to look at has found me motivated to be here again.
"I haven't even blogged in ages" I almost moaned to her last week after commenting on just how long it's been since I gave the house a good clean and nosed down into my studies properly. Exactly what have I been doing lately? Other than mothering, working, updating work training, pondering and setting some new goals for myself that is!
"Gee what's it been, almost two weeks?" I casually threw out there while we were out on a rare sister date on Friday night. (We went to see this by the way...)
"The 1st of October!" she ever so quickly replied.
The surprise must have registered on my face, so she explained her disappointment every time she clicked over here to see if I'd visited and the same date popped up in the post header.
Friday, October 1, 2010.
So it was.
Call it shaken, nudged or inspired...whatever...but here I am and that's a good thing. I've missed this space of mine... as have others it seems. Love.

Happenings around my world have been varied but mostly marred by rain. An enormous amount of rain! Gratefully received of course...the earth has been rightly soaked and the dams have been releasing water with warnings of floods along the river as a result. Quite the turnaround from when we were watching that same dam receding without a raindrop in sight not too long ago! How the worm turns and how mother nature loves to remind us who's in control. I love that.
But...I also do love the sunshine and the excitement that something we so take for granted can bring when it streams through the windows first thing in the morning after quite the long hiatus.
Thanks to the last two days of glorious sun I have made some serious progress in the redesign of the back garden and have even been planting (and nursing a little case of sunburn today...how silly...yes sunburn!) Oh yes and as quickly as a single area had been slightly finished, or in some cases half finished I found myself there on hands and knees sowing seeds and transplanting seedlings straight down into it!
My newly planted green babies include more papaya, roma tomatoes (now I know I can grow tomatoes!), pigeon pea, lettuce, coriander, basil, radish and a couple of things it's probably not the right time for like perennial leeks and broad beans...but ah I couldn't help myself. It's been so long.
I've also planted a choko vine on the chicken coop for fruit and shade as during our blitz out the back a few trees have now departed, and some sugar cane setts by the cubby which we acquired by the side of the road. Sweet sugar cane...planted not before a few sections were stripped and chewed of course.
We have also been joined by a raspberry bush and a loquat tree. Very exciting and very experimental...fingers crossed!

So amidst the mothering, working, training, pondering and goal setting, there have indeed been other things afoot. Between the rain, the sun, the digging and planting there has also been quite a bit of mulberry hunting and eating; bonding with a new *Charlotte* (we love our garden creatures here) and a new craft project for this Mama.
I guess the fact the house hasn't been cleaned in so long is not such a bad thing.
I'll take the sugar and sunshine over that any day.