Well, the wisteria has come and gone in the big winds and now it’s the turn of the roses and the jacarandas to have their star turn in the garden. The hydrangeas and agapanthus are not far behind, there is a baby calf in the next paddock and the flies are back so I can affirm that Spring is definitely here. As the days oscillate between being 35 degrees and horribly hot to 20 degrees and quite cool we are already watering the garden and anticipating a hot dry summer. Everyone tells you to mulch to protect the plants but they forget to tell you that it might blow away in 80km winds and there is also a real and present danger in the form of our 4 chooks who LOVE to create hollows in the dusty earth to roll around in and they have a total disregard for my plants old or new, each morning reveals yet another area they have snapped off or dug up – and all for one lousy egg a day! They have been warned……………….

We have had a busy month enjoying a 10 day visit from the Tassie Girls which was lovely and went far too quickly. We packed in as many things as we could, a trip to the zoo in Sydney, trips to Huskisson, Kangaroo Valley and LOTS of art and craft. They helped Papa with the chooks, took Bailey to the park to throw balls, had morning tea in Berry and made wigwams on the beach at Shoalhaven Heads.

One of the best days was when Sam brought the boys down and the cousins had a fantastic catch up. It only happens maybe once every couple of years due to living in different States so it was lovely that they took straight back up where they left off about 18 months ago and had great fun on the Slip’n Slide on a hot weekend, enjoyed the monthly markets at Berry showground where they decided as a group to spend their $5 each on a slushy – the 1st one the girls had ever had! Pizza night went down a treat and the next day we celebrated Fathers Day with a ride at the Penwood miniature railway – a childish simple activity we could all enjoy together…they will all be reunited at Christmas for more fun in the sun.

Luckily the MOTH was starting to feel a lot better by this time and was finally eating more normally. An FMT was booked in for the 22nd September and there was finally light at the end of the tunnel which made us both feel very positive. We are so lucky to live in a time and a place where we are offered the latest treatments and technologies (even if you do have to pay for them – the government is always very cautious to embrace ‘new’ treatments so until thousands of successes are recorded, they won’t cover them with Medicare!) A month later he is feeling good and has resumed real life and is currently on a golf trip with 7 of his mates in Hobart – something he could only dream of doing 4 months ago!

We are currently in the middle of Pink Up Berry month where our little town literally paints itself pink in aid of breast cancer. People decorate with pink bunting and pompoms, the crochet ladies are in full throttle decorating trees, seats and any inanimate object they can find! The whole town has a very bright and happy feel and there are SO many initiatives amongst the shop owners and locals to raise as much as we can especially as everyone seems to know someone who has been impacted by this disease. The cafés get on board with pink drinks and pink cupcakes, there is a trivia night and a barefoot bowling day where everyone dresses in pink and the annual race day at The Archer Racecourse donates their gate takings to the cause. This is how they have raised around $200,000 over the past few years, all in conjunction with The McGrath Foundation. For a tiny town we certainly do punch above our weight!

This month also brought us The Berry Garden Festival where 7 local gardens were open to visitors. From town cottages to rural properties, you can wander the gardens while enjoying workshops, refreshments, plant sales, and garden wares vendors. All proceeds from ticket sales are donated to charities in the local area and the town is heaving with people who for a mere $25 can have ‘a bit of a nosey’ at some of the houses and properties we may pass by on a daily basis and wonder what they look like on the inside! It was a great day with three girlfriends, and we saw something we liked at every garden. The last house was just a few kms from Two Figs Winery where we enjoyed an hour of wine tasting before heading home full of fresh ideas and inspiration!

Having been a bit confined at home due to a sore back I have been getting into some Spring Cleaning. Owning a house that is 129 years old means there are plenty of little nooks and crannies that need attending to and as we live on a dirt road and like to throw our doors and windows open there is NO shortage of dust as you can imagine, especially with all the recent winds that seem to blow all sorts of debris under our sash windows, so the time was ripe! It has been quite empowering as I gradually work my way through various rooms and corners where things had initially been placed for just a day or two and ended up still there months later! A throw out and a clean up and the place is starting to shine again. Although I am definitely not a minimalist I do like things not being cluttered and this is just the beginning! We have a whole loft full of old bits of furniture, a plethora of baby things no longer required and a whole load of pots, wire and broken bricks that seem to have taken up residence in a corner of the garden so a skip is really the order of the day – another addition to “the list” of things needing to be done.

It has been nice to create some order in what has otherwise been a rather chaotic time in the world order. The whole world seems to be either protesting or advocating for change, every weekend opposing armies of people walk through the streets here and throughout the world and you get a real sense of unrest. As my son likes to say, you can only control the controllable Mum, so as I seem to have a foot in several camps and I just end up feeling confused, I am choosing to “sit in the stillness” as I get very caught up in all the stories and end up feeling anxious! Stillness for me can be found on the veranda with a book and a cuppa or weeding and watering the veggie patch, walking the dog in the surrounding countryside, dead heading the roses or cooking up a storm on a rainy day listening to Andrea Bocelli and as the future is unwritten I am choosing not to overthink the things I cannot control. These sayings remind me of what I can ACTUALLY do ….