I have seen quite a bit of this day before taking this photo. I had a date with Google from 2 till 4am then a date with my head processing all that legal jargon till 5, dozing till 6am. Mum's legal case is gathering momentum and we are now 17 days into the 28 days allowed for the Defendant to file their defence. Much of what amounts to hot air is blowing in from the Defendants Lawyer, he seems quite at liberty to run up their bill.
Out the rear door of my car, once again it is time for bus stop drop off.
I smile as I edit this image, there in the back seat are little ones car seats. This makes my heart happy and thankful.
My view out my front windscreen when I return home. Good Morning Mum. Who knows for how long this will be my Mothers residence?
Getting ready to meet a very very dear friend for coffee this morning. So many times that I could not count on 2 hands we try to catch up throughout the year. This year is our leanest year for face to face catchups. I am so looking forward to seeing her. We have been friends since our eldest girls were babies, we were neighbours.
I meet her in the carpark of a fave coffee shop, she is recovering from the flu, she has a sick child with her, she has a headache and has hurt her back.... but still she comes! Gosh I love this girl!
I had no idea and immediately I feel terrible, in her true generous of spirit style she dismisses my concerns and we head inside. Along the way she bumps into a table of friends. I am so used to this whenever we catch up in public, this woman knows thousands of people I kid you not. She is well known in her small community and the larger community also. Her husband is a Pastor. They have 6 kids. Yup, she knows plenty! Throughout our catchup she frequently waves to passers-by.
She is so loved and liked. Her heart is pure gold. I feel truly grateful and honoured that our paths cross and we have continued to walk an intertwining path for the past 24 years.
First order. He has a milkshake.
Second order. He has ice-cream.
On my way to meet her I pass a field, a field I have passed often these past few weeks. I am determined to snap a photo of the bales of hay before they are gone. I pull over on my way home to capture this.
I love where we live. Semi-rural. Clean air. Space.
I arrive home to my fabric order placed just 2 days ago. I love it all and can't wait to make zippered pouches and Fauxdoris and the like.
I open the rest of the mail and my sons school subject choices for next year are amongst it.
Just 2 years left of school. For ever. He is my youngest and the schooling road is coming to an end. 22 years worth of getting kids off to school so far. I had my first child in the late '80s my next 2 in the early and later 90's and my last in 2000 - technically this spans 3 decades!
My capture of the pretty and the unattractive yesterday has spurred me into action.
The time has come veggie patch! Prepare to be productive!
Beautiful organic garden soil from a local business, they have delivered to us often in the past. A 1 acre block takes a lot of soil, mulch, compost, pavers, fence posts and plants.
Spring is fast approaching and my goal is to work my garden beds for about 2 weeks and then plant them out very early in the new season. I decide on just 2 hens, we have had a total of 9 in the past, 3 the first time and then 6 the second and that many is just too many.
Time to reinstate the chicken coup as well.
When Glen gets home from work he takes down one panel in the fencing so that I can barrow in the dirt tomorrow morning, I am looking forward to getting started on that space first up.
I cook Lamb Shanks in a casserole kind of manner for dinner. Glen has been making noise about shanks of late and tonight was the night. I make enough for Mum for dinner also. She always acts so surprised when I deliver a meal, there are times I am sure she has already eaten but she never says so. Never. I love how she waits for me to be back up to my front door before she turns off her porch lights, often she sings out as well "Are you right?" Hilarious and heart warming all at once.
My night is rounded out with a phone call from my dear Aunt. I think I have missed speaking with her for at least 2 days. Since her terminal diagnosis on July 1st and home from hospital 2 or so weeks later I have not missed a day. We talk for 185 minutes! Yes we are both wordy types!
We exchange news. I listen mostly in the second half of our time on the phone. She tells me of how now she thinks everyone in her circle know her news. My Aunt is was a busy lady. A very active member of her local community and the centre within. Not just the Secretary of the non-profit organisation but a teacher for Applique and Crochet, along with a ladies group she runs each week - the youngest member is now 70 (and that is her!). I tell her I cannot fathom uttering the words of "I have terminal cancer" to anyone and not breaking down. She tells me it is her reality and there is no denying what is real. We talk about how similar we are, how similar our husbands and partners are, even our children have very close similarities though clearly a generation apart.
I feel compelled to say to her that whilst she is a wife, a mother, a sister, an aunt, a friend that this is her journey. That she should not feel guilty for exploring ways and taking steps to have her needs met. Picking up the phone, driving to a local beach to sob in the sanctuary of her car, falling asleep on the lounge which she would never had done before, sewing at 2am... no matter what no matter when, only she knows what she needs. And sometimes she does not. And that is okay too.
I am reminded of a saying I heard a lot growing up -
We come into this world on our own, and that's exactly how we will leave it.
It says to me that taking care of our own needs is not selfish, that whilst we may all be here together at this time, each persons journey is different. We can be many things to many people, but we are first and foremost ourselves.
Cheers
Michelle x.