I felt the last remainders of my summer mentality of ease and possibility fade away yesterday, as I became completely wrapped up in the new school year and all of the hectic nuttiness that comes along with that. My job is very scattered; I cover a lot of physical territory, and have a lot of details to keep on top of. Usually it's fine and feels manageable, but there are days when I feel like there are lists coming out of my ears and threatening to bury me alive, and how on earth is one person supposed to accomplish this all and stay sane? So I was thinking back to that summer feeling and trying to figure out how to capture that in little snippets through the rest of the year. When I'm at my best in the summer, I feel calm, not rushed, like I'm doing the things I want to do, and like there is enough time to do them well. Of course during the school year, I have to succumb to the schedules of schools and all of the other people I work with, which sometimes makes me feel as though it's impossible to do my job well. That's part of the reason, I think, why home is so important to me - it's my constant, and the place where I have created 'space' through minimal stuff and living intentionally. Speaking of which, I've been listening to The Slow Home podcast as I've been driving these past few days, and I really enjoyed the episode with Kelly Exeter (Episode 21) and the chat about white space and inefficiencies. Oooooh, boy - I identified with trying to maximize every moment. I will say that one of the perks of my job is that I get to travel the most beautiful part of the most beautiful province (in my humble opinion). Evidence above - today I got to take a ferry just before heavy rain started, and I somehow magically managed to capture that very particular colour of the water, which I adore, and that particular light that happens just before or after rain. Bonus: the little lighthouse on the island at the left of the picture. Moments like that take me out of my swirling head and make me feel like everything is going to be fine.
And this moment from the week wasn't too shabby, either.
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Back on the home front... in my last post, I commented on how the boys' bus schedule would affect our days, and I'm pleased to report that their pick-up time is magical. It falls exactly where it best fits for us, at 7:10. We're all usually up at 6:00, and that gives us time to get up, I get ready to go to work while Adam feeds the boys breakfast and packs their lunches, and by the time everyone's ready and has their shoes on, it's just at the right time. Even more perfectly, it gives me a precious few minutes before I have to leave for the day - I go down to the barns to feed the kittens and let them out for the day (they're doing very well at catching mice down there!), take stock of the morning and take a few deep breaths as I look across the fields for deer and other interesting developments (the morning mist is gorgeous at this time of year) and if I'm really relaxed about it, I putter over to the garden to pick some cucumbers, tomatoes, and kale.
Two more exciting developments at home - the first is that we at long last have dining room chairs that aren't dangerous! I'm thrilled with them - they actually match the original chairs that were with the table quite well, and are even more sturdy. They feel like they're meant to be sat upon, quite unlike the previous ones. I'm tickled pink.
And the second - we did our first honey harvest last weekend! We just extracted from seven frames, and have thirteen beautiful litres of honey! I am so very, very, very, very pleased. I'm glad that I have so many beautiful jars on hand.
In other good news, it is pouring rain today! It has been so, so dry. We've filled the well twice, and I've been lugging water to the gardens, and washing laundry and getting water jugs filled for the chickens and kittens at my parents' house. Which is not exactly convenient, but it does remind me how much I can take this precious resource for granted. I'm going to wash a celebratory load of laundry tonight!