Garden Harvest Soup, by Piper

Today Piper made us Garden Harvest Soup. Totally her own initiative. Set the table for us with a wet (for some reason) nappy, bowls, spoons, and serviettes. Had to be matching everything, even the spoons. She was very pleased with herself, very smiley, but had worked with great intent and obviously had a vision for how she wanted to present her soup, and how she wanted us to participate in her culinary act. It was bemusing but beautiful.

Piper took these shots, and I wish there was one of the soup. It consisted of: beans, beetroot leaves, dandelion flowers, spring onion tops and other odds and ends. No doubt very healthy! And we did eat some!

Gord and I have been reading a bit of The Art of the Commonplace: the agrarian essays of Wendell Berry, and this experience with Piper correlates directly with something he writes:

I do not believe that "employment outside the home" is as valuable or as important or as satisfying as employment at home, for either men or women. It is clear to me from my experience as a teacher, for example, that children need an ordinary daily association with both parents. They need to see their parents at work; they need, at first, to play at the work they see their parents doing, and then they need to work with their parents. It does not matter so much that this working together should be what is called "quality time," but it matters a great deal that the work done should have the dignity of economic value. (p. 68)

Piper is always playing and imagining, but I've never seen her so clearly emulate, on her own, the everyday work of cooking that Gord and I engage in almost every day. Especially settling the table like that.

Turning 29

This time last year (on the 25th January), I was turning 28 in cold Canada. This year, I felt I hadn't had the headspace to work out what I wanted to do, except have a little dance party on our non-existent deck(!), so the day rolled out in a very unplanned, mellow manner, which can sometimes leave me feeling at a loose end, but it worked out well. I wanted to capture some of it in images...

A space to read in bed with a cup of tea for a little while - always a lovely treat, one that doesn't come along too often these days!

Favourite earrings.

My daughter back - I'd hardly seen her for a week, cos I left for north Queensland early Sunday morning, got back late Wednesday night, saw her a bit on Thursday morning, but then she stayed with my parents for two nights to tie in with a trip to the ballet! And look, she was right back into it, crafting and drawing...

A butterfly dressed up for my birthday.

A trip to the monthly Gembrook Market with Mum and Dad.

My favourite shoes, and the only skirt I fit into, now!

A birthday shared with this baby to come.

Lunch: turkish bread, sicilian pesto and olive tapenade from the market, with home-grown grilled zucchini...

...consumed with relish in front of the tennis!

The first sweetpea to bloom - it was a gift to inhale its beautiful scent - one of my favourite flowers.

Fresh flowers from the garden.

Presents from my in-laws - Gord's parents and sister! Yippee! Made me feel like making something right there and then.

More presents...

The desire to create leading to me pulling out almost my entire yarn stash to see what I could do with it. I've had the idea for a while of a colourful blanket comprising of knitted squares, but the thought of having to work out the gauge of half the balls of yarn, and the equally demoralising thought of having to sew all the squares together somehow, left me feeling a bit stymied...

... but I started knitting anyway!

Another present, from Tessa - a nectarine tree for our future orchard in the front yard.

Starting to read Snugglepot and Cuddlepie, an Australian classic, to Piper for the first time. I love introducing her to stories I love.

Kids bathed and ready for bed, without me having to do anything!

And still the desire to create! It overpowered a vague idea to catch a movie and/or purchase some birthday cake in Belgrave! Finally settled on a feather and fan blanket pattern from Country Living's Cosy Knits for Cuddly Babies, and cast on with soft handspun Romney Marsh wool from the market, a gift from Mum and Dad. My first attempt at a lace pattern. Stayed up too late, just enjoying knitting (in front of the tennis, with my husband reading beside me) - nice!

So really, what a lovely birthday, matching my mellow, home-body state at the present...

First harvest

Our zucchini plants are producing prolifically, as zucchini plants always seem to! We really want to respect the abundance of this garden and use all that it produces, so zucchini has been, and will be, on the menu for a while at our place!

The vibrant yellow skin was a welcome surprise - I guess I should have paid more attention to what we were planting!

So, our first harvest from the garden becomes part of a thrown-together-with-whatever-we-had-on-hand Split Pea and Zucchini soup, consumed with family and friends. Lovely.