Getting there

We limped our way to the end of Term 1 and I think we are all looking forward to a couple of weeks break from the school routine. We experienced the modern day version of "the dog ate my homework" the other day, otherwise known as "Mum put my USB through the wash". It's a sign of tiredness if ever there was one. Just so you know, putting a USB through the wash on a 30 minute cycle and cold wash only does not harm the information stored on it. Who knew?

I'm loving the change of seasons and especially my favourite season of Autumn - the season of pink sunrises, golden light and in just a few days the hope that the kids will finally stop waking us up before 7 when the clocks go forward an hour.

As I sit here with a glass of red on my left and a guilty Whippet on my right (don't ask!) I'm quite glad there are some photographic evidence of the blur that has been these past few weeks. It's been a blur of markets, Easter chocolate frenzy, Athletics carnivals (x3) and end of term tiredness. There has also been a lot of progress on the outside around the farm. Inside the home there appears to have been quite a bit of knitting going on in the evenings but not much else on my behalf quite frankly.

The walls of the building aren't up yet but there has been an enormous amount of ground work done on the building site in terms of retaining walls, drainage, and under-slab plumbing. Weather permitting, the slab will be poured next week. It's all starting to feel very real now. We're now getting down to the smaller details like staff uniforms, cafe furniture and menu planning.

We've had an amazing season with our Strawberries, selling out at the markets within the first hour or 2 and we're looking forward to our first raspberry harvest next Summer. The boys have been working hard planting out the Vineyard. The Chardonnay grapes are almost all in and the Pinot grapes will be planted in October, a Coal River Farm Pinot Noir and crisp Sparkling are just a few short years away.

Thanks to your comments a few posts ago in relation to that list, I promptly went out the next day and bought myself 5 skeins of yarn and cast on my very first jumper. I've been spending evenings bingeing on Seasons 1 and 2 of House of Cards with the body of the jumper and 1 sleeve now finished. Are you a fan of the series? My Dad said I must watch it and I am a huge fan of political dramas like The West Wing so House of Cards was completely up my alley. The cast is phenomenal. If only Season 3 was available already to get me through the second sleeve as it appears I suffer from the "Second Sleeve Syndrome" and haven't been inspired to tackle the second sleeve yet. Any suggestions for a new series? The only other thing on the list that I'm doing is reading the 3 middle boys Harry Potter and we are having a lovely time doing that before bed each night. One chapter a night seems to be just right before they get restless or I start nodding off myself.

Also pictured above are my first ever pair of socks that I started 8 months ago but never got further after finishing the first sock.  It appears I also suffer from the "second sock syndrome".  You may recall I started these after being inspired by Marta in The Sound of Music when she says "My name is Marta and I'm going to be 7 on Tuesday and I'd like a pink pair of socks". Except, when someone commented on that post that they didn't remember that bit of the movie I looked into it and it appears I've mistaken these words for 30 years. It seems Marta didn't want a pair of pink socks after all. She wanted a pink parasol. What 7 year old wants a pink parasol I'd like to know.

I also finished off Flynn's 2nd birthday present (just 4 months late), the super cute Mochi Trout Fish. This brings my total unfinished projects to just 3, including the jumper which I hope to finish off over Easter.

On that note, I wish you all a wonderful Easter and apologise profusely for neglecting all of your blogs these past couple of weeks. I'm on holidays now and looking forward to a bit more leisure time. I might even move the yarn winder from the entryway :-)

Joining in with other readers and knitters here.

Mel x