• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Country Life Experiment

Simple Country Living

  • Home
  • About
    • Start Here
    • FAQs
    • Contact
    • Disclosure
  • Food
    • Mains
    • Desserts
    • Cakes & Biscuits
    • Jams & Preserves
    • Snacks & Treats
    • Drinks
    • Food Hacks
    • Recipe List
  • Simple Living
    • Organisation
  • Garden
  • Country Life
  • Family Time
    • Kid Wrangling
  • DIY
    • Farm House
    • Crochet
    • Christmas

Taking Stock | January 2018

Summer holidays really are the best time of the year. We’ve had Christmas at the farm with all my family, followed by a week up the coast with them again. Now we are home and enjoying some downtime. I’ve had some breathing space which has got my brain ticking over with lots of different ideas and projects and new things to try.

Christmas day went by in a happy blur of church and present unwrapping. Lego construction (lots of that), bike riding, kayaking on the dam, game playing, reading, and eating. Lots of eating.  A house full of family at Christmas time is a blessing indeed.

Following on from Christmas we spent a week near Forster on the NSW mid-north coast. More games, eating, reading, and lots of swimming were on the agenda. We hired a boat one day and toured the lake, and went for a walk to the lighthouse at Sugarloaf point on another. One afternoon we visited a proper surf beach, built a ginormous sand dragon, and saw some dolphins. The kids ran around with their cousins and got up to all sorts of adventures. Hannah embraced being a teenager by staying up later with the adults and playing board games once the kids were in bed.

We are back home now, and I’m knee deep in projects I actually want to do (instead of all the things I have to do!), and am loving it. Next week, I’m taking the kids to the mountains for a week of swimming lessons and more time with my family, and then we have another week of around the house before we step back into the grind. I’m ignoring that problem for the moment!

I’ve been writing this list since the beginning of January, so I thought I should just finish it off and get this post out. One of my goals this year is to get back into the blog a little more. We shall see how we go.

In the meantime, here’s what’s been in my head lately:

Making: my crochet rug. I need to block a million hexagons before I can do anything else. In the meantime, I’m doing a beanie, just because I can.
Cooking: Pancakes for the kids’ breakfast. It’s a holiday tradition. Also, plum jam, sour cherry preserve, peach chutney and lots of other preserves. We need to stock up at the moment.
Drinking: Pepsi Max (I really need to stop that one!)
Reading: The Last Tudor and The Hundred Year Old Man Who Jumped Out The Window And Disappeared – both were Christmas presents. Also, I’ve tackled a couple of the kids’ books so I have some idea when they talk about them.
Next read: I have a pile to get through!
Wanting: to get more reading done this year.

Looking: at all our photos from the last 12 months as I put together our annual photo book.
Playing: with my new 35mm lens for the camera. I’ve had my eye on it for over a year now. Good things come to those who wait.
Deciding: whether or not to keep the wooden train set and a few other toys we have outgrown in recent years. Lego is definitely the favourite toy inside so I want to make more room for it to be played with. First reader books have also gone – thank goodness.
Wishing: that holidays lasted a lot longer!
Enjoying: some downtime.
Waiting: patiently.
Liking: the warm weather and swimming.

Wondering: what to do about our internet. We currently only get 50GB a month, and we are often running out these days. I’m thinking I’ll have to go to satellite.
Loving: watching the kids play with the kayaks we bought them for Christmas. They are definitely a hit!
Pondering: curtain options for the bedrooms. With summer well and truly upon us, we really need curtains ASAP, but I can’t decide what I want…
Considering: a trip to Ikea to get some more shelves for Toby’s cupboard. He has a large hanging space that is totally wasted, and his clothes are jammed into the three drawers at the bottom.
Buying: new sheets for the kids’ beds and towels for the whole family.
Watching: Seasons 1 & 2 of Call The Midwife which I picked up for $1 each at the op shop!
Next watch: I’ve got Season 1 of Outlander on DVD to watch.
Hoping: to get a whole lot of little projects crossed off my list in the next few weeks.
Marvelling: at Summer storms.
Cringing: at Trump. Also lots of eye rolling!
Needing: to have a sort through of Toby’s room – when Toby is not around. He is a hoarder of junk!!
Questioning: why there are 2 rocks, a lead pencil, a piece of lego and at least two nerf bullets in every single container or drawer that Toby owns.
Smelling: rain on the hot ground. Hooray for summer storms which fill our tanks!

Wearing: sandals, shorts, and summer dresses.
Following: a few new podcasts. My longer commute to work is going to need a few more to keep me occupied!
Noticing: The grass is still quite green around here. Usually, it is yellow and brown by now.
Thinking: about all the Summer holiday projects I want to tackle… and the lack of time to do them all.
Sorting: Lesson structures and sequences for my classes this year. Plus lots of other bits and pieces ahead of me starting my new job at the end of January. A teachers job never stops (even on holidays), and it’s never too early to start.
Getting: organised.
Bookmarking: This article by Pip Lincolne which really resonated with me.
Disliking: all the insects that manage to get into the house at night when the weather is warm.
Opening: parcels from poster candy, containing a poster full of photos of us and the kids, ready to be framed and hung in the hallway.
Feeling: relatively cool despite the heat outside, thanks to the air conditioner we got installed a few months back. Very glad we did that!
Snacking: on fruit from the orchard… and Christmas leftovers.
Hearing: Toby making “blastoff” noises and machinery noises as he plays with his Lego… constantly

Let everyone know:

  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • Email
  • More
  • Tumblr
  • Pocket
  • Print
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit

You should also check out...

Previous Post: « Happy Christmas
Next Post: Zucchini Tots »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jeanie says

    January 12, 2018 at 9:11 am

    If you make it to Ikea, they have great affordable curtains! I got some lovely linen ones for our living room a couple of months ago. Plus they sell backing curtains that clip on to make them block out and keep the heat in/out.

    Reply
    • Jo@CountryLifeExperiment says

      January 24, 2018 at 11:26 pm

      Will definitely check them out! Thanks 🙂

      Reply

Have your say... Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Hi, I’m Jo

I'm a city girl turned farmer's wife, school teacher, ideas woman, and mum to three country kids. Country Life Experiment is all about simple country living, growing and making our own food, and life on our family farm in rural Australia. Join me as I give country living a try. Read more...
  • Bloglovin
  • Facebook
  • Instagram

Search

Browse by month

INSTAGRAM

A lovely, easy Christmas with family, good food, a A lovely, easy Christmas with family, good food, a few presents, an afternoon swim and dinner on the veranda as the sun set. Time to stop and be thankful for the many blessings of the year. I hope you had a lovely Christmas too!
We have been mulling over how to fix up the drivew We have been mulling over how to fix up the driveway and lead up to our house for a while. Currently it’s just a dumping ground for old bits of metal and a big pile of mulch, but C would like to create a turning area and put in a garden. First up though, there’s a huge old stump that needs to go. What better excuse is there to have a fire on Sunday afternoon? C and the kids jumped on the quad bike and trailer, and hauled back a big pile of sticks and logs to help the stump burn. Once the fire was going, marshmallows were found and roasted. No better way to spend time together.
Team work makes the dream work. We were asked rec Team work makes the dream work. 
We were asked recently whether we “make” our kids work on the farm. The answer is of course not. Having said that, all three love to help out whenever they can. They all work hard because they want to; because they take pride in working hard and contributing in a meaningful way to our family life; because they love living on our farm and don’t remember life before we moved here. Whether it be planting trees or doing sheep work or feeding animals, they all want to be involved. As a parent, nothing is better than watching them grow in skill and confidence as they work along side you. We’re so glad that we get to spend time with our three, working together.
We’ve had an unexpected addition to the family ☘️🐑. She is a lot easier to look after than the other family members but she does try to escape her yard and head butt people. Poddy lambs are super cute but they tend to think they are a human. Clover the lamb is sure that Meg is her mum. Can’t think why… 🤔🤣
The perfect way to end a long winter weekend: toge The perfect way to end a long winter weekend: together, cooking damper around the remains of the bonfire.
It’s been a tough few weeks on the farm. We got It’s been a tough few weeks on the farm. We got through shearing without a hitch (thankfully 🙏) but we’ve had a run of the flu followed by Covid run through the family since then. The kids and I have tested positive (this is my second time getting it 🦠) though so far C has managed to avoid it. There has been a lot of lying on the couch feeling pretty ordinary. Han had to reschedule her driving test for a 4th time due to Covid, which is disappointing for her because she wants her freedom and for us because it would be so much more convenient if she could drive herself places. Just to add in to the mix, our hot water system has chosen now as a good time to die so we’re on cold showers until we’re all out of iso. This is not meant to be a whinging post but sometimes life just sucks a bit and it’s good to be real. Fortunately, the sight of the fire going with a stack of wood next to it cheers us up. Things will improve soon. Onwards we go…

Newsletter

Popular Posts

{Recipe} Spiced Plum Paste
Pickled Cucumbers
Pumpkin Fruit Cake
How Our Three Children Share A Bedroom.... Successfully
Homemade Honeycomb
Passionfruit Shortcake

Categories

Footer

Hi, I’m Jo

City girl turned farmer's wife, school teacher, ideas woman, and mum to three country kids. Country Life Experiment is all about simple country living, growing and making our own food, and life on our family farm in rural Australia. Join me as I give country living a try. Read more...
  • Bloglovin
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest

Copyright © 2023 · Foodie Pro Theme by Shay Bocks · Built on the Genesis Framework · Powered by WordPress