A Few Things Happening With Me…

Time for a little catch-up! We’ve officially lived in our country home for 2.5 months now so I thought I’d do a little catch-up post on how we’re doing. This is a template from Pip from Meet Me At Mike’s – the perfect way to do a catch-up post without having to use my brain too much!

Here’s what I’ve been up to…

Making – Little kissy noises at Harriet to make her laugh. She’s been smiling for a while but she full on giggles all the time now and I spend most of the day trying to make it happen. It’s so good.

Cooking – ‘Farm fresh’ everything. Since we moved to the Beechworth area recently everything we eat is ‘farm fresh’ even if we bought it frozen at the supermarket. I mean we call it farm fresh. It’s not salad, it’s ‘farm fresh’ salad. It’s not toast, it’s ‘farm fresh’ toast.

Drinking – Tea! So much tea. And a few cheeky glasses of red wine with my mum.

Reading – Knitting design books. I’m writing a course to teach crochet pattern design because there’s a hardcore lack of education in this area and knitwear design is actually the same, they just use different stitches. Weird fact right?

Wanting – Someone to open an F45 in Beechworth. I’ve found an amazing personal trainer here that does classes in her garage so I’m stoked but F45 will always be a part of my soul and I’m already missing it. Sob!

Looking – At my giant lawn and realising I’m going to have to learn to mow it stat. I’ve literally never mowed a lawn in my life because I’ve never had a lawn as an adult. We have a ride on mower – expect a very funny video of me learning how to use it soon.

Playing – Musical theatre soundtracks and singing them to my baby girl. She loves Disney and RENT.

Deciding – On what gardening shoes to buy – I definitely need summer and winter ones so I’m thinking a pair of Birkenstock chef clogs and I recently bought a pair of Bogs gumboots which I love. They’re so warm, they’re borderline too hot. Perfect for cold Stanley winters.

Wishing – We could fast track the shipping container tiny house we have planned to build in our backyard for guest accommodation. Can’t wait for our mates and family to have their own little haven to come and relax in.

Enjoying – Getting to know our new town. We live just outside of Beechworth in Stanley and we’re really loving it. The most hilarious thing is running into almost anyone and having them say ‘You must be Carly and Ben!’. You can’t move to a country town without everyone knowing about it.

Waiting – For a spare weekend to we can get our garden sorted.

Liking – Eating outdoors for most of our meals while the weather is still warm.

Wondering – Why people are such dicks. It feels like I can’t say anything online these days without someone arguing with me or judging something I did. I posted a story where I was preparing tea and I wasn’t even talking about the tea and someone commented saying I shouldn’t put milk in rooibos tea. Why even bother saying that? And who cares? I like milk in my rooibos. Bugger off and quit looking for loose threads to pick at. Do something productive. Sheesh. Also it says you can put milk in it on the box, so shut up KAREN!

Loving – ‘Doing a blocky’. The previous owners of our house would pour themselves a beverage and walk around the perimeter of the property every evening and we’re continuing the tradition. We call it a ‘blocky’ because it’s like a walk around the block. We take our Blocky tea and Blocky snacks and go for a sunset walk every evening to check out our veggie patch, make sure the rainwater tanks are doing what they should be doing and to comment for the 100th time how badly we need to mow our lawn. Bloody love a blocky.

Pondering – Why there are so many slam poetry style ads at the moment. Apple did one years ago and now it seems like every ad is a bunch of non-sensical words with flashing stock photography in the background. Up your ad game, marketing people.

Considering – Learning to sew properly. I’ve tried so many times and can do basic stuff but sewing machines hate me. I need to tame the machine.

Buying – Not a lot a really but I’m eyeing off an Uashmama backpack to use as a handbag/nappy bag. I bought one of their tote bags years ago and it’s still going strong (with a duct tape mending job!) so I really trust that their stuff lasts a long time. Update: I was going to buy one of these but then Mr Smags got me a Moleskine backpack from Milan and I freaking love it. Handsfree handbag situation is a must with a baby.

Watching – The Orville. The new season is so, so good. Seth Macfarlane is a genius. I want to be his friend.

Hoping – Harriet’s sleep patterns keep improving. I know we’ll have ups and downs and regressions but her sleep schedule is SO MANAGEABLE right now and it’s saving my sanity. She’s slept through the night for the last two weeks (with the occasional early morning thrown in for good measure!) and it’s such a gift. I’m fully prepared for it all come crumbling down tomorrow but if it does, I had a good run.

Marveling – At the long, long country days. City days are so short, country days seem to go on forever but in a good way.

Needing – New underwear. I did a big clean out when we moved and now I have like 5 pairs. Must stock up ASAP. My favourites are the Muji midi undies but I can never get the colours and styles I want in my size.

Questioning – ‘Nursing chairs’ – aren’t they just chairs?

Smelling – My baby girl’s sweet skin. I’m seriously addicted, she smells like sweetened condensed milk and rose water. I just inhale her.

Wearing – Anything I can pop my boobs out of but mainly side zip body con dresses from Legoe. So comfy.

Following – Gary Janetti on Instagram. So funny.

Noticing – Harriet making new little sounds and facial expressions every day. It’s like she unlocks these new little tricks every few days. It’s marvelous.

Thinking – About getting a dog for Harriet when she’s about 2 years old so they can grow up together but also knowing it’s probably better to wait until she asks for a dog then she’ll really appreciate it. Thoughts?

Admiring – My local community. None of us have letterboxes in our town so we have to pick up our post at the post office but the council shut it down about a decade ago so the locals run the post office themselves on a volunteer basis. How amazing is that? It’s open for 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours in the afternoon. When Harriet has a better schedule we’re definitely volunteering.

Sorting – Everything. Literally everything. Clothes, yarn, underwear, bathroom items. I love the cleanse you get when you move house!

Getting – Back to the gym after having Harriet. I did a few weeks of gentle F45 before we moved and now I’ve found a personal trainer up the road who runs classes from her garage. I’m so thrilled – I really need classes to keep me motivated and I’m going to do some personal training sessions too.

Bookmarking – Gardening websites! We have a backyard full of veggies, herbs and fruit trees and I’m determined to not let them die on my watch. We’re also building a bank of indoor plants – we want our house to look like a jungle.

Coveting – All the new Marimekko clothes but I can’t really buy any because I’m still breastfeeding. Will have to wait until the end of the year before I can properly buy clothes without boob access.

Disliking – Not having autonomy over my body. I love being Harriet’s mum and she’s a complete delight but my body has been hers for almost a full year now and it’s really intense. Pregnancy, birth, breastfeeding… I don’t hate it but by the time she’s finished breastfeeding (whenever that is) it will be close to two full years my body has been solely responsible for keeping her alive. Which is miraculous and I’m thrilled I’m able to do that for her and also experience it but I’m definitely ready for the choices I make about my body to only affect me. It’s a lot of pressure and I’m really looking forward to the day when she can have a damn sandwich for lunch!

Opening – The gate to our little property. Harriet and I usually go for a walk to open it in the morning and then we close it up in the afternoon when we do our ‘blocky’. Loving finding little rituals like that in our days.

Giggling – At Mr Smaggle. He’s gone into full optimization mode on our house and has all these sensors set up everywhere that track the weather and tell us if we should open or close the doors to maintain a good house temperature. He also has a breastfeeding sequence set up so when I get up to feed our girl, a nightlight goes on in her room, a light goes on above her change table and if the temperature in the living room is below 20 degrees, the heater comes on so we won’t be cold at 2am. And it’s triggered by me walking into Harriet’s room between the hours of midnight and 8am. He’s such a magnificent human, I’m keeping him forever.

Feeling – Really good. Obviously, I’d bloody love a solid 8 hours of sleep but apart from that, I feel ace. Harriet is a little champ, she has her moments but most of the time she’s pretty chilled out. Plus country life is definitely agreeing with me.

Snacking – On so much awesome local produce like emu salami, cheese honey, blueberries and chestnuts. And local fresh eggs!

Wishing – Good things for everyone this year. Lots of people I love have had a rough start to the year so I’m hoping 2019 pulls its socks up stat.

Helping – Or hoping to help, run the local town website and/or Instagram account. I really want to contribute to my community and I feel like that’s where I’d be the most use. I’ll get up the courage to offer my services soon!

Hearing – Mr Smaggle having chats with Harriet while I make us dinner and it’s just adorable. He asks about her day – how it went, how much milk she had, did she do lots of poos? – and she babbles back. They’re best mates and I just love watching them hang out together.

What’s happening with you? Anything exciting?

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