down on the farm

Every second weekend or so we like to head up to the farm where Tom's parents live. Only it's not really a farm.. there are grape vines at the front of the property and horse paddocks at the back but saying "we are just heading up to the vineyard darh-ling" always sounded a bit hoity-toity so we just call it 'the farm'.

The farm is in the swan valley, about 45 minutes from Perth. Tom's parents (well, mum and step-dad) moved up here about 6 years ago when the sold their house in the city and were looking for a more relaxed way of life. We feel so lucky that we have this little get away so close to us.. we drive for less than an hour yet once we get there we feel like we are a million miles away from the city.

Tom's mum has the most amazing veggie patch. Her veggie patch alone could take up a whole post!
There are 4 horses on the property (at one point they had 12!) including a little two week old foal. We collect eggs from the chickens, which is always lots of fun for Sophie and her cousin Ella as the chooks are allowed to wonder around the farm during the day so they always lay their eggs in strange places (this time on a bale of hay in the stables). We make lunch from the food harvested from the garden.. potatoes, lettuce, broad beans, beetroot, corn.. whatever is ready to eat!

Sometimes when I'm having one of those horrible evenings -when two kids are screaming and the house is a mess and you're trying to cook dinner and the washing machine decides to explode all over the floor when I think 'I wish Tom's mum lived around the corner!' but then we drive up to the farm on the weekend and I am so glad they live out here and we get to visit.

Are you lucky enough to have a home away from home?

Jiggity jig

Sometimes when Tom is at work I send him a message in the afternoon that just says "Jiggity?" and he replies with the time that he thinks he will be home from work that day. It started because I used to write "home again, home again, Jiggity Jig?" and somehow over the years it has just become "Jiggity?"

Anyways, we are now home again (home again, jiggity jig). We had a wonderful week up at the farm.
I was happy to be lying in a different bed for a week and Tom and Sophie had a ball getting up every morning to feed the horses and pottering about the farm during the day.

(Tom has a couple of weeks off work at the moment as he has just resigned and is starting a new job at the beginning of next month. It was a very difficult decision for him to make but we are hoping that it will turn out to be the right one.)

I spend the majority of my week at the farm with a crochet hook in my hand and had finished two baby blankets by the end of the week. I have really fallen in love with crochet.. I think because I find it soo much easier than knitting and so much quicker to produce something that is finished, although finishing something quickly is not really a priority for me at the moment! I do have quite a bit of time on my hands after all!

lazy town

We just got back from a few days up at the farm and so far 2012 has been pretty damn good to us.
We spent the last few days eating delicious food, doing lots of baking, having afternoon naps, reading books and generally being lazy.. quite perfect if you ask me.

The weekend that was..

Life is so busy at the moment, but in a good way! Can you believe that is it less than a week till Christmas? Crazy!

We had a lovely weekend.. We celebrated Tom's dad's 67th birthday with a big family breakfast and pavlova later that night, We went for a swim at the beach and tried to teach Sophie how to surf, We went up to the farm, We went out to Sushi train (Sophie's favourite), We did some Christmas shopping, We had lovely Christmas pies from this bakery (Tom's little sister flew in from Melbourne and had picked them up on the way to the airport), I spent a few hours curled up with the latest issue of Frankie and a peppermint tea, Tom and I went to the Moonlight Cinema and drank Champagne together under the stars*, We ate more pavlova and then (all of a sudden) it was Sunday night.

*It sounds like it was very romantic, but I should note here that I complained about all the people spraying insect repellent on every inch of their body and how it was toxic and I could not breath and it was stinging my eyes, and could we move somewhere else and Tom told me that I have the ability to find something negative in every single situation. We still cuddled under the blanket though.

The weekend that I needed. (Gotye included).

We had a lovely weekend up at the farm. (We call it 'the farm' even though it is really half vineyard and half horse stables.. I think because "Shall we head up to the vineyard this weekend" sounds a bit wanky).

It was just what I needed I think, and best of all we went and saw Gotye play at the Belvoir Amphitheatre (it's the most amazing outdoor venue) that is conveniently located about 5 minutes from the farm.

Tom and I used to go and see live music all the time and we both really miss it. The Gotye concert was really good, but I must be getting old because it was so loud and went soo late (I'm such a granny!)

I was thinking today about all the good music we went and saw before Sophie was born. Seeing the French singer Camille live in concert was probably one of the best things I have ever seen, and pretty close second was C.W Stoneking and Regina Spektor.

So tell me.. what was the best concert you have ever been to?

Photo of Sophie and her cousin Ella (and Tom's feet) up at the farm.

The weekend..

Sophie. The Vineyard. Dinner. Flowers.

Wine and Horses

One of the nicest things about living in Perth is that every weekend we head up to Tom's mum's place in the Swan Valley, about 40 minutes drive from the city.



A few years ago, Tom's mum and step-dad bought half a vineyard and because Tom's little sister rides horses, they built a huge stable block and there are 12 horses on the property. They also built a little 2 bedroom cottage that overlooks the vines on one side and the horse stables on the other..
We usually head up every weekend and stay for a night or two. It's SO lovely..



Sophie wakes up early in the morning and hops in the tractor to feed all the horses with her Granny, then collects fresh eggs from the chickens for breakfast.



There are so many reasons why moving to Perth feels like the best decision we ever made.. and coming up here certainly is one of them!