Compound Life: Issue 2 – Week In Review

I’ve been a busy little beaver… sort of. I’m half way through my university holidays and the garden experiment is fully in motion. Dad has been busy building what we affectionately refer to as “the cage”. It’s a fully lockable veggie patch to keep the wildlife out of our plants. (You can see it behind the pile of dirt in the last picture.)

He also repurposed a whole heap of steel off Facebook Marketplace to make some plant stands for Mum and I to use in our little farm patch. He and I went and rehomed some garden beds that one of his clients donated to our experiment.

He also built my Mum a new raised garden bed for her herbs (second picture top row). She’s calling it her “herb wagon” because of the netting that’s on top of it (and doing a great job of keeping the locals out of the herbs!). Mum and I have also planted some seedlings in anticipation of having a veggie garden space. We’ve got shallots and perpetual spinach seedlings planted out in boxes. (4th image in the group below.) I’m excited to see how they go!

I’ve also been learning the ropes of keeping our yard and doing garden work. I’m hopeless at it. My brain is just not wired for this type of work. BUT I’m trying and learning. This past week or so I’ve been cutting back the gardens that have overgrown because of my neglect. I’ve also learned how to level the garden beds and clean up ready for the soil delivery. Mum and I are planning our crops. We’ve got two beds which we are going to put pumpkin in one and sweet potato in the other. Then we have 2 raised benches that Dad made for us (you can see him making them in the image below 👇 with me hard at work in the background taking care of the overgrown garden) which will hold 4 x 200L grow bags each (8 in total). We’re planning to grow zucchini, peas, beans, perpetual spinach, lettuce, and carrots.

We have snakes here and so I’m always really on edge working in the garden. I decided that to get over that it was probably time for me to get some proper work gear. I have long loved overalls and wanted an old school styled pair. I took the leap and ordered a pair from Sük Workwear. They’re brilliant! I went with their Brumby Suit in Canvas. They’re so comfortable, really well made and seriously in the tropics they keep me protected and cool.

I’ve practically lived in them while working in the yard. 👆 Here’s the proof. The day they arrived versus a day spent wearing them while in the yard. 🤣 I feel invincible in them!

Only downside is that they don’t do the work for you. 😉 I’ve got that pile of dirt to shovel and put into our grow bags and garden beds. I’m not looking forward to it. But, I know it’ll be worth it once it’s all done and the vegetables are growing and the yard is in order. (Not to mention I’m looking forward to taking some of the weight off my Dad’s shoulders. He’s always looking after us and it would be lovely to let him know that we can look after ourselves because he’s taught us well.)

In amongst the gardening we’ve had a visit from one of our special locals….

This little echidna [CLICK HERE to find out more about them] was trying to cross the road in front of our house when the boys came home from school and work. I helped him cross the road safely as the cars don’t slow down around here. He was so cute! He had the cutest little toe beans. It’s one of the special gifts of living here. We’ve seen a few of them around the place – it’s a true blessing. (I’m 49 and this is the first time I’ve seen them in the wild!)

Sew Fun

I have managed to get a little bit of sewing fun into my days. Kristy and I started working on this quilt together back in November 2024 and we’re only 3 Queens in (which is my fault cause I’m so slow on the sewing). I was holding us up cause I hadn’t finished my 3rd Queen so I needed to do that before we moved on to our next one. So here she is, Catherine of Aragon.

I loved fussy cutting this Tula Pink print into her skirt. And then because I’d used Tula for the main panel I then decided to do all Tula for this Queen. (Can you see the birds in her outer skirt?)

She’s not perfect, but she’s done. We’ve moved on to the next queen in the series, Anne of Cleves. K has finished her already and I’m only half done. In my defence, gardening has been the priority this week.

I also managed to pop into Just Country Crafts and pick up some more Tula for my stash:

It’s a mixture of prints I already had in the stash and loved and some I hadn’t gotten from Full Moon Forest II which I wanted to add. I’m now trying to restrain myself from getting Floral Reef for the collection… I don’t hold out much hope that I’ll be able to resist for much longer.

Edibles

I’ve not done much cooking in the past weeks. I’ve had this recipe, Golden Saffron Rice Bake with Baharat Spiced Meat, open on my desktop for the past week. I have the stuff to make it, but I’ve just been so shattered lately by the end of the day that I’ve not made it into the kitchen. I’ll make it before I go back to school and let you know what it’s like!

Entertainment

Still not watching a lot of television, but I have watched all of Imperfect Women. The cast in this is brilliant. I love Kerry Washington, but she really made me struggle with her character (which is why she’s brilliant cause I forgot that I love her and hated her character). It’s always so hard to see Elizabeth Moss as anything other than a Handmaid, but she managed to smash that character out of my mind in this. She’s so good. It’s a thriller which was really enjoyable. It ended and I still have questions… I’d recommend it if you like a strong cast and a good whodunnit.

I only read 7 books in April, which was half of what I’d been reading in the previous months, but that reflects that I was back in the arms of academia. I’ve been reading and listening to audiobooks these past few weeks and it’s been really lovely. I’ve been listening to audiobooks while working in the yard which has helped the time go quickly. I finished Quicksilver this week and enjoyed it. (Solid 4 out of 5!)

Education

I’m back at school next week. I’m a JCU Student Mentor and so I’ll be at Orientation Day for Trimester 2 welcoming new students and doing campus tours. I’m excited to see their happy little faces. They’re always so nervous and reeking of potential – it just makes my heart swell. I love it.

I’ve applied to overload my classes this trimester and take 4 classes instead of 3. I’m not sure whether it’s a smart thing to do, but I’m worried that I’ll graduate just in time to retire at this rate. 🤣 I’m waiting for approval from enrolment and my faculty head. Results are published on 11 May and they’re waiting to see how I go with Trimester 2 before they approve the overload and waiving the pre-requisite for the class. (I’m 3 credits shy of being able to take the class.)

I’m ready to go back to school. I’ve loved the break and feel like I’ve had a break, but the longer I’m away the more I worry that I won’t be able to get my head back in the game when I do return.