a dry summer

Why hello there! You would be forgiven in thinking that I had forgotten entirely about this little neglected space. As life just became too busy around me, I found that the blog became far less important in daily life, and I kept pushing it far back into the list of priorities. Before I knew it an entire two months had gone past. Of course the longer you leave something the harder it is to come back to it. Where to start? What to blog about? You certainly become rusty in the blogging department and the words do not flow easily.

It is not easy to blog when you don't feel like yourself as much as you used to. When you start to question if this really is the best way to live. When you lose your motivation.

I guess a combination of things contributed to the way I was feeling this summer. It was a terribly hot summer, and we went for a long time without rain. I can only begin to imagine how hard this would be if your livelihood depended up on it. As it was here, my vegie garden, that I had such high hopes for this year, that I had spent many hours on, so much money invested in, potatoes, seeds and seedlings, withered up and died. I gave up the twice day watering when I realised that I was no match for this harsh windy Summer and that I could no longer justify using so much precious tank water. It is the first summer here that I had no tomato crop. Then despite the hard work of pumping water twice weekly and watering all the trees, we still lost several. The grass died and you could feel the crunch under your feet while walking around after dark. Because that was the only time it was pleasant outside. Drought can suck the life right out of you.

When it doesn't rain the cows still need water, and pumping and fetching water becomes a huge headache. Having them 10 minutes away was not helping either, particularly when we had to buy their entire feed for the summer. I love my cows, I love the fresh milk, but I will not pretend that the whole experience has been an easy one. It has been a huge learning curve. Yet I still want to do it. I think an update post is due very soon.

Going back to the dry, I can now say that we were very fortunate this time around. It rained. Hard. Then it rained again. And again and again. We went from a dirt lawn to bright green grass. Everywhere. You can't underestimate just how much better you can feel when it finally rains. My thoughts are with those going through much tougher times, who haven't yet had rain, and can't afford to bring in feed.

Then there was the whole blogging thing. Sorry to say I had been keeping well away from the blogging community, becoming more drawn to the quieter, non-sponsored and less popular blogs. A click on an old favourite didn't always feel the same anymore. Amidst the new professional headers, wonderful  photography and the sometimes bombarding sponsorship, it seemed easier at times to slowly fade away and put that blogging chapter behind me. I lack the time to experiment, funds and expertise necessary to try to perfect my photography or to stylise this space professionally. So I've just decided to do the best I can do. Homemade header it is. Blurry pictures it may be.

So I'm feeling better now. Ready to put this harsh summer behind and look forward to a cooler, greener Autumn. My favourite season. I thank all those who wrote to me out of concern, and I did feel missed. Just don't expect anything too fancy. My life is not fancy, and I always wanted to maintain an honest truth within this blog. The ups and downs are all part of life, and it would be a lie to gloss over that. So as long as you don't expect anything too flash, but just a little journal of this not so perfect life here, I hope to see you again real soon.