{about our home} ode to concrete

I took these photos a week or less ago, of our beautiful new walls being washed and cleaned in preparation for floor boards to be installed. {Mishi sure did have fun spraying the walls down, and any people who got in her way. I do think those gumboots maketh the outfit!}.

Both Sam and I whinged and complained about the making of these walls. Anyone who asked about the house building was met with the same "oh" and "ughhhh" about how horrible concrete making was. And indeed it quite is. Combined with the fact that it rained in between making, and often during mixing. And the concrete mixer broke one day, which meant we had to finish a section mixing it all in the wheelbarrow. And one day the wheelbarrow broke, so we had to carry it full of heavy concrete. Oh this really was a labour of love, that's for sure. 

My hands still have the scars to show for it - the lime in the concrete isn't so gentle, even with thick gloves on. 

We had to climb ladders and pour the concrete in ice-cream bucketful by teeny bucketful. This was totally a hands on job; made possibly more difficult by the fact that neither of us knew what we were doing. 

But.... but. 

Oh my. Look at those walls. Just LOOK! Aren't they something. Oh yes oh yes. 

They are totally imperfect, with errors and mistakes on every single wall. But I love them all the more for that. For being able to look and not flinch, but stroke those walls that we worked hard on. Those walls that took us so much longer than they should have. Those walls that haven't broken this marriage - only made it stronger through our having to work together and solve problems and get the wall done before the concrete goes too hard, and fix the problems. And know you'll take the frame work off the next day with gaping holes, and more fixing work to do. Those walls. The ones that made us drag our feet every morning, and almost wish for rain as it meant we could stay inside and crochet a little longer....

Yep - I love them!

I love the way they are still now changing colour, with mottled shapes and patterns moving through as they go through the drying process. The way the concrete is going from dark to pale. The way the shadows catch across them throughout the day - in unexpected and wonderful and joy-inducing ways. I love the way they are so photogenic, even now in their rough unsealed state. I love the way we can stand there and say 'we made that!'.

There is floor there now, where this little one is standing. Glorious floor that I will show you next week. This morning Mishi wrote a special note to put up at her bed, to remind herself, 'every small bit makes a differents (sic)'. It's true. It's true. This home of ours is taking a long time to build, but as it happens slowly bit by bit, we are also building ourselves. 

things about living in the country

We're not necessarily getting better at this country living thing, but it is getting easier. Bit by bit. 

All the times I think of complaining, of the living in this tiny little shack with no bedrooms, and no bathroom, and no sewing room, and not spare.space.for.ourselves.whatsoever. Every time I want to complain, I go outside and look around. Up and down and out and in. All around. 

Those are the wonderful and good and ever so amazing parts of living in the country. {We do not live in the 'country-side', instead we live in the forest or bush}.

Looking up I see the trees stretching for years and years into the sky. This tree that lives and grows right near where we have chosen to also plant ourselves is more than 80 years old. It looks like a dinosaur tree, covered in moss and ferns and orchids. With little birds building their own lives within the spiky leaves. And also a giant goanna that climbs up the rough bark and slips into the massive basket ferns that live there. 

Looking down I see tiny ferns and moss and fungi. Ants and beetles. Leaves and buds and twigs fallen. The earth beneath my feet is the same earth that my mother walked upon. And I walked upon with my siblings when I was young. 

Looking all around I see this circle of trees that we live in. Like a fairy circle with trees around us in a ring of life. And the birds that call this valley home. I am trying to encourage the kids to draw each bird they see on our daily adventures. There's lots of birds, and I do think it would make a beautiful journal seen through the kids' hand drawings.

Right now, as I type this, there is a carpet snake in our kitchen. Yes. Yes. You read correctly. A snake curled up in the corner behind a cupboard in our actual kitchen. Remember, we live in a shack with lots of easy-to-access broken windows and chinks in the wall (our kitchen has stone wall in some parts). A carpet python isn't poisonous or dangerous. She has sat there quietly all day, and simply wants to go outside. I think she came in last night during the storm. Our cat will not venture into the kitchen; we had to feed him in the loungeroom! It's good having a snake in the kitchen as it keeps the native mice and rats away. 

Driving to the creek, the kids sit in the boot of the car. No seatbelts. Or perhaps sit on my lap while I drive, turning the steeringwheel as I drive. These things are ok in the country. We don't have traffic jams on our way to town; we have cows across the road, or geese honking at you. One day a turtle was sitting on the road and I had to help it back to the creek. You must slow down for birds. And laugh at the brush turkeys racing across the road. 

Looking up I see the stars. Every star in the sky shines brightly at night. Twinkling and shimmering on us. At night when you go outside you need a torch. We go outside every night - we have no inside toilet. Sometimes cold in Winter, but always so much more beautiful than a regular indoor bathroom. {And not as cold as here!!!}

There are other, oh so many other, good and wonderful things about living in the country. I am counting my blessings to live here, and enjoy all the good and wonderful things about it.

*these sunflowers are from my neighbours garden. She threw handfuls of seeds into a well dug patch - the flower head seeds are intended for chicken feed once they are spent. We did have sunflowers last Summer, and I *intend* to have a flowering garden again this year. Last year was busy with being away from home, and my whole garden suffered badly.