Jiggidy Jig. I am home. Back on the farmy. The sun has risen to a cloudy day. It looks like rain and warm. 42F (9C) . 
I can hear the calls of the red winged blackbird outside the window. This is the bird that signs the end of deep winters grip for me. I am very fond of the more common birds and the red-winged blackbird is very common indeed and when they migrate back to Central Illinois then I know that spring is not far behind.
I sat as patient as a hat on all the planes that carried me back to America folding up all my sad feelings and putting them back into their little mind boxes and stowing them away. Once you agree to love someone you also commit to the misery of missing them somewhere along the line of life. And for us expats who live far from our homes and families this sadness lives with us. Mine is kept in little box in my mind. Safe from harming.
Above is the little tent I slept in in the Australian bush. I spent both nights sleeping on the ground with no cover, just the fly screen, in this tiny woman sized tent, sleeping under the stars. Happy as a lark. But now the travel blog is closed for a while and the farm blog is open again.
I am back in farmer mode. The dogs have been dancing with skunks in my absence, the cupboards are bare both in the barn and the house, (though the greens in the glasshouse look fantastic) the hay is looking sparse and both barns need bringing up to date, so I will be busy today and in the weeks to come. But Aaron, my first summer worker, is hard on my heels arriving later this week so help is on the way and soon everything will be ship shape again and we will begin to hum straight into the approaching spring.
Good morning. Thank you to you all for tagging along on my Australasian holiday everything worked out so well, but now – To Work.
Much love
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
83 responses to “Home again, Home again …”
Well, at least you will busy. I find that is always a good balm for an aching heart.
The second best balm being gardening and here we are – garden season is nearly upon us. Dreaming/Planning season is in full swing.
YES! I am going to get some mini tunnel houses set up this week – warm up that ground then out these little plants will go!
gorgeous tent to sleep in under the stars! And now back to work with your lovable animals on the farmy.
And this mornings work went really well – everyone is calm and well fed.. c
Welcome Home Celi! Loved following your travels and the pictures were gorgeous, thank you for sharing with us. Yesterday it was in the high 40s here and felt wonderful and the birds were singing again. That is spring to me, when the birds start singing again
it really does sound spring like.. c
Welcome home. 🙂
Thank you – it is good to be back at work again.. c
Welcome back! I too suspect Spring will be early this year. Yet I keep hearing, in the back of my mind, “In like a lamb out like a lion”, and it kind of scares me.
Yes, we must not be tricked, but every year we long for the sun to come back out! c
I don’t know anyone who lives each moment of her life with such zest, like Thoreau. A recent article in the paper said how to deal with the anxiety of modern life by remembering 3 things:
“I can do this!”; accept uncertainty; be in the moment.
Cecilia, you do this with such flair, such joy de vivre, you are an inspiration to me and I think your readers.
Welcome home!
I can do this! Yes. That is something I like to say. Though right at the moment I am thinking I might want to do a wee nap!.. c
heh heh… you can do that too! Just say, “I can do this,” and then go lay down and *poof* you will succeed in your nap. lol
Welcome home. This statement today really resonates with me: Once you agree to love someone you also commit to the misery of missing them somewhere along the line of life.
Yes, life has sadness – no avoiding it.. c
Welcome back Cinders! Just think…you are missed on both sides of the world! No quote could be truer. Parting is such sweet sorrow…
Old Shakespeare. c
Leaving North Carolina for NZ, I cried all the way from Charlotte to LA – telling the concerned flight attendant that I had something in my eye. I’m sure she believed me.
She has probably seen more than her share of tears.. c
xo! Welcome home. I too have several of those little boxes going. 😉 Loved watching your trip through your posts and photos. Looks like it was wonderful.
Yes it was and now I am wondering how you are doing with your travels! c
So glad you had a great time. Yes, loving means hurting for those we can’t be near. But thank goodness for travel opportunities. Glad we live now and not 100 years ago when saying goodbye maybe meant forever. Welcome back to the farmy!
That is so right Gretchen.. we are so lucky.. c
Welcome home. I envy you that fly-screen-only camping – that would be an ideal way to camp in midgy Scotland. Don’t work too hard now you’re home – we don’t want you undoing all the good your holiday has done you.
I love your writing style: patient as a hat, and little boxes in your mind. You have a genius for the subtle phrase.
love,
ViV x
Patient as a hat – you put down your hat and it sits patiently and waits to be picked up – I like that one too.. c
yay, so glad to be back with you on the farmy. Loved your Australian walkabout. 🙂 Laura
It was well worth it.. and relatively easy too.. c
Welcome home; glad you had such a good time. Wonder how Sheila greets you!
she has been talking non stop! bless her – c
Glad you’re back safe and sound. It looked like a wonderful trip. I love camping. 🙂
That is the second time in my whole life that i have gone camping – it was great – except for the flies of course!! c