The world is out of kilter when I have no farm animals to manage. So I set my mind to writing. And as you and I have established; the first thing I set up on arrival anywhere is my writing corner.
Yesterday I set up my office on the long wooden table. Gently relocating laundry and sliding aside house plants, abandoned water bottles, and discarded receipts. I am careful to clear only a little space for my laptop and keyboard and notebook and all the assorted charging cables. Not wanting to intrude on the calm chaos of a single working woman’s house.
Then we promptly left the writing nook as we launched out into the day. Talking and talking. The internet allows us excellent communication tools nowadays (we use WhatsApp) so our conversations are extensions of our regular international phone calls and texts. The words and the silence is easy – as though we have not been physically parted for long at all.
One thing I am adamant about on my travels is the desire to just drop in and out of ordinary life. We might do a few special things but don’t change your daily routine for me. Be normal. Just pop an extra potato in the pot.
Later we went for a walk listening for the calls of local birds for a TKG Take Ten. Much to my despair my Cornell bird app does not recognize the Australian birds (even though I have downloaded the Australian bird package). So I will try to work on that today. (All the plans of mice and women, aye?) There were many birds on our long walk and they were raucous and squabbly. If you are from Australia you might want to pop over (this evening) and identify a few birds for us.
If you would like to see the plane landing through the clouds, the clouds of dawn: Go HERE. It was a beautiful arrival into Australia. If you enjoy it please recommend and share. These ten minutes of sitting still and listening are so important to our brains, especially this year! And someone in your circle might be grateful.
My daughter found this (below) in her wardrobe. A baby huntsman – desiccated. Quite dead. And this was after the cleaners had been.
Not terribly enchanting!
All in all we walked for around five miles yesterday. Through gum trees that the Australians call the bush. Then later through the gallery and downtown. Working out the kinks of travel.
The dog is TimTam. He was a rescue four or maybe five years ago. And much loved now. A big shy dog. Quite the Mama’s girl.
As usual this blog post was written in my early morning with my first cup of coffee. Though TKG TAKE TEN (the evening edition of the kitchens garden) will continue to arrive in your inboxes at 5 pm US Central Time, (If I do my calculations correctly) I will continue my routine of writing to you on my blog in my early morning. From my bed. It has been my routine for so many years now that I don’t know how to begin any other way. You are who I start my day with.
I like it that way.
Have a lovely day.
Celi

The Kitchen's Garden 
20 responses to “The Walk and The landing”
The walk through the gum trees sounds delightful. All that fresh air after travelling.
My partner has a birdsong identification app called Merlin. Might be worth a try?
Enjoy your day 😊
Yes – I have Merlin too but it is not identifying the Aussie birds., which is so annoying. But I guess it is a North American company.
Oh that is annoying!
Seems like a perfect way to spend the day- walking with the dog- who also clearly enjoyed all the smells. The spider however, not so enjoyable but at least not alive.
The spider was enormous and a BABY!! eeoo. I don’t mind spiders really but it did look creepy.
Getting closer to home Celi. I can hear the family counting down the days and soon the hours.
yes – they already have babysitting booked! And gardening days organised.
ha ha
TimTam – I love Tim Tams! One of the best biscuits ever!
Her cat is called KitKat! Seemed appropriate!
Ha ha – hilarious!
I remember how that bushland smells on a cool, damp morning. Definitely the right stuff to drive out all that stale plane air. I’d imagine a Melbourne morning would sound like magpies, currawongs, butcher birds, peewees, willy wagtails, maybe a bell miner or a whipbird or two in the bush.
hopefully you can pop in and listen for me – i have no idea at all!
I did just that. You have magpies, peewees, willy wagtails, butcher birds, honeyeaters, crows and finches.
Good heavens- no wonder I didn’t have a clue about anything making sounds except for the distant dog! All birds clearly unique to the southern hemisphere 🙂
all looks nice, and calm, and pretty, except for the huntsman, maybe ?) Tim Tam must be named after the wonderful cookie!
TimTam was her name in the kennel. My daughter thought about changing it but after a while it did not matter what her name is – she rescued a kitten a year or so after and calls the cat KitKat!!
so cute and funny
Spending time with my daughter on her little island is my favourite thing in the world. We talk and talk and talk as she goes about her business. She also lives in a forested area, (pine trees instead of gum trees). Enjoy every minute. I also love the dog’s name!
I don’t think I would have held the huntsman even dead. Thank you for starting your day with us!