The Vege Patch

From small beginnings just two months ago ......



....we now have this :



I'm simply amazed by how wonderful this experience of growing our own vegetables is.



A bit of water and a bit of love and they thrive.



This is our little froggy garden guardian, who watches over our plants ..... he was made by Corey many years ago when he was a gorgeous little boy (now he's a gorgeous big boy.)



We have cherry tomatoes ripening.

I picked the first three of our tomatoes today and oh my, were they delicious. So sweet and firm, mmmm.


The cucumber is flowering....



.. and already we're having a bumper crop of cucumbers with many more to come.

I can foresee us having many many salads this summer!


This is our Leaning Tower of Asparagus.

I've figured that this asparagus plant is the teenager of our vege patch. It's really not doing anything and can't even be bothered to stand up straight.


The capsicums have finally decided that it's time to flower.

And I must say they have very pretty flowers too.


We have a 'mama watering can' and a 'baby watering can'.


Both get put to good use.

Charlie is an avid gardener, and I often find him filling his watering can from the dogs water bowl.

Great for the plants, not so great for poor Trooper.


We've been loving growing our own vegetables so much, that we want to plant more.

Many more.

I have packets of seeds ready to go and Del went out and obtained this corrugated iron vege-planter. For free!

I'm itching to get the soil in and get planting.



So far we've filled the base with straw and will soon get the soil. Corn, beans, peas, lettuces and herbs will soon fill this planter.

I'm enjoying working in the garden, helping Mother Nature do her thing, and I'm thrilled that my boys know exactly what food looks like in it's natural form, and that it doesn't actually grow on supermarket shelves!

The Belated Halloween Post

I know this post is a bit late.

Well ok, a LOT late. Every other blogger on earth has done their Halloween post ages ago, done and dusted. But not me...

And although you're all probably focused on Thanksgiving (for my US readers!) and Christmas by now, here's what happened on Halloween in our little part of the world.

Halloween in Australia is not big at all. It's becoming more popular but only because we are more and more influenced by American culture. Trick or treating is slowing gaining popularity, mainly as a means for kids to get extra rations of lollies for no particular reason.

Now being pagan, Halloween, or Samhain (pronounced Sow-en) does have meaning for us. It's a traditional Autumn agricultural, earth based celebration going back to the mists of time (ok maybe that bits a little exaggeration!).

My problem is this - IT'S NOT AUTUMN HERE!

Just because Halloween is celebrated in the Northern Hemisphere in their Autumn, people in the Southern Hemisphere who have no real idea of what they're celebrating follow along just because of the calendar date.

We should be celebrating Springtime.

But being the wonderful mother that I am, I don't want to deprive my kids of the fun of trick or treating for a bag of sugar and additive laden lollies. So we celebrate a modified version of Halloween on the evening of 31 October.

This year the big boys couldn't wait to introduce Charlie to the fun of trick or treating. Even though he was ill, I relented and let them take him out for a short time.


Kaiden as the boy from ET, Charlie as a Magician, and Corey as a skateboarding demon type creature.


At first Charlie wasn't quite sure about this whole dressing up thing.


"I'll sort of smile just to humour you, but I really don't get what this is all about."


"Lollies and treats you say?"



"Ok then, let me just adjust my cape. Let's roll!"

I think the older two boys benefited from having a cute little brother along with them, and their stash of good stuff was definitely bigger than last year.

And that's when Charlie realised he was onto a good thing.


Enjoying the spoils, and the subsequent sugar high.


Secretly, even though my older two are getting to be big boys now, I still think they love the fun of getting dressed up.




Not that us adults would ever enjoy anything like that......


Being a sexy witch... please don't laugh!

I had at one point intended to write about the origins of Halloween, and how here in the Southern Hemisphere it's Spring and we celebrate Beltane, but I'm a little over it all now.

But we did celebrate Beltane on 1 November. Halloween = death, followed by Beltane = life. This is how I justify celebrating Halloween out of season, the circle of life, death, life and so on.

Beltane is an old agricultural festival that celebrates the start of summer, the crop, pasturing season and fertility. It's a fun celebration of life.

This year we didn't do much for Beltane, I had wanted to make a mini Maypole for us to dance around and to have a little feast but circumstances conspired against my good intentions. I did decorate my besom (broom) though.



It's my witch's broom that I made recently from twigs gathered from the trees at the park across from our home. I plan to decorate it for each Sabbat (Holy days). I don't have much time to plan out big celebrations for each Sabbat, but I do what I can and in my heart I celebrate it in all it's glory.

Happy belated Beltane/Samhain to you all!

Living our Lives

I've written before about my desire to live the 'simple life' which in my view also covers a living a more 'spiritual life'. A 'simple life' is getting back to living a healthy, natural life, and a 'spiritual life' is living a life where I am filled with contentment and love.

Lately I've been feeling the need to make changes to my life more and more. I think that being Spring I just want to jump start new things and spring clean many areas of my life and home, but I also feel that it's more than just that.

I'm sure other people feel this too. There is a restlessness, a feeling that there has got to be more to this life than what we have at the moment. A need to escape the daily treadmill and really LIVE OUR LIFE. But there is indecision. We are all so used to the life we live, the way our society lives, yet we're not satisfied by it. We want more. But we're not sure what this more actually is, let alone how to achieve it. We feel that we have lost something, but we no longer remember what that something was, only that it is missing in our lives.

I believe that our society is ready for a change, a re-emergence of the fulfilling life we all deserve. Not just deserve, that we are here to experience. That we were each born for. Life isn't about working hard to earn money to give to someone else so we can have a house and food, to pay the bills and to pay for prepackaged entertainment that comes in one of million different forms that we can choose from. How did our society become like this? So focused on things on the outside? Our lives are defined more by the education or career we have, or lack of it, than what we contribute to our family, community and world.

We only live ON this Earth. We no longer feel a PART of this Earth. We came from the earth, we once lived in harmony with it, which is what man was born to do. We were not born to dominate the Earth and other people, in a race to prove who is the best by twisted standards of power and greed.

We have become disconnected from ourselves, our families, our communities and most of all, our world. Perhaps this is what we have lost, what we feel is missing. Perhaps this is why we feel this restlessness, this need, to search for something. We are no longer really a part of this earth. We drive around in air conditioned cars, sealed off from the real world, work deep inside concrete and steel buildings with the only connection to the outside world being through a plate glass window if we're lucky, and we spend majority of our time at home inside, on the computer, watching tv, cleaning and cooking, with the occasional puff of outside air coming through the window, but only on nice days of course! The way we have sealed ourselves off from nature is amazing yet tragic, though no one even really stops to think about it as we just get on with our busy day, never questioning how we live.

Yet there is an unhappiness inside us, a restlessness, a need. Many people feel it on a sub conscious level, and it leads to both minor and major negative behaviours, from being grumpy with our kids, to road rage to more dangerous and terrible things. People just don't know what's 'wrong' but all we do is look at the surface issues - my kids are too hyper, I was late and they cut in front of me on the road etc. But what is really wrong with our society, and each of us? We're missing something.

We can read every self help and spiritual book there is on how to find it again, but I believe that just as each of us is unique, we must each find this something in our own way. Yet conversely, it will also take our society as a whole to change in order for things to change.

I have no idea what will happen, only that it needs to happen.

We each need to look inside ourselves, and at the same time look around this wondrous earth that has given us life and shelter and find that missing something.

Peace?
Contentment?
Meaning to life?
Respect?
Love?
Purpose?

I would love to hear your views on this in the comments.

Springtime and sunshine are here!

Here in my corner of the world, Spring has sprung. At long last warm sunshine bathes the earth, the birds sing in the trees once again and I hear the constant noise of sniffing as my family battles severe hayfever.

Oh, Spring how I love thee. (spring really is in the air if I'm getting all poetic).

This year the turning of the seasons has been calling to me, I feel the energy of Spring coursing through my body. It's the season of new life, new beginnings.

I have had this need to get my hands dirty and plant something. Anything. It's been gnawing at me for the last week or two, so on Sunday Del and I trekked to the markets to buy some seedlings to start our very own herb and vegetable garden.

Now we don't have very much room in our back garden, what with the pool, Charlie's outdoor toys everywhere, and the older boys rusty bikes scattered about, so we have started our 'pot garden'.


It's only small but it's a start!



Mmmm, who doesn't love fresh strawberries?

I foresee members of this family sneaking out to pick the first strawberries before anyone else gets to them.



Cherry tomatoes for summer salads.



Capsicum plants, a mix of red and yellow for colour.



The strawberry pot with asparagus growing in the top. It's an odd combination I know, but this blog is titled My Eccentricity for a reason!!!

Charlie loves getting out there each morning with his little watering can and giving all the plants their drink. Of course he usually ends up completely soaked himself, but isn't that the fun of being a kid?

I now also have little pots of herbs growing on my kitchen window sill, just like a proper kitchen witch. We plan to add to this small beginning, but at least my need for surrounding myself with new growing things has been fulfilled.


And btw this the 100th post on My Eccentricity !!! Time to celebrate and party. Either that or have an early night and get some sleep. Tough choice.

Wednesday's Adventure

Today was a mixed bag of feelings and emotions.

Woke feeling ok, but within an hour or two felt so ill I dozed on and off on the couch for an hour or so.

I then spent the rest of the morning trying to catch up on urgent work, which I managed to achieve.

I felt better in the afternoon, so after paying my way overdue car registration (bad me), I wrangled my three boys, plus an extra one, into the car and off we went for a little adventure.

I took some lovely photos which I will organise and hopefully post soon, but here's a sneak peak.





And now I'm off to bed. Goodnight all.

Two Routes

Does anyone else find driving on freeways a soulless experience?


The freeway. Sand and scrub.


Today I had the choice of two routes - the quicker but lifeless freeway, or the slightly longer but tree-filled way.

Time was on my side so of course I took the latter route. True it's still suburban, with multiple traffic lights and many other motorists around, but the roads are lined with native trees and there is even a small pine plantation that we pass.

Almost as payment for going that way, we spied a little gate leading into the pine plantation that just beckoned to us.



I forsee we'll be off exploring the pines in the not too distant future.

(Charlie is a little ill at the moment so didn't want to take him out in the icy wind that's blowing today).