Narelle Hunter RURAL LIFESTYLE

We are now preparing the paddocks for sowing by spreading lime. The wind has picked up so the last bin full is blowing all over the place as it shoots out the back of the spreader. 'Most of the farm has tested up well, so the only other prep will be to work the paddocks when it rains again.' Explains Howard who had the soil tested earlier in the year. After the paddocks are ploughed the canola will be sown just after Anzac weekend. (25th April). I enjoy taking some shots of the season changing slowly. The grape vine is showing a hint of Autumn with the red tips appearing. The mornings are dark and cool but the days still reach up to 30 degrees which is drying out the garden and puts a stop to ploughing the paddocks for now. My yoga practice has picked up and I am loving daily postures that strengthen core muscles and encourage a flexible healthy spine. Occasionally I teach a meditation and relaxation workshop locally and I really love sharing the important information with

Today started with a gorgeous walk and an intention to take in as much detail as I could. There are white cockatoos in the garden at the moment and they love the pine trees but it was the change in the air that caught my attention. The green grass was damp and the crepe mertle in the back yard was dropping heavy drops of  sparkling dew. As much as I love summer, Autumn is softer, fresher, you can relax a little. So this brings me to a topic I mentioned in the last blog, Relaxation and Living Mindfully.    Rather than try to explain what this is and what all the benefits are....let me take you on my  Mindful Walk. The photos will help me explain what happens when my body and mind are relaxed..everything looks and feels so good. As I step out and head towards the dam the heat has already arrived. The cooler change that greeted me on sunrise as I was hanging the clothes on the line, has melted away but I don't mind. I am aware of my breath, and count the in breath and o

Today Howard has headed off in the truck to pick up some lime (This is spread across a paddock that is being prepared for sowing, when the soil is too acidic) I have promised to turn up and help on the farm more often but for now I am off to enjoy another Yoga module - this time in Albury for 4 days. I believe in the value of what I am learning more than ever, and know in my heart that all this time I have invested in studying yoga and meditation is worth it. Late yesterday afternoon I spread my yoga mat out on the back lawn and faced the sunset. I could see tiny insects swirling in the soft yellow light and life looked pretty good from under the lemon scented gums. One of girls were playing in the back yard and I could hear her singing, another was on the tractor with Howard. I called them around 7pm to encourage the work day to come to an end so we could all have dinner together. It was one of those evenings that stretched out slowly at a different pace to the full days. A home

While I text to my brother who works in Port Hedland and hear about what it feels like to have a cyclone heading your way and then read about the floods, fires and heat waves all over the place..it sounds like Australia is 'all shook up.' But this is nothing new for us Aussies and one thing is for sure, we band together and recover, then we keep on going. To 'keep moving forward' takes a special kind of attitude but you wouldn't last very long in the country if you didn't have this intention. The last day of summer was soaking wet on the farm yesterday. Three inches fell heavily and as I drove to town determined to get to a yoga class, I wondered if it was going to be one of those days when Id pick up the girls from school and have to research if any roads would be open so we could get home. There is no hiding from the weather out here and you experience each season at its best and often at its worst. You have to be able to take the good with the bad out her