Narelle Hunter RURAL LIFESTYLE

I bravely stepped onto the lawn early this morning and found a sunny place to practice yoga. It didn’t really feel like 2 degrees under the wattle tree as its vibrant yellow flowers greeted the sun.  I could here a kookaburra calling as the dewy grass glistened and the green paddocks stretched with me. Little buds carefully sprout on the almond tree but I won’t be fooled, the warmth of Spring is some weeks away. Winter isn’t ready to pack itself up just yet. There are little lambs everywhere now and they play together on the dam banks like children. The crops are growing beautifully and all the farms look lush and healthy. The chickens are growing and have discovered the straw mulch in our garden so they are making a bit if a mess. Although it is winter there is plenty of growth and movement. Howard has been sorting the sheep and moving a mob onto a neighbors paddock Our stock will help eat down a crop that Jo feels is a bit too advanced. I have spent the morn

Winter is really getting serious about itself now as the 2 degree morning wraps itself around the house. The fog has left everything dripping wet and it looks like time is standing still out there. Galahs echo their song from a distance but I can’t see them. The sun didn’t rise with its usual display and is now a background glow. Yes I am trying to be poetic and not complain about the temperatures dropping but its …. cold!! Howard has returned to the house with icy hands, ready for a cuppa. I think about the homeless people who have to sleep outdoors and the people who find winter effects their health. If winter has you feeling a bit flat, here are some tips I hope you enjoy.. How to feel better during winter… If you are not feeling so great then the best place to start can be in the present moment . We can usually manage what is happening right in front of us. It can be the thoughts about the future or the past that can be hard to deal with. R

Once again we were packing up for a polocrosse carnival. The plan was to pick up the girls from school and head to Wagga. It was raining heavily at home this morning and a cold winter wind was building up but we were soldiering on as this would be a NSW zone carnival and the girls were picked in a team they would love to play in. With my car full to the brim, and Howard preparing the horse float I called to double check if Wagga was getting as much rain as us. Well they must be as the carnival is now called off. I pulled back into the driveway, grabbed tonight’s dinner out of the car and put the kettle on once inside. The girls will come home with my brother in law so I am sitting in the kitchen with thoughts of a whole weekend free. What am I going to do with this time?  Howard and I often joke about what we would do when a free weekend turned up. Would we watch movies and sit around the fire with hot drinks and well, do nothing? The truth is w

Well the school holidays are over and the routine can return, for the children at least. We have loved the holidays with polocrosse at centre stage. We arrived in Sydney yesterday with a very muddy car, ready for the boarding school parent teacher interviews. Our second daughter is currently choosing HSC subjects so it is a time of excitement and decision-making.   I look out at the Sydney Harbour and it looks still and quiet this morning. The city is wet from the overnight rain. I can see people walking to the train station from the window of my room. They carry their coffees and step out at a fast pace, with scarves around their necks and warm jackets on. It must be pretty cold out there today. It is wet at home too and Howard sounds pleased on the phone. He managed well to get the girls on the bus for their first day of the school term, the only drama being a missing pair of school shoes . They turned up 5 minutes before they had to leave. Howard

Slow down…....You could miss something extra ordinary today. Sometimes even when our schedule isn’t too full our minds can be running a marathon. We can be so swept up in thought that we are not tasting our food, listening well to the people around us or noticing the warmth in the sun.  When I do stop and take in the incredible detail in a day I am left in wonder. Why is it so beautiful, if we were meant to be ignoring it anyway? If you speak to someone who has lost their sight, you will learn about what a gift it is to see the faces of your family and friends clearly. I have listen to a beautiful lady who lost her ability to taste her food. I remember how she spoke about her favourite milkshake. Imagine a world in which we couldn’t hear music or the birds. What about the millions of people who cannot protect themselves from the cold by standing near a warm heater or having a hot drink of tea? We take so many thousands of things for granted w