Friendship

Spending time at a friend's farm today.

Do you think friendships change as you get older? That the simple friendships of childhood are replaced by the more complicated friendships of adolescence, then the freer friendships of early adulthood are replaced by stronger friendships as a parent? 

I've always felt a little socially awkward. I have often felt like the odd one out. But often that didn't matter, as I had a twin sister who was and still is my best friend. But when she moved to another state it pushed me to make new friends. The most convenient friends were other school mums, until I started homeschooling. While three of those friendships remain strong, the rest have fallen away. And yet, my current friendships offer more than ever before. I've been trying to put my finger on whether it is a result of homeschooling and finding likeminded people? A sign of maturity - that one outgrows toxic relationships and learns how to be a good friend? A sign of contentment - that I am not aiming to prove anything and am happy to have people take me or leave me as I am - that has resulted in me finding a circle of friends that share my values and support me, love me and enjoy spending time with me? Or perhaps a little of all of these?

I have found that the truer I am able to be to myself, the more I am able to just 'be Christina', the more likely I am to find friends who appreciate me for me. 'Of course!' you might be thinking. But as a child, it felt natural to believe that if I changed then people would like me. When in fact, the more I allow myself to follow my passions, the more people seem to relate. 

Which is all to say. I am so grateful for the beautiful friends I have. Some I have had for fifteen years, and some for a year, but all of them are beautiful people whom I adore and love to spend time with.

Farm Week

My six-year-old daughter dreams of growing up and owning a farm and horses. Emerson is all about her horse riding lessons, learning about animals and growing plants. She constructs stories with her plastic horse figurines and builds stables and barns on Minecraft. We read books about farmers, farms and animals, pot up seeds and seedlings, take holidays at farm stays. Recently we visited all the animals at the Mount Gravatt show and have our own menagerie of chickens, Golden Apple water snails and our darling old cat. She wants to start an animal club and spends her time drawing animal after animal. (How I adore children's drawings.)

This week, affectionately dubbed 'farm week', we dove deeper into Emerson's passion with two farm visits. (Should I mention that it is a shared passion and that I have no problem at all driving an hour to spend time on acreage surrounded by plants and animals?! No doubt you guessed that already!) At Chantilly farm, there was a pet piglet, hydroponic lettuce to plant, empty pots to fill, edible flower orders to be picked and goats to meet. Farmer Bec was full of joy and passion as she explained the ins and outs of the farm to the children.

Today we bottle fed baby goats at Naughty Little Kids farm, before being given the chance to milk a goat and watch a goat milk cheese making demonstration. The boy's highlight of the day was the gelato tasting, and we supported the farmers with our many purchases... :)

Emerson has informed me that she is interested in learning about pigs next, having her own veggie patch, and learning more about plants. Sounds perfect to me. xx