I’ve been having the longest bout of creative constipation in a while.  Not inspired to write nor take photographs.  This can be a problem if you’re a blogger.  Or sheer relief to some depending on your point of view. If the past is anything to go by this is a classic symptom of me being stuck in a comfort zone or overly distracted by other things more interesting or rewarding.  I fear that it this time it may be a little bit of both.

The good news though is that I have finally relieved the kitchen garden of it’s winter carpet of weeds, grasses and other infestations, all the result of a hell raising warm and wet winter party. My finger tips and nails may take weeks to heal from hours of scratching and scraping but the reward of seeing the garden ready for planting makes my heart swell. The chickens are deliriously happy too with the spoils of my excavation providing rich peckings for them.  The hard yards done I can treat myself with the construction of two new raised beds.  A mini extension to the garden for salads and strawberries and place to experiment seed raising on a larger scale.

The kitchen has become less of a battle ground of late with the arrival of a new and rather special baking book. Or I should say books.  After weeks of grazing a wealth of gluten free, paleo, no sugar, guilt free and natural food blogs I finally bullet and invested in books that truly cover off the no wheat, low carb, no sugar requirements of our eating regime.  So I’ve been knocking out breads, cookies, cupcakes and biscotti that feel like the treats that baking goods are supposed to be.  With my baking confidence returning I finally feel that I can start some food blogging again and also feel more optimistic about keeping up with the new lifestyle for the long haul.

I’ve settled my restless mind over recent weeks with a couple of books that I thoroughly recommend for others to read.  Wolf Hall and Bring up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel.   They really are as good as the hype and publicity.  It’s been a long time that I’ve read books with such intricacies and flow that keep you turning the pages.  Except in my case I was listening to them both as audio books.  We have the real books and in time I shall enjoy them all over again and turning the pages for real.  I’ve just started reading The Corrections on my kindle which if is as good as Franzen’s more recent novel Freedom I know I am in for another enjoyable read.

As I looked out of the window seeking an inspired thought for this post the winds are pounding and the rain is pouring again.  Spring in New Zealand has acute meteorological schizophrenia. Two days glorious, one day grey and then comes the big hitter with enough misery to drive you indoors and around the fire.  And then the cycle starts all over again.  Although it happens every year it still feels like an injustice.  A good time though to knuckle down and sort the photographs out, do some editing and heaven forbid actually prepare some images for printing.  Or I might just curl up with the bassets with a hot mug of tea, a cookie and my book.