Hello, dear luvs. I’m writing you tonight with a weary but big smile on my face. I finished the first draft of my history book. I DID IT!!!

And I can scarcely believe it. It’s gone through the first level of editing, and tonight it gets submitted for review before the next level of editing. And then, deep breath, it gets readied for print. I am happy, so happy, and deliriously tired. I’ve never done such a marathon of writing and I feel as though I could curl up like a hedgehog and not budge for a week.

On the weekend, as I toiled over notes and double-checked stories and dates, I was delighted by a phone call from my friend Oma telling me that I must, MUST grab my camera and get over to her house as soon as possible to see her blooming fruit trees. In all her years in Australia she’d never seen so many blossoms and I simply had to take a look. Who could resist such an invitation? Not I!

So books were set aside, computer closed, sundress donned, and Bear and I headed over to Oma’s to see what we could see.

What wondrous beauty filled Oma’s orchard. It transported me back to my childhood in Canada where I spent many happy hours wandering through orchards, climbing up cherry trees, collecting apples, and feasting on ripe plums.

It was magical in there with clouds of blossoms and fragrant breezes, underfoot carpeted with grasses and wildflowers bobbing in the wind. Oma, Opa, Bear, and I ambled through the trees, stopping to admire delicate blossoms and baby fruits just starting to swell. We discussed ways to protect the trees from pests and birds and talked of ideas for using the produce when Autumn rolled around.

When my camera battery died after taking far too many pictures, we sat down for a cuppa, eying the sky and wondering if we might get rain. Oma loaded us up with homemade strawberry jam, a frangipani seedling, ginger plants, chokos, and a delectable hunk of smoked bacon she’d made recently. I was pleased as punch to finally have something to give her: a Russian Red Kale plant I’d been nurturing, a handful of ripe purple-podded peas from my garden, and an assortment of unusual seeds for her to experiment with. Good friends are such a treasure.

It was a wonderful little break, just what I needed to clear my thoughts and help me get back to writing with renewed vigor.

This afternoon when I typed the very last sentence of the book, I headed outside to let Bear know. How we celebrated! Then I went to get Luna, and together we explored all my gardens. It was pure luxury to be outside again, working in the dirt, getting splattered with mud and water, letting all the tension work its way out. As I watered newly planted beans, it started to rain big, fat, warm drops. It felt so good. Then the sun came out, glistening through the falling rain, making my garden more fairytale than farm. I couldn’t have asked for a better way to commemorate the completion of this project.

I’m going to take a few days off to recuperate and then I’ll be back to chat with you and visit your blogs that I have missed so very much. Wishing you a wonderful week. xo