The big move to the country has happened and we’ve landed safely here at our little farm, Harvest Moon Hill. Named so from our deep love of music, our intentions of harvesting food from here, our respect for the moon and her cycles, and the hills in which this place sits, amongst the Strzelecki ranges in South Gippsland, Victoria, Australia.

We’ve unpacked all the boxes, I’ve made plumberry jam from strawberries and plums from the local market, I’ve made my favourite Roast Chicken Soup, I’ve hung up all my treasures on the walls, I’ve arranged and rearranged my craft room, we’ve walked the boundary of our new property and even strolled over our neighbours hills (with their blessing of course). We’ve been welcomed by neighbours with visits and bags of homegrown tomatoes and even been invited to the local community group casserole night! As I type this I can see Charlie out the back bevelling leather for a new belt. Every day we do something else that grounds us a bit more and helps it feel more like our home.

Our little 2.5 acre farm is a blank canvas just waiting for our plans. Surrounding us are big 100 and 400 acre farms running sheep and cattle. There are hills for miles and an abundance of bird life everywhere. Lots of cows mooing, baby calves with the wind up their tails running about jumping and bucking like little mischievous kiddies. Timid little sheep bolting off at the first sight of you walking towards them. And Eagles! Wedge-Tailed Eagles… 3 of them! Flying majestically in the sky, then swooping down low in the valley, no doubt looking for dinner. We even saw a couple of brazen black crows squawking at the tail of one huge eagle. Am sure the eagle could have had either crow for lunch but he just flew off gracefully, his huge maybe 1 metre wing span gently flapping. We’ve spotted this Eagle trio a few times now and it’s thrill every time. I just love the Willie Wagtails too, and can’t help but smile each time I see one land on a post wagging his little tail. The Pee Wee’s are fast becoming my favourite as they like to visit the back verandah and eat the spiders! Yay for Pee Wees! And the sound of Kookaburra’s are reassuring as they kill snakes and we are told we have a resident brown snake up near the shed. Of course the magpies sing their beautiful songs and the swallows and starlings are everywhere.

In the morning the silence feels surreal. You can’t hear anything except a moo or chirp or maybe the wind blow through the trees. It’s so peaceful and everything I could have dreamed of (apart from the snakes and spiders obviously!). Talk about feeling lucky, blessed, grateful, a bit scared (snakes & spiders), a little overwhelmed by all we need to learn about farming, but mostly so very happy. Ahhh… all the feels…. life is sweet!

Hope life is peaceful for you and the sweet bits are bigger than the scary bits! x