I am having the best few days ever. I'm being a little stealth on the old work front, working from home mostly, and the husband is away on a school camp, so I have all this personal space I've been desperately craving. It is so nice not to answer to anyone and just potter along doing my own thing. It's as good as a real holiday!
So what does one DO when one is alone? I've started a 21 day meditation challenge, and it's pretty nice to meditate and journal without someone shouting: 'HAVE WE GOT ANY VEGEMITE??' just as I close my eyes.
I also had a 3 hour surf. Absolute bliss, but damn my hips hurt. I felt no pain out on the water! Second surf was short as it was windy but it was sooo good to get wet after so long! And a dawn surf too!!
I've been doing a lot of herbal study and research. In the absolute full flush of Spring (officially, it's summer in a few days) there's a lot of plants calling my name. Yarrow in particular - whilst mine is doing well, I don't quite have enough to dry for teas and so on, so I popped around to visit a new friend who has an amazing acre he is dreaming on. He has lots of old fruit trees and dreams of making a hub for community there, an eco kinda thing. I think I onboarded him - his name will be 
Back to yarrow. Yarrow tea for fevers and migraines. Yarrow powder for wound healing. Yarrow tincture - just waiting to get enough aerial parts as they start to really bloom. Oh, and the powder I'm going to try the perculation method - think coffee, but with herbs and slow dripping over a few days. Faster than a tincture, and some say stronger. I ordered a bottle cutter to make the flask out of, because I figured I could also make tumblers for Christmas gifts (necessitates me drinking more wine - oh well!). I also got a bit lost online ordering some tins for salves and a few herbs I can't grow and may need for medicines and cosmetics.
Collected a heap more lemon balm from my folks to dry for tea, and plucked elderflowers, also for teas. Did a double boiler method rose oil with jojoba, and the left over petals that I'd squeezed as much oil out as I could I blended with rose hydrosol and raw honey to make a face scrub/wash thingie, which is nicely astringent and smells awesome. Just made that one up, but seems to be doing a good job and my face hasn't fallen off yet, so there's that. I am also making a rose infused coconut oil, and plan on making some kind of moisteurising cream - just not sure how yet. Still doing the research, which is fun.
I also pulled out the last of the broad beans and need to get to shelling them - given the hubs is a way, maybe I'll just eat straight broad bean hummous for tea with some sauted purple sprouting broccoli and garlic because I also have shedloads of garlic and purple sprouting broccoli, so why not? I'm sadly planting hte last of the tomato seedlings and curcubits. Sadly, because I don't think we'll be here to harvest them so they'll either rot into the ground or I'll get someone to pop over and harvest them for me. We are still looking for a house sitter.
One of my chooks has a weeping eye so I made some chamomile tea and doused her eye with that. Fingers crossed. Chamomile tea always worked for us when we were kids and had conjunctivitis. I have found a friend to take my chooks in about a month, because it's too much responsibility for a housesitter and that fox is really hanging around waiting for me to drop my guard. I leave a radio on pretty much full time, so the chooks are quite educated through listening to ABC Radio National and hopefully the fox is fooled by thinking it's me saying all this interesting intellectual stuff.
I can't seem to keep up with the garden at all - so much weeding and mulching and harvesting. I keep waiting for it to get to a manageable point but it never seems to happen. Was talking with
The last of the artichokes have now been harvested - I got about six jars pickled. Funny, no one seems to want to go to the effort of doing this but like any production line, once you get in the swing of things it's pretty easy. Steam, de-leaf, throw in oil, vinegar and herbs. Too easy really. And I love that it's food for free - unless you count time, which I don't, because it's just fun and relaxing to do stuff like this. I wish someone would pay my bills just for pottering.
Oh, AND I finally get to test the new communities feature on Steemit today!! Sooo EXCITED! THANKYOU 
Anyway, gotta go - herbs to talk to, things to make, and I best tidy up the mess that's my house before husband gets back. It's so nice to BE in my own mess without someone freaking out that the house is a mess and whipping me into a house cleaning frenzy. I love my man, I really do, but it's nice to have a break and be accountable to no-one but myself.
So yeah, there's no tropical islands, lotto wins or anything super cool, but it DOES feel like the best week ever. With 14 months long service leave (not sure if anyone non Australian knows what this is?) I am sure there will be much more jubilant 'awesome week' posts from me.
