old eucalyptus continues to slough off his skin, long caramel strips hanging down in furled tubes. magpie rests in his branches before continuing. leaves shift in the circling breezes.

fledgling fledged too early

a gaping hole in the lawn so we can eat glossy pumpkin in the autumn

another bread-making failure flop

what happened?

plucking golden-headed weeds from amongst the tangerine poppies

snipping the head from ginormous slug with loppers: a mix of guilt & glee

overwhelm

"vamp"

deciding on a raspberry bedroom wall

all our clothes
across the floor
in tattered black bin bags

later
behind closed doors
hung neatly

if only all of life were as simple

first bouquet

tangerine daisies
purple sage
nodding grasses

in vases either side of our golden Buddha

moving day

unexpected - this hour in an empty house with three cats
I start to get my breath back

waiting

the last box packed

running out of cardboard boxes

cleaning

packing

cleaning

packing

a week before the move

our lives made symmetrical & neat in boxes.

the stress of moving finally gets to me

it is over a choice about the packing boxes that the crack gets wide enough & the stress of the past weeks funnels out as age-old samskaras hold me in agony & in the past

a rogue seed has found its way into the beetroot and stands out fuzzy-stemmed and feather-leaved
it is jealous of the beetroot's elegant red stalk & scarlet-veined leaves
I can't bring myself to pluck it out

trying to arrange a mortgage

he wants this. he wants this. he wants this. he gets this wrong. he promises this and it doesn't happen. he gets this wrong. he disagrees with him about what is needed. I move between them all, feeling inadequate and anxious.

where did Thursday go?

leggy tangerine poppies topple over onto the path

Roshi balances along the top of the spiky hedge - is this where his pale feet pads get their sprinkle of cuts?

pink lemonade

honeywort

mottled blues & greens & purples with floppy collapsed stems & hanging heads
an under-the-sea creature swaying in the currents

popcorn & ice-cream supper

the tomato plant grew too heavy for itself last night & bowed in defeat. to the rescue this morning with more bamboo, more string.