I have a favorite kind of free day.

I wake up to my husband curled up against my back. He, very kindly, likes to let me know it’s time to get up by gently scratching my back and rubbing my shoulders. 

(What did you think I was going to say… snicker, snicker, snicker…)

“Coffee time?” I hoarsely asked.

“Mmm hmm.” He scratched my back a little more before tossing the covers back and slipping into his house shoes. I heard him trudge up the creaky stairs and hear Rex, our large, white dog, greet him excitingly.

From my position, still curled up in bed, I can hear the sound of the birds. As if a light switch was flipped, they began to sing again this week. Our home and gardens have become a bit of an unintentional bird sanctuary over the past years. By building out our gardens so extensively, planting trees, and digging a pond, the birds have been given habit to thrive in. In return for our work, they surround our property and give us the most beautiful songs and binocular-centered entertainment. Even now, I can’t distinguish between all of the songs and birds because there are so many of them all singing at once. It's a chorus of life.

The sun has yet to come up but I am glad for this, because early rising is encouraged on my favorite kind of free day. This means that I get to sit up in my bed, freshly made coffee in hand (thanks to Stuart), and watch the sun come up over the mountains while I sip. 

There are no screens, no distractions.

A cup of coffee, the sun, the mountains. 

After the first cup of coffee (and a gradual progression from bed) I get dressed: it’s gardening day.

Because the focus is on gardening today, I’m going to skip over telling you all details of breakfast (you can run with the assumption that it’s loaded with eggs, cured meat of some kind, always involves bread, and ends with a cappuccino).

But really, the focus of a gardening day is being outside.

That's why even though I'm going to encourage you to come work with me in the veg garden today, we zip in to make a quick French Onion soup together as well – after all, the gardener still must eat.

I hope you enjoy our time together in the kitchen and garden. There's much more to come!

Cheers,

Shaye

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