August. Can you believe it? This year is flying by at a rapid rate. I have been feeling really great since my trip abroad. My wanderlust has been appeased and I am blissfully bathing in the joys of being at home. Home. It means so much! Our sense of space, our place to express ourselves, a place for calmness, fun, rest and relaxation. I have had a renewed appreciation of the simple things in life that bring me joy; views of the ocean, my bursting lavender bush, cooking in my own kitchen, burning a candle and listening to my favourite music. Simple and effective ways to find happiness.

We don’t always have to travel the world to find happiness… only now do I realise this after travelling for decades. Don’t get me wrong, I love travelling. It pushes you out of your comfort zone, experiencing so many new things feels great. But the joys of returning to a place that is familiar, comfortable, safe, clean and pretty, wow! I must be getting older or something? Or perhaps more settled? Or maybe all this talk of feeling more grounded once you buy your own home has actually paid off!

Routines are steadily starting to form again, and work is picking up. I have been hosting a lovely german couch surfer last week and again this week, so that has been nice. I like to bring the travellers to me, and it is always a good exchange of knowledge. AND she plays games with me! Winning!

I had such a great weekend. The perfect balance of rest and activity. Saturday was a particularly stormy wild wet and windy day here, quite unusual. Perth normally lives up to its weather perfection, but not this blustering blowy cold drippy day. A good day to rug up warm, eat soup, watch a movie, and relax. Sunday proved to be a huge improvement, albeit still cold. Cold I can handle, wet and windy no thank you. I busted out of my cabin fever and made my way to a farmers market near Fremantle which was fab. Lots of fresh produce, sweet citrus and giant unripened avocados, yes please! I chatted to a few people I knew, patted some fluffy cute dogs, and listened to the busker. Great! Then we made our way to the main markets in Fremantle where we had a yummy lunch. I had some sushi and then a great pork belly bao, perfect combination of soft and sweet and delicious. I like to return to particular places and eat the same particular thing. I know I am weird like that!

We drove home along the coast, which always proves to be a magic way to end the day, regardless of conditions. We took a brisk walk, one eye on the stormy side-ways rain approaching off the coast, the other on the over exuberant dogs bounding carefree across the sand. I am really into dogs right now. I want one so bad, and think it would be a good compliment to my lifestyle, and I could do with the unconditional love too. I am just so fastidious about my garden, all that dog detritus and flower trampling would really be upsetting. So… perhaps I have to hold onto that idea a little longer, and plan for an animal together with the next house purchase. With my new giant backyard… oh yeah. I have big dreams. I also want chickens, and a cat and huge veggie gardens and all the flowers I love and a forest of trees. I really need to move to a rural area so I can plant everything my heart wishes. And soon. The best time to plant a tree was yesterday.

I have also been madly obsessed with working with alcohol inks, and have been producing some wonderful bright colourful works. I hope you like them!

Overall its been a great start to the month. I am working on keeping up my sauna and swim sessions at my local pool, reading more every evening, early morning walks, going to bed early between 9 and 9.30pm and going on more dates. I know. I am going back on a man hunt. I am so settled within my own company, my independence feels so delicious and natural, that I know its time to try again. I am working on pushing out of my singleness and aiming to meet someone great. Wish me luck, the search continues, I am up to date 4 so far. It has actually been quite amusing and I am sure I could pump out a blog post purely based on the crazy that is on line dating, much to the amusement of my partnered friends. Believe me, it is wild out there. And I don’t mean good wild.

Wishing you wellness and peace. I am also learning to meditate more, finding quiet and stillness in my day, and working on being rather than doing. Because we are human beings and not human doings after all…

Anita xx