Three Years
It is our third anniversary moving from Auckland city to the rural community of Drury/Pukekohe. In that time, we’ve experienced the joy of working on the land, seeing the garden and land flourish around us and making new friends. We’ve also experienced massive lows with the loss of Bobby and Dell. Saying goodbye to two dogs in a short space of three years has been difficult for us. Even now, I expect to see either one of them as I round a corner in the garden. Chris reminds me of the fantastic 14 years we had with Bobby and how the decision to part with Dell was in his best interest. With that positive frame of mind, we welcome what the next stage in our time in the country will bring.
Chris continues to find projects to work on in the garden. I’m 100% on board as long as they do not cost money and we can work out a plan for when these projects happen. I’m amazed how much I’ve adapted to a more rural lifestyle, growing in comfort and knowledge on how to care for the land. However, my aversion to rats and mice stay strong and after squealing, I’ll refuse to proceed until Chris has removed the offending rodent, dead or alive, preferably dead and buried.
As we enter our fourth year, I’ve expanded my approach to recording our life. Following earlier posts about short form videos, I’ve decided to purchase a X-T5, Chris chipped in 1/2 as an early birthday present. The in-body stabilisation makes capturing relatively steady footage a real possibility without having the need to stick with the stabilised 18-55mm lens. While it is a different beast of a camera from my range finder style X-Pro3, I’ve enjoyed photographing with it and exploring how the new setup helps my creative journey.
I’ve been thinking about returning to social media and I trialled recording a short video in the form of a vertical instagram reel. I’m still sitting on the fence about social media. But for now, here is the video.