So last week, it all started to feel a little bit like ground hog day.  Get up, get dressed, go to office, go back to room.  12 weeks in and I was starting to question myself which is kind of unfortunate considering that there is over 6 months to go.  Probably wasn’t helped by the fact that I had a headache from hell for four days, and found another grey hair, I was pissed off and over it before Wednesday.

Anyway the grey hair was in my eyebrow and while I was there looking closely at myself in the mirror, I didn’t have a nice mindfulness moment, I suddenly realised how hairy my face was.  It is unbelievable how 3 months with no access to a day spa can bring out the inner bush pig.  I truely don’t think I had facial hair in Melbourne, I think I am growing facial hair down here because it is so fucking cold.  Excuse me for swearing but it is f-bomb cold.  It was so cold last week that when you smile you get an ice cream headache as the cold air hits your front teeth.  It was so cold that my eyes instantly start to water so my eye balls don’t freeze, the tears run down your cheeks and freeze as sheets of ice on your face.

So headache crippled, hairy old me was not a barrel of laughs over the weekend.  In fact on Sunday I barely left my room because as well as having a headache I was sulking, I wanted to go home.

Then today something amazing happened, it is my week looking after the hydroponics set up and so I stepped into a warm happy place this afternoon.  Hydro is quite large, about 2 mts by 5 mts and has 17 growing pots.  It has taken a little while to get going but now there are tomato’s, zucchini’s, lettuce, bok chop and loads of different herbs all jostling to reach the heat lamps first.

Full of greenery and warm bright lights, tinkling water and the smell of living growing things, I slowly felt myself relaxing into a happy place.  I pottered around testing Ph and nutrient levels and talking to the plants.  Encouraging the basil and telling the zucchini’s to settle down or one of them was going to get the chop.  I picked Pak Choy and lettuce and dreamt of the cherry tomato’s that are shortly going to be.

It is a surprising amount of work to run a hydroponics set up, but a remind of one of my favourite pass times gardening.  I can’t wait to get home and start a aquaculture system, but in the meantime I am happy to potter in the hydro shed.

It was a beautiful half and hour, as I packed up my precious load for delivery to the chef carefully protecting the leaves from the -18 degree temps outside I felt a sense of satisfaction.  Tomorrow I think I’ll plant some spinach.

So all it took to make me happy was a half an hour in hydro and a little bit of heat lamp therapy.  It is the simple things in life that are the best.