e have just spent a few days staying with our dear friends Judy, Mike and Chloe down in the Lud Valley. They live the good life down there – in the sunshine in an adobe brick house with a grass roof and a solar panel and beehives and amazing fruit trees, and epic vege gardens and calm and serenity and beauty and joy.

Here are Nana Keylock and Albie hanging out. I love seeing these two together.  With my Mum passed on and Marcus’ mum in England, she gives him some all important intergenerational love , and it makes my heart soar!

They were watching the EarthShip progress together. Its going to be the new sleepout made of hundreds of used car tyres, rammed earth, glass bottles, and buckets, and buckets, and buckets of Timmy sweat. Its going to be so beautiful! After seeing the Garbage Warrior  documentary a while ago  (which I highly recommend), it was so exciting to see a real life EarthShip happening right in front of our eyes.

It was amazing weather – so hot, so we did a lot of sitting in the shade, drank White Ginger Tea and bugged out about how cool Albie is. And in the evenings – insect repellant, a fire and Cinzano. Which Judy reckons is from the seventies, but if you ask me, that drink should be BACK. Talk about delicious!

It was wonderful. And it was great to come away with my head full of ideas for fattie boombah recipes for Albie, a way to keep his NG tube out of the way as he learns to crawl AND a bubble gun. I know. A bubble gun. What can I say? We are very, very lucky to know these guys.

One day, one day we would like to live like this too. With garlic drying,

and the wood stacked,

the pizza oven hot,

48,000 bees a-buzzing,

Sheep shorn by hand,

Earth providing bounty,

and most importantly, the table always filled with love, laughter and splendid food,

Here ends my ode to Mike and Judy and the magical place they have created together. I think I must be Lud-sick – can’t wait to be back.