Life . Goes . On

Nature is not influenced by a three day labor, an emergency surgery and a tiny new life coming home, the farm carries on in it’s summer rhythm, the garden continues with winter produce, life rolls on.

It is a very hard thing to watch one’s own precious daughter strapped to an operating room table. To sit with her behind a blue screen holding hands as hard as we can, and hear and smell an operation as two surgeons cut into her body to retrieve our baby. A momentous and terrible hour in the life of two mothers.

Yet out in the world the sun set and rose again. Life simply continued around us. Which made no sense.

I remember on the morning that my mother died, driving back to the big old house at the beach astounded that there were other people in other cars driving places so happily, so unaffected by the loss of our Mum at 49 to cancer. I glared at the early morning commuters, driving through a glorious incongruous sunrise.

My laboring daughter was sent home three times from the first busy impersonal huge hospital. A nurse recommended going to a little country hospital so we drove all the way there, they took us very seriously and gave us a room then my daughters body was induced to force baby down but he did not engage so after another day that decision was abandoned in favor of an operation and baby was discovered to have the cord looped twice round his neck but was alive. Alive. Resilient. While all this went on; the fields continued to grow. The birds continued to sing. The wind blew through trees and the rain fell on my little garden and the pigs roamed and the cows munched in bovine detachment out on the country farm and the dog needed feeding and the weeds shot up into neglected corners.

Life - as they say - goes on. But. Holy shit.

So let’s take a peek out to the farm.

Jude ⬆️

Lollipop ⬇️

The country garden in Illinois.

The tomato patch ⬇️

The garlic ⬆️

The City Garden in Melbourne.

Yesterday we all felt a little more human and I ordered the rhubarb and strawberries for the city garden. Just as soon as I have a free moment (😆) I will dig in this lettuce. Strawberries will go here.

My daughter’s Dutch grandfather (on her father’s side) grew fields of strawberries high up in the North Island of New Zealand. We will have ten plants to begin but he would approve.

My auntie, who was from Yugoslavia, gave me my first rhubarb plant when I was a very young Mum in New Zealand and I have planted them in every garden I manage since then.

Tip: Stew the rhubarb in orange juice - you will need less sugar.

Is this a ranuncula flower? A bit soon I think but these plants are growing well in wintery Melbourne.

Baby in the house.

Shy. Alert. Strong.

I’m writing a piece based on notes I took during the early stages of my daughter’s labor. It is an important piece to write (in my opinion of course) but not ready for you yet. Coming soon!

Plus I will get back to recording The Secret Garden as soon as I can. Baby is still settling after his dramatic arrival. The Mums are still catching their breath.

We are not inviting visitors into the house yet. We have no family here in Australia so it is not too difficult. Flu cases are on the rise. Covid cases are on the rise. Baby and new Mama need a few weeks,

In June 2025, COVID-19 cases in Victoria, Australia increased by approximately 55%, while influenza cases rose by about 45% compared to two weeks prior, according to the latest surveillance data up to late May 2025

It is winter. Flu is always on the rose in winter- Covid is an added concern. Babies are born with zero immunity. So, of course, we are being careful.

Just as we scurried out of our small rural hospital the stats clicked into red and the hospitals have mandated masks.

Our home health midwives are now masked. Which we do not mind at all.

I wondered how Illinois is doing as cases rise. It is harder to find actual stats for infectious diseases in Illinois. Even bird flu seems to be under wraps. Though the information is there - just not in the usual places.

The Illinois Department of Public Health reported a significant rise in COVID-19 cases in early June 2025, however, an exact percentage increase for June 2025 is not explicitly provided in the available data.

Because:

The Trump administration’s funding cuts have drastically impaired Illinois’ COVID-19 response and broader public health efforts. In 2025 the administration has rescinded $125 million in federal grants already awarded to the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) and 97 local health departments, and is blocking an additional $324 million in future funding. These funds, originally allocated through the CARES Act, were also essential for the reporting of data to the public.

So. Wash your hands! Keep in touch with your neighbours. Protect the vulnerable. That is the very best we can do.

And get out into the garden. Outdoor gardens are great for overall mental and physical health! I am trying to get out there every day too.

Baby is on his second feed of the morning. And I had better get stuck in to the work of the day. The lawns need mowing!!

Because the grass still grows. No matter what is going on in your life - these ordinary chores are our grounding.

Take care. Talk soon.

Celi