So it’s been a month now since we’ve moved in to the new place, and the first thing I’ve noticed is that the garden is flourishing.

It really has taken off. Within a week of us acquiring the plants, our bamboo plant “shooted.” You can see this in the picture below.  I was seriously contemplating digging it up so that I could say I had cooked bamboo shoots from my own garden.

And then within another week, the shoot became more of a mini-plant, extending more than a foot. You can see the shot below.

Another week, and it was practically already a tree (albeit a little spindly). Two days later, we had to cut its tip off so it wouldn’t grow too far out of the balcony.

In the meantime, the rest of my plants on the garden have been flowering profusely, and it’s beginning to feel like a jungle out there, which is how I like it. And how Baby likes it as well.

The house itself though, is still largely half-done, and we have been reconstructing it piece by piece – couch three weeks ago, study table two weeks ago, TV last week, carpet today and so on.  The furniture from New York’s not due to arrive for another two weeks – that includes my dining table, a key piece of furniture, and the cooking equipment (which then means that I can’t yet cook – a ritual that then transforms home into Home).  While waiting, we make do in a house that’s not quite yet a home, with stuff that’s too new to feel comfortable and a space that still doesn’t feel sufficiently lived in.

It all seems so very banal, and compared to what I was doing last year – travelling, photography and so on – it seems like nothing very exciting. But I would argue really that this is probably the most profound part of my life right now. Because it means that I’m ready to stop moving for a little bit. And THAT, after almost three years of not being anywhere, is a rather big step to take again.

Let’s just hope I don’t feel the itch to move again in year’s time.

Though I think this time, stability feels somewhat possible. I’ve been tending to my garden on my balcony every morning, studiously, and taking some satisfaction from the fact that the plants haven’t been doing well, and have, these three weeks, actually been thriving.  In a past life, they would have died before I even realised it.

So clearly Gardening, is a key to my feeling well…almost Home.  Sorta kinda. Enjoy the flowers.