Harvest

I have been shooting so much that I have quite literally been working seven days a week since last September, most days from early morning often until past midnight. I have only had Christmas Day off.

I'm not complaining and it's fantastic to be working so much, but it's important now that I try to find a better balance.

I haven't been keeping up with the blog, but far worse than that, I haven't been keeping up with my children.

Their birthdays have come and gone, and my girls started high school, and I just keep apologising for working all the time. Anyway, thankfully as of last week, I think I am finding some order to the craziness.

I know Evan doesn't agree with me when I say picking olives is a family bonding experience, but I think it's really special that we have these trees that occasionally burst into fruit that we can harvest and make good for eating, and I like that we can all be involved in the picking.

He is a much bigger boy than last time he was up in the olive trees!

Olives can't be eaten straight off the tree – they are hard and bitter. The process to make them yummy is quite lengthy and involved, but I actually really enjoy it. For some reason, it helps to make me feel grounded.

We probably have to pick over a couple of weeks as more fruit ripens on the trees, then in about three months I'll let you know how they taste.

For now, the kids are at school so I'd better get back to work!