Curiosity Chronicles — 16

Comfort beans and a tree-change — We’re leaving Canberra!

Hello friends!

It has been a couple of months since I last wrote. I cannot believe the first quarter of 2025 is in the rear-view mirror, and we are chasing down the middle of the year, which is rapidly approaching. What’s been going on in your circle? I have had a lot on the go, and have some exciting news to share. There are significant changes in store for Mr Collier and me this year! So much so that I haven’t written or sketched much in the last couple of months. It’s all to the good.

But first, I want to tell you about something fun I left out of the last newsletter about my surgery.

Comfort Beans

When I was little, I remember going to the chemist with my mum after going to the doctor. She would often buy my brother and me a little bag of jellybeans, the special Glucojel ones with the blue packaging and the gold cross with an R in it. The kind you can only get at the chemist. Over time, I became convinced that they were magic medicine jellybeans. They became synonymous with comfort and care. My favourites were always the black ones!

Fast rewind to November last year, the day of my surgery.

We needed to call past the chemist on the way home from the hospital to get my prescription medications. The very lovely Mr Collier asked me if there was anything else he could get for me when he went into the shops — a treat perhaps — something special to help me feel better. I was, of course, still somewhat loopy from the anaesthetic and could not for the life of me think what I felt like, but then the magic chemist jellybeans popped into my mind! And so, he returned with a couple of bags.

As I sat on the couch with my comfort beans in a little bowl on my lap and alternated between chomping them and sucking the sugary coating off them, a flood of memories came back to me. As a child, I would sit on the bean bag in a steamy bathroom when I was sick with croup and later asthma with the magic comfort beans Mum had bought for me. I don’t remember much about being unwell, but I do remember feeling loved and coddled.

It has been many, many years since I had the magic beans. I don’t buy them for myself, but apparently my subconscious knew precisely what I needed when I wasn’t feeling the best. Do you have something like that you reach for when you need comfort, or am I the only one?

Tree change time

And now to the exciting news!

Mr Collier and I are making a tree-change and moving from Canberra to a farmlet in northeastern Victoria, about 20 minutes from where my parents live! Surprise!

For years, we have tossed around ideas and changed where we thought we wanted to settle. Some months it was Sydney, sometimes Melbourne, sometimes rural Queensland, sometimes the southwest of the UK. We never could make up our minds, and the time was never quite right. Finally, the stars aligned and our thinking crystallised. After much searching for the perfect location, we found a property that is neither too small nor too large, with a 1960s cottage that needs a lot of love. We are moving in July and could not be more excited. We could also not be busier preparing for the sale of our townhouse and the move itself. 😊

An isolated cottage in the middle of nowhere will be quite the change from living in a townhouse in an established part of Canberra. Routines and habits will need to change, and after more than 40 years in the capital, those habits will need a hammer and chisel operation to get moving. But I grew up in country Victoria, and it sort of feels like going home. Mr Collier has lived on properties before, so he is very chill about it all. I *think* groceries can be delivered, but there’s no corner shop within spitting distance for sundries. I also doubt there will be takeaway deliveries. We must find new medical professionals, favourite local eateries, and suppliers for our renovation requirements. So many things to organise. And whilst it will be an adjustment, we have both been craving space and quiet for a very long time. We cannot wait — and I am sure there will be plenty of stories to tell as we learn the quirks of our new home and renovate and breathe new life into her.

So…let me give you a little peek at our new sanctuary.

This is the front of the cottage. It is very typical of the era in which it was built. To say she has seen better days is an understatement, and the garden no longer looks quite that tidy and green after a long, dry summer.

This could be my new studio — or maybe the gym — or perhaps a combination of both. It’s mudbrick and has a glorious bank of windows on the far side to let in light. I love the quirky front door, which will be restored and painted something bright and cheerful — red, perhaps?

This is the view out the back across our dam (in a less dry period). I hope the egret on the edge will be a regular visitor. We have already named him Henry. Beyond the fence line are crops of some variety. Thankfully, they don’t belong to us! I am sure when harvest time comes, there will be lots of dust coming our way.

Sketchbook flip-through

As always, my lovely subscribers, you are the first to see my new videos before I make them public. This is a flip-through of the sketchbook I finished at Christmas last year. Enjoy!

As always, please feel free to hit the heart button and share with a friend if you think my ramblings may appeal. Thank you for being here and inviting me into your inbox.

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Michelle