Much of our day is taken up by work, me logged-in downstairs and my wife online upstairs, with breaks for tea and checking our children's progress with school work.
Increasingly though, as we get used to the rhythms of the day, there is time for other things such as gardening.
The front yard of our home is an unruly native garden which has never had the benefit of enough attention. It is a habitat for lots of animals and birds, including visiting bandicoots, brush turkeys, blue tongues and all the parrots.
Parts of it have always looked attractive, especially the xanthorrhoea and banksia areas, framed by a large blue gum and thick lomandra.
The rest of it has no shape or theme, and is best ignored.
I would glance at it each morning at the beginning of my commute, then see it again when arriving home each evening. I would tell myself that we'll get to it one day.
That time has arrived, and it is satisfying to see the results of having devoted a small part of each day to weeding and clearing. There are now a few additional areas of the yard that are ready for planting, and we will soon look for shrubs that are native to this part of Sydney to fill the spaces.