Gardening, Motherhood, and Creative Life in a New Season

I’m Thia, a first time mum who loves growing cut flowers. Life looks different now. These days, time is measured in nap and wake windows, in what can be done or noticed in between. The days can feel long, moving steadily from one feed to the next, and yet the year already feels incredibly short.

This space will hold notes from the garden, the things that grow well and the things that don’t, and the lessons that come with both. It will hold baby milestones too, the small celebrations that don’t always make it onto a calendar but still feel important. I’ve always loved creating things, and this year I’m making space for that again, spending time with clay, returning to my hands, and learning to paint with gouache alongside everything else.

Woven through it all are the in-between moments. The ordinary days, the quiet stretches where nothing particularly remarkable happens, except that life is unfolding, gently and steadily, as it is.

Right now, the garden is supposed to be in Dahlia season, though it hasn’t been a straightforward one. I’m navigating mites and some lingering herbicide contamination, and everything feels a little behind this year. While others are already seeing buds and blooms, my dahlias are still sitting in their starter pots. To avoid disturbing their roots, I’m trialling the sink pot method this season and will see how they respond once settled. Snapdragons and Pincushions are flowering, cosmos are just beginning, and everything feels late, but still quietly moving.

Motherhood is its own season entirely. My daughter Amelia has just turned ten months old, and I find myself feeling unexpectedly nostalgic, thinking back to those early days. I found the newborn stage challenging, something I’ll write more about another time. This phase feels different. She’s interactive now, curious and expressive, and it’s a joy to watch her personality unfold. Her first birthday is already approaching, and I’m planning it slowly, in small pockets of time during naps and late evenings.

I’m also returning to photography this year after a long break. After a few shoots, it’s felt less like a rush back and more like a quiet re-entry. I notice myself working differently, looking for new angles and softer light, seeing familiar spaces with fresh eyes. I’m learning how to let it sit alongside motherhood rather than apart from it.

For now, this feels like a season for noticing, for growing things slowly, and for writing it all down as it happens.