Soon after we moved into our tiny house, Tom walked off around the nearby paddocks in search of pieces of wood. He returned with a few fallen branches and forgotten fence posts and proceeded to lay them out as the sides of a rough triangle a couple of feet from the house.

That triangle would be a garden, he said.

Actually the triangle remained a fast-growing jungle for quite a few weeks. But this week the grass was chopped back and on Sunday, at last, the garden became a reality.

So far it has three types of flower in yellow, orange and red (feel free to identify the species for me, as I have no idea), along with some bigger perennials including a lily.

The bigger plants and some of the flowers came from our neighbour at Makahuri, Yvonne, who’s a gardening expert. Besides the plants, she’s donated her wisdom and advice on the basics of gardening — like where to put the water.

The little garden sits right next to the path that we’ve worn to the front door of our house. So it will greet any visitors, and of course us any time we come home.

But the garden is also important because it’s a case of us literally putting down roots — at least for long enough to see our plants grow.

After a year of change, stress and movement, it’s a good thing to happen. So wish us good luck with our  garden, and any useful advice is appreciated!

More news: we have a deck.

Critical people might say it’s not a deck, but a pile of pallets. Yes, it is a pile of pallets, bought from a local bloke for $5 each, and there are no actual nails or other fastenings or stabilisers involved. But placed shrewdly and walked on carefully, they make a usable deck where we can put chairs and a table.

Just as important, the pallets create a safe route into the house for Phoebe and Connor, who, as dachshunds, are not built for big leaps. The dogs now spend a lot of time sitting or sleeping on the deck, especially if a rug is there to be lain on or a passing pig to be barked at.

This morning, after watering the garden, I made coffee and joined the dogs out on our deck, the sun on my back, the wind not yet risen, and Morning Report on the radio. It was one of my favourite moments of the whole year.

Tom and I started this tiny-house journey to move away from “things” towards “experiences”. But sometimes, a “thing”, like a simple pallet deck or a funny-shaped garden, enables you to have the experiences that make life worthwhile.