Blogtober Day 10

Yesterday I was out in the garden in a T-shirt, today I'm wearing a jumper. Apparently, winter isn't quite finished with us. I'm not complaining, I am definitely more of a cold-weather person, and I don't look forward to the hot days of summer.

I didn't have a lot to do today, some clothes needed folding, both my desks were a mess so I tidied them, and I watered the outdoor pot plants and the garden beds that I didn't get to yesterday. 

I also had a surprise visit from my niece, her husband and their 16-month-old twin daughters. Due to them being born premature and Covid it was my first time meeting them. I had forgotten how noisy two small girls can be, but it was lovely to see them.

All the weeding I did yesterday has caused the tendonitis in my right wrist to flare up so tomorrow I will be taking it easy and resting it. 

 

Read More

Catching Up - It's Been A While

Hello friends, I apologise for being away for so long, but with the horrific bushfires here in Australia at the start of the year, then coming down with shingles (something I wouldn't wish on anyone) and then a worldwide pandemic I haven't much felt like writing. But now that life is slowly starting to get back to normal, I thought it would be a good time to catch you up on what's been happening since my last post.

Due to COVID-19, I was off work for ten weeks as my workplace is a community house and they had all been ordered to close, I have been back at work for five weeks now and I have to say that as much as I enjoyed my time at home I really like where I work and it is good to see my work colleagues again.

The first week of staying at home I didn't really do much more than wander around aimlessly, but the second week I got stuck in and I did a massive decluttering of my house, every single room (apart from my daughter's bedroom and her craft/art room) has had a thorough decluttering and deep clean. I have decluttered enough stuff to fill the boot and back seat of the car which is amazing seeing that I did a declutter about six months ago. It took me a good two weeks to finish the decluttering/deep cleaning, but it was so worth it as the house feels so much lighter.

Photo by Karolina Grabowska from Pexels

After getting the house in order I turned my attention to the backyard and finally ticked off all those jobs that I had been meaning to do but had been putting off, why do I do that?

I spent some time in my vegetable garden putting in new brick borders along the path, I removed the plants that had died over summer from the flower garden and pruned those that needed it, and I planted out my winter vegetable garden (I will be writing a garden update post soon), and everything is looking very healthy.

The two bright spots in this year so far have been the long-awaited marriage of my second daughter (she is the oldest of my twin girls) in mid-March on Kangaroo Island. She and her husband first met in high school and have been together ever since, and they celebrated nine years together one month and three days after their wedding. The day of the wedding itself was cool and overcast but it didn't affect our spirits and the wedding itself was beautiful, very simple, but perfect for my daughter and her husband who are both easy going and don't like a lot of fuss. It was only a small wedding with just close family and two of their closest friends from high school.

It was a beautiful day!

We stayed on the island for five days which is more than enough time to see everything. We stayed at Rose Garden Cottages, and we could not have asked for better accommodation, the couple who own the cottages have renovated them beautifully and anything you could want has been provided for you even down to the Vegemite just in case you forget your own. I can highly recommend the cottages if you're looking for somewhere special to stay. The wedding was actually held in the gardens of one of the cottages that's how nice they are.

The only negative thing I could say about the island is that it is expensive. If you ever plan a trip there make sure you take everything you think you'll need as groceries are about three times that which you would normally pay as everything has to be brought over from the mainland.

The other bright spot this year is that I became a great aunt again for the fourteenth and fifteenth time when my niece gave birth to twin girls in early June, and just like my own girls they were born two and a half months early, both girls are doing fine, putting on weight and hopefully they will be home with their parents very soon. My niece and her husband had been trying for three years to have children and to find out they were having twins was just amazing news. I am so, very happy for them.

I think that is just about it, for now, it's good to be back posting, and I will be back to regular posting, at least once a week from now on.

 Before I go tell me how have you been coping with the COVID-19 pandemic? For myself personally, being an introvert and a homebody, nothing really changed apart from the fact that I couldn't go to work.  I did find going to the grocery store a bit stressful as not everyone was willing to stick to the social distancing rules so I started ordering my groceries online, something I will continue doing for the time being.

 Now that restrictions are being lifted will you be going back to your "normal" life or are there things you were doing during the lockdown that you will keep on doing.

Until next time, stay safe and be kind to each other, Jan.

Read More

14th March 2016

It was a beautiful day, 

spent with family and friends, under the shade of a Golden Elm, 

Read More

February/March

The last two months have passed by in a blur and I can't believe that we are already one third of the way through the year.

The offer of a new job meant a sudden (but not totally unexpected) move to Queensland for my eldest daughter and her family at the end of February.

 I was sad to see them go, but excited for them at the same time as it is something they had been talking about doing for a while now. I did get to spend an extra week with my granddaughter, though while her parents went on ahead to set up their new home. Saying goodbye to her was especially hard.

February also saw the passing of Ruby, I have no idea what the cause was but she is missed.

In March family and friends gathered to celebrate the 21st birthday of these two beautiful babies.

It's hard to believe looking at them today that when they were born they weighed a tiny 1430g (3lb 1oz) and 1465g (3lb 2ozs). I am incredibly proud of the young women they have become.

I continue to make my own bread, sometimes it's a hit, sometimes it's a miss and sometimes it's just peculiar.

After 3 months of making only bread I thought that it was time to try something slightly different. Pizza dough, so much easier than I thought it would be.

 I have been making my own soft spread butter for awhile now and it is so easy to do. I'm not sure that it is cheaper than store bought butter but at least I know exactly what goes into it.

 The cooler nights have meant that we have been able to enjoy some really beautiful sunsets the last few weeks.

 I will be back soon with a garden update.

Read More

Road Trip

Just a little over a month ago my daughters and I packed up the car and headed off to Victoria for the very first time to see my son who moved there two years ago and who we hadn't seen since Christmas.

Our first stop was in Renmark for morning tea, the roses were in full bloom and absolutely gorgeous.

I had the best apple pie and fresh cream I have ever tasted.

Yum!!!

 Next stop Swan Hill, to refuel the car and ourselves. Not long after we arrived a wind storm blew up and as there were no shops opened we thought it would be better to continue on our way. Boy was that a mistake!

You can see some of the damage from the storm in the picture above.

Continuing on our way in the dark and battling against the elements, dust, tree branches bouncing off the windscreen, a giant eucalyptus tree that had fallen across our lane that we didn't see until it was almost too late, it was a relief to arrive in Mooroopna. It was a very long, scary drive (14 hours all up) and we were very happy when we finally got to my son's house 45 minutes later.

Light display on the old water tower in Mooroopna.

  We spent a day recovering from the drive and then headed off to Melbourne.

Art installations, the cow cracks me up!

The colours of Melbourne.

Scenes from our walk.

Swan nest on the banks of the Yarra River.

It turned out to be a very long day, 5 hours driving time and 5 hours going from store to store at the DFO's, not my idea of a fun time.

Benalla botanic gardens and the ceramic mural that took 27 years to complete.

Lunch on Saturday at the Red Stag restaurant, Eurobin and Mount Buffalo, just beautiful.

We thoroughly enjoyed our time in Victoria but one week wasn't enough time to do all the things we had planned. Next time we are planning to stay longer and take our time getting there and back home again. One thing I did learn from this trip, if you're visiting Victoria in October pack a coat and winter shoes otherwise you are going to be cold. At least I remembered to take an umbrella.

 

Read More