Winter's Chill

I was up early, not from choice really, but because my dear husband went fishing, 

leaving home at 4 am.  So inevitably I too was awake!  

Breakfast, stoke the fire, shower, make the bed, check emails...still only 5.30am.

 Peek outside and it's cold.

A few weeks ago it was really cold around the south and east of Australia,

 but life got in the way of me getting in the car

 and driving an hour or so inland and uphill to the snow.

 So today I decided to go and check out the frost instead. 

I've got way too many photos here, but I'm not very good at culling!

And then on the way home you can see that time has passed

 and the frost has melted to a sunny day.

Smoke from winter burning off fills the horizon and melds the mountains seamlessly.  

It also helps to produce irresistibly colourful sunsets!

We were both home too late to enjoy the fruits of the day out on the water, 

but don't worry, fish was on the menu the next night!   

I know I should go too, but when you work together sometimes it's nice to do your own thing.

Do you go in different directions or enjoy similar hobbies?  Just wondering! 

Bye for now 

One week later....here I am!

Yes, thanks to all your encouragement in comments on my last post, I'm here a week later. 

 It's amazing how accountability helps to keep you on track  

Well, it works for me anyway!

What a week it's been.  The big story being that we had twins!  Alright then, it wasn't exactly WE, but one of our cows.  To cut a long story short...I was walking back from the cattle yards on dusk in the freezing cold, wind blowing half a gale. My eyes were drawn to ripples on the dam...not duck type ripples...no, they were bigger than that.  I went to investigate.  It was a calf close to the dam wall but bobbing in the water.  Yells, screams and next thing I know hubby is stripping off and heading into the freezing cold water, grabbing the little calf and pulling him up onto the bank. It was really hard work for him, and exhausting.  I ran home for old towels and, puffing and panting, we rubbed him down, leaving the head so that the mother would recognise the smell of her calf.
We were worried because it was so very cold, but nature is incredible and this tired little calf  was up and drinking from his Mum next morning, along with his sister. Unfortunately, no chance for photos, too much going on, but I do have one of the little fella a couple of days later.

This last photo is the dam at sunrise just a few days after the drama unfolded.  

All calm as if nothing had ever happened.  

This is how life is, one thing after another, 

up then down, crazy then calm, despair then delight.  

Just as it should be.

~~~~

I hope your week has been more up than down, more calm than crazy.  

Tell me about it.  I'd love to hear...

Bye for now 

You can't stop the waves......

Life is a series of waves, up and down, up and down.  

One of those 'downs' found my elderly Aunty unexpectedly taken into hospital.

Off I went some 3 hours south to the beach side town of Port Macquarie to visit her.

I arrived in the evening and as visiting hours were not until 10am

 I thought I would catch a beach sunrise the next day.  

Ha! Well, 6 am found me sitting in the car park staring through the rain spattered windscreen,

surrounded by VW campers and panel vans

 with their occupants still hidden from sight in sleeping bags.

 The sun crept tentatively into view, 

and unbeknownst to me so did the surfies .

But it wasn't long before there was a pitter patter and out came the umbrella.  

Those surfers had sneaked past me while I was engrossed in taking photos

 and there they were catching a wave in the rain!

Out popped the sun and for a while things looked up.

Clouds still hung threateningly on the horizon.

You never know what's around the corner.  

There was just time for me to grab a quick coffee and a bite of breakfast 

before heading into the hospital where Aunty was so happy to see me.

She told me how wonderful the ambulance officers had been

and we laughed when I recounted my beach adventures.

"You can't stop the waves  ~   but you can learn to surf."

Quote by John Kabat-Zinn