Blazing from Winter to Spring

In no time at all it will officially be Spring here in Australia!  

It already feels like it's here with longer days, warm breezes, 

and the smell of native daphne floating on the air.

Sharing here that transition from frost-chilled orange juice for breakfast and bonfires, 

to the buzzing of busy bees around a bottlebrush in balmy Bellingen!

  the cattle were inquisitive when we cleared a fence line and had a bonfire

Crimson Rosella


Native daphne or sweet pittosporum which I read is becoming a weed in some areas.  
Sad because the perfume is delicious

flowering pear blossom 

budding tulip tree against the moon 

Australian red cedar (Toona ciliata var. australis) ~ new pink growth.  
I'll tell you more about this wonderful tree soon.

bottle brush (don't ask me which one!)

I was listening to a program which spoke about the demise of the awareness of the seasons

because so many of us have air conditioned houses, cars and work places 

and so the seasons can pass without us feeling or noticing any change.

If this is the case, then I feel very sorry for those people

but I for one will keep on seeing and sensing the seasons

 and I'm pretty sure you will too!

Bye for now

Moments of Calm

Well what a chaotic week it's been ~ one thing after another!

 But I'm not going to focus on that ~ what's the point? 

 Instead I'll show you (and me!) the good bits, the pieces of calm in between.

You'll notice we've had more frosty mornings

 and the land owner across the river has been burning off

 so the smoke has made for some interesting views.  

I noticed this 'still life' while I was weeding around a rose bush.

These leaves were floating on the water trough when I went to feed the chooks.

They look as though they are surrounded by a starry night sky!

These seed cases are from our local  Blackwood tree, an Acacia. I love the curls and squiggles!

Well it's done me good to see the bits of beauty 

that I would otherwise have forgotten amidst the chaos.

I hope you've had a week where you've noticed something special

even if it's been just in passing.  I'd love to hear about it!

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 

Ripples

Winter is here. Mornings are colder, evenings come earlier. 

 By the time I've finished the outside chores my fingers are feeling like icicles.  

Let's race inside and get the fire going.  Hold on.... just take a look at that sunset!  

The ducks on the dam are swimming in swirling circles,

 the ripples overlaid with gold leaf.

'Eternally Grateful'.

  This heading caught my eye as I crumpled up the newspaper to start the fire.

 I stopped for a moment to read on.....

A young mother was thanking a man for saving her son's life.  An ordinary day turned out to be quite the opposite. Her toddler was choking on some food and unable to dislodge it she ran out onto the street screaming for someone to help her.   Other cars had driven past but he had stopped and he saved the little boy's life. It seems these people live on the same street and are now good friends.  A heart warming story with profound and far-reaching consequences.

'Remember there's no such thing as a small act of kindness 

Every act creates a ripple with no logical end.'

Scott Adams

The kettle's boiling. Time for a cup of tea.
Pull up a chair by the fire and we can toast our toes together.
 Do you take sugar?