Sunday 28 July 2019

Reconnecting with Family .... !!

I have recently reconnected with my cousin who I hadn't seen in over 40 years...Her father was my mum's brother......there was no reason just our families didn't stay in close contact. ..... A huge regret because she is amazing and I love spending time with her...  It's so interesting thinking about the family dynamic and what happens when families don't keep in touch ....  My cousin and I have so many things in common and similar taste in so many things it is a little spooky...that genetic connection I suppose .. she is nine years younger than I am which was heaps when I was a teenager, but time and lots of years seem to bridge the age gap...  She is a delight and I treasure the relationship we are forging.    The weekend saw us taking a road trip together to Eldorado (near her old home town of Wangaratta).....loved it.  We stayed in Yellow Cottage at Eldorado.....it was great...loads of laughs and years of catching up over meals, open fires, pubs, wineries and cafes....not to mention the three hours each way in the car !!. 

Our accommodation.....really lovely charm filled cottage.
On our travels we found a local Gin Distillery..... I've never experienced one before and it was fantastic.  We did a Gin tasting of several different kinds.... I'm not really big on gin, definitely need something delicious and lots of ice added to it for me... but I did come away with a lovely bottle of Gin !!
Gin Distillery just outside of Milawa

My lovely cousin outside the rustic tin distillery house.

So much lovely old architecture around the area.....love the tiny bell tower on this church.
 My greatest wish for my own family is that they will always stay in touch
 and never loose that connection with  sisters,
 brothers, aunties, uncles and cousins... 

Couldn't resist an update on this little minx.... 
she already sleeps through the night  ...Her mum and auntie certainly didn't do that  !

10 Weeks old and sleeping through the night ..... what bliss !!


Sunday 14 July 2019

Precious Gifts ...... !!

It's been a very busy couple of months and I haven't found made the time to visit my blog.....I've been reminded by the family today that our latest addition ...who arrived in May.....hasn't made it to the blog, so here she is....my beautiful Ggirl  ..... little Sophie .

My first cuddle at the hospital.

I could have just melted when my gorgeous Gboy held my Ggirl for the first time
....Grandchildren are the most precious of gifts ....


May also saw my man and I head up to Noosa for a couple of nights to visit a friend on her 70th birthday..... we left a freezing, wet and foggy Melbourne at 7am on a Thursday morning and had lunch at the pub and a walk along the beach in a balmy 21 deg and full sunshine and people swimming..... amazing what a 2 hour flight can produce !!

Picture perfect weather after a chilly start from Melbourne.

This guy was so lovely......who doesn't love a Pelican. !!
 Our friends have moved to Noosa and the weather and relaxed lifestyle 
don't take too much to get used too.... they were terrific hosts I have to say.
A trip to the Eumundi market was fabulous....what a fantastic atmosphere ... I loved it.

Eumundi Market......absolutely HUGE ..... a great way to spend the day...full of interesting stuff.
As always  ..... a Green Tea......but this one by the river in the Noosa Sunshine.
 June saw us back home into the winter chill but a sunny Sunday at the beach near Inverloch with the fluffy girls was fabulous if not chilly....not quite Noosa !!
But I have a passion for fossicking for shells and this beach had millions...!!

The beach is littered with so many shells along the tide lines.

The fabulous colours of the sea snail shells laying on the sand.
 These are the few I selected to add to my collection.....I think shells are incredible shapes 
and so beautiful.... Do kids still like to collect shells these day??....I've loved it since I was a child and it's so much a part of my beach experience....I get excited when I find them.

A beautiful range of shells....my favourites ..second row ...2nd and 4th from the right.. !!
 The vegie garden is full of its usual vegie's and fruits but I am always amazed at the persistence of nature.....I think this is a little self seeded anemone ?? .. which has pushed up between the rocks in the garden... .. Mother nature is quite magical I think.

A lovely solitary little bloom among the rocks.
My pursuit of the perfect cup of green tea continues.....I find it fascinating all of the quirky ways of serving something so simple.....this one came with a timer to brew the tea....!!  PS: didn't use the timer by the way.

Green Tea time.
Ggirl is now two months......I know right...where does the time go.?
Gboy is 8 and so excited to give her a bottle.
Unbelievable how much this photo warms my heart.....love them to bits.

No need for words really.......priceless !!

Thursday 21 March 2019

Autumnal Equinox and Full Moon ..... !!!

The Equinox and full moon coincided last night ...... I love the full moon   .....   and only recently found out I was born on a full moon ... perhaps that explains why I am so drawn to it.... the Equinox  (when day and night are of equal length)  brings with it the change of seasons and is also something I really look forward to .... cooler days of Autumn after the somewhat exhausting heat of Summer is something to revel in and reviving and preparing the garden with new season crops is also a joy..... I've made a start on the planting ... and setting up the garden beds to discourage the feathered girls from digging out the seedlings as quickly as I put them in....

The changing of the seasons..... Welcome Autumn !!

First of the broccoli, cauliflower and leafy greens in.

Re-purposed poly pipe and bird netting to make covers to hopefully keep the girls out

Our first year getting a crop from the Pink Lady..... we netted the tree... and after a long wait for them to ripen properly ... we got around 40 apples.... our two other apple trees (an orange blenheim and an Akane) didn't do as well and we hadn't netted so just stewed and froze the handful of apples the lorikeets and their pals left us.

The last of the Pink Ladies from our tree...
The last of the tomatoes.... Roma's did amazingly well... others not so good as last year.

Our grape vine also produced several bunches of grapes which took FOREVER to ripen ..... and I'm not sure why the bunches have large and tiny grapes on them... this doesn't seem to happen with commercial grapes... we had netted them but the birds still managed to find the way in and ate their share !! 

First time for grapes on our vine.
Grabbed lunch this week at the Cannibal Creek Bakehouse in Garfield.....Lovely little spot and the guys are busy baking their delicious sourdough.... and the cafe has great food ...I ate a freshly baked foccacia straight out of the ancient wood fired oven !

Always love and share tea presentations.... lemongrass and ginger just for a change from my usual green tea ..
My gorgeous G-boy.... now in Grade 3 !!.... come home very excited with his ribbons from School Sports... He came first in the hurdles.... who knew !!  Also ribbons for relay and discus ...  So glad that he loves sports and competing and is doing so well at school.

Big smiles as he wears his ribbons....... just love this little guy.

Hope everyone enjoys Autumn and spends happy times with  loved ones.....especially you Carolyn. !




Tuesday 5 March 2019

So This is Sixty ...... !!

Last week I celebrated my 60th birthday by taking a week away with my husband..... we travelled to Berry NSW and spent a joyful 4 days in a gorgeous old cottage soaking up the beautiful weather and all the fabulous heritage sights and buildings in and about the area...then we spent a couple of nights in an eco adobe villa in Mallacoota.... my first time returning there in about 13 or 14 years...after having holidayed there annually since I was 15, then when married returned each Christmas with my children...it was lovely to return and take time to reacquaint ourselves with all the magic that is Mallacoota...took the fluffy girls along for the trip with us..they loved it too.

Lovely card from my main man.

The view from the cafe  at Bermagui ....brunch stop on the road trip.

A lovely restaurant in Berry for dinner on my Birthday....staff produced a scoop of sorbet with a candle !!

You can never eat too much cheese or drink too much sav blanc on holidays !! 

Daisy out for the count after a hard day at the beach 

A day trip to Kangaroo Valley ----absolutely amazing part of NSW....loved it !

A street full of beautiful old heritage buildings in Kangaroo Valley

Can't go past a community garden without a visit.... Kangaroo Valley

Loved the half drums .... want to make a couple of these for my garden.

The Hampden Bridge ..only surviving suspension bridge from the colonial period of NSW 

The cute little  Gelato shop in Berry ....scrumptious gelato
Berry is full of wonderful old buildings .... so much character in this beautiful town.


This awesome carved post is in Mogo .... great little stopover for lunch and a cuppa

It was so intricately carved...amazing

Unbelievable amount of native birds in the garden of Adobe Units Mallacoota....so tame...this tree was on our patio !!

Whiling away the time relaxing at the beach.... stacking stones !!

Betka beach at Mallacoota.....almost deserted and perfect beach weather....fabulous.

Lots of interesting rock formations along the beach

Sunrise on the lake at Mallacoota ....view  from our balcony on our last day 
We had a really lovely break....celebrated a milestone that I wasn't particularly looking forward to but   have come to the realisation that any birthday is a good one.... and this holiday was something special and memorable that I shared with my husband.....a reminder to enjoy everyday........you just never know !!
Home only one day and we were confronted by the devastating Bunyip State forest fire.....pictures from the back and front yard of our home....we were on watch and act alert on Sunday with thick smoke and ash everywhere....thankfully it never got this far but my heart goes out to those who lost homes.... reminder to never take anything for granted.




Saturday 2 February 2019

Fabulous February ...... !!

As always time gets away from me and now before I know it February is here !!  ..... Have spent a bit of time over the last two weeks getting out and about .... there are so many great places to visit in and around Gippsland..... A big favourite is the small township of Loch .....  what a gorgeous place it is ... wouldn't be a visit without a trip to my favourite cafe for a cup of tea !!

OLIVE at LOCH .... a lovely cafe
A fabulous quirky cup of Green tea.
The Baw Baw Sustainability network held their Creative Garden 2019 exhibition and I popped in to fellow blogger Around the Mulberry Tree, whose permaculture garden was among the many that were on display ..... included along with local artists creating their craft in the gardens..... Maree has a great productive garden and now runs sourdough making classes..... got to sample her bread and it was really good.
.
The Mulburry tree after which she has named her blog.

Lots of nice things in her garden..

Sculptures look great....
 We also took a trip to Cape Patterson to walk the fur babies.....unfortunately it was non dog-walking season for the beach....who knew (probably everybody else except me !!).... thought if they were on a lead it was okay....so we travelled along to Inverloch and found a sneaky spot where we could walk them.....found these amazing shells on the beach ....the sea snail shells are so beautiful and had an iridescent mother of pearl glimmer...I've always loved shells,  they are works of art I think.

Shells picked up from the beach near Inverloch.
 My daughter and G-boy stayed over last Sunday and she decided to paint mandalas on a couple of the small rocks from my garden....I love these .... I had some wall paint sample pots for a small project I was working on....she did a beautiful job....very crafty

A pleasant way to spend an hour painting these..
 Today took a little trip to Jindivick to attend the market....it's small and not too busy.....Jindivick is lovely...unfortunately the smoke from a small bushfire in Noojee was thick....and the smell of burning vegetation was everywhere....it's a nervous time for those living in rural bush land.

The lovely town of Jindivick.
Finally as my 60th birthday draws ever nearer I will leave with this message..  :-)