Well what a few weeks we’ve had. From the bush fires and gale force winds of a few weeks ago to balmy Spring days which hoodwinked the trees and flowers into blooming and now cold and finally WET days! Needless to say this coincided with the day all the men and machinery arrived to dig the hole for our pool!!! Just call us the drought breakers! Ironically it was also day 1 of water restrictions brought in to combat dwindling dam levels. All round it’s just the best possible time to be putting a pool in…..not!! It has been amazing to see everything happen so quickly, the huge hole was dug in one day, the pool was hoisted in from the back of a huge  truck on day 2, all the plumbing and pump installation was done on day 3 and by the end of this week the concrete surrounds will be in and ready for the landscapers! I can already imagine some hot summer days luxuriating in the cool water …..

Despite it not being the best conditions for us personally, we are very happy to see the rain, especially after being away the past 2 weekends in The Tablelands which are SO dry that you only see about 3 colours of the spectrum no matter where you look! A uniquely Australian landscape but one now scattered with skeletons of the animals that were a bit too small or weak or sick to manage walking miles and miles to try and find some feed. Salt licks packed with nutrients are now being used by the farmers that can afford them. At around $150 each they are yet another drain on their rapidly dwindling finances.

We stayed with our friend Craig who lives on 50 acres in a house he built himself in one of the coldest parts of NSW but with his wood fire pumping out the heat and a lovely home cooked meal it was easy to forget the outside world for a while. In the morning when I took Bailey for a walk I could hardly see her as she blended into the burnt orangey brown landscape like a shadow and thankfully for once in her life she didn’t venture into the icy cold water in the dam, it would have taken hours for her to warm up if she had!

Spring (despite recent days) is starting to arrive. The blossoms are out, the wisteria has long fuzzy buds which will soon burst into flower, I have gazillions of baby mulberries forming on the tree and small limey new leaves are unfurling on some of our trees. Baby birds are in evidence, one little crimson rosella who was obviously a learner flyer got trapped in the garage and it’s little chest was heaving with panic and anxiety as it tried to get out through the back window. I managed to settle it down under a towel and gently slide the window open until it could escape. It sat in our tree for an hour recovering before it flew off to find Mum! As we drive down the road we can see little tiny black bundles in the bleached grass as calves arrive to Mums who hardly get enough food for themselves let alone another mouth to feed. Fingers crossed things turn around soon.

It has been a busy time on the family front with our “you-only-live-once” daughter moving to Bangkok for a four month stint to work with The United Nations. This has been a long held dream of hers and she is absolutely loving being in the midst of so many passionate people who are all trying to make a difference to the world in some way. She turns 30 tomorrow and will spend it by herself at work (not quite as bad as her last birthday when she was in hospital in Ho Chi Minh City with Dengue Fever) but her hubby and close friends are all planning trips to visit her in the next few weeks and I’m going to plan a few days in November so she will have plenty of mini breaks to look forward to over the upcoming weeks and months.

The long farewell continues for Tom as he packs up his Sydney life to move to London. Work here is now officially over and he is down in The Meadow getting last minute paperwork done, new UK bank accounts and updating his passports, drivers license and phone before launching himself into his new adventure. I had a lovely farewell lunch with both the boys on a perfect sunny Sydney day last week and I’m sure that Tom will think back on it fondly once he is in grey old London!!! We’re all going to miss his happy personality very much……

My Boys!