Well 2021 is beginning a lot like 2020 ended…full of scary news, uncertainty and an acute inability to plan anything more than 24 hours in advance. We in Australia are very lucky to be both in mid summer and relatively covid free. Our lives are almost normal with the exception of not being able to travel anywhere and being reduced to takeaway or reduced seating at many restaurants due to insufficient space to be covid safe. I am one of many here who have family back in the UK, Europe or USA who seem to have a case of Covid Guilt, hardly daring to say what we have been up to as it sounds like we are gloating and uncaring as life elsewhere is a very grim affair. After the Northern Beaches flurry which of course managed to coincide with Christmas we have luckily managed to squash the virus for now but it is only a matter of time before it pokes up it’s ugly head again so we are far more prepared now for any last minute changes, shut downs and cancellations and almost incredulous if our meagre travel plans actually come to fruition. Our own backyard is ALL that is open to us right now and we are pretty darned lucky that we have an AMAZING one! Local tourism is through the roof albeit open to last minute changes as State borders close willy nilly and airlines change their policies overnight. Plan, and indeed book travel, but do not be surprised if it all ends up on the back burner AGAIN….and 2022 is now the year touted as being the year we can travel overseas again. I’m not sure what we will see when we get back there to be honest? Will we still be able to sit in an ancient piazza sipping prosecco and watching the world go by without a care in the world? Will there still be companies to take us adventuring down rivers and up mountains? Will it be a different world that we see when we get back there again? Time will tell I guess….

Meanwhile back in The Meadow we were lucky to be untouched by the latest virus outbreak which is a total miracle as our little town has been inundated with Sydneysiders ever since the schools broke up for the summer holidays. The queue for the “famous Berry Donut Van” stretches endlessly down the main street and there are lines to get into the shops. All this is great for the small businesses that depend on this to get them through the year and in the wake of last year’s bush fires to potentially keep them afloat so I am happy for them but it also keeps me away from the hub, most probably venturing back after the school holidays end when I can shop in peace! Instead we head out to the river or the beach where we can all spread out and enjoy the beautiful scenery that we call home. We managed a couple of hours in between the showers when Sam and Liv finally made it down after the lockdown eased and we had one very happy toddler and Choccy Drop! Nothing better than splashing around in a river!

I’d like to pay homage to a special little tree that we love in our garden called a Crepe Myrtle. It is a relatively small tree perfect for suburban gardens . Believed to have originated in China, it is a tree for all seasons. In summer it produces vibrant flowers of pink,purple,white and almost red, which last for up to three months, and in autumn it provides great leaf colour in shades of yellow, orange and scarlet. It also has incredible bark which gets better with age, as the trunk develops a wonderful gnarled appearance, and the bark peels off in summer to give a gorgeous mottled look with patches of pink, grey and brown. All of this makes it a winner in the garden, also it seems to be used more and more in streetscapes as they rarely grow bigger than 6m and don’t take over the pavements in which they are planted. Their branching habit makes them perfect for shading plants that hate the sun and I have them guarding my hydrangeas! If you had to choose just one tree to have in a garden I would thoroughly recommend this one. This one was on the property when we arrived and it is a joy to behold every summer!

As some of you know we had the Newcastle franchise for Harry’s Cafe de Wheels for around 7 years and we were totally delighted when we recently saw one opening near us – a mere 2 kilometres away in fact! It was one of the things we missed when we moved away from Sydney, not because we ate there all the time but because it really did hit the spot when you needed it most and there has always been so much care and attention paid to the Harry’s pie it tastes homemade! Their ethos hasn’t changed over the years and they are still totally delicious! The menu has now expanded to include burgers but we can never get past the pie or the chilli dog! So if you are travelling up or down the coast and you are a bit peckish give it a whirl folks! Our other favourite pie shop – Haydens in Ulladulla – is just a bit too far away from us (75 mins) to make it a viable option but if you are holidaying in Mollymook do not leave without going there!

There was a charming little story floating around a few weeks ago about a little pigeon called Joe and it gave everyone a reason to smile and stop talking about you-know-what for a while. The story goes like this…..

Mr Celli-Bird (yup that’s his real name) a nice unassuming man living in the outer suburbs of Melbourne noticed a rather scrappy looking little pigeon had taken up temporary residence in his garden so he fed him some bird seed and expected him to fly away but he hung around. Mr CB noticed a leg ring and decided to google the number which told him it was from a bird in America who went missing from a race in Oregon back in October!! He called him Joe after the incoming US president Joe Biden and the story was broadcast on the local radio. It didn’t take long for the story to spread and it was a feat that won hearts around the world, that a common pigeon named Joe had flown 13,000 kilometres from the United States and had landed, weak but alive, in an Australian backyard. A story of hope winning against adversity and just what people needed to hear.

Mr. Celli-Bird thought it was all a bit of good fun, but the Australian authorities had a different view. The Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment said Joe “posed a direct biosecurity risk to Australian bird life and our poultry industry.” and it intended to euthanize him. Fortunately, there was a twist in the tale. The Oregon race organisers told Mr Celli-Bird that the Oregon bird did not have Joe’s bell-bottom style feathers around his feet. It seems that Joe will be spared because his leg tag was found to be fake (goodness knows what sort of person fakes a pigeon leg ring?). Pigeon Rescue Melbourne volunteer Kirsten Macleod says Joe is not a racing pigeon. He is a ‘Turkish tumbler’, bred to do tricks and not fly long distance so Joe is probably Australian after all and will get to live. Mr CB is relieved. And Joe is definitely on a good wicket. Mr Celli-Bird says Joe is not a pet but he did buy him bird seed, and the pigeon is welcome to bathe in his water feature and potter in the garden as long as he likes. He won’t be buying a cage. “As long as he’s happy to stay there I’ll let him stay and if he chooses to fly off, he can do that too.” Lucky Joe I reckon and a happy ending!

So as we approach the end of January there are changes afoot.The vaccine is starting to be rolled out in the Northern hemisphere, the only thing they are clinging to as the numbers soar and gloominess rules. No real end in sight and as they haven’t been quaranting or stopping people flying in and out I really can’t see how things will change in a hurry but there is a glimmer of hope on the horizon and they are counting down to Spring and hopefully a new start. We have a new guy in the White House with a more measured approach to the science of it all and hopefully his calmness will give the American people the balm they need after all the division of the past four years and he will steady the boat. He has a huge job ahead of him. Fingers crossed he can make a difference. C’ya Trumpy, can’t say I’m sorry to see you go but good luck with the new venture……