It really is a beautiful time of year. Usually mild days and crisp evenings which suits me down to the ground. This year of course we have the rain….the unending rain. Our third La Nina in a row apparently – very rare supposedly…..blah blah blah. It’s all so very tedious but we have managed two separate days of mowing and tidying up the garden in between the deluges for which we are very grateful. It’s just going to be a loooong haul getting things back into shape as every centimetre of rain takes us back to square one with puddles everywhere on top of the completely saturated earth. Luckily this time of year also gives us amazing sunsets – peachy apricot hues changing to deepest vermillion red in mere minutes before we are plunged into darkness.

Luckily in between the rain we had some nice days and some visitors – AT THE SAME TIME – miraculous! The Tassie crew came for a week after our 70th weekend and managed a few trips to the park and the beach and we could even occasionally sit outside although there was definitely no walking on the grass without wellies! Lots of painting and making bead necklaces and indoor games and cuddles were enjoyed. On their last night we had a farewell for my Nephew and his wife who were leaving to live in Tokyo with their 10 month old son and we were so happy that we could finally get everyone together so the little cousins could meet each other! A pizza night was had under the stars with wine and music and stories recalled of life BEFORE (kids) and the adventures that lie ahead! We wish them lots of luck in their new life in Tokyo and hopefully we will get to visit them in the next year or two as I have never been to Japan.

The other thing I see this time of year is large swathes of white corellas swirling and turning in the sky like huge shoals of fish. Not quite the murmurations you see in the northern hemisphere but special enough to make you watch enthralled until they land or fly away. There is also colour everywhere if you look – the lemon, gold, russet and chestnut leaves making rich puddles under the now bare trees; the vibrant yellow splash of fireweed in the paddocks, the lemon pink and white flowers of the lantana and the purply pink flower balls of the clover in the hedgerows. My veggie patch has been rather optimistically planted with winter veggies – broccoli, cauliflower cabbage, spinach and garlic and the citrus is going crazy with so much fruit that we can’t keep up! We’ve swapped our limes for the neighbours lemons and we have dozens and dozens of ruby grapefruit and mandarins – so heavy they are dropping off the trees daily and rotting in the puddles before we even get a chance to collect them!

As work has stalled at home we gratefully accepted an invitation from some friends to some afternoon drinks at a local winery – Two Figs. It is located at the top of a hill overlooking the winding Shoalhaven River and is perfectly positioned to enjoy those sunsets. Inside they have a log fire to keep you cosy and huge picture windows overlooking the view when the outdoor seating isn’t viable. It’s quite easy to while away a few hours here chatting and laughing with friends and we should definitely do it more often!

I enjoyed a few days in Sydney helping out with the grandsons as their Dad was away on a work trip. It was lovely spending so much one on one time with them and seeing Cooper’s little face light up every morning when he realised I was still there! We tried to get outside as much as we could – racing sticks down the rain filled gutters, collecting leaves and stones and deciding which houses we both liked on our walks! Surprisingly a 3 year old can have really logical and viable opinions as to why a house is good or bad – very entertaining! I’m loving this age of independence when they want to do everything themselves – here Coops is determined to do his own jacket zipper up – such concentration! Little Ollie is so close to walking and zooms around the house with his funny crawl – back legs up and front ones down! He LOVES hats and looked particularly fetching in his brother’s chef hat I thought!

One good thing about the rain is I then have permission to do indoor pursuits and apart from Spring cleaning in Autumn – I finally got around to washing all the curtains (woohoo!) and planning and booking our accommodation for our big holiday later this year I have been trying to keep up my newfound hobby and paint! This is a little collection of things I’ve done thus far which I’ve really enjoyed. Practise makes perfect they say so I’m trying to draw or paint something every few days to get my brain used to this new thing I’m teaching it and hopefully one day it will get easier and better! As they say – it’s all about the journey……