The first part of the year is always spent in holiday mode. The days are long, usually sunny and warm and seem to stretch endlessly ahead until work and school beckons people back to reality. To us this means family and friends visiting and entertaining outdoors. One of the easiest and most sociable ways to entertain a crowd is Pizza Night!! We really haven’t used our oven as much as we thought we would so this summer we decided to go for it and it has been getting a bit of a workout at last! It’s very convivial to sit around the pizza oven chatting and creating whichever masterpiece you wish to eat whilst the sun goes down over the chook shed. Young or old, drinking wine or water, fancy toppings or just cheese, eating loads or just a slice – everyone is catered for on Pizza Night!

It has been the strangest of summers with everything from 18-40 degrees and LOADS of rain and I haven’t needed to water anything other than my pots since October! The combination of heat and rain has sent the garden into overdrive with the damned kikuyu grass ruining my flower beds and destroying my veggie patch! It would need a full time team of 2-4 men to keep it under control in these circumstances so we have just had to resign ourselves to the out of control nature of the property at the moment. It’s either been too hot, too wet or we’ve been too busy to do more than the basics so we will be playing catch up once Autumn arrives no doubt! The pool has been a godsend in the hot weather and the cows that have access to a river are equally grateful as there are never enough trees planted in the paddocks to cope with hot cows or horses. They huddle together in the tiny patches of shade, taking turns to get a reprieve from the scorching sun. Down at the beach everyone is happy – humans, dogs and horses all enjoying the cool water and this year’s generous wide sand.

The Berry Show is a much loved annual event and our visit to it made me remember how important these things are to a rural community. This year was the 136th show and the mere thought of this show happening in the late 1880’s where the ladies would have been in long dresses and the men in their suits made me feel a) hot and b) part of a long line of Berry and Shoalhaven residents who are grateful for this way of life. Over the past 20 years, new technology and changing trends have really impacted what it’s like to be a kid and we are forever hearing in the media about kids who don’t communicate through anything other than their devices and spend more time gaming in their rooms than playing outside with their friends. Nothing could be further from the truth with the kids here at The Show. They got dressed up in their RM’s and country shirts, their prize pet chicken tucked under their arms or their freshly washed and brushed pooch proudly displayed in the arena as he or she competed in “the dog with the waggiest tail” or in the doggy high jump. A little 2 year old girl stole the show with her 2 day old chick that she showed off proudly in her akubra hat! As for the horse competitions – they were fabulous! To see such confident young people jumping and showing their horses and being part of such a close and caring community was really heart warming and proof that country life still gives kids as much fun now as it ever did. Kids and adults alike displayed their art, photography, spinning and weaving of wool from their sheep, veggies, jams and cakes as well as some Lego creations and carpentry. There were bullock trains and a rodeo, stunts from Airtime FMX bikes and displays from working dogs, a poultry pavilion, sideshow alley, the ever popular woodchop and beautiful cattle of every colour and shape, all topped off with a fireworks display. Definitely something for everyone and a real pleasure to visit if only to see that the future is in good hands with these kids.

On a whim I decided to be brave and enter a couple of things in the open class for still life and modern art. As I’ve only just started painting I have been very reticent to show people my stuff and have been quite shy about it all. The thing I loved about The Show was the anonymity of it as your name was only on the back of the painting so I didn’t feel too ‘on show’ despite exhibiting! No one was more surprised than me when we went along on Friday to see I had received two 2nd place prizes!!! I was delighted despite my plan backfiring as my name was now on them both!! People have been so warm and encouraging and I’m glad to be ‘out and proud’ hahaha….

One morning I was up early and making my cuppa when I heard a lot of noise coming from the chook shed which is unusual early in the day so I casually looked over to their area to see a HUGE shape – wings outstretched on top of the chook house. It was like something from a Godzilla movie and I went running over shouting and clapping my hands to try and scare it away from my hens! Bailey went ahead barking and there was lots of noise and tension from all of us as I raced to let the chickens out. They rushed off across the garden to the safety of the bushes and the Wedge Tailed Eagle instead of flying off got spooked and jumped down into their yard. Poor thing was scared and kept lunging into the netting as it looked to escape. I finally flushed it out by coming around the back of the pen and it flew up to the roof once more before taking off into the nearby trees. No chicken breakfast for him this morning thank goodness. He stayed there for another hour or so either waiting to spot them in a clearing or perhaps just shaken up himself after his little morning adventure…..

There is one little person who is very excited that February has arrived. Little Myla is starting school on Feb 12th and has dressed up in her new uniform at least half a dozen times – even sleeping in her sports gear on the first night!! I love how huge the dress is on her and her school bag hangs so low it is in danger of knocking her over from behind! She’s loving the matching hair ribbons and bows and all the stationery and lunchbox items that are now going to be a regular part of her life for the next decade and is champing at the bit to get started. Little Indi thinks she is going too of course as she has never really been separated from Myla before. She loves being Myla’s wardrobe assistant and part time model and will no doubt be very bemused when she has to go back to daycare without her big sister! I can’t quite believe how quickly these last few years have gone to be honest but time waits for no man however much you’d like to hang on to the days of chubby hands and the pink cheeks of babyhood. Have the best time Myla Moo….