Spring is in the air

I have had a lovely week away spending time with my daughter Claire, her husband and my grandson. It was wonderful to play with him and give him lots of cuddles. He is a delightful little man. 

I have come home to my house and garden. It has rained for a week and everything looks alive and growing. There are bulbs coming out and my plum tree is flowering. 

I harvested some of my winter veggies. 

The Fruit trees are getting ready to bud. 

Oh my the baby chicks have grown so much in a week and Myrtle has started laying again.

I came home to the most beautiful gift from my daughter Sarah. It is a wonderful white Bird house with a rustic metal roof. My husband has fashioned it on to a post and we have found it a home in the garden. I have plans to plant a lovely garden bed around the base of it but we have positioned it under the Japanese Maple... 

I LOVE IT!!

I am excited for spring to arrive in full force.. it will be beautiful!!

Home in the mountains

 I always love driving around our little neck of the woods...

It takes my breath away every single time I come up over the hill and see this vista..

I love the smell of the eucalyptus and the sound of the birds.

I love the look of the houses perched all over the hills. I love all the federation style houses here. 

I look out towards the horizon and see miles and miles of bushland and wilderness.. and I think to myself, this is my home.

SNOW!

Just last week we had snow! Oh I'm so excited to be living somewhere that snows on occasion!!

It makes me so happy. Now I don't need the snow to be knee deep or to stay for weeks or months but a little bit of snow is a rare gift here in Australia and a reason to celebrate!

So here my friends are some pics! Enjoy!

A year in the mountains...

 We have just celebrated our one year anniversary of living in the mountains. I have honestly loved every part of it! I feel so blessed to live here in this house and in this garden. It is mid winter here and it has been COLD! We have great central heating which we have used constantly. We have had quite a few frosty mornings and a couple of days with light snow!  I have enjoyed the definite change in seasons here.  On the coast we had really mild winters and the summer was always tempered with a light sea breeze. I do miss the seaside, but I love the mountain air. Right now most of the trees are bare and the grass is quite dry and not too green. There are bulbs starting to poke their heads through the cold earth promising a spring in the not too distant future.We have been very busy here both inside our home and out in the garden. We have planted lots of trees and shrubs, bulbs and perennials. We  have submitted some plans for approval  to our local council for a new garage and some extensions to our home. 

We have some long term goals that we are working towards and we have happily put down our roots. We really want to make this wonderful old cottage our forever home.

HAPPY ONE YEAR TO US!!

                                   “To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow"

                                                                  Audrey Hepburn

                                    

Our new additions...

This week we picked up three little chicks for our hen Myrtle. She has been quite broody and sitting patiently on the nest for a few weeks and since we have no rooster we bought her some babies to adopt. There are not enough words to express how cute they are.  So I thought I'd just show you all some pictures instead!

 We named them Dot, Gladys and Hazel...

Winter

I quite like Winter. I like cuddling up on the sofa with my knitting and a blanket round my knees. I love to cook hearty meals in the slow cooker and have the aroma wafting through the house, making me excited for what is to come! 

I like the shorter days and having to put a coat on to go outdoors. I like the frosty mornings and cooking porridge on top of the stove. 

I love the look of the bare trees with tiny buds holding the promise of spring.

I am a fan of seasons!

In nature as in life. 

I love the stability of knowing after Winter comes Spring, then Summer and Autumn.

After night comes Day.

After nights of weeping and sorrow, there is promise of a new day. A new season of blessing.

All of this is as it should be.

“Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home.” 
― Edith Sitwell

My daughter and I have been doing a bit of handcrafting, we love to keep our hands busy and creating is good for the soul !

 There are still a few things blooming in my garden, a few daisies and  the last of my roses and my beautiful Camellia flowers through winter...

“We all know that if the seasons were the same, there would be no growth. We know that without winter there would be no spring. We know that without frosts there would be no bulbs and without the monsoon there would be no rice harvest. In the same way, we also know that without sorrow there would be no joy. Without pain there would be no healing. I think that's precisely where the beauty comes in. It comes in through the fruit of the seasons. He has indeed made everything beautiful in its time.” 
― Naomi Reed, My Seventh Monsoon:

This place.

I have been thinking a lot about my journey through life and how I came to be where I am today. I've been thinking of my blessings but also my struggles which have all worked to bring me to this place. 

This place of healing, this place of joy, this place of doubt, this place of struggle, this place of sanctuary.

As a couple and as a family we have endured hardship. We have dealt with sickness and loss of income. We have struggled with mental health issues and we have dealt with betrayal and abandonment from those we trusted and loved. We have suffered many losses, due to circumstances beyond our control we needed to leave a place we called home for many years. 

It was hard. It took courage. It demanded lots from us. I have seen sorrow. I have felt angry and disappointed. But we did not give up or give in, we have fought and are still fighting for a good, purposeful life.  A life of love and generosity and kindness.

We have lost trust in some people but not in our Father, our God who continues to nurture and care for us. We see it in little things. We have felt the touch of His hand and know that even though we don't know why tough things have come our way, He has never abandoned us.
We have received good things from His hands..

We have the constant support of good and faithful friends and loving family. We have a delightful little grandson whom we treasure. We have this beautiful place to call home. A garden to work in and enjoy. We have enough. We are enough. He is enough.

I am in the process of healing. I am not there yet. I am learning to forgive those who wronged us and hurt us. I am not there yet. I am taking each day as it comes and I choose thankfulness and gratitude as a way of life.
I choose to see the beauty in the world, in my own small part of the world. I choose to move forward in grace and show grace to my fellow travelers on  life's journey. Because we have all had difficult things to deal with. Our stories are not that different. The details may vary but we are all in need of grace and patience and kindness.

 Where there's hope, there's life. It fills us with fresh courage

 and makes us strong again.” 

― Anne Frank

“Courage doesn't always roar.

 Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day 

that says I'll try again tomorrow.”

― Mary Anne Radmacher

“Have enough courage to trust love one more time and 

always one more time.” 

― Maya Angelou