Let's get this show on the road

Hello for the first time in 2015! I hope you've all had a good break, enjoyed your holidays and chilled out with your feet up for as long as you could string it out. I've been trying to stretch my break out a bit longer but many, many emails have arrived asking if I'm okay, if I'm coming back soon and if I'm coming back at all. So to all those who knocked on my email door the answers are: yes, I'm fine, I'm here now and yes, I'll be blogging during the year. I'm happy to be back here with you again.  It's beginning to look like a habit too strong to break.  There will be slightly fewer blog posts this year, particularly in the first half. I'm writing again, and to a very tight deadline, but I'll tell you all about that some other time.

Jamie and Johnathan playing together and learning the value of family ties.

So to keep you in the loop, we had a very busy end of year with Peter, our German brother-in-law, here from the end of October till early December. We had most of the family here on Christmas day and just a few days later, my nephew Danny and his partner Laura were here with their three children ages 6 to 6 months. Sadly, just after they returned home after a beautiful week here with us, Laura had a heart attack, was listed in a critical condition, but then, thankfully, recovered. Life takes such shocking turns when you least expect it.

We had Jamie here with us on and off over the holidays. He's such a little character now, it is a joy having him wandering around the house, making us laugh. Sometimes, when I sit close to him and steal quick glances while he's not looking, I realise again that he's three years old and I'm nearing 70 and that every day, every minute, counts.  Those minutes are all we've got.

 The boys out in the fresh air cleaning the car.

And that realisation has seen me outside enjoying the late summer afternoons, with hose in hand, nibbling on cherry tomatoes and blueberries and staring at the fading evening sky.  I'm there in the mornings too, just after I let the chickens out for the day at first light. I sit in the garden, watching the birds make their early morning flights and listen to the sound of the creek as it rushes by. We've had a real wet season this year with rain overnight and showers during the day so the creek has been purged and the waterways look healthy again. The gardens surrounding us are green and lush and they remind me every day just why I became a gardener all those years ago. I think we'll have a very good autumn garden this year because the rain is seeping down deep into the soil, bringing new life to dry roots.

Starting off some pea soup with the Christmas ham bone.

And now we're looking towards a new year with all the slowly unfolding promise that holds. I wanted to do a few different things on the blog this year and thought of some crazy/wonderful ideas, told myself I should write them down, didn't, then promptly forgot every one of them. So stand by for that news, I'm hoping that if I just forget about it, those ideas will come flooding back to me soon.  In the meantime, if you have any ideas you want to float, write them in a comment and I'll consider your suggestions.

Now, let's get this show on the road for another year.  If you're new here, please say hello. No one will bite. We're a friendly bunch. Say hello if you're not new too. I love to connect with everyone who passes this way.  If you have the time for it, give me your good news and tell me what you have planned this year. I have just read the news about the shootings in Paris, a stark reminder of what happened in Sydney recently. The world seems to grow more frightening and unknowable every year. I haven't been beyond our front gate since mid-December. I understand the wildlife in our backyard, I enjoy watching the wind blowing through the tree tops in the forest surrounding our home; this place feels safe. So I hope you keep me company here and that this blog provides a refuge for you too if ever you should need it.  ♥︎