Merry Christmas!

Blogging has become a burden, so I am taking a break. Summer has arrived with all the jobs that need doing outside: Cleaning gutters, distributing compost, refilling compost bins, weeding, trimming and watering. Of course, there are the satisfying jobs like picking raspberries and snow peas too.

Sitting inside is an enjoyable winter activity. Writing will take a back seat as December is a time for family coming to stay, and others visiting.

I shall be back from time to time, but no longer as a daily visitor to your blogs. A bit of peace, I can hear you say. Yeh!

Shall be back to bring updates on how Chris’s painting is going. Maybe there will be some writing when I catch up with the backlog of chores to complete. I know you are all probably feeling the same pressures of the festive season.

Wrapping Santa presents and making sure all the children’s’ presents are bought and wrapped is the pleasurable part of this time of the year. Preparing the Christmas tree is another joy, especially seeing the faces of the children when they arrive. Warmest wishes to you all, especially those of you in the Northern Hemisphere, and cool good wishes to those in the Southern Hemisphere! Merry Christmas to you all!                                                                    Thank you all for your wonderful support, visits and comments, I do appreciate you all.

 

The joy of diversity:

Pineapple the symbol of hospitality from the internet

Seasonal Scents:                                                                                                                       S’mores, salty ocean breezes, veggie burgers on the grill, sweaty people on the bus—what’s the smell you associate most with summer? Ben Huberman

Arriving in Cairns in January, mid summer, the perfume of flowers wafted in the air. I felt I was in heaven. The balmy temperature attracted a myriad of birds, so many different species to discover.

Luscious fruits included fresh juicy mangoes, pawpaw and lychees. The smell of fresh pineapple was a delight to serve up to hungry children. Their favourite thing was to cut a pineapple in half, cut it into bite size pieces and put jelly crystals over the top! With toothpicks they’d devour this tropical delight. Washing off the residue in the local creek, we’d keep an eye open for snakes or crocodiles.

As it is winter here in Victoria, a southern State of Australia, we’re enjoying the opposite. I do love the four seasons, which are missed out on in the North of Australia. The wind whipping snow from the mountains makes it feel like winter. Smelling the different woods that are burning as we pass small dwellings. This will soon be a thing of the past. There is talk of when it will no longer be permitted.

How grateful am I that I’ve been able to enjoy having wood burning fires. It is one of my favourite things.

 

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