Here's a quilt that I gave back to it's owner today...............

As per usual there is an element of rule work to create the boundaries and then just fill it all up with feathers.

Thankfully the owner liked it.

There are a few things that have changed around here

The before photo and ........

the after photo. All in preparation of the first day of school.

The middle Sweetie, now named the Hostel Boy. Doesn't he look gorgeous? I asked for him to put on his school uniform so that I could take this. He now sleeps four nights a week at a residential college attached to a Senior High School ~90kms from here. Still gorgeous and lovely, just a bit further away than normal.

When we were at Two Peoples Bay here is what came out of the underbrush to share our lunch. Superb creature who was very focused on what we were eating and he didn't get any. We ate it all.

Sitting on the foreshore at Albany's Princess Royal Harbour, this was our view one night. It was a magical sight, somewhat lessened in this photo.

This is where I work as a gardener - there is much work to be done. However, it will slowly take shape and become the lovely garden that it was.

The two birthday people in our house very kindly shared a birthday cake so I didn't have to make two. A banana cake fresh from the oven.

Over the weekend is was particularly exciting here, we not only had visitors, and a teenage birthday but a fire as well. All a bit hairy and eyeopening. It was a bout a kilometre to the south of us and the wind wasn't helping at all. There were two fire fighting 'planes as well as a wonderful helicopter.






The fire was started from the belt off a water pump becoming too hot and shredding rubber.

Thankfully we didn't make to the national news, no one was killed or injured; all the houses survived and a few sheds were burnt.

Thanks to the local firefighters and those from surrounding districts who came to help. It ended up being an all nighter, and thanks to them there was a good outcome.

After standing in at the end of the driveway and watching the flames and smoke from a distance, I decided that I will create an emergency box with all our pertinent documents ready to go. I will not stay to save our house. The fire if it had have continued on its journey it would've burnt our town, there was only a short tract of land before it could have started on an uphill journey and then down the other side and hit the town. I think there will be some serious thinking happening hereabouts about what people will do in the event of a fire.

At the beginning of the year we went to Albany for a much needed holiday and time away from here. I 'cured' my insomnia that has been plaguing me for ~ two years. I say two years, however when I look back I think that it is more like four years. We got up when the sun did and went to bed with it as well. Over two weeks of walking, riding, swimming, reading, talking, eating and snorkeling.

A tad staged.

ANZAC memorial on the walk from Middleton Beach to Albany harbour.


Seagull at Middleton Beach.

Does he look cold? Because he was.

The Hostel Boy at Middleton Beach after swimming lessons. Waiting for lunch and SO cold and SO hungry and just give it to me now because I'm desperate and I only have a pair of shorts to wear as everything else is wet.