Blue skies...

What a beautiful sunny weekend we have just had. On Saturday the two younger girls and I set off for the first day of ballet for 2010. Sunday has decided to give ballet a go too, here she is above, on the far left, looking so lovely in pale blue.

Rosie's class was next and she was so excited to have her friend Freya joining her.

Back at home we settled in to a bit of gardening... check out this zucchini! It's so massive and bizarre. Mark took it to school today to show his class. I don't know how this fella snuck under the radar, he has been growing in there, on the quiet for weeks!

It's been fun being out in the garden as the weather has been so pleasant. Our summer hasn't been as hot as last years, nor has there been the same threat of bushfire. Although there is always the potential for fire we haven't had the same relentless days of heat & wind. It was a sad weekend too in the remembering of the devastation of Black Saturday & the loss of life, of families, children, loved ones, animals, homes. I feel a real emptiness inside when I think of what people have gone through in the year since the fires. I hope that they are healing and finding hope in their lives. One of the good things that came out of the fire though was the sense of community. All over Australia, and the world, people's hearts went out to the victims of the fires. Generous and caring people helped to rebuild, sent money and clothing, toys and bedding and love. I'm sure this made a difference.

On Sunday the girls & I walked up to the Daylesford Sunday Market.

Passing this sheep...

...and this cute puppy. Her name is Schnoogie!

The market was bustling and fun and full of treasures. Pet Rock's were the popular item of the day!

Soon it was time to head back home where my decluttering is continuing.

As a dedicated hoarder & opshopper I am concious that my house is rather ....cluttered. This also comes from acquiring bits from my grandparents when they died, Mark's parents & my stepfather. Lots of books! Which I love but I'm thinking some may have to go.

So my project for 2010 (it could take that long) is to keep decluttering, sorting & being careful not to go too crazy in the opshops (this is hard). I really should have my own shop so that I can justify my treasure hunting tendencies! Anyway, I'm enjoying going through things and trying to make the house a bit neater but still warm and friendly. These shelves below are a major magnet for 'stuff'. This is the before photo, stay tuned for the after shot!

We finished a lovely weekend with a swim at the pool and icecreams at the icecream shop, which is sadly closing down.

Blue skies, a swimming pool, icecream, & friends.

Life is good! Hope you had a great weekend too, see you soon xo

Bush fires...

What a terrible, devastating weekend - the bushfires that have destroyed lives & homes have shocked us all. Thank god for the fire fighters who work tirelessly to help save people and properties. My heart goes out to all who are suffering, animals too. It was so sad to watch the news last night with the images of blackened towns and shattered faces imprinted in my mind as I went off to bed. I am so thankful for my family, our home, our lovely garden, our lucky lives.

It's hard to know how to go about things today - I am trying to be calm and understand that such alot of life is out of our control. Again I think of how lucky I am to have my beautiful family and friends, my lovely home in a fantastic community - it just makes me more determined to make the most of my life and to give to others where I can.

Speaking of giving - the Red Cross are organising donations for people affected by the bush fires

http://www.redcross.org.au/ so if you can please help.

How will the towns that have burnt rebuild, recover? Small communities have an amazing capacity to keep going & support each other. I was sad to see that Brian Naylor & his wife were killed, does anyone remember that catchy, and sometimes annoying, song "Brian told me so..!"? It was used to advertise the news in the 70's or 80"s(?) His friendly face would be familiar to many people who grew up with Brian reading the news.

Phew...what a weekend. I'm going to quietly go about my day now - more decluttering and sorting, spending time with my little Rosabella, feeding the chooks & all the little things that make up a day. And of course I am also sending out lots of good wishes and love to all those affected by the fires. x

Goodbye lovely tree...

Yesterday was a nasty, windy day... the wind was so powerful that many trees fell and bushfires were scattered all around our lovely region. It was quite scary driving through the red dust and flying leaves - I kept worrying that a tree would fall on the car. (Misty, from our creche, told me it's best, if possible, to try and drive in the centre of the road in these kind of conditions.)

Anyway, on our return from Ballarat (saw Bride Wars with the girls) a big, beautiful gum tree in our street had split in the wind. Sadly this morning the Emergency Blokes arrived and pulled the rest of it down. We sat and watched as they struggled to push over the last remaining part of the tree - it was quite emotional watching the tree hanging on to life. Sunday wondered who planted the tree and I wondered too... such a huge tree must have been planted long ago.

The girls found the whole thing fascinating, Rosie was quite amazed by it all. I am a real softie and I did find it difficult to watch the tree being destroyed. We will miss it's lovely shade and it's beautiful shape. The local birds will miss it too.

This week has been hot, hot, hot and we have taken to going to the lake for a swim. The local pool is great but oh so LOUD with kids yelling, cavorting and having fun. The lake is much more mellow and picturesque. My photo's don't do it justice really.

Lake Daylesford was created on land that was once market gardens - I would love to see photo's from that time. Now it is such a beautiful place to visit, walk around & swim in. We are lucky to have such a great expanse of water in our town. (It kind of makes up for not having a beach!)

Our garden is enjoying the hot weather and the vegies are growing happily. Not a great vegie patch this year, damn snails ate alot, but we will have lots of tomatoes! Also our apple and quince trees are booming, heavily laden with fruit.

While out the back we often hear the clang-scrape-clang of the goats from behind our yard banging on the fence for food. They are gorgeous...and hungry!

This week I have been sorting through the piles of things that seven people have accumulated over time as the kids have been moving rooms. It's partly fun and partly dementing. Each part of the house seems to have mounds of unsorted bits and when we are all home together the combination of kids & chaos is mind boggling. Sigh.

But I am getting through it and it's quite rewarding. Bill's new room is painted a lovely shade of green and it's almost ready for him to move in. His old room, which is a quaint little shed we kind of 'attached' to the house, will become...my new sewing room!!!!! Excitement. I haven't made anything for ages now, what with holidays etc, and am looking forward to getting into my new space and creating.

Hope you are all having a lovely week - thanks for popping by x.