NEARLY CHRISTMAS

A WEEK OF HOUSESITTING coming up.   a friend in geelong has asked me to mind her house, garden and chooks over christmas.  How perfect - i'll drive down on tuesday, the first time in 7 months.  The car is filling up with things to take down, mostly presents for Etta, i got a bit carried away!

DID A BIT OF BAKING the other day, shortbreads to try out my new embossing rolling pins.  A bot disappointing, they rose a bit so the patterns pretty much disappeared. i'll have to try again with a different recipe

this young black faced cuckoo shrike made maximum used of the sprinklers yesterday, hanging from the branch and spreading its wings every time the spray came around :0)

D

AFTER THE VISITORS

I'VE JUST REALISED it's over two weeks since i looked at the blog.   i bombed out after three lots of visitors in three weeks.  It was lovely to have everyone up here and i just needed to lay low for a while afterwards.  It makes me realise that the three surgeries i've had since May took their toll.   I'm so glad i don't have any real commitments.  I can just take my time around the house and catch up with myself.

a nice pic of uncle rene with little ao

     nice to see sunny luke and etta out on a trip into melbourne and the         ngv.   I hope lockdowns don't recur with the new variant about

FUN TO DECORATE THE TREE A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO

   

a couple of nice pics

of etta that sunny sent

after they got home

the white faced

heron has been

visiting a lot.

i think they're

breeding over

the river

AT LAST!    René's gansey is finished and i'm very happy 

with it. now to send it off in the post, how nerve wracking

I HAD CHRISTMAS DRINKS here on the riverbank last week, perfect weather and a relaxed time. The white-faced heron dropped in to sam and di's delight, it 

has some significance 

for them

SAM modelled rene's jumper for us, looks like it'll fit :0)

a funny project, i started 

knitting a top down hat and

used photos of etta's hat as

a guide.  As i worked down, 

the whole thing became very 

strange. 

So i pulled a thread, split

it in two and made the

crown half into a beret,

the bottom half into a more

normal shaped sunhat

TIME WITH SUNNY AND ETTA

THREE DAYS with beloved daughter and granddaughter.  What a novelty to see a tiny little person running around in my garden, well walking really.    She walked and walked, circumnavigating the house three times, exploring every room.  we had a relaxed time, a trip to perry sandhills, lots of time outside and just watching etta, time at the pool which Etta took to easily, driving and listening to her in the back singing 'twinkle twinkle' in perfect pitch. 

goodbye 😓 till christmas

this young female kangaroo was lying in the saltbush for

days, sometimes guarded by a large male.  i think she's in the

early stages of motherhood, after about four days she's gone

this morning, another beautiful sunrise

this young kooka has been around for a few days, a funny clueless little fella.   he flopped into the birdbath, no sitting on the rim, just F-lop into the water, wings hanging over the edge, finally managed a bath.  He's been around for a few days.  at first i thought he was injured, he sat and sat in one spot after a spat with another kooka.  but now i think he's just very young and seems to be alone