these days

this week...

and last week... and the week before...

i can't keep up with how fast the year is going...

1. we celebrated a birthday and i made the flourless chocolate cake from matthew evan's real food cookbook, it was good!

2. i often find scenes like this throughout the house thanks to jess and her insatible desire to pick flowers.

3. the weather has warmed slightly and the sprinkler has been in use once again.

4. the first ranucula has bloomed... and been picked by my girl!

5. "here's a flower for you mummy" and a few more blooms come inside.

6 & 7. we took a walk to the highest sand dune in town and stopped to take in the view before running through the bush down to the beach.

8. how this dog is loved. how sad that she is getting older and grumpier by the day. jess really needs to be supervised when patting tilly now as she is not tolerating much from the smallest member of our family.

joining in with Em from The Beetle Shack.

x

these days

this week...

when the weather is fine we take the opportunity to get out and about...

we made a stop at stunning Murphy's Haystacks during the week. the grass is green as far as the eye can see from this beautiful hilltop location. the rock formations rising up in the middle of a paddock, weathered and covered in lichen.

and today we took a drive to the nearby beach of Locks Well. spectacular high cliffs, a wild blue ocean, golden sands and a million steps down... and back up.

sitting on the beach (not so close to the water edge) happily snapping many shots with my new camera, all of a sudden a wave washed up and before i could get up i was more than a little wet! oops! top half was okay and thank goodness so was the camera. oh my how we laughed! this often deserted beach was littered with fishermen today... how i hoped nobody noticed...

wet all the way back up those steps, i was so proud of my littlest who managed them all without complaint.

joining in with the beetle shack and everyone else with their weekly stills.

making the most of it

although autumn is officially here it still seems to be some way off in this part of australia. certain parts of autumn that signal the change of season like being able to buy new season apples and pears from a local grower, calm days that are growing ever shorter and the planning and preparation of autumn crops to go into the garden are well and truly with us.

... but it's hot!

we are in the midst of a heat wave. quite a nice heat wave though. i like the humidity (most of the time), the moisture in the air is very pleasing to my skin, the temperatures eased at times by cooling sea breezes coming off the ocean, the cloud cover welcome relief, the few drops of rain appreciated. much, much nicer than hot northerly winds blowing day after day, i can tell you.

we have been making the most of this late burst of summer... swimming every day, enjoying the water and the beach, making the most of it.

calm seas

as the little one decided not to take a nap again today, i had her bathed, fed and ready for bed

... a little too early, the sun was still up!

so we took an evening stroll down to the jetty as the sun was beginning to set. we used to do this a lot last summer. it is a lovely time of day. at times when it has been hot and windy during the day, as the sun lowers itself towards the west, the wind and the sea have a tendency to calm down.

like they did today.

a sense of calm has come over me today too. a calmness i realised i haven't felt for the last seven weeks.  it may have a little something to do with alistair's return tomorrow. 

we can't wait.

i put a tired little girl to bed expecting she would fall asleep quickly but she was much too excited to go to sleep. she can't wait to see her dad and has all sorts of plans for him, games to play, songs to sing, showing off new climbing skills at the playground, having shoulder rides and going for bikes rides.

 jess is excited!

i am calm!

sunday

i could mislead you here and tell you what a lovely sunday afternoon we had at the beach. looks nice doesn't it?

 but sometimes photos don't tell the whole story.

today, i was feeling very flat. i have been distracting myself of late...  distracting myself from the fact that jess and i are on our own, as alistair has once again headed off to work overseas after only a few short weeks at home... distracting myself from the inevitable feelings of being far away from a loved one.

we were fortunate to have my mother and father in law stay with us for a few days after alistair left. as we fare welled them this morning, to continue on with their travels to the west, i felt an emptiness creep in. i always feel this way whenever anyone that's been staying leaves.

the grey clouds of the morning reflected my mood back to me. 'come on sunshine' i kept thinking, 'come out and cheer me up'.

i felt impatient, short tempered and unsympathetic towards jessica. i was not being my best self.

a walk was what i needed. space to just be.

so off to the beach we went with our afternoon tea and the sun finally shone. it was lovely. i love doing this with my girl and she loves it too.

but it didn't really get me out of the self pitying mood i was in. i just wanted to take photos (and took many). i didn't feel like playing. jess got quite annoyed with this. she couldn't work out whether to have shoes on or off, socks on or off, whether we should build a sandcastle or run along the beach. she was frustrating me and i was frustrating her. tears had to be averted many times. the two year old was coming out in us both.

and that is what the photos don't tell you.

it is hard this life that we live with alistair working away for long periods of time. it is just the way we live. the days like today are the worst, when i can't jimmy myself out of a bad mood, when i am not being my best self.

acknowledging that fact helps.

winter beach

we went for a walk down the beach this morning.

the wind was cold as cold could be.

it was the first time in what seems like ages that the sun has shone. the colours of the sea, sand and sky were so vivid after all the grey dull days we have had.

the dog is forever waiting for someone to throw the stick for her! always so hopeful.