Category: Chronicles

Down below the paddock there is a creek which bends around a sharp corner in a fenced off no-mans-land. The first time I ever stayed at Henrys parents place, before Henry and I were ‘together’, we walked down here together very early one morning before anyone else was awake – incredible now that I know Henry, and I know he is not a morning person – So it’s a bit magical for me even though it is just a stagnant creek. It is a lovely little place. A bird haven. I have seen the White-Faced Heron, the Australian White Ibis, among the usual Australian birds.  This little square paradise of secluded Australian bushland is full of birdsong.

The little cat here, Socks, follows us all the way down, if Sophia lets her walk. She mews around while the kids climb and balance and jump off of the large, fallen tree.

We’ve spent a little while adjusting.  The kids settling into their new beds (a few unsettled nights), me adjusting to the large amounts of meat! Working boys need meat, apparently! There was a bit of a whinge after I almost served up my vegetarian curry feast two days in a row. Haha. Grandma came to the rescue with sausages!

It’s a great big place to be rattling around in, there’s enough room that no one ever has to step on anyone else’s toes. The kids have room to spread out their messes in the loungeroom, which is only ever used to watch TV on the massive screen.  They have also been absorbing the busyness of the place. Grandma is a busy beaver.  She has a quiet energy and it’s been great for Sophia to see that everyone is doing some work, and so she is getting in on the act.  One night this week she let herself out on to the verandah after dinner.  ‘It’s dark out there, Sophia, what do you need to go outside for?’ Asked Grandma. ‘I need to clean up my mess!’ She stated with great decision.

I gave it the raised eyebrow of approval and slight incredulity. This is a great leap forward. A social conscience is developing.

There is a lot for little kids to help with around here and between us we manage to keep them pretty occupied, or they keep themselves occupied and we are avoiding the TV as much as we can while I pick up some work on the bus, and help out around the house as I can.

Grandma is incredibly hospitable, and I am so grateful for her generosity and easy hospitality. I hope I can be just like it in my later years (if not now, of course.)

So dear friends came down for a couple of nights and again I am grateful as their presence, and Kyle’s hard work, gave us impetus to get into the bus.  Now the ball is rolling and we have a solar hot water system coming, a fridge purchased, a solar system waiting to be bought and a deck almost made. I have paint waiting to be applied to the roof and we’ve bogged the floor ready for it to be painted also.  The bed is about halfway made and I feel like all guns are firing and this bus will be built in no time!! It’s good to be positive, friends. :)

Here are some pics, because I know you like them.

I’ll take some really interesting bus photos for you today so you can see our progress. ;)

xo

 

A pre bedtime play with a new/old toy.

 

Here is part of the ‘orchard’.  They have plum, quince, mulberry, apple, loquot, apricot, peach, nectarine and of course, cherry trees. I guess it would be criminal to live in Young and not have a cherry tree!

This part of the orchard is shining next to the rest of it. For the past year they’ve had chooks and ducks in this section and you can really tell that the trees are loving this symbiotic relationship. The trees attract the bugs and the birds eat the bugs. The poor bugs just suffer. The soil must also be thriving with all that poo and the trees are just so much better off for it. The difference is obvious.

Here we go, past the orchard down that long fence line right to the bottom of the paddock.

And Socks and Sophia. That cat is a miracle and Soph is learning to be gentle…

The big house past the orchard.

 

The chook shed looking across the width of their block of land.

Here’s our baby. The bus. Our friend said, ‘I don’t know if you could get better than that (colour wise).’ and she could be right. Apricot forever may she remain.

It was a rather wet morning this morning and I totally underestimated how sopping our feet would get.

‘Carry me, mummy! It’s too wet!’

Here we are, looking up toward the house from the very bottom.

And wet shoes and wet pants were kicked off to end that mornings little endeavour.

Another, sunnier, day we made it down to the creek.

Gunny with his little friend. She said to me when she arrived: ‘Where’s Gunny?’ and then ‘Gunny is “Gunsar”‘, yes, dear, you can call him ‘Gunsar’.

We made willow swings. I have a favourite memory of doing this in the willows near my home as a child. We tied two thick bunches of willow together to make a crude, bouncing swing. It was magical being up in the tree, surrounded only by leaves.

And of course, willow crowns.

Some kind of willow fairy.

Me being a bemused model. I don’t think I could ever be a model I don’t take myself or my looks seriously enough! Besides the not being a size 6 of course…

The end.

The sweetheart. Gunny had stalled – as he often does – and was sort of chirping about it. ‘Mummy, it’s too far.’ I probably called ‘come on, you can do it!’ (He does get a bit lazy sometimes, comes of being the youngest and me not having my arms full with the next baby).

I was thinking about the sun and the trees and seeing if I could get a nice picture of him in the field, meanwhile Sophia traipsed down and took him by the hand, helping him up the paddock. What a lovely sister she is.