:: mid-winter in mullum ::

it is this kind of a day outside here in Mullumbimby today...all wispy clouds wandering over the expanse of the vast blue canvas we call the sky, stretching and morphing endlessly and almost impossibly. Today's variety had me walking home from a meeting with one eye mostly turned upwards...not wanting to miss anything...all so interesting!

This beautiful moon was on display in the morning sunshine back in June...this was the Winter weather we were sold on.  For awhile there it was looking like we were going to have to ask for a weather-refund.  Fortunately, we are now experiencing some gloriously-sunny days and the mud, the puddles and the mold are memories, quickly receding into the recesses of my mind...

:: and the clock struck twelve ::

...we have an elderflower tree outside our bedroom window and after the flowers come lovely deep burgundy...elderberries cluster droopingly on the end of arching boughs.  Berries most attractive to this little guy...AT MIDNIGHT!
he THUNDERS over the roofing panels of our back deck like a heavy-footed, stumbling drunk, then on over the rest of the roof, until he settles on this tree next to our bedroom window...!

Finally we snapped him - proof!  For those that do not know, he is a 'possum' - and here in Australia they are a protected creature.  Hailing from NZ we are more familiar with an over-abundance of these 'introduced' animals and them being treated as a pest. Our disdain for them is met with confusion as most people here think they are cute and special...hmmm, not at midnight!

:: more Kookas ::

not one...

...not two...

...but THREE of these beauties on our gum next to our verandah!

:: A Kooka at my Table... ::

this very pretty fella swooped in late one afternoon last week and landed, amazingly, right in front of us on the balcony railing....and just sat there.  For ages. We felt excited, amazed and privileged to have this beautiful creature be with us in such close proximity. For anyone who doesn't know what he is, he is a bird native to Australia - a Kookaburra.
We know he is probably a frequent visitor to this house, our new home...we guess he has probably been fed.
Quite opportunely, it was our afternoon tea break!  We chose to let him sit and not be fed...and incredibly...he just sat and watched and waited and watched some more. And, of course we sat and watched and waited...the longest afternoon tea ever, I reckon.  Simply beautiful.

Crimson Queen and The Summer Solstice

This burnt reddy-orange radius of JOY sums up the season here and we have them bursting open and lording it over the perimeter of our Permaculture Mandala Gardens, attracting beneficial insects all the while... The variety is "CRIMSON QUEEN" - from Kings Seeds and has multiple flowers blooming over weeks - love it!
Everytime I look at one I'm reminded of the simple complexity and utter beauty of nature. From the speed at which they grow up their extremely tough stalk to a height of 2ms+ to the amazing double-helix pattern revealed when finally the seeds emerge at the flower's centre after the pollen has gone and petals have all fallen.

Beyond the Giant Picket Fence...

...here I'm sharing with you something special for me about our vegetable gardens and indeed the view from the kitchen sink, even... often I just stop and look across at the surrounding hills and my eye ALWAYS rests on the little dips that create the gentle focal point in the centre of this skyline. Yes - there are layers of hills creating this scene and I never tire of it's softness and all the different colours, tones, shadows, seasonal effects and moods...another aaaah!

Butterfly Creek

We puzzled to ourselves as we perused the menu of admission entry options about the combination of butterflies, crocodiles and farm animals as we arrived at...Butterfly Creek. Well, I'd have to say that in some weird kind of way - it works...Both Phoebe and her best friend Lulu had a lovely time delighting in butterflies that arrived silently...and rested unobserved mostly... in a special humidity and temperature-controlled 'Butterfly House' where special plants are grown for all aspects of the butterfly life cycle - it was so warm!...cuddling the very relaxed and fluffy bunnies and not so fluffy guinea pigs (make that wirey!)....... spying the prehistoric-looking crocs lurking in their pools, their only perceptible movements, nostrils flaring (this pic is for YOU, Jesh!)...but I'd have to say that the event that got their attention the most was... ...the beautiful white Saanen goat clattering up onto a bench to be milked in front of us all, then nuzzling into 'Michael', her "milkman" to say thank you afterwards...aaaah!

Misty day in Morere

I will own this - I would have loved it if
Phoebe was as bewitched by these incredible drops and droplets hanging on everything we looked at as if all the fairies had left their jewels out all over the place in some grand fairy jewellry display - but it was just me!








She was much more excited to get on
and feed the neighbour's pigs and cats for him!

Mavis, Hope and Kevin...

Pretty Pretty Eggs at Easter Time...belated

This Easter Phoebe was given these truly beautiful eggs by her grandparents...no, not the ones in the nest! ...although, I reckon you'd be forgiven for wondering, as apart from the stand-out colours these chocolate eggs are pretty close to bird's eggs, don't you think? [And they are organic!]

The also (I think) magnificently-comfy-looking nest and it's tiny eggs belonged to a family(to-be-that-never-was! :-( ) of barn-swallows and was accidentally knocked down during a Spring Clean Up we were having. Since then it has resided on the Season Table we keep in our entrance way. A place Phoebe displays all the little treasures she finds on her outdoor 'doings' and reminds us of the current Season - although, as I mentioned - this was from Spring and somehow it is just so lovely, we haven't been able to part with it yet...

Inside Play on Rainy Days

Lately, we've had some quite inclement weather, lots of 'fuzzy' rain and chilly days and that has led to more inside time.

And here are a couple of the things Phoebe has been doing. We have some beautiful 'STOCKMAR' watercolour paints and nice paper for Phoebe to create paintings with. These paints come in an intense concentrate in tiny bottles and are diluted with water in small jars. Here she has brought inside a beautiful Monarch butterfly, which she found dead on the ground in the garden and is noticing the different patterns and colours the butterfly has and is trying out a butterfly with dark "Monarch" edges.

Another of Phoebe's inside pastimes is to create necklaces. She really appreciates the lovely beads she is given and spends hours (lots of focus!) deciding their order and then threads them up. All her (toy) friends have at least 1 beautiful beaded creation made by Phoebe.