Day 6 6th Jan 2010 Road trip

Resident handyperson and I have stopped cleaning and fixing the deck for a shortish road trip to get some culture fresh from Paris. Handyperson is not impressed being photographed under the dreaded golden arches, but that was our best option at lunchtime.
 

The trip has generally been lots of white line and broad open views, but the arvo tea spot was a cutie - a true retro cafe- The Niagara Cafe -complete with lots of ALP history and memorabilia and unfortunately stale bikkies. Ah the perils of a road trip! Hopefully our dose of culture tomorrow will make up for it

Day 5 Jan 5th More Packing

After packing up and moving daughter No 2 to her flat in the city and then changing around rooms at home here and lots of cleaning and dusting, it seems I am still packing. Today was spent packing up all the christmas decorations and putting them away for a year. I also packed up several bags for the opshop and then I packed up more precious stuff to take to the storage we have hired this year because of the concerns about the fire season. I seem to be living a dual life trying to deal calmly with a threat of fire that apparently is worse than ever and also getting on with all the other parts of my life that are changing. After 20 years of this never being a consideration we are doing this and I still wonder as I pack boxes.

Day 4 Jan 4th 2010 Inspiration

So as I am sure you will work out , I am very much involved in my garden and living where I do , I have lots of wonderful sources for inspiration when I struggle with how to solve a garden design problem. One of the most amazing sources for me is the Cloudehill garden which is in walking distance. This garden is extensive and has a nursery, but what I like most about it is how the designer uses colour and art as an integral part of the experience. These photos in no way really capture the experience but they are tastes of what is this amazing constantly changing canvas. Art exhibitions, music and theatre happen in the garden and I am looking forward to seeing a performance of Midsummer Night's Dream this Saturday in what should be an almost perfect covergence of text and location. Hopefully I will have some photos to share

Day 3 Jan 3rd 2010 A new view on things.

Seeing one of the themes for the 365 project is going to be change I thought I'd start a series of photos todsy . This is the view from my desk as I sit here at my computer. I have always wanted to have this room as my office because I love the outlook onto one of my favourite parts of the garden and now as Kate has left home I have done a whole lot of furniture moving and cleaning before christmas and here is my new outlook. I will be adding shots as the seasons change and  I will be including some other garden shots for those other horticulturally obsessed like myself. I have a large garden which I despair about sometimes but I also love the way it draws me out of the house and makes me get active. I am so much a part of the seasons up here and this is summer. As I write my resident handyperson who has finished two sections of deck beautifully, is working on ivy removal from a tree fern. Controlling the ivy is an eternal battle here as it strangles trees and carpets the beds making it impossible for our native animals like lyrebirds to forage. After the tedious removal comes the cleanup and  maintenance.

The other thing taking my time as we wind down from Christmas, New Year and several birthdays right after Christmas has been bottling. I was given a huge 20kg box of cherries by a vendor at a local stall and then had to do something with them. I spend a lot of time in summer doing bottling using a fowler's set and I love the beautiful jewel-like colours of the jars in a row. Anyone have a good recipe for a cherry pickle or pie?

Day 2 Jan 2nd 2010 Happy Birthday Jo

So today is my big girl's 22nd birthday and Judy O'Connell's photo made me think I should mark the day here. It has been a really strange Christmas and New Year with Jo away in France and then travelling with Josh till June. As it is her birthday  today this adds to the sense of her absence - so many milestones we aren't together to share. We spoke last night on skype and she is having a wonderful time and I am so excited to share her travels. This photo is my favourite one of her as a baby. She was a shy little girl and this is captured in her watchful expression. Her happiness and personal growth in the last five years has been fantastic andd this reminds me of how far she has come. Happy birthday darling- we miss you.

 Just added a new photo of Josh and Jo on New Years Eve in Paris

 

Day 1 Jan 1st 2010

As they say the first step is often the hardest- well this doesn't apply today - I have to make the effort and get the discipline required to do this task. Today's pics are of the lovely evening here last night sitting in the cool breezes and listening to the rain  and thunder after a blistering day. A lovely way to say goodbye to a long and sometimes difficult 2009 and make wishes and hopes for 2010.
The resident handy person has taken up the task of working on the edging of the decking and replacing the rotten barrier with wire and oregon edging. As always with my lovely handyperson, the job will not be done overnight but it will be fabulous. Patience is not my strong point!!

End of 2009 the year that was.... Dec 30th

As you can see it has been a while and in so many ways I wish I had kept going and made a time capsule of what has been a very eventful year. My reasons for stopping seem a bit vague now, but the Black Saturday fires and the related hysteria and fears cut me deeply and I felt my photos were such a silly trivial thing in the midst of so much suffering so I stopped.
The year has been long and at times incredibly painful and difficult, but also full of new friendships and possibilities and excitement. I have left Upwey after 29 years and am going to work at MLC in Hawthorn in 2010.
Kate is 19 and has moved to a cute little flat in Brunswick with Sarah. Josie is in Paris at the moment after finishing her degree at the University of London. She and Josh are in France and travelling for six months.Frank's work has grown and he is frantically busy but also happy and challenged.
    So here are some images from the last week or so - my farewell dinner at Ranges also for Julie, Denise and Tom, christmas day a quiet one this year, Kate leaving and her new home, Josie leaving in August and some shots from her travels, the cubby being demolished by a tree, my VITTA award night,  my last class at Upwey - 8b, a special holiday to near Port Douglas in Qld, EMUG, Bloggers feasts, my girls and some of the great team from Upwey.