Catch-up once again.

I just can't believe that its been so long since putting fingers to this keyboard. Winter has nearly been and gone, in fact we are into Spring at the end of this month. Actually we haven't really had a winter, just a few early morning frosts generally followed by temperatures in the mid to high 20's. Despite being warmer than usual, at least its been cold enough at night for me to cut wood and light the fire. Nothing like sitting next to the stove and watching the flames. It beats watching the rubbish we get on TV most nights. Thank goodness for a couple of good libraries in our area.

This weekend is the first one we have been soccer free. Last Saturday the team that Alex plays for won their match 4-2 which was quite an achievement as the opposing team were at the top of the league and hadn't been beaten this season.

 

Soon we will be hearing the sound of ball on bat with cricket commentators on the radio. I know that we as a country will never live down the ball tampering fiasco but we still have some very good players out there. Its strange to be hearing about a court case in the UK featuring the English cricket player Ben Stokes. The strange part is that when Di and myself watched him playing out here for the first time neither of us liked him. It was nothing you could put a finger on, other than his arrogance and general demeanor. 

I can't remember when we last had rain other than a few showers here and there. The whole country is in a drought situation with New South Wales being declared as 100% in drought. This is the driest since the beginning of this century. Isn't it deplorable that so many of our world leaders still wont recognize what is staring them in the face, that climate change is reality. Many years ago we all blamed bad weather on the atom bomb, now I blame it all on Donald Trump!!

This year has been one of the best for Citrus fruit, loads of oranges, limes, lemons and grapefruit.

A lovely display of Geraniums on the old tree stump.

Early morning sunrise through the trees at the end of the garden.

Ben playing guitar in the school concert following on from music camp. I've got his autograph for future use.

A pair of visiting King Parrots.

 

One of Alex's school wood work projects, with a little help from Grandad!

A few weekends ago I was talked into going ice skating. As some of you may know, this was one of my favourite sports may years ago. When we emigrated my skates came with me and when the kids were young we went skating quite regularly.The boys wanted to give it a try so Grandad was dragged along, not having been on the ice for at least 30 years. But as they say, its just like riding a bike, you never forget although I admit to being rather apprehensive of broken bones etc. Actually I had a great time and can't wait for the next summons from Alex and Ben.

This is the time of year when we get visits from the Magpies, and occasional Currawongs. The young Magpies are taught by their parents to sit on the back step and sing for their breakfast. It is a lovely sound to start the day but as they have got used to seeing us about they follow us around the garden. They escort me down to get the paper from the bottom of the drive and will even follow me into the shed, generally on the scrounge for food. They sit on the back step and knock on the window to get our attention.