The Strawberry Farm

Small town living. It really is the little things that make for happy, fun moments. A quick trip to the local strawberry farm. For a punnet of fresh strawberries (which you can pick yourself), and some of their well known and often talked about ice cream.

I can't help but think to myself during this holiday, why the hell did I leave this place to begin with? You truly do take for granted, all that you have around you at times. This visit home for me, is certainly proving that.

Tasmania's produce, certainly is world class. I just love all the little places like this one that are slowly emerging, celebrating all that this state has to offer.

Yum!

The Feeling a Little Better Afternoon

Not the best start to our holiday at Mum's. A nice strong dose of highly contagious Norovirus arrived with us from the Pilbara. Courteous of my youngest daughter. The man who collects the trolleys at the local supermarket spread it round town by coming to work sick. That after a day spent previously in hospital suffering it's effects. So the rumour goes anyway (and you know how accurate those things can be in small towns).

I'm not judging him. Sometimes, you just have to go to work. For whatever reason. But the fallout for our small town has been seriously felt. Lots of sick people. Vomiting. Unable to keep fluids down. Not good in daily 40 degree plus temperatures. Especially for the little ones.

Both of my daughters and Mum, have been affected so far. My sister and I, are feeling fine for now. Somebody had to play nurse to the other three night and day.

Finally, the day has arrived. Our first vomit free day of the holiday. The bodies are still feeling a little achey, the stomachs a little tender, and the diet still consists of mostly dry food, but they are at least now up and moving. Keeping fluids and food down. Which is such a relief with young children. Especially my littlest who was both first, and worst hit by this nasty little virus.

So it was time, to get out of the house. To put the bleach bottle down. Give the washing machine a rest from the towels, and bed linen that it has laboriously cleaned over the last three days. And get some fresh air. Of the sea breeze kind. The kind that we don't get living where we do.

I'm hoping all that fresh air is going to blow away any last trace of sickness!

Home Sweet Home { Mum's House }

Well, a days worth of flying. It finds me on the opposite end of our very vast country. And in an entirely different world. Mild weather. Lush green. Flowers. Civilisation. Home.

Nothing quite compares to your family home. Regardless of where you move to. Nothing changes. You return to the same bed that you always slept in. This time with a sleeping toddler in a portacot beside you. And a second daughter in your sisters room next door. Not much different at all really.

My daughters, are experiencing a bout of sickness. Norovirus. There has been plenty of vomiting going on here. Mum has caught the bug, and is also unwell. I'm still waiting for it to catch me. I think it's only a matter of time. I've been quite in the thick of things.

In the meantime, while my daughters sleep off all of their exhaustion. A chance to take a quick walk through Mum's garden. A house, and a garden, that is truly worthy of it's own blog. Inside and out. Certainly more than my company home that is our current residence.

Not just our family home. But our family house. Built by my Great Great Grandparents when they first arrived to Tasmania from Australia. It is a home, special to us in many ways. One we are privileged to still be able to call our own. Even if it is, as all federation homes can be, bigger than you need them to be, with more garden than you necessarily have time to care for, in need of constant maintenance, and impossible to keep warm inside. 

But the charm, and history of this house still outweighs everything for now. I love coming home to here. It is a slice of our family history that we are lucky to have back in the family. That I was privileged to have grown up in. I love looking at trees, and bushes, and knowing that my ancestors first planted that. This place holds so many memories, not just for myself and my siblings. But also for my Grandfather, who spent his childhood here, visiting his Grandparents. Not many people, get the chance to revisit whenever they please, pieces of their past like that.

So a tour of Mum's garden. It is the kind of garden, full of all sorts of different nooks and crannies. Where visiting grand-daughters, and their imaginations, can quite easily turn it into a fairy garden in their own little minds.

Mum asked me to not take photos of the weeds, but in a garden like this, weeds are aplenty. Even if you're in the garden most weekends. So excuse the weeds please!!

The arbour where my husband and I were married. 

My Great Great Grandmother standing in front of the house circa 1925.

The house was built in 1908.

Where Do You Write? { My Best Stuff Happens in Bed, and After Midnight Apparently}

Where can I find you right now?

Poised at a desk?
Slouched on the couch?
At your dining table?
In one of those cute, pinterest worthy little nooks or office spaces?

Where do I write? I'm the couch person. Or the dining table person. Who am I kidding? I'm really, mostly just the couch person.

But where do I do my best writing? I do my best work in bed, and after midnight it seems. My three most popular posts that I've written since starting my blog ( The Best Friend, A Mummy Vacation, A Red Adventure ), all written on my iPhone, while I'm tucked in bed, unable to sleep, my husband snoring soundly, children are sleeping, and my mind is unravelling.

Go figure!

Where do you do your best writing?

Wanna Munna and Aboriginal Rock Carvings

We are lucky to be surrounded by so many beautiful sites around town. Wanna Munna, has to be one of my favourites. With so much rain lately, the small waterhole was just stunning. With fresh, clear water, and even a small waterfall. It was the perfect picnic spot to our day.

There are hundreds of rock carvings in and around this waterhole. It was a beautiful art site. A reminder of the ancient culture, that once prospered in this area. And the traditions that were once such a prominent part of Aboriginal lifestyle.

Despite living here. And being surrounded by a lot of Aboriginal folk in town. It can be easy at times to forget this beautiful part of their history. And the realities. That this is really their land. They know it better. Explored it's ways deeper. And resonate with it spiritually more than many other Australians ever will.

Now that the girls are starting to get a little older, coming to waterholes like this is getting simpler. We arrive with less stuff then we used to. We can leave home almost on a whim to close by waterholes like this. And while the water is still an obvious hazard (I do watch the girls like a hawk), I feel a little more relaxed about it all. My eldest, less likely to run off unannounced. Our youngest, in a clingy, likes to be nearby phase. Both stay close by, and aren't at an age where they are inclined to wander (a big touchwood after that statement).

Either way, spots like this we can all really enjoy now. Especially the cool water on hot days like we're having now.

The Rains are 'Ere

The hot weather has really arrived now. But so has the wet season. And with it, marvellous storms and downpours. Despite the stifling heat, I am actually (surprisingly), enjoying this time of the year. The contrast in the weather on stormy days is truly beautiful. Worthy of a cup of tea, and a sit down, to watch and enjoy.

Stormy weather comes on so quickly. It floods our yard, almost immediately. Rivers go from dry to flowing overnight. Only to disappear again just as quickly with the heat. The road trip down Fortescue River, that we did only recently, wouldn't be quite possible anymore. You certainly would not want to find yourself, camped on the river, if a storm came on suddenly.

Flowing water is a novelty up here. People head to the river, to see if it's full, flowing. And make random trips to find their own little spot to swim and relax by the water. Sometimes it doesn't always go so quite to plan!

Not quite the beachy blue sea we have been used to, but beautiful in it's own way!

The Garden Share Collective { January }

Joining up with Lizzie from The Strayed Table for our monthly Garden Share Collective.

Well, what a month my vegetable garden has had.

We returned to civilisation (Perth) for a brief holiday. And came home to a vegetable garden in disrepair. Windswept and totally dried out. In fact completely and utterly sun kissed. The plants had obviously missed my twice daily watering by hand. And red back spiders had created lots of little webs in and underneath a lot of our outdoor belongings. A complete and total manic working bee was required. To tidy the garden and rid the yard of red backs. Insects like these, that can potentially be very dangerous, always make me worry with our two daughters running around.

And then we welcomed in the New Year with a cyclone. The cyclone changed course before reaching our small town, but we still received a lot of rain and heavy winds. Which again played complete havoc with my garden. Whiplashing my already struggling sweetcorn and sunflowers. And my tomatoes too. And the heavy rains, washing away the new seeds I'd planted the week before.

Between the excessive heat, overbearing sun, and all that rain and wind, well my garden is looking a little worse for wear. In need of some TLC. The corn is looking a little unhealthy, the sunflowers died, and the tomatoes and cucumbers all had to be tended too, tidied and broken stems removed.

But there are some positives. We've had an abundance of tomatoes, some chillies and our purple runner beans are close to ready. Spring onion, pumpkin, zucchini and sunflower seeds have been replanted. And no more red back spiders have been sighted.

And I received a new gardening set from Mum for Christmas. Which I love. Thanks Mum!

All's well again with the vegetable garden. Aside from my corn. Any ideas what is wrong with it? Is it just sun bleached? Entirely possible with our weather at the moment.