April can be a funny season here. Most years the tropical summer extends into the very last days of the month, it's hot and humid fingers holding fast till the end.
This year has been pretty much the same, though the earlier sunsets and relatively cool nights we've enjoyed these past ten days or so have been welcome relief. It's been especially refreshing to sleep without air conditioning, finally opening wide the windows to usher in a soft evening breeze.
When the weather forecast warned of heavy rain to fall over a few days from Thursday, Blossom and I decided it would be a good idea to take the children up the mountain on Wednesday so that they could run wild and free before the rainy days curtailed their outdoor fun for a while.
A wild bush turkey enjoyed nibbling the crusts of their sandwiches, and Charlie was fascinated watching it.
Back and forth between running amok, the children would keep watch over their new feathered friend. And I think he kept watch of them too...
On Thursday, as the rain began to fall, I decided to clean out the two fridges, bake bread, and generally tidy up the pantry areas whilst also using up any older produce.
I had a large bowl of apples which needed to be cooked and a delicious apple gingerbread pudding was the perfect use for them.
If you've never made the recipe before I'm putting together a file of my favourite recipes to share with you next week.
I chop the apples into thin slices and stew them before pouring the gingerbread sponge over the top and baking. Served with custard, cream or ice-cream it's simply delicious.
Recently I read about dehydrating your fresh apple peelings because you can make tea from them. Isn't that a wonderful idea? So I set the dehydrator up and within three hours had a jar full of apple skins ready to brew tea.
I often plan breakfasts days ahead because if not, we end up having the same thing day after day...and that's not a bad thing because muesli, yoghurt and fresh fruit every morning is a wonderful brekky.
But I like to prepare something different at least twice a week, just for variety.
Yesterday I milled some wheat grain, and using up leftover chopped apricots and sultanas, I baked a honey fruit loaf to have as morning toast. We had it with fresh strawberries, banana and coffee this morning (Friday) and it was quite delicious!
The rain last night was very heavy and the pumps were working overtime to bring the water down in the front and back yards. Sophie loves fresh rain water and will even venture out into the sodden yard to drink it.
The olive tree was bent over the roses this morning, but the weight of the rain always does this. The leaves are long and slender, perfect for making olive leaf tea.
It's almost time to prune back the roses for winter, but at the moment they are full of new buds and blooms so I'll enjoy this final flush of beauty for a while yet.
Some of our raised beds were planted out with tomatoes, dill, jalapenos and rocket (arugula) last weekend, amidst companion plants of marigold, zinnias and chrysanthemums. This rain will definitely boost the smaller seedlings.
As I type this blog post the rain is falling again, and I can hear it getting heavier, so I shall brew myself a cup of herbal tea and head into the sewing room to make a list of projects I'd like to complete over the coming cooler months...and then I will put on a pot of soup and it can simmer away while I finish a book and listen to some instrumental music.
This week's inspirational video I've chosen to share with you is another beautifully crafted day in a life, productive, creative, delicious, thoughtful and peaceful. I do hope you enjoy it.
Even though I'm in mid-autumn, many of you are enjoying spring, however this is one of those videos for any season...
God bless your dear hearts, and may your own days overflow with sweet delights, productivity, and times of rest and refreshment.
hugs
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Blossom and I have a love, a yearning you may say, for relaxing winter mornings spent up on the mountain. We've driven up there for many years now, often with friends, many times just the two of us.
A few years back when another daughter, Aisha, came to visit from Sydney with her precious little Frankie (who was just a toddler at the time) it was the one place I wanted to take her and since then she is the first person Bloss and I tell when we're heading mountain-ward because she 'gets it'...she has experienced the peace and tranquility of that beautiful place herself.
Yesterday Blossom packed up her two girls with all the baby and toddler things required for a day out, and I packed a quilt. Coming from different directions we each drove a thirty minute trip excited to spend time together and have a few unwinding hours away from the busyness of home life.
The Heritage Tea Rooms are high on Hervey's Range (outside Townsville) and set within a homestead built more than 150 years ago. Ownership changed a couple of years back but the atmosphere is the same - relaxed, quiet, simple, beautiful.
Cully May ran here and there and everywhere while Blossom and I tag-teamed catching her.
The flourishing bird life was all around and that's exactly what caught our little one's attention.
Distracted by all the bush turkeys who wandered here and there, she was not at all interested in her colouring book and crayons.
The blue-faced honeyeaters were in abundance and waited impatiently for us to finish breakfast so they could enjoy the leftovers...
Totally unafraid three of them had sat right on the back of our seats until we gave them leeway to 'feast'. Of course Cully May thought this was wonderful!
More play, more coffee, more chasing of the toddler, plenty of baby cuddles, and lots of wonderful heart-felt conversation between Bloss and I made this a blessed morning...
Taking time to stop and reconnect with nature, to soak in the peace often found in the countryside, to honestly listen to the ones we love in an un-distracted environment, these are moments we usually have to plan for but what a rich reward is gained when we do.
The emotional and spiritual rest we drank in over those four hours up the mountain will refresh us for many days to come so we have decided to head mountain-ward every couple of weeks during the cooler months our tropical winter affords and make memories together with these two precious little girls.
Perhaps they too will come to love this mountain as they grow?
Fresh air certainly agreed with Rafaella...
Jokingly, Mr E suggested there may be a home for sale up on the mountain.
I laughed.
He found a few, well out of our price range.
But then he found one right in our budget.
So guess where we're going for an open house this weekend?
You never know.
May the peace of God lead you to a place of rest and refreshment too,
We've had three very dry wet seasons in a row and the forecast for future rain was slim, but then a tropical low came up the coast last week and brought with it a couple of days of very heavy storms.
This noticeably cooled our normal sultry summer/autumn air just a tad, which inspired Blossom and I to take a drive up the mountain for brunch at the Heritage Tea Rooms.
This is a favourite haunt of ours every winter (it has no air conditioning so it's rare we visit outside of the few cooler months) and is also where we often catch up for a stitching day with Heather, Barb and Wendy - but last week it was just me and my girl.
The Tea Rooms have new owners and though the peaceful mountaintop atmosphere of days gone by still surrounds the old homestead, there's a few things around that weren't there before.
Like dominoes on the table alongside the pepper and salt.
So what to do?
Play a few games of course...
We didn't even stop when our coffee and meals arrived at the table.
When Blossom was younger we often played dominoes with the family, but it had been so long since our last game that we had to jiggle our "little grey cells" to remember the rules.
We're still not sure we were correct, but it didn't matter because we had such a lovely relaxed time.
Isn't my beautiful girl glowing?
She's just days away from reaching the mid-way point of her pregnancy and on Friday she and her beloved will discover whether they need to decorate the nursery in pink or blue.
On the drive back down the mountain we chatted about favourite games we used to play; Cluedo was number 1, then Chess, Monopoly, Scrabble, and Yahtzee.
I love being up the mountain, even just for an hour or two. It's quiet, there's no phone reception, and everywhere you look are trees and wildlife, plus now we have the promise of a relaxed game or two of dominoes as a bonus.
I hope the cooler days come again soon so we can return.
In fact, as I type this I can hear thunder and the sky has darkened...
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