Around Here

 Hello everyone,

I spent a lovely Easter with my parents... Hubby was working so I packed some clothes and away I went. It is so nice to spend one on one time with these special people. They are getting older and so far have had fairly good health. They live a simple life with simple needs, are very independent and I love them dearly.  There are only two of us children in the family. My elder brother and myself. My brother lives in Queensland and doesn't get to visit us very often, and I know my parents miss him. They live an hour and a half away, west of here.

My dad is a hoarder as you can see by the "junk" in this picture.  He had these roosters given to him and wanted to know whether we wanted any to breed from. They were very pretty but as we have our own at the moment, we didn't take any. 

 I brought this box of apples, bananas and tomatoes home with me.

Mum and Dad are friends with the local IGA grocery store owner and any excess food is given to them to do with what they choose.  Sometimes it is too much for just the two of them so I get the benefit too and their chooks get the rest.

 There were strawberries too. 

I have frozen the bananas and strawberries for using in smoothies.

 And some quinces.  I will slow cook these to make a Quince Compote which is totally delicous!

 Let me introduce you to our newest member of the family.  I have been looking after this little girl this week as her mother rejected her.  She is only a few days old and just adorable. My daughter is her new mum, and I get to babysit when mum is busy. I will have her here again tomorrow.  

 She is yet to be named...

 She has a bit of a problem with her front legs, but has been checked over by the vet and he thinks that they should come right eventually. Don't you just love her little jumper?

 Hubby and I went for a drive today.  It is gorgeous weather at the moment, so we decided to head for the hills, visit with friends and go to the Laura Folk Fair for a look.  On the way home we came through Port Germein Gorge road.  Last year they had a devastating fire go through the area (the Bangor Fire). It burned for a month before heavy rain finally put it out. This is what we saw today.  It must have been horrific and hard to imagine a fire inferno raging through these hills.

This is what remains of the Yacka plants on the side of this hill...

 It looks so barren now, when usually it is so green.

 There are patches of green starting to show through.

 We noticed lots of new trees have been planted through the area, but they will take years to grow.

 Out of the hills and the ocean over yonder look so calm and blue.

Autumn,

my all time favourite time of year J