Swinging in the new year

After spending the first few days of our post Christmas coma on the beach, in and out of the fridge eating left overs, on and off the lounge reading new books and watching new DVDs, constructing, deconstructing and reconstructing Lego, and playing with the favourite toy - the dreaded water pistol, we decided we needed to get active.........and within one day we made a trip to the local fauna world, put up a swing for the boys, erected the bird house that was made the first week we arrived and Myles put on a play for us all. Oh how good that swing is and how much I giggle every time I get on it.....quite possibly I love it more than kids.

The new year has started out beautifully, with a unexpected late night (3am) up talking with dad about the benefits of organic farming (and no I'm sure I wasn't on my soap box). I spent most of new years day lounging about and eating. Thankfully Dan was very active and constructed a new enclosure for the coming arrival of our new geese and a house for them to sleep in at night. He is so very, very clever and made them both out of recycled materials found on the property.

I'm feeling really excited about the New Year and all it is to bring......

Chrsitmas Cheer

This Christmas would rate for me as one of the best yet.

Christmas Eve with Mum and Dad and Dan's parents and grandparents. A most beautiful meal, a most beautiful Christmas morning breakfast.

Christmas Day with Dan's family begun under the Pecan tree with the opening of gifts, cricket and drinks....followed by dinner in the candlelight, home-made bon-bons made beautifully by Auntie Jack (aka the Kwong) and many more drinks, George Michael impersonation's and discussions late into the night with promised jogs around the farm in the morning, met by some and not others (including myself who made it 50 paces, until feeling faint - mind you I haven't jogged since the 80's) and ended with those that couldn't fit in the house retiring to their tents - aka tent city.

After the frenzy of Christmas unwrapping of new undies, new toys, new gadgets to be explored, built and rebuilt and goodies to be eaten over the next week...still be devoured by yours truly as we speak, I'm feeling the need for a daily nap - the joy of holidays spent on the beach in the early mornings, eating fish and chips for lunch and lounging around with cricket in the background, a new book on the lap, frequent visits to the fridge to nibble on leftovers (again) - fat bellies and brown, sandy skin continue.....

Magic.......

I love Christmas and it is no secret.

I love the decoration, the excitement, the carols, the dancing on bench tops to Jingle Bells that's been a bit of regular thing around here lately, the lights, the summer weather and the anticipation of the big day. Mostly I love the gathering of family and the sharing of beautiful fresh food, recipes from old that only come out Christmas...like mums shortbread and Cathy's (Dan's mum) casata.

I love the anticipation of the day, the night before, where Santa tip toes through the house, whilst we're all asleep, leaving behind his snowy footprints throughout the house and the reindeer's have eaten all the grass and carrots that were left for them. The magic of it all...the smiles and the joy and the sharing, laughing and togetherness that Christmas brings.

May the magic of Christmas touch us all.

This moment in time

Dan and the kids are in bed, the room lit by the soft hues of the Christmas lanterns hanging from our tree that was plucked freshly from the yard, crickets and frogs noisily chitter chatter amongst themselves, a lone owl hoots somewhere in the darkness within the branches of a tree -me and them the only ones awake.

The beauty of this place, it sounds, its rhythms, its colours have captured my heart and each day I'm here I grow more in love with it and feel more inspired, more grounded than ever.

The natural bushland that surrounds me is my ashram and it is there I feel at peace - my meditating spot amongst the trees, trees older than me, birds I have never seen before, so many unknowns, so many new places to explore and discover.

Lately I dream I'm flying. The last time I dreamt I was flying was a time in my life that brought a positive shift in my life. I realise when waking that I'm finally living a dream that I have had for so long and I thank the universe for letting me experience it.