quinces

As I mentioned yesterday in my 52 portrait post, a basket of quinces has made me aware of the change in the seasons.

The days are shorter. The evenings and mornings cooler. The light is golden. I have mentioned before our love of this season. In our family it is a time of birthdays, including Rob's. Our wedding anniversary is coming up; three years have flown by. It is also now the time of year we will remember bringing home two tiny wee babies to care for. Thursday marks the twins first year at the hut.

Half of the quinces are in the process of becoming quince jelly. The girls seem fascinated with the remaining fruit in the basket, their downy skin, their heady smell, their strange taste - yes they nibbled them raw. I love to watch their fascination with new foods.

I have a quiet day at the hut with the girls and then tomorrow I return to work after a break. Not sure I'm looking forward to it!

Last days of summer

To be honest as summer ebbs away I am already thinking about autumn. The weather is cooler. The days are noticeably shorter. 

Sunday was a last blast of summer heat. We lazed about the hut, changing the sheets, getting some washing on the line. 

The doors and windows were flung open, despite the very unwelcome European wasps that have turned up for the year. Just in time to attack our plums and apples. Boo. Rob has set up traps, plastic tonic bottles hang in our orchard (there you are a reason to drink gin and tonics) with holes half way down and black currant cordial in the bottom. They are irresistible to the nasty creatures, and soon become a pulsing sea of wasp bodies. I am allergic to them and so keep well clear.

We took the pram and some buckets down to the gully on the side of our block to pick the first of the blackberries. 

The girls fell asleep. 

Rob has set up his new golf pins for dog golf. The paddock grass has been cropped short and is dry. Waiting for the autumn rain to become green. 

I suddenly felt guilty that the girls have nearly lived through two summers and not put their toes in the sand or the sea. We've walked on the beach but have kept the girls in the back packs. So we headed down in the late afternoon to Coningham beach. I have to say it didn't go down all that well! They cried when we dangled their toes in the water, and sat on the towel looking worried, before relaxing a little. Then they grabbed handfuls of sand to eat. 

An early dinner of cold roast pork, ratatouille, pan fried potatoes and zucchini, followed by blackberries and ice cream and it was time for a bath and bed.

Spring

Perfect blue sky.

An afternoon sea breeze.

Sunlight streaming into the hut.

Babies in singlet suits.

Bifold doors wide open.

Lawn mowing.

Flower garden bursts into bloom.

The return of the swallows.

Bird song in the morning.

Frog calls at night through open windows.

Gin and tonic.

Home made ice cream.

Lazy afternoon snuggling in the bedroom.

A later twilight.

This weekend almost felt like summer instead of spring. 

Rob ordered some sand to top dress his lawn. The dogs followed him as he wheeled the barrow to the pile left by the truck, and then back to the lawn. When they got too hot they retired to the laundry hut verandah. But all three were blissfully happy.

The girls and I snuggled on our bed with the French doors open.

Sunday, of course, was Father's Day, so after a late breakfast and some baby cuddles, Rob picked up his eldest daughter. We enjoyed a curry for lunch then Piña Colada ice cream (dairy free), then after a cooling head wash for each baby girl we all retired to the bedroom to watch them wriggle and coo. 

The weekend was over far too quickly. 

Babymoon

Autumn is our favourite time of year in Tasmania. Clear blue skies, the weather can still be warm and sunny, but the evenings are chilly enough for warm blankets, ugg boots and snuggling up in the hut. The light has a golden quality to it. We have planted a number of deciduous trees so we wait to see their leaves change. Our menu changes to our favourite comfort foods, curries, braises and roasts. Rob's favourite fruits are ripening: coxes orange pippin apples, quinces and Comice pears. It seems perfect that although the girls were born at the beginning of the hottest summer in over 100 years, we have brought them home as the seasons change over for our babymoon at the hut.
I remember reading about Jodi's, of Che & Fidel (sorry no link can't figure that out on the phone blogger app), babymoon after the birth of her daughter Poet. At the time I thought what a lovely idea, and parked the idea in the back of my mind. So here we are day 5 and despite living on maybe 6 very broken hours of sleep a night, Rob and I are smitten. So are Nigella & Claudia. I knew we were ready last Monday and am so glad I pushed for us to get roomed out and home. We are getting to know our girls little quirks, snuggling, napping, dealing with wet nappies and clothes, feeding them 3 different dietary supplements, and the associated spills. The girls, we think, are beautiful, we delight in their little smiles, their wide-eyed interest in their new home and fur-sisters.
I admit I still cry silent tears sometimes, thinking about how far away their homecoming seemed when the girls were born. How scared we both were that we may not bring both or any babies home. I am present and drinking it in, despite the brain fog that hangs over me. Rob is a dear, keeping me well fed, and letting me nap first in those few moments when the girls are both asleep. I woke up the other night at 11pm after crashing on the bed, and he was sitting next to the cot in our room, holding a dummy in each mouth while playing calming music on the iPad, apparently both Maggie & Elisabeth had been crying whilst a few metres away I slept soundly. I love watching him snuggle them, his broad hands hold them just right.
I best go, a wee babe needs feeding, and if I'm lucky I may get time for a shower afterwards!

Bits and bobs {autumn colour}

I'm joining in a new post theme with the lovely Sarah from Molly's Maison.

She posted a perfect collection of neon pink objects.

I'm adding a collection of leaves from the deciduous pears that line our driveway (they're only just changing colour now!)

The colours were amazing, from green, burgundy, bright red, orange, and yellow.

At the moment the trees are only about 2m high, but they are going to look pretty impressive when they reach their full height (11m).

Spring hut

The trees in the orchard are flowering, the grass has started to grow, we've got a family of ducklings in the dam, the swallows are trying to come inside the hut to make a nest, it must be spring!
A couple of shots of the hut as we walk around the block.

Into the light

One of my favourite songs by Sara Bareilles, but it seems appropriate for this first day of daylight savings. We've had another quiet weekend, apart from heading to the gym, Salamanca market and the hardware store yesterday morning we've spent the whole time here.
Neither of us really follow the football, but once a year we use it as an excuse to eat frankfurters in squishy white rolls. Not having a tv kind of put a dampener on the actual game, but we listened to it on the radio. Only problem for me is I have no idea who the players are so it's a bit pointless. While he listened Rob worked on the final touches of the bank in front of the hut. Over the last month he has painstakingly dug over each clod, breaking up the clay with a hoe, adding gypsum, and yesterday he raked the whole thing, getting the slope just right.
I'm afraid I was nowhere near as energetic, I sat on the window-seat and stitched. I bought a baby sampler for Maisy, but it's been stashed away for ahem, months. I've got to get my act together pronto if I'm to have it finished by Christmas!
Today we sat outside in the sun for a breakfast of toast and coffee. A quick perimeter to keep the dogs happy. Rob spread some grass seed out, so hopefully we have a grassy bank soon. Then Rob and I did a hut clean up, which left the rest of the day for marking papers in the sun (Rob) and more stitching in the sun (me). Another late afternoon perimeter. It's still light enough for BBQ steak and potatoes. Hurry up summer!

Spring grass

Our block is a sea of green grass that ripples in the wind.

With all the recent rain it is ludicrously green and lush.

The puppies love to run and jump through it like a porpoise.

Hopefully we get a break from the rain in the new year to cut the hay.

Despite my hay fever, I love to see the block like this.

I can't wait to live here.

Change and seasons

It was so wet last weekend we didn't take any photos at the block. But I just looked at this photo from the same time last year. The block was green and the dam was super full. It hasn't filled up this year yet.

Trawling through my photos led me to this. Taken in January 2008. I love the day after the hay is done. So different to the verdant pasture of winter and spring. A few things have changed. For a start I'm no longer blonde. The tree in the white plastic cover is a lot taller than me now. The orchard has doubled, our vegetable and flower gardens are taking shape, and there is a level house site with a picnic table.

Just one thing missing now.