Softly, Slowly, Gently

It's good to remind ourselves of the beautiful things around us, no matter how small and insignificant.  My cliveas are bursting into bloom, huge, happy orange flowers that last for weeks.  So vibrant and lovely.

 We are still abounding in citrus, this was my haul of lemons, limes and oranges the other day.  Leaving the oranges until they fall off the tree seems to be the trick here, they are so lovely and sweet now.

 I love this sight.  Steve is the bread maker of the household and when he makes rolls he lets them rise by the fire.  Which reminds me, looking at that photo, that glass needs a clean! :-)

 Walks along the beach, rugged up against the cold.  Cosy Corner is a beautiful place, and I love the sight of the line of wind turbines off in the distance.

 A wee rest on the steps before we walked back to the car.

 There are more and more bulging pouches, and the start of the tiny joey faces popping out.  This mum is Jane, so named because she has no markings and is plain as plain, but I am interested to see her joey has a nice big white mark on its forehead...makes it much easier to identify them later!

 This mum is Nibble, so named because her right ear has all these little bits missing on the edge, like it's been nibbled.  Her joey is a little overdue for becoming independent, look at this size of that pouch!

 And here is said joey, who popped out of the pouch a few minutes later, had a big scratch and then proceeded to wallop mother.  Feisty little one!  It's amazing something that size can fit into the pouch.

 This is Rabbit with her very first big pouch, Steve caught a glimpse of a tiny nose poking out yesterday, my ambition over the next week is to get a photo.  I am feeling very grandmotherly towards this joey.  Rabbit is Lucy's last joey and we have known Rabbit since she was a baby, so feel very close to her baby and looking forward to meeting it.

 And here's the dear old girl Lucy, up at the house for breakfast.  She is accompanied by Brows who is scouting around for any oats that Lucy might have missed.  Brows is the chick of Peg, a one footed female magpie that we've known for the whole 6 years we've been here.  Sadly Peg broke her other leg a couple of months ago and we were unable to catch her and she disappeared, presumably she has died.  Brows was still learning the ways of a magpie from her mum Peg and has sort of adopted us.  Her name is Brows at present because she has little white eyebrows in her juvenile feather colouring.  She is rather daring the way she wanders around under Lucy, who could squash her any time.

 Oh yes, I can finally show you my secret crochet project, now it has been delivered to its new owner.  I made dad a lap blanket for Fathers Day, it's called an Ellipse Blanket.  Just the right size for keeping legs warm when watching the tellie. 

 I went so far as to add Dad's initials on a little crocheted disc in the corner, the design taken from his wedding ring.  I'm so glad you like your blanket Dad, I enjoyed making it for you.  xx

Until next time... xx