My Bright Field

Before tackling the garden weeds and pruning we decided to take a short break.  I think a little trip away in winter is perfect for beating winter blues and we don't have to venture far to be a few degrees warmer than at home.  Royal Hotel Warren We've set up camp in Gilgandra and, ever on the lookout for a new Royal Hotel to add to my Royal Collection , yesterday we took a drive in the rain to visit Warren. It was so lovely to be back out in big sky country and even better to see the crops nice and green and canola getting ready to flower.  Such a contrast to how things looked in the central west this time last year (see below).

This week the council weed inspectors came to Burnbrae garden.  I was actually starting the clean up when they called but I still had a very long way to go.  I ended up with so many pink ribbons marking weeds that you would reckon I was setting up a Breast Cancer Awareness garden party. They only tag the worst weeds like privet, holly, cotoneaster and blackberry, not the normal weeds like agapanthus, ivy, honeysuckle and wandering jew.  There are plenty of those in the garden too. One of the ones to go is the prostrate cotoneaster.  I loved its autumn colour but off it must go. However, the worst of all news is this full sized tree that shades the woodland path is a Portuguese Laurel, deemed a weed, and it will be  $1000+ plus job to get it removed.  The sad thing is it was a big as this when we moved here 30 years ago so must be 60-100 years old.  It has also passed several council weed inspections in the past.  The other thing is that unlike pri...

This week as I looked out my kitchen window at the bare branches of the walnut silhouetted against the lovely evening colour I thought about the various names for this enchanting time of day and when I learnt them. That's my kitchen cabinet reflected in the glass Sunset I don't remember when I first learnt this word but I transcribed the poem The Australian Sunrise by James Lister Cuthbertson into my school poetry anthology when I was 7 or 8 years old.  I still have that anthology. Eventide My first memory of this one was when the lovely white haired organist at church had a stroke and had to go into care.  She went to the Eventide Home at Sandgate in Brisbane.  I thought it was a nice name. Twilight As a child in Queensland I had no idea about twilight. Night just falls there, day one minute and night the next. When we went down south to Melbourne to visit my Mum's family we couldn't understand why we were being sent to bed when it was still daytime.  We were told ...

Cold, damp and dreary weather tends to wear down my cheerfulness even though I enjoy mysterious mist  or a winter's day with a book by a log fire provided the house is nice and warm. My free access to the Foxtel drama offerings has ended and I am pleased because I was watching too much TV along with being addicted to coronavirus news updates.  At last I can go back to reading. I am half way through reading Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister: Three Women at the Heart of 20th Centry China  by Jung Chang. I enjoyed her previous book Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China which covered the story of her grandmother, mother and herself in Mao's China.  This book covers the extraordinary lives of three sisters who were each married to powerful men of the era and exerted much power in their own right. With China displaying much "discontent" with Australia at the moment I find it interesting to understand a little more of their history and motivations.

This week it is two years since I retired so it seemed like an ideal time to reflect. Retirement In the lead up to retirement I was somewhat worried about what it would be like and whether I could keep myself happy and occupied.  I needn't have worried. I threw myself into all sorts of projects that have been hanging around for years - craft, the gardens, furniture restoration and now I am attacking painting the doors and skirting boards at Rose Orchard Haus. There has been plenty to do - too much activity actually and not enough time to reflect, write and dream.  I must look into that.    We have also not travelled as much as we hoped - medical problems, fires and coronavirus have all got in our way so it is whole year since we took our caravan for a spin! We hope to rectify that in July. Coronavirus update We are now seeing an increase of visitors to regional NSW - just what the government ordered.  This week in our sleepy little town I have seen a number of c...

As we settle into winter hibernation the world around us also seems to be settling into its new normal. While things in the country are now quite similar to before, we caught the train to the city this week where life is still very different - empty trains, empty streets, closed shops. It's sad to see or vibrant beautiful city so subdued. At Rose Orchard Haus  Cosy inside, our mornings are moody with swirling mist which eventually pools into the valley leaving us with a bright sunny day ending in a lovely sunset. Each day I have been watching the setting sun which today has reached its furtherest point north and tomorrow will began its slow passage back towards the south. At Burnbrae  Winter's damp is making itself felt but small spots of delight are appearing with the camellias beginning to flower. From the hymn Great is Thy Faithfulness Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest, Sun, moon and stars with their courses above Join with all nature in manifold witness To Thy ...

As protesting crowds toppled statues this week we toppled some trees and I contemplated the theme "Falling". Falling trees We have been working hard continuing to clean up our bush block Whistlers Rest, hoping to finish it before the next bushfire season.  In the process I noticed a lot of the hickory wattles have died.  They are drought tolerant, have a lifespan of 30 years but are prone to borer attack which I think is the cause of their demise.  So my husband armed with his new chainsaw cut them down for me. I also attacked the sprawling blackthorn (Bursaria sponosa). It was a very prickly job but and am now pleased with the more open parklike effect. Pride comes before a fall As I was thinking about falling I remembered "Pride comes before a fall"  on the snakes and ladders board we played with as kids. It was the stuck up guy tripping over that I thought was hilarious and remembered so well. The game doesn't have it now but the original version was all abo...