Summer (thankfully) hasn’t been as intense as last year’s.  So many people were gearing up for what looked like was going to be a long hot (and bad) summer as the heat really began later October and didn’t seem to want to let up.  However, we’ve had quite a bit of rain over January and February and being in the rainbelt in our new home means we got more rain than many other areas.  It also meant that the area wasn’t as dry as it could have been during the bushfire season.

All the same, we still had high fire alert days and Graham was able to work from home some of those days which was a relief for me.  I felt safer with him home.  We’ve had to put a fire plan together and although it’s not yet complete we do have some idea of what we need to do for future summers.  We elected to host a fireguard community group in our home.  A good way to meet our new neighbours and locals as well as learning about looking after our home and our property.

I look forward to autumn here. The Liquid Amber and Oak trees will be dropping their leaves. Already the Liquid Ambers are showing signs of autumn with their leaves turning colour. Graham says we’ll have a ton of raking to do but I don’t think I mind that really.  Will make for good mulch and it will look so pretty.

We’d promised ourselves before shifting here that we would go to the Kallista Tea Rooms on Sunday mornings for breakfast. We’d been there for morning or afternoon tea before when travelling in the area, and particularly when we were house hunting, but this is the first time since shifting that we came as ‘locals’.

It is a very popular venue and even at 9.30am on a Sunday it was pretty full, although one part was closed off for a group of MG Car enthusiasts and unfortunately for us, it happened to be the very section where we wanted to sit.

The tea rooms have glass walls - well almost glass walls. Lots of windows and outside one long length there are feeders where the native birds come and feed alongside the tea room patrons, just separated by the glass. I’d come with camera in hand hoping to get shots and was disappointed I couldn’t.  However that disappointment was shortlived because when we went out all the MGs had arrived instead and I was able to get shots of them.

Click on the one below to see more MGs on display.

And this image is just an example of the views we get along the Monbulk Road, less than 10 mins from our new home. We travel along this road to get to the tea rooms and then back home again.

Monbulk Road, Kallista

We’ve gone through all the ‘first’ milestones of being without our darling Miriam but she is never far from our thoughts - at least not for Graham and me.  We talk of her often but not every single day now.

Our trip to Canada and Alaska in June was well timed - we needed time out to just be ourselves and be with those who knew nothing of what we’d been through, so we could just be ourselves.  We had a wonderful time and now have a beautiful coffee table book filled with photos from our trip.

In May, on Mother’s Day, Melanie and Ryan announced they were pregnant and this became a welcome distraction and something to look forward to.  They blessed us just a week ago with a lovely grandson named Oliver.  He really is very beautiful and we look forward to watching his growing up and having lots of cuddles with him.

Christine has bought her own home in the country - one of her dreams to have her own place and garden now being fulfilled.  She is loving this and currently has a girlfriend sharing her home with her.

Angie and Ben continue to do work on their home and gradually renovate it or fix up things. They’ve been there 3 years now.

Meredith has been working interstate but will return home to Victoria early in the new year and then will do a bit more travelling before settling into a new job.  Her friend Sara has been a tower of strength and support and has been her constant companion in Canberra.

During the year Graham and I began looking at houses for sale in the country in earnest.  We’d spent years staying at B&B cottages in secluded country places and now we finally have one that is entirely our own - although somewhat larger than a cottage. Our youngest, Angela, said she thought we were downsizing and my response was that it’s less rooms - just bigger :-)  We shifted almost 6 weeks ago and still have a few things to unpack but getting there. Our old home has been sold. We love the surroundings of our new home and continuously discover bird life we’d not seen around before, or a plant in the garden, or something else in our new home, or something in our new area and surroundings. I expect we’ll be on a discovery tour for quite some time to come yet.  The Dandenong Ranges really is a lovely area and my camera is well and truly working overtime.

Graham and I have just celebrated our 18th wedding anniversary and we spent a quiet peaceful afternoon on a cruise boat in Pt Phillip Bay.  I’d not seen Melbourne from the water like that before and the boat was not crowded. Most of the guests stayed upstairs with the band and their workmates, so Graham and I pretty much had the bottom part to ourselves most of the time.  It was a gorgeous day too - couldn’t have been better.  Thank you Father for such a beautiful time together.

Thank you for visiting this blog over the past years, for your comments, emails, encouragement and support as needed.  I look forward to what life will bring us in the new year and showing you our new home and surroundings as each season passes.  Below is one of our resident kookaburras. I’ve counted four so far on our property.

Have a Merry Christmas - make sure you spend it in the company of people you enjoy being with.  Happy New Year to you also.

Move forward 7 years and Melanie (our eldest) meets Ryan Thomas.  We thought that funny but more than that, Ryan’s birthday is exactly the same day as Graham’s.  Melanie married Ryan 5 years later and ended up with the surname Thomas after all.  When Graham turned 50 Ryan turned 25.  Ryan shares some similar interests to Graham including cycling - road and mountain.

Move forward another 5 years.  Melanie and Ryan have just had their first baby who they named Oliver.  Oliver’s birth date is 1st December.  3 Thomas males, 3 generations and sharing birth dates of 1st December.

The ‘reality’ of where we are now living hit home last night as I attended my first CFA Community awareness meeting for safety from bushfires.  Graham had stuff he had to get done for a forthcoming MTB race so I went on my own and reported back to him on my return home. I have a long list of things to type up now.  There is a ’street meeting’ happening here soon for residents of our street so we’ll both go along to that together for more specific information.

I met a lady who lives in our street down the other end so it was nice chatting to her.  Her husband is a ‘firie’ with the CFA.  I’m going to find out about the community fireguard groups and see if I can join one.  And I’ll be learning what I can about our local CFA station too.  I’m a strong believer of getting involved in community to fit in and belong.  And I’m keen to meet the locals and become one of them.

Oh, and I have looked up a local tennis club too. We have a court here on our new property and it makes sense that I should get back into tennis so I can actually play with my opponents instead of frustrating them.

Housewarming this weekend - wanted to get that in before all the Christmas events.

I go outside each day to take photos or just enjoy. This afternoon I walked the circumference of our private park which is a tree lined lawn.  There were two magpies singing to each other - beautiful.  And a kookaburra watching for worms.

The air was getting stifling and the sky dark.  I noticed that Maa, our sheep, was lying down panting heavily and I was worried about her.  I went to her in her pen but she wouldn’t get up and just sniffed me.  So I came inside and got a metal bowl and filled it with water and took it back out to her. While I was there it started thundering and then I could hear the wind rushing in the distance.  She wouldn’t take the water from the bowl or my hand but got up and walked away and did a wee and then kept walking.

Perhaps she sensed the storm - I just wanted to make sure she was ok. Anyway as I started walking back to the house it was really eery and the wind came fast amongst the trees and small branches and leaves flying everywhere. I just got back inside and the wind hit with a force and I was sweating badly - like a sudden heat rise.    The rain hit not long after and I opened the doors to let the fresh air and the scent of rain in. Love that smell.  I remember reading a story a long time ago of a child describing that smell as being God nearby.

As I sat in my office which has a window looking out the front and into the street I saw a very looooooong white stretch limo with wedding ribbons pull up.  I thought ‘oh oh’ they’re in trouble.  If you knew our street there is a 23% grade uphill ahead of the limo with bends and the two roads opposite are very windy, one quite steep.  I wondered what the limo was going to do when I saw 4 young men in wedding suits come up the hill from one of the roads opposite towards the limo. They stopped and changed their shoes - must have had walking shoes on.  Now I understood that the limo was waiting for them and wasn’t going to attempt either one of those hilly roads.  It moved forward up the steep incline instead.  Guess it might have done it before as there are some very popular wedding reception places only 5 mins from here.

It’s raining outside - probably the first rain we’ve had since we shifted in, although we had fog on our very first morning here.  Loving this area.