Surf, Sunrise and Sewing

The weather has been mostly fine but it's definitely cooling off. Our trips to the beach aren't happening as often and you definitely need a wetsuit to enter the water.

Unless you're Corby of course. He is stubborn enough to swim no matter what, just to prove he is impervious to the freezing temperatures.

We find there is more weed on the beaches at this time of year too. I guess because of the storms that role through.

There has been a sighting of the first whales for the season, so we will be spending more picnic dinners at the beach lookout, watching for them. Last year we didn't see very many. The first year that we were down here, there were lots of sightings and a couple of special close-ups. Corby was surfing just a few metres away from a mother and calf without realising it. They were tucked in behind the rock reef.

Sunrise is getting later. At Summer Solstice we had to be at the lookout at 4am. Now it is a sleep-in at 6.



We have been doing a few more inside activities too. Boo is right into puzzles, drawing and lego. DragonGirl has been reading, drawing and trying her hand at sewing. She used the sewing machine for the first time the other day and was so pleased with herself.
She will naturally do more writing as well. I have found that our schedule has become very Seasonal. The fine weather is filled with picnics, science experiments, riding around town, swimming, gardening and building tree houses.

The cooler weather is more about crafting, writing letters, doing projects and nice long novels by the fire.

DragonGirl has just finished a project on the chickens and next she wants to learn about wolves.

A few photos...

Boo came in from the dress-up box looking like this -


We went camping for a few weeks over Christmas. We spent most of the time at the beach, surfing, swimming, eating, making sand castles and just generally enjoying the sunshine.



One of the parks we stayed in had a simple rope flying fox which we would like to copy at home. The kids played on it for hours.

While the girls were playing on the flying fox, Boo was over near the tree doing the haka. It was so funny to watch. I'm not sure if he was trying to scare the girls away or impress them.

Parry's has a little rockpool which is sheltered from the wind and the big waves. It is definitely a camping spot that we'll continue to go back to no matter the season. It had something for everyone.

DragonGirl and Boo were rolling down the sand dunes and thoroughly enjoyed getting covered in sand and then running out to the ocean and washing off.

We've been picking apricots, plums, figs, boysenberries, strawberries and apples from the garden. We also have cabbages, pumpkins, watermelons and tomatoes that are close to eating.

Our sunflowers are in full bloom.

Fun and Games...

We decided to go for a drive to the beach yesterday. Get a little sunshine when the clouds rolled past. Have a swim. Corby go for a surf. J-Boy and DragonGirl drop a line in and catch something for dinner. Boo and Casey (a dog who we minded for the weekend) dig in the sand and play with the ball.

I had the option of going to the markets and seeing Maggie Beer but was convinced by the family that this would be much more fun.

I packed a picnic and off we headed.

We did some 4WD-ing along the coast, drove up a hill and stood at the lookout for awhile. Drove down along the beach and go out to enjoy the air and let Casey have a run.

Everyone smiling...
DragonGirl, Boo and Casey went up in the dunes for a look. You can't do it in Summer because the Tiger Snakes are out and active, but over Winter it's pretty safe.

Then we thought we would cut in a bit around some rocks and keep going up the beach. We went through a rather large puddle. I was in the middle of explaining why I thought it would be a good idea to walk through the puddles first when it happened.

The drivers side was full of water to the seat and the passenger side was about 2inches. We've got vinyl floors which is good, but the water has probably got into the lining underneath. It's going to stink for awhile!

Corby went off on a walk to look for help while the kids and I waited with the ute running. We were a little wary to turn it off and have it not start again. In one spot I sank to my waist in muddy water (not to mention the farm run-off and cow shit!) which was a cold gasp and a naughty word moment.

While Corby was getting help and J-Boy was trying to dig the mud out from under the ute, a guy came past and pulled us out. It took a few tries but we got there in the end. I opened the door to get out and water gushed everywhere. We let it drain away and wiped up as best as we could while we waited for Corby to come back.

I'm still laughing though. I was proud of myself for managing to retain my sense of humour. Corby just said, 'See, that's why we need a snorkel!' I restrained myself from throwing something at him!

Sunset watching

We went up to Perth last weekend for the night. It was mainly a crop checking exercise. Corby likes to see how the farmer's are going - what sort of growing season they're having.

This time of the year is normally spraying, rock picking and lambing on the farm. Lambing and rock picking are Corby's least favourite things and the spraying is only made better by the cool machine it's done in.

We managed to find some accomodation near the beach and spent the evening there watching the sun set over the water. I don't think we'll ever live inland again, after leaving near the beach. It has become a large part of our lifestyle.

I would have liked to have done some op-shopping while we were up in Perth. It's the first trip we've done up there in 18mths, but everything was shut (minimal Sunday trading). It made for a cost saving weekend, but what's the fun in that?!

We've had 2 weeks of sunshine which has been magic. All the more appreciated after a South Coast wet Winter. I've spent as much time as I can out in the garden, weeding, pruning, feeding, digging new beds. The compost bins are all nearly full again which means it will be ready to spread out by mid-Summer. Perfect timing really and completely unplanned.

The wild weather is on it's way

We are expecting a 5m swell this weekend at our favourite beach, with some wind, rain and the occassional thunderstorm thrown in.

That means the kids and I will be on the sand all rugged up while Corby goes out for a surf. He hasn't been able to go for the last 3 weekends, so nothing short of the ocean freezing over is likely to keep him out of the water.

DragonGirl ready to go!