Just Hangin' Around

After we had completed the jobs we need to do each day, the children dispersed to do 'their own things'. I took Willem, Jess, Emily and the hammock, down to one of my favourite sunny places. Once we were settled and comfy, we peeled our oranges and enjoyed eating them in the sunshine. It wasn't long before all the children found us and joined us in our orange eating. The dogs played soccer with the children, jumped up to join in with their game of 'keeping the ball off the ground', and chased and barked wholeheartedly during their game of tag.

We finally made our way back to the house. It had been a lovely afternoon in the Wallaby Scrub sunshine.

A Budding Photographer

A lot of the lovely photos of Wallaby Scrub that you see on this blog have been taken by Josiah. He has a good eye for interesting snaps, and sees the possibilities that natural colour can have.

This photo captures the beautiful evening colours. There was a storm brewing over the back of the hills towards the coast, and the sun was glowing its red hues in contrast to the grey blue of the storm. More of the hill had glowed red minutes earlier, but the sun set so quickly as we searched for the camera.

I think at some stage (perhaps when we are on broadband again) Josiah should post his photos to a blog of his own. He certainly has a flair for photography.

Bath Time Willem

Don't you just wish you were little enough to have a nice warm bath like this, next to the yummy fire, in a country kitchen? It appears that Willem is quite satisfied with the situation.

It's a bit of a job for everyone to bath and shower at our place. We have a canvas camp shower set up in the laundry which needs to be filled with water from the pots on the stove. But it's well worth the effort - obviously. I'm not sure I'll get used to turning on taps again when we return to the big smoke!? Everything, even bathing, takes a lot longer on Wallaby Scrub. I like this pace very much.

Oh! Look at the kangaroo!

We had a grey roo hang around the yard over the last week. Even the dogs couldn't scare it away. He'd watch me hang up the washing. Gazed at the children as they played in the yard. Kept munching while there was a lot of activity around it.

A few days back the children called me to the window. There was the roo under the unfinished verandah at the back of the house. Elsie got close enough to see his eyes. They were glazed over, milky looking. We could also see that he didn't hop quite right. My suspicions were confirmed from earlier in the week. I didn't expect the kangaroo to live too much longer.

Jessy was so excited to be so close, and couldn't contain her squeals of delight. I called all the children inside to give the roo opportunity to 'escape'. It was dusk anyway, and the animal made its way down to the shearing shed.

We hadn't seen it for two days. Either it was frightened by the eagerness of the children, or...

Josiah had been down by the shed and came to give us the news. It had died, probably during the same night we saw it head down that way.

Going for a walk up the track

It's been a while since I posted. Not sure why. Just been busy doing other things I s'pose. We've been for many walks, and used some of the less worn tracks around the property. But whenever we all go for a wander certain things need to be carried. All warriors know that!

Here's Josiah...

Lilly wasn't going to be left out of the fun. Watch out all you rabbits!

And Matilda. What can I say? She has her sights on something.

You can see what perfect weather we are having for the middle of winter. The sun is shining every day, the wind has been cool but not uncomfortable. It's been walking weather, and we are doing our best to get out in it as much as we can.