What good news i have this morning- daylight saving has been extended and will now start on October 5 instead and end on April 6! That’s about an extra month that we have! I’m so happy. More light is good.

I had a nice day of teaching yesterday and came to home to discover a big sack sitting outside my door. My books from Amazon had arrived! I have been waiting for them for about a week now and this was perfect timing. I had ordered Jane Brocket’s The gentle art of domesticity, Amy Butler’s In Stitches and Lotta Jansdotter’s Simple Sewing. How exciting! I started on The gentle art of domesticity yesterday evening with a cup of coffee and some homemade all-natural peanut butter and dark chocolate cookies but am saving the sewing books for when i move and have my sewing machine in a more desirable, sunny position. Oh, how i love Amazon.com and having the extra bit of money to buy some beautiful books.

I had my first dip in the ocean since last summer on Saturday and was numb the entire time. It was SO cold! But i felt fabulous afterwards so it was worth it.

I’m off to write, grade essays and do a little bit of dreaming whilst listening to this and this on repeat. Got to love beautiful, easy, breezy summer songs.

Have a lovely Wednesday!

Our trip to the Snowy Mountains was fantastic and i wish we could have stayed for longer than a weekend but the seven hour drive (with an awesome music playlist consisting of Dar Williams, Eva Cassidy and many, many more) was worth every minute. Jon and i threw snowballs at each other and went toboganning on the slopes. No one had warned me how heart-stopping toboganning can be and so i foolishly went down with Jon. I saw a two year old attempt it with his dad and bravely thought i was up to it.

Of course, we flipped and went backwards. I remember screaming “I CAN’T, I CAN’T!” the entire time because i was certain we were going to be seriously hurt. Yes, that was enough excitement to last me for a while! We did it a couple more time after that (because, you know, there’s nothing like thinking you were going to DIE two minutes ago to make you want to attempt it again.)

I enviously looked at the skiers and snowboarders who seemed so graceful and fashionable. Yeah, SO not for me although the ski lifts looked like lots of fun!

Me looking so happy to finally see snow!:

Jon with the infamous toboggan. He looked so yummy in his ski jacket and pants. Glad i married this boy!:

The very isolated stone cottage we stayed in (complete with fireplace), surrounded by eucalyptus trees that smelled so fresh and clean. Even now, if i close my eyes, i can remember that scent. There’s nothing like it.

Our delicious home-cooked Sunday breakfast. Jon made everything apart from the scrambled eggs, which was a nice treat for me.

And finally, the rainbow that appeared after the sunshower we had 5 minutes after arriving at the slopes. What a blessing!

We hope to return to the snow next year, with toboggan in tow.

I think today is the first real spring day we’ve had. It is absolutely beautiful outside! The windows are open! I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to have breakfast on my balcony, breathing in the fresh air and listening to conversations had by the people in the next block (who had also come out to have their coffee) as well as the bird calls.

Mmmm. Yes. It is very nice. And tomorrow at 5.30am, we leave for the long drive to the snow!

(current song: Fleetwood Mac’s Everywhere)

I’m feeling out of sorts today. I may be coming down with a bug but it’s more than that. I feel sad and having not felt this way for a while now, i seem to have forgotten how to handle it without making everyone else upset as well. I want to go out and try to do something that makes me feel better but at the same time, i want to curl up in bed with the hot water bottle at my feet and a good book to read. As i’m writing this, the latter seems more enticing.

Two days ago, our landlord called us to say that she needs to move back into the house and that we have to vacate in six weeks. I love my home and have grown very attached to it and it is going to be very hard to let it go. The mere thought of packing, cleaning, moving and then setting up house again makes me frustrated. And trying to find a new house with our budget in this horrible rental market is going to be very hard. But i’m trying to keep my head held high and be ok with this situation. We’ll have to move around the time of our one year wedding anniversary which is just crazy considering that last year, we had to move house 2 days after our wedding. I don’t know what it is with me and accommodation- i have moved every year since i came to Australia and the first year i was here, i moved three times. It would be so nice to find a house and be settled in it for at least two or three years. That probably won’t happen unless we buy our own home, which we cannot afford at the moment.

I keep focused on the positives to get through this time and dream about the home we will design ourselves in the future. Seeing myself sitting on our front porch step and drinking a cup of tea makes me feel infinitely happier.

It is a beautiful morning. The windows are open to let the very fresh wind bring a little bit of spring into the house. The washing has been hung out to dry. I am perusing blogs, listening to Mary Beth Maziarz and my dusty pink blanket is wrapped around me. There is nothing extraordinary about this morning but to me, every day that i wake up and am able to breathe and do the things i love (such as writing or reading or having a shower while the sunlight streams into the bathroom) is a blessing. Every day that i can spend on my own, doing my own thing at my own pace is sweet. At night, i welcome my husband back home, all the better for having spent a day lost in my own thoughts, day dreaming about days spent on a porch swing and having the fragrance of peonies wafting through the house.

This morning, sunshine is pouring into the sunroom, warming my face as i sit there and have my toast and coffee. I am reminded of a song i used to sing in church, based on Psalm 19: The heavens are singing the glory of God. And all creation is shouting for joy. Come dance in the forest , come play in the fields. And sing, sing to the glory of the Lord.

Today is the first day of spring (yay!!) and we are celebrating the season by driving to the snow next weekend for some sledding in freezing temperatures! I’ve never seen snow before so this will be a dream come true. I can’t wait!

I also can’t wait for the trees to be full of fresh green leaves, like the picture above. My pots of pansies are just beginning to bloom and i take much delight in watching the petals unfurl slowly- red, purple, cream. That is a lovely afternoon activity.