Goodbye, 2020.

December 31, 2020December 31, 2020 Joanne17 Comments

Words seem to escape me tonight. What does one say as the year 2020 draws to a close?

I could state the obvious, that this year has been an extremely difficult year for many people, but we all know that. It’s hardly a profound statement.

It has definitely been a year of change – we all know that as well.

So I will tell you all some new news, about my day filled with magical moments. 🙂

It rained overnight, washing away the dusty air in the valley. I awoke to a crystal clear – picture perfect, I would say – scene of Mount Warning.

As always, when Forrest and Brontë enjoyed some time in the sun, it was my Labrador, Brontë, who kept watch.

Raindrops from our overnight shower clung to my potted Petunias. I love these colours so much! Pink and purple flowers in my garden make my heart sing!

Inside the house, Bowie boy posed beautifully for the camera. ❤

And when my little granddaughter came to visit, she was very excited to finally try a piece of the Christmas cake she has been eyeing off every time she has visited since Christmas Day.

While I had my camera out, Aurora told her Mummy and Daddy to say “cheese,” then she took her own photo. Don’t you just love the imagination of children? And Aurora’s curls? ❤

Miss Tibbs prefers to hide when visitors arrive. I found her after my visitors had left, in her usual place on my sewing table.

Around sunset, a sudden noise alerted me to a change in the weather. It had remained sunny most of the day – the sun was still shining – but a sudden gush of rain fell from a huge unexpected cloud that had rolled in from the coast.

We had the most spectacular sunshower. I took a few photos from my veranda, as the rain really was quite heavy, and had whipped up a windy squall from the south.

So the day that began crystal-clear-perfect ended with a brilliant sunshower. Two incredibly stunning, yet totally different views of Mount Warning. What a way to end the year!

I feel a tad sorry for the year 2020. It has taken a bad rap, particularly since March. But was it the fault of the year that so many things went awry? I don’t believe it was. Every year, we experience the good and the bad situations that life offers, and we can’t claim 2020 to be all “bad” can we?

For me, 2020 was the year my grandson, Eli, was born. It is also the year I learned that I have two more grandsons on the way. The units I completed at university were two of my most enjoyable units so far, and I was graded with a high distinction for both units. I have had the opportunity to spend more time at home, therefore more time in my garden. Since July, I have blogged every day and made more friends in the blogging community.

No, 2020 wasn’t all bad, not for me at least.

As we welcome in the New Year of 2021, we are presented with a brand new opportunity to begin again, with a clean slate. No mistakes, no problems, just a choice of how we will react to the good moments, and the bad, that 2021 presents us with. ❤

Australia · Changes · garden flowers · in my garden · In My World · Mount Warning · renovations · spring · sugar cane · sunrise · Tweed Valley

A Week of Flowers

November 23, 2020November 23, 2020 Joanne20 Comments

I spent most of the day in my office at the computer today, keeping out of the way of the lovely man who arrived first thing this morning to replace the floor coverings in my main living area. It’s been a massive job dismantling the room, emptying cupboards, removing old skirting boards, taking down the curtains, moving most of the furniture into another room, but we finally got there at around midnight last night.

I planned to spend the day reading through blog posts, which I mostly did, aside from the times when I was needed for something else. I had so much catching up to do! And now I have ideas whirling around in my mind about blog posts I must write. But where to begin?

Cathy, at Words and Herbs has invited us to join her in posting A Week of Flowers, which I thought would be a great place to start. I have spent way too much time indoors this past week, so any excuse to go outdoors is a good excuse. Plus, who doesn’t love flowers? I know I certainly do, and as Cathy said, flowers are sure to brighten the days of people in lockdown.

I missed Day 1 of Cathy’s week, so today is Day 2, for those who would like to join Cathy in sharing some floral happiness around the blogging world. 🙂

First thing this morning, the valley looked sparkly and clear, with just a touch of overnight mist lingering at around 6:15am. Sunrise is at around 5:45am these days as we approach summer, and so far I haven’t managed to get up early enough to see the first rays of morning sunlight touch the top of Mount Warning. Too many late nights, I think!

The sugar cane harvesting season is nearing the end, but the mill was still pumping out steam in the early daylight hours of this morning.

So now, as the day draws to an end, my family room has half a floor. We waved goodbye to our faithful twenty-six-year-old carpet this afternoon as the floor man drove up the hill with a neatly bundled stack of carpet in his trailer, which has served us well, but has definitely seen one too many teenagers’ party! Our floor man will return tomorrow morning to finish the job, which is very exciting. I’m looking forward to arranging all of our uptuned and askew furniture into its correct position again. 🙂