Ree, Joel and Marika's Visit

We had the pleasure of having Ree, Joel, Jesper and Soren's visit a couple of weeks ago.

It was nice catching up with them and to meet Soren for the first time.

He is three months old now and such a beautiful and happy baby.

Jesper has grown up a lot and helped dad and farfar to concrete the slab next to the bedroom.

Soren and Jesper's name and hand print were written in the slab forever.

We celebrated Joel's birthday while they were here.

Hugs and cuddles went aplenty, 

 and Jesper enjoyed looking at the cows with farfar...

the cranes flying in a clear blue sky...

 and playing with Freja, and a "recycled tricycle".

While Soren relaxed, played, ate and slept like a baby!

Marika and Jack also came for a quick visit.  Baby Jack is almost 6 weeks old now and he's adorable.

His name is also in the slab which  we were pouring on the day he was born.

Svenne had his hands full with his grand-sons and enjoyed every minute of it.

Joel and Svenne put the boat in the lake (as we had taken it up for maintenance). As they were coming back home they found plants discarded on the farmer's land by one of the neighbours . 

They are now new additions to our garden. Thanks Joel!

Their stay was unfortunately too short and we hope they'll be back soon.

Suddenly it's spring!...

Two weeks ago, on a cold afternoon, we spotted two eagles hunting around our house, swooping down in the farmer's land in search of a tasty dinner. They ended up landing in a tree, next to the lake. It was quite magnificent to observe these majestic birds and we just sat on the veranda and looked at them for about an hour. Much better than looking at the television...

Notice the tree... No leaves.

  The weather has now warmed up, the deciduous trees are burgeoning with new tender green leaves,

Same tree... two weeks later.

 The birds warm up around the lake after a feed… Yes the water level in the lake has come down!

Spring is here! We haven't had proper rain for a while and the grass is slowly turning brown. So the farmer has started  irrigating his land with this old contraption.

Archaic but effective

 Our first visitor was Phil, our old mate. When he and Svenne went to the tip to unload some rubbish, they came across some…. Firewood. 

So, in the van it went and ended up in the shed for next year's winter.

Unloading from the van

Firewood drying for next year's winter

 We had a blue moon while he was here, 

Blue moon rising

Observing the moon

Blue moon at its best

and a delicious feed of wild hare…

Hare for dinner

 The sky was very overcast for a few days but the wind (which has been constant now for at least 6 weeks) has blown them away and apart for a drizzle now and again, it remains dry.

The cranes have been around the lake at night , waking us up in the morning with their very distinctive and loud call, while flying next to our house to go inland.

Going to the lake...

Going inland

 My irises are flowering...

We can't ignore the seasons here!

Improvements This Winter...

We've been having cold nights lately but glorious sunny days, starting with thick fog which lifts up about 7.30.

We've been very busy this winter with yet more improvements to our place.

 We discussed  previously to have an awning over the lounge room window, as this is the side which is affected by the wind and the rain and constantly have to run in to close the window, whenever there is a drizzle…

Two weeks ago, we were enjoying a beer after a day's work and going around the garden, when we started talking how nice it would be to have a pergola on the side of the house and started  dreaming about sitting there summer time and looking at the open view of the lake, hills and meadows over the farmer's land and also  get advantage of the breeze.

Well, the next day Svenne started on it.

 Posts went up...

 Roof went up...

And we have now just finished pouring the slab. We had to do it in 3 goes and I have total respect for anybody who works with concrete.

 It's a hard job. But it is totally worth it.

We will soon be sitting there! As soon as the weather warms up and the wind slows down...

While we were busy with organizing the slab and not much time or attention given to Freja, we wondered what mischief she was up to. No need to worry: the car door was left open and she had a quick nana-nap out of the wind, after we went mad at her for stepping in the fresh concrete!

We will also put a door instead of the existing window, which will give us access from the lounge room to the verandah and open up the house . 

In between helping Svenne with the verandah, I've been working on my project at the front of the house and finally finished the steps...

 the driveway edges...

the path...

and the steps near the shed...

We now have comfortable access to the top of the property without having to scramble up and down.

The hardest thing was to dig plants in (and I still wonder if they'll ever grow), as the soil is like concrete and so full of tree roots! Every morning I inspect them, they are still alive, even though some have been uprooted by bandicoots during the night. I wish they would dig their holes where I want to put more plants, that would help... but the little mongrels are picking an easiest way to  get to their worms!

There's still more to be done, but I don't rush these things!

My most rewarding time is to sit on the verandah in the mornings with a cup of coffee and looking at the pelicans cruising on the lake. I enjoy every minute of it.

And Freja enjoys each night, when she cuddles up with Svenne (after a hard day job) watching TV, crawling up closer and closer! Should I be jealous?

As always we value your opinions, so please leave your comments. Thank you!