Beautiful autumn

We are heading into our third autumn here in the adelaide hills, and it is without doubt the best time of the year. We are still waiting for some proper rain, and our garden is looking dry. But the beautiful, sunny days, and mild temperatures make up for that!

The lawn at the front is almost finished (we put in 'plugs' of Santa Ana couch grass which matt together to form a lawn over about 10-12 weeks). It's already proving to be a great area for kicking balls & enjoying the afternoon sun. We have a plan to have a summer dinner party out there on a big, long table. Perhaps for Brent's birthday on December 1st!

Lachie is almost through his first term of school. He seems to have turned a corner with school, & is now loving it. The first 5-6 weeks were quite hard, & a big adjustment. I think now he's feeling more comfortable & is much more confident now he feels like he can do some of the writing & reading work by himself.

Maya is now 2 and 3 months. It's such a wonderful age, & we are seeing more & more of her personality emerging. She & Lachie are starting to become really good mates, which is so lovely to see. They seem to love dancing together (especially if they are videoing themselves on the computer!). And they also like wrestling together (she's quite the tom-boy!). She's also very social, & is easy to take anywhere as she doesn't seem bothered about having to share or play with other kids, which is nice for us as her parents! I'm guessing it's a second-child thing a bit, because they've always had to share things with their older sibling.

Wow! It's been a while....

It has been such a long time since I put anything up on my poor neglected little blog. But, Brent and I had a chat the other day about how fast time is flying & the need to remember our kids at this special age - so I am back & plan on being back much more often!!

Lots has been happening - Lachie is at school (5 weeks down!), Maya is 2 & 2 months. Brent has started a new job (still settling!), & I am adjusting to the new routine of school pick-ups & drop offs & after-school sport. Life is busy but lots if fun!

::Hot autumn days::

It's hard to believe that we are in the last week of march, & today it's going to be 36degrees in Adelaide! Tuesday's are our day to catch up on things, as we never have anything planned. So, given the heat, we are enjoying the air conditioning at our library - this place has been our refuge over summer!

Below are some recent photos from around our place. The cow is one of our friendly neighbours... Brent has been busy working on the house (most recently doing balustrades at the front, which look great!), Maya is now 15 weeks old - time is flying! Lachie is drawing & 'designing' gardens almost constantly - spurred on by Brent's passion! And we are having some beautiful autumn sunsets, which make the end of the day something to look forward to!

A long time coming

It's been 13 months since I last posted here, and I'm sad about it because this blog has been such a great way to keep track of what we do with ourselves, & keep in touch with people interstate & overseas.... But, it's been such a huge year & I really do want to sum it all up, especially as its been almost all of Lachies 3rd year missed here in the blog, & I want to remember the wonderful things that have happened & how much his little world has changed these past 13 months.

So, here I am, blogging from my iPhone (which I only just realised you can do), & wondering how to sum up such a huge year.

You see, in the new years of 2012, Brent & I decided it was time we made the move back to SA. We felt like it was time to have another baby (lachie was coming up to hos 3rd birthday in May), & the thought of another baby in Melbourne with little support didn't really interest either of us. But deciding to move back meant trying to work out the logistics - buying a house, selling our house in Melbourne, finding a job for Brent, quitting my job (we decided I would be home full-time for the first time since lachie was 1), and to be frank , we had no idea how it would all work out. Well, the long & the short of it is that it did all work out, & in May 2012, Lachie & I jumped into our car & headed back to Adelaide, with Brent following a few days later.

What's followed has been a year of busy-ness, with the renovation (or at-least solid beginnings) of our new/very old house, & the pregnancy & birth of our daughter Maya in December. All in all, 2012 was BIG, and frankly, we're glad it's done with!

And now, we are feeling much, much more settled as our little family of four (plus a lovely adopted farm dog called Thorby). So, here's to getting back into it & restarting things afresh here! and by the way, if you are stopping by, please say hi as I no longer have any idea whose keeping us on their reading lists - i'd love to hear from you!

A bit late but.......

A few people have asked why I never posted anything about our Christmas or New Years - well, the main reason was we were away for almost 3 weeks, and my laptop didn't come for the holiday! And also, since we've gotten home, we've been in the throws of getting our house ready to sell, so it's been hectic!


But we had a great time, started off with a trip to Pa Denis and Trish's farm in the Hunter Valley


Then down to Sydney for Christmas with Brent's sisters, the cousins and Brent's mum


We had a great time, especially Lachie who adores his older cousins

We also went to the Sydney Botanic Gardens for the first time which has magnificent views over the harbour.....


This is Lachie and Brent getting into the farm spirit at Pa Denis' farm

And in amongst all of this was my birthday, spent in Melbourne between Sydney and then off to Adelaide for New Years!


It was a busy time, but really lovely to see all of our friends and family spread across 3 states now! And our New Years in Adelaide was enough to convince us that we are ready to head home, after 7 years in Victoria. How it will all work is still yet to be organised (houses, jobs etc), but we know it's time. We just have to wait and see how things pan out and hope that all of the little details involved in moving from one state to another happen as they should! Makes for exciting times here at our house anyway!

Sunny Melbourne

It is a beautiful, sunny day here in Melbourne - perfect for a morning walk and coffee.... Lachie and I are taking it easy and enjoying the sun


Walking around our streets, I am trying to savour all of the things that we have had around us since living here in Melbourne....


The tree-lined streets in our area are beautiful, and I am going to miss the cute weatherboard houses in Melbourne, which you don't find in Adelaide ....

I'm also going to miss living only three minutes from cafes with good coffee - they've certainly been a life saver at times when I've needed to escape the house, especially when Lachie was really little

Made Cafe has been my favourite, so much so that we now know the owners really well, and going in is like catching up with friends. It was horrible when they were closed over Christmas and we had to go to other places, although there is a few to choose from fortunately!




I hope you are all having a great morning too and getting some sunshine or snow, depending on where you are! Libbyx

We are Back!

It has been quite a while since I've written anything here, so apologies for people who may have been waiting for a picture or two!  We have been quite busy as we are in the process of selling our house, which has meant a lot of our time has been spent painting walls and sorting through clutter..... fortunately it's almost finished so we can start to relax and get back to normal again, something all three of us are desperate for!  Today, I had an afternoon to myself, which I spent in and around Melbourne, enjoying looking at all the things I know I'm going to miss when we move away.  But it's nice to know that we can come back and enjoy everything that's been 'home' to us, even when we live somewhere else.