Easter

I remember loving summer when I was a sunburnt little feral of 8 or 9 living in a beach suburb of Melbourne in the late 50's. I don't remember any adult supervision, just long hot days playing under the ti-tree or down at the beach or on my bike or swinging upside down on the monkey bars. I remember how the first sunburn hurt, then your nose peeled and scabbed and you got brown and no-one bothered you any more to wear a hat. Sunscreen hadn't been invented. I remember you had to take your thongs to the beach on a hot day or your feet got roasted scampering across the tarmac highway to get there.

Then we moved to Canberra. I pined for those long beach summers and our little gang of neighbourhood friends for years afterwards.

This is the first summer I can remember ever since then, that I didn't want autumn to come. Summers here are kinder than Canberra summers. Milder, wetter. It has been fantastic to share some of these long, warm, gentle coastal days with Mae and Nick, who came to stay for Easter.

Does this look like a setting sun? No, it's a spectacular rising moon over Diamond Beach, our local.

Earlier in the day, we had taken Mae and Nick to visit the doings on the house site.  We have some frames up!

(Above) I took this photo while standing in the future kitchen, looking towards the loungeroom wall, the others are in our bedroom area.

Nick has the same lateral, ironic sense of humour that David has, and Mae spends half her time giggling. I haven't seen her so happy since she was a carefree little sprocket of about four years old. They were both exhausted though, both working full time and both studying, he doing his Masters, and she studying biochemistry preparatory for even more study, to become a vet. Have any of the others come to visit you yet? she asked. Meaning, Lian, Wim, Julian or Lindsey? No, we told her, you're the first. Yes! she said. Hah! Favourite child!

Mae used her special vet nurse horse whispering noise to call Dude, our neighbouring horse over. He consented to a bit of a pat but soon sloped off when he figured out there were, yet again, no carrots.

Dude has acquired a cattle egret friend. Whatever Dude does, the egret does it too.

Today was bushwalk day.  We took Mae and Nick on the Blackhead rainforest/beach walk.  They were both wearing shiny black shoes which are evidently leech magnets.  Must remind all those little leeches of their shiny black mummies or something. Mae was so traumatised I doubt she will remember any of the walk, so here are a few pictures.

Happy Easter to all you chocolate bunny lovers. In the true spirit of the occasion, may you find a sense of renewal in your life, and a leaving behind of your trials and troubles.