Winter and Autumn seem confused

 We're definitely having winter weather. It's cold, wet and very windy

But the trees are only now donning their autumn colours

And we saw eagles over Eilish Court yesterday afternoon. We more usually see them up at Hill House and not usually during the winter. But I will accept eagles wherever and whenever they choose to show themselves (even if they won't come close enough for a decent photo!)

Winter has arrived (and Jim has come home)

While Jim was away I took the opportunity to clear out a couple of cupboards.

I started with the wardrobe in the third bedroom, which I use as a study. I completely emptied it, sorted through everything and got rid of a lot of stuff. Nice and mostly empty:

It does now have the summer clothes hanging in it, 
but they don't take up much room.

Then I turned my attention to the pantry. I wanted to swap the top shelf and the bottom shelf around. While I was about it, I  tidied up the other two shelves. I don't usually have tinned meat and tinned veg in the pantry. They are there in case we have to isolate for any length of time while the freezers are short of ingredients. The freezers, it must be said, are definitely not short of ingredients. They are, in fact, full to bursting. But the pantry looks good. For now!

Winter greeted the start of June with enthusiasm.

First frost of winter on the first day of winter

This was as hot as it got outside on Thursday

I have ordered more sawdust "briquettes" and 
am about to order a trailer load of wood

And here comes the rain

I have had the central heating fixed. You may remember that last winter the control panel on the wall stopped working, so we couldn't use the heating. We didn't miss the central heating, using the wood fire and the space heater through the winter. I decided this year that I was paying quite a lot for the privilege of using gas, when in fact we weren't using all that much. Just a bit for cooking and hot water. So I got someone in to see if it was worth fixing. Ten minutes and $250 later I had a new wall controller and a working central heating system.

I am reminded how much I don't like the central heating system! It is nice to have instant warmth, but I really do not like having hot air blowing from the ceiling at my face. And I really, really do not like the way it gets to temperature and then blows cold air at us until the temperature falls again to a level where it decided to blow hot air again. The bloke who came to fix it tells me that it is an old and outdated system (no s**t Sherlock - it was put in when the house was built 17 years or so ago and, I think, quite cheaply at that) and I might want to think about replacing it. He was aghast when I said that I would probably look to replacing it with an electric, or solar system. He informed me very solemnly that solar panels on the roof don't work when it is cloudy and that renewable energy is a disaster waiting to happen. You'd have thought that an electrician would be pleased by the thought of people using electricity, but there you go. In the meantime, I do like the warmth that the wood fire produces, even if it takes more effort.  The Pretty Kitty Kats like it too, although they have also discovered the pleasures of lying on the blanket on our bed under the central heating vent in our bedroom:

Jim has come home from his two week respite holiday and has thrown my routine completely out of whack. (Didn't take long for me to develop a "living alone" routine :-D ) He can have up to 9 weeks a (financial) year of government subsidised respite care and I am planning to use it, sending him in every few months so he gets used to it. It won't be all that many months before he will have to go in permanently if his dementia continues as it has been going over the last year. In the meantime, his next level of home care package has come into play. His new case manager is coming to see us tomorrow to sort out what he needs and how we can organise it

A week at home

On Monday morning we had a nice leisurely start. Freyja and Simon made toast in their room. I had tea and then coffee in mine. We packed up and made a last visit down along the beach road to say goodbye to the estuary

We drove back via Lakes Entrance, diverting on the way to look at the Trestle Railway Bridge at Stony Creek. It is a magnificent structure, though once again it is probably just as well there are no trains running along it and it is definitely not safe for pedestrians.

At Freyja's suggestion we went from Lakes Entrance to a little place called Metung for lunch. None of us knew anything about it and were pleasantly surprised (although perhaps we shouldn't have been, given that we were in the Gippsland Lakes area) to find a secret place filled with yachts, sailing boats and beautiful watery things. Also, a good choice of lunching places. We went to Aroma and had delicious food, sat outside in the sunshine, watching the boats:

And so home. Brandy and Whiskey were, as you might imagine, delighted to see me come back - although Lindsey had been visiting them and feeding them while I was away.

You're back! Hooray!!!

Jim is still in the aged care residence. I've spoken to him by phone a few times and he seems to be having a good time. I will go and visit him today, but he's not due to come home until Thursday. I must say that not having to think about him on Wednesday morning made getting up and ready to leave for work an absolute doddle. I was there by just after 8! It is very quiet in the house without him (which is strange, because he doesn't make a whole lot of noise and is no longer very active around the place) but it is also very peaceful.

And quite liberating. When Lindsey rang me on Thursday and said she needed to go to the Wendouree Shops and did I fancy going and perhaps having lunch in the little Japanese cafe,  I could just drop what I was doing and go. Nothing to think about, nothing to organise. Just grab my wallet, shopping bags and coat, turn out the lights and go.

I might have bought a new set of cookware at House while I was out. The saucepans I bought in Lakeland some years ago and brought over from the UK were beginning to look a bit sorry for themselves. My wok was definitely looking worse for wear. You can't have too many frying pans. And the box of cookware had been dramatically reduced (allegedly) in one of their ever present "stocktaking" sales.

While we were out, we dropped into a new sushi and poke bowl place in the city centre. I bought a prawn and glass noodle salad for lunch on Friday and it was delicious. Lovely and fresh and bright, even a day later. I also very much enjoyed my lunch at Tokyo Teriyaki in Wendouree. Fried chicken with ginger sauce and a share of Lindsey's fried rice and chips. Delicious.

They've been busy on the former reserve, now building site, soon to be housing. There are several new houses going in

The view from my front porch on Thursday morning

Cape Conran

We had thought we would make a quick trip to Cape Conran, have a look, come back and then go for a potter on the headland on the other side of the river.

Instead, we found lots of beautiful beaches, walking tracks, rock formations, roads that tempted you towards local natural attractions but which then disappeared, or were closed. It seems there had been extensive storm damage in the area and the, largely unmade, roads and little bridges had been badly affected.

No matter. We had a great time exploring, pottering on the beaches, scrambling on rocks (not me - my rock scrambling days are far behind me!), adventuring. Were were lucky with the weather. It was a beautiful day. And we were at Cape Conran for the better part of the day, before heading back for a couple of hours of resting in our rooms with books, TV and cups of tea

This is where we were:

We came back via Orbost, intending to visit the IGA for snack supplies. Alas, it was closed. We were about to head to the main road to see if the service station had snacks when we drove towards a Foodworks. Now my local Foodworks is not very interesting. Our IGA is much, much better. So I don't tend to think about Foodworks. However, this one was open and it was right in front of us. So in we went. And it is magnificent. So many interesting things. Local things. Yummy things. Most of which we couldn't buy because - nowhere to store them. However, we will remember the Foodworks in Orbost when we come next time. We are going to try and find somewhere self catering. Nothing to stop us eating in the pub should we be so minded, but it would be nice to fend for ourselves as well.

We didn't make it to the other side of the river. Next time.

Sunset over the Snowy on our last evening here:

Marlo (and Lakes Entrance)

You may remember that back in 2020, after our abridged trip to England, I planned a road trip to Sydney, going inland and returning via the coast with the final couple of nights in Marlo (because, you know - Marlo!). That road trip didn't happen. Neither did the postponed version. So I gave up on the idea of a road trip to Sydney and made several attempts to get to Marlo (because, you know - Marlo!). Marlo also didn't happen.

Then the state government offered inducements for people to emerge from their two year hibernation and go a-travelling in Victoria. I made a final bid to get to Marlo. And guess where I am ....

Freyja and Simon are here too. Jim, on the other hand, is not in Marlo. He is in a rather nice room in the Mount Clear Aged Care Centre, which is just less than two years old. I don't think he would like it here. He is not a big fan of water these days and we are by the mouth of the Snowy River and can also see the Pacific Ocean from our  rooms.

The chocolates and biscuits in this bag
disappeared VERY quickly!

Jim's room is immediately opposite
the common room

And this is the view from my room:

Morning coffee view

Yesterday was election day in Australia. I could have voted early in Ballarat but time got away so I went to vote in the Marlo polling station, in the cute primary school, which has chickens as well, I assume, as students and teachers. Before that I went for an exploratory, early morning wander along the Snowy River beach road.

The Marlo Hotel, which does magnificent food, mysteriously does not do any kind of breakfast for its residential guests. So we went to the (only) local cafe, which is also a tackle shop. 

And then, at Freyja's request, we went to Lakes Entrance for the day. And a lovely day it was too:

My feet went in the ocean

If you look carefully behind Freyja
you will see some brave (or foolhardy!)
people actually going into the ocean.

Frannie, Freyja and Simon

On the way from Orbost to Lakes Entrance there are the remains of an old wooden trestle railway bridge (there is a bigger trestle bridge closer to Lakes Entrance which we will collect on our way home). I am very glad we are not on a train going over the trestle bridge now! I am equally glad that they are planning to restore it. The cows went under it. They also went under the road through a cow tunnel to the paddock on the other side

Looks safe enough from this angle ....

There's a modern causeway behind the trestle bridge

Glad I'm not on a train at this point!

It's a beautiful morning today. We have a new government on its way in Australia. Simon has gone for a riverside run. We will go for brunch at the cafe and then, I think, we might go exploring locally. There are lots of coastal and riverside walks hereabouts. And the hotel has lost its electricity supply. I hope the cafe has power or we may be going further afield for brunch!