Before embracing the new year I have to linger a little on my delightful Christmas. (Isn’t this red tea-tree beautiful?) ‘It is now part of family tradition’ I was told by the 5-year old granddaughter that she stays with me and Santa miraculously finds her. And he did too and there were lots of presents, and an Elsa braid and loads of paper. And then the family gathered.

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I know I announced there would not be another newsletter until the Covid emergency was over. Well none of us imagined that we would still be waiting for that moment into November. Melbourne calendar milestones took place as never before – the Grand Final in Brisbane and Cup Day without crowds.

However, on schedule Spring has sprung and this morning I was overwhelmed with the beauty of the sun on the new leaves, the shine on the back of the young blue-tongued lizard that takes a sunbath on the paving, the flash of two rainbow lorikeets swinging in the golden blossoms of the grevillea, and then to cap it off I had a kookaburra sitting in an old gum tree just a few metres from my door. Well I tried to take pictures of all three wild creatures but they were too clever and at the first squeak of my door they were gone.

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