kareina

Just a week or two back the two creeks which intersect here on the property of clovis_t parents were close to dry, with only little pockets of water here and there connected by a thin trickle of flow, and occasional larger pools behind obstructions, like the ford his dad built to more easily drive over to the vineyard side of the creek. Today both creeks are high and flowing fast--with the water-level in the above mentioned pool full right up to the very top of the ford (which is generally a dry ford year-round, but has sufficent pipes in it to let water flow through, even when the creek is very low). Walking down the road this afternoon I noticed the sounds of happy insects teaming with life. Probably a normal occurrence for most of you, but please keep in mind that I was not wearing my hearing aids at the time, so the sound must have been quite loud indeed. The grass in all the near by fields has returned to a proper, green state, and seems to have given up the summer-brown colour it had started to take on (and we are very fortunate in this valley--most of the rest of Tassie the grass goes fully brown for much of the summer, rather than just hinting at it like it does here). I was struck once again by what a pretty place this is. It lacks the grandure of the mountains, but these gentle rolling hills, with forests at the top and fields with the occasional grazing horse, cow, sheep, or alpacas, or gardens or vineyards and scattered houses, some of which are rather cute, are still quite lovely, and such a peaceful place to live. We are only a 25 minute drive from the capitol city, yet it feels like we are out in the country. After my short walk I went out to the paddock and picked some blackberries, which I've enjoyed with some cream, and I am content that life is good. I've made a bit of progress on my uni work today, and have decided not to try to get a ride into the dance workshop this afternoon, so I should get a fair bit more done this afternoon. Some of my friends are enjoying their first signs of spring--me, I'm enjoying the signs of the land recovering from summer's damage!

The tree outside my window is lovely this time of year. While some of the leaves cling stubbornly to green, others are yellow, and still others a very pretty red. I rather like this tree, I've forgotten the name of the variety, but it is something related to a maple--the leaves are five-pointed, but much skinnier than the maple tree out in the back yard, whcih has already lost all of its leaves for the year. As I recall, this tree was the last of the imported trees in the area to lose its leaves last year, and it even managed to hold on to a few, lonely, leaves all winter. (Australian trees don't lose their leaves seasonally--they drop a few here and there all year, but don't ever go naked.)

This morning was spent on countless errands in town, and while we made it home a bit past mid-day, I've spent the time since catching up on mail, updating financial records in the computer (that many stops equals *how much* spent!?!), and reading LJ. Now it is suddenly 4pm, and I really ought to quit playing and pick up my uni work for the day (fortunately, the past several days have been quite productive in terms of both uni work, and getting out for reasonable-length walks).