LOOKING BACK AT THE AUTUMN THAT'S BEEN
Summer here in Western Australia was a doozy with many, many days that were 35°C and hotter, so it was a relief when Autumn brought its cooler days, and a great deal of relief from the heat. I love Autumn (and Spring) for their milder weather and how much easier it is to be out and about when it's not too hot or wet.It's been three months since I wrote my last update and today I wanted to share a few of the highlights from time with family, time at home, and time on holidays, and I hope you'll enjoy them too.....
EASTER
Easter was a lovely time of visits from the family - and it also tied in with our daughter's 35th birthday (where has the time gone?!) I had fun making some cupcakes to celebrate and she got to blow out some candles. Our son and his family came down a couple of days later, so fun with the grandgirls and also a little bit of lego building - our son is the King of Lego and he was encouraging me to try my hand at it. I find it interesting that I love jigsaws, but I'm not a huge fan of Lego.
MOTHERS DAY
This year we headed up to the city to see our kids and grandgirls for Mothers Day. I rarely get to spend Mothers Day with the family because it often falls close to Easter (when they've just visited) or they have other commitments around that time. Serendipitously it fell into place to get together this year and I felt very spoilt and special. They took me out for lunch, bought me flowers, and we then spent some extra time over coffee out in the sunshine at our son's place. It just filled my heart with love to know that my kids are doing well and were happy to make the day special for me. I thought I'd share my flowers because they were so pretty.
OTHER NEWS
Earlier in the year my mum moved down to be closer to my brothers and me - which is a really smart move as she gets older, and allows us to spend more time with her. In the process she shared a little of her windfall from the sale of her house with the family. I'm not great at spending money, but after sharing some of it with our kids, my husband upgraded his motorbike (his old one was 20 years old) and I decided that I would change the colour of my car. I wrote about my car getting wrapped a few weeks ago but thought I'd add a pic of the mighty motorbike and my shiny new looking car for those who missed my post.
BLOGGING
My blogging friend Denyse changed her blog site over to Substack several months ago and inspired me to start my own Substack page where I'm now linking my blog posts each week. Substack reminds me of what blogging used to feel like ten years ago when I first started - lots of support and enthusiasm.
And if you missed any of my posts and want to catch up, here's a few of
my favourites from the last few months:
- The Difference Between Simplicity and Scarcity
- Roots And Fruit - Doing All Things In Love
- Becoming Who You Truly Are
DABBLING
Retirement has given me the time to dabble in lots of things and I've returned to one of my favourites - collage. I picked up a book of underwater diving photos that made beautiful backdrops to cut up and turn into mermaid collages. They were the perfect way to finish off my book of collages and I've shared them below for those who like to see what I've been up to.
HOLIDAYING
Several years ago we discovered the joy of holidaying on
Rottnest Island
- a lovely little island off the coast of Western Australia reached by
daily ferries, with no private cars allowed - just lots of bicycles
available to hire. We hadn't been able to book in for the last few years
due to the increase in visitor numbers after covid changed how people
holidayed. This year we got lucky and jagged a few days in May - our
holiday there starts today, and I'll soon be sitting on our balcony
enjoying the sea breezes and planning where to ride to for lunch - I
can't wait! We both love visiting and it's been fabulous to be able to
return at last. I just hope the weather doesn't leap into Winter while we're there...
I haven't taken any photos yet, but below are a few from previous
visits - the native quokkas are a joy and are a cute way to wrap up this
post....
AND AN AUTUMN EQUANIMITY QUOTE TO FINISH WITH
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| via marcandangel |
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An awesome autumn indeed. Enjoy your time at Rotty ... (And I can see your smile in your kids ...)
ReplyDeleteThanks Jo - and yes they do smile similarly to me don't they? I wonder if they know? :D And Rottnest is proving to be lovely so far - rain just started, but the day's been fine and Autumn-y - much better than anticipated, and lovely to be back.
DeleteHi Leanne - Glad to see you spend some quality time with family. Regarding substack, I have heard about it. It looks nice, clean interface.
ReplyDeleteHi Pradeep - I live for bursts of family time - it makes my heart very happy. Substack is a nice place to be atm and I seem to be gaining followers - which is also a nice change to just blogging where things have been gradually getting quieter.
DeleteSome magical memories made there Leanne. loved the happy snaps and you had an awesome Autumn of family catch ups. Those granddaughters are growing up and it’s easy to see why you would relish your times with them. Your shout out
ReplyDeleteAbout Substack as a medium was appreciated. It is a simpler way for me to stay connected and write in line too. Enjoy your stay at Rottnest. From what I remember you have both enjoyed your times there! Denyse x
Hi Denyse - Rottnest is proving to be as lovely in almost-winter as it was in Summer. Different, but still very relaxing and beautiful. It's nice to be away without being too far or gone for too long. I'm still not interested in getting on a plane for a long flight yet. And yes, Substack is proving to be a great spot for a fresh take on blogging isn't it? Thanks for inspiring me to take the leap over there. x
DeleteEnjoy your holiday! That looks like such a beautiful island to explore and I love that there are no cars to worry about. I enjoy puzzles much more than Legos too; though with 3 boys I definitely spent plenty of time working on Legos too.
ReplyDeleteHi Jo - the holiday is going well - quite different to a summer holiday, but still lovely. As far as Lego goes, I think I'll leave it to the kids and stick with my jigsaws :)
DeleteLeanne, what a beautiful family you have. Having their attention, for whatever period of time is priceless. Now, off to an island, with bike rides, sunsets, and peaceful moments - living the life you've earned.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much - I do love my kids and the lives they've created for themselves. It's also lovely when they take the time to share some of their world with us - I'm always so grateful that they turned out to be such lovely humans! And Rottnest is just lovely - more overcast and cooler than when we've been before, but still really restful and pretty.
DeleteEnjoy your time away - that island sounds delightful. I really like that last quote... Strength on the inside is definitely what I need to work on!
ReplyDeleteHi Pat - it's lovely over here and a nice change from our usual life routines. We hadn't been away for a while, so it's really good to break up our week like this. Glad you enjoyed the quote too x
DeleteA ovley happy update Leanne! Enjoy your time away, I want to go there one day soon!
ReplyDeleteThanks Deb - it's a lovely spot - and you'd love it. Makes a change from me always admiring you riding on your Tumba Track :)
DeleteEnjoy your time away. I can't wait to visit Rottnest next January.
ReplyDeleteHi Laura - you'll love Rottnest in the summer - just glorious! And the ferry trip over is a lot smoother than in winter for those of us who are prone to sea sickness.
DeleteHi, Leanne - I am glad that you are having an awesome Autumn and the your trip to Rottnest has started out so well. Very well deserved! Please continue to keep us posted.
ReplyDeleteHi Donna - I added a few pics on my Facebook page - I'm all about "less is more" when it comes to holiday snaps - I'm looking forward to following your Camino adventures next week - hopefully the weather will be lovely and Richard won't break anything this time! x
DeleteSuch a heart-warming post. I was soaked in the goodness of your anecdotes.
ReplyDeleteYour blog is always joy-inspiring, Leanne.
Hi Natasha - thank you so much for your lovely comment. I enjoyed pulling together a few of my joyful moments from the year so far. It's nice to share some highlights without overkilling with information! :) x
DeleteHi Leanne, I found some information about your son online (possibly a couple of years ago?) and shared with my family. Yes, ‘King of Lego.’ Wow, I can see how your granddaughters are getting older in these photos. Two cuties! New info (learned on fb) and fascinating for me about your car getting wrapped. It looks great! I will check out your Substack page. As you know, I am a huge fan of marcandangel. Always nice to connect with you, Leanne. xx Erica
ReplyDeleteHi Erica - thanks so much for checking in. Yes he definitely loves his Lego and if you want to keep up with any of his stuff just google jazlecraz and it all pops us - including a video he did recently for his latest project. The car wrapping has been fun and given my little car a second life - it's pretty without being over the top. Life is good - as you would have reminded yourself I'm sure while you were cruising with the family around the Artic. :) x
DeleteI'm glad you got to spend so much quality time with family this autumn, Leanne. It's such a treat, isn't it? Thanks for sharing your mermaid collages with us. They are truly beautiful. And finally, enjoy your upcoming holiday! Hopefully, Mother Nature will cooperate.
ReplyDeleteHi Christie - time with family is my love language I'm sure! It never ceases to warm my heart when I'm with my husband and kids and grandgirls. Thank you for your kind words about my collages - I liked that they were pretty and a change to what I'd done in the rest of the book. Rottnest was lovely and the weather was better than I'd hoped for - a bit of rain here and there, but lots of sunshine for getting out and about in.
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