Getting a little too close to Nature...

Look what a hornet has done to my Fra Angelico.

Follow up...

To find out more about my discovery that a room full of frail oldies can be a true treasure trove, check out my post at Chocolate Box writers.

Meeting a precious reader...

This was Phyllis, at the local Nursing Home yesterday... such a joy to meet a loyal reader and her friends.

Three sisters...

My sister, Marg, has already posted this on Facebook, so I thought I may as well add it here. Ahh... those days of innocence. Barb (10) Marg (6) Liz (8). And we were all wearing dresses our mum made. She sewed all our clothes.

Happy ducks...

A Special Valentine's Day Launch!

The Chocolate Box Writers is a brand new blog launching today for all lovers of Harlequin Romance. This is a blog run by a group of authors who met while writing for Harlequin and who have remained friends while expanding their writing repertoire.
At today's launch, there'll be masses of giveaways and prizes, so come on over and see what it's all about.
I'll be blogging there every second Monday, but I'll still be here for my old friends...

Our little flock is growing...

We now have four hens and three ducks... two white Sussex hens called Yellow Legs and Darling (Darling was the first to lay, but she's since gone broody in the heat) and two smoky (one grey, one black) hens called Dark and Stormy, who haven't started laying yet.


With the arrival of the ducks, we decided we needed to fence all the birds in, so they're in the orchard and there's a wild woodsy corner with plenty of shade and shelter for them, as well as their coops. I miss having the hens around the house where they felt more like pets. I saw a book last week on keeping hens with photos of people hugging and nursing their birds and I totally get that. But the mess on the verandah was not so sweet. We didn't want to have to fence in our verandah, so we've fenced in the birds, and the fruit trees will now have the added benefit of manure.

Yesterday, the ducks discovered their water tank for the first time and the ecstatic diving and swimming and splashing that went on was a wonderful thing to watch.

Oh, and on the weekend a new little pig arrived, a little black heriloom variety, and six year old Lilly, who was visiting, named her Thunder.

Elliot has also prepared two vegetable plots that we plan to plant up in March, so we're taking another step towards a measure of self sufficiency. Can you guess what our favourite TV shows might be? River Cottage and Gourmet farmer anyone?

Eat local... low food miles etc...

Our son Richard and his little family came for the weekend. Lunch on Saturday for the grownups was simply divine -- these crabs that Rich caught in the creek at the end of his street, with a range of dipping sauces (have you tried wasabi mayo?) and ciabatta bread from Mareeba. Oh, and champagne, of course...

Best laid plans...

I was going to start blogging regularly and then it fell off the rails. I could try to blame Cyclone Oswald. When the roads were cut, we were stuck "camping" in our empty Townsville apartment (we'd been getting it ready for fresh renters). But it was lovely to reconnect with our Townsville view.

I could also blame the disgustingly hot weather we had after the cyclone, which left me lying around useless most afternoons. Or I could blame revisions deadlines, but I think the truth is, I got out of the habit, so I'm really planning to address that.
The good news is, Home Before Sundown, my second single title for Penguin Australia and a sequel to Zoe's Muster, has the editorial thumbs up and will be released in late July. This was the MS after a final read-through...

 I'm now wondering what the cover might be like. Ooh, the suspense.
Also, I don't think I've mentioned here that Zoe's Muster is now available globally on amazon. here are links to US and UK and France and Italy.
In more domestic news, we've added three ducks to our flock, and all the birds are now fenced off in the orchard. They were a little too fond of our verandah. One hen, Darling, has gone off the lay in the hot weather, but with three little visitors this weekend, there should still be eggs to collect.
Back soon. Promise.