The road that runs alongside Bountiful has been closed for a long time due to the bushfires, but with the announcement that the bushfire season is finally behind us, it presented a safe opportunity for Cameron and I to take a drive and see the impact of the fire and the amazing job done by our RFS brigades to keep life and property safe.
The first thing that struck us was the resilience of the bush - blackened trees on all sides, but with the passage of weeks there was new growth abounding.
Random growths through charred bark was such a picture of resilience and hope.
It is the oddest sight - trees appear to have a green fuzz growing from their blackened trunks.
After the fire, firefighters described the land as a moonscape.
The rawness is being recovered by the relentless march of new life.
It is a stark and hopeful reminder that this fire season has passed. I couldn't fail to miss that comparison - that the current crisis our whole world is facing is something too that one day will pass.
And not a day too soon.
When all of a sudden your world is turned upside down, you have no choice but to adapt. What have you done to keep yourself sane in this time of isolation? We have gone from a fire season where at any moment we could be called upon to evacuate away from our home, to a crisis where the opposite is required and we're evacuating to our homes.
Cam and I have been spending this time of isolation at Bountiful, where there is more than enough to keep us busy and well exercised. Cam has finished building our magnificent arbor, and I just had to share these two shots he took of the work in progress - once during the height of the bushfire season, and the second recently as he put the final timbers on.
I have also planted a row of heucheras, now that I know they like our climate and the position. I had a few different varieties growing in front of my verandah that were steadily being swallowed up by rampant seaside daisies, so I transplanted them into this long bed and put some new ones in between.
My hope is that they will thrive and eventually provide a mass of different coloured foliage in front of the camellia hedge we have planted. Cold climate gardening here at Bountiful is really a case of suck-it-and-see ... plant it and see if it grows and if you get a good result, then the following year you can make a bigger investment. So far, seaside daisies and heucheras are winners.
The ground here at Bountiful is such that as soon as we get some cold weather, we begin to see rocks breaking through the surface of the soil. As we have planted trees and hedging, we have had cause to dig up a lot of soil, and with that comes a lot of rock. We have ended up with quite a few rock piles around the place, and this week one of our tasks is to try and get a lot of that moved into the one location - making a pile of smaller, more gravel-like rock , as well as a pile of bigger rocks which we hope to use to fill gabion baskets - check out pics here to get an idea of what they're like. So, we've literally been picking up rocks and dumping them into our trailer, and then depositing them into two ever-growing piles closer to where the basket fence will be one day constructed. It's keeping us busy and fit.
Of course, what is going on in the world is never far away, and we keep up to date with the news and family from all the different locations in which they are residing. It does have a wartime feel, but how blessed we are to live in an era of social media where we can maintain contact with our loved ones so easily. Australians who lived through The Great Depression and the world wars were made of pretty tough stuff. We have much to be thankful for.
It is a tough time for the world, but I am finding peace in the rhythms and tasks of the day to day. I'm reading, cooking, washing, walking, dancing, listening to podcasts and drinking in the glory of the countryside around me. I'm enjoying the simple things, like the pair of ducks that waddle around like they own the place, too many cups of tea (if there is such a thing) and the time to experiment in my kitchen.
My beautiful daughter in law-to-be Ruth sent this home to me from the UK - my second bag of Spiced Imperial Tea.
Our church cannot meet physically but we are still coming together online at 10am on Sundays - and that brings home to us how much we are all in this together. Church, experienced in my pjs and rugged up on the lounge isn't too bad at all ... for now 😉.
It makes us all appreciate how much we have to be thankful for in our everyday lives and how blessed we will all be to get back to those lives when it is safe to do so.
As a woman who has battled anxiety for way too many seasons of life, I can identify the difference between that and the peace I have been feeling. Instead of being on the floor with anxiety during this time of worldwide crisis, I'm on my knees with thankfulness that my heart is at peace. There are lessons to learn in this season, and I don't want to miss a single one being wiped out with anxiety as I have been so many times in the past. I'm so grateful that God is a patient teacher.
What are you finding peace in right now?
If the weather doesn't allow me to go outside for a walk, I put on some music to get the steps happening and the heart rate pumping. Neil Diamond's Crunchy Granola Suite is a brilliant starting place to get moving as it puts a great big smile on my dial. Pure joy for me and a great anxiety buster!
Tracey 🎶🎶🎶
With thanks to the YouTube channel of fritz51348 for Neil Diamond - Crunchy Granola Suite 2008.
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