Seasons

I find it very hard to choose my favourite season. Each has it’s own delights, or maybe it is that out here we really have seasons, unlike in Sydney where they all blur into one, sometimes a bit colder, sometimes hot and humid. Whereas in Yarrawonga, in the height of summer I find it impossible to imagine ever needing the wood fired stove and in Winter I wonder why we ever got air conditioning put in.

Each season is more dramatic than the next.

Summer

Summer brings out the wildlife. There are snakes, spiders, lizards, plus the usual band of marsupials which we share our land with. But there are also incredible sunsets and dramatic thunderstorms.

It is the time to work inside as it is way to hot to work outside until early evening has set in. We eat way too late so we can get the most out of the day, staying outside to work until the sun goes down, and then we think about dinner. One of my favourite things is to sit on the verandah and listen to a Summer storm pounding on the tin roof. Bliss.

Autumn

Autumn is where the trees prepare themselves for winter. We have many trees which take a dramatic turn in this season with a true variety of colours.

The liquid amber goes orange to red, the crepe myrtle vivid scarlet, the box elder and the chinese elm turn golden.

There is a slight chill in the air and the mornings are crisp and clear. The days are short, but stunning and there is still warmth to be had in the sun, as long as you can stay out of the wind.

Winter

Winter is our most productive time, as the sun is out, but it is cool and clear. This is the time to be carrying rocks, building walls, chopping down dead trees for firewood, anything which needs to be done outside. There is very little wildlife to speak of, except for the midnight raids on our flower garden by the wallabies and rabbits, so it is relatively safe outdoors. I love the bare branches on the trees against the clear blue skies. I love the crystals of frost, but most of all I love the fire. Nothing warms like a wood fired heater, and the smell when you step outside at night, to get a taste of the bracing air and the dazzling stars, is sublime.

Spring

At the moment our garden is preparing itself for Spring. Each plant after it’s long winter dormancy is setting little green buds which are about to pounce into bloom at any moment. There is a palpable sense of excitement in the air. And even though it is not quite technically Spring yet, we know that according everything except for the calendar, it is here already. The birds are back and paired off eyeing off potential nesting spots, some nights there are possums, wallabies, rabbits and kangaroos just hanging round the yard, more likely eating all the fresh green shoots and my flowers. It is a time of excitement and extraordinary beauty. But then again, each season is like that.