For the past couple of weeks, as I’ve headed up to the bakery from the house early in the dark mornings, it’s been to the sound of magpies caroling along in the pine trees, hours before sunrise. While no one here has been swooped yet, they are obviously gearing up for spring nesting and protecting duties. I love magpies, and their warbling must be one of the most beautiful sounds, and very calming at that time of the morning!!
We have our first few bulbs flowering, and the Japanese plums are almost in blossom, the days are really getting longer and dare I say it, warmer. But the most exciting thing Stella and I saw recently on the dam, during a walk to open a gate for the cows…… Unbeknownst to us all, a pair of swans has nested in the reeds and rushes somewhere around the edge of the dam, and, we have a cygnet! Only one, but we hadn’t expected any, especially as we’d spent a lot of time fencing down around the dam late last autumn too, and hadn’t even seen the swans much either. So it was a lovely surprise. Hopefully it can stay safe from foxes, as there seem to be plenty of them around at the moment.
You have to look hard, it’s a long way across the dam, but the cygnet is there.
In the bakery, things have been busy, with markets on most weekends over winter, and deliveries around to all our lovely stockists. We live in a beautiful part of the world here in South Gippsland, and driving around delivering bread is such an awesome way to see it. I love the way the hills are never the same; the light and sky is always changing, every angle gives a different view and there’s forever a new vista or valley between the trees that you’ve not seen before. I’ve lived away from here for most of my life, after moving from Bena with my family when I was five, but it has always felt like home. We are enjoying making our own home here so much; there are challenges and much hard work, as in every way of life, and we just get so much pleasure from being here and doing what we do. A sense of peace, despite running round like a headless chook as I do half the time!