This marri tree has been a companion on many walks in Kings Park. This morning was extra sweet, with the sun rising over the scarp and touching the leaves of this tree, one of my favourites:-)

Today Rob and I enjoyed having lunch in our lovely garden. Fi, Rob and I have put a lot of work into it, feeding it and especially watering it through the hot summer days.

Despite the warmth in the air the feeling is alive, and wattle birds were busy picking insects from the leaves of the furry woolly bush over by the fence.

It’s really lovely just to be here:-)

If you look closely, you can see the morning sunlight reflected on the leaves of the gum tree. As they wave around in the breeze, the patterns of light are uncannily like the light on the ocean. When we walked in Bold Park this morning, the first time since September, this was a source of joy that I have sorely missed.

During our 40 minute walk (another milestone for me) on the uneven track, we were blessed to see a flock of rainbow bee-eaters enjoying morning snacks and training their young as they wheeled around the trees. This time when they gather to prepare for their migration north is always a time of joy. It makes me restless: perhaps it awakens my hunter-gatherer roots. Sometimes I wonder how far we have come in our human journey, and if we really have moved on from our migratory beginnings…

Just when every plant in our garden was considering turning up its toes in the relentless heat, Cyclone Iggy gave us all a lovely gift. Instead of crossing the mid-west coast in a flurry of huge winds, she came all the way down the west coast to our neck of the woods, and crossed the coast last night in a gentle patter of rain, all night. So this morning when I walked around to check on our little beings, they had literally opened themselves up to this delightful gift and I could have sworn that they were smiling:-)

This morning we went for a walk along the Nedlands foreshore. Rob rides his bike here often, and yesterday he enjoyed a flock of rainbow bee-eaters as they gathered before migrating north. He took his camera this morning in case they were still there, but sadly they weren’t. However we were intrigued that a small flock of corellas and a small flock of pink and grey galahs were intermingling on the grass as they enjoyed an early morning snack. In the trees and bushes flocks of tiny birds chattered. I recorded them on my iPhone.

We did a 50 minute walk, my longest yet since knee surgery, and these wild gifts made it extra special:-)

After the butcher bird family spent all of last week in the front yard, especially around the bird bath outside our study window when it was hot, they’ve moved out to our back yard (see the young’un above checking out one of the water bowls in an old tree stump in our back garden) and other gardens around ours. The parents certainly teach their young well!

This week we have wattle birds, magpies, a crow and a young kookaburra (see above) hanging around the bird bath.

Our garden is a place of gifts, including the new plants that we planted last spring. With watering each evening, they have survived summer so far:-)

And the daily visits from the red-tailed and white-tailed black cockatoos to feed in our many trees are a great source of joy:-)

Australia Day aka Elwyn’s birthday this year was a quiet one. The heat of 40 degrees every day for over a week has quietened everyone down, including us. So we had a quiet day at home in the aircon, apart from when we went to the local cinema to watch The Descendants in the aircon. Good story!

Tonight we walked up the road to join a few other local residents to watch the fireworks. As luck would have it the lightening arrived at the same time, so God and man joined in making a spectacular display. This photo from Matt Titmaniscaptures it beautifully.

“God’s fireworks” is the name given to lightening by a friend of ours:-)

It’s 40 degrees today in the shade, and the butcher bird family is keeping very close to the bird bath just outside our study window. Here is one of the parents with one of the young’uns:-)

View from Dusky Dolphin in Pig Trough as we enjoyed our drinks at the end of the day.

Yesterday was another mile-stone in the knee recovery journey. Not only did I walk all the way out the “Dusky Dolphin”, I also set up the cabin with our food and gear for overnight on the boat, got up to the bow for the first time since the first knee replacement in June, did the bow ropes when we left the pen (and dropped the boat hook overboard but the kind man on the boat opposite rescued it for me), with Rob got the boat here for the night, AND worked out how to get into our tiny bunk-room without hurting my knees (good thing I got a good bend in both knees!) so we could sleep together.

This morning the reward was being able to potter around the boat together while she was moored in this lovely place.

It’s a good weekend:-)

Well it mightn’t look like real bush, but compared to sitting around INSIDE nursing my knees, or conscientiously doing my rehab INSIDE, at least walking for half an hour this morning in Kings Park was OUTSIDE (in 30 degree heat!). Clockwise from top: Rob waiting (he’s done heaps of that the past year) in the avenue of gum trees that look out over the Swan River; bush around the fake granite rock garden; my faithful trekking pole resting against one of the gum trees where I enjoy a good leg muscle stretch after my walks. All favourite places and I am SOOOO very glad to be back in them:-)