Summer

Beautiful Blackwood trees in flower, this time of year they look so desperate for water, but of course they are in our forest so out of reach for hand watering. Blackwoods are indigenous to this area, but they seem more at home in the Otways or Tasmania, maybe when the drought is over they will be more happier.

This has been the spot where we have lived in the garden all summer. This Flowform( I will use that word loosely, as it is not what would be called a true flowform) was built on site by an artist in Castlemaine. I think he was here everyday for 6 months, he became one of the family.

The water rushes through the pods, and swirls around,spiralling down, creating chaos. The children sail their hand made boats, dam the walls with rocks, watch the water spill over the sides, and build little fairylands.

Water, that magical substance, where would play be without it.

We have started the tree house in the forest, I should tell you though, that when I say forest I mean our boundary native trees that Dan and I planted the month we moved into our new home, nine years ago, all 2000 of them, no bigger than a hammer head.

When I am talking to people and refer to the trees as the forest, they always look around and say, where?. So even though we think it is a forest, technically speaking it might be an exageration if you were thinking of 100 year old redwoods!

Middle and third boys wanted grass seed catchers( um, I can't think of their real name, do they have a real name, anyone?) like their big brother, so they were quickly made, whilst the Ute was been filled with tools.

Whenever I have had a baby, everyone always say's ' Your children all look alike, like peas in a pod'. But I could never see it.

I do now.