our winter solstice

The big night of the big bonfire.

We had made the precaution of notifying "Vic Fire" about our imminent bonfire,

but we had forgotten about letting the local fireys know about the blaze

and so we did have a visit from the boys in the red truck.

After they said they had been looking for us all over Eltham,

they finally left. as we had done the right thing

and registered the fire in the first place and they did say

"have a good one!"

Also as a regular event on the shortest day we have a requirement ,

that you have to wear shorts if you come.

Lucky for us it was quite a mild night.

And so with the intense heat of the fire you could have your coat off and still be warm.

We made homemade potato wedges and treacle toffee and a wee dram of brandy

to keep us warm.

the open road

We drove up to Mildura and beyond to Renmark for the funeral of Sonia Skipper.
Sonia died at the age of ninety just after her birthday.There was a ceremony at the graveside and then we headed back to the house for tea and sandwiches and wine and beer and amazing stories and family feuds.

Eight hours in the car watching the landscape of Victoria pass by .It was really hard to take photos as we were driving they all came out blurry. So we stuck to photos on the day.

Sonia's house was a typical Mallee house with very wide verandahs

to keep the house oh so cool in the sizzling heat of Summer.

All the rooms inside had paintings by sonia and the Skipper clan and friends.

The mighty Murray wound its way around the landscape and we caught glimpses as we drove then back to Melbourne via Adelaide.

We had an overnight stop to see the Rhodin sculptures at the Adelaide gallery.Then back on the road for pizza in Murraybridge and a brown stay in a brown motel in Bordertown.

Then mile after mile of ploughed fields ready for the wheat to sprout

and the whole western wheat belt to grow ,to feed a nation