OUT ON THE WATER AGAIN

Press on. Obstacles are seldom the same size tomorrow as they are today.

Robert H. Schuller  

It is a beautiful sunny morning. My backyard is a sea of dappled greens. This is the view from my back deck.

This is the view from my back room.

My backyard is wild and woolly, full of Australian natives, many of them self seeded. I feel so lucky to have such a beautiful garden and such a lovely view.

Redundancy from my job as a teacher of teenagers with major behavioral problems meant that I was most probably going to have to sell my house. But thanks to my doctors' suggestions that I apply for a Disability Support Pension, plus some possible upcoming life changes it seems that I may be able to keep my house after all.

It makes a great home base for my 2 daughters who are grown and have left the nest. Because of their difficulties with clinical depression and anxiety, they are unable to work full time jobs and will probably always have to rent. Renting here in the city of Wollongong, Australia is not easy. There are not enough rental properties to go around and my daughters have had to move on a number of occasions owing to the property they are renting being sold. They both have partners and are very independent but I am thankful that as long as I have this house they won't be homeless.

P:-) has had his boat in dry dock for quite a whole undergoing repairs and several coats of paint. Yesterday we took it out on Lake Illawarra, a stone's throw  from P:-)'s house, and decided to try our luck at fishing.

We set off from the boat ramp at Berkeley Harbor. There are always plenty of pelicans hanging around in wait for fish scraps.

It was a mild, overcast day which made it ideal for not getting sunburnt.

It was very relaxing out on the water.

We had a feast of plums.

(I love the colour of the plum against the lovely new paint work.)

And I managed to catch a bream which was far too small for anything, but still fun to catch.

P:-)'s agapanthus are looking great.

 

Mine on the other hand have failed to flower at all - the first time this has happened in 30 years. My poor old agapanthus patch is totally devoid of flowers or buds.

Every year  my agapanthus flower without fail - until this year. Agapanthus are the sort of flowers that you plant and forget. In the past I have forgotten some, and left them outside in a card board box and they still flowered! So I don't know what has happened this year.

I gave  P:-) his  agapanthus  a few years ago. They were from my garden - the same stock as mine. I have never thinned mine out - perhaps they are just too tightly packed. I must see about thinning them out.

This cicada landed at my front door this morning. Usually they are black but this one is very green and yellow. Isn't it beautiful!

Interesting sites

1. 

There is more to life than possessions.

Photo source

Nobody really believes possessions equal joy. Click here to read all about it.