Snow Day!

Phillip took this.
He's the only consistently early riser in our family.

For the first time since I moved here, we had snow at our elevation. Snow that STUCK. About two beautiful white fluffy inches of it.

Apparently, it was the first time in ten years that its snowed all the way down to sea level.

Phillip had the day off work, and we dropped any sort of schedule we keep to just enjoy the rarity of the snow.

We started out by putting on boots and coats while we were still in our pyjamas, before breakfast, and ran around outside enjoying Simon's enthusiasm over seeing snow for the first time he can remember.

After breakfast, we bundled up and were outside right away again. We were outside as long as we could stand. Snowballs were thrown, snow was piled up, we practised running and sliding on it, and Phillip even made a little snowman. We enjoyed every moment outside until little fingers and even big toes were red and nearly too cold to feel anything.

Inside again, warm with our roaring fire, I made the boys some hot coco to warm up. Simon's first introduction to "hot choc".

It is REALLY coming down!

Even Ippo wanted to come out and play in the snow
Side note: This is a really awesome cat

We have no snow shovels. Simon made do.

The beginnings of a snowman

Simon's snowman.
Or snow-pile.

How many snowballs can you hold?

Phillip's finished snowman

Warmin' up with hot coco

Oh yeah, that's some good stuff!

I am... very behind in blogging. And emailing.

I'm sure I have plenty of legit excuses, but really, I'm mostly really lazy about those things lately. Also, somewhat addicted to Pintrest.... If you've never heard of it that's probably a good thing (I console myself with the knowledge that I have tried at least most of the recipes I have found through it).

But hmmm.... so many mildly interesting things have been happening lately.

Firstly, the family over the hill that employ my husband and are also fairly good friends of ours just had their ninth child! The second girl. She's a quiet little thing (at least the few times I've visited) and, well, like most babies I suppose. (Really I am SO downplaying this because I think she's adorable and even though her mother seems to think that when I hold her and put her to sleep it's some sort of pain for me to keep her that long, I could do it for hours. She's just precious. As with the rest of her siblings, I'm completely in love with her). Now that they've got a routine back in place, I'm back to going up Fridays to spend a short amount of "woman" time with mamma and then play with the kiddos while she rests. At the moment, we're reading Eight Cousins, which we started months ago before girl number 2 came along. I... persuaded them to choose that one because it was about a young girl with seven cousins, all boys, and I thought they might find it amusing. And while it might be more tuned to female readers, the boys seem to like it so far, too.

Secondly, the OLYMPICS! We don't have a television. And things like Hulu and most other internet-aired television shows only work in the U.S. And I really wanted to watch the Olympics this year. Phillip knew this months before we even got married, and I reminded him frequently that I wanted to watch them this whole year we have been married. Why did I want to watch, you might wonder? Well, it's the Olympics, and it seems you just kind of HAVE to watch something, at least in part, that only occurs every four years. Also, Michael Phelps. I love the swimming.

Well, Phillip found a way that we pay a small fee and get to connect to a U.K. server and watch the Olympics through the BBC online. Or something to that effect. We still haven't watched most of it live, because of the time difference, and when things have to buffer it's really annoying. But it's the Olympics. And I got to sit, with my Australian husband, and watch U.S. swimmers just cane Australian swimmers. (Neither of us is overly patriotic, but this little rivalry we get going while we watch has been kind of fun). And... I still haven't gotten fully caught up on the events I'd like to watch. It involves our downloads and them being used up and our internet speed dropping back down to basically dial-up. It's annoying and seems primitive to me, but oh well. I'll see Phelps kick major booty late, but at least I'll get to see it.

Also gymnastics and judo. Possibly track and field. And basketball. I've really missed basketball.

Then there is the weather. It's been.... cold. But then I read some novel that takes place during a Russian winter and I'm ashamed that I can barely handle what I've begun to call "perpetual February" weather. It's cold, damp, and cloudy. With occasional bursts of sun and warmth, but mostly it's just been cold and damp. And it's been like this, it seems, almost the whole year I've lived here.

Yes! I have now officially been living here in Tasmania for a year!

And that, is the end of my lazy update. Here's to hoping it's the end of my laziness.

Frosted

Yesterday I woke up (at 8mumblessomething) to a freezing bedroom.

Typical, since we heat the house with a wood heater and, because of the way the house is built, the heat doesn't reach the back rooms very well.

But then I opened my curtain and squeeled with glee.

There was frost everywhere! It's... the closest thing to snow we'll get at this elevation. Or something along those lines. But frost! Beautiful, fully-coating, white frost! And a most beautiful sunny day too!

I jumped in my gum boots (still in my pajamas which, as cold as it gets, consists of many layers of warm clothing) and took off for a quick walk outside to snap some pictures and just enjoy the actual winterness of it, since my previous experiences of winter here have been filled with almost nothing but cold rain and damp air.

I felt like I should run inside and turn on Christmas music and start baking cookies. My seasons feel so messed up at the moment, seeing as how they're literally backwards from what I'm used to.

Our view of Mt. Roland from the chicken shed
(The house is somewhere hidden to the left)

Fall raspberries
Not nearly as good as summer ones, but still fresh,,
And the ones left are attracting some really pretty birds

My frosted rosemary bush

The neighbors horses. Some of them anyway.
They loved the cold morning and were quite frisky.
(Except for in this photo...)

Our landlord's cabin (he lives just behind us behind a copse of trees.)
His view of the mountain is spectacular.

As the sun rose higher, the frost very slowly melted from the grass and made quite a romantic mist, while still leaving trees and flowers beautifully frosted. I felt as frisky as a foal walking around the small bit of property in the cold. It was just wonderful. And even better, to come back to the toasty (front of the) house where my husband had stoked the fire before leaving for work at 6AM.

With this Christmas wish is missed, the point I could convey...

Ten more days til Christmas!

And I have never been more disorganized than I am this year.

Usually I have all my shopping (the little that I have to do) done, at the very least, 2 weeks before Christmas. Everything is wrapped, sitting hidden in my closet so the cats can't play with it. I'll be working on making Christmas cookies to take to work, or just to have around the house because I love cookies. And planning out the gingerbread house that I've been making (usually with help of sister or cousin) the past few years.

Here, mostly because of the lack of car, I have nothing done. With the exception of a collection of very different candy than we have back home for a gingerbread house. No shopping done (my husband and I haven't even really made lists, though we have vague ideas of what to get each other) nothing bought for family members here, and nothing done for family members back in the States (though that I can blame on certain people never telling us what they wanted).

I'm still searching online for things, but it's a bit hard to do when shipping anything here sometimes costs almost as much, if not more, than the object being shipped. That, and the total lack of ideas of what to even get. So, family members, back home at least, might have to console themselves with "New Years gifts" instead.

As for cards, we haven't even been able to find nice ones to send out, either. That has more to do with my pickyness though. Don't want anything too campy (like multi-colored penguins and Santas prancing around with lots of glitter) or, well, that's about all we've found really. I'd much prefer something with, you know, Christ as it's center, since that's what I like to celebrate Christmas for (that, and family. Can't forget family). I prefer to celebrate "the day You were born to die".

Oh! And decorations? HA! For one, it's summer here, so it just feels plain odd to be thinking of Christmas. The locals here are upset because it's too cool for summer so far. And Phillip isn't as Christmasy as I am. And I'm cheap and don't want to waste money on a crappy looking fake tree and cheap ornaments (I prefer ornaments that have some meaning, like childhood handmade ones, or gifts). So this is all I've done. Phillip is quite happy with it, since he loves to snack on the candy canes.

And that cute little guy? Our "new" kitten! Meet Indiana Jones (aka: Indie)! He was the first kitten "our" cat brought to us. The rest were taken to the RSPCA, but we kept "the bestest" of them. He's still super purry and playful and friendly.

This is not Halloween

(Try singing that to the tune from Nightmare Before Christmas, it makes more sense. I hope. In my head it still does at least)

They don't really do Halloween here in Australia.

Or at least they don't do it in Tasmania. I can't honestly speak for the rest of the country.

I'm not a HUGE Halloween fan, but I do love the general fall decorations, carving pumpkins, and dressing up to hand out candy to cute little kids (and lame older ones who can't be bothered dressing up). And the fun kiddie Halloween specials (It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!, Under Wraps, and Goosebumps. I still can't stand horror movies).

I did see SOME Halloween decorations go up around here. In... one.... house. And it was a very sad attempt.

They don't do Thanksgiving here, either (really, it's only an American holiday. And Canadian too for some reason?). So it's not exactly an atrocity that stores started putting out all their Christmas gear last month. I mean everything. Ornaments, fake trees, those little gift baskets of stuff you get for someone you don't know what to get a gift for.

I do really miss my typical fall (minus the cold, though I COULD go for a crunchy leaf and a caramel apple and apple cider doughnut from Jonamac Orchard).

A Change in Seasons

I've grown up within an hour and a half of Chicago, Illinois my whole life, 26 years.

I've now been married for a month and have been living in Tasmania, Australia, for a little over a week.

The differences between here and there are both huge and small. One of the bigger ones at this time being the total switch in climates. Back in Illinois, just as I'd left, we were in the middle of a massive heat wave. Temperatures in the 90's nearly consistently from morning to night, and just becoming more and more humid.

Nearly my ideal type of weather.

Hear on the other side of the world, though, it's nearing the end of winter. Or so I'm told. the last week of July we arrived was the coldest (or second coldest) July on record. It's remained steadily cold here.

Now cold is somewhat relative, I suppose. Because my body was used to 90-plus temperatures, everything under 80 feels cool to me. So the temperatures here, anywhere between 50-30 degrees farenheight, have felt cold.

But cold compared to a Chicago winter? No. It's not cold.

It's a bit odd sitting at my kitchen table looking outside over horse pasture (not ours) while waiting for the reverse-cycle air conditioner (aka "heat pump) struggle to heat up the little bit of house we don't have blocked off by heavy curtins and doors, and eating my version of hot apple crisp for breakfast with hot, hot coffee. In August. And having it feel very natural.

I, however, am still trying to stay warm and not complain too much about how chilly, gray, raniy, and dreary it is, while knowing back home it's still hot and sunny.