Time flies so fast, and now October is here, with 2024 al...
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Time flies so fast, and now October is here, with 2024 already three-quarters gone. Looking back on September, I can hones...
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Like many of you, my family are scattered around the globe. I doubt anyone in the world was unaffected by this year.
A year fraught with so much pain, fear and loss by so many people; I feel the need to share, not the sad times myself and my family faced, rather those magic things both large and small -- those which brought us joy.
At the beginning of 2020 my daughter and her partner bought their first home together. They were so excited. Cornwall where they live in the UK is a beautiful part of the world. With her partners family living in Cornwall too, they decided this would be the perfect place to settle and grow their family.
Move in day was on again/off again, because of restrictions, and many things came into doubt, yet they successfully moved into their home a couple of months ago. My two girls are now enjoying all the ups and downs of a first home.
Then there was Airbnb.
Airbnb managed our cancellations with aplomb and not one of my guests suffered financially, and for this I was tremendously grateful -- as you're all aware, many other companies around the world basically up and kept their customers money. Not our Airbnb, they gave every cent back. Not least their own fee's.
Airbnb handled this and other unprecedented situations so well, I'm proud to continue on with the platform. Especially as they continue to support me with how best to safely continue maintaining my, now open, listing.
Sadly, other companies around the world showed no such decency. Unbelievably, many kept their customers money which had been entrusted to them for safe-keeping, until the date of travel or accommodation.
That's basically theft, and I'm so grateful that we weren't part of any such disgusting behaviour. Even though financially, it hurt.
Yet Airbnb gave us cash towards each of the cancellations we had suffered. I read in the community forum that many were not impressed by this, but for us, this was an unlooked-for blessing and once again, we were able to put a little food on the table.
We also learnt to plant and grow food again. This is not something I've done for years.
Now I look out the window and see the passionfruit hanging pendulantly in the breeze, waiting to ripen.
Not all the seeds I planted nor all the plants I bought, survived or took.
However, we have strawberries, tomatoes, rhubarb, kale, cucurbits -- both sweet and savoury and so many other leafy greens I planted, that we're looking at a great harvest -- so much so that I'm looking forward to sharing much of it with our neighbours.
This year I also did something I have long wanted to do. I built my first apiary (bee home) and obtained my first nuc or nucleus of about 250 bees. Most of them young and much of it unmatched brood. This hasn't been a fabulous year to do so, as there is little flower in bloom. We've had a rather strange winter, much of it spring like, with our actual spring being quite barren. However, I am aware I will eventually obtain that golden liquid called honey, and I am exceedingly excited by the prospect.
Each morning I check my hive and watch my bees come and go, bumbling along as they do, and occasionally checking me out -- "who is this large, lumbering being and what is it they're doing?" I imagine them saying as they buzz me and pipe their wee voices querulously.
What many of you may not be aware of, is I live in Western Australia in the Southern Hemisphere. So when COVID hit, our Premier (he's our head of state) closed the border. Further, anyone coming into our state was immediately placed into quarantine.
Luckily, just offshore of Perth, our capital city in Western Australia, is the beautiful resort island called Rottnest. You cannot live on this island, you can only visit or holiday upon it. Well, our Premier Mark McGowan decided Rottnest would be the perfect place to host our quarantine. Having to go into quarantine isn't a laughing matter, however, if you had to quarantine, what a perfect place to do so! Fresh sea air, self-contained accommodations. I haven't been to Rottnest Island since I was a teenager, but I remember it well to this day.
Currently as I sit here, the sky is so blue, we just had a couple of days of light rain which, for us, is always a blessing at his time of year. Spring is nearly over and the hubster has already attended five grass fires and one property fire. We've been told our summer will be a wet one, and for this we will be most grateful.
With 2020 coming to a close, I wonder what the New Year has in store for us. Hopefully a better rapport with the rest of the world; a vaccine safe for all; tourism to be better everyone, including how we transport our people en masse. I look at the new ideas some plane manufacturers are thinking of providing for long-hail flights and can only hope they're brought in soon. The idea of a lay-down flat seat in economy, which is one idea I read up on, is something I think we can all be excited about.
For the future, myself and my family are determined to hunt for the silver linings in every cloud. The glass may carry 500 mls and only have 250 mls of water available, but it is drinkable, and the rest is oxygen -- the basics have been met and so long as we have those we can continue on.
For you and yours I wish you all the very best. That your life and those you love can turn the corner and leave 2020 behind carrying only the best of memories with you -- I know deep in my heart, 2021 promises to be so much better.
@Helen427 Sanctuary is on the banks of the Avon River in Toodyay and we’re blessed to have a winter creek running through the property also.
So our bee’s forage mainly on the bottlebrush, wattles and eucalyptus on the property, on the river and creek banks 
We’re also surrounded by wheat farms - this is the wheatbelt.
The lavenders and rosemaries we have in the garden aren’t sufficient to the needs of the bee’s as they don’t flower for long enough. The poppies, iris, bulbs and one rose we have also wouldn’t be enough for them.
I have begun planting up bee friendly, however it is a struggle to keep water up to everything. So it has to all be native.
We have the Italian bee, and a sweeter and more gentle bee I’ve yet to meet - although our blue banded bee that’s native to the area is not just gorgeous to look at, they’re also rather sweet.
