Summer appears to have ended early this year, leaving with a bang literally last night – a cracker of a storm with claps of thunder and bolts of lightning. I do love a good storm.

Autumn is upon us. The garden’s a riot of colour. The bees are buzzing, dozens of them, and butterflies are flitting from flower to flower, seemingly enjoying the roses and salvia as much as we do.

Paul’s begun the painting of the verandah posts, only one side completed yet with two more sides of the house still to complete. The remainder will wait now till we return from our cruise in early April.

My oh my! how time flies. It seems like only yesterday that Paul returned from the UK and we were finalising plans for a cruise, our first. We leave tomorrow. Our bags are packed, and my finger and toe nails have been painted. (I believe you do that sort of thing when you’re cruising.

Firstly, a night with Alice, Paul, Tim and Josh – always a pleasure. Oh, and while I remember – Josh’s band, Raksha, won a second Battle of the Bands last night, this time in Perth. The winnings – a fist full of dollars (but between six band members it won’t amount to much each). Also, I believe the recording of a single, plus some air time on one of the local radio stations. They go from strength to strength, showing a growing maturity of sound, and are accumulating a growing amount of accolades that reflect both their talent and dedication.

Then early Friday morning a flight to Sydney, and after a night there we’ll board the Celebrity Solstice for our nine night cruise in the South Pacific. I don’t know how internet access will be on board, but will definitely let you know what I think of cruising when I return, if not before. My friend Wendy assures me I’ll love it – that only boring people don’t enjoy cruising. I hope I don’t show myself up as being ‘boring’.