Happy Birthday to me..

It's that time of the year. I try and do the ambivalent thing to make it a regular everyday, but Mo and the girls make it very special... I'm so spoilt, but I'm not complaining! Here's Tia contemplating the cake she helped Mo bake. It was oozing chocolate and yummy. (Great sugar frosting Mo - ha ha! - inside joke), - and here's also one of all of us celebrating back home late night when we returned.

Halls Gap, The Grampians

It was a cold and wet 3 days, but we had a terrific time. A 5 hour drive North-West from Melbourne, the Grampians high country is where some of the classic vineyards are located. We had some real long hikes (hard slog) in the cold and wet - again, we went with some friends, stayed at a great cottage, big fireplace roaring full-on, wallabies hopping around in the woods behind, scones and cream in the quaint town of Halls Gap, shameless amounts of Pinot Noir... A grand time for all.

Botanical

So we went the girls and some friends to the Royal Botanical Gardens to see the changing autumn colors - it's always a special place. Some parts are a bit oh so Victorian and well groomed, (and especially since our tastes leans more towards the tropical jungle and less order), but it still is an incredible space with some trees and plants we're not so familiar with...







And then we ran into Costa Gregirou, hanging out, playing that little Greek mandolin-like instrument - just having fun and happy as a clam - and dispensing Philosophy 101....

Autumn's here...

And the temperature's dropping, the day's are getting shorter (actually, as Mara reminds me, the day length is the same, it's just the hours of daylight..) I know, I know, and anyway the leaves are just coming off the trees everywhere. It is pretty though.