A bit of shedding our skin to make way for growth, a few startling encounters, a bit of basking in the sun. That's what has been happening here as summer coaxes us out of isolation and we begin to open up with more community events and retreat activities.

It's been a cool wet spring. In November we had another round of wild winds, and this time we had tree branches drop across both driveways. A mother tawny frogmouth managed to ride out the weather on an exposed branch over the dam and give birth to a little bundle of fluff. One of our recent cabin guests even invited us down to the dam one evening to sing with the frogs!

We had some wild winds in the Dandenongs over winter, though we had minimal damage compared to other areas. Our power went out for a few days, and we came to appreciate candles and the fireplace. One big tree branch even fell where the caravan had been located just a month earlier.