I’m sitting in a golden patch of light on the front veranda, soaking up warmth from the Winter morning sunshine, wrapped to the gills in Bear’s clothes which always seem to be warmer than my own.

Luna is busy exploring, tail wagging ferociously as she sniffs out mice and lizards and anything else that takes her fancy.

Bear and I just finished feeding hay to the goats, laughing at the crazy antics of the babies as they leap and cavort around the paddock.

Now it’s time to rest.

That’s how life needs to be for me right now. Work a little, rest a little.

A redback spider bite causes all over body pain, headaches, nausea, fever, shakes, dizzy spells, exhaustion, and it lasts for weeks. Anti-venom doesn’t help, so you just have to soldier through, waiting for the yucks to run their course.

When you’re feeling awful, rainy days seem to be a gift, a permission slip from the universe to go to bed, take naps, watch marathons of NCIS and Murdoch Mysteries, read a little, and drink copious amounts of tea and soup. I’m so glad we’ve had a few days like that recently.

rain drops on gum leaves

I love how rain changes our sun-burned world. Bare rocks are suddenly ablaze with color as dormant lichen surge to life.

lichen covered rock

Old bits of wood are suddenly sporting curly flourishes of lichen as well, light dustings of moss peeping out of rain-soaked crevices.

green lichen

Bleach blond bits of fallen tree pods take on a golden hue when the rain hits them.

dried flower pods

But it’s the old wood I like best, darkened whorls and swirls frosted with lichen of all sorts, looking like something out of Ireland or Washington instead of sun-drenched Queensland.

lichen on a log

The sunshine has returned and we are happy to see her again, dancing along fluttering poplar leaves, glistening on the glossy lemon trees, streaming oh-so-warmly through our windows.

Now it’s time to rest again before putting in a load of laundry and cozying in for some hand-sewing while I listen to an audio book from the library.

It’s going to be a good day.

How does your world change when rain falls? xo