Hi everyone, welcome to Darling Downs Diaries and our weekly Good Morning Mondays Link Up.

Where are the days going I find it hard to fathom that 3 months of the year have already gone and we are already in Autumn.  The weather here has definitely changed with our warmest days being somewhat cooler than what we experienced in the summer.

The nights are cool bordering on cold and I think I may find our big quilt (a gift from my sister-in-law) for our bed.  Daylight savings finished last Sunday morning so the nights are getting darker earlier and we are adjusting to that now. It is hard during summer to eat our tea before 7:30 pm but now we are back to 6:30 which is so much better for us all.

Now that the nights are getting darker earlier we have time for some family music nights. That involves, accordians, a flute, a ukulele, a harmonica and lots of noise and fun.

This past week has been good and we finished cutting up and bagging the last 5 pigs on Monday. Mr and Mrs H came out to help us and they took some pork home for their freezer. We had pork chops for lunch and they were just beautiful, but I am now trying to get some beef into us to give us a break from the pork.

We smoked all the hocks on Tuesday and they are bagged and in the freezer. They smell delicious and are a great addition to soups and stews.

I have still been busy bottling tomatoes and we are still able to put fresh ones out the front on our stall. The corn has finally finished, although my husband has been watering it again to see if we can get any more out of the second cobs. I spent some time this past week making some tomato sauce which I put into jars, it tastes quite nice.

We had Mrs S’s funeral on Friday and my husband was able to help out by reading the eulogy, he did a really great job.

After the funeral we headed up into the mountains to Halls Gap which is in the Grampians. We spent the weekend there at a camp site and we had a wonderful time as usual. No 2 daughter got to help in the kitchen this year, which is great and she really enjoyed that and the other ladies are lovely.

The atmosphere is great at the camp and we had an excellent Bible Study Leader this year. There are kangaroos and emus around and the bird life is interesting.

So that was our week. I didn’t do the top three this week as we were away so I apologise for that.

Next week is back to school for us and back to music practice. We have lessons this coming week so we are going to have to put our noses to the grindstone.

There will be more tomatoes to process and I will be starting on the apples now. Our no 1 daughter is going to do our bottles this year again and I am going to dry some. They are so lovely, the only problem with them is they don’t last long enough because we all enjoy them.

My husband is taking our children away camping this weekend. This is in conjunction with the other fathers from the Fatherhood course that he is doing. I get to stay home and our son-in-law, daughter and family are coming to keep an eye on me. That will be nice and somewhat comforting as I haven’t stayed home alone since we have been here.  So I definitely won’t get lonely on Saturday night.

To my friends in the northern hemisphere is it planting time yet, or is it still too cold??? I would love to hear how you get ready for your spring plantings.

We have been so grateful to God this year for our abundant harvest and I pray that we never forget who gave it to us and also that we remember to bless others with it.

I pray that you are all well my friends and that God is working in your hearts and lives.

Numbers 6:24-26 “The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.”

Blessings to you all dear friends xxxx

You will find me linked up at some of these great blogs.