Relaxing

Besides a bit of bush walking at the Blue Mountains, Nate and I got to enjoy heaps of relaxing. We sampled some of the finest local apple pie, scones with fresh cream and homemade mulberry jam and coffee. (And we easily finished the whole bowl of fresh cream...mmmmm....)

And we also spent heaps of time trying our hand at art using the easels Nate made. Below is Nate in fine form. I bet you want to know what he's painting....

This is the beginning of something wonderful I think. However, Nate will soon be immersed in study, work and fatherhood so we might have to wait a few years for him to have the time to let this talent bloom.

Above is the desk top easel that Nate whipped up so that we could do art at the same time. What a man.

Our Final Fling

Nate and I headed to the Blue Mountains to stay at a friend's holiday house for a week. It was probably our last fling as a couple "married without kids". And it was soooo wonderful. The Blue Mountains are the best "mountains" Australia has and, while not quite the Rockies, they are rugged, vast and, well, true blue.

On our first day we hiked around The Three Sisters...

Echo point lookout, Katoomba...

We hiked down The Giant Staircase (our knees and legs started shaking only halfway down)Into the valley

And then back up again (and boy could I feel my calf muscles for the next few days!). This was me at 33 weeks. I've finally "popped out". Aaaah, I love the Australian bush.

Nate's plants

Here is my gorgeous hubby working on the new art easel.

And here is some evidence of Nate's green thumb. Below are the mint and basil that have sprung up from the seeds he had sown.

And below are Nate's sugar snap peas. Last night a hefty wind blew half of them down but Nate was quick to string them back up first thing this morning. I love watching the way Nate cares for plants, how he studies how they grow and how pruning makes them flourish. I also love thinking about how these plants sprang up from a tiny seed. God is a wonderful, creative designer. How generous he is to give us such a beautiful world rich in colour and intricate goodness!

Nowra

This blog is dedicated to Grandma H in Michigan who wanted to know what Nate's been up to in Australia. (Sorry for neglecting that side of things Grandma!)

For the month of July Nate was blessed with some work on a friend's farm. For 3 days per week we'd drive 1 hour south down a beautiful country road (ocean on one side and green pastured hills on the other) to Nowra. Nate did a whole range of things from 5am - 5 pm... fixed fences, slashed paddocks in a tractor, milked 400 cows, fed calves, and moved furniture. He loved the work but I think his favourite part of each day was his farmer's breakfast from 8-9am - espresso coffee, bacon, sausages, freshly laid eggs and baked beans. I didn't get any photos of Nate hard at work but I did get some photos of the house we stayed at (where I spent my days while Nate worked) ....

It was such a wonderful, peaceful time and we're so thankful for God's provision. Over the year Nate has applied for heaps of jobs but nothing opened up. However, people from church have been so generous in giving Nate odd jobs like painting, yard work and gardening. Nate would say that he's the jack of all trades, master of none, so he has been able to exercise random skills and has loved every moment. Now that the job on the farm is finished we're back in Wollongong full time. Nate just finished a seminary Greek course by correspondence. He loved it! He now tutors 1 student per week in Maths. He'd love a few more students but we'll take anything we can get. The time is really ending where he could get a job, seeing as we'll be returning to the States in about 3.5 months! Until then, he is always keeping himself busy with a range of endeavours like gardening here at Tim and Wooz's (he has a beautiful row of sugar snap peas ready to flourish). Right at this moment he's building an easel out of Tim's scrap wood in order to try his skill at water colour painting. I'm looking forward to the results... I've seen Nate's paint experiments and it seems he'll be a master of the water colour trade!