Beauty 365 … Stories of Love and Life for Everyday

Good old Melbourne! One day we’re enjoying our parks and gardens, the next we're searching out winter woolies and stew recipes! What surprises me most, is that every year, it surprises me! Wouldn’t you think a Melbourne girl would be used to all that changeability by now? And I never fail to be slightly miffed when I ring my sister in Brisbane who tells me, “It’s 27 degrees here today and we’re all in the pool", while I’m making a refill of my hot water bottle! Yes, that hurts!

Day 41 was one of those days. Dark, wet and cold, the weather was horrible, but in a perfect kind of way, actually. We were all hulled up at home- no braving wet buses, no tackling slow, slippery roads, no muddy footy training. No pressure to go anywhere or do anything. After dinner, my husband cranked up the fire.

When we renovated the house about 12 years ago, I had a long list of ‘must haves' but my husband’s only real stipulation was a fireplace. I suppose it was his way of connecting with his inner cave man and I’m so glad for his insistence. It has been well used and a great blessing for our family. More than what it does for our cold hands and feet, it warms our thoughts and melts our hearts.

After dinner, we moved to the lounge room for family prayer by the fire. In the darkened room, snuggled closely on couches, the cross words and hard feelings that had dominated our dinner, dissipated. The peace was tangible and made all the more sweet by the toasted marshmallows that are occasionally a part of our fireside nights.

Anyway, surely all that sun, warmth and blue skies in Queensland get monotonous after a while. Surely!? And we can never get too much of our beautiful fire.