April (Hepburn Springs, Palm Cove, Rye)

 



Another great month with some AMAZING family news!! M & A are having a baby in early November so I am going to be a Grannie!!!!!!!!!!!! M & A actually told us last month when we were in Kangaroo Island (cue – shock!!) but we needed to keep it a secret for a little while. I can’t believe my baby is going to have a baby. Not sure I will believe it until I see it 😂 Very, very happy. 

Combined with becoming a Grannie, our younger son, N, and his partner, K, have announced their engagement! K has been part of our family for 4 years and we are thrilled for her to be an “official” part of our family.

It will take a while (ever???) to top this month for wonderful family news. Cup. FULL 😊 🙏

Aside from babies and engagements (!!), this month has been punctuated by some mini-holidays. Oh, and my 57th birthday! 

The mini holidays were with my girls to Hepburn Springs and with Andrew to Palm Cove. Then we spent Easter at Rye where the Endless Summer rolled into the Endless Autumn. Strings of warm days such that I can’t remember a better few months of stable, sunny days. Ever. So much for the usual Melbourne adage…four seasons in one day!

Hepburn Springs was lovely and reminded me how a couple of days in the country can really refresh and reinvigorate you. It was lovely to spend it as a threesome too. We ate out a few times and we went to a Lavender Farm and a Cidery. We also had a heavenly massage. I really enjoyed it. I hope the girls did too! 

Whilst we were enjoying our Hepburn weekend, I was keeping the grandbaby secret but M & A asked us to gather everyone together which we did the Sunday night we came home and they FaceTimed and told their siblings. There was some incredulity and some tears and MUCH excitement. We actually minded M & A’s dog , Hamilton, for a couple of weeks and we had him with us for this dinner. Hamilton has a shock coming!! Not sure how he’ll like being demoted in the pecking order!! (Our dogs too for that matter!!)

After Hepburn, we went to Palm Cove for a few days. The weather was warm but overcast and rainy off and on so we worked most of it. Me on my writing and Andrew on the YouTube channel. The YT channel has over 13,000 subscribers in a mere three months! Watch this space!!

Home for my birthday and Easter. My birthday was rather an extravaganza!! Starting with a surprise Melbourne staycation (thanks Andrew!), The Oaks upgraded us (NEVER happens!) and we sat on our balcony for a half hour or so admiring the view over the city. We walked around the corner to HoChi Mama for dinner (yum!) and then saw the fabulous “Jesus Christ Superstar.” A three-minute stroll and we were back at The Oaks.

Next morning, we meandered through the city to The National Gallery to see the excellent Yayoi Kusama Exhibition, lingered around some shops and lunched at Chris Lucas’ new French restaurant, Maison Batard. Home and the kids and our Mums came for dinner. M & A FaceTimed from Oxford and told our Mums that they will be Great Grandmas in November. They were, of course, very happy. After dinner, we had a long chat with M & A ourselves. What a wonderful day! Bodes well for my 58th year!!

Easter and ANZAC Day ran into each other and we took the opportunity to have some major flooring renos done at home and live at Rye. L went to QLD for Easter so it was a quiet few days but we loved it. Andrew did some fishing, I did some reading and cooking. From mid May, we have a very busy programme of travel so I tried to smell the roses and savour the quiet!

Over ANZAC Day was the third Sorrento Writing Festival. We booked for 7 sessions, but next year, we’ll go to more. It was both fascinating and inspiring. We heard authors speak that we had not heard of before and we heard prominent authors like Peter FitzSimons and Steve Vizard. We went to a couple of children’s book events, and I was able to fan girl Alison Lester. One of the favourite books in our house is Alison’s “Are We There Yet?” Knowing that my Grandma days are soon to start, I bought a couple of beautifully written and illustrated children ‘s picture books. I can’t wait to start our book journey with little squishy children cuddled into me!!

We went back to Melbourne for ANZAC Day footy. Even more poignant for us this year as we visited Gallipoli last year and also had heard a great literary discussion about Gallipoli the previous day at the Writers’ Festival. 

The month finished by N & K announcing their engagement and the two sets of parents, N & K had a lovely lunch together. K’s heritage is Greek and we are now “sympatheri” (in-laws, apologies for ruining the spelling) with K’s parents. Yay!!!!

In Writing Wins, it was a bit quieter this month but I have a steady stream of commissions (ie contracted stories) to write. My travels for the year haven’t even properly started although they are about to! In mid-May, we head off to Europe and we are basically away until the end of September. We’ll be home in time for the 30th birthdays in our family to start (there’s three) plus an engagement party and a baby. Exciting times!!

For April, three  published travel stories and two flash fiction stories:

• He Said, she said: Was Malta golden for both husband and wife? https://www.joincitro.com.au/news/travel-to-malta 

• Cruising Papua New Guinea - A Holiday, A History Lesson and Amazing Natural Beauty https://www.thewisetraveller.com/Articles/view/?permalink=cruising-papua-new-guinea---a-holiday-a-history-lesson-and-amazing-natural-beauty-

• He Said/She Said, Experiencing ANZAC Day at Gallipoli https://www.joincitro.com.au/news/anzac-day-at-gallipoli

• Broken Dreams - https://impspired.com/2025/03/31/leonie-jarrett-5/

• In the Middle of Dying - https://impspired.com/2025/03/31/leonie-jarrett-5/

See you next month from Europe!



Sorrento Writers' Festival 


Rye autumn sunsets



Chocolate mousse - Maison Batard


Kusama at NGV


Kusama at NGV



Cheers to cider, Daylesford Cider



Lavandula Farm, Shepherds Flat (Daylesford)


Autumn glory, Hepburn Springs



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