From my kitchen window. I love this tree, an elm I think. Its foliage provides cool shade in the summer and come autumn, it puts on a magnificent display of falling leaves.

Once the branches are bare, the winter sun can fill and warm the kitchen. It’s the perfect tree.

From the other kitchen, a photo taken surreptitiously through the sitting room door. This feathered thief, a Currawong, is enjoying a feast of Tasmanian pepperberries.

Either way it’s a pleasing backdrop for preserving today’s quota of quinces, destined to be made into jelly by simmering on the wood heater in the main house.