While gardeners in the northern hemisphere are enjoying the first rose blooms of Spring and Summer, my Australian roses are putting on its last display before the chill of winter sets in.

Although it isn't a bloom, I'm adding this coleus because it's a splash of pink which brighten up this spot. The white geranium has almost finished flowering.

Although a lot of shrubs and perennials are shutting up shop for the winter, the camellia's are just beginning to start their stunning displays. I can't be without them to add winter cheer. This pretty pink sasanqua variety is the first to start flowering in my garden.

No matter how cold it gets, while I can see the bobbing heads of pretty pink flowers from my kitchen window, I'll always feel the pull to rug up and get out into the garden so I can enjoy these lovely flowers close up.

Dora Bramden writes heart-melting, passionate romance.

Luck was with us on the day we'd planned to have lunch at the Bankvale Run Restaurant at Marnong Estate. A rare warm day in late Autumn made the day perfect, from the drive through Melbourne's northern rural outskirts to enjoying 180 views of the country side. 

Alpacas roamed in the field as we perused the menu and sipped a glass of sparkling wine. From the many GF options I chose Calamari S&P crust, chorizo, soft herb, hydroponic tomatoes for entree and Butterflied whole spatchcock Tuscan rub, olive oil, lemon, oregano for my main. Each dish was flavor packed and was complimented by the shared sides of GF chips and roasted carrots.
Good company, food and wine combined with 180 degree views from the dining room made this a very special day.

The walk around the grounds after lunch was a final delight. 

A surprise on the way back to the car park. A giant chess board adding whimsy to the formal grounds made me want to stay and play a game but it was time to go. 

Even the walk to the car park is a treat for visitors. The charming views around the estate just keep going.

I hope you enjoyed this tour of Marnong Estate with me. Something about being in the beauty of the outdoors is so refreshing that it feels more like I've been on a holiday than just having lunch out.

Next blog is about my garden in late Autumn, talk to you soon.

Dora Bramden writes heart-melting, passionate romance.

It's a lovely day to celebrate all the wonderful women who raised us. Yes, they are a part of us now. All the love that they gave us resides within and will never fade. Every school lunch they made and every night they sat up with us when we were sick was love in action.

It only takes a moment to think of your Mum on Mothers' day. If she's like mine, it creates a warm glow that lights up your heart and spreads to your cheeks. 

Two years since my mum passed and I'm doing okay. I miss her like anything. A hug and a cup of tea with some of her home baked cake would be truly heaven. However the light she shone in my world continues to glow in my memory and I'm blessed with many wonderful times to remember.

If you still have your mum here to visit on Mothers Day take a moment to be really grateful for the time you're sharing. Give her an extra hug from me.

I know that lots of readers have children of their own, as I do. It's your day today also and I hope you've planned some downtime to enjoy being spoiled by the next gen. I'll be putting my feet up after dinner and let my visiting children clean up. 

If you're stuck for some last minute gift ideas here's a few of my favorites and they were my mum's too. It's lovely to receive presents and I think the inexpensive ones are best. A picture of my kids in a frame is always a winner with me. A home decorating or gardening magazine that I can flick through with a mug of tea is a treat. Speaking of tea, special Twinnings tea bags are also an easy pick up from the supermarket. You should also be able to snag a card there too. 

My children sometimes make a card which is soooo special and they write a little bit of how special I am to them. This is the absolute best part of Mother's Day. So take a moment to really think about what you're grateful to your mum for.

I hope you all have a really lovely day on Mother's Day and enjoy the special moments and celebrate the amazing work mothers have done and continue to  do, loving, guiding and raising the next generation.

Dora writes heart-melting, passionate romance

Creative people will experience it at some time or another. A deep gut reaction preventing them from starting a project, completing it or worse, making them perform poorly. The later becomes a self fulfilling prophesy that they aren't talented enough.

This deep gut feeling brings a sense of impending doom. A warning to not proceed because danger lies there. Anxiety driven decisions follow which feel deceptively right. 'Do it tomorrow', anxiety says or 'Have something to eat'. If strong enough to ignore this horribly uncomfortable feeling, the constant thoughts of 'Is this good enough,'accompanied with feelings close to panic, while doing the task, can undermine the ability to finish. Because anxiety driven thoughts are dominating the  creative part of the brain, it lowers the quality of what can be produced.

Unfortunately this anxiety can become worse the more proficient people become at their craft. More knowledge means anxiety can judge more harshly. Work that is a baby waiting to grow up can be tossed aside as useless because it hasn't arrived fully formed. Judging has to happen after the work is produced so that it can be refined and developed further. But performance anxiety, armed with knowledge, disparages the seedling for not being a fully bloomed rose.

I have asked myself the question, if I did this before, surely I can do it again. But asking questions is dangerous because anxiety will answer. It will say, that past success was luck, you can't do it again. This time is different and you won't be able to do it again. Blahhh. That's enough of that.

I've tuned to inspiring writing quotes, and I've seen a lot in my ten years of writing. They have their place but when it comes to performance anxiety there really aren't any that help me. But the words of prolific romance author, Maisy Yates, stayed with me. I heard her speak about her writing life at a Romance Writers of Australia conference. She said that she protects her joy of writing because her writing supports her family. That is the clue that led me to finding a practical way to get the words flowing. Remember the joy.

What I did, is remember how good it felt to be sitting and typing at my desk. How amazing it is to me that something that never existed before is now here. I don't communicate with my performance anxiety, I shift my focus away from worry to what I enjoy doing. A simple remembrance of a time I was enjoying my writing seems to beat that performance anxiety energy. Joy is powerful, it has energy changing properties. It builds a desire to turn on my computer and sit in the chair and start typing.

It's the process of being at my computer and typing that I like. I enjoy being a writer and eventually there will be a story. The baby will be refined and edited and even grow up into something surprising. I don't think about if it will sell, if I will like it. I stay in the present and enjoy  writing. Eventually the characters start to take form in my mind and they starts to say and do things like I'm watching a movie.  I'm typing as fast as I can so that I catch it and bring it into the physical world where it can be shared with others.

This brings me to the other element that helps keep me coming back to my computer. That writing my stories instead of letting them just play out in my head means I'm sharing them with others. It's an act of generosity to tell stories and that energy is loving. It matters that I am willing to share and have made a contribution. It's my contribution for others to enjoy or not, that doesn't matter really, only that I was willing to let something of my creation go out into the world. 

Being an author  means I will not be liked by everyone.  I can't know exactly how much pleasure my work might bring to other people or for how long, but that's not my concern. Writing the stories is my business, and I enjoy doing it.

My next project is to start the second draft of a story about a girl born into a musical family. When her mother dies she is sent to live with her grandmother in another state. Now grown up she's come home after inheriting her father's nightclub.

However, she discovers the guitarist from her father's band  has already made a home there and expects her to sell it to him.  She finds out that he's become the adopted son her father always wanted.

This romance explores how our sense of home informs our identity. It isn't just a place on a map but a place that holds the secrets of who we think we are. 

I'm going to enjoy developing this story and bringing it into the day light. It's the joy of creating that is going to bring me to my keyboard, open the file and pick up where I left off each day.

Dora Bramden writes heart melting, passionate romance.