We love sitting outside in a tub of hot water. And even better, we’ve been enjoying watching the moon rise over us in its full glory.

One of the first things that we did at the farm was to fix the fire bath. The grazing bulls had pushed up against it and knocked it off its posts. So it was a simple matter of repositioning it and tucking firewood underneath it before filling it from the hose.

Before the sun goes down, David starts to heat the water for the evening bath.

Yesterday was the night of the full moon, and so we offered the hot bath to Brian. He relaxed fully before using the hot water to wash his clothes.

A hot bath on a remote property without electricity or hot water is a real luxury. We warm up so much in the bath that exiting into the cold air doesn’t bother us.

After a day of playing on the farm, the girls are happy to use the hot bath to wash away all the mud.

We maintain a careful fire under the metal tub — high enough to keep the water warm, but not too hot that it starts the water boiling.

I’ve been wanting to learn some astronomy and the names of constellations, and lying in the fire bath is the perfect opportunity to start. Using the Skyview app on our phone, I start with one constellation — the Southern Cross which adorns both the Australian and New Zealand flags — and learn the names of its stars and two surrounding constellations. Later, when Aisha and Brioni join me in the tub, I can share my new knowledge with them. Together we’ll remember the names.

The Centaurus constellation wraps around the Southern Cross (Crux) and so is easy to locate in the southern night sky.

I really, really love these fire bath times. Either they mean that I get some time completely to myself, or else it’s an intimate, peaceful time with one or two of my family. These moonlit baths are memories to treasure, and I’m so thankful to David for making them possible for me.