In the five phase seasons it is still winter, ruled by the water element. But on Noongar Whadjuk Boojar it is also Djilba, when spring begins.
The blooming of yellow flowers like acacia and wattle brings warmer, rainy, windy days, interspersed with sunny days and cold clear nights. Like the northern hemisphere spring, there are already newborn native animals and nesting birds aggressively protecting their nests.
August 8 also marks the southern hemisphere equivalent of Li Chun 立春 when it is said that spring begins. So we should regard Djilba as a time of transition, following the water element and resting when it is colder, but getting outdoors and doing things when there is early hints of spring’s wood influence of new growth. The Noongar ate the grazing animals of winter through Djilba, so the CM thing to do would be to stick with slow cooked, nourishing, warming foods: soups, stocks, braises, roasts. A little bit of spice, a little bit of alcohol.