Old friends and hay drama

Al's combined kitchen office.

December 24 2016

Xmas eve has not had a very auspicious start. The forecast predicted a heat wave over Xmas so everyone cut their hay.  I woke early today and so did Indi who rang to tell me she had three hundred bales ready that we could have. From the house everything looked as if it would be a very hot dry day but when I went out to water the garden I noticed ominous black thunderclouds over Christmas hills and realised we had a problem.

Edd set off to Healesville but the storm was already starting so I suspect we have failed to get the hay in dry.  I started the milking early and fast because I was worried that we would loose power.  This did not happen but the thunder and lightening got pretty scary and close. The goats and I shuddered every time there was a big bang.

Bo came over to let Silkie cool off in the pool last night. She and I are just so glad that we have got our Xmas party over.  She is now the main chef in the restaurant as the real chef has an injured arm and I am deep in hay problems.  Tonight we are going over to Al’s house to say goodbye to it and then next week we are helping him move down to the coast. 

We had a lovely morning on Thursday when friends that we worked with in Yuendumu in the NT called in to meet up.  It must be 20 years since we were up there but we still all feel very close having shared so much in Aboriginal communities that most people never even know about.  I was reminded once again how lucky I have been in life to have such amazing friends and family and to have enjoyed so many wonderful adventures.

Reptiles and feasts

December 19 2016

We have survived the Xmas party and the mess is mostly cleared up.  Today I separated the stock, bones and solids of turkey and vegetables. The bones were thrown away and the stock and the remaining dog food frozen. We had a lovely group of family and friends come to the party and it was cool enough this year to have the turkeys hot.  I also attempted to serve hot scalloped potatoes but they took ages to cook through and did not turn out very good.  I think I will go back to baking them the day before next time.

Beth brought beautiful seafood and salads and everyone else supplied the trimmings and deserts so there was plenty top go round. I cut open two of my latest batch of hard cheeses, a plain style and a Wensleydale and they were fine.  Beth’s boys nearly ate the lot as they arrived early and they are a good test. Luckily, this time I wrote the recipe down so it is just a matter of trying to get it repeatable.  And to think, I was just about to give up!

Edd has found a remarkable thing. One evening he called me out at twilight to see a long necked tortoise that was digging a hole in the bank. It was busy for some time and we think it may have been laying eggs. The tortoises usual swim around in the dam and sun themselves on the bank but they do move around and constantly die on the roads.  I think they must have an instinct that tells them to move to higher ground to lay eggs.  I often wondered what they were doing.

I have also seen a beautiful blotched blue tongue lizard by the ruins. It was not at all worried by my presence and made no effort to hide.  I have mostly seen the Eastern striped blue tongues recently so it is great to know the blotched ones are still around. Josh had a pet blue tongue called Silver when he was small and I wonder if this one is a relative.

Edd is back onto fencing. We have brought the horses up into the crofts by the dairy because they were getting too fat and they have already eaten everything down in the first area. Today Edd finished re-fencing the bucks’ pens and he has let the horses in there first to eat it down a bit.  It is good to rotate stock through areas to keep the parasitic worms under control and it is good to have very short grass by the shed now that we are going into the fire danger period.

The Years end gets close

 The Xmas tree in my sun room

Al.s house is being finished off ready for renting out.

December 15 2016

Only one day to go now before our solstice Xmas celebration.  I have been working on this for weeks but I am not confident I am really ready.  The weather forecast has changed several times making organisation harder.  Last year we had to relocate our feast to Bo’s house at the last minute because it was a high fire danger day but now the latest forecast is for 19 degrees, which is actually quite cold.

I am now planning to have the party around the house rather than in the ruins, and to serve the turkeys hot rather than cold.  I have made up all the Xmas crackers and this year they contain a lottery ticket that relates to a gift under the tree.  The tree is the same artificial one that we had years ago before the fires. It survived because it was stored in the cellar and has become rather a symbol of survival.  This year it is in my tropical jungle surrounded by bamboo and bromeliads. I have re -arranged out sunroom for the summer and it all goes together quite well, at least I like it.

All together we have invited over 30 people to our feast but usually there are dropouts at the last minute so 20-25 is about what we get. Once we have done this I feel that coping with the rest of Xmas is plain sailing.  We can concentrate on getting in the years hay supply and working out how to shear the sheep.

The family have big changes coming up in 2017. Al and Pip have brought a house in a place called Ocean Grove which, as the name indicates, is by the sea West of Melbourne.  There is a surfing beach with in walking distance that is a big attraction for them. Tilba plans to move with them and is enrolled at school down there for the next year.  It is a about 3 hours journey from the farm so we will no longer be able to drop in on them for a day but I think getting away from the past is pretty important for them at this stage.

Bo also has changes in her family. Her second son starts secondary school with his brother at Templestowe College. (The school that has a camp here) and he is very excited at the prospect. Bo, herself, has been accepted into the training for music therapy at Melbourne Uni. She had to pass strict audition tests and have a huge range of qualifications to get a place so we are all relieved that she has made it.  

Josh also starts a new job on an Island near Brisbane. It looks as if there is a bridge to drive across like Philip Island but I had never heard of the place. Bobby has another year of work ahead on her PhD before they can consider a move away from Brisbane.  So everyone has changes coming up. 2017 looks as if it is going to be an interesting year.

November 30 2016

All the goats due have now kidded.  Erin and Ester were the last.  Sadly Erin kidded in the night and a huge buck kid was born dead leaving Erin sore and miserable.   Next day her sister, Ester, went into labour but this time both Erin and I were on hand to help out and she delivered two healthy doe kids.  Erin helped clean off the kids and began sharing child-rearing duties with her sister. Soon her grief over her dead kid was forgotten and she is taking her duties co-parenting very conscientiously.

We have now got 14 kids in the shed.  I plan to rear the 7 females and possibly one male but the other males will have to be sold.  The big goats are now producing prodigious amounts of milk and I am making cheese everyday as well as feeding the kids.  I am still not happy with the hard cheese we make.  I keep on trying to make a basic hard cheese that we can use for everything but I have not got a consistent way of getting a good result.  I am almost at the stage of giving up.

Making feta and cream cheese is now so routine it is easy but it would be nice to have a good hard cheese as well.  They come out at about a kilo and a half in weight so really we need under 18 a year.  If I could get it right this would only be 18 days work which would be very do-

abundance

November 25 2016

We have had a cool wet week. At least the weather encouraged me to stay indoors and sort out all the laundry and accounts.  We had quite a backlog of this sort of work that accumulated whilst we spent our time with the school kids. The rain has also had a profound effect on the vegetation and we have more growth in the grass than we have ever had before.  The stock are failing to keep up with the growth and we have paddocks full of long grass everywhere.

The trees are also growing fast.  We are a bit of a home for abandoned trees.  Last week we acquired four olive trees that were breaking out of their pots in the restaurant beer garden. They were in wine barrels and two totally collapsed when we tried to move them so Edd had to dig holes on the hottest day so far to get them in the ground.  The mandarin tree that the school planted is still alive and we hope the olives will survive too.

With all the lush grass the goats are giving loads of milk. We are feeding 10 kids but we still have heaps left over for making cheese.  Rosie kidded this week and had a boy and a girl that were really huge.  Her udder is huge too; it is a wonder that she can walk at all.  This is the first year that we have had this scale of production but hopefully everything will settle back after Xmas.  I have been selling goats but still have more than we need.

The last camp for the year leaves and Mellissa has kids

November 13

Once again we had a dry sunny week for the second school camp and a great deal of work was done.  These kids are totally amazing. The vegetable garden has been refilled and planted out with the new seasons vegetables and we have a physic garden that includes a new wicking bed.  The fallen trees have been moved off the fences and the last pile of dead trees left from the 2009 fires has been sorted and moved. The shelter shed has taken on a new look too with the last of the upright posts painted green and some fantastic new murals.

Edd and I were pretty tired when everyone left but three days later Edd was wishing they were all back so he could have the help!  We even found two lads who took on the weed strippers and cut down all the long grass on the slopes and other places that I cannot reach with the ride on mower.  Now I would employ those guys any time!

Even with the camps finished for the year the farm work carries on relentlessly.  On Monday Melissa, our oldest goat, kidded.  She was starting to go into labour at the morning milking time so we put her in a separate pen and gave her peace to get on with it. By the afternoon several hours had passed and she seemed to be no further on.  She was standing up and not even trying, which is a bad sign.  I managed to get a hand inside her and found a kids foot in the birth canal.  I soon located a second foot and a nose so the presentation was correct.  The only solution was to pull and ease out a very large buck kid.  Amazingly he was still alive and later she delivered a much smaller girl, so all is well.

We sold several kids and goatlings during the camp and I now have 4 more to kid and about 5 more goats to sell.  The camp took down the old barrier that separates the shed from the young goats paddock so that we can now clean up the area and then let the kids outside.  We will have to put up a temporary fence and move the buck, Turnbull, to the other side.  The wether, Abbott, has been sold as a pet.  He really did have a lovely nature so we have tried to choose him a good home. He was so friendly and nice natured that I really miss him.

Yesterday we did get some time away from the farm because we were invited to a friend’s work place at a local winery for an alfresco lunch.  A mixed bag of vineyard workers, wine makers an artist and us as cheese makers all brought our produce to share and enjoyed a long lazy lunch until we had to drag ourselves away for the evening milking.  We had been tasting some amazing and interestingly different wines and special food and learn about them.  It was like being back in France.

As soon as the camp left the rain returned and we had a very wet weekend.  We were so lucky that the camp was not this week because Monday was awful too. It is warming up again now so we will have to complete the job of cleaning out the pool and patching the worn bits.  The lining got very badly damaged in the fires and is a real patchwork but we might get another years use from it. We will try anyway.

minor miracles and school camp

 school campers relaxing

 Wayne and Dani in cup mode

 Ella getting ready for   Melbourne cup

November 3

A couple of small miracles have helped us a lot.  Amazingly, it was fine and sunny for the school camp. Two days before they were due we had a really terrible rain that was so bad that they had to cancel an important horse race in Yarra Glen that provided a good percentage of the tracks yearly income!

 I kept thinking we should cancel the camp too, but the forecast was OK so we kept our nerve and amazingly the weather was better than predicted.   The camp went well. Everyone got a lot of work done and seemed to be enjoying themselves.  We have another camp next week so I am not relaxing yet.

The other miracle was that the eggs have hatched out.  We put them on a day before the power was cut off so we just left them and the incubator heated up again when the power was restored.  Edd candled the eggs last week and saw signs of life so we let everything go on and now have lots of chicks.  This is very pleasing because some friends had given us some of their welsomer eggs and we really did not want to loose the opportunity to get some chicks of that type.

The school kids have taken the old vegetables out and replaced them with our new season crops. It all looks very organised now. At last we are getting snow peas to eat and harvesting the broad beans.  The tomatoes are growing well and zucchinis, pumpkins and other crops are in and growing.

I think that the next lot of goats are ready to kid so I have advertised goats for sale this weekend.  It has been too wet to try and sell up until now but with the grass and weeds shooting up like mad we may get some takers. We are getting loads of milk but the kids are drinking most of it.

Everyone in the family seems to be making big changes in their lives.  Al is moving down to the coast with Pip, and Ti is planning to move with them. Bo and Indi are trying to get into new careers and Indi and Ben have started building their new home. Wayne and Dani are extending their house too. We are hoping we get some money from the bush fire class action too and then we can make little changes that would help us.

We are not taking the shower for granted yet though

new beginnings

October 18

It is raining again! The school camp is coming next week with 21 children and I am trying to work out how to cope.  We will need two sets of tasks planned so that there are wet weather activities and many of the other tasks we were ready for cannot be done because there is too much water around and the creeks are running.  The grass is growing like mad and we are now looking under stocked, it would be so nice for once if things happened in moderation.

The shower is now in action and it works really well.  All the water drains at the right speed in the right direction and nothing sprays out of the door even though there is nothing in the gap like a shower curtain. It still feels like a privilege to be able to shower every day, but I suppose that will wear off. I think I am going to take a break from tiling for a bit.  I still have the kitchen and some of the mudroom to do but nothing too urgent.

We had a fabulous evening with Bo in her restaurant last night for her monthly music do.  We first had two local youngsters perform and then the older guitar players. Two brothers played and sang together beautifully and two other guys were really talented. In the end everyone jammed together and Bo let fly with the singing.  We seem to be having a very musical time lately.

Al is trying to move down to the coast with his family.  His back is a bit better this week but he wants a break from house building and I can’t blame him.  He and Pip have virtually rebuilt their cottage around themselves. Ti plans to live with them next year too, so it will be very much a time of new beginnings. We miss Josh who is still working in Brisbane but we have brought a speakerphone so we can all talk together.

I am still phoning my Mum every night.   Her health and mental sharpness varies from day to day but she can still sound very robust.  Not bad when you know she will be 96 next months.  I am more worried about my sister’s family also in the UK, who are going through some very bad times.  I wish we could support them in some way but distance and years apart separate us. 

On a brighter note we started to put collars on the baby goats today so that we will not get them muddled. They look really cute with their flash red collars and orange nametags. They will probably suck all the markings off if we do not keep an eye on things. Xena, Yoko and Ziggi look very alike now they are all dehorned so we needed to label them.

A week of being powerless

 The completed shower and wet room.

 The storms brought down power poles in South Australia

 Some of our new kids

 The blossom down at the ruins

October 15

We have had an interesting week. Two morning frosts, a massive storm that blew hundreds of trees down, and a consequent loss of power and phone.  Finally normality returned yesterday. Power was restored, the sun came out and the rain stopped enough to mow all the English style lush green grass.  I guess the snakes are going to be getting on the move too so the shorter grass is not just a vanity.

The best part about yesterday was that I completed my work in the shower.  The tiling is all done and grouted and now all we need is for Edd to put the taps on.  This job has literally taken me months even though I have spent several hours every day doing it.  I feel a massive sense of relief but I also feel tired and sore and not quite ready to start the next task.   Actually, I do not have much choice.  The school camps start in less than two weeks and with all the bad weather preparation has so far been impossible. This is not the time to sit back and celebrate.

We are half way through the goat kidding and have 9 lovely babies. This year we have separated them from their mothers and they are now trained to take milk from the feeder. One first kidding goat had triplets and the goat who produces most had a single birth, so we need to share the milk around to make sure each kid gets enough.  At last I have some babies the same colour as Erin and Ester with alpine face markings and fawn and black coats. I was really hoping for this.

We did stop work at the start of October to celebrate the equinox, birthdays and the football finals.  As usual Edd supervised the making of Cornish pasties and we added snacks, champagne and several birthday cakes. Simon’s and Pip’s parents joined us and Wayne and family made the long trek up from the city.  The right team won too.  It was a lovely family day, and so nice to see everyone.

Indi’s boy friend helped Al and Pip get a digger and break up the old concrete steps up to their house. They dug down so that new footings and retaining walls could be put in.  Then the heavens opened yet again and water poured out of everywhere.  We were worried that the whole hill might collapse. Luckily we had one dry Sunday so Edd and I joined them and started work on the new walls and footings. Pip had to mix concrete by hand because a big tree had brought all the power lines down.

Al had put a plank across the hole where the new steps were to go so that there was some access to his house. This has proved a problem this week when Al’s back was injured and he could not get out of the house to get to a doctor for any help. We went over again with some painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs that Edd had and Al can now stand up again.

The ruins are covered with flowers. Native mint and the jasmine smell wonderful and the paulownias tree and wisteria are decked with pale purple blossom.  It really looks very lovely. I am glad I have not had time to plant out the tomatoes because they survived the frosts in their pots around our house.  We are eating the second round of broccoli and the silver beet and spinach is still OK though the last of the cabbages have bolted. The broad beans have ripened and the runner beans have leaves again but the snow peas are not doing well.

Ella supporting Dad's football team

rain, rain,rain

September 15 2016

I cannot remember another spring like this. Everyday we are getting grey skies and continuous rain.  It is like living in the UK!  The only good thing is that it encourages me to stay indoors and keep tiling in the shower.  Even Edd has started on indoor jobs and has been oiling the woodwork in the windows and doors.

The bad news is that the goats do not go out to graze in the rain and we are rapidly going through our supplies of hay and straw.  The goats need the green feed because they are pregnant and they also should be walking but their paths are flooded or full of black mud so it is hard to blame them for staying in the dry.

Silky is back at school but the term ends tomorrow. Mothers will be very stressed if the rain continues over the school holidays.  Bo has been very busy. She had to have a recording of her singing several genres of songs for a job application plus she had trips to school, restaurant work and other commitments. I am sure that she is doing too much.  Al has also lots of work on so we have not seen him this week.

new kids start to arrive

September 12 2016

The oak tree is now covered with small green leaves and the weather swings between the cold and wet of winter and the warmth of spring. Very soon the goats will start kidding and we will be kept very busy dealing with all the new arrivals.   The grass needs mowing every week and the paddocks are slowly producing more feed for the stock.  Edd has spent the week trying to untangle wire from some second hand chain link fencing we were given so that he can put it round the new orchard.  Already the young trees there are breaking bud but we do not know which grafts have taken yet.

I am still tiling the shower walls.  The last space around the shower is huge and will take me several weeks but it is the last of the white tiling.  Then it will just be a matter of the floors and then grouting.  I try to do about three hours work there a day so it is very time consuming and other jibs have been neglected. Last week was warmer and drier so I did get some work done in the vegetable garden.  The snow peas are slow but still alive and the main task is to find space for the other summer vegetables. Edd has seeds planted in potting mix and the tomatoes I potted up are hardening off nicely.

We had great fun on Saturday when a large group of Montessori teachers from all over Australia came to learn about how we work with the school at Templestowe.  Steve from the school helped us take a walk round and see the sort of tasks that the kids had completed. Then they produced a feast from the bus complete with champagne.  This was very unexpected but most welcome so we all had quite a party.

Before they left Edd took some people on a house tour and I took a more energetic group up to help me feed the animals.  Everyone had a go at extracting milk with varying degrees of success. One man kept apologising formally to the goat every time he failed.  He was so sincere and sweet that it was hysterically funny, and he kept on apologising.  Needless to say the goat stood patiently and just kept eating.

Today we have Silky, (who has too much of a cough to go to school) here whilst Bo is busy.  She was here on the right day because the first of the goats, Phantom, kidded. Silky helped me move the new babies and their mother into a pen so that she did not have all the rest of the herd trying to get involved. One of the twins is golden brown and the other is white. Phantom is a first kidder but she has coped well and already the kids are on their feet suckling.  Now the kidding has started we begin a hectic month or so.

Saddness

                                                                     Tiling progress.

                                                          More festival of light photos.

                                                                       Silky the fairy.

                                                Fire thower at the festival of light

August 28 2016

The snails did not survive the trip down south.  They arrived perfectly packed in a surprisingly quick time and we put them in a tank of water at the correct temperature but it was already too late. This made me very sad because I hated to loose them even though they were about the size of a pinhead. Strangely, I have not been so sad about lose of life for ages.  We lost our dogs, neighbours and friends in the fire but I sort of went numb. Perhaps this return of feelings is a sign of recovery. We obviously have more to learn about snail transport.

My tiling in the bathroom is progressing at snails pace.  I spend several hours a day working there and I think I am at least half way now.   It is like doing a huge all white jigsaw puzzle.  I have to keep telling myself that having a hot shower every day will be the big reward when it is done.

The fruit trees are coming into blossom along with the wattle and lucerne trees. Even the oak tree by the dairy has swelling buds. The arum lilies have large white flowers and the native wisteria is still covered with purple. Edd has now completely restored our fence with the neighbours towards the bush and has been walking around bone hill assessing what to do about our boundary fences up there.

Our neighbours have a habit of piling all their junk right beside our boundary fences, so we need to keep a good tree cover in front of the fences to hide the mess.  The trees we planted by the lower boundary are doing well but the new neighbours that side have faced the back of their house towards us.  From our drive entrance we now see an ugly back yard with cloths line and sewage tank, rather than the beautiful green paddock that we viewed before.  We could not see another house before the fires so this is a big and rather unwelcome change for us.  Unfortunately trees can take years to grow.

I have started making hard cheeses again now that the goats are giving more milk.  This year I am back to trying a Gouda style.  I still have not worked out the best receipe for a plain hard cheese. Making the feta and cream cheese is now no problem and I would love to make a hard cheese I could rely on.

To boldly go

August 23 2016

It looks like another cold wet day.  I should be OK about this because there is nothing outside to tempt me away from my tiling job.  Sadly, I am not this logical. Yesterday Edd and I drove to the city to buy dairy cleaners and leatherwork stuff. It was even worse weather down there.  There was a thunderstorm whilst we chose new colours for goat collars and afterwards we had to drive through hail and flooded streets.  It was a relief to get home to the hills.

This E-mail awaited us. It is from Josh who has been breeding water snails in Brisbane. He is posting us down some for our hydroponic experiment.  We will have to go to the post office at regular intervals to make sure we get the mail as soon as it arrives.

Crowds at the festival

The festival of light

August 21 2016

The warm weather did not last long and cold wet conditions have returned.  Bo was extremely lucky last night because the rain held back and the festival of light that she has been working so hard to organise went beautifully.  A large number of people gathered in the park in Yarra Glen and armed themselves with lanterns. The food vans in the car park seemed to do a roaring trade too. When darkness fell everyone walked round the park in a lantern parade that stopped at intervals for music and dancing events.

The theme was fairyland and many of the youngest girls were adorned with suitable gear and wings. A more mature fairy gathered everyone up and led them around.   Lots of local artists played instruments and put on a show.   The highlight was a large metal structure that had a flame at the top and a troupe of belly dancers at the base.  At intervals the flame burst out in a huge tongue over everyone’s heads causing squeals of delight and surprise from the audience.

The cutest tact was the local children’s choir, where a group of very young kids sang several songs.  A lighting artist had turned the whole park into a light show and the youngest community members could keep warm on the play equipment whilst they waited for the parade to start.   Edd and I met up with all our neighbours and friends and eventually we found Al and Pip with their Great Dane. We all went to Bo’s restaurant for a meal afterwards and met up with other family members.

I had no idea that the event was going to be that large. Last year it was a very small do.   Once again there had been lantern-making workshops in the schools and community so the excitement has been building slowly over the last few weeks.  Obviously the artists had been practicing too but Bo said it was all secret so I knew nothing about that.

Today the rain has returned and I am quite glad to stay indoors and continue with the tiling.  It is slow work but obvious progress is being made.  Edd has fixed the fence with our neighbours on the forest side.  Lots of trees had fallen over it so it was not really functioning at all.  The horses were being very good and staying on our property but the goats stretch all the limits and had been banned from that paddock.

Edd is so much better that he is back at work on the farm all and every day. Yesterday he managed to turn the wheels right round on the exercise bike and he is thrilled to have reduced pain and more movement in his repaired knee. He tells me he is planning to sort out the water system for the house too because we will definitely use much more water when I do get the shower done.

August pictures

                                            New fruit trees just starting to break bud.

                                                      Hardening off tomato seedlings.

                                                   Work in the shower progresses slowly.

Fruit trees and turmeric

August 17 2016

Suddenly it has got warmer and sunnier and we are getting into spring mode.  The goats are beginning to look pregnant and the grass has started to grow again.  It has been very wet so I seized the chance yesterday after two dry days to mow down all the capeweed before it can flower.  It was a good thing I did because it rained over night and today the ground is too soft again.

I have harvested our turmeric.  The eldest plant had several huge “hands” hidden under the soil.  There was enough to put aside some for fresh use and turn the rest into powder.  I saved the growing bits and replanted them for next years crop.  I have also transplanted tomato seedlings into larger pots and planted out eleven fruit trees under the poly house frame.  The plan is to cover the frame with netting to keep off the parrots.  We lost most of our fruit to flying hazards last year.

The netting should also protect the trees against deer that are now engaging in raiding parties at night.  Ben reckons he shot at a deer on our roof not long ago.  The Bhutan pine that was attacked seems to be surviving. It is now very well enclosed by chain link fencing in case the attack is repeated.

Al and family are back from their trip to Spain.  They did manage to meet up with Arj who drove from Germany to see them.  What an adventurous life he is leading. Apparently he now speaks fluent German and in the photo Al took he looks healthy and happy.  He was travelling with his girl friend and another person so they are probably having great fun.

Alv managed to spend some time with my mother but found it very sad and difficult when the time came to say goodbye. Mum has now been given new medicine to calm her so she is asleep most of the time, which has meant that I am not able to talk to her every day as I have been doing.  The staff were trying to wake her when I rang last night to tell her she had a new great grandson, but even they could not wake her so I got the news instead.

Today I was back working in the bathroom tiling the wall behind the bath. Another two days should complete that wall but there are still two and a half more walls to go. That equates to several weeks work at least, possibly months! I reckon if I keep going it is bound to be done one day.

still tiling

August 4 2016

How on earth did we ever cope before the Internet?  Today I harvested the big turmeric plant and got advice and u-tube clips from all over the world on how to do it. The leaves had dried off but the pot was filled with large “hands “ of roots. After careful washing I saved some for fresh use, kept the growing knobs for replanting and boiled and sliced the rest for drying and powdering.  So far so good but it is a first try so who knows?

Edd has gone with Bo into town for a check up with his surgeon. He actually seems a lot better and is managing most things including steps and ladders really well. Let us hope he gets a good response in town this time.

The sun is shining here but the ground is far too wet to do anything constructive outside.  I am still tiling in the bathroom but I am now on the walls above the bath. We are using the off white tiles that we had stored in the cellar because there were so many I have to break them up with a hammer and then piece them together on the walls to fit with all the curves. It is a bit like doing a blank jigsaw!

I have been so busy with the tiling that the other indoor jobs like the accounts and the ironing have been neglected.  We have a Permaculture group here on Saturday so I will have to at least clean the house tomorrow. There is a lot to do in the garden too if it dries out enough.  The potatoes and capsicums are still alive from last year but we might have had a light frost last night so I will have to check if they are OK this evening after a day in the sun. It is usually the mulberry that suffers from late frost.  The buds got killed last year and we had almost no fruit.

working through winter

July 31 2016

The sun is shining, last night’s storm has passed and pleasant working conditions exist outdoor.  Edd is climbing ladders and trying to fix gutters that have blown loose so that we can store all the water that comes with spring rains.

I have been active in the vegetable garden turning over last years pumpkin bed (lots of worms) and planting snow peas. The snow peas are the first vegetable we can get from spring plantings.  This year we were very efficient and got an autumn snow pea crop too but I am rarely organised enough for this.

The chooks are doing well but we need to start collecting eggs for hatching.  Sadly, our rooster Doodle one disappeared whilst we were in Dromana but we still have the marron rooster and Rufus, who we bred last year.  I will have to move the copper marron hens so that they are with the marron rooster before we gather eggs.

This week we had enough milk to make a feta cheese. Last weeks effort was not quite set enough but I allowed extra time this week to get better results.  We took our cream cheese to the land care meeting and everyone loved it so I was very happy. Some of the goats are starting to look pregnant.  We will have to sell several, as the numbers have built up.  I hate selling goats.  I feel so guilty breaking up their relationships and families.  If possible I sell goats with friends and family but one can never be sure they will be kept together after they leave here.

Indi’s bees are very active amongst the wattle and lucerne tree flowers. Every flowering tree is bussing.  Indi has shown me the plans that she and Ben have for living space on Ben’s parent’s property.  I am so happy for her that it is all working out but we will miss them when they leave.  We have not had any Woofers whilst she has been in the donga; I have kind of missed that too.

Most of the last week has been wet and cold and I have been happy to stay in the bathroom tiling.  I have done all the mosaics down to floor level and have started on the white bit of the walls. I will do the floors last, because we will need to put another layer on the waterproof membrane there before the tiles go on.  It is slow work but progress is being made.

I am worried about my mother.  She was moved into a different room in the nursing home and her phone has not yet been reconnected.  The office takes her a mobile phone when I ring but she can hardly hear it so it is most frustrating for both of us.  My sister is on holiday over seas so she can do nothing to help at the moment. Mum has also been given what is called ‘calming medicine’ and finds it hard to stay awake. She has a strong reaction to drugs and on previous occasions where she has been badly affected by them she has told me that it is like trying to fight your way out of a grey fog.

I just have no idea what is best for her at this stage but I do feel that it is not a good situation.  

mid winter activity

July 26 2016

I am still spending 4 hours or so in the bathroom every day putting on the mosaic tiles!  There is not much to say about this except that it is chilly and wet outside so there is little to distract me.  We force ourselves out by 9am every day because animals have to be fed or milked and two hours later I am very happy to retreat indoors until the evening feeding rounds are due to start.  It is probably the right time of year to do the tiling job.

The cooking also has to be done.  Pumpkin soup for lunch today.  We have eaten all the cauliflowers now as well as the broccoli. There is too much celery and silver beet to make any impression on but spinach, turnip and parsley are good. I have discovered that raw turnip is nice grated or lightly steamed. We still have lots of turnips but the swedes are not ready yet.  The chooks are laying well, despite the cold and the goats are still giving enough milk to make cheese twice a week.

On Sunday we had dinner at Bo’s house with her family and parents in law.  The latter had just come back from a cruise and then a holiday in Queensland. They were not impressed with the cruise and did not seem particularly happy with Queensland.  At least we were able to thank them for letting us use their unit in Dromana.  We definitely enjoyed that.

Bo is busy preparing for the Yarra Glen Festival of light but she also had to get in a submission for funding the event next year.  Silky helped by modelling lanterns for the local newspaper.  Now that her kids have settled down in education and are more independent Bo is trying to work out how to restart her career life. At present she is looking into music therapy.  She got her doctorate in Music research and her last masters in opera performance but now she is returning to her childhood talent and bringing her guitar playing back up to date.

When she was about 16 she sold her horse and brought a second hand Gibson guitar that we all know as Gibbo.  Unfortunately it was badly damaged when her young brother accidently dropped a gun on it. (This is a very rural story).  She had attempted some repairs but this week we took it down to a specialist guitar mender who works from a shed in a back yard.  It was almost impossible to get in the shed because it was chock full of guitars in hard cases piled up like bricks. People were arriving with more guitars all the time but he reckons Beth’s will be back in action by next week.

Luckily for me the repairman lived very close to Garden World and we had lunch there and a look around.  It is orchid season and the place was full of the most beautiful orchids imaginable.  What a wonderful experience. There was also a display of geodes taller than I am that were cut in half to display a lining of amythist crystals.  Garden world is basically a garden shop but it is actually a really enjoyable display of all the things I love.  I came away with a poor orchid that had made it’s way into the ‘has been’ stage and some colourful bromeliad pups.  Too much temptation for total resistance!