fooling the broody chook

February 23 2016

Edd went back again to
Tasmania last week.  Al wants to
buy a Landrover twin cab ute and he organised flights for Edd to go over and
check it out.   Edd arranged a
look at a similar vehicle here first for comparison.   Al ended up choosing the Tasmanian ute so the trip was
worthwhile.  Edd was able to stay
with our friends so he had a good time socially too.

On the farm I had a
plan to help the broody chook.  
We had put her in a small cage on a clutch of eggs but they had gone off
with out any hatching and she was sitting on nothing but hope.  I was not sure how easy tricking her
would be, so I just brought a few day old chicks and carefully tucked them
underneath her after dark.   
By morning she was thinking she had been very clever and hatched
non-existent eggs.  

When Edd got back we
put in the last of the posts for the new grow beds and started to fill the next
one.  The runner beans are doing
really well and give us a good feed every third day at least.   The sweet corn is ripe and we ate
our first delicious cob last night. 
We still have far too many cucumbers and just enough tomatoes and zucchinis.  I am getting most pleasure from the
raspberries that give us a bowl full of fruit for breakfast each day.

The olive crop is not
as good as last year but I am watering the trees and hoping to get enough to
keep us going. We have one pot left from the olives I preserved in oil last
year.  They were really nice so I
definitely need more.  The quinces
are ripening but I am never sure how long to leave them on the tree.  Last year Bo made quince paste for us
and the restaurant, which was lovely.

Morgi, Bo’s eldest
son, and Ti, Al’s youngest son, started at new schools this year.  They are now well into the first school
term and trying to adapt to the change. 
I am not sure yet how it will all go.   Bo was doing an awful lot of driving at first but
Morgi has now found a bus he can go on with a friend.   I have not really spoken to Ti since before Xmas so I
do not know how he is going.

I did get to spend
some time with Ella, my youngest grand child.  She can now crawl and sit herself up and get herself where
ever she wants to go under her own steam. 
Luckily she has a very sunny nature and is very laid back about life.
Dani, her mum, arranged for Bo and I to go out with her for a meal and talk at
De Bortoli’s restaurant down the road. 
We had a great time. My eldest granddaughter Indi was working there that
day so we were a big family group of women.  Ella behaved perfectly, which was good because she was the
only child there.

I was not sure about
the presentation, but the food was good and everyone got gifts of wine and
flowers.  The best bit though, was
getting to know Ella.  I am not really
gushy over babies but I love seeing little people develop in to
characters.   Indi has a new
puppy that is already a character at 12 weeks.  Her other dog, Rosa, is very easy to control and live with
but I think this new girl will be more challenging.   She is a red kelpie and has lots of curiosity about
everything.

btton grass and odd plants

old trees

Tasmanian Trip

February 10 2016

Nothing quite turned
out as expected!  Indi did not take
the new job because it was falsely advertised and was not full time but she did
get concussed coming off her horse so Bo looked after most of the work on the
farm whilst Edd and I had four days in Tassie.  I feel awful about giving Bo extra work but we did have a
fabulous time.

Al met us off the
plane in Launceston and dropped us off at the motel where we had booked.   Luckily it was at a place with
easy access everywhere and we were on the third floor on a hill and could see
all the area spread out before us. 
Al took us for a walk up the gorge on the edge of the town that was very
spectacular, and then we had a lovely evening meal of fish by the waterside.

The next day we found
a beach up where the inlet meets the sea. The weather was perfect, the sand was
golden and the sea turquoise so we walked along in the waters edge and
relaxed.   In the evening we
were invited to Al’s exhibition profiling the individual projects that the
members of the workshop had taken on. They were very varied.  I liked the nomadic garden idea.   Gradually as we spent time with
Al we were able to understand more of what he had been doing.   It was complex, and based round
the premise of unsettlement.  The
students were confronted with the facts about our present situation as a
species on earth and our trajectory towards collapse, and then asked to make
meaning in their lives by changing something.  Anyway, I think that is what I understand.

Al leant us his car
and on Saturday we drove up the centre of Tasmania and spent the afternoon with
our friends in Hobart.  It is
always good to catch up with friends and they had some good news because they
have finally sold their spare house. 
It was impossible to fit all we had to talk about into the time but we
did our best. 

 

Sunday was different
again.  We met up with Al and all
went up to Cradle Mountain for the day. 
The park is serviced with shuttle buses that go round picking people up
and dropping them off.   This
is a really good idea because it kept most of the cars well away from the park
but meant that everyone could choose the length of walk they wanted from zero
to days.   The most used walks
all had wooden board walks.  I
usually hate this but the vegetation was so different and special I could see
that walking on it would soon destroy what everyone wanted to see.

There were big round
mounds of golden Button grass, weird trees like yuccas, wiry blue grass by
creeks and carpets of an alpine fern. 
We ate lunch on a gravel beach by a beautiful lake.  Al had cleverly brought wine, olive
bread, basil and locally smoked salmon, which got us envious glances from other
passing walkers.  Once again the
weather was perfect and we had an amazing day.

Back at the farm most
things had survived.  We have eaten
the years first meal of runner beans and the pumpkins we planted in the new
grow bed have gone mad and are climbing out everywhere.   We have put up another section of
the new grow bed and today we have started to fill it up with goat manure and
other stuff.

February 10 2016

Nothing quite turned out as expected!  Indi did not take the new job because it was falsely advertised and was not full time but she did get concussed coming off her horse so Bo looked after most of the work on the farm whilst Edd and I had four days in Tassie.  I feel awful about giving Bo extra work but we did have a fabulous time.

Al met us off the plane in Launceston and dropped us off at the motel where we had booked.   Luckily it was at a place with easy access everywhere and we were on the third floor on a hill and could see all the area spread out before us.  Al took us for a walk up the gorge on the edge of the town that was very spectacular, and then we had a lovely evening meal of fish by the waterside.

The next day we found a beach up where the inlet meets the sea. The weather was perfect, the sand was golden and the sea turquoise so we walked along in the waters edge and relaxed.   In the evening we were invited to Al’s exhibition profiling the individual projects that the members of the workshop had taken on. They were very varied.  I liked the nomadic garden idea.   Gradually as we spent time with Al we were able to understand more of what he had been doing.   It was complex, and based round the premise of unsettlement.  The students were confronted with the facts about our present situation as a species on earth and our trajectory towards collapse, and then asked to make meaning in their lives by changing something.  Anyway, I think that is what I understand.

Al leant us his car and on Saturday we drove up the centre of Tasmania and spent the afternoon with our friends in Hobart.  It is always good to catch up with friends and they had some good news because they have finally sold their spare house.  It was impossible to fit all we had to talk about into the time but we did our best.  

Sunday was different again.  We met up with Al and all went up to Cradle Mountain for the day.  The park is serviced with shuttle buses that go round picking people up and dropping them off.   This is a really good idea because it kept most of the cars well away from the park but meant that everyone could choose the length of walk they wanted from zero to days.   The most used walks all had wooden board walks.  I usually hate this but the vegetation was so different and special I could see that walking on it would soon destroy what everyone wanted to see.

There were big round mounds of golden Button grass, weird trees like yuccas, wiry blue grass by creeks and carpets of an alpine fern.  We ate lunch on a gravel beach by a beautiful lake.  Al had cleverly brought wine, olive bread, basil and locally smoked salmon, which got us envious glances from other passing walkers.  Once again the weather was perfect and we had an amazing day.

Back at the farm most things had survived.  We have eaten the years first meal of runner beans and the pumpkins we planted in the new grow bed have gone mad and are climbing out everywhere.   We have put up another section of the new grow bed and today we have started to fill it up with goat manure and other stuff.

January 26 2016

It is Australia day, and everything is pretty quiet.   We read about mega snowstorms in the American east and massive hailstorms in Canberra but here all we have is a valley full of hazy smoke.  We are told the smoke has travelled all the way here from the bush fires in Tasmania.  This does not happen like this very often so we keep checking the CFA web site just to be sure.

It is still very dry but luckily we had some rain last week, which has helped things keep going.  Edd has spent the week fitting filters into the water lines from the tanks because they are pretty much empty and if we pump more water in it stirs up all the dregs on the tank floor.  We talked to a friend this week who is doing exactly the same thing.

I am slowly working my way round the old house site cleaning up mess and weeds. Watering also takes a lot of my time but the vegetables are being very productive and rewarding my efforts.  We still get lots of strawberries and raspberries for breakfast and we now have a cucumber glut to add to the zucchini glut.   We give all the extra produce we cannot sell to Bo for use in her restaurant.  Bo often gives us free meals so this works well.

Indi is trying a new job at Debortoli’s, a large winery that has a restaurant very close to our farm.  It is a full time job and a step up from the work she has been doing at Bo’s.  She could have a career with this company if she wanted to.  Bo has encouraged her to move on, but I am sure she will really miss her. This probably means Indi will go on living with us for a bit longer.

We spoke to Arj, her brother, on skype.  It is the first contact we have had with him since he went to Germany over a year ago.  He tells us that he can now speak German and that he plans to travel next year.   He looked fit and happy, which is all that really matters.   I still phone my mum every night.   Yesterday she told me she had fallen off her chair but she seemed OK.   She thinks she could have pressed the eject button!   That seems rather a dangerous thing to have on a blind person’s chair.

Poor Silky had to have a general anaesthetic to take out lots of teeth last week.  They were too badly damaged to leave in her mouth.  It knocked her around quite a bit but she was back bouncing yesterday when we went to Bo’s for tea. Bo has struggled with all the kids at home for the long Summer holidays.  Luckily the school year starts at the end of the week and some sort of sanity can be regained. I am so glad I am past this stage.  I have no idea how parents cope these days.

Al is still in Tasmania. We are planning to go over for the exhibition at the end of his stay.  I only have a hazy idea exactly what he is doing but if we go and look I might find out.  The problem now is finding a way to look after everything here whilst we are away.  Indi has offered but she will need it all set up now that she is working longer hours.