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.