working with homespun

July 25 2017

We are enjoying another sunny day.  It was cold outside last night but the house quickly warmed to 24C once the sun rose.   For the last two days I have been working in my indoor garden and actually got hot.   Piece by piece I have been cleaning the floors and then wheeling the plants onto the bit I have done.  The trick is to arrange the pots to look as if they are in a tropical garden.  Now I have reached the last section and here the problems are harder to deal with because this area contains plants that are too large and too floppy.

Between gardening efforts I am weaving and spinning. The new loom copes with homespun wool really well and I have used up all the balls I had left over from knitting projects.  I am now at the stage that I am having to spin more wool to keep going.  Luckily we got good quality fleece from out last shearing so I have plenty of wool to work with.  I am weaving squares of cloth to be made up into cushion covers as I experiment with the loom.  So far I have made squares, checks, stripes and plain, squares.  Weaving itself is much faster than weaving and knitting.

Last weekend we went on a visit to see Wayne, Danni and Ella.  She has just had her second birthday and is cuter than ever.  Danni cooked us a lovely lunch and Ella played with the dolls cot we gave her.  I had sewn and knitted bedclothes for her and she even managed to a squeeze into bed with her doll at one stage.  I am totally amazed at how well behaved she is but I always knew that Wayne would be a great dad.

Time for hobbies

July 16 2017

We are experiencing more cold, frosty nights and dry days with winter sun. Edd has done an amazing job and cleaned all the windows inside and out.  We only have windows on the north side because the other sides are under ground but they are very large windows.  All the jungle plants were wheeled around to reach the windows and now they are on the move again so that I can clean and polish the floors.  In other words we have created chaos. 

Many of the plants have grown so large that dealing with them is difficult.  Others need to be sent outside for a spell and all of them need to have their leaves washed.  They already look healthier now that I have moved all the dead and dying leaves but some like the ginger are ready to harvest and many need larger pots.  I am not totally sure about the best way to care for every plant.  It is always a dilemma guessing what I can prune with out killing it.  My pepper vine is still alive but failing to thrive but luckily the bromeliads and mistletoe cacti look healthy enough to compensate for a few strugglers.

My knee is not good and walking is hard because I cannot get my leg straight.  Edd is helping by doing most of the outside work and I have had time to set up my new loom and practice using it.  I have been using cheap commercial yarn for the first few attempts but it is now time to try with wool.

Birthday camp and olive oil

The oil before separation.

July 11 2017

We are now going through the coldest part of the year but this did not deter Ollie who decided to celebrate his birthday early with a camp out here for his friends. About a dozen teenagers arrived yesterday and set off across the property looking for mobile phone reception.  You can climb a lot of hills without much luck on this quest and even if spots are found who wants to sit alone in the dark all night on a hill side in mid winter. Eventually it was decided that communication would have to be conducted by direct conversation, and amazingly this outdated system worked surprisingly well and everyone found a lot to say.

Bo had the pizza oven hot by sundown and when she went back to work in the restaurant Simon and Edd cooked food for everyone.  Teenage skills were less apparent when it came to putting up tents but some people just opted for sleeping in chairs around the campfire or swagged up under the shelter shed.  It was a cloudy night so the temperature stayed above freezing and everyone woke unexpectedly cheerful. Some bright soul even got the fires going. Bo slept here in case of trouble and ferried everyone back to Yarra Glen in the morning. Yarra Glen is with out power today so mobiles could not even be charged up there. Shock horror!

Life has been easier since Edd got back from his holiday.  We have moved the young chicks outside this week because they had grown too much to stay in the cage in the shed. Edd has also brought a light-flashing thing and set it on a post,  facing the stone pines.  At night it admits random flashes of red white and blue and hopefully frightens off marauding deer.  So far we have not had another attack so it might be working.

Al and pip are now in Thailand for a wedding and a holiday.   Al stayed with us one night last week and we all had an evening meal at Bo’s place.  I had actually booked us in to her restaurant but there were no other customers, so she re-organised us, closed up early and sent her staff home.  Al brought up some pulp that he had ground up from olives he picked and I pressed it in cheesecloth in my old cheese press.  From this I have extracted a small amount of clear, golden oil that tastes nice and mild.   Our first attempt at oil making has definitely proved it is possible.   Ben and Indi have given me a bottle of the oil from the commercial set up they are managing but it is cloudy and green.   I now have all the equipment brought to set up my own oil grinding system but the olives are over for this year so there is no rush.

I am still making cheese and the goats are starting to look fat and pregnant so we are at the lowest milk production for the year.  We need to keep the supplies going for ourselves and also to feed any needy lambs when the older sheep start to give birth.  The sheep are now in the house site and mowing down any cape weed that has started to grow on our roof.  The goats are not eating any cape weed but they have begun the job of clearing the blackberries from the gully.  I have cleaned up the dead leaves in my indoor jungle and also move most of the rocks from Toby’s garden. One more day should have that task done then the dogwood tree needs to be removed and we can start garden building.