Big Bertha

We are very lucky to have a couple of Kookaburras which we think nest in our big tree near the new shed. They are so funny to watch and make the most amazing sounds, when they both get going it is fantastic. We are woken up most mornings by our lovely Kookaburra Alarm Clocks going off. Sometimes we are able to watch them hunt, sitting very still with heads on one side listening for any tiny movement of their prey. I saw this little fella but not until I saw the photo on the laptop did I see the star behind him.

 For a couple of days now Rick has been crash bashing away down at his shed, nothing unusual there but I hadn't realised that he was cobbling together our collection of the iconic Hills Hoists. Over the last couple of years folk around have heard that we'd really like a traditional Hills Hoist washing line. They still make them BUT not like they used to. So as pieces have been found they've been passed on to us. Nothing complete but luckily Rick is very handy with welding and mechanical knowledge and here we have it. Fanfare of trumpets......

The repaired top part of one of the Hills Hoists with a wingspan to rival a 747. It's the mother of all Hoists and I believe I could easily dry the washing for the entire neighbour on it.

Base firmly concreted in and a patient wait for the top to be fitted.

And here she is Big Bertha our very own hybrid Hills Hoist. 

The Saga of The She Shed

For what has felt like a very long time nothing happened with regards to the shed. By The Shed I mean the smallest shed on the block with a door far to small for a Landy to get through, my shed for spinning, weaving, and loads of other fun stuff.... I digress... There was a delay from the suppliers - apparently trying to catch up with a back log of orders from their Xmas break.

Eventually planning permission was granted and one sunny morning in late March a rumbling of UTE engines heralded the arrival of David The Shed and his merry band of men. They finished leveling the site and built the frame work of the pouring of the concrete slab, which had been arranged for the following day.

The thoroughly leveled site was leveled a wee bit more before the boards went down ready for the concrete base to be poured.

A huge and deep hole for the 'post holders' to go in. This shed is not going anywhere and we believe will with stand hurricane force winds!

Already and the rain clouds were a gathering....

Finally the base was poured and rain stopped play for a good week while we all waited patiently for it to dry. Dave and team worked really hard making sure the base was a smooth as possible.

The shed arrived and we soon spotted the deliberate mistake. As you can see the holes don't match where the bolts are! A few phone calls later and the manufacturers promised to machine some more posts and ship them down over night. What's another day in the great scheme of things...

And then suddenly it all started to take shape.

Spaces were cut into the frame for our recycled windows courtesy of Kilarney Beach House. Many thanks to Monica and Gary for letting us have them and to Deb, Fred and Rick for the adventure of picking them up.

 Windows in and walls starting to go up..... and thankfully more sunny weather promised.

And here it is one very smart and well insulated girls shed.

Our lovely neighbour Leon gave us the heads up about lining the shed with 'covers' which are used to cover melamine for protection during transit from the manufacturers to our local cabinet makers. They have so many they normally dump them and so are quite relieved when people actually want them and usually offer them free of charge.

I wanted to put in extra insulation to make everything more cosy in the winter and cooler in the hot summer months. 

The covers we have used for lining the walls of my shed.

 First lot of pink batts in and Rick making the first cut on the covers. We (well technically Rick) put in top hat sections to attach the covers to. I did the insulation and made cups of tea. The things were so heavy to lift I'm not sure if I was more of a hindrance than a help when it came to moving them. I have found it really doesn't help if you get the giggles when trying to lift the damn things.

The electrics have now been done and much to my delight I found you can now get LED strip lighting. I went for as close to daylight as you can get and boy is it bright in there.

For a while the shed will be an on going project, lining the ceiling with 3 mm plywood is not quite as easy as we first thought and we seem to be very good at finding other  'urgent' jobs to do. It will all be done in the fullness of time I'm sure. At the moment it is a very pleasant space to be in.

Failure to post!

Well since I last wrote our feet have hardly touched the ground let alone any time to write a record of events. I will try and do a summary lest I send everyone off to sleep.....


We are lucky enough to have the World Heritage listed Naracoorte caves not very far from where we live. This series of beautiful and varied caves are home to an incredible collection of
pre-historic beasties, no one yet knows just how far back they go. On site there is also a fantastic cafe which is one of our favourite 'treat' places to go. In the beautiful gardens there is a big sign up saying please do not feed the birds... but what can you do when they insist on helping themselves!

We went to the Mundulla Show again this year and once again were blown away by the imagination and skill of the locals.

I loved this entry and thought it really deserved the Junior Award.....

 All made from old metal parts which would have normally gone the the scrap yard.

And so many carved veggies, some hilarious and some somewhat unsettling. I loved this dear little chap though.

HERBIE - Is famous! 

 A chap who writes for the Unique Car magazine approached the Historical Vehicle club here and just by chance another rover which should have been used was poorly. Rick and Herbie stepped up and here they are... their five minutes of fame.

We've attended the locally run Pist 'n' Broke and entered little Landy and Herbie for the Show and Shine. No prizes were expected as there are some beautifully restored vehicles  around. Both Landy and Herbie proudly bare their battle scars of their adventure rich lives.

Home work

We've also done some work at home.... time permitting. Ages ago Rick and I found an unloved garden bench on the side of the road when we lived in Adelaide. We brought it down here and stored it away in the depths of the Big Shed. Rick found it again and I set about making it look more loved, and really enjoyed myself. Here tis.....

Rick rescued a learner Crimson Rosella. Poor little chap couldn't fly, we think he'd been attacked by a dog, with that in mind you'd think it'd be easy to capture him. Boy was he fast on his feet, missing Ricks tackles with a swerve technique most rugby players would be proud of. Finally Rick managed to throw the jacket over him and we carted him off to the local vets. They fed him up and looked after him for just about a week giving us progress reports as the little fella got stronger and stronger. They finally gave him to a Rosella Rescuer expert in the not-so-far away town (sorry city) of Horsham. Good job done by all.....

Rick has said farewell to the beloved Speed Triple (motor bike) and has now set about getting the 1970 BSA Rocket 3 road worthy. I think it has been a project long parked on the to do pile and the time has finally arrived to get it sorted out, registered with the Historical Vehicle Club and used for coffee runs... weather permitting of course. There have been many mutterings coming from the shed, much head scratching, consulting of you tube, 'old' bike expert friends and finally the realization the wiring it up the right way (i.e. positive earth for those in the know) would work. And it did...

And more travelling....

Rick and Deb put in a marathon effort driving to New South Wales and back with a very large trailer attached to her beloved camper van a trip which took them about 4 days. Approximately a 3500 km round trip... not for the feinthearted or fatigued. The trip this time was to collect a Motor Guzzi and side car, designed and constructed but sadly no longer able to be driven by their Dad. They filled the trailer up with a few other things and made plans to return at a later date.

Easter at Kilarney

How lucky are we, our very kind friends Monika and Gary invited us to spend the Easter weekend with them at their newly restored and very beautiful Beach House. Just up the road from Port Fairy (of the music festival fame) and a sand dune away from the beach it is one of our favourite places.

Lots of walks along the beach with Toby and Curry their two gorgeous and very funny rescue dogs. Lots of yummy food and wine, the odd bit of chocolate and relaxation in the sun. a very glorious weekend. 

 We visited a fantastic market loads and loads beautifully of hand made things and bargains. isn't is amazing what you didn't realise you needed until you see certain things! I could have spent quite a few fortunes and did get some bargains. This sign caught my eye and made me laugh.....

And last but not least on the last blog I wrote about the five quinces which were slow maturing on our quince tree. I had been checking them every day for ripeness then one day Rick found four of them on the ground. Our dear feathered friends had beaten me to it, picked them off the tree and had taken just the ripe bits! Next year I will invest in some fruit tree nets!!

More to follow on The Shed..... hopefully soon....

While I was away......

So much has been happening. Surprisingly there were no new additions to the Land Rover collection. Rick did a stirling job of keeping most of the veggies alive. Poor lad both they and he had to contend with temperatures in the 40's.

My exciting bit of news is I'm going to be having my own shed YAY... At last somewhere to house my ever growing stock of yarns, fleece, the spinning wheels and looms etc., etc., I can use it as a workshop for most of my hobbies AND it will be big enough to be able to work on restoring the old furniture I seem to collect at auctions and clearing sales.

The plan once it's built is to move all the boxes and furniture which are currently filling up the two spare bedrooms so we can at last finish these rooms and get the floor laid. Then move back the furniture and set up the rooms for guests... should anyone want to visit and stay. And hopefully most of the boxes can then be unpacked... it will be like Christmas all over again as some of the boxes have not been opened for over 3 years!

Back to The Shed
But first we had to get numerous quotes and found the prices ranging from the frankly unbelievable to will it be strong enough to stand a gale? The contractor was finally chosen (and highly recommended) our thoughts and plans discussed and submitted to council for approval. (Anything with a roof over 15 sqm is subject to approval.)

To save a bit of time Rick decided to start to prepare the site he hired a small digger and set to leveling the ground. He also had time to dig some trenches and lay more irrigation pipe. Deb was on the camera recording the events, Robert assisted Rick and I'm not sure what Fred was up to but am certain he was there to. A big thank you to the team.

Not sure yet what we'll be watering with this pipe but we have learnt you can never have enough taps or hoses!

And then David the contractor arrived to finish leveling.

We're now awaiting the laying of the concrete base and after that it shouldn't take long to erect the shed. Did I mention I was excited?

All the plants seemed to have grown so much, the Turks Head pumpkins were coming on a treat, unfortunately the courgettes (zucchinis) had turned into marrows but were still delicious to eat. My 5 quince were doing so well, still not fragrant which to me is a sign they are ready to pick. Rick had sorted out the irrigation on the veg patch which has made things a lot easier. All the plants looked like they appreciated his attentions. 

All we need now is a long down pour of rain, long enough to fill the lakes, billabongs, creeks and aquifers again. That would make such a difference to everything. It is amazing how many huge old gum, trees have dropped their limbs in the last few months. I guess birds will eventually benefit as this will create new nesting holes but it is sad to see such magnificent trees suffering.

Celebrations

The 14th January this year was a very special occasion.... I had been here for three years, which might sound like a long time but it seems to have gone in a blink of an eye.

On the 15th January I took off for dear old blighty main reason was to surprise my Aunty Min and Uncle Mike both of whom had and were having special birthdays. I also managed to catch up with a lot of the family, meet the new addition and see some friends. Sadly I didn't have the time to see everyone and dearly hope no one is offended by being missed this visit.

I think it is fair to say it was a tad cold, dark and wet, my goodness it was wet, in comparison to the gorgeous huge blue skies and hot summer days her. I won't go on about the huge blue skies of Aus. I did realise it was probably the worst time of the year to visit being slap bang in the middle of winter... what was I expecting! It was though, a bit of a shock to the system especially when the first night and morning went down to -9!!! Burrrrr... I know I should be used to it as I had spent the majority of my life in the Northern hemisphere but strangely I honestly had forgotten just how perishingly cold it can get.

I'll stop whinging about the weather and I promise not to give a blow by blow account of the holiday as that would be a sure fire way of sending any reader off to the land of nod.

It was like something out of a film being greeted at the airport by Lou, D and their two girls. Teagan ran the whole of the concourse to hug me, which was enough to bring a tear to the eye of this weary traveler. Lilah ran part of the way then came over all shy and ran back... which made me and everyone watching laugh. Mike and Carol made me so welcome, as did Alfie their woofer, there was a wonderful spread of food to welcome all of us.

On my first full day my wonderful step kids and their kids did a fantastic Christmas dinner celebration reminiscent of the Boxing Day celebrations we used to share. And even organised for me to wake up to snow to make sure I got that traditional Christmas feeling.... most kind of them.

We went for walks and I thought I was fairly well rugged up... but as it was still minus goodness knows what outside it didn't take long for my teeth to start chattering. What a wimp! D being the kind of thoughtful and lovely fella he is gave me his duffle coat to wear. Ah the warmth, poor lad I hope he didn't get to cold. You're a true gent D, thank you.

 The next day Lou Teagan and I trundled off to Southwater Business Park... It was a beautiful day, sun was shining and gorgeous blue skies... and it was still freezing by the time we arrived there in the afternoon. I think the patches of ice are visible in this photo. I was better prepared this time and kept moving so I didn't get quite as cold.

Ice crystals are so beautiful the way they form. This poor old robin looked like he'd swallowed  a tennis ball he was so fluffed up. It was a beautiful walk and we met a lot of really friendly happy people and dogs.

Next stop was London to meet my cousin, visit the V&A and whatever else he had up his sleeve... which turned out to be a whistle stop tour of the sites.

But first the Victoria and Albert Museum. This very ornate building was purpose built in 1852 to showcase the works of the nations. And has been doing so since it opened. From ancient to very modern, fashions, statues, fabrics, jewelry, another decorative in the arts and design. It now houses a mind boggling 4.5 million collections.

The entrance hall with a huge hand blown work of art

One of the dining halls

And just outside another work of art, the biggest bin I've ever seen. And then we were off racing across London to the Royal College of Surgeons and the Hunterian Museum before they shut. The collection is not for the squeamish but is fascinating for anyone interested in anatomy and physiology. Body parts (not just human) painstakingly preserved an age ago for future students to learn from. Unfortunately we didn't have long there as it was a fair distance from the V & A.

Rush hour had started so we took refuge in an original and old Gin Palace. Another incredibly ornate place, well preserved. One large bar serving lots of small booths, a public bar and a snug salon bar.

The Victorians certainly went to a lot of fuss and bother when it came to decorating. The next day we traveled northwards and on to the surprise.

I think everyone in the family knew I was on my way except Min and Mike but I wasn't expecting the lack of greeting I got after I'd knocked on their door. There was a stunned silence for a good few minutes, for a moment I thought they'd not recognised me. I had expected tears but not quite this. They recovered well and began to put sentences together again by the next day.

A huge thank you to everyone for keeping the secret and helping to make my visit a total surprise.

It is such a pretty part of the world, we had cloudy days, lots of rain and sunny days and it had warmed up. But it didn't really matter what the weather did it was so good to catch up with everyone. And wonderful to see how some people never get older.

The weather has gone nuts world wide. Normally this time of year in the UK there are about 60 different plants in flower. A report was issued that there were currently over 200 in flower, everyone is keeping their fingers crossed the possible cold weather won't kill off any new growth.

The week very quickly came to an end and Lou and Teagan very kindly came to collect me and take me back to my home town and a week with some 'old' friends.







And in no particular order here are some of them:

Liz is modelling my first snail beanie, made for her daughter Geri

It was non stop and lots of fun.

Arundel Castle from our train.

Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth

 It was far to stormy and windy for the huge Isle of Wight Ferries let alone any smaller vessels to take to the seas.

And a trip to Wisley Gardens, the very beautiful Royal Horticultural Society headquarters. For about 6 weeks at this time of year the hot house is full of the most amazing collection of butterflies from all over the world. The path leading to the event is lined with very clever butterfly art.

To walk amongst these beautiful colourful creatures and have them landing on you makes you feel very privileged. They are all the colours of the rainbow and every size you can imagine.

And then before I knew it it was time to head back to Crawley for breakfast with the family, pack my bags and head back home. 

The gorgeous Alfie

I have stayed with some very kind people, shed many a tear, shared a lot of laughter too and caught up on the stories and news. Thank you to all the very special people who made this holiday so fantastic.... and to my wonderful Aunt and Uncle for having special birthdays.