At Last....

In the words of Etta James.... At Last!

We are about to move down to Naracoorte!  So we are now up to our ears in packing boxes and, currently, calm chaos.  The removalists (as they are called here) are arriving on 23rd December at 6.30 am...no I didn't believe that either and actually laughed before I realised the chap was being serious....  They will be moving all the heavy bits down there for us. We'll either be leading the charge or following on with the large trailer packed to the gunnels with any boxes the removalists have not been able to take.  We'll be sharing the lorry with a couple of other people, our load is first off, it's a great way of cutting costs.

So we will be spending Xmas in Naracoorte, I've no idea if Santa will catch up with us but I am hoping I've not packed away anything we need for THE day.  Or we will be carrying on the Gordon Family tradition of Xmas up to Easter.

Earlier on this month I started noticing signs advertising the adventures of Carol, she is obviously a busy lady this time of year! Carols Alive, Carols on the lawn, Carols in the park, Carols in the church, Community Carols and Yuletide Carols!

  

We had a visitor the other morning, Rick was quick enough to catch this little fella who then really did not want to be put in the safety of the stones in the flower bed.  Much preferring to investigate this nice warm arm and the comfort of a Tee shirt sleeve.

And now we're about to move home the Eucalyptus Folicifolia (Flowering Gum to you and Me) has, after 5 long years, at last started to flower!  It is beautiful and has been attracting the beautiful Lorikeets, Honey Eaters and loads of bees.  There is nothing quite like being woken up by the sound of Lorikeets feeding, it is a very happy sound and they are real clowns to watch.





I can't imagine there will be much time between moving home and Christmas next week to blog so I will wish you all the joys of the festive season now.

                                             

And may your new year be as carefree and fun loving as Fred rolling on a stick.

                             

What an amazing week.....

The weather got steadily better as the week progressed, Wednesday was blown in and rain clouds were plentiful and threatening.  No worries... or so I thought.  Apart from a very special breakfast followed by, reading delightful messages from friends here and friends and family in the UK, card and pressie opening I had no idea how the day was going to unfold.

Rick totally surprised me with a glider flight, which he had booked for lunchtime.  All rugged up (winter clothes on) we set off to the Adelaide Soaring Club... it's a good couple of hours from here.  As the journey progressed the weather got windier and the rains started.  Oh dear, not ideal gliding weather then, I held on to comforting thoughts that it would be cancelled if deemed dangerous.

Luckily by the time we arrived the clouds were less threatening and fairly white, there was still a very fresh southerly wind blowing but apparently that was ok for gliding.

It was all very laid back.  After I had signed a form saying I was ok with gliding and aware of the dangers... there is nothing like a reality check like that! the lady reassured me it was perfectly normal to want to visit the bathroom 40 or so times in 1/2 hour!!

The tiny glider was taxied up to us on the back of a golf buggy, it was about this time I realised just how light they are.  I was asked how much I weigh so the ballast could be adjusted, getting it right means a less bumpy flight so it was a good incentive to be totally truthful.  They were very polite about it.

Ballast suitably adjusted I lowered myself into the cockpit, strapped in and given strict instructions on what not to touch while I was there.

That was about it for instructions.  I was introduced to Gabby my pilot and was comforted by the fact he'd been flying for over 50 years.

A short swift tow by another very light aircraft and we were up up and away.

Gabby talked me through things as they happened, which for me was the best way to do it.  We needed to fly under the clouds for their thermals to enable us to climb but this was also the bumpiest part of the adventure.

I felt decidedly queasy watching the little aircraft in front trying hard to stay on course, it was being well and truly buffeted around in the winds.


Focusing on what Gabby was telling me and the horizon helped steady my tummy.

Very quickly we were at 3000 feet and the tow rope was released and we were free to glide like an eagle.  WOW what an experience, it was a bit nosier than I thought it would be but at the same time peaceful.  It was still bumpy as Gabby played with the thermals and we very quickly gained another 700 feet.  The view was stunning and as we slowly and very gracefully climbed Gabby pointed out the landmarks.  From that vantage point we could see just about 30 miles!  Amazing.

I realised the combination of my glasses and the movement of the aircraft were doing very odd things to my tummy and I was very grateful I had not yet had lunch!  Taking the glasses off really helped.

All to soon we were on our way down to terra firma.  Gabby did a fantastic job of landing the glider, actually more like setting it down very gently on the run way. I was very surprised to hear we'd been in the air for 29 minutes!

I didn't need assistance getting out, once the harness had been released, but I was a little pale around the edges and slightly wobbly.  The flight had also done strange things to my appetite, most unlike me.

An hour or so later and everything was back to normal and we were tucking into a delicious lunch.




We had just got home and Rick revealed he had one more treat in store.  A delicious dinner at one of my favourite eating places, The Rising Sun, well within staggering distance.  I have been well and truly spoilt.

We were up early the next day packing ready to set off to Naracoorte via the draftsman to discuss house plans.

The meeting went very well and the plans needed hardly any alterations.  The next stage is for us to get the footings drawn up by an engineer, get that sent back to the draftsman for him to put everything together ready to submit to Council for approval.  We are still hoping to get it all done before Xmas... this year.

Next stop was the letting agents in Naracoorte, we have rented a unit and needed to sign on the dotted line and get the keys.  Robert and Deb had very kindly checked it over for us but this was the first time we'd seen it.  All good and now we are planning the move down there which will happen before Xmas.... but only just.

Those jobs done we were able to relax a little, sort out the trees on the block which looked very sad and in desperate need of water and get ready to feed 11 people on the Saturday for my final birthday celebration.

The weather was very kind and temperatures reached 27.  It was a great evening, very relaxed, great company, lots of laughter, delicious food and wine.

I would highly recommend a week long celebration and summer birthdays.

Some more firsts....

Every day its seems to get noticeably lighter when we go for our 5 am walk, less stars but fantastic clouds lit with the rising sun.  The birdsong is incredibly loud and very beautiful but it also means its rare we hear a possum climbing around in the trees now.  Sensible little things are tucked up possibly asleep, not known for day light activity.  The Lorikeets, on the other hand get up earlier and sound very excited.  They are getting noisier and we can hear them quite a distance away from the Gum Tree Cafe where their having their breakfast.

On one of our walks Rick spotted a beetle, similar to the one below, crawling along the road. He looked very much like a Stag Beetle who had been spray painted for Christmas.  He is quite harmless and as you can see very beautiful and shiny.
Funnily enough he is actually called a Christmas beetle.

The Honey Eater family have been taking evening baths together which is very amusing to watch. The youngsters (now adult size) gather around the edge of the bird bath and take it in turns to splash noisily about in the water.  They then jump out and frantically groom their feathers, when they are perfectly preened, all feathers neat and tidy they perch themselves on the lower branches of the gum tree and fluff up to dry off. Very cute.

At the weekend we had the first celebration of my first ever summer birthday... can there ever be too many celebrations?


Rick got some very entertaining balloons, all with smiley faces, which made me laugh to start with.  Dotted in various places around the back yard they seemed to take on a life of their own.  Every now and then when we least expected it one would pop. We could have sworn the rest of them were sniggering at making us jump!






The washing line, we discovered, also makes a wonderful card holder.







There were 8 of us in total, we realised belatedly that we'd taken all the fold up tables down to Naracoorte and could only seat 6 at our 'normal' table.  So we are now the proud owners of another fold up table, I'm sure they will all come in useful one day!

It was a beautiful hot sunny day, temperatures in the 30's and not a cloud in the sky..... bliss.


There was  food and drink in abundance and all was really delicious.  We of course had a BBQ with lots of lovely fresh salads, not all made by me, which was a treat.  Followed by a delicious homemade apple cake (the first ever birthday cake made for me) with a yummy orange sauce drizzled over it, fresh fruit salad and meringues. Total bliss.....

The star of the show, who very quickly stole all our hearts  was this little one, let me introduce Baxter.

Baxter belongs to Mick and Elise, he is a pug cross cairn terrier, about 12 weeks old and very well behaved. Amazingly he was not at all fazed by the balloons randomly popping and even fronted up to one that came away from it's moorings and bounced up to him.  Very amusing.  

He also apparently likes sitting on shoulders, and perched very comfortably on Ricks shoulders, having climbed up there mostly unassisted.

It was a wonderful way to spend a Saturday afternoon with lovely company and conversation, very relaxing.

And the following day, Sunday 1st December was officially the first day of Summer.....and of course it rained!  Which reminded me of many other past wet summers the big difference here though is it's still wonderfully warm and the rain clouds are much needed and don't last long.

Jobs done

There comes a time when you eventually find the time to get down to THE 'things to do list' and that time seems to have arrived!

Rick has restored a fence separating our back garden (or yard) with our lovely neighbours.  I did offer to help but as there was only one post hole spade and Rick did seem very keen I thought I'd let him get on with it while I supplied cups of tea and encouragement.  At appropriate intervals I offered my help and eventually my offer was taken up, when Rick realised he had not got enough clamps to hold the panels in place.  I soon realised I was not strong enough to hold the panels in place using just my arms.  Much to Ricks mirth, once the panel was level I had to throw myself against it to hold it against the posts while he fixed it into position... very funny!

The next project, which didn't require any in put from me was re-hanging the gate.

All this is the start of getting ready to rent this place out so we can move to Naracoorte so we are there ready for when ever the build will start.

All very exciting.

Mean while I am still surprised on a daily basis how much the potatoes grow, not long now till they should be ready.  The herbs and lettuce are doing really well in their portable beds.




And for something completely different....

In the last month or so I've also been involved with a free on line course run by Flinders University (one of the local Unis here).  The course is to do with Mental Wealth and the promotion of it.

I had become aware through my work in the UK and a lot of people who have come into my life that there quite a few people who had been or were suffering from a mental illness of some kind. I thought it was about time I learnt more about what it may be like to walk in their shoes.  Through doing this course I have become far more aware of the many different aspects which involve mental wealth.

Sadly there are still a lot of myths, stigma and misunderstandings regarding these illnesses which affect more of us than the more talked about diseases. There is also, thankfully a lot more help available but more awareness needs to be raised and perceptions changed.  This will enable more people with a mental illness to receive the appropriate help.

The subject is VAST to say the least but so very interesting and as with anything the more you learn you realise the more there is to learn.

Enough Said

Enough said is a lovely film which Rick and I went to see in a dear little traditional cinema just 10 minutes up the road from where we live.  The seats are comfy, no smell of popcorn just the occasional rustle of someone trying to get into their Choctop.  Choctops are chocolate topped ice-creams and a great favourite here.  The cinema is a twenties style building, it has grace and charm in abundance, an old world feel and a great atmosphere.

As the weather is warming up so is the mad hurtle towards Christmas.  There have been a couple of Christmas Pageants, which sadly I've managed to miss, a great shame because I have never seen one before.  I can not imagine how uncomfortable it must be for Santa Claus all togged up in his traditional Northern Hemisphere outfit and big white beard parading around the streets in temperatures over 20!  The shops are a little more crowded than normal, all the decorations are very tasteful.  But still not all the shops are playing Xmas tunes there are only a couple of adverts on the TV which refer to Christmas.  It is so nice to be almost at the end of November and not be fed up with the Christmas hype yet.

Pomegranates are now in the shops alongside delicious juicy mangoes, strawberries, blueberries and the stone fruits, nectarines, peaches, all of which are grown here.  Deep joy....

Poinsettias and Amaryllis are in flower, traditional Xmas flowers but the difference is here they are in garden borders. I have never before seen Amaryllis growing outside and they are magnificent planted in groups in a border.

One of the more senior  ladies from Tai Chi came dashing into class the other day announcing she had spent the day getting ready for Christmas and hunting out the durex!!  I was amazed and for a few minutes admired her stamina and joie de vivre until I realised that durex is sellotape here... thank goodness I didn't laugh out loud and then have to explain myself.

The Jacaranda trees are now in full flower lining the roads they look incredible and create a fragrant and stunning cloud of purple to walk under.

And last but not least when I walked to the shops the other day I noticed a 'Scout Recycling' bin in a carpark, aside from being cruel to Scouts I do think that is taking recycling to extremes!

Nurseries, lizards and a new toy for the block...

It's been a really busy week down in Naracoorte, which started with the very long journey through the Riverlands from Renmark.  It was a fascinating drive with the landscape varying tremendously.  Going from huge fields either side of us thorough neat little towns with beautiful federation homes contrasting greatly with tiny little stone cottages. Mallee shrub land, back to gum trees and eventually as we were nearing home, lots of vineyards and avenues of very tall very old gum trees.

During the week we visited some very interesting nurseries, one of which is only 50 km from Naracoorte, there is a lovely straight road to it.  I was sorely tempted with a couple of the trees there, a saville orange (think yummy marmalade) and a native finger lime.  The branches on the later tree  are covered in inch long thorns, picking the fruit would not be for the feint hearted but they look so interesting I think it would be worth it.  Anyway these will be trees for the future once we've got the watering system on the block sorted out.

We wandered into the shop empty handed and were greeted with the smell of freshly cooked gluten AND dairy free mango and coconut cupcakes coming out of the oven!!  They looked far to good to avoid so a couple were ordered.  The treat arrived a few minutes later, the cupcake had been garnished with lime and mango syrup, a generous drizzle of caramel and a delicious slice of mango..... oh my goodness... it was delish and the coffee was delightful too. Thank goodness it is not in walking distance of where we will be living!!

In between seeing friends and visiting nurseries and op shops we've shifting soil from Deb and Robert's garden, making it ready for a fire pit.  Chasing the chooks around the garden in a feeble attempt to get them in for the night.  My attempt was not helped by Fred grabbing the stick I was trying to use to herd them.  He thought it was a great game and with one woof had the chooks going all directions.

We also visited the block to check on the trees, all plants are doing very well now.  We dug moats around the fruit trees and gave them a very generous watering, of course the next day it rained.

And while we were there we spotted this beautiful dragon lizard sunning himself on the fence.

When we were a safe distance away he raised his nose to the sun, a true sun worshiper.  When we were closer he stayed very still, not even blinking.

Luckily Fred didn't spot this one.

We have a new toy for the block.  It is a very pretty shiny new heavy duty mower, a Deustcher to be exact with a fairly powerful Briggs and Stratton engine and set of two cutting blades.  With two blades it made light work of the foot high bracken and was easy to use.  Poor Rick though determined to finish once he'd started might not totally agree with that statement having spent almost 5 hours mowing!  It looks fantastic now though, well worth all his efforts.





In the process we found we had a new addition to the flock, three lambs now and the sheep look amazing having filled out on the grass.  They are apparently almost fluffy enough to shear.

And we also discovered more lizards, another smaller dragon lizard and this dear little blue tongue.
Both were moved to our piles of logs, which are designated lizard and other fauna hotels.

It is a sobering reminder that now the warmer weather is here other equally fascinating but not so harmless cold blooded creatures are also about now.


The week passed in a flash and soon we were Adelaide bound again.  The skies were full of rain heavy clouds and it was no surprise we got caught in a few down pours.

What did surprise me though was the way the roads steamed afterwards.... it looked very magical.

And life goes on....

After the wedding which was such a joyful event came a week of preparation for the celebration of Hazels life.

It was my first Aussie funeral, which in the end turned out to be very like a UK one but the organisation was very different.  The Funeral Directors are based more on USA traditions, for instance an open casket is not unusual.  Although in true Aussie style all was very laid back, we met the chap conducting the service just an hour before the funeral.  Greg (No 2 son) wrote and delivered a wonderful eulogy which had us alternating between laughter and tears.  The service flowed from start to finish and was very lovely, a celebration as Hazel would have wanted.  We had collected rose petals from our gardens to scatter and these combined with the beautiful roses on her coffin created an amazing scent.

And so life goes on......

Temperatures have been alternating between 13c and 30c, which I'm told is a little unusual.  All the creeks are full and there are water birds a plenty.  I've spotted three different types of Ibis, lots of baby ducks, goslings and cygnets.

Some of the gum trees have just come into flower and in the early mornings joyful, colourful and noisy Lorikeets happily feast on the nectar at their very own Gum Tree Cafe.

The potatoes have grown faster than I have ever known them grow before and I've not used any particular rocket fuel on them.  We should be eating them by Christmas.  The herbs are doing very well as is the lettuce crop.  The lettuces are all native varieties but for now I can't remember their names.  We are looking forward to trying them which should be soon.  Weeds are still trying their hardest and as the ground hardens off it gets more difficult to dig them out.

Life.......

I am sorry to start this blog with some sad news, which is also the reason why there was no blog last week. Ricks Mum, Hazel, was taken poorly and into Naracoorte hospital Sunday morning. We took some time out to be with her, which was a very special time, she sadly but peacefully passed away on the Wednesday evening.  The care she received from her Doctor and the amazing nurses at the cottage hospital was fantastic, they could not have been kinder to her or the family.

Her funeral is due to take place this weekend but it feels she is already resting in peace.

Then a couple of days later and in total emotional contrast, Kane (Ricks sisters son) got married.  After a quick turn around and repack of the bags, glad rags in hand we were off to Walker Flats for the weekend.

We stayed in a shack beside the beautiful River Murray it is a very peaceful healing place with so much wildlife to watch and listen to. It was very easy to sit and just be.  First thing in the morning this beautiful river looked quite magical with a gentle mist just resting on the surface.

The weather was cold and wet for a couple of days before but thankfully we woke to glorious sunshine on the Saturday.  The wedding (my first Aussie wedding) took place beside the river. Nobody could define for me what an  typical Aussie wedding is but by the end of the day it was decided the one defining element was 'laidbackness'.  It was very relaxed and very lovely.

The tiny bridesmaids, or flower girls, of course stole the show.

The bride was glowingly beautiful and the new Mr & Mrs W looked very happy.






Everything flowed quite effortlessly it seemed. Food was delicious and very plentiful.  The speeches just seemed to happen and for the most part were funny. The band were brilliant and looked like they were having as much fun as the guests.

It was certainly great first Aussie wedding for me.

My week away......

I took the bus from Adelaide down to Naracoorte last Monday for a weeks break with Deb and family.  The journey was long (4 1/2 hours) but a good one, I had plenty of reading material and as ever knitting to do.  The passing scenery was beautiful and we were treated to a fantastic sunset.

Up early every morning to walk Fred at the Nature Park, it was just me, him and the slowly waking up wild life.  Very magical.  The walk was accompanied by Kookaburra's singing out, lorikeets, the Australian Bitterns haunting boom, a couple of bullfrogs (which to me sound like they are playing glockenspiels).  One morning along a barbwire fence a family of tiny Superb Blue Fairy Wrens lined up, 5 babies and Mum.  They looked for all the word like they were being checked over before going to school.

The delightful Fred, mud around nose having helped with the serious job of digging up the garden!

The chooks (now very grown up) have been laying every day.  Not full size eggs yet but quite often they manage a double yolker!  This is Wing Commander Gertie, flanked by the fluffy end of Flight Lieutenant Freckles on her left and a very fast moving Wilma just in the picture on the right.  They look stunning when the sunlight catches their feathers.  They also have very distinctive personalities, Gertie is the leader and the most bossy. She likes to be in on everything.... closely followed most of the time by Freckles.  Wilma and Izzy stick together and are normally quieter.  All of them now squat down in front of you so you can either tickle them or pick them up.  They are lots of fun to watch.  I've now taught them the delights of snail eating, woe betide any pest which ventures into their enclosure now.  They even peck at unsuspecting toes... which makes you jump!

It was a busy and creative week... lots of fun.  Deb and I made fire lighter roses out of old egg boxes, having

made the 'rose' we dipped them in melted soy-wax, which we had coloured with a wax crayon and scented with patchouli.  I think they look quite good, they smell lovely (if you like patchouli) and more importantly are very effective when you light a fire.  No other paper is needed, just normal kindling.

If you're interested a dozen egg box makes 6 fire lighters.

I've finally had a go at spinning to.  My goodness, it's a little like trying to drive a car whilst patting your head and rubbing your tummy!  All the You tube clips kept saying how much like meditation it was.....hmmmmm!

Practice, practice, practice and a think a whole heap of lessons will probably help.  And there is a whole new language to learn to.  There is a little more equipment to purchase, I've learnt the spinning wheel has lost a brake spring, which could possibly make all the difference.  With Deb's and You Tubes help I actually managed to get some Alpaca wool onto the spool.  You couldn't call what I'd produced yarn, infact it looked a lot like dread locks. I'm not giving up, and will practice when ever I get the opportunity.  With tons of patience and practice one day I will spin something which can be recognised as yarn!

I saw my first Wide-mouth Owl sitting on the shed in the backyard and being buzzed by an angry Maggie. Sadly I couldn't get a good photo of this amazing bird of prey.

We visited the block and checked on the trees, they're all doing really well, lots of new growth on everything. The Lemon tree is covered with flowers.  Everything was fed, weeded, watered and mulched and the next time we see it all it should (fingers crossed) look even happier.

And I got the bore water tested (this is a free service offered by SA Water).  It turns out our water is very saline and no good for plants or poultry.  My next project is to investigate the best method of small scale desalination.

Till next time.... have fun!

A little late......

I was supposed post this blog last week..... it is a little late.... so sorry.  Not much happened so I'll keep this brief.

I got very confused when the clocks changed.... where ever you are in the world in spring the clocks spring forward an hour.  Expect, it seems, when you still have Northern Hemisphere thinking about October really being Autumn!  Hmmmm....

Luckily my clever phone and laptop knew which way to go without any directions from me.  Then I confused myself trying to work out the time difference with the UK, as the UK clocks don't change till the end of the month and then they 'fall back'.  Through all this it seems the two places remain 9.30 hours different.  I discovered that it really doesn't help to try and work it through logically.

Its fledgling and learner bird season.  The honey eater family have kept me very amused with their noisy feeding sessions.  It seems who ever shouts the loudest gets fed first.  There was a report on the radio about Laughing Magpies being very protective with their young.  This is the time of year you have to prepare for perhaps being buzzed by these rather large birds.  Some people wear extraordinary headgear (and I just thought people were being eccentric).  Occasionally there have been very serious attacks and injuries caused, so if you're ever visiting at this time of year and a Maggie faces up to you it's always best to give it a very wide birth.

Ooroo!

A wee bit of a quiet week

It has been a little bit of a quiet week here with Rick away, a perfect time I thought to really tackle the garden.  The ground is still soft from the recent down pours and with the temperatures in the gentle teens, very dooable if you were rugged up and out of the chilly southerly Antarctic winds.

The garden is flourishing and everything has benefited from the rain, TLC and general feeding it's been given over the last few months. The lemon tree is covered in its star like white flowers, we'll have an abundance of lemons if they are all still attached after the threatened storms.  I think I may well have waxed lyrical already about the roses before...  but they are beautiful and just starting to bloom.  Their leaves are glossy there is no sign of blackspot or mildew and hardly any aphids.  All helped it turns out by the banana skins we've been putting around them.  As the skins break down they add Potassium to the soil this chemical is essential for plant health and is a great nitrogen fixer.  Very good for crops too.

The few native plants we've got in are mainly doing very well and the weeds are doing best of all, they are enormous and all spare space is covered. How we ended up with such a huge crop is beyond me.  No matter, I convinced myself that if I made a start and managed not to get distracted I could, very quickly make a difference.

Is it me or do other people have similar problems with weeds?  Why is it that they pop up the moment you think you have cleared an area.... do garden gremlins follow us around and planting them when we're not looking?  Well it turned out the difference wasn't very quick in the making, infact four dustbin loads later it still didn't look much different.

Slightly disheartened I thought perhaps a trip to the local nursery to select another herb for our collection would lift my spirits.  Four plants (3 natives) and a couple of packets of seeds later, job done, I returned home spirits lifted.

I sat in the back garden having a well deserved cuppa and listened to the various bird calls.  There were the beautiful Rainbow Lorikeets crying out as the chased each other in a spectacular multi coloured fly past. Peewees singing out with their haunting call and then the familiar sound of a blackbird in full song.  It was beautiful and reminded me so much of the UK.  When I finally found him he was sitting on a forlorn almost dead tree in our neighbours garden by this time he looked like he was sporting a very wild and bushy mustache.  Not realising I was watching he disappeared into the neighbours laurel and I spotted him on a nest feeding his very silent young.

A couple of days later and the youngsters had fledged the nest and the blackbirds have done what they always do and parked the 'learners' in various gardens.  Giving them more chance of survival, they are so quiet and patient waiting in the under growth for the parents to arrive and feed them they are very hard to detect.

House plans and a ride on The bike....

I forgot to say last week that Robert and Deb very kindly gave us two sacks of oranges from their tree (pictured in an earlier blog with Fred howling underneath it). They are the sweetest juiciest oranges ever and what  a lovely way to start the day... there is nothing like a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice.... hmmm.... delicious!

Roses and Red Robins are blooming all over South Australia alongside more familiar spring blooms like azaleas and Californian Lilacs.  The wisterias took a bashing in the recent storms and have mostly lost their blooms.  Strawberries are just coming into season along with beetroot and pineapple (from Queensland) and much to my confusion so to are mushrooms and its also a great time to do preserves.

I can see it's going to take a little while to get out of Northern Hemisphere thinking...

I am still attending yoga classes and am still amazed that we can all walk at the end of them.  It is (I may have said before) Hatha yoga so focuses on using the breath as part of the movement.  There are many times I get into an Asana to find that I've held the breath... maybe this is the reason for not always being able to get into the full Asana I wonder!

These are the gardens beside the church hall where I do my yoga.

And my Tai Chi attendance is still weekly, I do struggle with the concept that something so graceful (well, when done properly) is actually a martial art!  We've 'learnt' two complete movements and have now progressed to learning something called the 42 movement.  I looked it up on line and had to laugh I think Norman, our teacher, is a very brave man if he thinks he can get us all doing high kicks let alone remember all the choreography.  Both these groups thankfully don't take themselves seriously and there is much laughter as we crash into each other or fall over from an Asana.

We visited Rob our draftsman on Friday and had a great chat with him.  It now feels like he really does understand what we want with our home.  He agreed that a Waffle Pod base rather than concrete slab is the way to go.  These Waffle Pods are made from very firm polystyrene and will form our house base along with concrete, they will provide a great deal of insulation.

Waffle Pods in place awaiting a coating of concrete.

                               
Wall and roof insulation and roof ventilation was also discussed and agreed.... all good.  We've yet to decide on the windows what frame we go for as well as type of glass.  It seems we don't need them all to be double glazed.  Northern Hemisphere thinking regarding these things is now the go, so suddenly I have far more understanding and input than previously.  I was a wee bit stumped though when a chap was talking about a hydronic heating system, until he explained it to me... the penny dropped...he meant central heating.  Every day is a school day.

Buoyed up with our successful meeting we made our way home.... in the worst storm we've had since I've been here.  Rain going sideways and very heavy, exciting lightening strikes and tremendous winds, all very exhilarating.  Rick and I were hugely thankful that we had decided to leave the bike ride till Saturday.

By Saturday the storms had blown themselves out and the sun shone again, it was a beautiful day.  The beautiful Triumph Speed Triple was dusted off, leathers and helmets were donned and we were off to visit Mannum a fairly gentle 88km ride away.  Mannum is a very pretty little town perched on the side of the great Murray River.  About 15 mins into the hour long journey the heavens opened again... that was not in the plans and we did get a little soggy.

But it was a perfect excuse to visit our lovely friends Vicki and Brian who live in a beautiful home in the Adelaide Hills.  By the time coffees and teas were drunk, a tour of their amazing garden and catching up done the sun had come out again and we were off on our original mission.   Its been a long time since we've been on the bike and it seems there is still some adjusting regarding the hand grip (mine) needs to be done.
                                    
I do feel slightly precarious perched higher than Rick and need a little more practice when he leans into a corner.  Apparently I am not too bad... but there is always room for improvement.

The Murray Princess

The iconic Black Swan

Fun on the block

You'd think with the amount of cool (read cold... Aussie cold not UK cold) wet weather we've been having since the fantastically hot start to Spring that our trees on the block would be flourishing.  Apparently not so.  Our once very healthy looking flowering gum started to look decidedly crispy as if it was in a drought.

We checked with various experts and were given various explanations.  Perhaps witchy grub type bugs were ring barking the tree, careful inspection revealed no evidence of with either of these types of interference.  We finally dug it up and checked the roots, no munching had occurred there either. We took it back to the State Flora Nursery, from whence it had come and they couldn't offer any words of wisdom either but they did swap it for another one.  Apparently this can sometimes happen to very happy looking trees.  Sad as it was to see this beautiful young trees demise it was also a relief that we hadn't done anything to assist it.

It is very hard to resist the huge variety of beautiful native plants at the Nursery and we had heard words of encouragement from a radio show urging us to plant Hakeas and Stringy Barks.  Once grown up these plants should help feed the Red Tailed Black Parrot.  These beautiful (and surprisingly large birds) are in decline as their native habitats decline. So what could we do....

In ideal tree and shrub planting conditions our growing collection of 'natives' were duly planted. As it was pouring with rain I supervised the hole digging (well we did only have only spade) from the back of the car until flattened by Fred diving for shelter out of the rain! This is Fred looking slightly embarrassed having knocked me over!

I did do my own bit of planting, the daisies were kindly donated from Deb and Roberts garden the area is fenced in to stop the sheep from having a nibble.

Talking of sheep, the hungry little Flock on the Block have managed to mow everything they could possibly reach and were running out of food.  They were munching faster than the grass could grow!  So Pete enlisted Roberts and our help to round them up and take some of them back to his grazing.

Now I'm not a natural sheep dog and don't respond well to whistles or shouts of 'come by'.  Thankfully with the aid of bribery in the shape of Lucerne Hay (the best possible treat for our fleecy friends) and some basic guiding commands from Robert (to us not the sheep) we got them into the enclosure featured in the above photo without to much ado.

The yellow ear tagged ones were rounded up and put on the back of Petes UTE, then the two lambs had to be ear tagged and sorted out.  I managed to catch one of them, dear little thing didn't struggle too much. Very quickly it was all done and the 18 remaining sheep were left to eat the remains of the Lucerne and make they way back to relative freedom.  They will hopefully have enough to munch on now.

We marked out the site of the house again, it's slightly smaller now and we needed to make sure it's far enough away from the gorgeous mature gum trees we are lucky enough to have.  It is looking good and I got quite a thrill standing on what will one day be the kitchen.

The day had started with sunshine so we took the opportunity to sort out the dead branches knocked down in the high winds and storms.  Rick revved up his brand new chainsaw and removed dodgy branches and mistletoe which we added to the bonfires.  One lot of mistletoe had a Red Wattlebird nesting so he left that one well alone.  Several great bonfires were soon burning fiercely, it was good to get the rubbish sorted out before the start of the fire season when all bonfires are banned.

The weekend was over far to quickly and we reluctantly took our leave for a leisurely drive back along the Coorong.   This beautiful part of the South Australian coast line has benefited huge amounts from the rain and the wildlife is slowly recovering.



We are so glad we took the Coorong road back as we were treated to very dramatic skies and yet more incredible breath taking sunsets.

Ooroo!

Royal Adelaide Show, Show Homes, Election, Fledglings and Hugs!

Its been a whirlwind of a week, starting with the election and change of  Prime Minister on Saturday.  From the flurry of election broadcasts, sniping, spin doctoring etc., etc., which follows every election these days, we are now in the throes of the post election settling down and the post-mortems.  All will be settled (hopefully) in the next few weeks.

It was also (co-incidentally) the day we chose to go to the Royal Adelaide Show, not to hot or chilly it seemed the perfect temperature to face the crowds and tramp around busy pavilions and show ground. What a show, I think it covers just about everything the south of England Show does but on a huge scale.

In one of the marques a couple of Rangers from a local conservation park were handling a Stumpy Tail and a Blue Tongue lizard. They had both been rescued from cat attacks and taken to the park to heal.  The Rangers were talking to people about the importance of making sure domestic animals are kept away from our diminishing wildlife.

This handsome fellow is a Blue Tongue Lizard saved from a cat attack.

The biggest draw for me (no surprise) were the food stalls, so many fantastic things to sample, all locally made, deep joy.  Followed by the Alpacas, such beautiful animals and their owners all seem to be really lovely people, full of enthusiasm and happy to share information.  We watched as a couple of the Alpacas were shawn, it didn't look a kind way to go about it and they didn't look very impressed.

And then there was the tree cutters demonstration, which was absolutely amazing.  These chaps are soooo fit and fearless.  We sat in the warming and gentle afternoon sun cheering on the lads and lasses as they went through the various competitions.

The next day was Sustainable Open House day across the whole of Australia.  We visited a couple of homes they were very interesting and we picked up quite a few ideas we could eventually use in our own home.  We were also able to pick the experts brains and found (much to our delight) we are on the right track.  So a few more adjustments to our drawings then back to the draftsman for another chat.

Mean time Spring temperatures have been up and down, one day we hit 30 c the next it was back down to 15 c.  Due to the rain and warmish winter many plants are in flower already.  One part of our early morning walk we go under a gazebo covered with racemes of Wisteria and heavy with their delicious heady perfume. The Bottle brush trees are coming into flower, they look stunning with their bright scarlet flowers.

Here the Honey Eaters have been busy feeding their young from the nectar of the Crocosmias.  The nesting Honey Eaters at Deb and Roberts have produced a couple of young, dear little things.  Unfortunately I only managed to capture one of them hiding in the Japanese Japonica.

And last but not least I saw this sign, which I thought was brilliant and I just had to share it with you.