News on the home front

Now in between all the gadding about we have been doing we have also been working on the house, veg patch, land rovers and shed.

Garden
It still surprises me that although it is Autumn and turning chilly it is also the growing season! So I have cleared out half of the raised bed and built the soil back up again and planted it up with Brussels Sprouts (well Rick likes them!) and then discovered that coriander is a great companion plant for them. So gaily scattered the seeds around them. I've also put in All Seasons carrots and some beetroot. The rest of the bed still has a self seeded cherry tomato (courtesy of Deb) heavy with tomatoes which are still ripening! Silver Beet with beautiful glossy dark green leaves, makes you feel health just looking at it. A very large and rambling courgette or zuchinni depending on which side of the planet you are on, and some gorgeously bright nasturtiums. So I can't do much with this side of the bed just yet.

Keen to make the most of the planting season I stripped out what was left of the sweet corns. The lesson I've learnt with these is they really don't like being blasted with South Westerly winds, mind you neither would I. And having topped up the soil with all sorts of nutritious delights in went Broad Beans, which did so well last year.... I must remember to also put up a wind shield for them.

I've sadly lost the Cranberry I'd been trying to grow but in it's place found a real surprise. The chilly plants I'd brought have really not liked being in the trough and are struggling... but these ones are not only free but are growing in abundance.

No idea where they self seeded from but I'm delighted to have them.

We also made use of a plant sale at the local nursery and saved tons of money buying loads of native plants. These we've planted near the septic tank, hoping that when they all grow they will make a wonderful wind break and also give our neighbours and us some privacy when we are both sitting on our verandahs. Well that's the plan any way.

THE SAW HORSES
With the cooler weather coming we have been noticing various drafts in the house, which will all change once we have internal doors, skirting and window sills. Tackling the largest things first Rick has been busy putting up the beautiful old doors we had got from the clearance sale.

It fits! Awaiting the stripping process.

Stripped and almost ready to be sealed.

They are really beautiful solid timber, we think Red Ceder, doors, no idea what the panels are. But as I learnt from my first attempt it is quite a challenge getting rid of the Shellac which was hiding under the numerous coats of paint. Every day is a school day and slowly I'm getting the hang of the best process and even (dare I say it) speeding up! 

To start with I realised I needed trestles to rest the doors on which were the right height for me. Inspired by Rick and Deb and their ability to turn their hands to anything I thought I'd have a go at building my own. I think my Mum would have been totally amazed I'd even attempted to do such a thing. Anyway a couple of days later I had two very sturdy Saw Horses whose feet all reached the ground at the same time!!























The Shed
Rick is at last erecting the old shed, I think I'll let the pictures tell the story on this one, it hasn't been without it's comic moments. Luckily both Rick and the shed are still intact.

As well as erecting the shed and stripping back or repairing Landies Rick made a cupboard for the laundry sink!

It's not surprising we're a tad sleepy when evening falls and we get a chance to relax.

Signs of Autumn

It is so lovely to catch sight of these beautiful Nerines down by the Landy Stable. I discovered the other day you can also get bright orange ones here. Back in certain UK gardens,come the Autumn there will be the beautiful pale pink variety bring some of there cheer to the flower beds.

Not sure what this gorgeous tree is but it seems to like us being here. I think it has almost doubled in size since we've moved down. It's a lovely reminder of the beautiful northern hemisphere colours at this time of year.

Gadding about..... again!

I think I've said before that there is always something happening here, just recently there has been a flurry of birthdays to celebrate (always fun) and swap meets to attend... you never know what necessities may be uncovered.

To start with the Horsham Swap meet; we thought at first we'd not be taking much home but how wrong were we.  Luckily I found a lovely old wheel barrow which I eventually had to go back and buy when our pile of treasures became to many to carry. It was piled high with Ricks bargains amongst which was almost a wood lathe. Slowly the carpenters equipment is being gathered and repaired. Crossing the road on the way out Rick almost walked into a vintage Rolls Royce, much to the amusement of the Coppers following behind.

We did a couple of stops on the way home first one being an Art Gallery just outside of Horsham with some interesting sculptures and beautiful old houses in the grounds.

And then on through Natimuk, which seems to be tiny but really interesting little place full of character. The Cafe below offered some delicious 'everything free' food. It would have been very rude to refuse it and as we didn't to upset anyone we had some lunch there. Delish......

They are such a creative community in Natimuk, I loved this Recycled Bug inviting the kids to push buttons and work levers but not to climb on.

An invitation the kid in me could obviously not resist!

Below is a photo of the original Coach House and Hotel built in 1876 of local stone, I think it has been modernised a wee bit and now looks like a very well loved home.

And then in a blink of an eye we were off to Adelaide.......
where we caught up with a lot of lovely friends, visited the reclamation place, managed to source other 'things' we can't find down here AND, joy of joys, went to the Central Market... three times.

It really is Autumn here and along with the cooler... slightly wetter weather the chestnuts have arrived. In my excitement to cook them I forgot to take a photo of the basket loaded up..... I'd also forgotten just how hard they can be to peel! In the past I have been used to roasting a small bag full... which is dooable. But I have to say I found preparing 2.5kg is a little challenging... it's a good thing they are soooooo delicious to eat and such a lovely once a year treat. We haven't eaten all of them yet, some have gone into a butternut squash and apple soup, some have been dried and there are still some yet to roast. Deep joy....

It is funny how you forget that something which has been such a familiar part of your life may be a mystery for others. More than once I have been asked what I was going to do with them and how to prepare them.

We left the CBD and head up into the beautiful misty Adelaide Hills to meet up with our lovely friends, Brian and Vicki. Brian is a bit of a genius with natural stone floors and he had very kindly found these beautiful natural stone tiles for us. Perfect for the outside shower, they (Vicki and Brian) are going to pay a visit and lay them for us in the outside shower. The slight grey pattern on this tile is a fossilised plant. Mind boggling just how old they are.

While we were there it poured with rain and was so windy, such a shame as they have a beautiful garden. But then Vicki pointed out this dear little Koala, sound asleep in one of their trees, back to the wind an quite secure. She did look a tad soggy, poor thing. And this little one seems to have a very interested male Koala which has recently visited. Having just one Koala in our backyard would be fantastic but two!! WOW sadly though Koalas don't seem to frequent our corner of Aus.

As much as it is good to catch up with people and always good to see friends there is something really magical knowing we are coming back here.

Port Fairy and the room with the view

With the Easter break coming up some friends of ours (Gary and Monica) from Victoria were off to Killarney (just outside of Port Fairy) to do some more renovation work on their ex service home. It had been transported down to Killarney by the previous owners. They (our friends not the previous owners) were kind enough to ask if we'd like to visit with a promise that we would not be put to work. Not really knowing what to expect by way of facilities we dug out the swags, packed our breakfasts and everything we thought we might need into Dora. We did know with the 4 hour drive ahead it would be a little unlikely we'd be driving back the same day. 

A really early start (still dark) and we were rewarded with a magnificent sunrise, definitely worth getting up for.  The morning had a beautiful fresh autumnal chill to it, with the sun slowly warming everything up there were a few lazy clouds around resting just above the grape vines and fields, it looked magical.  The sun was golden and lit up the dew heavy cobwebs strung out like beautiful diamond necklaces amongst the tall grasses which lined the sides of the roads. Unfortunately I forgot to take any photo's so I hope my description can do the scenes justice. Hay ho.....

Through Port Fairy and off down a dirt track past just one house and we'd arrived. The track has only four properties on it so very quite and unlit. To the back of the house was a field of very contented looking cows grazing peacefully.  And to the front on the other side of the road was a nature conservation area, then sand dunes and then the sea. It was wild and beautiful.

The room with a view was through the first clear glass door which, to our surprise turned out to be the loo! But what an amazing view. Once you'd realised the road has barely any traffic you could relax enough to enjoy it.

The view from the room, what you can't see are the pelicans and black swans on the water.

The day remained warm which was perfect for exploring Port Fairy. The architecture is varied there are many tiny old cottages which are nestling along side modern buildings. Occasionally an extension has been added to the back of the cottage. As these beautiful buildings are listed the ruling is the extension must not be built onto the cottage. So this was worked around by adding a walkway between the two buildings. To me it seemed a great shame that most the the extensions looked like they had just landed behind the cottage from another planet. In the main they were very modern square boxes... I guess the planning made sense to someone. 

The Moyne River runs through Port Fairy, which by the way was named after the Whaling Ship The Fairy. Thankfully there is no evidence of whaling these days. Instead much is being done to conserve and protect the wildlife.  Now Port Fairy is very popular with the Twitchers, especially for Mutton Bird spotting, and once a year over a long weekend in March a huge Folk Festival is held there. Note to diary to go next year.

As the day progressed the weather starting getting colder and more windy so by the time we went out to get some tea it was really whipping up a hoolie out there. And by the time we got back there was horizontal rain... not complaining... really.

We laid out the swags and settled into our room with a door. A number of doors on this lovely place don't fit very well and it was incredibly noisy with the wind blowing incredibly hard all night long. Very wild and very beautiful. The next day after a fairly sleepless night I realised that there is a definite nack to sleeping in a swag.... and I really don't have it! 

In the morning Gary and Monicas dogs, realising we were stirring just could not resist coming and saying G'day. Toby, the older of the two and a beautiful Kelpie cross collie is a real old soul, very polite and gentle. He waggingly trundled in poked us with his cold wet nose then waited till we made a move to fuss him. Unlike his mate Curry (a full Kelpie) he bounced in like Tigger and threw himself on top of me for a hug, totally confident that I could not resist his doggy charm. He was right!

The storm had blown itself out and we were greeted with a beautiful sunny day. Time to take the dogs for a walk along the beach. It was so beautiful and apart from a couple of people exercising their horses in the sea deserted. The wind was on the chill side and blowing quite strongly so we were all glad we'd rugged up.

Rick soon realised Toby would never get tired of chasing sticks.

Introducing Curry on the left and Toby on the right

Happiness is obviously stick shaped for Toby.

And then on the way back Monica spotted this little fella in the under growth. The dogs had no idea he was there, so we didn't tell them.

After a quick breakfast we were off back home, via this volcano which apparently is not extinct.

What you can't read is this area is called Tower Hill. Slightly different from the Tower Hill in my home town of Horsham.

It was a lovely mid week break. Saturday (another sunny day) we did visit Horsham where a huge gem show was being held. Lots of beautiful sparkly things and some amazing fossils.

Sunday we awoke to rain and I spotted what I thought was a huge dog in the paddock. Glasses on and I discovered it was a very large Kangaroo enjoying his brekkie and not at all fussed by the rain!