Crazy Weather.

 I was speaking tonight to some friends who live in Boggabilla  (Northern N.S.W.); they have just a week or so ago returned to their home after being evacuated because of floods. Thankfully they were O.K. I've also been trying to contact some other friends who live in Bowen, QLD. There's a second cyclone bearing down on them, the first one was downgraded to a big storm and it hit last night. The second one is going to be a doozy and is expected to touch land on Thursday. My brother, on the other hand, lives in Western Australia; and the lake his suburb is named after has been non-existant for a couple of years.

Because of my interest in genealogy I've been very fortunate to have contact with cousins all over the world so I often get to hear first hand about the weather in their neck of the woods. As mundane and cliche as we tend to think it can be its amazing to hear about their experiences in the snow whilst we're sweltering in 40c heat.  Bizarre!

I took this out the window this evening. (I was hiding inside from aforementioned 40c heat!) Its hard to see but the little parrots in the bird bath are the loveliest lime green. ( If you double click on the photo it might be large enough to see the parrots) I had been watching them for about half an hour and at one stage there were five taking turns to bathe. I feel so sorry for them in this heat and fill up the bird bath twice a day to keep them comfy. At present in the yard its just keeping the girls cool and the gardens going. The carrots seem to be struggling the most but the peanuts are doing beautifully.

Egg count for January ...................114!!!!!!!! Rarely do I not get the full complement of 1 egg per girl. Woo hoo that's a lot of omelettes. :)


We had a couple of little visitors just near the back steps yesterday. Two baby blue - tongues. I've been keeping an eye out for mum today but I think she and the kids were hiding  out of the heat. Wise move!

Summer Daze!!!!!!

Oh my goodness. The heat is horrendous!!! I don't mind dry heat too much but the humidity is unbearable.
The gardens are copping it but coping. We mulched so that helps. When Mark goes on long service I'm thinking one of the first things to do is to enclose the beds against the wildlife; and if we put some shade cloth on one side I think they should make it through O.K.

The girls are doing it tough today. Wings outstretched and panting. I go down and spray them with a little water and commiserate about the weather. They seem to appreciate my empathic chats and like to mill about having a little whinge about the trials of being a chicken in summer.

Its such a learning curve moving to a small-holding and trying to live in a different way. Organisation is the key so backsides aren't constantly in cars. We needed just a small bit of conduit today and the local hardware store didn't have any in stock. That meant a 20 min trip to another town or leave it and do something else until someone picked it up on shopping day. We found something else to do. :)

So many plans to spend the proceeds from our house. I'm having fun working it out but truth be told we don't need much at all. lol.

One of my indoor hobbies is genealogy and I have been hard at work this week working on one particular branch; so haven't been doing much outside except essentials. I tend to get lost in it though and have decided to set aside one day aside each week purely for fam. history.

I'm amazed at how much there is to do here; we seem to be very busy all the time. At least though I can go at my own pace and plan my own timetable. The busyness is no hardship though; its very rewarding. We had some ice cold ginger beer today; little things like that. Knowing you've made it and through a bit of trial and error you've  made something edible /drinkable that you've not attempted before........... its a good feeling.

Just Jottings.

 We got up early this morning and though the air had that yummy, lovely coolness about it ,its fading away and heating up. The cicadas are singing loudly already. We put our plants in the other day and they look very contented this morning. No sign of the hares; I might have scared them off when I chased them down the yard to photograph them. The 4th and "final" (??) garden has been made and the dirt will be here next week. There's much  planning to be done over the weekend as to what will go in. The thought of not having to depend on the supermarket or local shops for veges and fruit is great. We have a little growers market here for local produce and a farmgate shop not far up the valley. The local honey is gorgeous and has sent my wheeze packing. :) When we first moved here I developed a wheeze that sounded like I had a 3 pack a day habit. Someone told me to have a dose of local honey every day because the bees made it from the pollen that was probably making me wheeze. Made sense  - within a week the wheeze was gone. ? placebo effect or the honey worked? Who cares - lol - I'm not wheezing.

Egg count for the month so far is 61 not counting todays. They're such good little girls. No-one leaves my home now without half a dozen fresh eggs. :) Made a lovely pav the other day - Ta Da! Thank you to my cousin Dianne and also S.J. for their help. I forgot to take a photo but will make sure I take one of the next one. I want to record it for posterity!

Today I'll be getting the house in some semblance of order now we have our sons stuff clogging up the hallway and deck.  Another lot of stuff to the charity bin. Its lovely knowing we have just the one house to look after now.  

The trauma of finishing up at our old house is over. :) Unless its a death or other momentous tragedy I've made a rule for myself - 2 days max being maudlin and that's that. Life's too short to be unhappy over events that, in the big scheme of things, are not going to stuff your life forever.

The new sheeting for the back of the shed arrived late yesterday and Mark spent the evening  putting it up. He's got a few bits to do today then its waterproof and finished. The guy that took the weird addition away actually wanted it for himself so the only cost to us was the new sheets. We did think it was awfully expensive and Mark was about to ring the hardware store to question the bill when the truck turned up and the guy had a $150 refund!! :) We will have to buy a good container though as the shed is filled to the gunwales. Marks hobbies take up a lot of room; he really should have another big shed just for him.

He's been on almost 3 weeks holiday and he hasn't stopped working. He only takes it easy when I insist he has a break. Its his birthday next week so I want to do something really special for him. All thoughts of simplicity go out the window when its for Mark though - he does so much for so many we love to really spoil him on his day.

Well washing to hang out, house to clean, menus to write and lunch to plan for two old friends visiting our new home for the first time tomorrow. I love my life!!

Goodbyes.

"Mummy?"
"Hey look at me - look how high I can swing."
"Watch me. I can dive now."
"I don't feel well mummy. Can I just stay in bed today?"
"One more sleep; better have an early night. Santa's on his way."
"Happy holidays. Yay!!!!"
"I'm sorry but your mum has passed away."
"I don't think I did very well in my maths exam today. "
"I love you mum."
"I miss Nana."
 "I got my licence!!!!! woo hoo."
"Oh Lord I'll never sleep again."
"Doctor needs to see you immediately. She wants to operate."
"I got into uni - yayyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!"
"Kids the vet says its time to let old Jess go."

So many memories. Twenty years of our life. Growing up and growing older.
As I sat on the floor today, by myself, I could hear the last twenty years in the very fibre of this house. My soul is embedded in the walls; the voices of my children, good times and bad, sad times and funny times. My children have grown up and my parents have died. Mark and I have aged and hopefully matured. We love strongly and laugh frequently. That house surely must have that in every room; the memory of so much love and laughter. Today was to be the last day there but I want to rescue some lilies from the garden so I'll drop back tomorrow. Maybe I'll have a swim while I'm there and lay back in the water; listening to Jordan ride his first 2-wheeler down the yard; "Look at me I can do it." "Yay - how clever are you. Be careful. Well done you've got the hang of it now "  Then Scott calls out "Check out this spider Mum. it's a St.Andrews Cross" "You're so clever with all these bugs and things son. He's lovely." Then my Kimberley as she puts her toe in the water for the first time." Are there sharks in there Dad?" " lol no baby you're safe"

So I'll cry for times past, wipe my eyes and thank God for my wonderful family all grown up and making their own way in the world. My time as their mother will only end when my life does but the dynamics change as we do. To leave the family home is a wrench but its the turning of a page, the beginning of a new chapter in our lives. So I will be sad and I will grieve a little, and then I'll  "throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in my sails. And explore, dream and discover." (Mark Twain)

It feels like our new life can begin in earnest now :)

Today.

Well I almost finished my list from yesterday. Made the ginger beer, gardening got done at our other house, made a lovely dinner but son wasn't home to eat it. Doesn't matter; we were. :) We were at the other house until after lunch so that put me back a bit  - I didn't think it would take that long. Lol, oh I didn't weed all that time; scrubbed bathroom and loos etc. The boys had done a pretty good job of cleaning but there are some things that need to be " mum cleaned" not "boy cleaned".

The car is loaded with bags for charity, ready to go in the morning. And its past 7pm but I haven't collapsed in bed yet. My plants still haven't gone in but after tomorrow morning out time will be our own again. The carpet cleaner is coming early and then I can mop the floorboards and that's that. The end of an era.

Tomorrow afternoon is earmarked for planting and NOTHING  is going to stop us!!

The hares were about again this morning and they were a lot closer to the gardens. They better watch themselves; I have a good old-fashioned recipe for cooking rabbit! AND I'm not afraid to use it!

Lol - who am I kidding??!!



Now about the last lot of ginger beer or should I say my first lot of ginger beer.  I can't say I was too impressed. It wasn't very "bitey" and didn't seem to have much fizz. Not being experienced in such things I wasn't too sure how fizzy it should be but it was a little too "flat" for my liking. No-one seemed too inclined to drink it so I started a new batch with fresh ginger this time. I carried the bottles outside to pour out so I could re-use them for the new batch.  (I wasn't sure if I should pour it down the sink - septic system you see)
As I was about to step off the deck I gave one an almighty shake to see if there was any fizz at all.
FIZZ ???????
It damn near took my eye out. The lid blew off, ginger beer went everywhere and I dropped all but two bottles. All hell broke loose in a matter of seconds. I screamed, the galah and cockatoo at the bird feeder took off screeching like startled banshees, the neighbours dogs went berserk and the chickens ran for their life. Mark flew out of the shed to see what had happened. By this time I was covered in ginger beer and screaming with laughter. Needless to say the saved bottles went back into the fridge.

Not a bad brew really for my first attempt.

The best laid plans............

Its been mad few days around here. Our house (our other house) finalises on Wednesday so my son and his mate, who have been renting it from us so we had caretakers, have been moving out. So many boxes, so many things. Said son is moving back home for a while; I just got used to him not being here. :)  On the one hand I'm looking forward to Wednesday; it will be so good to just have it all over and done with, finally sold and gone. Just having one place to look after will be nice. Of course it will be poignant too; walking out that door for the last time. I'm awfully sentimental so I'm guessing I may need a few tissues.

We went to the nursery late yesterday to pick up some herbs and  veges. They were going in today but I simply haven't had time; it will have to be tomorrow now. You won't believe this though - in the time we've been here we've only seen one rabbit on our property. Yesterday and this morning there were three huge hares down in the back corner munging on the grass! They must have watched us build the gardens and are hanging about waiting for them to be filled. :)  Rotten little scoundrels! We'll have to put a wire fence around the beds; we knew we would probably have to eventually but it will have to be sooner rather than later now we've had the visitors. I'll try to get a photo in the morning.  We had a fox wandering about the other night as well but the girls were safe thank heavens.

I've put my first peanut bush in; it'll be interesting to see how it goes. Its definitely hot and humid enough!! To start with I'm putting in tomatoes, cues, cos lettuce, zucchinis, basil, nasturtiums (for us and the chookies) cauli, sage, aloe, Thai sweet chilli and carrots.  I also bought a couple of lavender  - my favourite plant. That will be a good start anyway.

(Lol. Son has just informed me he's going to move into a nursing home; that way he'll never have to move again in his lifetime!)

Now about tomorrow. Hmmmm.  Those plants WILL go in, the new batch of ginger beer WILL be made, the bags of clothes etc WILL be packed into my car ready for drop off to St.Vinnies on Monday for Queensland, I WILL finish weeding the garden at our old place, I WILL have a special dinner to welcome home my son (though its only for a little while) and I WILL probably go to bed about 7pm. :)

Gosh I'm glad we opted for a quieter life.

P.S forgot to tell you about the last lot of ginger beer. I WILL tell you tomorrow!! :)

QUEENSLAND.

All our love, thoughts and prayers go to the people of Queensland. Just thought  I might leave the blog until tomorrow - sometimes we need a moment to take in all thats happening in such a tragedy.

Almost Gardening.

Woo hoo. Two of the gardens are finished and the dirt arrives Wednesday. It was a dreadfully hot and humid day to be sawing and grinding the tin but it got done with just a few stops because of rain. I didn't get to paint the sides of them because of the rain but will hopefully get that done before Wednesday.

I'm painting them the same lovely green colour as the big shed - I'm not that pedantic - we just happen to have a bunch of green paint :) We've put the beds right beside the tank as this will be the primary water source and it can gravity drip-feed  them. We're on town water here but we won't have to use this at all.

The soil we ordered is rich in mushroom compost and all sorts of yummies so can't wait to get my hands dirty.

The beds are high enough that I won't have to bend too far to work on them and there'll be pavers up the middle and around the sides to make it easier to push a wheelbarrow about.

The other two should go together tomorrow so then it'll be almost planting time. It'll be a learning curve to go from one raised bed in suburbia to 4 in the country.(and thats just for starters). I didn't have rabbits, 'roos and cockatoos to contend with there. I often think of my father who could just about grow carrots in cement; I wish I had taken far more notice of what he did. He only used companion planting and made his own compost and even sea weed fertiliser. My great-grandfather was evidently an award winning vege gardener - I'm hoping genes will out. He dropped dead in his garden though - lol - I'm not in a hurry to emulate that!! 

SITE   MANAGER.

The weird shed thing was removed from the back of the main shed the other day and the replacement colourbond is coming this week so the shed will be water tight again. We're also looking at ordering a container this week as well for general storage; at least we're not pushed for room here.

Must tell you about the ginger beer - will leave that until tomorrow.

I'm baaaack!!!

Well here I am. A little worse for wear but back on board. It's been a busy few days; we've had a lot of visitors; that's been lovely.

The strange contraption behind the shed is going at the weekend if the weather holds. Its an attached shed to the normal shed and it will need a truck to lift it and cart it away. In its place is going a container to store whatever bibs and bobs one puts in a container. That's Mark's area but I'm pretty sure i'll be snaffling a little corner of it. We have plotted the gardens and Mark has gone off to get the last lot of tin sheeting. The wood we bought yesterday for the corners  is waiting patiently by the tank and tomorrow we build! We had a lovely outing to Bunnings yesterday (to O.S. visitors Bunnings is a large D.I.Y. store). I'm sure we've paid a few salaries there in the last few months. LOL. I love that place!

The chook yard move has been put on hold until the gardens are done. They have a new hen house and a huge pen so we felt (no -  Mark felt ) they could wait. I reluctantly agreed and acknowledged I am getting a little O.T.T. about the girls comfort. As Mark said  "They're only chooks." I did think that was just a little rude but he's allowed his opinion. After all  "he's only a man". lol.

Hey check out the crop circle in our back yard. We have 2 at the moment with a third one coming along. :) Its where the septic irrigates - looks affective and so green against the dry grass. Doesn't take too much heat to brown off the grass in Aus but on the flip side its doesn't take much rain to make green and gorgeous again.

Off to put the chicken on to roast. Baked dinner tonight and then a show to watch at 7.30. Quiet night in. Lunch out tomorrow but hopefully a lot of gardens made before then.

What a start!

Well what a start to the new year! Have been flat on my back with some virus since New years Day. Horrible feeling, couldn't eat (that's a killer!) and dreadful headaches. Feel much more alive now  - a bit washed out and "foggy" in the head but thankfully it's almost gone. Another quiet day today I think.

To date this year (3 days) my girls have given 10 eggs. I'm going to keep count and see how we go; they're really very reliable layers so far. I couldn't imagine having any more chickens  - I'm flat out using up the eggs I get. I have a dozen for Mark to drop to a friend tonight on his way to a meeting and still have a dozen left in the fridge. Mark cooked some up last night for an easy dinner for himself and Kim but with another 4 this morning I'm going to have to get baking this week.

I'm going draw up plans for the girls new home that's being built on Wednesday. I saw a great name for a chicken house on another blog just recently -Chookingham Castle - lol love it.

A friend offered us some great sheets of tin for our raised beds so there's another job for this week hopefully.

Our other house finalises in a couple of weeks so its time to clear the garage out where we've been storing a bunch of stuff. Mark and one our sons got everything down from the rafters the other day. Son said Carter hadn't found that much stuff in King Tuts tomb. lol. Major de-clutter coming up.

 The ginger beer was a bit of a disappointment. It wasn't nearly as "bitey" as I'd hoped. I'm going to start a new plant with fresh ginger as soon as I'm finished here; hopefully that will be a little zingier. And my first foray into meringue making wasn't a complete disaster. I've only ever bought them because I couldn't be fussed making from scratch but with so many eggs thought I'd give it a go. According to Jamie Oliver they can be "tricky buggers" and he's right. You wouldn't think just a couple of ingredients would be a problem really. :)