27 & 28th August 2011 :- Hippy Vest & more weeding

Seems like forever since we've been here as a full family! Justin, Fraser and I were here this weekend.  Mad had her last night of her school play - hoorah! - and so is staying over at Aimee's.  Hopefully next time we'll all manage to come.

Stopped off at Becky's before Nimmitabel, and picked up Elise to have a play with Fraser

Yellow and orange sunny flowers everywhere in the garden, very hardy and bright, and attracting bees.



photo from the internet - I don't know the name of these flowers though


 And yes,  there are still bees up in the wall near the jacaranda tree.  Justin has been in contact with the bee guy, who's actually in contact with his lawyer re the wrong sized scissor lift.  Anyway, at least the bees seem to be gone from the other 2 locations

Did my habitual trip to IGA, where they're running a competetion :- spend at least $20 and get a stamp towards some subsidised moulinex fry pans.  May as well..

J made sandwiches for lunch which we ate up on the veranda.  the weather was lovely - sunny and warm,and I thought that this might be the end of Winter.  I was wrong...as I found out that evening/the next morning.

Fraser and Elise disappeared after lunch - having lots of fun.  J recommenced painting the white trim in the hallway, and I attacked the weeds again.  This time fiddly little weeds that were a nuisance to pull.  I had debated with myself whether I should usee the round up or not - but I don't really believe that it works - or that it would differentiate the weeds from the plants that I want to keep.

I had also perhaps mistakenly thought that numerous plants that I was keeping were california poppies

actual california poppies (photo from internet)

(it's been a long time since I've seen them)  However I'm a lot less sure now, as some bigger versions were near my transplanted rose - and it looks decidedly weedy.. so I've pulled them out.

I'm also not sure if the almond that I moved has survived (fingers crossed) - the small twigs are still green which is a good sign, but the buds haven't opened yet, and the other what I assume to be almonds in the back garden have already flowered and are now in leaf.  The pears and the cherry that I planted have similarly not flowered, so I gave them a good watering too.

Gordon dropped by also - and we asked if he could make a couple of raised vegetable beds like he did for Becky - so he'll do that out the back. I'm looking forward to that - and incidentally, the parsley and rosemary that I'd planted a couple of weeks ago - out the back (in rather stony soil) was still ok.

Fraser and Elise reappeared - begging for some money to buy a really "cool jacket" - actually it was a hippy vest from the 70s.  Multicoloured shagpile wool, hand made - and quite heavy.  I relented, gave them the money and off they went to buy it - in Elise's words - it's better than the gilly suit.

They came sauntering back - quite the huggy bear from Starsky and Hutch..



Michael Jackson action..

 So weeded until 5 or so - which is when it started getting cooler.  Came in and cleaned up, and read the paper a bit.  Justin set the fire in the dining room in readiness for after dinner.

Becky came over around 6 or so, and we went down to the Empire (had booked earlier) wasn't that busy, but took a while for dinner - didn't matter, lots of fine wine and conversation, and Elise was wearing the vest - so that provided much entertainment for both kids. I saw James & Pat (butchers) in the bar and went and had a chat also - thanked them for the note in the  letterbox re coming and knocking on the back door when they were closed.

Enzo also told me that it was old Mr Nevin's birthday (would have been 90) - I assume he was Jamie & Luke's dad - so he and others were raising a glass to him.

J & I sat in the dining room when we came back to the house - in front of a roaring fire - lovely.  J played his guitar and I read the Age and had a glass of muscat.  Although I'm sure I've said this before, there's something to be said for simplicity/lack of technology/distractions.  And the fact that most things we do here are a bit of an effort, no easy hot water - therefore no easy washing the dishes, showering etc.  No easy plumbing - shocking water pressure, and no functioning toilet.  No easy electricity, a lot of rooms with no lights.  No easy heating - just the fireplaces, wood stove  etc etc.  But despite this we enjoy it - or at least Justine & I do - hopefully the kids will too one day...

In the meantime, Fraser and Elise watched Bedtimes Stories on the portable dvd player - harder for them to do without technology! Elise had a sleepover which was nice.

Was freezing over night - literally, as when I got up - there was frost on the car (woke Fraser up to have a look - as he felt cheated that he hadn't seen any frost here yet).  Went back to bed afterwards.

grafitti - frost on the windscreen

frost on the car roof

Not too much frost on the grass, but I did find some in the back yard, where the sun hadn't really hit it yet

frosty weed

To help pay for his vest, Fraser cooked us all breakfast :- egg in a basket on the wood stove.  Took a while as they had to be done one at a time, but they were certainly delicious

who needs cutlery?

After breakfast I went back outside to the weeds...And Justin set up one of the trestle tables out the front and read up on his case for Monday.  He had a delightful time just sitting there in the sun - giving me encouraging comments and weeding advice every so often....

As probably mentioned earlier, he is a Round up Man - doesn't believe in weeding.  And at the end of my back-breaking labour  I didn't have that much to show for it (as they were fiddly little weeds - not like a couple of weeks ago - where they were big clumpy weeds and I was able to fill Gordon's trailer)  Anyway, I did put mulch over what I had weeded, so at least that was something, but I guess it would have felt more satisfying to have done more of the path etc.  Oh well, maybe next time.

Walked up to the butchers at lunch time to buy some small goods that they had told us about. Bought a couple of free range salamis (one hot/the other mild) and some cheese

Had a late lunch outside on the table that J had set up for his work - I guess you could call it a portico :-

A portico (from Italian) is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in Ancient Greece and has influenced many cultures, including most Western cultures.
Some noteworthy examples of porticos are the East Portico of the United States Capitol, the portico adorning the Pantheon in Rome and the portico of University College London

Anyway, had some salami, cheese, lettuce, tomato, avocado etc with some crusty bread - rather nice.  The kids had gone up to the IGA and bought dratted instant noodle cups, corn chips and salsa dip.  Although to Fraser's credit, he did say that our lunch looked nice (he had assumed that we would have just had boring sandwiches)

Back to more weeding after lunch, then a quick tidy up, and homeward bound until next time.

Stump Prince and hotdogs :- 13 & 14 August 2011

Fraser and I went to Nimmitabel this time.  Justin was going to come, but unfortunately had to work over the weekend, and Mad had her play practice and so was going to stay with a friend for the weekend anyway.

As it was just the 2 of us, I thought I would spoil him a little (cupboard love?).  We stopped at the Red Couch cafe in Bridgewater for lunch on the way there - which F very much appreciated.

Then to the house,  I thought that we might either do some garden stuff, or else try our luck at plastering one of the rooms - as I thought F might like to do that.  But first I wanted to plant the cuttings that I had brought up and had already struck root, ie some lavender, wallflowers, penstemon, rosemary, and also some parsley and lilies that had grown in the wrong place, and of course the cherry tree that I'd bought  week ago from Camberwell market.

Becky also dropped in (Elise had gone to her Dad's) and we had a chat out the front in the sun.

After she left I thought we should concentrate on the weeding, as the weeds beyond where we had cleared had grown quite tall and  wild, and I thought it prudent to get rid of them while the weather was still cool and prior to snake season.  Little did I know that in the paper today (Tues 16) that there would be an article about the stirring of snakes and how they have been sighted due to the unseasonal warmth, and even though it only got to 10.5 degrees in Ballarat yesterday, a student at Ballarat College had been bitten. Luckily I was wearing gloves, due to my huge blister 2 weeks ago! And no, I didn't see any snakes, the only wild life we saw were of course lots of birds, and F found what he considered to be a huge disgusting witchetty grub

Anyway, below is a before shot....

I must admit that Fraser wasn't too interested in weeding (neither is Justin) he wanted to do something more exciting such as looking for our secret passage from our house to the Jennings store.  So he was tapping on walls, closely examining the cellar, checking out any loose floorboards.  Unfortunately no luck(yet!).  I did get him to replant a few bulbs that I rescued

And also got him to transport piles of the weeks that I'd pulled out to Gordon's trailer which Gordon had brought around

This kept us busy, and we also fit in a visit to the IGA to stock up on goodies, a visit to Grant to ask if he had found anything out about the secret tunnel (he hadn't - but would keep asking) and also to ask if we could have some horse manure as offered previously, and lastly a visit to the Empire to book for dinner

Finished up around 5 or so, and went into the kitchen to get the stove going (went through quite a few matches again) - so sat and tended the fire, had some nibbles and a drink, and I also read the paper - very convivial.  We also boiled a kettle as I thought we might use the hot water bottles...

Went across to the Empire around 7, and we both had the mixed grill followed by a cake - delicious!  Then back home to watch Centurion (Fraser'schoice of dvd from the IGA)  Also got the fire going in my room, this took a while, as I guess I didn't set it up properly.  In fact, I had given up and was going to let it die a miserable death, but it bucked up and caught, and we suddenly had quite a nice roaring fire - no thanks to me.  The movie was quite well filmed, but rather bloody and violent...And the hot water bottles worked  a treat!! We really are getting back to old fashioned basics here.

Of course I woke up before Fraser - so let him sleep while I set a new fire in the kitchen and read the Sunday paper.  Finally got him up around 8.45 and offered him a rather delicious yet unhealthy fried cheese sandwich on the wood fired stove.  He certainly took up that offer, and I had one too, washed down with a couple of cups of coffee.

First thing after breakfast I put the curtains back up in the kids room - for some privacy

and also moved the cane chairs 9from Myrtles) into the dining room in front of the fireplace, given that I had moved them I also changed the configuration of the "dining room" table, had it across the width of the room, rather than down the length.  (Justin not happy about that - so I guess he'll change it back)

And also artfully positioned the blue and white urn in the hallway - just so!

Once outside, wasn't too cold this morning, so didn't bother with the thermals, under my overalls, and soon had to take off my jumper as it was warm weeding

Fraser decided to help also, and so suggested taking out the stump in the 2nd top photo.  I told him he had to be extremely careful, and would have to wear  the steel capped boots if he was using the mattock.

He did so, but said they felt a bit uncomfortable, and then we saw that there were strange bits of rubber or something on the ground - it transpired that the soles of the shoes were deteriorating and just falling off.  He put on the 3rd pair that I had bought, but this happened to them also.  Very strange!!! They were brand new Dunlop work boots (bought from Camberwell market) - the guy that I bough them from had had them sitting in a cupboard for some time, but I would have thought that shouldn't make a difference....- but it obviously did!  Actuallyy I've just been looking on the net to see if this is a known problem and I came across a thread re Ecco shoes soles deteriorating - so I may look into this further.  Anyway, it was certainly very strange that it happened to 2 x pairs of boots - after wearing for the first time!

underneath of one of the deteriorated boots.... 

Anyway, despite the boot mystery, Fraser did demolish not one but 3 stumps, so I have now christened him the stump prince and am very proud...

Worked away steadily for a few hours, and  then he wanted some lunch.... I had promised hotdogs cooked up on the wood fireed stove again - and suggested that he go and start on them while I continue with the weeding.  So he resurrected the morning's fire, and started frying up the bacon bits and onion in the frying pan, and boiled the hotdogs in a pan of water on the other "hotplate".  It worked a treat!  In the meantime when I came in I chopped up the lettuce and cheese, and crisped up the rolls in the oven. Yes, it would have been quicker/more efficient to cook up on either the bbq or the gas hotplate, but not as much fun

 

Back to more weeding, stumping after lunch.....

Certainly filled up Gordon's trailer...

and got quite a lot done, when you compare it to the 1st photo...

 Anyway, F was getting a little restless and wanted to go- so I compromised and we finished up at 3.30 and left by 4pm.

Solo 2 :- Blister 30 & 31 July 2011

Went up by myself again due to kids sporting commitments etc.  J took care of them this weekend.

I wanted to check on the pear trees that I'd planted a couple of weeks ago, as well as the  transplanted almond and roses etc.

Anyway, all looked good, I sat on the verandah and had lunch, read the paper and then it started raining - so much for my planned afternoon of gardening...

Well, I wasn't going to by the wet and muddy garden martyr, so sat and read the Saturday paper - while the rain set in.

Did put on my rain jacket to walk down to the IGA to buy some milk, and then wandered down the main street to see if there had been any changes.  There hadn't really.  Also popped into the Empire to explore the possibility of a coffee and cake, but decided against it, had a quick chat with Enzo and fortitiously asked if he was going to be busy for dinner tonight.  Given that he said yes, I quickly booked  my table for one. He must have been surprised, felt sorry for me - as he offered to find me a bloke to keep me company - I assured him that wasn't necessary, as I had one of those back in Melbourne.

Anyway, wandered back home, made myself a coffee, and read the paper some more - this time in the kitchen.  it everntually stopped raining, so I got the overalls on and started shovelling wheelbarrows full of mulch - and putting them out on the wide garden bed outside our front fence - as there as still a bare bit left - as we had run out of mulch last time.  Took quite a while....Figured that it was quicker (but muddier) going across the blown down fence into Storm Lane than walking across the garden and out the front gate and then back along Verdon Street.  Must conserve one's energy.

Once I'd finished that I went across to Grant & Francine's to ask if Grant could come and look at the kitchen stove and flue and advise if he thought it would work - as it was rather cold...

They both came over, had a look and reckoned it would work, although the oven wouldn't heat properly because of the broken off pieces.  But, really at this point in time,we just want it to be able to warm up the room, as the kitchen is the coldest room in the house.  Grant showed me how to open the flue, where to put the sticks, etc - and suggested that I pull all of the existing fuel/rubbish out and start again with just a small fire to make sure that it worked, and that I didn't smoke out the room.  Well, I took his advise with a grain of salt, in that yes, I did pull all of the crap out - plastic, bandaids etc - and put some new balled up bits of newpaper in and then piled the small sticks flammables stuff back in and tried lighting it from above in various locations.  Well then I found it a little difficult to get the hotplate back in a proper posotion, so smoke started coming out of the cracks on the hotplate part - first a little smoke, and then quite a bit more... had to open the back door to let it out.  Not my finest hour, tried fixing it up, -repositioning the hotplates etc - but the smoke still kept coming.  I don't think that fire ever really lit properly.  Anyway, by this time it was time to go to the Empire for dinner.  And yes, it was very full, took about 1 1/2   hours to get my meal, but that was fine - I had the Age Samurai Sudoku with me (which I successfully finished) and then read the rest of the Good Weekend - whilst also looking around at the other patrons.  Came home and watched 2 x epsiodes of Spooks (season 4) in bed - and had a another not wholly sucessful fire in my bedroom.  The problem was that I hadn't primed it properly ie had used some small twigs to start it off, and then much heavier logs, before it was really hot enough - so had to keep fiddling around with it to keep it alight etc.  It eventually became self sufficient - but it took a while.

Had a good night's sleep, and got up quite late for me (8am) - had woken up earlier, but had fallen asleep again (good).  There was a heavy fog, but no frost that I could see  although the lady at the IGA said there had been frost on her car wind shield that morning.  Had some George Foremanned toast with tinned chicken for breakfast - and attempted the kichen stove again.  This time taking everything out again and trying to set a proper fire.  Well after quite a few matches, I did get it going properly, yes the smoke did come out of the cracks again - but only at the start.  Once the fire took, the smoke diminished and went up the chimney - and you could see the fire glowing through the cracks. 

I obviously wanted to boil a kettle for a coffee - so did so

fire glowing below..

It actually didn't take all that long to boil (quicker than the gas sometimes) - and I was so stupidly thrilled that I had made myself a coffee using the kitchen stove. - it was the best coffee that I've had there!

Also went outside to make sure that the smoke was coming out of the chimney alright - and yes it was

So it was still very foggy, so cleaned up the stove area - took out 3 buckets of soot that had accumulated over the years - in a sort of suspended shelf over the range  - it was very thick!  Also laid more rat sack etc - as it was still foggy and very dewy and not very conducive to gardening again...  Gordon dropped by while I was cleaning the soot - and we had a chat.  he told me that the Royal was closing tonight - which was rather  sad - the manager thought that there wasn't enough business.  Although as Justin said the first few times we went there - we were put out in a back room, as there wasn't any room.  I told Gordon that I would be there this afteroon before I left - as a tribute

Anyway, the fog eventually lifted, and I decided that I would transplant jonquils, irises, and other mystery bulbs from the grass areas to the "garden beds" as Gordon had said he would come back soon and mow the grass - and I wanted to save them...(although they must all be pretty tough in order to have survived thus far)

So - I got my trusty shovel and started digging, and then my trusty trowel, and started replanting - must have moved 100s... Was surprised when I looked at my palm as I thought something was stuck there, but rather it was a large blister which had nearly popped, so I just ripped it off.  Yes, I should have worn gloves on my soft office hands - but I tend not to for gardening unless it's really mucky.  It also got rather warm; when I had started I was still wearing thermal long johns under my overalls, but had to take them off - and was eventually just in a t shirt, as the sun came out, and I certainly worked up a sweat!

dirty hand with popped blister

So continued on til 4 or so - with a quick sandwich and some fruit for lunch.  Only a couple of people looked in to comment on the house - once again they had been driving by for years - and wondered about the progress.

small section of replanted bulbs

So finished up, locked up and walked down to the Royal for a well deserved drink.  Gordon was there, so I teased him, and asked if he was minding an empty stool next to him for me.  He invited me to sit there if I liked.  Went up to the bar to get my white wine (sure I could have had a beer  for more cred but I wanted wine).  Anyway was intercepted by the couple from the butcher shop - Kat and Jim - who asked how it was all going - so we had a nice little chat - and I was a while getting back to the stool and Gordon.  Once back, he introduced me to the others in his group - and we all had a chat and a laugh -  all very pleasant.  And when I'd finished my drink, I had to go, - especially as I had requested a roast dinner to be ready for me on my return - and luckily yes  it was.  J and the kids had made a lovely roast lamb and vegies, J had got me some roses and the kitchen was lovely and tidy, maybe I should go away more often!