Gordon had dropped by and he didn't know, and we also saw Don who didn't know either. However Don came back and advised that he thought that wood stove wasn't original, and that the back panelling and therefore those plates would have been for the previous stove. He thought it might have been something to do with the drafting /heating etc - and recommended that we go to a wood stove shop in Castlemaine - as they are the experts and may know.
And speaking of the stove, Justin also re-instated the flue opener/closer for want of its proper name, as this had fallen out some time ago.
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| Justin lifting up the flue chimney to slide/shove the handle thing back in |
It made a diference also - as I cooked up bacon and eggs on the stove on Sunday morning - and shut the flue - and all of the escaping smoke stopped immediately. Given my lack of flue experience - I'll just have to experiment with it..... I had read something on the internet - closed flue and the heat stays more in the stove etc... I'll have to check.
Anyway, that said the aim of this weekend (or at least my aim) was to survey the garden so that we could provide the plan to Kevin the garden designer - and he could come up with a proper designed garden for us - incorporating as much of my wish list as possible ie rose gardem succulent garden, olive walk etc etc.
The kids and Justin were in charge of this - as I still had a large bucket of jonquils and some addtional roses to re-plant
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| Fraser in the backgrond under the shrubbery, Justin in charge |
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| Mad making sure that the measuring tape was taut |
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| Fraser at the other end of the measuring tape |
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| droopy calendulas |
The artichoke continues to thrive....and I also planted some leetuce and dwarf pea seedlings
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| the thistle takes over |
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| lots of fresh mushrooms |
I'm a bit concerned about the lemon trees though - as the leaves are looking a bit leathery and dried up. I'm sure there's been enough rain, and they were certainly looking healthy over Summer. Have they had too much water? I'll have to investigate this also - as they form part of my citrus garden/orangerie (with grapefruit, lime, blood orange and cuquat!)
Justin also had to bail out the cellar a bit more, the kids were firmly ensconced on their laptops (no photo this time), and Basil basked in the sun and ran alll around the house. How exciting for him!
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| Basil, enjoying the sun |
Justin and I also went up to the Blanche Barkly winery for some more of their fabulous clean skins. No one was there when we arrived, and there was some money on the counter - from another customer we assumed who had purchased a single bottle and honestly left their payment
Anyway, after 5 or 10 minutes David showed up, it was his daughter's engagment party and they were all over at the stone house across from the winery - having a good old time. So lucikly we were able to get our wine, and David returned to the party. He also told us how they have a monthly film night at the Kinggower Village Green - and invited us to come at some stage. I'd very much like to - when it gets warmer I think
James the butcher had also told us that there was going to be a feature on Inglewood/the Loddon (not quite sure how extensive an area they were including) in the Saturday Age on 1st September - the "10 reasons to visit" part of the Lifestyle section. His butcher shop,winerys, & Melville's Caves etc will feature. I'm very plased about it, and look forward to reading it
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