The Sapphires and burgers 16 & 17 Feb 2013

Well, we were only up here a week ago, but I had an offer too good to refuse, so here were are again.

I had an email from Terry (Arlene's brother) that there was going to be another Kingower film viewing this Saturday - and it was the Sapphires ( a feel good Australian film set in the late 60s about 4 Aboriginal girls who go to Vietnam to entertain the American troops)

Sapphires film poster from the internet

We got up here relatively late, as Fraser only finished cricket around 12.30, and yes, it was hot again.

Given our new study, we thought it would be nice to put some pictures on the wall to disguise/distract from the cracks, so we gathered up some spare paintings/prints from home and brought them to Inglewood.

A Brian Lewis original above the couch

The Queen and a Turkish drawing near the desk

I also wanted to take some additional photos of the protrusion on the wall, and the narrow walkway with arch that we had to manoeuvre the furniture through last week.

you can see that it sticks out about 30cm

looking through to the study from the mid stair landing

looking back out from the study to the mid stair landing

And I wanted to be able to show how well (some) of the plants were doing ie the ones that Denise had watered.

new jasmines

Thriving tomatoes (I ate a ripe one- nice and tasty)

healthy rhubarb and new artichokes in the background

bushy raspberries

chillis or capsicum, I can't remember what seeds they were

it's hard to see, but there is new growth here
on one of the citrus trees

 

more new growth on a citrus

very happy angel's trumpet, and new growth
on lemon in the foreground

But as I said last week, these plants were the exception, as Denise kept them alive for us, by watering them.

Below is a photo of a mirror bush, which I would have assumed would be very tough indeed, but which is looking decidedly worse for wear.

Brown mirror bush

As Fraser hadn't been here for a while, he was keen to go to the pub for a parma dinner, but I wasn't sure if that was a good idea, as we had to wait quite a while last time, and we were supposed to be at Kingover by 7.30.  We might not have been ready in time.  We'd been told that there was a  new operator at Galeas cafe next to the Gypsy store in Brooke street, so I went to check it out.  Got chatting to the lady there - Cathy, and she used to work at the Empire.  Took a menu back home to show the boys.

Fraser was very taken with the burger pack options, so we went back to order a family burger pack for 6pm, 2 burgers with the lot, and 3 x cheese burgers.  We sent Fraser back there just before 6, and yes they were ready, and not bad to boot.

Fraser all smiles with his burger pack

enjoying the burgers

So, had an early dinner, and off to Kingower for the film.  I drove carefully, as although 7.30 is still a long way off dusk, I didn't want to hit any wayward kangaroos.  We saw quite a few close to the road, but none came our way luckily.

It was a smaller group than last time, given that that had been the Christmas breakup, but there were still 20 or so people.  Terry, of course, Alex the Chilean, Howard and his wife, the American couple :-David and his wife etc.  All very friendly.

I had come fully prepared, comfy fold up chairs, jumpers in case it got cold (it didn't) wine, glasses, chocolates, fruit, fly spray, etc  

Fraser & Justin waiting for the movie

the movie screen by lamplight

Gazebo in the foreground

Anyway, the film was charming, we all enjoyed it, and at the end it showed a group of people sitting out in the country surrounded by large gums watching the stage, and then faded to a brilliant night sky full of stars.  This was very similar to our surroundings, it was lovely.  Justin also noticed a flash in the sky which repeated twice with a 30 second gap.  We thought it might have been a satellite, but only saw it  3 times, it wasn't moving there were no clouds, so it was rather odd. Fraser was quite pleased to be able to call it a UFO.

When we were leaving Terry told us that he was planning another 2 film sessions - some silent films in March, and Babette's Feast in June.  I look forward to them.

Luckily, still no errant kangaroos on the way home, although it's almost a bit eerie driving in complete blackness.  Thank goodness for high beam!

Sunday dawned bright and warm, and I of course gave the favoured plants a good soaking before breakfast.  Denise also came to visit, and I told her that I planned to start setting up the succulent bed near the jacaranda.  Well, that was the plan at least, I was waylaid in the back as I had long wanted to put some more gravel on the vegie bed surround, and therefore get rid of the gravel pile on the grass.

Well, I started this - but it was a bit laborious, as I had to sift the dirt away from the gravel, and by this time it was getting hot

champion sifter action

 So, I changed tack, and asked Justin to put up the hammock, and read my book instead

The big dry and a new study Feb 9 & 10 2013

It's been much too long since we were here last, weeks and weeks. 

Luckily Denise volunteered to water some of the plants ie the new jasmine, the citrus, fruit trees, and vegie patch (silly me I forgot to take photos of their growth) otherwise they would have gone the way of the rest of the garden and shrivelled up - powdering into dust.  Well maybe not that bad, but certainly plants that I would have thought of as hardy ie daisies, and mirror bushes are looking very sad.

Some examples are :-

Plum trees providing us with instant prunes, as the fruit drying on the limb (unfortunately you can't really see from the photo how leathery the plum is)

dried/shrivelled plum

Grass is also a victim - look at the comparison of the private house front lawns vs. the Town Hall grass which is watered automatically everyday

yellow grass in background, green in foreground

It's so dry, even the weeds are dying - which isn't a bad thing

dead weeds around the plum tree

Anyway, it wasn't all doom and gloom as Justin and I had come up with a ute load of goodies

loading the ute

fully loaded ute

We scored a daybed and a couch from Jan & Peter, a desk from Sarah, and a carpet loan from Alex & P.

The carpet had pride of place in the Chinese/red room

Nice new rug

The small couch went in the as yet unnamed other upstairs bedroom

small leather couch

And the Garden room was transformed into our new study.  Granted, it had been empty for a while, as we keep moving beds etc around.  My idea had been to put the day bed in the Garden room as well as the single bed from the big upstairs room.  However, Justin didn't want to move any more furniture than was necessary - so the single bed stayed where it was, and we attempted to get the day bed into the Garden room.  Well, easier said than done.... We got it up the stairs alright, but trying to get it up the next little lot of stairs and through the small narrow bit before the room doorway was impossible! There just wasn't the room to manoeouvre.  I saw that there was provision for allen keys and that it could therefore come apart, so that's what we (Justin) ended updoing.

FYI, the Garden room is slightly odd shaped, as 2 walls have a window each, and there is also a chimney lump protrusion which is the continuation of the chimney from the kitchen below. However, there is no fireplace. So, all of that means that wall space is a little difficult.

Luckily for us, the furniture gods must have been smiling as the day bed fit precisely in the gap between the wall and the chimney thingy - as if it was custom made for the spot.  The floor was looking a bit bare, so I took an old rug out of our room to jazz it up a bit.  But it was a bit small, and not really appropriate.

Day bed and old rug

Justin also suggested that we put the desk in here, and thus a study was born

roll top desk and telescope from the other room

He even used it to do some work, after of course hooking up his laptop to the long extension cord and connecting it up with the dining room powerpoint downstairs.  I also "stole" our good rug from our bedroom which had been situated at the end of our bed.  It was a bit wasted where it was, so looks better here.  Another suggestion is that if this room will be a study, then we might set up Frank's old train set on a table as a display.  Stay tuned for that one (the train and tracks are currently just packed away in boxes)

Man at work

We did a bit of pottering around the garden also, I gave it a good soak, and tried fixing up the front fence a bit - which is more falling down than usaul.  J then took over the job and did it more professionally - pulling it back with fencing wire, and attaching it to a metal rod in the ground.