"Paying" Bus Tour 18 & 19 April 2015

My usually uneventful drive to Inglewood was punctuated by what could have been disastrous. Travelling through the Domain Tunnel I suddenly saw a stopped car in front of me, near the King Street exit.  I couldn't change lanes as cars were blocking me, so I had to slow right down (from 80kph).  It was then that I saw a man walking across the lanes.  This gave me a tremendous fright.  By this stage I could change lanes, but then saw a ladder on the road, so obviously had to avoid that too.  Seems as though the man had dropped the ladder from his ute which was parked further up  in an emergency type lane at the tunnel exit.

I'm assuming that he successfully retrieved the ladder and that no one was hurt, nor accidents occurred as there was nothing on the news about it later.  At least it was relatively early - around 8am, so not that much traffic.

Anyway, got to Inglewood around 10.30 or so, went and bought some pork, saw the Op Shop ladies etc,

This was followed by some light gardening, as I had brought some plants/seeds etc  from home, and needed to get them in the ground.  We'd had some rain in the last week, so I didn't need to do any watering

a large yucca to go in my succulent bed

the ground was very hard to dig after about 20 cm, so I filled it with  water

Naked Lady seeds

a transplanted crab apple  tree

bamboo & loquats that I'll give to Arlene

After this I went up on the veranda with a newspaper to wait for Denise and her busload of Kangaroo Flat tourists.

I like "spying" on people from up here. As they generally don't know I'm there if I'm sitting down and quiet.  I saw they stopped at Storm Lane, and Denise gave them some information, and then they continued on to here for our 12 noon "tour".

From memory there were 17 of them.  I gave them the "standard" tour, I've shown many people around the house now, and have sort of a standard spiel pointing out the various features/ points of interest.  We start in the hallway, with its lovely tessellated tiles and fragile ceiling wallpaper, then onto the wonderful green room with its sumptuous wallpaper, impressive gold coloured tin pelmets and (tastefully) multicoloured ceiling rose and 3 dimensional cornices. etc

One of the men told me about "another" mansion owned by a friend of his in Peterborough in South Australia.  He said she got it to pay for itself by conducting ghost dinner parties etc.  And that it was for sale, and did we want another mansion? Actually it looks a lot more impressive than our house....

image from the internet

I regretfully had to decline the opportunity to buy another "mansion" - one is surely enough.  But I was interested in the dinner party idea.  Karen and I had already discussed the possibility of "murder dinner parties"here, and Wally and Christopher had also discussed having dinners with interested people who would pay for the pleasure of our company and the ambiance of the house,  But we would have to smarten it up a lot more before we could entertain such notions.  The kitchen and bathroom are certainly not up to scratch.  And electric lights in all rooms would be a bonus.  But then again candle light has a certain appeal.

Anyway, my "tour" was well received, and at the end I asked for a gold coin donation to go towards our renovation fund.  Didn't really like asking, but Denise had apparently told them about it beforehand.  Made just over $40, which I'll put with the other money from the Castlemaine National Trust people.

After they left I had some lunch, and then proceeded to unpack the goodies that Karen had given me from her Dad

the jigsaw caddy - will be used for the next time

Beautiful Folio Society books on the Mike Terry shelf

And of course the kitchen goodies :-

a multitude of glassware/crystal

8 place dinner set #1 

8 place dinner set #2 

Surprisingly I was able to make room for everything.

After this I went and did more of the jigsaw upstairs - had the speaker with me, so listened to music.

jigsaw work in progress

Given that it was a sunny afternoon, I had my (probable) actual last Gin & Tonic of the season on the veranda around 5pm - but it really was getting a bit cool by this stage, so I didn't linger.

Terry had organised another film night for tonight, at the local village green.  I was determined not to be cold, and to be comfortable, so I amassed various necessities in the hallway.

In the first instance I wanted a beanbag and picnic rug to put it on outside.  Plus gloves, beanie, a scarf, thick socks, warm jacket and hiking boots (because of the thick sole)

film night requirements #1

And then I remembered that I also "needed" a hot water bottle and blankie to put around my cold knees/shoulders

film night requirements #2

And I was already wearing thermal underwear, and 3 layers of top clothing.  I was definitely not going to be cold.

I left for Kingower around 7pm, and found the village green empty.  The venue had been changed to St Marys, as there was the possibility of more rain.  Saw Arlene and June as I was parking the car, and gave the bamboo & loquats to Arlene which she appreciated.

Then went inside with all my stuff - beanbag, rug, bag etc etc.

Of course it was relatively warm in there, and I had to take my jacket off, leaving just 2 upper layers on.  Didn't need the other stuff at all - but I was very glad I had been prepared.

Terry had set up tables and chairs, and Maile invited me to sit with them at their table.  So I gave Maile the persimmons and fejoas that I brought for her from our Melbourne garden.  She gave me some sail cloth for the salted olives that I will be making from her olives.  We'd tried some of her salted olives a while back and thought they were delicious.  Sort  of like sundried tomatoes in texture, with a very concentrated olive taste.  Delicious.  I hope that mine will turn out as good as hers.

Had a good old natter with Maile, Davids, Arlene, June, Terry, Chrissie, Jan etc

And we all enjoyed the film - that old Sidney Poitier/Lulu classic :- To Sir with Love

 

Image from the internet

Sat around and chatted afterwards also.  Terry told me that they were interested in Karen and Mark conducting a trivia night taking up Karen's offer at the Music night.  Should be fun.

Got home around midnight, no kangaroos sighted.

More pottering around the garden, and more jigsaw "work"on Sunday. I now think that I might actually finish it - that is if no pieces are missing.....But, it is difficult, as some pieces "fit" with a little coaxing, but then others don't fit with them, so you think that some pieces must be missing.  This happened to me a few times, ie when I looked more closely I saw that some pieces just weren't quite right, and when I removed them was able to fit in the right pieces and subsequently close the gap. But, I don't have brilliant light there, especially when it's cloudy, so the different blues all sort of look the same...which makes it that much harder  

few still missing on the right

got the ones on the right, and more on the left too

It was quite cold in the house this morning, although the day was bright.  I spoke with Justin and he said it was dull and overcast back in Melbourne.  I took a couple of photos in Inglewood and he took one in Melbourne to compare the weather at the same time - around 9.20am

Inglewood weather at 9.20am  #1 

Inglewood weather at 9.20am  #2

Melbourne weather at 9.20am

I called up Maile in the morning to see what time I should come over and pick the rest of the olives, but she said to wait, they weren't ripe enough, so I'll go up another time.

Maile had also recommended that I salt the olives in a polystyrene box that I should be able to get from a fruit shop. And that I should put a few drainage holes in it also.
 The nice people up at the IGA gave me this one

And this is Maile's recipe for the salted olives - from SBS

Arlene had also recommended that I throw my own single solitary olive from the garden in with Maile's olives too, or else just put it in the salt shaker

my rather good lucking single Inglewood olive

I also swapped plastic boxes for my cured pork.  The blue one from George was just too bug and cumbersome, and didn't seem to seal properly.  The new one was a snugger fit, and I put it in the cellar to cure....Now just have to make the box with Justin for next time.

Easter & School Holidays :- Thursday 2 April - Sunday 12 April 2015

Arrived in time for a late morning "coffee club" coffee at the butcher's

Justin waiting for his coffee

After Justin's coffee, and the kids enjoying a milkshake

Then back to the house to unpack etc.

Mad also helped a bit with the jigsaw

isn't she clever?

much more of that palm tree done now

And Justin painted the window frame in the little yellow room

very precise

painting by podcast

a sneaky photo

the finished window, but hard to see with the light behind it

And he also put epoxy on the very dry veranda rails

expoxy king

always use gloves

look how shiny it is now (Xavier's hand)

And this is an untreated piece of veranda rail - Xavier's hand again

We went to the pub for dinner, and Enzo told us about his new deal with Water Wheel providing the house wines.  In fact he gave Justin a glass to sample (as they were chatting at the bar), and then gave us a bottle to take home and drink.  How nice was that?

the now sampled Water Wheel gift

On Friday the Lions Club did the annual Good Friday Fish BBQ with band across the road at the Town Hall

Good Friday Fish BBQ

Justin and I went across for a little while, but didn't eat, as they were serving up the food at 11.30, and we just weren't hungry then.

Later in the day Justin went for a run and I rode my bike slowly next to him.  I guess it was about 7km? We saw a number of kangaroos/wallabies.  I suggested running into Kingower could be good practice for Justin's upcoming half marathon (not sure how that was received)

Maile invited us for drinks in the afternoon, so we drove up to their place,  She had laid out a lovely platter, cheeses, biscuits, olives, salami etc.  We sat outside admiring the view, and it was very pleasant

drinks & nibbles #1

drinks and nibbles #2

drinks and nibbles #3

Maile also gave me some asparagus berries/seeds from her garden, and promised me some olives, as they weren't planning on harvesting them this year - yippee!

Left just after 6pm - and had an up close encounter with a kangaroo on the way back. Not close enough to hit luckily.

Maile called me later that evening and told me that there was going to be a lunar eclipse at 11pm.  Luckily it was a lovely clear night, so the kids and I went out into the backgarden to marvel at the red moon

article about the eclipse

On Saturday Michelle and Richard came to lunch.  Pretty much replicated the menu from the previous (Aunt/uncle/Jill lunch ie red dip, pate, and pizzas.  Richard surprised me by asking whether we were involved with Heritage Week.  He had received some information with our house pictured front and centre.  Oooh, is this going to be bigger than we can manage???  Of course not!!

We sat outside so as not to disrupt my precious and exasperating jigsaw.  Unfortunately I forgot to take photos, The afternoon was perfect, lovely weather and company.

On Sunday morning Justin went on an ambitious run to Kingower (he'd taken my suggestion on board).  And he asked me to pick him up in one hour.  It was about an 11km distance

before the run, around 7.30am, and a bit chilly 

off and running

And yep, he was there within the hour.  I drove up, picked him up, and then came back to the house.

all done and still standing

Unfortunately a lot of my time has been stolen/wasted by the jigsaw, as I feel that I must just get it done. particularly before Xavier arrives.  And yes, the sky with its different shades of blue is quite tricky

getting there

 Anyway, I didn't finish it before we had to leave (to go to Darren and Gail's wedding later in the afternoon in Melbourne).  However I did try and make it Xavier proof.  Firstly putting all of the loose pieces back in the box, and then blocking off the dining table

pieces in box so Xavier doesn't misappropriate any

is this barrier Xavier proof?

Had a lovely time at the wedding, and then back to Inglewood early the next morning so that we could go to the annual Rheola Easter Fair.

Mum, Helen and the kids came too (they had come up to Inglewood on the Sunday, in fact we saw them parked by the side of the road outside Marong)

The Fair was great as always,

Firstly took Mum into the crafts hall and admired the quilting and laceworks

rather nifty "Op Shop" Quilt

lace work hand made by one of the ladies

I don't know if there could ever be too much wood chopping, or sheep dog trials.  Although the set up for the chopping takes a while. Didn't take any photos of either this time though, as have plenty from previous fairs

I had borrowed Justin's "oliver" tractor t-shirt that he had made up a few years ago, and so went in search of the original.  Unfortunately we could only find a new Oliver tractor - oh well

me and Oliver #1

me and Oliver #2

me and Oliver #3 (and Michaela)

And Mum took a photo with her ipad, and made it into a postcard...

me and Oliver #3

striding through the fair

Xavier liked the tractors also

the tyres are bigger than he is

We also bought some of the delicious CWA sponge cakes...

Helen enjoying the CWA sponge

and another sponge enjoyed at home

And this year we saw the sheaf toss

sheaf toss #1

sheaf toss #2

Xavier entered the Master Rheola again, but unfortunately was not successful.  Michaela didn't feel like going in the Juinor Miss Rheola this time

Master Rheola strut #1

Master Rheola strut #2

/
As always, we saw numerous people we knew ie Maile & David, Damien, Nicole, & Jerry, and Damien's sister Sheridan, & partner Jason, Kevin P, John, Chrissie etc.  No Lloyd the sheep dog though.  I was also looking out for one of Justin's Geelong colleagues, but didn't see her either.  And I was very surprised to get a message from one of my old work buddies Michael E.  Turns out that he had been at the Rheola Show with his family also, and would have dropped in to see us and the house.  But limited mobile phone reception meant that I didn't get the message until I was back in Inglewood, and then I left a message for him, and by the time we actually spoke he was back home on the Mornington Peninsula.  Oh well, next time, now he can place the general location of Inglewood.

In the evening, had a nice fire - our first for the season

Mum and Michaela enjoying the fire

On Tuesday it was pretty cold and windy, quite unpleasant to be outside.  So I of course got stuck into the jig saw.

miserable day

more jigsaw

But we also made time for a coffee at the Empire

coffee time at the Empire #1

coffee time at the Empire #2

In the afternoon, Helen took Xavier up to Mt Koorong to climb up it,  Mum and I weren't in the least interested, I said I'd wait for a better day.

I also thought I'd try sanding the floor in the yellow room.  Justin wasn't especially keen for me to do this, but I said I'd be careful.  He's concerned that I'll gouge and ruin the floorboards - which incidentally are curiously warped in that room.

Of course I kitted up properly with a face mask

my facemask

And proceeded to sand next to where Justin had started it off

unruined sanded floor

Helen and Xavier came back windswept and triumphant having ascended the top - via the picnic-ground path

We also noticed that part of the fence had fallen down on the way back from the IGA

oh no, falling down fence

 This required some immediate remedial repairs - as the weight of it could have pulled a whole lot more down.

I went and collected the appropriate tools and wire, and propped it up, but then needed more help as I also needed a post to hold it up.  This placed me in a quandary, I didn't want to stop holding up the fence, but needed to go around the back for a post.  I yelled for Helen as she had been outside, but she didn't hear me, Luckily Steven was walking past, and I called him in for help.  Thank goodness for good neighbours!

Xavier also "helped"

Xavier my helper

good as new?

And of course we had another roaring fire - given the chilliness of the day.  Xavier assisted in bringing in the wood

bringing in the firewood

Wednesday, and the weather was improving, and back to sunny.  I thought I'd try my luck at yabbying (again).  Especially as it had rained the night before

Helen and the kids wanted to come too, so rather than sit around and the kids make noise, we went for a walk while the yabbies filled the nets.

I almost came to grief setting the nets though.  The water had evaporated quite a lot since the last time I'd been there with Karen.  So there was a large perimeter of cracked mud around the water.  I saw other footprints, and was wearing work boots, so gingerly walked through the mud to the water's edge.  Except I hadn't counted on the mud being so deep, nor so slippery. I slipped and sunk, and almost overturned, providing much hilarity for Helen and the kids.  Similarly when I tried to extract my stuck foot from the mud, I nearly lost my boot, it was that sticky and viscous.  I managed to get out of there relatively unscathed with just a bit of mud on my overall pants

Helen and the kids collected various interesting rocks along our walk- none appeared to be gold though.  Had to discard some as they were getting quite heavy to carry

working out which rocks to keep

a hill to either go around or climb on our walk

walking back to the yabbies now

Back to the nets, and unforunately, but perhaps by this stage not surprisingly, no yabbies.... So back home for lunch.

Bit more gardening in the afternoon, tidying up the vegie garden, harvesting the little onions that grow on top of the onion leaves

strange little seed onions

Xavier helping

While working out the back I noticed paw prints in the concrete.  I wonder how old they are?

mystery paw prints

Also dug up some weeds out the front

Xavier loves the spade

Thursday, and it was coffee club day again - which was cause for much excitement for the kids. Unfortunately the scones/cakes etc were not forthcoming, Jim was just too busy these days to cater for morning tea, so it was just the coffees.  Still nice though.

Michaela's artistic order

sharing a milkshake

I also bought the pork for my proposed cured pork recipe - from the Whole Larder Love cook book, and then we had to buy another 10kg of cooking salt....Too heavy to walk it back from the supermarket, so we took the trolley

walking back home with 10 kg of salt and 30kg? of kids 

Our Melbourne neighbour George had lent me a large plastic tub

proposed pork tub

The pork leg - all 5.8kg worth of it easily fit inside it

pork in tub

I got it ready, and then had to "massage"  according to the recipe, heaps of salt into it.  Then it will sit for 6-20 days, in the sealed container, and then I'll hang it in a the cellar for 9 to 12 months.  At the end of this time I should have a beautiful piece of cured pork - similar to proscuitto (fingers crossed)

two hams

that's a lot of salt 

While I was busy with the pork, Helen made up her special tuna sandwiches with corn, mayo, spring onions etc

sandwiches for our picnic

And then onwards to Boort.  The coffee club ladies had recommended that we go down the Cemetery Road, and  through to Serpentine, turn left at the Ox, and then straight into Boort.  I guess we ended up on the Loddon Valley Highway - which was a pretty good road.

 Stopped at the Durham Ox for a photo break

plaqued rock

Helen & the Durham Ox

what is she doing?

Towards Boort we appeared to be in water channel country, and Helen said we even passed a channel with a lock.


And then finally arrived in Boort - took longer than expected - about an hour.  Boort was like a green oasis with its lovely lake, and green grass.  We had our picnic by the lake, and then Helen, the kids and I walked around it (about 3.7km).  Both kids got a bit grumbly and wanted piggybacks at times.  

the picnic ground

our picnic

the picnic ground looking the other way

our walk along the lake #1

our walk along the lake #2 (with the kids and Helen hiding behind the trees)

our walk along the lake #3

our walk along the lake #4

our walk along the lake #5

our walk along the lake #6

our walk along the lake #7

our walk along the lake #8

our walk along the lake #9

our walk along the lake #10

our walk along the lake #11

Came back and picked up Mum and had a wander down the main street.  And then back to Inglewood via the Wedderburn Road.  Passed some rather emaciated looking sheep in the paddocks.  It doesn't look much of a life for them in such arid conditions.

Given that we passed quite near Mt Koorong, and the fact that it was such a lovely day, we decided to have a fleeting stop there, so that Helen and I could climb to the top (again for Helen, first time to the top for me).  Mum and the kids remained in the picnic area by the car

The path up to the summit is marked by little cairns

the 1st cairn

another cairn

and also by plastic tape tied to tree branches which was a good idea

The path up was pretty steep, so we took frequent breath catching stops.  Views were great

Helen

view

For the last bit we had to scramble and across large boulders

Helen & cairn #1

 Helen & cairn #2

Finally made it to the top

The top!

view from the top - with a fire on the horizon

Looked around for a bit, caught our breath and then trotted back down the hill. Started off a slightly different way, thinking it didn't matter, until it did.  Yep, we ended up at pretty much a dead end, no cairns, no plastic strips, with just bushes and no path ahead.  Was a little bit funny, but also pointed out how easily it is to get lost....went back up (unfortunately) the way we had come, and then re-found our way.  Helen took a few snaps of me on the way down

cheesy smile #1

cheesy smile #2

I'm next to that burnt tree

closer up next to that burnt tree

Back home to Inglewood via a small tarred road - pretty much like a back lane with room for only one car.  Didn't really like it, particularly when going up crests.  I slowed down for these, half went into the verge in case someone else was hurtling down from the other side.  We did meet up with a couple of cars, coming in the opposite direction, luckily not at crests.  My obvious preference is for the Serpentine/Boort road - although it might be longer, so will use that again next time

Given that it was such a lovely day, of course Mum and I had to have a G&T on the veranda when we got back to Inglewood, and then onwards for dinner at the pub.

Helen had previously asked Enzo if it was possible to add an eggplant parma to the menu for vegetarians.  He said he'd have a word with the chef.  Well, they didn't make a parma, but they did make an eggplant lasagne which Helen very much enjoyed

eggplant lasagne 

Friday, and Helen left to go back to Melbourne mid morning, leaving the kids with me and Mum.

And the jigsaw inches towards completion

getting there, but will not be finished this trip

And  Xavier and I weeded out the front, I saw Arlene drive by and waved, so rang her/David's mobile asking if she'd like to come for a coffee and save me from the weeding.  Unfortunately she didn't get the message until some hours later, and even if she had, she couldn't have stopped as she was supposed to meet someone at the winery at 11am.  As it was, he didn't show up.  So, I invited her for a coffee on Saturday morning

Xavier wielding a broom

In the afternoon we went around to Jill Mc's place for a coffee and chat

Saturday, and the Op Shop ladies were invited around for afternoon tea, as Mum had missed out on the 2nd annual Summer tea due to her broken arm.

Moved the jigsaw in anticipation - as I didn't know how many people were coming.  Carefully split it in half, put it on a board in pieces and took it to the upstairs table in the "library"and rejoined it

in preparation for a move

Little did I know that Karen had put aside me a "jigsaw saver" for me from her Dad.  Oh well I'll bring that up next time.

However because it was footy season, and short notice, only 2 of them came :- Essie and Jean. It was quite a nice day, so we decided to sit outside, (so I didn't have to move the jigsaw anyway!) I made lemonade scones which weren't as good as usual.  they seemed to be from wholemeal flour, although the jar I took them from said self raising.  They didn't seem to raise very much either.  The ladies were polite about them though

Afternoon tea with Essie & Jean #1

Afternoon tea with Essie & Jean #2

David and Maile also dropped in at this stage - giving both kids a surprise present - a lovely frill necked lizard toy for Xavier, and an Aesop's fables book for Michaela

Xavier and his new frill neck lizard toy

 Maile also gave me some olives from her tree which we had discussed the other day.  All up I'd got quite a good haul of local produce, - some almonds from Frank M, some pomegranates from Jill Mc, and some asparagus berries/seeds from Maile the other day when we went up there for drinks.

some of Maile's olives

some of Jill Mc's pomegranates

almonds from Frank's tree

asparagus berries/seeds

After an hour or so I was surprised to see Arlene, David, and June come walking toward us under the tree. Remember I had invited Arlene around for a coffee...and I thought she'd come in the morning after the Bridgewater market.  But no matter, I made another plunger of coffee, and we all sat down together.  After Jean and Essie left I dug up an artichoke for Arlene - as the one I'd given her last year didn't have enough root left on it, and didn't survive.

And, because it was a nice day, after they left I persuaded Mum (not having to twist her arm that much) to have a last Gin and tonic for the season on the veranda.  Lovely!  Didn't have to have very much dinner

Sunday, and we walked over to Michael & Michelle's to give them some of those onion seeds.  We went via Storm Lane and said hello to Snowy, David's dog.  David then came out to say hello also, and we all went on a (successful) egg hunt

Sunday, and we packed up and left

some eggs that we found

Michaela and Snowy

Michaela, Xavier & Snowy

looking for eggs

many chickens

Dropped off the onion seeds (they weren't home), and got back home and had a pleasant deli type lunch outside in the sun.  Mum was most impressed, and we finished off bits and pieces from the fridge

Continued to tidy up and pack, and left mid afternoon