Arrived back in Melbourne, stayed a rather short while, and then drove up to Inglewood. I went in the passat, and Justin drove separately in the ute, as he was picking up a few bits and pieces from his Mum, and Alex.
I got there around 5pm, and Helen and the kids were at the pool. They invited me to come up and join them, but I thought it was closing soon, so unpacked, and stayed at the house.
Justin arrived within 1/2 hour of me - and we unloaded the ute together
Helen and the kids got back after 6.30. We didn't really feel like putting a dinner together, so suggested the pub.
Went to the Empire and Helen kindly shouted us our meals, we got the drinks
Watched The Shape of Water when we went back to the house
Had a nice sleep in the next day (Wednesday), read the online Age in bed. And Xavier didn't wake us up/ was pretty quiet - so well done him.
I was surprised by all of the dandelion "fairies" in the hallway, must have blown through under the door. so did quite a bit of sweeping
Had a leisurely breakfast under the tree, as it was a beautiful morning
And then up to the veranda with Justin, as the railing varnish (tung oil with estapol) was cracking and flaking
First we had to sand it, which was a rather boring job.....Doing the top was fine, but the underneath was routed, so you couldn't use a sanding block
Justin and I sanded a section in the shade each, he then dusted them down, and then painted them with oil, while I kept him company
Had some lunch, and then off to the pool with Helen and the kids, Justin stayed at the house
Michaela ate a chocolate icy pole in a rather messy fashion
Was lovely just floating around in the pool with a couple of noodles...
Leftovers from Ocean Grove for dinner - nice and easy
Thursday morning, and some more veranda sanding and oiling by myself and Justin, and he gave the 1st two sections a 2nd coat of oil
Justin left for Melbourne before lunchtime - he didn't want to endure the 46 degree day for tomorrow (Friday) - was supposed to be 42 degrees in Melbourne, but we have cooling there.
Went to the pool in the afternoon again, and Michaela and Xavier played with some of the other kids. One of them (Addie) came and had a sleep over at our place. I put the 3 of them in the Garden room (although Xavier did sneak back down to Helen's room at some stage)
Helen and I watched a show on SBS on Demand - Good Vibrations about an Irish record shop owner who became a band manager/promoter etc - was a nice feel good movie
Friday, and it was the hot one...No sleeping in as I wanted to sand and oil the rest of the veranda
Got up there by 8am, so the Brooke Road end was still in the shade - listened to more of The Teacher's Pet
Was pleased that I finished it off - ie everything was sanded, and everything had been given at least one coat of oil. I also gave a 2nd coat to what we had done yesterday.
And then off to Terry's around 10am. He'd left me a voice mail yesterday, inviting me to come up and pick some apricots, as his tree was full. When I called him back I also asked if we could do some yabbying....
So, we got to Terry's and it was pretty warm by this stage - at least 30 degrees. His apricots were lovely, large and sweet - we all picked (and ate)
Also had the yabby nets in, with Xavier and I going and checking on them every half hour or so. and yes, we were catching some...
Despite it being around 46 degrees, we were relatively comfortable in Terry' air-conditioned house. Although I certainly looked very red and sweaty after checking on the yabby traps
Terry also very kindly invited us to lunch. I quietly advised him that Helen was quasi vegetarian, and that if he didn't have anything, we would just go home.
Well of course that wouldn't wash, he had some sausage rolls in the freezer, as well as a fetta/spinach mixture which he made into filo pie
Helen declared it the most delicious lunch that she'd had in a year or more.
So we continued checking the yabby's and got about 20 or 30, and we were rapt!
Left Terry's around 3 or so
Deposited the yabbys in a colander, then into a plastic bag, and then the freezer for a long and chilly sleep
And then onto the pool again
Michaela was practising her diving
And she did a good job, not much splashing, unlike Xavier, who continued valiantly to do noisy belly whackers!
Saturday, and I did some more painting of the rails
So we did
We went back to Terry's around 4pm or so, for more yabbying prior to the 1st Saturday in the month get together on the Village Green
Caught another 20 or so, and this time we also used pieces of string with the bait tied on, as it made it more immediate.
Xavier thought that great fun - and we were successful with both the nets and string (lost a few with the string method though, as Terry's scooping net was not customised for yabbies
Xavier had also found an animal skull - kangaroo which he was quite interested in
Onto the Village Green around 7pm or so, usual suspects there. Was a glorious evening, blue sky, still, just warm enough!
And attended to our 2nd lot of yabbies once we got back home
Sunday, and I did my last coat on the rails - I think I've done 3 coats for all now, and each time I very carefully washed out the brush in turpentine
I had also fixed up the curtains in the Garden Room - I'd bought them from an op shop, and they were slightly too narrow for the windows, so I let them out/took out some of the gathering. They now fit, Justin should be delighted
And, yes, we went back to Terry's for a third time for more yabbying. Helen wanted to leave for Melbourne before lunchtime, so we didn't/couldn't stay all that long
But, we were successful yet again with both the net and string methods
All up got approx 1/2kg of yabbies certainly better than my next ever best haul of 14! They were generally small ones though, Terry said you normally would have thrown those small ones back, but he said we could keep them all.
Michaela also wanted to keep one for a pet, but it sadly didn't survive
Only stayed at Terry's an hour or so, then back to Nimmitabel, and Helen and the kids left for Melbourne.
I thought I'd harvest the plum tree by the well - ignoring the ones which the birds had punctured
Got a good bucketful, which I'll make into jams/chutneys etc
Also moved a corn plant which had self seeded - into the vegie patch
Hope it survives, but given that the tanks still aren't connected, it's chances are slim
Pottered around the garden some more, had a chat with Denise, did some general tidying in the house, was thinking of going to the pool, because it was nice and warm, but didn't. Wanted to get home by 6.30 or so. Which I did, and Justin, Susan, Mark and I had a banquet dinner at the Little Thai Princess - which was delicious
