Yuccas 27 & 28 July 2013

Well, Karen and Mark had brought us a trailer load of yuccas a couple of weeks ago, prior to our Christmas in July extravaganza.  However, it was so wet and unappealing to be outside, that we just left them, and put them under the hoop pine for safe keeping.

And safe they were 2 weeks later, still as green and vibrant as before.  Justin and I stripped the lower leaves off, and then started planting them along the back fence.

stripping the leaves

  Justin used his trusty post digger which was great, and the soil was still soft from all of the rain.

starting with the post digger

and so it goes

We also had to move a couple of piles along the way.  To the right of Justin in the above photo Mum had started a compost heap, but it had branches etc - so would have taken a long time to break down.  I got rid of that.  We also had to move some rocks/rubble and wood.

In the end we must have planted about 15?  Hopefully they'll do well, and will camouflage the back fence and beyond.

view #1 of yuccas

view #2 of yuccas

Susan & Mark arrived around 4pm, and Dave & Maile dropped in almost at the same time.  I had sent them a text a couple of weeks ago, saying that we weren't going to drop in after all.  I wasn't sure if they'd received the text, as I hadn't heard back from them.  They had got it, but Maile gleefully said that Dave didn't know how to respond.  No matter.  I showed them around and they were very complimentary with all the work we had done, as they had seen it during the original open for inspection a couple of years ago.  They asked us around to afternoon tea on the Sunday, however once again we had to decline as Justin was leaving for Warnambool from here, and I was getting a lift back with Susan & Mark, and they wanted to be home around 5pm

Anyway, after Dave & Maile left we showed Susan and Mark around.  Susan had been up with me briefly a year ago, when we had to pay the plumber, but Mark had never been before.  He thought the house lovely, and could see why we had bought it.

Nibbles and drinks were enjoyed in the dining room pre dinner - with of course a roaring fire which Justin had set.  As per last time it was slightly colder inside the house than outside, but at least the kitchen wasn't damp like last time!

Susan enjoying a pre dinner drink

We had home made pizzas for dinner, which I must admit I was a little disappointed with.  The base wasn't crisp enough.  Justin put it down to the oven being too hot, and taking the pizzas out more quickly so they wouldn't get burnt.  However as always, I had over catered, so we ended up having pizza for lunch on Sunday.  And this time they were cooked to perfection

Justin showing Mark something very important

Justin the new violinist

Justin the barrister

Sunday morning and a walk around town,  and saw a kangaroo just near the arboretum,

kangaroo just down the road from our house

and then up to the lookout, pizza for lunch, planted some more bulbs, and back to Melbourne through drizzly rain

Christmas in July in Kingower July 13 & 14 2013

Wet and grey in Inglewood, that's one for the books.  None of our characteristic clear blue skies and frosty mornings, instead two days of rain  :-be it drizzle, showers or pouring

We even had puddles in the garden.

wet and green in the garden

But this suited us just fine, we were here with our friends Karen & Mark, to celebrate Christmas in July, and this type of weather was just perfect.  Originally we were going to have it our our place with the kids, but then a better offer came up which was Christmas in July in the old church in Kingower put on by Terry and co.  That meant we didn't have to fuss around cooking (although K & I do enjoy that)

However, you can't keep good workers down, and despite the inclemency, Justin, Mark and to a lesser extent I, tidied up the wood shed, which had been a right royal mess (pity I didn't take a pre photo)

sorting wood

look at that pile

all sorted

Justin as always was quite particular even with the stacking - they all had to be laid out straight.  But we can now get into the "shed' without fear of puncturing a foot on a nail, so that's got to be a good thing.

Karen wisely elected to mind the fire in the dining room.  We came and joined her soon afterwards, as sorting the wood didn't take that long

minding the fire

And it was freezing in the house, noticeably colder than outside, especially the kitchen.  Another curiosity was that the walls in the kitchen were wet, not just damp, wet. You could see the water, it was very strange. The cupboard doors of the sideboard were also wet. We left the back door open to let some air come through, to dry it out.  That seemed to help matters.  I hope this doesn't develop into an expensive problem.

Justin hung up a portrait of his dad, painted by his granny.  It has more sentimental than artistic value...

like father like son

"the thinker"

We left for dinner around 5.30.  Jackets, scarves, blankets, gloves etc, we didn't know how warm or otherwise the church would be

We were told to be at dinner at 6pm sharp.  I'm not sure if I've mentioned it before, but the church (St Mary's Anglican) was bought by the current Water Minister Peter Walsh in June 2012 for $140,000.

His great great grandfather, the reverend William Hall founded it in 1871, and Peter was brought up in  the district.  And now he rents it back to the community for a peppercorn rent.

There was a lovely plaque inside - I'm assuming referring to his great grand mother

nice to have a family connection

Anyway, we were basically the first ones there apart from Terry and Arleen.  So we helped set up putting out glasses and chairs, and plating up the entree of  Bruschetta with tomato and basil. Once this was done we stood around and chatted.  Lots of people that we knew came :- of course Terry, Arleen & David, Jill from Passing Clouds, Damien, Nicole & Jerry, Mark & Chris, June, Jan, Daniel,  Mailie & David and more familiar faces.

I went and introduced myself to a couple who were standing by themselves :- Anita & Greg from Rheola, and we also chatted with Roger who we found had previously owned Mark & Chris' place but had since moved to Bendigo.  Roger was the maker of 6 Sovereigns a local wine we had enjoyed at the Empire Hotel.  In fact we had tried to buy a case, however the email address on the label didn't work.  So Roger confessed to me tonight.  I told him that he had missed out on a sale, but he said he had plenty left and was trying to "get rid of the stuff".  So he may make his sale yet.  In fact it's very likely, as Mark will be in Bendigo in a few weeks and plans to look him up then.

Mark and Chris now also make wine :- "Both Banks". I'm assuming they are the same vines as what Roger had used

Given that there were at least 4 local labels /makers present I was very impressed.  However Arleen had pointed out that there was a difference between wine growers, and wine makers.. If we ever plant some grape vines at our place I'm sure we will also be considered growers not makers.

Anyway, after entree, the movie began.  The opera :-Carmen with Placido Domingo.  Unfortunately, it wasn't really my cup of tea, although populist as I am I enjoyed the 2 main tunes :- Toreador and the other one (don't know its name, oh well)

Main course was served after the 1st hour and a half. and then dessert at the end.  After dinner we spoke at length with Dave and Maile who gave us a potted history of how they ended up in Australia

main course of combination lamb, beef, pork & vegies

We also met sisters Helen and Kim.  Helen had thought Karen & Mark looked familiar.  Turns out she was a teacher at a school near them, and so had in fact recognised them.  Her sister Kim  worked at the Inglewood Community resource centre, and we had a good old natter amongst other things the  (controversial) restoration of the Town Hall.

So, it was a good night, and Karen drove us home after having admirably abstained from drinking. Mark had brought up some muscat so we enjoyed that by the fire drinking from our baronial pewter mugs that Tante Agnes had given us.  If she has an email address I'll send her the photo 

Cheers to Tante Agnes

warming up

It ended up being a late night. I got to bed close to 2am, but stupidly took a while to get to sleep. and even more stupidly still woke up around 7 in the morning.  I did laze around in bed however, and not get up, tried to snooze some more.  And my darling husband made me some '"pre breakfast" in bed.  A cup of coffee, and the schertzel (Viennese for heel of the bread, a suprising delicacy - with my fresh bread that is!)

lady muck has pre breakfast

It was a "pre breakfast", as we wanted to have a proper breakfast with Karen and Mark, which we did around 10.30 or so.

It was still wet and gloomy, so didn't do much.  Karen and Mark left before lunch time.  Gordon and Denise dropped in to say hello.  Justin and I went for a bit of a walk and checked out Michael T's house - to see if the grass needs cutting (it doesn't)

grass green, but not too long

Despaired for my poor rhubarb - as it's just turned to slush - the frost I guess, and I never got to harvest any. Hopefully it will come back in the Spring.

Out last bit of work was to drag the yucca cuttings under the hoop pine.  Mark & Karen had brought them up in their trailer, and the plan (at the moment) is to plant them along the back fence.  Even though we'd brought up the post digger, we really didn't feel like digging and planting in the rain, so it will have to wait until next time.

Breakdown and more paths June 29 - July 5 2013

Breakdown!  Just outside of Lockwood South.  The alternator had apparently shut down, and with it all the electricals.  It was just me, Fraser, and Basil the cat.  Justin was driving up a bit later in the ute.

Fraser waiting #1

Fraser waiting #2

Fraser filling in time #1

Fraser filling in time #2

The RACV ended up taking my car into Bendigo to get fixed, and good old Gordon came to rescue Fraser and me.  We're very lucky that we have friends in Inglewood that we can call on in times like these

Justin arrived about an hour after us, we had some lunch, and then into the garden for a bit of work.

Fraser helped tremendously by removing 2 x stumps which had defeated me.  He used the fencing post and jemmied them out.  Clever, strong boy!  (Justin helped with the 2nd one)

stump #1 from under the hoop pine

stump #2 near the olive trees

 After stumping there was a bit of hockey at the town hall opposite

Fraser going for a shot

Justin -waiting for the return

Around 3 or so, we lit the outside fireplace in preparation for my slow cooked lamb in the dutch oven that I had received as a parting gift from work.

Justin was of course in charge of fire making

Justin positioning the pot

I prepared the lamb; rubbed it down with olive oil which had solidifed due to the cold

Olive oil butter?

and some Morroccan spice, rosemary and garlic.Unfortunately despite being cut, the lamb shoulder was a bit big for the pot.  I had to try and manoeuvre it, or more likely jam it in, but it was still too big, so the lid didn't fit snugly.  I ended up balancing a couple of half bricks on the lid as an interim measure

dutch oven with slow cooking lamb shoulder

Now, as you can see from the above photo, there are a few flames licking the pot, and this proved a problem.  Yes, the outside of the lamb was quite charred, so you couldn't taste the spices etc, but the inside was quite nice.  Be that as it may, I was disappointed with my first dutch oven attempt on an open fire, this will not be the first and last time.  Next time we'll wait until we have just embers.  And maybe rest the pot in the embers .  It's trial and error.,.. and I will succeed

Nin, Claire and family arrived later in the afternoon

Claire with nibbles by firelight

We had drinks and nibbles while watching the pot, and then dinner in the dining room.

The next morning we walked up to the tennis courts with a couple of racquets and the kids had a play, and a run around

Nin and Charlie shooting goals?

Fraser & Rory 

Fraser, Charlie, Ceski, & Rory

as above plus Nin

Delicious pea & ham soup (that Nin had made) for lunch, and then a walk along the river in Bridgewater

lunch

Fraser is high up in the tree (but I can't see him in this shot)

Claire removing the lunch dishes

Nin contemplating a shot

river walk #1

river walk #2

Justin & Fraser, Nin, Clare, Rory & Charlie left later in the afternoon leaving me and Ceski.   I did a bit of gardening out the front, while Ceski scootered.  I also did a bit of scootering with her.

Now, the reason that Ceski remained behind with me was because Helen & kids were bringing Madeleine up later in the afternoon, and Ceski would have a few days here with Mad.  Mad hadn't come up with us, as she had a party in Melbourne that she wanted to attend.

We had dinner in on Sunday night, and I took some nice photos of the kids

lovely cousins #1

lovely cousins #2

Lovely cousins #3

plus a boy cousin #1

Plus a boy cousin #2 

  The next day, Helen drew up a hop scotch game for Michaela out the front

contemplating hop scotch strategies

So we tootled around on the Monday, Madeleine broke my new phone charger, so I was without both a car and a mobile phone....

I got very cross with her because she had just pulled it out at the cord.  I felt like I had the "Inglewood Blues" ie my "car broke down, bah-bah, ba-ba", "my charger got broke, bah bah ba-ba", "my man left town bah-bah ba ba" etc etc. Maybe Justin can work on it, and sing it to me next time....Anyway, luckily I was able to borrow a charger from Steven & Denise (they have one that fit), but my car wasn't ready until late Thursday!!  They'd received the wrong alternator from Melbourne, so wasted a day, and it also took them a lot longer than anticipated to remove and re-fit it, bloody Volkswagons... It's even difficult changing the battery. I ended up picking it up on Friday morning.  Denise had to go into Bendigo, and kindly gave me a a lift, and also shouted me a coffee.

On Monday night I made pizzas and they were a 75% success (unfortunately one of the 4 got quite badly burnt - my fault, as I was busy making the last one and didn't think that it would cook that quickly)  The others were delicious though.

Given that I didn't have my car, Helen took Mad and Ceski into Bendigo to catch the train back to Melbourne on Tuesday  around 12 noon

goodbye #1

goodbye #2

 I worked in the garden, removing and replanting more jonquil bulbs

On their return, Xavier was very keen to help me "work"

Xavier working with a stick #1

Xavier working with a stick #2

Xavier smiling with a stick #1

Xavier smiling with a stick #2

Given the general success with the pizza oven the night before, Helen was keen to use it again, so this time we had fish, and she also made an apple strudel which we likewise cooked in there

Fish with assorted veg including broccoli from the garden

apple strudel

Although it was cold, I strangely didn't feel all that cold.  I'd also been chopping some wood (stumps that Fraser had got out), and Helen had said that wood fire warms you twice, once when you chop the wood, and the 2nd time when you have the fire.  Francine from next door had an additional step saying that you are warmed 3 times - the first time when you go to gather the wood!  Maybe I also "acclimatise" when I come here, as in I expect that it will be cold, so dress accordingly.  Helen however did feel the cold, and even inside with the fire, she had 5 layers and a hat on!  By comparison, I think I just had a t shirt and jacket!

rugged up inside

And lastly, I did some "capital works" on Thursday and Friday - as I wanted to expand the path ways, and tidy up more around the front

before shot  (with various tracings for proposed path)

after shot

Yep, I sure was busy laying more brick work, getting rid of the weeds, and doing more planting.  However I'm sure that Justin will once again cock his head to one side, shake it slightly and say "that's great sweetheart....but...)  He will undoubtedly tweak it, bury the bricks more, change the angles etc.  That's why I didn't lay any of the stones.  I am pleased with the result though.  It looks a lot neater.

my handiwork #1

my handiwork #2

my handiwork #3

my handiwork #4

my handiwork #5

And while digging around I found an old purse clasp - quite ornate as you can see

purse clasp