Nimmitabel: A Work in Progress: Mulch, lost pets, painting, kayaking and New Year Dec 27

We hosted Christmas this year, so had a slow day on Boxing Day, tidying up, taking down the gazebo etc

And because of this we had decided to go back to Inglewood on the 27th, and left after lunch

Was incredibly windy, on the drive to Inglewood, and also very windy once we got there

There was a container of large luscious looking apricots and one zucchini - a gift from Terry. (He'd given me a zucchini from his garden a few weeks ago - but I forgot to take it )

I had also asked Terry to come around for dinner tonight - Christmas leftovers. Justin was a little aghast - can't give Terry leftovers.....but they were good Christmas leftovers, and Terry had missed out on Christmas dinner as he had been self isolating on Christmas Day. He'd developed cold like symptoms on Christmas Eve, so went to be tested in Bendigo.

And as it was, all good, false alarm, but better safe than sorry

Anyway, he came over around 6pm, and we had G&Ts in the rotunda - where it was still very windy. Alex had also joined us by this stage

The sky was also darkening, and becoming quite gloomy

And then the power went out.....and Justin had an alert from the power company saying that it would be back on by 11.30pm

So, I went inside to find and set up candles. A lot of the candles were in the sideboard in the dining room. However this was inaccessible as the doors were hard against the bookshelf.

Luckily, I had another stash in the kitchen - mainly tea candles, but they did the trick

I set out the food on the kitchen table - turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, ham, green salad, and a cucumber, sugar snap pea, fetta and avocado salad

It was actually darker inside than out - but the candles made it cosy, and it was still warm

I went upstairs with Alex to look at the sunset - which was lovely

The power eventually came back on around 10, and a good night was had by all.

Monday, and the power went off again in the morning, as it was still very windy

There was also a lot of palm carnage on the Kingower side of the garden. At least 15 fronds had been ripped off by the wind and fallen into our garden

I wore my Christmas present from the kids while I moved the fronds and did other other jobs. Those head phones are terrific, working very well

Alex fixed up a wonky weatherboard on the shed

Justin had some work to do - so set up in the rotunda

And then after lunch did some filling on the front door

I trimmed and weeded the right hand front beds

Before shot

After shot

During dinner last night Justin had cheekily invited us to go to dinner at Terry's.

And to Terry's credit, he rang and invited us the next morning. Justin was a little embarrassed at having been so forward

Was a bit tired, so had a luxurious afternoon nap

Got to Terry's around 6pm, and had champagne and an antipasto platter in the garden with his sister Carolyn and her partner Sean, and David & Arleen. Was very pleasant, although a bit bright in the early evening sun.

The cockatoos were very loud and flying in large circles. Sean mentioned the old Hitchcock movie the Birds, and it was a little bit like that

Went inside for dinner - lamb with vegies, and then a creme caramel for dessert. Very nice

Alex must have also snuck out and taken a photo of the sunset

Alex drove us home - and we saw a kangaroo sitting by the side of the road - luckily just stayed there, didn't dart out

Tuesday, and it was still very windy, Justin and Alex went into Bendigo to get some essential electronic supplies (after doing much research)

And Justin started painting the rotunda

I cut down some rather spiky palms around the Kingower side of the house

And was also caught deep in thought looking at the mulberry tree

And Alex tidied up the shed

There was also a stray? cat roaming about our back garden at times. seemed a bit skittish. I saw it under the mulberry tree I thought relaxing in the shade, and pointed it out to Alex

Alex, being much more of a cat person than me - saw that it was hurt/sick, rang a Bendigo vet, and bundled it into a box, and took it into Bendigo. He'd thought it might have been bitten by a snake

Turns out it had spinal injuries, and unfortunately had to be put down.

Nin and Clare arrived while Alex was in Bendigo, and Mark also arrived later

I was busy getting the weeds out around the orchard trees, and also watering them, while Mark got the wheel barrow and put heaps of mulch around them. I then watered the mulch in again

Nin and Clare brought their kayak, and we thought we could go to Bridgewater - with Clare and I kayaking, and the boys having a cleansing ale or wine in the Bridgewater Hotel beer garden. No such luck - they were booked out - but Nin, Clare and I went to Bridgewater anyway.

Clare and I paddled around and had a lovely time - while Nin waited on shore (he also had a quick swim in the river)

Clare and I were a little miffed that the Bridgewater waterski and slalom club seemed to own the river on the left side of the bridge (facing towards Inglewood). We did creep along the banks there, but another kayaker told us that we shouldn't really be there, and when we took the kayak back in (on the opposite bank to the Hotel) saw a sign with the relevant rules

After our paddle, we sat a picnic table in the grassed public area and had a nice cold beer each. And then back to Inglewood for dinner in the rotunda with the others (I was still in my kayaking gear)

And then into the kitchen later

New Years Eve, and Mark and I bought 6 bags of potting mix and mixed it up with the mulch and re- filled the vegie garden boxes - as the soil level was getting very low. I guess it had compacted over the years

I also planted the various cuttings which Claire had brought for me (lets hope at least some of them survive)

We had a very nice lunch at the Bridgewater hotel (inside). Claire and I got changed afterwards, and then we went with Nin to the boat ramp a few km away and had another kayaking adventure. It was lovely.

Also saw a large splash about 20m away, and then again. I was sure it was a large fish. Most of the fisherpeople we saw were not having much luck. But we did see a woman and her daughter who said they'd caught a murray cod which was too small (45cm), and so had to throw it back

And this time, Claire and I had a swim afterwards back at the swimming hole in Bridgewater - very refreshing - with some surprising warm spots

Got back, showered, and got ready for the get together at Pauline & Jerry's at the motel

Mark drove us (and we assumed we would walk back)

Pauline had organised a number of games for us - ie guess the number of maltesers in a box, Australian Citizenship quiz, last man standing pool with secret pool ball number, and of course beer pong - which we had to consult Fraser about on the phone for the finer details of the rules

Was a lot of fun, and we met some nice new people ie Mary - Pauline's sister. Clare was feeling a bit tired, so she slipped away earlier, but the rest of us made it to midnight, and then walked the 2km or so home

We hadn't quite finished the bottle of French champagne that Mark had bought - so we took it as a traveller

I took a while to fall asleep, so had a late start on New Years Day. Nin and Clare went running separately, and came across a stray dog - which they brought back to our place (strange after the stray cat)

We finally reunited it with its owner - took a bit of doing

The others left before lunch, and Justin and I did a few more odd jobs outside ie Justin did more of the painting on the rotunda, and I put mulch on all of the front beds