January 2018 – Head in the Clouds

Chook-Chasing, Cooking & Abandoned Tracks

I am going to HAVE to spend some time spying on Screecher tomorrow to see where she is squeezing out from.
I looked all over the yard this afternoon only to find her trampling my carrots and scoffing the self seeded silverbeet growing in there!

You can really tell that she just doesn’t care even when Jeff was giving her a telling-off!

I think we put her back 4-5 times a day!!

Despite bad behaviour… I cooked them a cake.

I also cooked us a big pot of pasta sauce which was lovely over spiral noodles for dinner tonight.

I really need to get in and chop up those chillies tomorrow. Got a lot that need attention now.

I tied these tomatoes up in a tree – they were the green ones on the Black Russian tomato plants that I pulled out. They are ripening up nicely.

This afternoon we went for a short walk down the abandoned railway line that cuts through Wynyard.
I need a photo of ‘tracks’ for my photo challenge and thought that would do. (I did have grander plans of finding some wombat tracks but I am a little time poor at the moment!)

Above is the back of the milk processing factory – a side I hadn’t seen before

I think I would really like to walk the whole line through town just to see where it goes! I’ll put that onto my ‘To Do’ list!!

Hope everyone’s week is going along splendidly!

Cheers!

Potatoes & Cucumbers

Hello!
Precious little from me today.
I did some dishes. Some laundry – even went out on a limb and folded some up!!
Rescued from drudgery by Fiona who seemed to think doing a lap around Anniversary Bay would help stretch out the kinks from the Cradle climb.
Got to be better than laundry right??
It was good to walk it out a bit. Some of the steeper climbs were more testing than usual, but without the massive boulders, it was a much more manageable hike.
Shock horror I didn’t take my camera! The sea was a stunning colour today – but you will just have to imagine it.

Dug up some lovely new potatoes, a carrot and picked a heap of cucumbers.
Even managed a little weeding in there somewhere!

Tomorrow I will have to knuckle down to some real work!

Cheers!

More on the Climb of Cradle

OK – so I failed at staying in bed all day.
Does it count that I didn’t get out of my nightie?
As expected, I am sore all over but still pretty thrilled we got to the summit of Cradle.

Jeff was more than happy to be up hiking mountains rather than up on ladders painting!

It was really hot work at times. I didn’t get the camera out until we reached Marions Lookout. I was struggling until we reached Crater Lake (above) where I took my shoes and socks off and went for a wonderful dip fully clothed. Fiona had the good sense to do likewise and it really gave us the energy boost we needed. To be honest I could have stayed there the rest of the day swimming!

We felt like we were really high here… which in comparison to the summit of Cradle, it wasn’t that high at all !!

I love heading across the plains

You can see the tracks faintly scarring the mountainside

The red shows you the approximate ‘path’ and the arrow is the top point we reached (1545mt/5068ft)

Its such a rugged path. Slabs of dolerite from the Jurassic period litter the surface and create a wonderful challenge of making your way up to the top.

Fiona and I stopped fairly regularly and the views were always stunning

At this point it seemed like we were at the top. The rocks levelled out somewhat and we could see views over the other side

However… at the top we were not.
Just over this little rise we were confronted with the final challenge:

Down we had to go for a short distance before a final climb that seemed almost vertical. This is where a walking buddy was essential for people with short legs and heavier ~~bottoms~~ backpacks.

Time to put the camera back in my backpack and tackle that climb

It was so great to make it to the top.

A few people enjoying the moment and the view.
We climbed 665mt/2181ft to make it to this point.

Rock-hopping terrain

To me it seemed like a giants game of Jenga gone mad…

As I mentioned yesterday, coming down was almost as hard a work as going up… although I prefer gravity on my side so I was definitely faster!
After 14km/8.7miles hiking it was bliss to get back down to Dove Lake and splash around in the cold water before the drive home!

Fabulous way to spend a day!

Cheers

Cradle Summit!!

Hi there… We finished the weekend in style by deciding to go and attempt to get to the summit of Cradle Mt
We have wanted to do this for a while, but with one thing or the other, hadn’t gotten around to it (Weather, lack of time etc)

We went with Fiona and Paul which made for a great day out together.
Getting to this point was an effort in itself. Fiona and I sensibly jumped into crater lake on the way up (fully clothed) which was gorgeous. So refreshing!

I had to put my camera away for a lot of the climb… there was a rough path for a while but then…

It got rocky.

And then it got seriously rocky.

But the views were magnificent

You have to go through a false summit or two before tackling some really tricky inclines before getting to the top!

Getting back down the rocky mountain was no less challenging. The only plus was gravity was on our side (at times a little too much on our side – because whichever way you looked at it… falling down was not going to end comfortably)

Yup… that was the way down. Choose your own adventure ‘path’
Its a wonder I didn’t wear a hole in the seat of my pants as often the only sensible way of getting down was sitting and scootching over the edges!

I probably don’t need to tell you how tired and sore I am right now. I think we were out there about 8-9 hours.
I am making no promises to return tomorrow with more photos/details from today because tomorrow I have no intentions of getting out of bed. 🙂
Despite all, we were pretty proud of ourselves and it was an amazing day!

I’ll chat again once I can move again…

Cheers!

More of the Same

Hi There! How are all your weekends going?
We had good painting weather today – hot, dry and breezy.
Managed to get two coats on the back veranda walls and a second coat on the first panel we started. Definitely looks better with the second coat

Tall people are handy with paintbrushes!!

I think that was only the first coat. Its a bit yellower than I probably wanted, but from an overall view its not too bad. We are going to do all the trim in a federation-style green as well… first things first. Walls need doing.

We will be moving on to the daunting tricky parts soon. There are a lot of boards that really need replacing as well as some windows. But $$$ so before we can do that, we will just paint and at least it will offer some protection to what’s there.

Even had time for a little gardening – namely pulling out the hothouse tomatoes that were really pretty much dead.

I was surprised they died off so quickly. The fruit was tasty and plenty but smaller than normal. Not sure if its something I did or just dud stock.

Anyway, more than enough self seeded tomatoes to replace them with. And the poor chillies REALLY needed some breathing space!

I know I am not supposed to just plant the same thing back in the same spot… I may have regrets later, but…

Now what to do with the massive bucket of tomato plants!!?? (Something to worry about another day)

Second passionfruit! A little bigger than the first. I ate the small one today as it seemed ripe enough… a bit tart but pretty tasty.

A few more outdoor tomatoes ripening – I’ll be making relish before I know it!
Well… bedtime for me. Got a big day planned tomorrow so I need to not be awake so late!
Enjoy what is left of your weekend!

Cheers

Painting Continues…

Well… we got the full east side of the house painted today!
Very satisfying to get a big chunk of the job done.

The back veranda is next on the list. First up we had to clear everything off of course (amazing how I can pile up ‘stuff’)
Once clear we could give the walls a good wash & scrub.

It was also a good chance to plant out some things that had been lurking in pots for too long and throw away rubbish etc. What goes back onto the veranda after painting has to be clean and nice!!! Good plan.

Remember these little guy that I planted 3 weeks ago? Check them out now!

They even have fruit!

The other self seeded tomatoes in the corner are pretty amazing
Not much effort on my part and they look fabulous!

Some new potatoes for dinner and a couple more apple cucumbers as well (and the first tomato from the herb garden tomatoes!)

I even squeezed in enough time to put together an Apple Slump for dessert tonight!
Not a bad way to finish the day
Cheers!

Mealworm Farming

Hello!
Just for something different I thought I would try to breed mealworms. Great source of protein for the chooks… even a saleable thing if I get enough!
My best mate suggested it to me as she has just started some too.
Its all pretty easy in theory:
Step one. Buy some mealworms.

Three containers with holes in the top.
There are three stages to the lifecycle. Larvae, pupae and adult – oh and lots of eggs (hopefully eventually) too
I want each stage kept in different containers.

They get rolled oats as food and bedding and slices of veggies as moisture and food.
It was both kind of fun and slightly creepy fishing out all the worms from the container. They pretty much dived right into the oats and disappeared.
I had two live adults too! They look a little lonely in their box.

So… now I just have to wait until they spin little cocoons and try to keep them alive!
Pretty easy it seems. Cheap to start up and they don’t bite. Whats not to love??

In other news… we started to paint the house

We’ve been meaning to for a couple of years now. Especially the sides of the house not under the veranda’s protection.
Thought we would start with the easy bits to get the hang of it.

Clearly we started with a washdown. Looking quite grotty!

We managed to get around to painting the first section late this afternoon. We chose a slightly darker cream than what we had. Mostly I wanted to make it look like I had actually done something when viewing the slight colour change.
Might need a second coat tomorrow. We shall see in the morning.

We are also thinking that we will paint the trim/edges/window frames dark green in the Federation style. Might be a while before we get to that point, but its an idea.

In garden news – I got a see-through tomato!

A few more zucchinis are on their way:

So many lovely tomatoes waiting to change colour!

And I am much happier with my latest beetroot patch compared with the original one I planted. All up and looking good!

Cheers!

Weeding and Picking

Hello!
I finally got myself down to Ruby’s for a bit of gardening! I didn’t get photos of Ruby – she had an appointment so I will get back there at a nicer time of day for a cuppa and a few snaps.

I was pretty filthy by the time I finished in here! And warm!

Back home I did the rounds with the watering and we picked what is probably the last bucket of plums

My capsicum is going red! Exciting times!

Another couple of outside tomatoes and a heap of hothouse ones plus chillies!

On a roll with the cucumbers!
Dinner tonight was courtesy of the chooks, with eggs on toast and salad on the side!

Cheers

Back to the Garden

Hello!
Back to the garden and kitchen to work on whatever needs to be done.
Poor Pip back to the vet today for another injection and an added antibiotic.
He handled it better than me. According to the vet, there was much less drama – only one little growl.
I really didn’t like to ask what happened last time!!
Its a worry when your fur babies aren’t as healthy as they should be!
Still – he came home and napped with Jeff and is now snugged up on my lap as I am typing. Seems I am forgiven for putting him in the carry case and driving him to the lady with the needle.

Yesterday I put in a small plot of lettuce.

They weren’t growing so fast in the pot… not surprising as it was just cheap potting mix with no mushroom compost. Time to get a few into the ground

I didn’t do much apart from weed, dig and add compost to a couple of short strips.

The outside tomatoes are going well… I finally got around to tying a lot of them up. There was a lot of ‘sprawl’

I even got my first outside tomatoes with colour to pick!

(These are the heirloom beefsteak which I grew from seed)

The rambling duck yard pumpkins seem to have managed a couple of actual pumpkins!! About time!

Yesterday I got a lovely lot of hothouse tomatoes and more cucumber… and a whole heap of apple cucumber that went a bit mad while I was gone for two days!

Oh – and a hilariously small passionfruit. I think I should cut it open and try it tomorrow!

I am worried that its hard finding potatoes. I am really hoping my crop is not all leaves with not much underground. I do know its a while before proper harvest, but I am rather attached to potatoes…
This lot were just beautiful – steamed with butter, salt & pepper.

Today I picked what plums I could reach by myself. A friend is picking up this lot. I have no room left for more in the freezer. (I ordered a side of beef so I REALLY need to clear at least one freezer!)

I even had some kitchen time – made some blueberry ice cream and cooked up a pot of onion, garlic, tomato, herbs, zucchini & capsicum and popped them in the freezer. A start of storing my winter collection of spaghetti sauce and sauce for casseroles.

Well… time for the rest of this household to get to bed!

Hope your day was great too!
Cheers

Tahune Airwalk

Hi there!
Hope everyone’s week has started nicely!
I had a great invitation from my cousin Leonie to accompany her and one of her daughters on a mini road trip over the weekend.
The main goal was to visit the Tahune Airwalk and enjoy the area around the Huon River.

The Airwalk is basically a steel canopy walkway through the treetops, giving you a different kind of forest walk.
The Tahune Forest is about 30km’s from Geevestown, south of Hobart.
The walk also straddles the Huon River and is very picturesque!

There are a couple of little short walks in the bush before getting to the actual airwalk.

The usual perspective – the trees looming above!

We walked through the bush and up a bit before getting to the first part of the airwalk

And then straight out into the trees!

There were plenty of little stopping points where you could pause to admire the views and oooh and ahhh about how high you were.

I liked looking down!

We were about 50mt above the river!

You can see the cantilever for the best view up the river!

It was an amazing feeling to be up high in the treetops. The walk was very stable so you didn’t feel like you were swinging about.

Looking straight up the Huon River

Back down on the forest floor we could look back up to see where we had been

14 year old Alana was full of impatient energy and pretty much was under the impression we were going to sprint around the whole area!! Much to her disgust, this wasn’t so, so she contented herself by scrambling up on a few fallen logs here and there!

The fun wasn’t over – a couple of swinging bridges to negotiate. These moved a LOT more underfoot than the airwalk !

The views from the middle of the river were so pretty.

It was hard to keep the camera steady on these contraptions! And you couldn’t stay still in these areas either as the March Flies were out and biting!

We finished up with a picnic and a zip-line flight that took us even higher above the forest!
Pretty great way to spend a day if you ask me!

Cheers!