Author: Lisa

Alrighty then…

I lit a beacon just before our friends arrived last week…

That got rid of one pile…
Mess mess, lots of mess

Hmmmm… started dragging out timber that we want to cut into usable bits for the fire and digging up weeds as I went along

And tossing them on the second bonfire pile.
I didn’t light this one up the other day as there was no clear break around it

Some of the thistles were massive… and boy… gloves do not work in the slightest with these monsters
I admit to a lot of jumping about and swearing during this process

Flossie was never far away!!

Started making headway in here… the scotch thistles are also a bugger to deal with!

I wore Flossie out clearly!!
Every so often she’d just go and sleep UNDER the barrow which is a bit limiting if you want to use it!! (I had some over filled barrows as I didn’t have the heart to shoosh her out haha)

At days end I had a new pile of weeds…

And a bigger burning pile!

Look at those pointy bits!!!

Anyway, that day I made a really good dint in moving wood and clearing weeds.

Rest time…

Back into it yesterday, Jeff on board helping this time.

From little things…
Big things grow!

She was kicking out some heat

It took a while but once it calmed down a bit we were able to get closer and start throwing all the other bits and pieces that were around (lots of bark etc) onto it

And yes… I found some nice potatoes under the area with all the bark!!

More weeding too

Up in this area I was wanting to clear and level to put in my garden shed

I cleared it back a bit but now looking at the slope and the hard work involved I am not so sure about putting the shed here…

It does make sense to tuck it in here somewhere but I am a bit daunted about creating the solid level ground needed…
And if I dig down near the fence then I’ll just end up with a gap for the chooks to run out of.
More thought needed.

Well … that made a rather big difference!!

I moved about 3 wheelbarrows full of wood to the wood pile, the rest will need cutting to size before stacking.
Just feels good to have all the rubbish gone!

Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend planned!
We are meant to be getting some groceries delivered tomorrow morning – I’ll do my RAT as well and let you know if I’ve succumbed to covid or resisted!! (Still feeling pretty ok… perhaps a slight sniffle (imagination?))

Cheers
(Pip totally worn out too haha)

My birthday today… spent it in style by creating a nice big fire.
My little pyromaniac heart was happy!

We are in ISO so no other trips or outings
Jeff has covid, so I am stuck here as well. At the moment Jeff has what amounts to a bad cold.. sore throat, congested and not much energy. No temperatures.
Me? Sailing on through so far.
Will do another RAT on Sunday to see if I might have it and be asymptomatic, otherwise… I think I’m all good.

Anyways, I have more photos of the yard stuff but being sooooo lazy about putting anything together tonight, so I am going to leave you with a link to a 20 minute youtube video done by a friend of ours (Brod) who just cycled his way around Tassie!! (I met Brod and Kim when we all did the Overland Track together when I went with Fiona and we had that diabolical start with the weather!!)(We all bonded haha)

Anyone who wants a peek can check it out here

Some really beautiful photos/footage – Tassie scenery, animals and maps so you know where he is!

Bedtime for me!
Cheers!!

Hi!
How is everyone?
Its been a busy week.
Childhood/neighbourhood friends came over to Tassie to ride their bikes around the state… starting at our place! (L – R Roger, Lisa, Brandt and Clinton)

And yes… I did get to go for a ride… and 8 hour ride… through the wild west coast weather to Strahan and back!!

I loved it – very exciting way to travel!
Disappointed for the guys not being able to see the amazing views down that way.
We were sodden and fairly chilled, so we called up Jeff and left instructions to have the fire roaring for us.
It was bliss walking into the house!
The fire had its work cut out drying all the gear!

(Photos courtesy of the guys)

I was relieved to see sunshine the next morning!

It was just fabulous seeing them all again. I was in the same year as Clinton – mortal enemies until about year 8. His older brother Brandt I was best buds with for a number of years. Roger was part of the group of kids that we hung out with in our area (his parents owned the corner shop)
They (never me) used to get into so many scrapes as kids and general mischief along with dodginess haha
They all grew up to be pretty amazing humans 🙂

Happily they got some great weather for the rest of their week here.

Fishing was high on the ‘to do’ list

As well as test driving all the pubs and eating places possible

There were some exciting moments on the road of course…

(No-one hurt but because of the impeccable vehicle placing over the culvert, no one could get past for an hour or so!)

The brothers doing a fair hike up to see Wineglass Bay… in motorbike boots!! Erk!!

Brant got back to our place early so I took him on a drive along the NW Coast to see the sights…
Then did the same with Clinton when he arrived back… but on the back of his bike (Roger went back a day earlier than the others)

So bright the light!!
Clinton was the best windbreak to ride pillion behind! After a while of not seeing him I forget how solid he is!!!

It was so enjoyable seeing them all again and showing off our bit of Tassie (actually having visitors again!)
Seems all quiet at Norwich House now!!

Hope everyone has had an excellent week
Cheers!

I know you’ve seen some pic’s of my sister Rosemary’s ceramics here and there when I’ve been lucky enough to be a recipient… but thought I’d pop up a link to an online shop she created in case anyone wanted to take a peek at the cool things she is making.

I bought a lovely big salad bowl to give to the young couple who I just did wedding photos for as their wedding present. (Something unique AND useful)

Now I have a lovely lot of bowls in various sizes which are in constant use for this and that.

Check out what Rosemary has here if you like looking at that kind of thing.

We’re quite attached to ceramics so at least one of us in the family is making them! We’d LOVE to do a trip back to Japan to collect some more… (On my future To Do list)

Cheers!

Hi!
The butterflies and bees are going nuts over my sunflowers! I am so pleased with them – considering how late I threw the seeds into the ground!

I’ve got some friends due to arrive Monday night so have been trying to sort out rooms and clean up in among photo processing and garden stuff

I’ve done a few more photos today but now need to write a list and get off my butt.

Pip helpfully snuggled down in the guest bed while I was trying to make it

Mum got me this sign… haha.
Time to let go of worrying about constant cat hair. (yes yes, we have vacuumed)

Cousin Jeff popped by the other day with a load of firewood

Idiotically I went with Jeff on one of his longer hikes (17km) yesterday THEN decided I better stack this.
Jeff mowed down the back then helped me finish off here

My body hates me.

It still hates me this morning, so sitting and post processing photos was the only sensible start to the day!

Anyway – thanks to everyone that popped by the comments section and had a chat! Was lovely to hear news from around the world!
Cheers

Hello hello!!!
Miss me?? 🙂
I had a really lovely time away – so great to catch up with family and a few close friends!
I am up to my eyeballs in photos… I’ve the last Overland ones to do, 1000 wedding shots to sort through and a bunch from my time away as well!!

I came home to beautiful ripe corn and a bazillion zucchinis!!
We are fanging through the corn nightly and its SO GOOD!!

I am experimenting with dehydrating the zukes with the aim to grind into flour. Apparently its a thing! Has anyone tried it before?

Jeff has been walking around the country roads as his hiking thing lately. We’re talking 20 plus km hikes. I really want to join in but my heel says… best not. (I am booked in to see a podiatrist next month so fingers crossed) So I am sticking to the 1-2 hour modest 8km hikes.
Anyways, Jeff has been grazing on blackberries and found a good spot along one of the roads so we drove over and picked 3kgs!!
Gotta love free food (you know, because at this time of year I don’t have enough veggies to sort out!!)
Anyway, these beauties are cooked and moolied (sieved) and I chucked them in the freezer to make jam when I’ve not got quite as much on my plate (so to speak…)

Time to dig up the remaining potatoes!!
This year the harvest was distinctly underwhelming compared to other seasons!
Not sure if its the seed potato, the weather or my soil.

Still plenty to keep us going for a while…

Will add some good stuff to this plot – maybe even some green manure if I get my act together, then will later top with straw to keep those pesty weeds low.

Pumpkins!! Green yellow and orange… hmmmm – and I have no idea what they are but they look fabulous!

Hey! How’s the price of fuel in your neighbourhood these days? Is it positively frightening??
Our car broke just before the wedding and in the week it was in the garage, fuel jumped about 20 cents a litre … we were sitting at about $1.92/lt before I left to the mainland.
In town yesterday it was $2.13.
Thats just regular unleaded petrol
The premium is now at $2.28 and diesel is $2.30!!!

We’ve got some serious thinking to do re our vehicle… its old and thirsty. So either changing it totally or getting a small run about car to do shopping and for Jeff to go to work in.
Ugh.
Or a pony and cart.
Or an electric bike.
Its especially rough on people in rural areas – Tasmania sucks when it comes to public transport. A car is a must really.

I ate part of that carrot in the photo!! So yes… carrots are getting to the nice picking point.
We’ve also had a lot of pears and I am looking to make a spiced pear paste (Tomorrows goal)

Colourful pickings!
While we are getting tomatoes, we are getting nothing like previous seasons either! Summer arrived too late.

Got the wheelbarrow of garlic and made a good start on cleaning them all up to store. We needed the wheelbarrow back.

I had back to back markets on the weekend… Elliot – which was pretty slow going. And unfortunately due to some insurance issues, they are closing it down until further notice which is a real shame.
The hall committee don’t want to put any effort into support of the market so… thats that!
I also went down to Sisters Beach where they were running an excellent little market at the back of the local shop.
An excellent array of stalls and lots of people coming through
Great atmosphere and I sold well.

I have some friends booked to come down to Tassie on their motorbikes in about a week… so have to get everything ship shape before they arrive!! So between that, the garden, the cooking and the 7 squillion photos to post process, I am going to be kept firmly out of mischief over the coming weeks!!

I hope you are all well, despite the world still being upside down and throwing up crazy challenges, parts of Australia being washed away in floods and Russia trying for WW3. (Its heartbreaking and horrifying seeing what Ukraine is being subjected to)
I guess its too much to ask for some smooth sailing for a while?

Drop by in the comments section and let me know how you are faring! Would love to hear from you
Cheers and Hugs

Hello!
All things going to plan I will be away for a couple of weeks
I am booked to fly out to my home town today

My Dad turns 80 on the weekend and I want to be there to offer support and walking sticks and whatnot haha

Sadly Jeff and Pip have to stay home, but I am looking forward to catching up with the family and a few friends while I am there

Hope everyone is doing well!
Cheers xx

Hi!
Busy busy here.
Had a wedding to shoot yesterday. Was a lovely day – of course a long long one on my feet.
I officially slothed today

Above is where I left off with the chook yard.
Last week Jeff and I got to and pulled the rest down

This little shelter was never convenient. Especially if the chooks decided to lay eggs in there. No easy way to reach the back corner

And gone

The duck yard is sorely neglected. The blackberry was a pest to sort out

That stuff has grabby thorns EVERYWHERE!
Pliers and snippers helped as the thorns went straight through my gloves.

Time to bring out the parang

The structure I put up intending to grow things up on it… Sigh.
At least the blackberry got a bit of use out of it

Time for the whippersnipper

We didn’t actually set out to clear the duck yard but… with everything out of the way and cleared it will make rebuilding anything a lot less crowded and irritating

Meanwhile… Flossie found a zucchini leaf to snooze under…

Better

More manageable.

I am still keen to save the wisteria!

Oh… I found an excellent hollow log in the duck yard from one of the failed gardens and repurposed it for the new white geranium that I bought at the last market

Found a spot…

And filled with potting mix! So far its looking quite happy there!

The next Overland set of photos isn’t far away… then I have my eye on about a thousand images from yesterday to sort and post process.
That’ll keep me out of mischief!!
Cheers!

Hello!
Continuing on through the damp countryside on our way to Pelion Hut

It was the right time of year to see the Myrtle orange fungi (Or beech orange)
(Cyttaria gunnii) It grows specifically on myrtle beech trees.
Apparently its edible but I’ve not tried it.

From what I understand, the fungi emerges from the galls.

Pretty sure I’ve photographed that stick before…

Jeff would disappear every now and again

Everything looked rather spooky – so no sweeping views but also not so hot!

Still lots of interesting things to look at

Jeff gone.

Back into the forests

A steady trudge upwards – picking our way carefully over the rocky trail

Lots of moss covering everything!

And still we go up…
I think its one of our favourite stretches of track

Twisty trees

We were on the lookout for Jeff’s favourite boulder

There!

Bob the Boulder??

From big things, to the small things

Moss and lichens

Onward!

A slight stretch of downhill is nice.

And just when one has had enough of stepping over rockys and roots,

We come back out into the ‘open’

The views got a bit limited

But they had artistic scope,

back into the forests…

This river is usually rushing – that day it was a mere dribble

This part of the trek does seem to go on for a good long while

How beautiful are the tree trunk colours?

They are a bright spot in a predominately green world

Your head needs to be pointed down a lot on these tracks.

Having the camera makes me stop and look up a lot more

I think the colours are richer in the rain too

Nothing much has been done to this part of the track where it nearly washed away a couple of years back

At least with the trees blocking the way, if you lost your footing you wouldn’t go too far down

We stopped by the Forth River for a bite to eat.
I was appreciating the fresh apples!

Fresh fruit like this is heavy to carry but I think worth the effort

From this point we had a long ascent up before going down into Pelion so I put the camera away. By that point I needed to remove the weight from around my neck.

Welcome to the tracks most stinkiest dunny.

They were diabolical! Usually they aren’t the most fragrant places but this time they must have been five minutes from being due from an industrial clean out.
The aroma floated quite away from the structure too!!
We camped a fair way up and away and were grateful we had masks with us!
Ahhh… the joys!

Oh! Of course I didn’t have my camera out on the last part of my hike in when I saw a big fat Tasmanian Devil hightailing it down the path in front of me!!!
Doh!

I’ll leave you with the non-view from the hut at Pelion
Shame… one of the nicest views from the huts on the track!
Cheers!

Hi!!
Just a quick garden update while I fiddle-faddle around with the next lot of Overland photos!
I think the corn doubled in size in the week we were gone. Just noticed some fluffy tops showing and tiny cobs forming!

We are also drowning in apple cucumbers and zucchinis.
And YUM on the new potatoes.

Ahem… well, the garden and lawns were a bit feral… so we had to put some effort into bringing them back under control

Jeff on the mower and whippersnipper and me pulling out stuff left right and centre

New lettuce patch! I left one in there going to seed to collect them.

Yikes on the main garden. It didn’t get mowed last time Jeff did the yard and now we are paying for it!

I filled three or four barrow loads while Jeff went mad on the whippersnipper

Now I can see where my veggies are!

The carrots are healthy looking but again… a number are trying to race to seed before any are ready to pick!!

The back veranda garden needed an overhaul… the feverfew was a bit… tired

I pulled one up and replaced it with a young one (they self seed everywhere) but the one on the right was still quite sturdy… just needed a haircut

I also moved a couple of self seeded cape gooseberries up to the side garden that I cleared a while ago. They look SO SAD

But they’re tough and will probably bounce back

I want them to hide that corner and the unused hot water cylinder

This side was also looking a wee bit out of control. So I got brutal and sorted it out.
Now I need to throw in some more rocket seeds. I am missing the rocket already in our salads

Still not oodles of tomatoes – and there is a rat or mice in the hothouse nibbling on the ones I do have… Not pleased about that!
Have to pop some live traps in there to try to remove them!

I’ve been sharing out the zucchinis and cucumbers – just too many for two people!
I’ve been enjoying making zucchini fritters – we had some tonight! Makes a lovely side to the dinner.
I’ve also eaten through my latest batch of pickled beetroot so I am going to have to get cooking again soon! There are some big ones in the garden totally ready for action!

Hope everyone is enjoying February so far!

Cheers!