Garden – Page 7 – Head in the Clouds

Potato Patch

Hello! Saturday and it started off pretty overcast but was generally quite a nice day! So back out into the dirt and tree branches we went!

I got all but the last little corner of my potato patch weeded and dug. I ran out of oomph to finish off… plus it was getting chilly!

As a reminder… this is what it was like a couple of months ago!

And Jeff’s woodpile?

Has grown considerably!

The huge tangle of branches is slowly being sorted out, although we will need some help with the big stuff

Tonights shower was divine!! 😀
Hope everyone sleeps well… I will!
Cheers

Hello!! Friday! And another sunny day – bonus!
My energy levels are scraping the bottom of the barrel (I suspect I need a B12 boost) but I got out there anyway. I thought pruning would be a gentle start

The salvia got the first haircut… cleared some space for the iris to do its thing.

Then the roses…

I hauled all the cuttings down to the fire and started to burn them along with a few other bits that were hanging about. The fire was still hot from yesterday!

I then thought I would feel better about life if I made a start on clearing a spot for the potatoes.
I had to rake up the area first – so much mess still in there, but decidedly less tree. I am still digging up embedded branches. One will need more than my garden fork to extract!
I then whacked in some stakes to outline the area so I knew where I was working to. Even got a little weeding done before quitting time!

If I am lucky – I might get another decent day tomorrow! Fingers crossed!

Hope everyone has a super weekend planned!
Cheers

More Burning

Look at this!! A lovely sunny day and hardly any wind!
I started the day with a blood test. That got me fully awake!
No chance of staying inside today! Back out to the tree and fire pit to cut, chop and burn.

This pile has slowly whittled down to this:

But the pile by the fire pit just keeps growing

Its a huge untangling job – the axes and hand saws are just fantastic. The Gomboy is brilliant and Jeff keeps the axes and blades sharp (um… he did cut his finger quite badly today though. He has bandaged himself up well, although it probably could have done with a stitch!)

I don’t think that was a very successful before and after shot!

Pip came out with us for a while

We are both snuggled up in my big cardigan right now

This little axe is great for chopping down the longer length pieces and also for shaving off the small twigs on larger sticks that we will use for kindling later

Once cleaned up it goes to the shaved pile… we cut them to sizes friendly to our wood heater now so come the time when its dry and ready to use… no more effort required

As mentioned before… the Gomboy is a joy in the garden… it just hurls its way through the wood!! This was quite a decent sized branch but it took no time at all to saw through… OK – well it took less than a minute. (Probably. Maybe I’ll have to time one of these so I am not accidentally telling outrageous lies)

I love the grain in this wood!
It was still hard to get out simply because the force of the initial fall drove it a foot into the ground!

We are getting through it but there is still a daunting amount to do. I really have to take a break from it and start preparing a few patches in the garden so I can get my potatoes in and reconfigure the raspberries!

Well… I am a very tired and sore person tonight, so I am going to exit stage left and head to bed!
Hope your day was fabulous too!

Cheers

PS – today finally and suddenly we got our connections back on!! Still no word from Telstra at all about anything. (No surprises there) Just great to have the phone back especially!! Got to call Mum and Dad and catch up!!

Spring is Sneaking Up

Hi!
As mentioned yesterday… apart from pockets and buttons, I’m done!
Wearing it now as its too cosy to resist.
Didn’t get to go out today, so hopefully tomorrow!

Did I mention I bought a tall set of drawers at the market on the weekend?

I am such a natural messer, so I’ve got them beside my computer here to keep my scraps under control.
$120 which I thought was pretty good. It’s a pretty solid piece!

I noticed a few tulip buds!

The liliums and iris are moving along too!

Oh my tragic veggie patch!

Both rhubarb plants survived despite a ton of marcrocarpa falling on them!

And I forgot about the asparagus! Yum!

I also seem to have almost more parsley than weeds! (almost)

Hope everyone had a great day!
Cheers!

Burning Stuff

Hiya!
First of all… note the blue skies.
Second… a cardigan update!
I got Jeff to take a few snaps so you could see how it was progressing! My its cosy!! I went back to Spotlight (yarn shop) and picked up some similar yarn in burgundy to trim the edges.
There is actually enough of this yarn in their ‘throwout’ box to make another one and I am quite tempted to dash back to secure it!

I hope you dig my stylish gumboots.

I actually have the second sleeve finished as of tonight and almost both of them trimmed in the red because I couldn’t wait to see what it would look like.

Anyway, thats enough catwalk stuff.

We went out this morning to the markets because Jeff really wanted to buy some rocks. There is a good stall at the Penguin Markets which is selling heaps of amazing rocks.
We also managed to find this fabulous tall set of drawers… which is still in the car because we got distracted this afternoon.

As it wasn’t raining and the sun was doing its best, we really wanted to get into some more yard clearing. The wind wasn’t nice though… but you can’t have everything! 😀
Remember those free besser blocks I picked up a while back? Well I have made use of them to create a temporary fire pit to start burning off all the scrappy bits of tree that we can’t use for firewood or kindling.

It’s a slight challenge burning green stuff – but there is plenty of dry material around to help things along. The wind was blowing down the paddock way so the smoke (and there was plenty!) was blown away from the highway.

Jeff spent a lot of time chopping and hacking away at decent branches to add to the kindling pile

Seems a lot already and we have barely scratched the surface!

I even dragged Pip out for a short while – he found a suitable spot to snoopervise.

I got through about half of this pile today – plus a lot of other stuff.

Such a mess!

For the first time in forever, we worked outside until it was dark!! Felt so good to be getting some stuff done!

Its great to have a spot set up now that either of us can just go and use to whittle away at that pile of wood. Plus my parents are visiting in a couple of weeks… er… less I think… and my Mum is a closet pyromaniac so she is going to love being out there burning scraps!

I hope your Sunday was as much fun!
Cheers

Bits and Bobs, Odds and Sods

Hello!
Was so pleased to get a day with more blue skies and only a spit of rain!
Apart from cleaning up the kitchen, I did manage to get outside.
I am also still tussling with our service provider as we are still not connected by our usual internet or phone. Still on backup.
Not that I am surprised. The first time I had an issue they called me and suggested I move to a more cost efficient plan, I agreed and they promptly removed us from our original plan then proceeded not to put us onto the new promised plan and our bills doubled. That only took 7 months to sort out.
The last time we had ‘an issue’ (which was a veritable soap opera of events) we were being moved onto the NBN network. They cut our original connections and failed to reconnect to the NBN. oh and sent us outrageous bills every month as well. Thats the super in a nutshell short version of the drama. That took ELEVEN MONTHS to sort out.
Since today I had unsurprisingly heard nothing back about their failure to reconnect us I got back on to their online help chat. (to go over everything AGAIN). Informed specialist team would email me by 6pm (within 3 hours)(Which was after the usual drama I cause by not having a mobile phone)
Of course by 6.30pm I have heard…. nothing.
Back to the info line to go over everything (again)… was informed that they were emailing now.
When? Within 30 minutes. Its been an hour and let me put on my surprised face – No contact.
Time to start investigating new carriers. I persisted with them before because of all the hassle I just wanted my money back and compensation out of them which I got but figured it would be harder if I left them to squeeze something out of them.
So… hopefully this backup connection keeps us somewhat online.

On to much more relaxing, fun and pretty topics!
Flowers!! The paddock behind us is looking rather cheerful!

If the weather isn’t too dramatic tomorrow I am tempted to go cut bunches of these to put out the front to sell!

I went and helped myself to a huge bunch the other day (The fellow that manages the paddocks doesn’t mind)

Really helps cheer things up when the days are mostly grey

Yay – the chooks are doing well lately! Lovely to have lots of eggs again!

I haven’t used peat pots before but thought I would give them a go. Probably try to grow stuff in them to sell out the front. (The Grand Plan)

Speaking of selling out the front, the potted garlic are doing fine!

The early garlic are going along pretty well too and the seaweed has suppressed a lot of weeds.

A few shoots have been nibbled off in the other plot!!

I found three spare bags of seaweed so I spread them out on this plot. Didn’t quite cover all of it!

In times of nice weather I have been trying to tidy up the raspberry patch

The whole area is going to get a revamp! We want to take out the poles and just get more of the big polypipe and steel droppers to create the arches all the way along to put the nets over. Will look much neater and have a lot more headspace.
The whole thing needs moving across a little so Jeff can mow down the sides. Not that with the tree down we can get the mower down the back anyway.

We also want to build a small wall around it (maybe a foot or so high) to attach the netting too rather than on the ground where the grass grows into it. This makes perfect sense in my head. Hopefully in real life it will work the way I envision.

Anyway, I am slowly working through the tangled canes to cut out the dead ones and prune back the live ones.

In the background, I still have herbs drying. I picked some more today to put in the netting. Just thyme and parsley.

Its a slow process but rather satisfying filling up the little jars

I started a new crochet project too. I found a sale of factory ends and fancied this fluffy green yarn… so bought 5 bags of it (About 20 balls)
I had grand visions of making a hooded cardigan

I an onto the second ‘star’ now and will have to take some snaps to show you how it all goes. Its quite easy and clever! (I adore video tutorials!)

Each day there are more and more blossoms bursting out on the cherry-plum tree!

Hope everyone has had a lovely day!
Cheers!

Some Sunshine!

A bit of a chance to sneak outside today and get that remaining wood stacked and under cover!
The girls were off on a school trip to Cradle Mt where they got to see snow for the first time!
Unfortunately, at this time of year, not much time is available to really have a decent amount of time up there to experience it, but they seem to have enjoyed themselves anyway. (Basically I think they did 4 hours of bus travelling and 3 hours at Cradle!)

This pile of wood wasn’t getting any drier out here, so it was great to be able to work outside for a while and get it all stacked.

Look what I found!! Plum blossoms!
The promise of spring??

Its a bit exciting seeing things start up again… even though I know we have a while to go

I sat Pip outside for a while so he could photosynthesis for a while

The other night when I went to a gathering for hosts and students I spotted a fab bit of driftwood on the beach so Kirrily and I exited stage left from dinner and snaffled it, popped it in the car then went back to socialise. 🙂

Cousin Jeff has been dropping off pallets for us which is awesome! I plan to use them to create the new garden fence.

Another bag popped into existence… mostly did it last night but finished it off today. Nobody is going to want it though because I tested it to see if it fit big (unimpressed) cats inside…

Anyway, I promised the troops hamburgers tonight so I better get cooking!
Have a great day/evening

Cheers

Firewood Top-up

Let me explain to you how blissful this day of nearly no rain was!
…….
The sun was really warm – and visible. (Bonus points for visible) Seriously, its been so dark this week with the rain belting down and a good amount of wind thrown in for good measure! Todays contrast was most welcome!

There were a few rainbows that appeared throughout the day too.
After getting our tyre re done (got a second hand one and then put the spare back where it belonged) we really had to address our dwindling stock of wood.

Cousin Jeff has run out of dry wood for this season, so we popped into the local nursery that also has been stocking firewood. Luckily we did because they have precious little dry wood left! Its been a long season with everyone starting to light fires much earlier than usual.
We bought three metres and loaded it up and took it home in three trips.

We were able to fill the back of the vehicle up quite high (pictured was just the last trip which didn’t fill the back of the cab)
The little trailer also helped out.

We didn’t get it all stacked today but we made a decent start. We erred on the side of not killing our backs. Hopefully won’t shape up too badly tomorrow.
I will be a bit distracted tomorrow with cooking and housework as thats the night the Kinmen teachers are coming up for dinner.
Possibly get some more done Friday.

We feel so much better knowing we have a good stash of wood on hand! Once stacked I’ll make a decision about going and seeing if there is any more dry wood left that we can snaffle if I think we need it.
Apparently we can burn the macrocarpa green (mostly because of its high sap content) but we will rely on waiting for it to dry properly.

I took Pip out for a quick stroll so he could get his vitamin D too… poor kitty had to squint in the sun!

My randomly planted potatoes in the hothouse are doing rather nicely!

The potted silverbeet is also thriving through no fault of my own!! The chooks love it!

I am still keeping busy with the girls. Cooking seems the best way to get the to interact. It was pizza night tonight! It’s a bit of uphill work with them for one reason or the other, but they seem to be enjoying themselves which is good.
I am just a wee bit dead on my feet! haha

Hope everyone is having a fantastic week!
Cheers

(Relaxed much?? Pip has to have a daily tablet – I have taken to warming up a bath towel to wrap him up in to keep him still to pop the pill down his throat! He tolerates it beautifully now – and loves the warmed towel so much he doesn’t struggle out of it after the meds are taken, but rather snuggles down for another cat nap!!)

Fumigating With Garlic

Time to bring out the big guns!
I reckon those plug in scent things (which pretty much just mingled with the dead thing, so I ended up with “Vanilla Rat”) gave me a headache as I had a low grade one for about three days.
Again the sun was shining today so I opened up all the doors and then started to peel garlic. It got up my nose and banished the dead rat smell as I worked so I was pretty happy with that.
Then minced and threw it into the dehydrator!
Walking inside was like walking into a wall of garlic. I think I have successfully marinated the rat as even now after the dehydrator has finished, I don’t smell the rat!
You cannot fathom how pleased I am right now.
Mind you, I have some reserve garlic in case it all goes pear shaped in the next day or so!
Bonus side effect – dried garlic to store!!

Coming up to the last month of winter and I see flowers about to burst forth!

Pip got lots of outside time today – he was curled up looking cute on the chair – until I tried to take a photo then the ears went back and he point blank refused to pose properly again.

Proud moment as I picked and ate my first cabbage from that lovely patch!

A few slugs chewed on the outer leaves, but the heart was tight and perfect.

I used half of it tonight in a stirfry I made for dinner and it was lovely! Not bitter at all. The other half I am going to deliver to Margie tomorrow as I don’t have a plan to use more cabbage in the next couple of days so they might as well take it fresh! (Share the love!)

And somehow I have made another four bags. They are rather relaxing to sit and create and I am enjoying the colours!

And last but not least – found this box of the most delicious home baked biscuits (cookies) at the back door this afternoon!! And so far I am clueless as to who the awesome person was that left them.
Dead rats aside? I love the country!!

Cheers!

Finally Some Sunshine!

Wow! Check this out!! Blue skies!!
Could not remain inside today – time to get cracking on a bit of garden work while the girls were at school!
And – being out of the house is a good thing right now. The Dead Rat Situation is not getting better. In fact, I think 5 of its mates went and had a sympathy die and I will just leave that up to your imagination.
Putrid is a word that comes to mind.
At least with the nice day I could open the house right up. But, sitting here I am going to be honest and say… it really didn’t help.
I think I will have to dehydrate some garlic.

Anyway… enough of my rat-woes.

Jeff uncovered part of my crushed raised bed! Don’t know if I will get that netting out in one piece… Time will tell.

We decided to work through this pile. We wanted to get decent kindling and small logs to burn.

So we spent a few hours stripping the needles off and cutting them down to usable sizes

Its times like this I am very pleased that Jeff has a good collection of well sharpened and maintained knives, saws and axes!

We are getting a good stash of wood – but we have a long way to go yet!

I quit earlier than Jeff today as I needed to get things sorted and organised before the girls came home. He carried on and really did an amazing job of clearing out that area

The new pile is destined to be burned eventually – bonfire burned. Its stuff thats too twisty, needlely or small to spend time on.

Hope tomorrow stays nice so we can continue with a bit more work!

Now, its Cabbage Appreciation Moment:

Some of these have got nice solid hearts, so I am planning to pick and use one tomorrow.

(And for scale):

My garlic is also going along nicely.

I reckon the later patch is also about ready for its seaweed mulch

Red was making quite the racket this afternoon. I think she needed to lay an egg but the nesting box was occupied (because we couldn’t possibly use one of the other empty two boxes…)

Even Pip got out to soak up a bit of Vitamin D!