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These lovely tete a tete mini daffies are out all the way now since taking this pic!

I have managed to stir myself and do several days of garden/yard work here and there. Every little patch helps in the overall goal

I purchased some new strawberry plants from the local beach market and popped them in to the bed that I cleared a while back. I basically made little straw nests and filled with some compost and cow poo.

They are sitting up nicely… although they are getting POURED on right now. Very soggy night tonight!

I made a start on the second side of the back veranda garden. It mostly entailed pulling out the cape gooseberry plants.
I am a bit sad about that really… but they are too big and wild for this garden.

Small Rainbow-Appreciation-Break

I reckon a trillion cape gooseberry seedlings will pop up. Vague plans to pot some up to give away/sell and also replant somewhere where they can go mad and give me tasty fruit

Nice big pile of stuff to add to bonfire.

This is pretty much as far as I got. And still haven’t gotten back to it but happy with what I cleared out.

State of hothouse reminder…

While the suckers of the passionfruit vine are very artistic and all that… it all had to go

Pulled almost everything out.
It will need a top up of soil before planting but I love the look of this space when its cleared. It kind of signals spring planting (even if the weather I am listening to doesn’t)

I also optimistically planted some seeds. Celery, lettuce, some flowers (Portulaca and snap dragon)
My friend Jaana gave me a parsel plant (cross between parsley and celery) and Jude gave me this lovely polyanthus – both which are now repotted

Another plant which I am bracing myself for an onslaught of is marigolds….
After pulling out the gigantic plants, I noted a billion-squillion seeds left behind.

I’ve also planted a tray of snap pea seeds – they are currently outside getting drowned. Hmmm. Not that keen to go out and move them so with luck they will survive the night. (Before I covered them clearly)

What next?
More wood moving.
Awesome Cousin Jeff found another lot of dry (just soggy) wood for us so I got that under cover

Now has a chance to dry out and also periodically will leave some inside next to fire in the basket to dry quicker.
Did I mention my folks are booked to come down for a weeks visit at the end of the month?
Looking forward to that a lot… but very relieved to have more wood on hand as we were so close to out. Dont want to freeze the parents!!

Jude and her husband Mark are on board with helping too… while I’ve been helping clear some bush areas, instead of putting some stuff on bonfires, its gone into the back of the Triton!

Mark cut up some of the bigger bits and we’ve a small pile to cut down.
And also right now there is another pile from yesterdays work efforts that Mark cut up tonight so I’ll go pick that up tomorrow if all goes to plan. (Pity its getting drowned right now)

Every little bit helps!!

I’ll get to the above sticks in the nearish future.

My two new apple trees, courtesy of Jude, got planted. I plan to espalier them but right now they are very young so nothing to tie up yet.
I’ve whacked some steel droppers in as markers to where the future poles and lines will be placed. Our last apple tree is all but dead and needs to come out. This new spot is away from the old one so the codlin moth cant infest new trees and this spot seems optimal for what I want to do. (Plus Jude told me too and who am I to second guess good experience??)

Self seeded rocket that I raid almost daily for salads

and still getting outrageously large carrots

Enjoyed setting fire to things

The chooks can only come up the house side of the yard under supervision now. (Because the little darlings make bee lines for new gardens and dig them up. I and not keen to replant the strawberries etc)
And banned from hothouse.
They are a bit put out about that

They have such fun in ‘new’ areas

Often all you see is a fluffy butt as they search for bugs and dig up my gardens

Herding them back!!

An afterthought garden project I tacked on at the end of one of my days… I’d forgotten to go back to one of the macrocarpa tree stumps as I wanted to plant them out with pretty flowers.
Seems the chives survived …. and weeds.

So… dug it all up and added compost, marigold seeds (because I have some to spare) some pansy (like) seedings and some basil-mint (I like living on the edge)

Then Jeff, in a very timely manner, arrived home from his massage with Jaana bearing a tray of violets!! Fabulous!

Hopefully they are all hanging on right now!
Anyway, thats a bit of a look at garden progress.
Spring is definitely early with daffies and blossoms everywhere!
Pretty pretty
xx

Hi.
I may or may not be writing this post to avoid vacuuming for another 15 minutes….
Anyway…
I popped back out to Jude’s place last week and the day was spent sorting the chook run

It used to be the original garden and had terraced layers of garden beds
The chooks have had the run for quite a while.

Weed wise, not really too bad – the chooks have scratched up and eaten them and with the soft ground, the docks (the most annoying weed) were coming up with tap roots in tact which is extremely satisfying

A bit of an after shot here. The overall plan is to properly net the entire area so a food forest of berries can be created!

This was a raspberry patch…. that got entangled with blackberries, a flowering pea vine (forget name) and an accacia (I think) tree and some other general weeds under the half cover of a very sad net.

Definitely a feel good moment to get into this and clear it out.

Ta Daa!
The chooks were having the time of their lives!

Jude uncovered the beds of chook grass… by the days end they’d trashed it!!

Pretty chooks and rooster!

Of course very satisfying to set fire to all the rubbish… Although it may have been a mistake to put the decades old coat onto the fire too because… phew!
Smelly smelly!
Wasn’t going to break out the marshmallows on that fire!

Rusty of course was being his super cute self…

The first five or ten minutes of me getting there he tries to turn himself inside out with wriggly happiness… which of course makes one feel super loved!
He did get his little butt locked up for a good portion of the time when we were working – otherwise we probably wouldn’t have gotten as far as we did.

Jude has tons of plants propagated and trays of seeds planted… all getting set for spring markets.

Lots of lovely Protea out right now too

Complete with lady beetle

These are pretty!
Jude also does cut flower bunches and the Protea look amazing in a bunch with pretty delicate other flowers surrounding the main bloom

And I can’t remember what the name of this fluffy little delight below is.
I swear I should have a notebook in my pocket when I go up there. So much to learn and I have a sieve for a head when it comes to retaining a lot of the names etc!

And because a couple of people asked…the name of the flower from the recent post – it is known as a Red Hot Poker (Kniphofia uvaria)
And here is another pic!
Okies.
Vacuuming awaits!

xx

Hi…
I don’t have many ‘working pics’ but I’ve been popping over to my friends place to do work with her on her property since late last year.

Jude and Mark have a lovely piece of property that has been set up and worked with Permaculture principles.
There are multiple gardens, chooks, ducks, quail (and other birds) some sheep and an orchard.

Late last year Jude managed to bust her leg… which was right at the time when her husband was going in for hip replacement!!
So now with everyone mostly healed up… there is a fair bit of work to catch up on.

Jude works amazingly hard in the garden – propagates untold amounts of plants, grows heaps of seedlings and sells these as well as veggies at the local market.

I didn’t get the full before shot of this bit of work, but we pulled out a lot of weeds, grass and blackberries – later the area gets mulched to slow back on that regrowth (I’ve done some full days wrestling blackberries that have taken over. Dreadful things but oh so satisfying when you manage to clear an area!)

Hmmmm… maybe I’ll have to get a snap tomorrow of the finished product.

I have learned a lot over my days.
Jude is also making it her mission to get me to be friends with Kale.
I still regard kale as the dark side of gardening, so she is not getting far!

Sometimes the work isn’t gardening but sorting areas that have just gotten a bit out of control. The things we save ‘for later use’ that pile up.
I am weird but I like this kind of work

Satisfying to make sense of an area and re locate the items to areas where they are stored for easier access.

Moving corrugated iron is always fun. At least being winter we didn’t come across snakes. But we displaced a lot of lizards. Several huntsmen (big leggy spiders)and three white tails (black spiders that give a nasty bite) had to be moved on from the pile.
Oh and we found one toad.

We both admitted to being a bit sore that evening after all the tin was moved

Work is somewhat slowed up often because of their gorgeous blue heeler pup, Rusty. (Photo from Jude)

He is an absolute barrel of enthusiasm, makes sure you know you are super loved and is very distracting!
He has his angel days and his demon days. At times he has taken to sitting on one of the ducks!!
I plan to go up there to garden tomorrow so I look forward to lots of Rusty love and licks!

Dexter has been around a while longer and sounds a bit like a constant thunderstorm when Rusty is about. Lots of hissing and swacks to let Rusty know he is being too enthusiastic! haha…

Anyway, better trot off for some sleep. Not sure what we will be working on tomorrow- its always something different!

xx

Well… that was a long pause between the first post of our couple of days at Cradle… but here it is

We had planned on a hike that was going to take us further, but the day was one of ‘those’ days.
Rain (lots) wind (high) cold (brrrr) and visibility (not much).

We met a young Japanese couple who wanted to do the hike up Marions way but the rangers had suggested not to. So we said they could come along with us as we were doing it if they wanted moral support!

As you can see… not much to see (although the weather cleared slightly for views when we were up higher which was lovely for Toshi and Maaya)

So wet!

Its still pretty in the rain though

(Photo below from Toshi)

Up the many many steps

I definitely take this bit slow

So moody!

Best part about the rain at Cradle is the tree bark colours

Stunning

I didn’t have the camera out coming down as we went back down a different way and apart from the weather, its was a steep tricky decent that required two hands free and also making sure our new friends were helped down where needed.

(Photo from Maaya)
We made it down in one piece!

Even a little rainbow to finish our day off!

It was nice to make new friends.
We left Maaya and Toshi in the visitors centre where they spent some time thawing out before driving on to their next destination!
They had barely 3-4 days in Tasmania, but we’ve let them know they are welcome to stay with us if they ever get back down our way!

xx

(Photo from Toshi)

Hi, just a quick update on the Book Nook!
We’ve had a couple more goes at sitting still at the table, snicking pieces out and gluing them together

At this early point we had to pop in the light pack and get them all secured into the right spots.

We didn’t have the right batteries to test it that day (dang it) but we think they are all set in the right spot.

Day Two was putting together the first of the upstairs furniture that consisted of a table, newspaper stand and a book cabinet.

Which in turn meant putting together more books

So far we’ve found snicking out the pieces from the boards no real trouble although some of the parts are quite delicate, so I get nervous doing those.

So super cute. And the newspapers cut out ready to roll up (tip for those wanting to have a go at this – I used a wooden skewer to roll the papers around which worked much better than freehand rolling)

Some of the books are concertina-ed into the book covers to look more real

Its definitely a bit fiddly to get right and I think Jeff is now happily handing that job over to me

Now for the cabinet…

Loaded it up with books then finished it off

Fancy fancy!!

I then spent some time trying to glue posters to the wall in a pleasingly random way.

Not bad for only two sessions.
Then the other day we had some time in the afternoon to sit and tackle the fireplace.

Quite a lot of pieces and layers to this part.

(Books were not required but I figured I’d do a few and get ahead.)

There was a ‘light’ to install before the fireplace went in. And we picked up some batteries and found that all the lighting worked which is exciting

So now we have a ladder…

And a fireplace complete with mirror and candlesticks

And working lights!

I think tomorrows weather is meant to be fairly horrible… so maybe Jeff and I can spend some more quality time together on this?
Will keep you posted!

xx

The jonquils are out super early. I’ve picked some today to put in one of my cat vases… they smell strong but remind me of being a kid playing in the paddock!
At least… I think these are jonquils… now I am looking at them I am wondering as what I picked today looks quite different. Hmmm…

These are all just snaps from my tablet. More just record and progress shots. Which is quite nice for me as I am not fretting about getting in to photoshop to make things perfect!
Like the garden above …. NOT perfect!!

I found a lot of sprouting garlic in clumps in this patch. I clearly did a terrible harvest job last season!

Feathery helpers…

Pathway potatoes

Death to a few worms but they had such a lovely time!

Done. But too late for planting on that day…
I got back a few days later to finish it off

Bit of blood and bone and then I poked holes everywhere

I planted a few of the part grown cloves just to see how they do compared to the only just sprouted ones.

The day before Cousin Jeff dropped off some manky wood!! I dropped the ball this year about being properly stocked up and I am not sure how long we’ll last out this winter. I have plans for collection over summer….
This lot was pretty waterlogged but is drying out nicely in the wood shelter

Its probably going to burn a bit quick so he has left a lot of it in BIG chunks

I had to clear out a spot so I could still access the properly dry wood.

For better or worse…. thats it for this winter!
Of course there is no dry wood available at this time of year.
It might come down to just having to dress up a lot more in the house! (I can tell I am going to pout about this at some point) 🙂

A week or so ago there was another break in the weather, so this (ahem) garden bed (under the lawn somewhere) was next.

Such a pain in the butt job! I used the spade to re define the edges and went from there.

I plan to put potatoes in here in September…

Finishing the last corner was agony (such a drama queen)
The soil was gluggy. Stuck to everything and my boots kept picking it up so I grew a few inches
Lots of worms too

Finally the fun part!
Mulching!!

Luckily there is still a lot of straw in the car port.
That will keep the weeds at bay until I am ready to plant.
I need to get some more blood and bone to scatter in and some compost…get the soil a bit richer.

Another plot down so little by little the garden is gaining plantable spots!

xx

(Ugh… I am itching to run these photos through photoshop!! haha. Its killing me)

While I was in Japan I visited a really special temple… I still haven’t blogged about that experience. (on that To Do List)
However, during that visit I wrote some promises that included to properly sort my garden out.

I’ve tried the approach of ‘one plot at a time’ and put blinkers on, to not get sidetracked and overwhelmed by the whole property.

The other week I got into the back veranda garden as I wanted to put in some brassicas (two green broccoli, two purple broccoli and two cabbages)

So I cleared this bed out, added some manure and got them in.

And because I don’t trust the weather, the slugs or the chooks, I took extra precautions to protect them

On sunny warm days I will take the bottles off but leave the feed bag protectors on.
Speaking of the chooks… they get let up our side of the yard on special days late in the afternoon.
They’ve delighted in finding the hothouse and indulging in dust baths! With all the rain there hasn’t been any dust for them

They all look so happy!
So I’ve left the hothouse alone for now – its like their holiday house!

Because I had time after planting the brassicas, I also cleared up one half of the veranda garden as well

The sweet peas that I didn’t plant are growing magnificently without my help… Since they were sprawling a bit, I’ve put back the stick tripod and tied them up.
Hoping for lovely flowers in spring

The sort of before partly in the middle shot… (yes yes I know. Worst sentence ever)

I only worked on the right side and the path. What I’ve left in the pathway is herbs, not weeds

When I get in the mood I’ll sort out the left side. But I got out a lot of weeds, and gave the garden another good layer of straw

And look what I found under the lemon balm!!

A teeny tiny pumpkin!! (Only one for this year!)

Its raining heavily right now as I type. We’d been lucky to have a stretch of weather recently that wasn’t constant dark and rain.
This gardening day was a lucky sunny day between a whole lot of gloom.

Jeff was even out there pruning off trees and bushes that had gotten a bit out of control.

The path might need some woodchip or something but at least we can walk down it without being attacked by trees!

I better get to bed. Basket weaving tomorrow – Its our teachers last day. Adele has been having some health issues so is stepping down.
Luckily for us, her daughter in law is going to step in and take the workshops.
Adele has been so wonderful, I hope she gets on top of her health – I know she will drop in when she can just to enjoy the classes rather than run them. There is a special morning tea planned for tomorrow and I think lots of people will bring in their past basket projects so we can have a big show and tell!

Have a lovely day.

xx

Hello!
I apologise for the scandalously long hiatus between posts.
And thanks to Gail and Pj with their lovely little notes today!

I think I am just having a really challenging year. So motivation to get on and do a whole slew of things that need to be done or even things I enjoy that I WANT to do have been falling by the wayside.

In the last week I have finally gotten back in to making soaps for my own stock and not just the ones I need for the soap workshops.

And yes,… its time to start getting stock ready for Christmas!

I’ve decided I am not a fan so far of 2023.
I’ve had two notable wonderful highlights… All my family visiting first thing this year and of course Japan, which was truly amazing.

Naturally, losing Pip has hit us incredibly hard. Its six months on and I have cried every single day. Sometimes a brief squall… sometimes a lot more. Sometimes it just hits in awkward places where people can see you or you have to walk away to wrestle emotions back under control. Jeff hasn’t fared that much better to be honest. (He cries less in public tho)

I know its supposed to get better with time.
Pip was just an integral part of who we were as a family… so time is not doing its job just yet.
Still, we have to function and be out there and work and participate and talk to people. Its just harder.

And around us this year have been other friends/family with their own losses.
A lot of pet loss, including my parents feisty little cat Millie only a few weeks ago. 🙁
You can imagine the soggy phone calls!
Sadly also losses of people, a close friends Father and a family friend, a lady only a little younger than me, which always comes as a shock.
So no, 2023… you are not quite my favourite year.

The weather has been dismal. Dark. Rain and generally miserable.
That never helps!!
Hence my motivation really not being in its tip top form.

Gosh thats a dodgy photo!! Oh well!!
Some snaps are just via my tablet.

So thats really the basics of how I’ve managed to procrastinate a whole month since sitting here to write stories and share photos.
I’ll quit with the Woe Is Me part of the post. I just didn’t want to keep skimming over how we were really doing. Life isn’t always pretty smelling soaps and Tassie beaches. Sometimes it gets a little sucky.

I am pleased to be getting back into the soap making. I think I have missed it.
I still do one or two workshops each month and those classes are really enjoyable. People seem to really have such a great day and I’ve always received encouraging feedback from them

Another dodgy photo but was thrilled with that design

Even got a little creative with a new design…

Doesn’t look too exciting until the cut

Wonderfully big super chunky soaps.
I plan to present them somehow as a wrapped gift soap.

I have been getting some garden stuff done little by little. I would really like to make a better effort this season. And also hope for the weather/climate to behave in a rational manner to help me along!
I have been taking photos, so I have images there ready to share to show you the bits and pieces that have been happening.

I also stupidly looked at some youtube videoes about junk journalling.
It seemed like a fun thing to play about with.
(The cover is one of Jeff’s cereal boxes and the main lot of papers are just normal paper soaked in coffee and dried off in the oven.)

Meanwhile I get further and further behind in making headway on decluttering the house…

It is fun though… especially if you are like me and adore all things stationary.

Right now its all about glue and paper and a sense of optimism.

So thats me getting back in touch.
I will honestly add blog posts to my list of ‘Things Not to Ignore’ and get back into the swing of it.

Until next time, here is a pic from todays hike… my first hike in weeks!!

xx

Hello/Ya (I asked Adele to start teaching me some words in her language!)
I haven’t been into basket weaving much since coming home but last week I went and remembered my tablet and took a few snaps of things that were being created to share with you.
Above is a gathering of things that our teacher Adele has made.

Every week Adele gathers bits and bobs… mostly flax… for us to work with.

Above is Marilyn’s pretty basket! I love the blue raffia she is using!

Working on a flax rose.

Lynette has made some amazing pieces since joining the class. This one is destined to become a laundry hamper!! So she has a bit of a way to go yet.
I like the way she is using a straw to keep the bundles even.

A lot of people come and go to this class… I am not going to be able to remember everyone’s name to put to their creations..

The lady making this is fairly new and I love this rustic texture!! Its coming along beautifully

This sweet little dish is in its early stages and is the makers first attempt at a basket!!! I am so impressed!

Two new ladies joined in and now we know to word people up that at the end of the first session they’ll have a small little start… just so they are not hugely disappointed by not finishing a basket in the first class!!!
The beginning seems to take forever… this is my second week working on mine and I am not much further along than this…

I need to replace the basket that the Australia Post lost that I sent to one of my sisters. I am still salty about that. At this rate she will get it next year!

Amazing the different colours you get in flax!

Adele always makes a rose for the new students… such a nice welcoming gesture.

And because you can do whatever you enjoy with this friendly group, one young girl has taken to folding cranes each Friday morning!

We also get bikkies & cheese, cake and coffee!!

And I was saving Krystals creation to show you last! Another one of her wonderful fairy houses!

So much work in this… she is very patient and has an amazing artistic eye.

When its done I am going to pester her to get a proper photo shoot of it!

Its such a lovely way to spend Friday mornings – a bunch of really friendly people with a lot of inspiration constantly on the go!

Wulikah! (Goodbye)

Wul ( wool) i(e) kah ( car)

But you have to say it sadly though…

xxx

Hi…

I spent last Thursday at Arty Duck doing my volunteer day.

Pretty quiet… people are definitely staying inside for winter. It’s like we’ve been living in permanent twilight lately!

This shop is having a mid year raffle so I spent my day whipping up two face washers to go with the small soap baskets to donate.

First one done.

Decided to time myself…

Of course then a couple of people dropped by for a chat… but I still got it done.

With soap…

And done!

Time?

Not bad I guess!

Fabulous quilt, bags and shawls…

The shop is a bit on the cusp of closing as someone needs to take over as treasurer. Without that job filled, it’s impossible to keep going. It would be a shame as it’s a good outlet for lots of crafty people and the locals use it a lot… As well as travellers.

Being that it’s a bit far from me, I’ve never wanted to do anything admin wise. Just have my spot, do my days work, donate stuff or sell raffle tickets, but not commit to more than that. I’ll just have to see what happens.

Anyway… that’s was my slightly crafty Arty Duck Day

Xx