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Hello!
I’m still kicking about! Just haven’t taken photos for whatever odd reason.
We had planned on a Cradle Hike today but the weather wasn’t quite up to scratch. Felt it better to wait while we were taking someone new up there. Don’t want to scare the pants off our guest! 😀

We picked what was left of the plums. The birds were getting in the nets anyway. I’ve made a small batch of jam, but now washing and cooking what I can to save what we got.

Today I also booked Jeff and myself back for another go at the Overland Track!! March 8th.
Megumi’s husband is arriving late Feb and staying a couple of days… they both leave for Melbourne early March which gives Jeff and I a few days home together to finalise our packs before heading out.
Will totally have to step up the practice hiking though!!

Its been quite warm… but nowhere near as warm as the mainland. Australia is basically cooking at the moment.
Dad keeps updating me with the current temperatures in my hometown.
They got up to 45C!! (113F)
So many places are steadily and daily hitting well over 40C
Its insane!!
I must say Tasmania is a lot milder. Certainly hot enough to be enjoying a proper summer but not quite THAT melting!!

Anyway, time for bed.
Hope you are having a lovely day!

Cheers!

Hello!! A strange sea mist rolled in this afternoon! I was working outside and it was pretty hot, so decided to go for a drive down to the beach for a swim! Not five minutes down the road and its like I am driving through a London Pea Soup Fog!!
(Still the dip was nice!)

Time to make better use of this plot! The lettuce had gone bitter and the snow peas all sprawled out like this really wasn’t making optimal use of space… the snow peas were just about done here anyway.

I’ve now planted two rows of basil seeds in the right side -if they germinate well I’ll transplant all over that side and into other areas later.
The left side I put in a row of cos lettuce – will also transplant them around when (if) they pop up.
Also put in two more rows of beetroot because… well why not?

Tentacular was given another small haircut today. Being honest – I really have lost control of him.
So I did some minor clearing up in other corners of the hothouse

It was hard, but I pulled up the nicely growing self seeded tomatoes. I really wanted the eggplant and capsicum to have more of a chance

There is one self seeded one I am still trying to keep under control – cut it back a bit and tied it up again.

It finally looks like another couple of cucumbers have pollinated and are making progress

I also redirected a few errant parts of the vine back up the rebar trellis rather than sprawling out over the marigolds and other plants

I am pretty sure my tomatoes are channeling Jacks Beanstalk and are on their way up and out.
The tomatoes are never going to change colour.

The Melon Corner is doing fine. I have redirected them up as well. No fruit yet of course…

Anyway, I was melting in there so I was happy just to do some essentials then escape.

The corn that was eaten by rabbits and chooks is doing a splendid job!!

Loving adding the rocket to the nightly salads!

These lettuce are a puzzle. They look nothing like the first lot I planted out – but were all from the same seedlings that I originally grew!!

The capsicum are slow – not sure if I will get anything happening before the season turns, but… have to try anyway!

Pretty much all of the dead-looking spring onions have come back to life well!

Lateral tomatoes forging ahead!

Sweet baby carrots

The obligatory armful of zucchinis

And thats a lot of dinner covered!

There are a couple of plums left that the birds missed… nice to have a munch on those. I think I’ll have to make time to get under the nets (fat lot of good they did anyway) and pick whats there and cook them up. I can’t imagine how many plums the rotten things have scoffed.

Win some seasons, lose others!

Some of the random seeds that Emma planted for me have popped out in flower!!

Anyway, thats the rounds of the garden done!
Time for bed – feeling all that lovely sunshine I soaked up today!
Hope your day was great too!
Cheers

Nothing sets you up for the day and gets your heart racing like letting your husband shave your legs with a cut-throat razor…
Apparently safety razors are too mundane so Jeff got himself a straight razor and has been practicing on his face – which by the look of it if you saw it, gives me a million-wife-cool-&-brave points.
Jeff asked to practice on my legs… gulp.
Anyway, I survived. My legs are certainly less hairy, but slightly decorated with lines and bits of red. haha

Megumi and I gutsed all the pickled beetroot, so we had to make some more.
Step one of course is to pick some

The chooks were happy with the green bits!

After we did that, we made up a batch of rhubarb/raspberry jam. I was going to make up some regular raspberry jam but by then I was over being inside.

It had been a while since we did a loop around Anniversary Bay.
Bravely, Megumi decided to come along as well.

We went the opposite way to normal. It gets a lot of the long hills out of the way first, so the trip down to the beach is less daunting than the trip back up from the beach if you go our usual way.
Anyway, despite it being quite a challenge, Megumi was still smiling most of the way!

Not sure why Jeff and Megumi just didn’t go rushing off into the waves for a dip as soon as we hit the beach!! The best feeling to get the boots off and just go diving in!! Sure, feet end up a bit sandy to put the boots back on again, but a small price to pay for the refreshing feeling of the salt water rushing over you. (And in case you were wondering, yes my legs rather stung and Jeff kept laughing!! Nice!!)

Pretty good day all around.
Taking it easy today (aka being sensible) Just doing some more of Rachels house photos and helped Kirrily move a truck-load of stuff out of her room as she is moving into her own place at the end of next week. I swear I am renaming her room The Tardis!!

Hope everyone is having a lovely weekend!
Cheers

Look what Jeff found!! Some naughty chook (or two) has found a new preferred place to lay her eggs!!

Today was a good day – I felt pretty good all day and naturally proceeded to make all sorts of unrealistic plans for the immediate future!! Will see how that goes 😀
But what we did first up today was a tip run as it has been a few months since we last got rid of our rubbish. I have noticed with the extra people we are filling up the bins faster than usual. Not too bad, but definitely a difference.
It always feels good to get all the rubbishy stuff out of the way and start again!

I did a lot of watering. We had a fellow come and fix up the bore pump switch so, so far, the water is staying on and nothing is setting itself on fire. Bonus!

What I did want to do at some point today was get in and weed the 3rd corn patch.
Jeff whippersnippered/mowed in here the other day but left the netting.

Needed a bit of a tidy up. Jeff got in and helped me sort it out too which was great.

It does need some mulch now, but I don’t have any at the moment. Pea straw is available around the place and I will check the beach soon for seaweed grass.
In the meantime, I gave it a boost of my kelp juice and a good watering.
I put the netting back on as I don’t need some overfed possum sampling the stalks just yet!!

We all went down to the river to do a lap around the track which was rather nice this afternoon. Being a bit warm I was kinda wishing I was paddling instead… maybe I’ll get back on the water soon!

Hope your day was lovely!
Cheers!

Hello! It was a pretty nice day yesterday out at Black River Beach. The wind was a little cold at times, but we kept walking and collecting shells etc for a fair way up the beach

Was good to take the shoes off and get nice and sandy!

Megumi enjoyed seeing a new beach and collected quite a few shells.

So many of these particular crab shells were washed up on the beach

On the way home we swung past Rocky Cape NP to take a peek of the view from the lighthouse

A good photo op!

Back home in the garden its great going around the various tomato plants and finally seeing so many little tomatoes getting started

Even those laterals I planted out are starting to produce!

And the ones I dug up from the corn patch already have small tomatoes started

I am training my pumpkins away from the watermelons that seem a lot slower in the growth department.
There are lots of pumpkin babies starting, but nothing has taken hold yet.

Today I spent a less active day, but got a bit of work done on Rachels property photos which makes me feel better about things. I was hoping to have them completed by the first week of the year, but haven’t been up to the task!
After spending a fair bit of time on the computer I escaped outside to do some cutting back in the herb garden. Jeff had gotten in there and pulled up the twitch on the pathway which was great. Looking forward to really cleaning this place up.

Very satisfying to give it all a severe haircut

Anyway, thats about it from my end of the world tonight!
Hope your week is trundling along well!
Cheers!

Hello!
Yesterday I felt pretty good so I ended up taking my kayak out and paddling up the river!
Today was a pretty good day too so we went out to Black River Beach to wander about, paddle and collect shells!
I was all set to process some photos and blog when I suddenly felt really tired!!!
So I am going to toodle off to bed
Hope you had a lovely day too!!
Cheers!

Hello!!
Pip seems to think sitting or lounging about in doorways is the most helpful place he can be! Of course, as usual, as I type I am balancing him on my lap. This is probably why I crocheted that long shawl a while back. Perfect to tuck him up in so he is not sliding off and digging his claws in!

I think I can class today as ‘fairly unexciting’. I was pretty slow for most of it. I had to collect the car which was back at the mechanic for the second time in two weeks for two unrelated issues. Ouch on the wallet I might add!
I organised (hopefully) for someone to come out and sort out our bore pump switch, which finally completely died yesterday. The first electrician I spoke to was rather bemused that it had set itself on fire then still worked!!

I made a really nice vegetable mix for pasta this evening (if I do say so myself.) I had to use tinned tomatoes but I was able to put in fresh herbs, garlic, zucchini and carrots!

One carrot I found in a state of undress!!

I am really really hoping to have enough oomph tomorrow to go for a drive out to Black River Beach. I’d like to take Megumi, get out in the fresh salty air and fossick about!! Fingers crossed hey? 😀

Hope your week has started well!
Cheers!

Hello!! First cucumbers! Yay!
Well… I’ve been ‘slightly’ under the weather the past few days. (Hence my absence) Pip was delighted as it provided him with two solid days of napping time with me! (Always nice when you can please someone isn’t it?)
This is not Pip looking delighted. (Probably because I got up)

Anyway, I managed to get up and eat a bit and get to the market, rest, eat a bit, water the garden etc. Things are looking up!!

Megumi is now Chief Raspberry Picker – which is great as I didn’t have the energy for that. Jeff has also been in there keeping up with the picking so thats been really helpful.

That tangle above is a tomato patch… Needs some attention I think!
Anyway, I did some watering until the pump switch blew up.
Going to have to find an electrician ASAP

Two beans from the self sown bean bramble.

Lovely potatoes.

The hothouse is looking pretty good.
Tentacular is still the boss.

Still waiting for some colour to happen on my tomatoes.

Loving being able to snick a leaf off the basil plants for salads/sandwiches again. Still a little way to go before I can do pesto… but they are looking good nonetheless.

Love how most of the self seeded tomatoes are all sporting fruit!

And I think this patch is about done… The lettuce is starting to get bitter and the snow peas are heading towards their last I think.

Zucchinis still marching along steadily. Even the one that was looking like it was on its last legs seems to be muddling along ok!

Well, thats all from me. I have Nurses Orders to be in bed early!!
Hope everyone has had a wonderful weekend!
Cheers!

Not much from me today!
I did get a barrel of rocks chosen and on the tumbler 🙂 Jeff got me some new grits for Christmas!

We are in danger of losing the cherry plums this season. They seem rather late ripening – guessing because of the weather dipping back to cold so often. Now squadrons of birds have found the trees and are happily pecking a hole in each fruit and dropping them to the ground!!! What a mess and waste.

So, we attempted to get the nets in and around some of the branches which is a pain in the rear job as you can’t do it properly and netting is so hard to work with!!
Still, we might get to save a few.
I did pick some green ones to see how they go ripening inside. If they do, I’ll pick a lot more before they get pecked!

Speaking of dodgy brothers jobs… this is the pen of shame for our broody chook. Today I got the top right so she was stuck in there without escaping. I think the phrase ‘Not Happy Jan’ works in her case! Hopefully after a day or two in here she forgets about her broody state!

She’s just lucky that she is not living back in Ruby’s day – who said they put broody chooks in a bag, hung them on the clothesline and squirted them with the hose!! Apparently they soon forgot about being broody!!
This half way horrifies me and half way makes me laugh. Torn.

Once the evening cooled off, we got out for a lap around the river track. It was really nice out there. Going to look at the current tides to see when I can sneak in a paddle!! Its certainly the weather for it!
Hope you are enjoying the first week of the new year!
Cheers!

Hello. Oops. I seem to be two days into 2019. Well done. 😀
Just a few updated photos of how the new patches are progressing.
Oh – Fiona dropped by today. I didn’t go for a hike but she came by with a hiking souvenir… a small black kitten!! It was adorable. She found it where it certainly shouldn’t be – up in the National Park where I have seen more and more cats lately. I love cats BUT – not the place for them.
Anyway, she hiked the whole loop with a kitten on her arm, then drove into town to the vets and bought some milk before coming back to me! It was so thirsty poor beggar. I carefully introduced him to Pip who was VERY interested indeed… then when he finally worked out it was a small version of himself, he gave a gentle hiss and retreated in disgust under the table!!!
Fiona took mini kitty home and will find a place for him we hope. (I know – I should have gotten the camera out but I was too busy oohing and ahhing and cuddling)

Back to the garden. I suspect we are going to lose most of the plums this season. They are so late ripening and the birds are in there already. These ones are from the smaller trees behind the hothouse. The big tree’s fruit doesn’t even look close to colouring up. If we get a chance Jeff and I will try to net a few branches…

Some of the self seeded tomatoes have been hiding little surprises!! yay!

The leafy garden is halfway there. The silverbeet and basil are a bit half hearted but the next lot of lettuce and beetroot look fine!

Those tomato laterals are all looking pretty good! I had to get in and tie them up as it got a bit windy the last day or so.

I love pumpkins. They rush about looking so awesome. There are a few flowers and false starts, but they will get there eventually! The watermelon are looking ok I suppose. A flower or two on them but since I haven’t ever grown with success its all new to me! Keeping my fingers crossed anyway.

The almost dead spring onions are making a comeback

Still not sure what to fill this garden with. The spring onions are along the back corner. The capsicum are going slowly but the three lettuce seedlings took off ok. The eggplant and rocket seem happy.

Despite the rabbit and chook incidents the second corn patch is looking pretty good!
The first patch is still a bit woebegone. (The third patch seems ok but yet to photograph its recent achievements)

One slightly out of control tomato patch! I think I need to start tying them up!! The self sown runner beans are also twining themselves around the tomatoes… its all a bit messy in there!

Getting lovely little carrots from here and eagerly awaiting more beetroot to be ready – so I can make more pickles.

My ‘from seed’ tomato patch is slowly making progress. I am hoping they produce because there are some yellow tomatoes in there and I enjoyed them the last time I grew them.

My $2 bargain tomato flowers are not pollinating. Lots of flowers. No fruit at all!! I planted these marigolds around them to attract bees so now I am cheering them on to get the flowers to get the bees to get the tomatoes!!!!

Still fabulous is my rhubarb!

I love it when the potato patch is at this stage! Just a lovely sea of plants.

The garden is far from Magazine Worthy, but I am just happy its got food. The prettying up can come later.

I’ve actually made a few dollars out of the veggies so far this season – without even having a stall yet!!
I’ve sold $40 worth of garlic plus a nice amount in snow peas and zucchinis.
If the tomatoes ever get going, thats when I will start having the stall again. Everyone loves stopping for home grown tomatoes!!

I think its time to pick more of that rhubarb and make more of that raspberry/rhubarb jam!!

Anyway. I am working on getting to bed early (earlier for me) as I saw the doc today and explained my less than ideal sleeping habits. He raised his eyebrow somewhat and was very subtle in his suggestions about trying to fix that haha.
So…. before the clock gets close to midnight… thats me signing off!
Hope your first days of the New Year have been lovely!
Cheers!