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Hi there! Sunday morning and all I wanted to do was bury my head back under the covers and not bother. We moved up from ‘Bucketing Down’ to ‘Deluge’ The gutters were overflowing – was insane.
Clearly the local beach markets weren’t going to be on, so we stirred ourselves and went out to Penguin to wander through the covered markets there.
By the time we got there, we had blue skies and I was HOT because I was over dressed!! Haha – after 7 years in Tassie I should know better huh?

We drove home via the beaches at Wynyard and I saw them covered at last in seaweed!! Finally!

I abandoned my planned indoor rainy day activity (Pack Christmas parcels), came home, changed into gardening gear and heading back to the beach.
The tide had turned but I managed to fill and haul nearly 20 bags back!

I made a small start on mulching some of the plots, but by that time it was late and I still had some other garden related tasks to complete (like picking raspberries!)

I am sure everything has grown in the last couple of days with the excessive drinking and warm weather!

Meanwhile, Jeff got into the Duck Yard Garden and started sorting out that tree!! Its amazing the light difference in that patch now. He’ll have to get the chainsaw out to tackle the last bit. Then I can think about new raised beds!!

I picked a few sweet things to finish the day and now am planning quite a busy Monday. Somehow Christmas is looming up rather quickly!!! 
Hope your weekend was great
Cheers!

Hi there! How has everyone’s weekend started out? Ours was a bit blustery with some occasional rain!
Pretty happy to pick our first little zucchini! The plants are getting knocked around at the moment… hopefully they’ll survive this change in weather and continue with a few more zucchinis for us.
I put this one into a pasta sauce for tonights dinner!

I did a few little useful things like finish off the drying of the oregano thats been sitting in the net a few weeks. Crisped it up in the oven!
Also hung the garlic out in the shed as the rain was being blown right onto the veranda. Not helpful when trying to dry stuff.
Despite the weather, we needed to go out for a walk, so we took Megumi on her first little hike around the river.

I was hoping to spot a platypus for her, but no luck today.

It didn’t rain for us at all while we were out. In fact it was quite warm and muggy!

(It bucketed down later in the evening)

This is still one of the prettier parts of the walk.

Lots of blackberries that run unchecked by the river are in flower now.

Other pretty little flowers line the track as well which is rather nice!

Glad we got out. We were hoping to go to the local market tomorrow, but if todays weather is any indication, we might drive over to Penguin to visit the covered markets up there.
Would be nice if it turned back into summer for a bit!!
Hope your weekends are great!
Cheers

Hello! I fell in a bit of a heap yesterday! I was in bed more than upright!!
A bit tired today but at least functioning!!
I took Megumi into Burnie and we did a bit of shopping. Was a pretty low key, enjoyable day!

The one cabbage I left to go to seed has started developing its pods.

The three transplanted rhubarb has been ravaged by something… so I have remulched and scattered some snail pellets about. Haven’t got time to fuss about with other methods that may or may not work. Sometimes I need to take little shortcuts!!

Mind you, the main rhubarb in the general veggie patch is going great guns!

I am enjoying seeing the little progress in the new brick raised beds. I replaced the three missing lettuce and the silverbeet and basil is starting to emerge.

I am a bit impressed with the beetroot bouncing back after being nibbled down to nothing by the evil rabbit.

The patch of lateral Black Russian tomatoes are going along nice and steady

And despite a few of these pumpkins being dug up by those chickens… they are all looking pretty good! (Except the runt of the litter down the front there!)

The three watermelon plants seem to be going slowly… still not convinced I’ll have any success there.

Capsicum – slow. But not dead. I also put in three more lettuce seedlings.
The marigolds haven’t popped up yet, but around the corner the rocket certainly has!
The eggplant have about the same attitude as the capsicum… which is ‘Meh’

Interesting about the corn and the timing of planting.
The first plot I put in ages ago… and its been really really slow.
Despite planting the second patch at least a month later, and then it getting eaten by evil rabbits and attacked by annoying chickens… its STILL caught up to the first patch in size!!

The patch is a bit scrappy, but glad I didn’t dig it all up. A lot has recovered quite well.

A few self seeded tomatoes at the back of the hothouse… they seemed content there so I just mulched them with some lawn clippings.

I the hothouse I can count only 6 baby tomatoes started, but only on one plant. The other plant looks good but no flowers are turning into tomatoes!! Bit concerned about that!

Happy to see baby cucumbers appearing!!

Well, the insane winds and rain from yesterday have eased… although the wind kicks up periodically. Some of the plants are getting a bit of a battering.

I did get out with Megumi after our shopping trip to pick some sweet stuff from the garden. 
Telling you… those raspberries were great on ice cream tonight!
Hope your day was sweet too!
Cheers

Hello (again)
I think I will do the abridged version of my intended post tonight.  I will be happy to fall into bed sooner rather than later!
We took Megumi down to Fossil Bluff today. The weather was a bit cranky and windy – and cool/cold!! Still, we wanted to get out for a short time as the next few days there is a lot of rain and a storm forecast.

It was lovely to get out into the fresh air (and not have to weed anything)

Just fossicking about for rocks and fossils.

Poor Megumi was getting a bit chilled with the wind. She hasn’t got many warm clothes so we are going op shop shopping tomorrow to stock up on a few things. She can borrow mine, but as you can imagine, my clothes swim on her!!

I wouldn’t mind going back for another look soon as there was a bit of nice agate on the beach today!
I also found this great piece of rock crammed with fossils!

Back on the garden front.
My aim today was to put in the third corn patch.

The place where I pulled out the first garlic is where I thought I would put it. It will also be easy to net over as I am sick of birds, rabbits and chooks eating my corn!! (not to mention the possums who I have seen charging through this patch!)

And because I am still mulch-poor I moved the garlic mulch over to the butternut pumpkins that have finally stopped twiddling their thumbs and have started growing!

Anyway, dug, weeded, cleared and planted!! I am quite determined to have some corn this season!!

On a side note… the tree in the corner is probably going to come out. Its not the most healthy looking tree and its awkward to clear under it – meaning we have a potential snake haven. 
By taking it out I could put in another couple of raised beds too, which would be more useful.

Before I got cleaned up today I went and bandicooted a few new potatoes!! Oh they tasted so good tonight!! Steamed with a bit of butter, salt and pepper. Bliss!!

Hope your day was fabulous too!
Cheers!

Well… I nearly blogged last night, then the internet decided to drop out, then I got distracted by a silly computer game, then the internet dropped back in again (Probably heard about the possibility of choc chip bikkies and tea cake) but by that time it was late and I opted to go to bed.

As you can see above… the raspberries have made a start!!

I finally wrestled the house back under some semblance of control and even did some baking in preparation for our friend’s arrival.
A double batch of choc chip biscuits (cookies) and a tea cake.

I am over the house work though. Although there are many areas that need a proper sorting out, I might just have to add those tasks to a 2019 New Year Resolution list.

Started thinning the carrots! Such a nice addition to the salads!

The snow peas from the first patch are really coming along… although the whole thing has fallen over one side and I am not quite sure how to pick it all back up!!!

I shouldn’t be looking at this daily. I want it to be bigger faster!!

The cucumbers are starting to flower… and sprawl about. So I set to and tied them up.

Tentacular is still going strong! Can’t wait to start seeing the fruit turning purple!!

I noticed too that some of its vines that have crept outside are also bearing fruit!

So… this potato… its actually growing out of the side of the raised bed so presumably its producing potatoes under that little tomato. Wonder how that will work out…

Our pear tree seems to be hanging on to about three pears. Although the wind is kicking up tonight and storms are forecast… so we might lose them

I had a bunch of updated photos of the raised beds…. but took better shots today, so will move on to ‘Today’s Post’ and put them in.

We picked Megumi up at about 1.30pm and had a nice time catching up and showing her the garden, but kept it all low key as I expect she would have been a bit tired after her travels.

Anyway, that was about all for yesterday! I hope your yesterday was also great!
Cheers!

Hello!
How was/is the weekend??
I seem to have made ten dollars somehow.  I haven’t had the stall out the front in forever and the money jar was in a crate in the car port with some other odds and sods.
During our work today I discovered it had $10 in it and I have no idea when, why, how or who.
I love random things around this place!!!

Jeff got to and did the mowing today while I ran about moving stuff – hoses, extension cords, netting etc.  Everything is looking rather spiffy again.

A few weeks back I made a lame start on moving this pile of wood, then rain and life got in the way.

I really didn’t get very far!!
This was the wood that Cousin Jeff had dropped off. We plan to burn it alongside our own wood from the fallen tree, as ours burns pretty hot, so it needs to be mixed up a bit.

Anyway, my awesome husband got to, while I was away and stacked the whole thing! (Mind you between that and the fence building his poor back is not playing nice right now)

Little by little. We are getting the yard looking less scrappy.

I am slowly getting all the really messy bits contained down under the Macrocarpa trees. And the girls are happy to have more room although they disgraced themselves today by finding a hole in the fence and getting into the veggie patch and creating a bit of havoc!! Not. Happy. All this space they have and they have to  make a bee line for the garden!!! Pests!!!
(Adding to list… one more fence to attend to!!)

On the domestic front, I am nearly there. I just need to uncover the dining room table and a few other things and we are presentable!
I might even bake some choc chip bikkies! (It could happen…)

Better get a wriggle on. 
Bedtime for me!
Cheers!

Damn it.
Seems like WordPress has changed the format of the blog… Sometimes I am content being lazy and not learning new stuff. 
So… I will stumble my way through this and see how it goes.
That wasn’t the picture I wanted to start with, but… no matter.

I’ve been trying to get the house in order as our friend Megumi is due to arrive in on Tuesday. She is staying with us three months – hopefully going home with more English speaking skills than she arrives with! (And probably more gardening skills than she ever wanted haha)

In between domestics and shopping there is a lot of watering and garden ‘stuff’ 
So happy to see flowers on the zucchinis!

The carrots are looking luscious and some of the beetroot are showing bulbs.

 (Can I just add I am not really enjoying working through this new thing. I don’t actually have time or brain space to sort it out, so its bugging me!)
(But I will try not to whinge too much)(But could they have done this AFTER Christmas, when things might be less ‘hectic’??)(Because its all about me)(Shutting up now) 😀 

Anyway, yesterday when I was tired of avoiding and procrastinating about cleaning, I thought I should sort out the sad half of the strawberry patch!

It just wasn’t taking off for whatever reason. (Well, I can think of a few reasons but bottom line… it was looking pretty tragic)

Luckily I had a boatload of potted strawberries and a number of not-dead runners to substitute.
A couple of new barrow loads of mushroom compost…

And there you have it… new strawberry patch!

The other side is going pretty well… few handfuls here and there daily. Enjoying fresh strawberry milkshakes when I have enough (using ones that  I haven’t just scoffed down at the time of picking!)

I have even eaten my first few raspberries!! 
Well, three to be exact, but it doesn’t make the excitement any less!
Er… no photos. 🙂 

I must say, today was like proper summer! Hot, playing under the sprinklers, filling up the water tanks! (Probably sunburned) It was so enjoyable – and probably why I haven’t finished cleaning the house!

Hope your weekend is going fantastically!
Cheers!

Hiya!
In between rubbing somebodys belly, I managed to get almost another couple of garden beds put together!

I really want to plant this out with lots of leafy things to make it look all lush and green – like something you’d see on a Pinterest Post!!
Sadly… I couldn’t get to the planting stage because I have run out of soil and compost.

However – I did manage to get started on a 4th bed

I’ll hopefully finish that one tomorrow and if all goes to plan, pick up another trailer load of soil/compost.  A big time thing with the bricks is knocking off the mortar – and the spiders!!!

Somewhere in my day I decided to start clearing this area.
The Docks were getting a good hold and they are a terror to dig out. Mostly I end up breaking the tap root which goes down a mile and hangs on!
Mind you, the fennel plants didn’t come out quietly either!!

Still… its an improvement of sorts. Now just have to find a better resting place for all the steel droppers, garden stakes and whatnot.

Since I was working in the yard most of the day, I let the girls out to roam free… I had to keep an eye on them because they magnetise themselves to garden beds that I don’t want them near! Shockers!
Jeff is so displeased with them. In the time they’ve been restricted to the yard under the plum trees they have dug trenches that an army would be proud of!!

That particular hole can almost hide three chooks!!!

Bless their little cotton socks!!
Just another reason to get the last side of the fence done so they can go back to digging up the useless dirt under the macrocarpa trees – will see about trying to fill in all the holes here so Jeff doesn’t break an axle on his mower!

I gave everything a good watering today too. It kinda rained but not really enough. I thought all the young plants could do with a soaking.

So happy with my potatoes too – just can’t wait until we can steal a few new ones!!

Its silly late again… best be off to bed and rest my slightly aching muscles – got a lot on my list tomorrow!!
Cheers!

Hello!
Just expanding on the few photos I posted yesterday 🙂
We drove further west and down to Trowutta Arch. A wonderful beautiful area, with a fantastic couple of sinkholes at the end. One water filled and one dry.

The walk in was very easy. The paths well formed and only took about 15 minutes – mind you, we did go a bit slow as we were admiring the fantastic trees and man-ferns 🙂

Some of these trees look like they are resting on their tippy toes!

I feel like its possible that they could just get up and stroll away when no-one was looking!

Ok… and how weird is this fungi? I had to look it up. I actually thought some animal had pooed on it, but that is part of its charm haha
Its called and Asero Rubra – one common name is anemone stinkhorn.
It apparently smells like poo and attracts flies which spreads its spores.
(Glad I didn’t touch that one 😀 )

This area is classified as a Callidendrous Rainforest. The dominant tree is a myrtle and of course – the huge tree ferns are everywhere (Tasmanians call them Man Ferns)

Walking down into the non-water filled sinkhole!

Its like stepping back in time. (Apart from the path) It all feels so ancient and it was a truly beautiful spot.

The second sinkhole was filled with water – and covered with a lichen or weed or something. Looked almost solid!

Turning back, the view was pretty amazing. The arch really framed the stand of tree ferns beautifully!

We were able to scramble up over some rocks, and between a few more and walk along a precarious path to view the area from above.

Scrambling down the other side we couldn’t easily get to the waters edge but we could see the cave more clearly

You can see how far the land dropped away!

 

Time to make a start on the walk back…

Back through the gaps in the rocks!

Last chance to drink in that view

Just a fabulous tangle of nature!

Keep in mind these tree ferns grow approximately one centimetre per year! (Jeff for scale)

It was a fantastic way to spend a rainy spring day!
Hope you enjoyed!
We certainly did!
Cheers!

 

Hi!!
Since my computer is being spectacularly slow this evening and its now after 1am, I’ll post this story properly tomorrow sometime.
It’s rained most of the day and this evening its just bucketing down!

Jeff and I abandoned the garden and went for a drive a bit further west to check out Trowutta Arch

Its a beautiful short walk through the man ferns to a sinkhole area – all lush and green!

Anyway, time for me to get to bed (past time as usual!)
Hope your day was great too!
Cheers