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Hello – I am adjusting fairly quickly back to my normal time zone (apart from going to bed too early and getting up before the sun)!
Winter is also a bit of a shock.

Anyway, here is an overview of my amazing time in the USA – specific stories will have to wait a bit – there are over two thousand photos to sort & post process and I figure I should prioritise the wedding photos for the young couple!

My friend Wendy and I hit it off really well – no problems being the best buddies that we were back in 3rd grade! Her family were equally welcoming.
We started off with a graduation:

I didn’t really realise the big event this was in the US. In Australia there is a certificate handed over and a formal dance, but nothing compared to the ceremony I got to go and see in Texas!

A few days later – there was a wedding!

The day went beautifully. There was a lot of happiness and love – and fun!

After the wedding was done and dusted, lots of family stayed on in Corpus Christi for a week – there were lots of dinners, gatherings and beach time

Driving miles down the beach to find the perfect picnic spot

Evening fell and a fire pit was dug and lit up. There followed music, singing and smores!

A couple of days after the family left, Wendy and I packed the car and started on our rather epic 4500km (2800 mile) road trip!

I loved watching the landscape fly by – and we were treated to some stunning sunsets

A quick stop in Roswell was all the tackarama I dreamed it to be! (yes and we now have some alien bumper stickers on our car!!)

A slight detour to the Painted Desert NP to see the petrified wood (Of which you saw a few images last post) was just stunning. We loved the landscape and its colours

And finally finally finally – the Grand Canyon itself. Nothing really prepares you for how magnificent it really is. And photos cannot capture the scale

We walked a lot of the rim trail on the first day and walked a short way down the Kaibab Trail

The second day we hiked the Bright Angel Trail – 20km (12 miles) & down a few thousand feet. We were out there for 12 hours!

It was a really fabulous hike – we loved leaving most of the rim tourists behind and really getting down into the environment

Back on the road again, we took a slight detour to go and see the Gila Cliff Dwellings in southwest New Mexico

Built in the late 1200’s by the Mogollon People. These are pretty incredible.

The workmanship in these dwellings is astounding – and long lasting!

A ranger was up at the site to manage tourists and was very interesting to listen to. Hard to believe that so much effort went into creating these living spaces when they were only used by the Mogollon People for 30 years!

Hope you enjoyed the little taste of my adventures in the US! Time for me to fall into bed again!

Hope everyone is doing well!
Cheers!

Hello, Hello!!
Here I am back in Tasmania after a wonderful three week adventure in the USA!
I loved my time away – meeting my friend for the first time in 37 years and we hit it off like we had been hanging out together all our lives!
Everyone made me feel so welcome and just part of the family! It was very special

The wedding was gorgeous and I am looking forward to post processing a swag of images for the bride and groom (as soon as the travel weariness wears off)

Our road trip was an epic 4500km drive (2800 miles!!) and we had an amazing time.
I now have a couple of thousand images to work through!
Be Afraid. lol

However, with all fabulous adventures, they come to a close and its so wonderful to be home with my little family at Norwich House. I think its been rather lonely for my poor husband, and Pip has been sulking a lot!!
I love being home!
(I even ate a fresh tomato this morning off the vines at the back door!! No-one pointed out to them that it was now winter! haha)

Hopefully I will get back into the swing of the blog ASAP – I have missed being able to chat here!
Hope everyone is well and happy and I will be back to annoy you soon!
Cheers!

Moving to a whole new area is not just an adventure in the garden. There were so many new places to explore.
For Christmas, we gave my parents a trip down the Arthur River, which is on the west coast (we did the same for Jeff’s parents when they visited us from Canada too)

Driftwood lined beaches on the west coast.

You may not think it from the way we were dressed – but this is mid-summer!!

This great little boat took us up river – was such a peaceful cruise

The trip up the river took a couple of hours and the people running the cruise had lots of stories and information to share along the way

We reached “Turks Landing” at lunchtime.

While lunch (a fabulous BBQ) was being set up, one of the crew took us on a short walk through the bush to tell us about the area and a few more interesting stories

Back on the boat for the cruise back home.
A really lovely day!

Cheers

Hello! If all is going well… at this time I am swanning about in Texas, wedding done and getting ready to make the mammoth drive up to the Grand Canyon!
This is a cat post. (again all photos from my little cheap ‘point and shoot’ camera)

It was fun watching Pip explore and enjoy his new home. Up until out Tasmania move we had rented a small house in Canberra with limited yard, so this was all very new for a kitty!

We kept finding him in odd random places

I suppose you have to check everything out right?

He found various new napping spots

Our bed as yet unconstructed… good high vantage point (and yes, our bedroom wall is still this dreadful colour. I like purple, but not that much of it in one room! Its a future job to repaint)

The futon mattress for another cat-nap

When my parents come to stay for an extended visit, they bring their cat, Millie. She is a feisty little piece!! She spends a LOT of time hissing at Pip.
Pip is desperate to be friends, but he is a bit over keen at times and ends up with a smack on the nose every now and again.

Sometimes if you are persistent – you can even relax together!

Christmas time came around – have to have dress-ups…

And stockings for the kids

Generally the town cats were getting their taste of the country

All good things come to an end, friends and family go home… and you can catch up on your nap times

Cheers

Hi there!
If I have done this correctly, this post should go out as I am flying across the waters to Texas! (You know – if I don’t miss any planes)
When we travel, we pretty much unplug from the world of the internet and enjoy things as we go – and save all the stories for when we get back. On occasions we might use an internet cafe, but its never a priority.

So you won’t hear all the travel news until I am back in Tasmania.
I thought I would try to add a few posts that would appear while I was gone (if I do it correctly) just so you didn’t miss me too much! haha

Anyway – I am taking you back five and a half years – when we first packed up our lives in Canberra and took the boat down to Tassie

(By the way – I was between cameras at this point. My beautiful faithful film camera had died and I wasn’t quite ready to get my first digital SLR, so all of these snaps are on a little point and shoot!)

The trip over was a lot of fun! A cousin arranged for us to take the working Toll Boat over instead of the usual tourist Spirit of Tasmania. At the time it worked out a crazy amount cheaper, plus we got to watch everything being loaded (Such a precision art!) and ate with the 10 other passengers at a table together like a big family!

Goodbye Melbourne

Good morning Tasmania!

We dropped by Ruby and Margies on the way to our new home because they had the keys.
The start of realising the more relaxing nature of a small country town. Margie & Ruby pop into the real estate agent and try to describe that Ruby is the wife of my great uncle and its perfectly fine for them to hand us the keys to their new house!!
No worries!

Our containers of household goods wasn’t due in for a day or so, but we had brought along the essentials and precious items with us (and Pip)

The garden greeted us in full bloom! It was so beautiful and we were so excited to move into our first home.

We have amazing family around here. On our first day, one of our cousins dropped off a load a wood so we would have a start and not spend the night chilly!

Our first night was spent on a blow up mattress on the floor of the lounge room in front of the fire!
Life doesn’t get much better than that!

First morning coffee in the new home

I wasted no time. The house got the basic kitchen things unpacked then I was into the very over grown garden to make space for some tomatoes and potatoes! Very important!

Most of the weeds you can see were actually self sown parsnip!! Pity its not a vegetable we actually liked!!

The garden layout was very different then! But a garden is an evolving thing and I love changing things around and working on new styles!

Yes – thats bubble wrap. Made good seedling protectors

We immediately noticed the wind was a bit of a trial – and started taking steps to reduce the stress on the seedlings

It’s fantastic knowing farmers! Before I got onto the seaweed mulch, a massive bale of pea straw was the thing for mulching!

Eventually the plants grew out of their need for bubblewrap protectors and thrived on their own

Somehow I bought zucchinis that grew like balls!

Jeff was a happy husband when he bought a ride on mower! He still loves using it!

Goodbye grass daisies

Of course we took time to get out and about in our new surrounds

I had forgotten about all these massive 11 armed sea stars washed up on Sisters Beach when we first went there!

With luck this won’t be the only post you will get in the three weeks I am away – but I won’t make rash promises!! (You know, because I am still not packed!!!!)

Cheers

Wow – it was wild and woolly out there today!
The rain fell relentlessly most of the day. The wind blew it in the back door and we ended up with a few leaks that we hadn’t come across before!

The whole veranda was saturated – the wheelbarrow filled with water making our firewood a bit soggy!
I put it all next to the fire to dry out and brought up a new load which we stored inside.

The view was mostly blocked today

Pretty spooky and cool

I went out and emptied over 200mm of water (and one spider) out of the rain gauge. (Nearly 8 inches) and while I was standing there I saw a mini cyclone go mad in the paddock behind us.
I didn’t have my camera on me (I am precious about letting it drown) but this is the tree that it tossed about like a twig:

See the lack of foliage at the top and the broken bits?
Well… as I watched, the wind spun an amazing amount of tree-debris way up in the air – probably twice the height of the trees:

Aaaaand flung it in my direction!!
It was fabulous to watch. I saw the whole little mini cyclone then move up the paddock, over our chook shed, through our big trees and on to the next property.
The power was amazing.

Our yard is sodden but the man-ferns are loving it!

Back inside, I decided to totally repack. (Again)

I had decided on the big normal suitcase and a smaller pack for my checked stuff.
Jeff really wanted his backpack left behind and the big suitcase was pretty heavy.
So…

Back to my backpack and dufflebag!!

The red backpack will be carry on – and will have all my camera gear and a few toiletries
A shoulder bag with some lollies, documents, notebook, purse & book etc completes my packing mission.
The only thing left to add is my hiking pants and toiletries.
With two whole days to spare!!
Awesome!

Hope your weekends are just as productive!

Cheers!

This post is mainly for showing off to my mother that I actually picked up a needle and thread.
Happily I didn’t need to go shopping for new jeans. (All my old ones worn in the nether regions which is really annoying as they are so comfy)
I found this pair that had the seat of the pants in tact but no button.
Because I am so organised, I found my needle and thread set straight away and got onto it.
(Hopefully my Mum is not having a nice relaxing cuppa as she reads this because she’ll probably snort it the wrong way!!)

AND – It didn’t just stop at the button! I like my jeans with pretty bits about the cuffs – I bought two different types of ribbon in Japan for this. This one was the easier one to get off the old pair and on to the new.
I would like to point out the needle and thread in this photo specifically.

No stapler. No glue. No double sided tape! (Although I am probably going to lose major points for using Navy Blue thread!! hee hee)

My mother is a dressmaker and also teaches sewing. (And an amazing one at that!!) When I was 15 she found some of my much loved but falling apart underwear carefully stapled together. I think it was clear then I was never going to be much of a sewer!!

I am the Queen of Unfinished Jobs
Seems one glove or bootee of a set is all I can manage to sew together. I seem to lose momentum after the second glove is knitted!!

Never mind.

In other news…

I would like to mention that when one does not own a mobile phone, its a drama and a half changing a pin number on a bank card!!
I found my international money cards but since it has been a couple of years or so since we used them I had no idea the pin number! Online help was no help. So I ducked into the bank and got them to sort it out. Mind you… several phone calls later with comments like “Who doesn’t own a mobile phone these days??” we finally got it worked out so I can actually put some money on them to take with me! It was a learning curve for the bank manager. He hadn’t come across that problem before!!
In cheering news, my bags are 95% packed and sorted!
I have four full days before I travel!! Reckon we can fit a hike in there somewhere??

Cheers!

 

I finally have pretty much finished the book of house hold hints, budget & recipes for the Texan bride and groom – despite Pip’s ‘help’

It was a cool gloomy day, so I was perfectly happy to stay inside in front of the fire with my snoopervisor.

At times there was little interest shown…

And it all became too exhausting

Every time I looked over he had adopted an new ‘relaxed cat’ position

Anyway – its one of the larger things I can cross off my list now!

I did get outside long enough to pick a bowl of beautifully ripe tomatoes from one of the self seeded plants in the pallet-fence garden that I hadn’t looked at for a while.
Was a great addition to dinner tonight!

Cheers!

Hello!
It was another superb autumn day out there!
I just worked my way through a list of stuff – and happily crossed quite a few off it!

I gave my boots another polish and a little bit more glue – they are looking a lot less homeless-like. (and I am really liking the purple!)

Speaking of purple – I cooked another batch of pickled beetroot. I can’t believe how much of the stuff I have eaten this season!!

Apart from misc. housework  (having a fire is wonderful but oh-so-messy!) I got into the garden in a small way.

I want to ‘bed down’ the patches that I won’t be using to save on weeding in spring.

There is a really nice big potato plant in there too – leaving that to see what happens. It looks pretty happy!

All weeded and seaweeded too!

The Portulaca had well and truly had it, so it was time to pull them up. I grabbed a few more seeds as I went

These were such a pleasure in the garden and bloomed for so long. I am really hoping I can grow my own from the seed next season. I would love to have a lot more of these around

By that time it was getting on in the afternoon. I had arranged to meet Fiona at the Sisters Beach turnoff and go for a walk together.

Such a great day to be outside! Its still hard to get a sense of this very steep little intense part of the walk via the photo! Its a testing one that’s for sure!
I didn’t get the camera out much this walk – we were racing the sun as I forgot my head torch. The sun is disappearing at about 5 – 5.30pm at the moment.
But I did get this:

Time for bed I think.
Tomorrow is a whole new list to work on!

Cheers

I know it’s not Tuesday – but the weather was lovely, so after finishing a few things around home I slipped down to Ruby’s for a couple of hours to tackle another part of her garden.

Ruby was also taking advantage of the sun with a few clothes on the line! She tried some weeding but said she was a bit wobbly and nearly fell into a garden plot, so decided she was safer in her chair soaking up some rays.

This is a plot that Ruby has planted several rows of bulbs. I thought it would be a good place to concentrate on today

It was fiddly work actually… I couldn’t dig because I didn’t want to disturb the bulbs, but the ground was soft enough to pull them out fairly easily – just so many tiny ones so it took time. The main thing was to get most out before they could flower and spread more seed.

Surprisingly, even though we are not yet in winter, a good number of the bulbs are showing green!! The seasons have been so topsy turvy I wonder how this year will go and what will bloom when!

I did some other random weeding around and picked up a few more potatoes

Still the occasional beautiful rose will show its face in Ruby’s garden! They are such a pleasure!

Of course after all the rummaging about in the dirt, its time for a cuppa and some cake – a few other visitors (Fiona, Shirley & of course Margie) were there as well so it was a fun afternoon for us all.

Hope your weeks starts brilliantly!

Cheers