Goodbye Yard – Hello Swamp. Or maybe quagmire. That’s a better word. Welcome to Norwich Quagmire – bring your own gumboots! 😀
I tipped another 112mm of rain out of the gauge today, bringing July’s total rainfall so far to 334mm (A bit over 13 inches!)
Last years TOTAL rainfall was only 679mm (nearly 27 inches)
So far this year we are up to 871mm (34 inches)
After living through droughts I am always resolved not to complain about beautiful rain… but I am VERY keen to see summer back this year! 🙂
Today I turned my woodpile from this –
Yesterday
To this –
Today
Slightly sore arms and shoulders tonight!
In between rainfall I snooped around the yard for signs of spring (yeah – we still have a month of winter to go but I am ever hopeful)
Is it too early for daffodils?
Super early DaffyOne of several patches of iris sitting up beautifully! Can’t wait to see this lot in bloom!Protea still happily floweringPretty sure this is a lilium shoot poking throughDefinitely a liliumGeranium budsMini DaffyWeed Snowdrops that I haven’t had the heart to pull out yetThese might be jonquils… they smell like it anyway!Day lilies hanging on despite living in a waterfall environment!
Its great to see the signs of spring this early – I know we have another soggy, gloomy month coming up, so this is encouraging!
Now – what do you reckon? Cabbage or Broccoli? Just not sure which yet… altho upon closer inspection today I am leaning towards cabbage! What do YOU reckon???  😀
Lucky me! My cousin, Leonie, dropped in today to catch up. I had some photos of her daughter to give her and she gave me a box of mince, some lemons and a huge bag of kiwi fruit!! Going to have to look up a scrumptious recipe for those – Kiwi/pineapple Jam! mmmm
Cousin Jeff had dropped in some more wood on Sunday – then before I had a chance to do anything more about it, he was back today with the second load today
I am going to have to get my skates on and get this stacked, as the third load could possibly arrive Friday!!
Right now its half out in the elements getting severely rained upon!
The yard gets pretty churned up by the heavily loaded ute, but that’s not saying much as I practically bog the wheelbarrow on my way up to the house these days!
I am trying to work my way through the containers of produce in the freezer. I thawed out a 4 litre container of Ruby’s plums with the plan to make more jam.
Ruby’s beautiful plum tree in spring
It took an eon to get the pips out and mooley it into pulp!!
Pips and skins gone
House smelled rather nice during the process
I only cooked half – three pounds worth – I find if I try to cook bigger batches it takes 5 times as long and wont set properly! This lot was fairly speedy – I’ll do the rest tomorrow.
I had some on toast and am pretty happy with it!
The chickens are still laying well – although I wouldn’t blame them if they went on strike! Trying to keep them happy with warm meals every other day.
Potato SmashThey way they run in and snatch you would think they hadn’t been fed for a week!Pretty Girl
Hope everybody else’s day was slightly drier than ours!!
Today I went out to deliver eggs and grab 3 things at the supermarket
Three hours later I was home.
By the time I had shopped, chatted, dropped eggs off, chatted, dropped more eggs off, chatted along with ‘shawl-show-and-tell’ then got to Ruby & Margies to drop off final eggs, I thought, whatever – I give up on getting home at a reasonable hour – lets put the kettle on! 😀 (ooooo – and Margies scrummy cake! I turn up at the BEST times!)
When I got home, happily there was a bit of the fire still going and Jeff not awake yet – so I stoked it up and got started on dinner.
Aaaand out goes the power! At 6pm – a time when you hear a collective scream of all local mothers trying to get the evening-time routine sorted!
This time I have a contingency plan!! I was very cool – no panicking!! Â Really – its like a black hole when the power goes out. We have no way of knowing whether it will be 5 minutes or 5 hours. No mobile phone to ring and check – our internet and phone is electricity dependent.
So… I figure I can cook my hamburgers on the fire – I thawed some pre-made breadcrumbs to make said hamburgers and cut up all garlic and onion by lamplight. No worries.
This was totally going to work!
Jeff made a survival cup of coffee…
Water boiled pretty quickly!!
I must admit I felt a little cheated when the power came back on before I had made my survival hamburgers! I started them on the fire just to see if I could, then finished them on the stove.
I was taking the last bite of dinner and snap – out go the lights again!
So we sat in the dim light of the fire, nice and snug and I did some more crochet by balancing the lamp on my shoulder!
I thought it was lovely and quiet and relaxing – Jeff wasn’t as impressed as he was trying to wake up properly so he could go to work!
Sadly, all power is back on – so no excuses to ignore the dishes!
I fully intended to sit in front of the fire today and crochet… that’s all.
Then I remembered wanting to chisel out the remaining packs of beef that were laminated to the bottom of the freezer – out with the hammer and screwdriver!! Happily Jeff took over the job, because I am short and its a long way to the bottom of the freezer 🙂
Then… because we started so sunny I put on laundry. And yes it was raining by the time it was ready to go out. And no – I never learn. Â Because Jeff had taken down my undercover line to repurpose it into a cat lead, I had to spend some time restringing the new line.
Of course – despite yesterdays gale force winds, nary a breeze today so all I achieved by hanging the clothes outside was to make them colder! (Fireside fixed them though!)
Then… I remembered my rock tumbler that was tumbling away in the shed. I figured the rocks must be about ready.
The polish stage really froths upRinsing
Once dry, most of them weren’t as highly polished as I know they can go… so I spent some quality nerd-time by admiring each one and forcing Jeff to stop whatever he was doing and join me in mutual admiration of all the colours and patterns before returning them to the tumbler for a few more days work.
I found this in the driveway of a local restaurant!! Its Calder River Agate – probably the nicest sample I have found!
So – I eventually DID get to my fire and crochet – I did a little more with the new wool…
But forced myself to get back to my original shawl as really, there is not that much further to go before its done.
In the middle of all this, cousin Jeff dropped off a rather soggy load of wood – slid his truck down into the yard and almost redesigned our vegetable garden!!! 😀
We are getting him to bring a couple more loads soon – we threw tonights lot under cover (Which is good because right now its PELTING down rain out there!) and will see about stacking it tomorrow.
Impossible weather today! One minute dark, blowing a gale and pelting down with rain… and then this –
Like butter would not melt in its mouth!
Five minutes later, turn around and see this approaching –
Our weather has issues…
So!! Decided to go into town and do the shopping I failed to do yesterday – I went out to get some wool and bread flour and came home without either, but with over 10kgs in sausages from a very generous cousin!!!
I had taken a nice rainbow photo over my cousins home so I went into the photo section of Harvey Norman to get an enlargement printed for them. Turns out 8×12 inch prints were free today! Yay!
I also noticed my cousin needed new markers (as we scratched around the room yesterday for 10 minutes looking for one that worked) so I got a bunch for him and it turned out “With Any Purchase of 5 or More Pens You Get A Free Desk Caddy” Sweet – Now he has new markers AND somewhere to keep them! 😀
My main aim today though, was yarn. Being a little excited over my recent (Almost completed) shawl, I wanted to get some other suitable colours to crochet up. Spotlight were having a 40% sale, so today was a good a time as any.
This one is a bit fancy….
The yarn buy of the day was this –
Soft and fluffy
Six balls in a pack for $5.99!!! Coooool! So I got two packs! I had to start crocheting it up to see what it was like… I have gotten a reasonable amount further than the photo below, but I think it will make a very nice shawl!
Just testing!
It’s totally the weather to be snugged up in front of the fire making stuff & watching a movie or two! Right now its minus one degree Celsius (30F) and there has been snow close by – you can really feel it in the air. We are going through wood at a faster rate than normal recently – a product of being inside out of the rain!
More on order!
With all the changes of sun to rain to sun to rain etc I would have expected more from the Rainbow Department… but anyway, here is todays try-hard rainbow.
Ise Jingu is a Shinto shrine complex made up of a large number of shrines, all connected to the main ones, Naiku (Dedicated to the Sun Goddess Amaterasu) and Geku (Dedicated to the Goddess of Cereals, Toyouke). They are located in the Mei Prefecture, southern Honshu, Japan.
There is an amazing history connected with this place and it dates back a LONG way.
Wall surrounding Geku
The main shrines are the most sacred in Japan and you can’t just waltz up and wander through them. You have to be pretty special (Priest or Royal Family kind of special)
You can catch glimpses of them through the gates or the tops of them over the walls.
One of the many smaller shrines in the surrounding area
What makes this place amazing is that every 20 years, these grand shrines are completely rebuilt and the former one taken down. The first rebuild was in 692!!! In 2013 it was the 62nd rebuild, with the next due in 2033!! That is a dedication like no other!
Timber for the rebuilds are sourced from the local forests – each part of the process is a ceremony in itself.
The architectural style of the Ise shrine is known as Shinmei-zukuri which is very simple and ancient – its basic principles date back to the Kofun period (250-538 C.E.). The shrine buildings use a special variant of this style called Yuitsu-shinmei-zukuri which is not allowed to be used in the construction of any other shrine in Japan.
No nails are used, just joined wood and the skills and knowledge are kept alive generation to generation
Empty site kept pure ready for a rebuild in 20 years. This site is called KodenchiA shrine nearing its used by date! (There are 123 surrounding smaller shrines so not all get an upgrade at the 20 year mark like Geku and Naiku)Shiny and newIncredible thatch
The whole area is full of walking tracks between shrines, and down to the river. Although it is a bus trip between Geku and Naiku.
Inviting forest paths
Many of the paths lead through tori – Japanese people will bow and give a quick prayer upon entering and also turn and do the same as they are leaving. They will also stick to one side or the other of the tori and not walk directly through the middle as that is reserved for the Gods.
We went in autumn and the colours were stunning
The use of the hall Imibiyaden is interesting. It contains the sacred fire that all the foods are cooked on that are offered to the Gods at Ise Jingu. The offerings are daily – morning and evening.
ImibiyadenImibiyadenI loved coming across a random twig broom! I wonder what someone was sweeping in the forest ?Fabulous treesThe art of stonesPlenty of purifying opportunities for visitors around the area
We spent three days in Ise and it was beautiful. Even with the crowds there was a tranquil feeling that we enjoyed as we wandered through the forest paths, over bridges and viewing shrines.
So glad I got out yesterday and did a bit while I could (especially stocking up on wood by the back door!) – today was a no-go for any sensible outside work!
The rain came down steadily all day – and even now at midnight it still hasn’t let up!
I dragged some raspberries out of the freezer and proceeded to make the house smell fabulous by baking a banana & raspberry loaf and making up a batch of raspberry jam.
Loaf mix
I just scoffed some of the final baked product as a midnight feast and am now hiccoughing banana bread! 🙂
Jam – pound for pound fruit and sugar & throw a bit of lemon juice in! Easy.I got 6 and a half jars out of that lot!
I was pretty happy with the way it set and tested it out on some fresh bread – have to give it the thumbs up!
Destined for my toast tomorrow morning!
Had a bit of a game with Pip this afternoon – he had ants in his pants, so a rousing game of ‘chase the string around the house’ worked out some of the springs in his feet!
String TheoryEye on the prizeI know these are stationary shots, but the ‘action’ photos are just a Siamese Blur
I managed to tucker him out properly, then promptly lost my Nanna-Knee-Rug as he thinks it is now his. At least he was quiet for a while! 🙂
It started off lovely and sunny today… had a minor lapse early afternoon, then fined up again! All in all not too bad!
It was good to get out and do ‘this and that’
Thought the chooks would like some fresh greens
Anticipation
Then they all stood around, clearly asking where the bacon was?
Too healthy
I left them to it and went to collect the eggs, only to turn around and find the whole squadron had followed me to the coop -still looking for bacon or hot mash no doubt!
I hadn’t collected the eggs for a couple of days!
I am pleased to report that when I returned later in the day, all their green snacks had gone! Good girls!
Time to finish mulching the rest of the salvia! It was easier this time as it was drier and whizzed through rather nicely
Its like potpourri
I was also keeping an eye on the weather – the rain was creeping slowly closer
Despite lack of sun, the breeze was helpful
I fed the worms too… some of the peelings that the chickens tend to ignore and eggshells and general grotty bits I put in the Gee Whizzer and put the slop into the compost.
Pretty worm foodSurviving…
The chickens did get into this and now the broccoli looks kinda bedraggled
Doing its very best!
Even a fragment of a rainbow today!
Things are going well in the hothouse for this time of year
I do think it may be time to remove the last tomato plants… (maybe)
Just a few tomatoes left
I even have some accidental celery! I left it in a pot outside the hothouse door and it has rooted into the ground and is looking really quite good!
Having done all my yard tasks, brought up some barrow loads of wood, watered the hothouse plants etc, I took my rake and headed to the beach…
Rake & Me, hanging out at Fossil Bluff
I know – why be normal??
I was doing an elaborate wedding message in time-lapse and figured that taking a rake to smooth the sand would be useful.
I get a lot of weird looks when I go to Fossil Bluff lately!
We did get down to see Ruby today, but it was pretty late. So no grand stories or photos!!
Her foot is not being kind to her – rather swollen. She does admit that it has done a lot of work in its nearly 100 years of her ‘not being very kind to them’ 🙂
We chatted about knitting and crochet as I took my latest project along for her to check out – A shawl
Not a bikini bottom in case you were wondering
Someone put a pattern on facebook and I found link to a youtube video that was so clear at explaining this!
It will eventually be a shawl
Ruby was impressed with my efforts 🙂 Yay!
We chatted a while & my nurse checked out her foot and has made some suggestions. We don’t like to see Ruby slowed up!!
I am glad I had part two of our walk up my sleeve for tonight! Today I did a lot of sitting about in front of the fire with my crochet!
Jeff and I have not walked to Doone Falls before… mostly when we do the Rocky Cape to Sisters Beach walk, we go the coastal route because we are nerds and love to fossick for shells and rocks!
Jeff spotted the rather run down sign and on a whim we thought, what the heck?? We had no appointments and its only half an hour….
Off the beach and into the scrub
The weather cleared somewhat and the views became nicer as we got higher
And up…
I swear it must have been half an hour later when we finally came across this sign – that said we had 15 minutes to go!
Our suspicions were aroused when we noticed that someone had ‘amended’ the time to 45 minutes
Still… we had come this far…
Helpful walkways over streams and boggy bits
And then we were standing at the top of a path that went dooooown!
And got a bit narrow
Path looks slightly washed away
It continued down… and into a switchback. And the thing about going steeply down is thinking about having to come all the way back up!!
It also got a lot darker down here!
We reached this little running stream and bridge and I will admit to being momentarily disappointed!!
Not Doone Falls
Finally we could hear proper falling water and started seeing more of a waterway rushing down below us (I might add that by this stage we were very much over the 15 minute mark!)
I don’t think I have ever come across a waterfall that has created so many bubbles before!
Bubble City!
It was a soup of froth!!
I couldn’t help it… I had to scoop some up and see what it felt like! Actually it was soft, foamy and slippery. If it had of been a summers day I totally would have jumped right on in!!
It was a funny little waterfall tucked in the rocks with essentially a waterslide down
The water was the usual stained colour
little river on its trek down to the beach
Well, the day wasn’t getting any younger & neither were we, so we started the haul back uphill
One useful thing about having the camera is a fabulous excuse to stop whenever you like to take photos (pant pant, gasp, wheeze)
Spongy
Oh look! A weird tree!! Let me just lean against it and get a photo for my blog (wheeze, gasp, pant)
Well? It WAS weird!!
It was lovely getting to the top of that section and coming back out into the beautiful warm winter light
Gum trees in the late afternoon sunI suspect that’s another hill to tackleAnd overlooking the calm seaA mixture of wombat and wallaby tracks!I think these are wombat tracks
I am thinking whoever does these signs is a super fit sprinter – We are not THAT slow really, but the timings on most of these was rather optimistic!
We had never gone this way and were hoping that it was going to be less work than going all the way back to the beach and up that killer hill!
Oh – and one other minor detail – we forgot to bring water bottles.
Let me amend that.
I just didn’t bother.
Wow – our tongues were hanging out by this stage so after going up another incline…
I heard some running water by the path and plunged into the bush to get to it – lapped up a few handfuls then found a ziplock bag to give to Jeff to collect more
Yup! Drinking water
I am trying to work out how many of you are freaking out right now about the colour of this water and wondering did we really drink that???
Nectar of the Gods
It was cold and tasted so good!! 🙂
Most of Tasmania’s natural waterways are quite drinkable – but I know you are all asking to yourselves how many days I will be absent from my blog with a tummy bug. hee hee
Well… this was Saturday and I am happy to report that all gastrointestinal areas are just fine!! (So far!)
So after the refreshments, we really had to get a wriggle on as twilight was setting in
Onward ho!Not far from the car – but more than 25 minutes from that sign!
Well.. It was a grand little adventure and we thoroughly enjoyed getting back out in the great outdoors for some fresh air and exercise! Glad we did too as it really hasn’t stopped raining since!
