signs of spring

28.7.2011

BUILDING NEWS

It has been dry for two day! Despite the freezing nights the builders have arrived early every day and have almost completed all the arches. It looks pretty special. It is hard to keep up enthusiasm even with the progress because it is a home we need right now not looks.

Edd is still trying to sort out the roof. Numerous phone calls and discussions have still not resolved all the issues but we may be getting closer. When the roof is on we can get the glazing and the whole place will be dryer. We think we can put lids on the chimneys and sky light wholes fort the time being. It doesn’t seem to matter how much energy we expend each day we never get through all the things we really should get done.

OTHER NEWS

Tuesday was too wet for builders so we used the day to go north and pick up lucerne bales. The animals are thrilled about this. The sheep refuse to eat our normal hay but love the lucerne. The cow just eats everything and is putting on weight now she is up in the old vineyard. The strange thing is that so far there are no lambs! I wonder why the pattern of 20 years has changed.

India is coming to stay here tonight because Al is flying interstate for work and there is still a male tenant in one room of the house he has rented. The man is supposed to leave at the end of the month, which will be a great relief. It is not that anyone thinks he will do anything wrong it is just that we are making sure the chance does not arise and at present he is taking up badly needed space.

On the bright side our vegetables in the raised bed are fantastic. We have nearly eaten all the swedes and are working our way through the broccoli. The green cabbages will be next and then the cauliflowers. This at least has been a tremendous success. Now that we are out of the cheese making season I am knitting whilst I wait for the weather to improve. Already there are many signs of spring.

The wattle and cherry blossom have bloomed and the buds on the deciduous trees are swelling. It is such a relief after the difficult winter. Amazingly I have seen the two gold fish in the house pond. After the fires all the burnt treated pine fell into this pond so we moved the fish elsewhere in case they got poisoned. Two fish evaded capture and look perfectly healthy so we were probably not right about the amount of toxicity around. This is good news for all of us.