Action in the west

Today we had 22 permaculture design course students for a site visit.  This event spurred me to do a very thorough house cleaning and cooking session on Friday.  I was very glad I did the cooking bit.  I made a large cinnamon and pear cake and a big cheese cake and prepared several cream cheeses and other nibbles for morning tea.  Edd met the students who were dispensed across ten cars and did a talk about the ecology of the valley before escorting them up here for morning tea and a house and farm tour.

I had been warned that there were vegans, vegetarians, glucose intolerant people and every other dietary problem in this group but the food disappeared with such speed that no one would have noticed!   It had been a cold wet night but just before everyone arrived the sun came out and the house was flooded with sunlight and winter warmth so (much to my relief it looked great.  Eventually everyone had finished eating and we took them on a tour of the house and surrounding out buildings.

After everyone left the sky darkened and we had a heavy rain shower.  It is so good when the weather is on our side.  Actually, we have been lucky for most of the week. Andrew and his mates have had mostly fine weather and the new west wall is up. It curves round and down so the house now has a tail end which is a big improvement.  The blokes are now using pavers left over from the house build to landscape the enclosed area.  They are really doing a very good job.

Whilst this work has been going on outside I have started working inside on the splash back in our kitchen.  Over the last few months I have been collecting tiles of the various colours I need and Edd has fixed the stainless-steel edging above the granite for me to tile up to. Starting this work was a bit daunting, but I am now underway and enjoying myself.  So far, Edd likes what I have done which is a good start.

We have also got the tire treads back on skiddy.  I tried to help Edd and ended up cutting my knuckle on a chisel that was in use to try and lift the heavy rubber tread over its wheels. Luckily Andrew was able to help Edd complete the job and there were no further injuries. Edd was planning to use skiddy to move a heavy blackwood tree trunk that he wanted to use for timber. Sadly, some friends of Ben came up last weekend and took the tree in question along with the timber for fire wood.  We did not even know they were on our property so Edd is not happy.

We have let friends get the fallen timber for their fires, but they usually come to us first to ask what to take.  We need the timber moved and have enough fire wood for ourselves, so we are OK about this bit, but we wanted to keep the black wood as it was too good to burn.

New ventures

Making cheese from frozen milk  worked out well.  My next venture is to try soap recipes and work out one that suits what we have.  I am actually rather challenged by the idea of starting a new project.  It took me years to work out a good method for hard cheese, I just hope soap is easier. I have the goats milk, and Indi has a good supply of olive oil, so we have the main ingredients to mix with the caustic soda.

Spring is here, and the wattle and daffodils are in bloom and everything is very yellow. The Lucerne trees are starting to shine with their white flowers and the native wisteria has purple beginning to show.  We have eaten the first planting of broccoli and are working our way through the cauliflowers and swedes.   The snow peas have finally begun to produce edible pods too, but kale and spinach and rocket are still our most used greens. We have lettuce, but it is not quite lettuce weather yet, though we did have a very warm day last week.

Edd spent one day fetching concrete blocks and second-hand bricks to make the west end wall and is now trying to fix the metal at the base of the kitchen splash back.  He refuses to let me start with the tiling until this is done. I would have just left it loose but Edd likes things to be right.  I am now waiting for other people to do their bit before I can continue with my projects which is a bit frustrating.

I was lucky enough to find a tall glass fronted cabinet in the recycle yard and on Monday Lyn helped me clean up the relics from the fire and arrange them for view. The school students dug up all these relics and they have been stored in an alcove opposite the camp toilet, which is not ideal.    They are an interesting collection because they demonstrate that when glass melted, and heavy brass pans collapsed, cheap ceramic balls survived unscathed.