woolies for winter

Fires again

11.1.2013

It is searing hot outside. All the apples have dropped off the apple trees and other deciduous trees are shedding their leaves. The lettuces are just about cooking so I cannot see them lasting much longer. We picked the first cucumber today and there is an eggplant ready so at least we will have something left. 

The good bit is that th e house is staying beautifully cool and we have started working on the wet room.

Al is coping well with his injury but he cannot even sit up for long. He came here to stay earlier in the week when the fire danger level was very high in Warburton. He even finds being a passenger in a car difficult, but on the good side he is getting feeling back in his fingers. I think we are in for weeks and possibly months of difficulties here.

Edd has also been to the doctor. His knee has got so bad he can hardly walk which is making it difficulty for him to do even simple things. He has already had several tests but he will probably need scans and x-rays next week. Pia injured her hand by hitting it with a hammer (not deliberately), but luckily it was not broken. I had visions of having to nurse everyone! Arden and Ti are on holiday at the beach with their mother so apart from watching fires in their area we do not have to worry about them for two weeks.

The fires are a big problem. Australia is getting higher temperatures than normal and the grass is burnt to a crisp. Tasmania has been badly affected, but luckily not where our friends live and so has NSW. As a country we seem to have learnt something and so far there has been no reported deaths. This is only a slight consolation to people who have lost their homes and their animals.

Life is slowly getting back to normal after the holiday season. We have had committee meetings for the fire group and another for permaculture. I think I will have to reduce my involvement now that I have two family members struggling with health issues. The fire group has been awarded the grant we applied for and employed our neighbour Eva to sort things out so  this is probably the best option to drop. There has been an awful lot of energy wasted on squabbling over a coffee machine. I really joined this group to try and get help for people who are still struggling with basics and we seem to be being dragged further and further from that aim.

Interestingly when the group considered how we could help people in Tasmania we were all in agreement that things like plants were given much to early and were often wasted. We all know for a fact that giving money as donations spawns its own industry before helping individuals, so we decided to start by just sending over an advise letter about things that were good and things that were not. Then at least people can benefit from our experience.

Bo and family have booked tickets to fly to England in February so I am madly knitting jumpers and hats. I have the three kids sets ready and have started on one for Bo. She has her own design ideas so I am trying to do what she wants.

india getting her luggage to her work

India leaves home in style

8.1.2013

Happy New Year everyone. We are off to an interesting start here. On Monday Edd and I borrowed Bo’s car and drove India to Woolangarra up near Licola where she is starting her new job. It is a three-hour drive to get there but the fun bit came at the end. Luckily we had advised India to make sure she had exact instructions about how to find the outdoor education centre. These made interesting reading. Apparently we had to find a gate after two creeks and undo the padlock using a hidden key. Then they said there was a 20-minute hike down to the river where there was a flying fox. At this point we were to Cooee for help.

These instructions proved surprisingly accurate but did not mention that we would find a wooden cart for luggage that had to be dragged along a goat track on a crag face beside the river. This worked fine until it became too steep and we had to carry things by hand. We had to fetch two cartloads anyway, so Edd and India went back for a second load whilst I stood on the flying fox platform and cooeed as instructed. The river was very wide but not full, so that it was mostly a river of rocks. At the other side the gorge rose steeply with trees clinging to the rise but no sign of habitation.

Eventually two figures appeared dragging another handcart. It was impossible to see exactly who they were, or hear them, but they both got hold of a seat that hung from the wire and ran flat out towards the river before letting go. This energetic performance resulted in a wooden seat shooting out to the centre of the river. It did not stop there because the figures had by then started running with ropes to pull it up the sloping cable to the platform where I could catch it. I had found a rope anchored into the bank behind and I also found a point on the seat that I could hook it over to prevent it sliding back again.

It was not a very large seat, but we got India on with two of her boxes and a bag. I was not sure boxes with wheels are the ideal thing for these conditions but we released the seat and India shot off to the centre of the river and then was hauled to the other side by our helpers. I went over with the next set of luggage and Edd came holding on to the guitar and the final load. The helpers turned out to be two very nice young men and they helped India put her luggage onto a hand cart that looked as if it had been made from old bicycles so that it could be dragged up the bank, through the trees into a clearing on a flat area. We then reached a wooden cabin and India was introduced to the rest of the team and given a room.

Every thing seemed Ok so Edd and I had a drink of water and then everyone helped us go back across on the flying fox. India will work for a year with various groups of school kids. There is no electricity, computers or mobile phone contact and they cook on a wood stove so it is really back top basics. India was worried that she had left her phone in the car but we could not find it and going back was not an option. By the end of the year I think she will be very good at not forgetting things!

a bad accident or a lucky break?

30.12.2012

2012 is almost over and we end the year with drama. Al leapt off his surf board in the wrong place and landed on his head. He ended up in the Austin hospital where they discovered that he had broken the side of one of his neck vertebrae! He was given all manner of scans but today he is back home with a hard collar on and instructions not to drive a car for 12 weeks. He has difficulties with his right arm but they hope this will heal its self, if this is the case he has been extremely lucky, because the outcome could have been a lot worse. I think he was lucky to have Pia with him who knew enough to get him to hospital, though the first place they went to more or less ignored them.

India is staying with us and working at Bo’s to earn enough money to fix her car which has collapsed just when she needs it to start her new job. Edd has looked at it and decided that it needs expert help so we have to wait for our mechanic to get back from holiday. At least with Josh here we have help getting people to the right places but he leaves on the first so he is only here for two more days.

On Edd’s birthday we went down to Phillip Island and had a great swim in the surf. Simon brought Morren, Ollie and Sylkie down to join us and we had a lovely afternoon. Yesterday Peter and Theo came for lunch and that was great too, so apart from Al’s accident it has been a good holiday period. Now we have to concentrate on preparing for winter.

Some of the hay has already been cut but the stockyards are still not built and they are needed for shearing the sheep. We had planned to sell them but I waited for the yards, which was a mistake. We also need to put up the walls on the big shed and get in a supply of dry firewood. There is so much to do but it seems a shame to end the holiday.

Bo and family are preparing for a trip to England. I am madly knitting jumpers to protect them from the sudden drop in temperature they will experience. From what I read the main problem in the UK at the moment is rain and floods. I have advised them to take gumboots! Al has had to cancel all his holiday plans and as he was the one who was going to do the work here so we could go away for a weekend I guess our holiday plans are off too!

The land is drying fast but the vegetables are thriving in the new beds. We have capsicum, celery, peas, lettuce tomatoes and zucchinis in abundance. The eggplants are growing well and so are the pumpkins but they will crop later. The strawberries and blue berries are providing breakfast fruit and I have the first pairs on the small trees I planted. We are eating our way through the beetroot and harvest garlic as it is needed. The mint is high and I must remember to cut some and dry it for tea before it is too late. Once again there is so much that needs doing. Luckily I do enjoy most of the work.

We make cheese several times a week but we are eating it pretty fast too. We are in a routine now where the goats are organised and come in calmly and happily and I start the cheese off whilst I am milking them. They are now all fat with gleaming silky coats and have worked out how to take themselves out grazing all day and get back before the evening milking.

Family gather for Xmas eve

happy xmas

25.12.2012

Last night the family gathered here for our traditional feast. This year Pia’s brother, Jonathan and his partner joined us, which was fantastic, and even  Stevo, our building mentor, conquered his car problems to get here in time. The last people to arrive were Simon, and his parents, who put up a surprise, new trampoline for the kids whilst Bo had them here. Al, Pia and Josh (he flew home from Perth the night before) helped us set up tables and chairs in our dining hall in the morning and Bo and I cooked all day, though I think Bo did fit in work at the restaurant as well!

Anyway, all the effort was worth it because we had a wonderful party. Lots of good food, lots of laughs, and after the meal and the presents everyone got out musical instruments and sang songs. The weather was very helpful and the huge heat of last week disappeared to leave a perfect temperature. Our house had actually coped with the weeks heat very well and stayed about 23 degrees, but we opened everything up for the party and had the stove on cooking turkeys all day, so the cool change was perfect.

John had fitted us in earlier in the week and sorted out the area outside the house so that we now have a new drive, better turning circle, and rocks in the moat. It is now more like a dry creek bed, which is the look I wanted. I really had the best day when he was working. Edd did all the farm work for me and I just directed John as to where the rocks were to be placed. We recycled the volcanic rocks from the front of the old house and then surrounded them with river pebbles.

Everyone keeps trying to get me to add all sorts of plants but I have quite enough gardening to do already. My idea is that I could just let the sheep graze around the house if I do not feel like mowing. I have a fabulous jungle inside the house and a great set up at the ruins for vegetables and flowers so I just do not want anything extra to worry about. At least that is how I feel now, but I am pretty addicted to buying plants, so no bets.

14.12.2012

We have had another hot week and the grass is turning gold as it dies back. I have really enjoyed eating fresh juicy loquats every day and I have challenged the parrots have got the remaining few. We have eaten our first tomato and have lettuce and snow peas almost every day. We even have broad beans because they were planted late. The first zucchinis are on the plants and the capsicums and eggplants have small fruit that grows larger by the day. It is a season of plenty.

The goats are producing lots of milk and I am making cheese on several days a week. Today I am working on the first of the hard cheeses and I already have a fridge full of feta and cream cheese in store for Xmas.  The fox killed more than half the chooks but the remaining few lay enough eggs to cover all our needs. If I was any use with a gun we would eat lots of rabbit, they are getting really cheeky.

Arden stayed here last night and this morning he attacked the thistles with the ride on mower. India also turned up for lunch and then they both rode the horses until they were tired out. They have finished school for the year now and are working in Bo’s restaurant in the evenings to help their financial situation. India starts her new job after Xmas and needs to buy some supplies to take with her. Arden has an amazing new phone, which I suppose also needs funding. He has another two years at school and has surprised us by coming top in maths.

Edd and I had two days out this week; we went west to pick up a ton of oats and east to get geo-fabric for outside our new house and bits for the tractor. We also went a bit further to Phillip Island and had fish and chips at San Remo. The scorching hot day had cooled but we did manage a walk along the beach before the rain came down. I was pleased about the rain because the garden had got very dry and it has saved me doing several hours watering already.

Today a huge truck delivered pebbles for the moat around the house. John is helping us landscape between us and the dam. It will be a low care rock garden but that should stop the wind whipping up the dust onto the windows and hide a lot of mud. We are also putting in the turning circle at the end of the drive. It was sort of there because we dumped a pile of chippings on it when they came to film the last grand designs show but only the bit right next to the house was done and the rest was mud or dust according to the weather.