Lots to catch up on

Our last garden club (now officially known as the Pappinbarra Ladies and Gentleman’s Gardening Auxiliary, or PLAGGA) at Kelly and Jim’s was very productive. We made two new raised vegie beds and installed and connected up a tank. Kelly provided a yummy lunch and cold beer. Go plagga!









My garden is going well, doing the autumn crank. The weather is beautiful here now cold nights and cool, fresh, clear days with no humidity, perfect gardening weather. I’ve got all my winter crops in the ground, Brassicas, peas and broad beans, onions, garlic and leeks, as well as tonnes of flowers (very essential). I made pea tee-pees from some bamboo Chay gave me and have made a little pen for my broad beans, Tino style. My rhubarb is colouring up nicely in the colder weather getting ready for rhubarb and apple crumble. I love autumn.





I sustained my first wallaby damage the other day (carrot tops) so Ryan has obligingly whipped me up a fence with a cute little gate he made from the old dairy door. While he was in his whipping mood he also made some fab compost bins. 3 bays, 1 metre cubed using the old iron from the house roof and old fence posts. He used some wood that was left in the shack to make wood slats for the front. We filled two of the bins with layers of grass clippings, cow poo from the paddocks, chipped up cuttings and fallen leaves from the pecan tree with plenty of water and “my favourite”, blood and bone. So, fingers crossed, in a couple of months I’ll have some beaut compost. Composting is pure alchemy.





After many weeks of our four old chook girls (that we inherited with the property) laying only one thin shelled egg a day between them and then fighting over who was going to eat it, we bopped them all. That left Johnny (Rotten) our Wyandotte rooster that my sister bred all alone in the chook tractor and me on a mission to find anything a little more interesting than Isa Browns. In Perth I could just look in the Quokka and there would be at least 20 people advertising there pretty chickens on any given Thursday, but here no such luck. So I contacted the Wauchope Poultry Society, rung breeders, searched the internet and finally found Jim in Taree (about 1 and half hours to the south) who breeds many things including Wyandottes. We bought four girls and got one free. So now we have four Silver Pencilled and one Buff Wyandotte. The oldest silver is Cantic pronounced Chantic, the Indonesian word for beautiful. The two younger silvers (who are indistinguishable) I’m thinking of calling Gladys and Paige. The buff should probably be Buffy and the youngest, who was free cause she’s a bit funny looking might need a name like Princess Rodricka. Johnny is in love with Cantic because she’s the only one old enough to do, and picks mercilessly on the others, which I find a bit distressing but that’s just chooks and hopefully they will settle down. Johnny be good.





So living in the country is good. I knew it would be. One of the things I love the most is the space. Of course the space for vegies, fruit trees and animals, but also not having to be too precious about everything. In Freo as with most built up areas there were so few wild spaces. Towards the end of our time there, mostly due to the mining boom, all the vacant lots of land, that had been precious little areas of ramble and chaos, were being developed. Out here I feel like we are the vacant lots just hugging the edges of vast areas of wilderness, surrounded and small. It feels ok to go and cut down a few trees or ‘bush poles’ for fence posts. Or to let Noah run around and hit things with sticks (not animals) and throw rocks, swim in the river and be a little boy (if a little wild boy, ‘be still’). And space for the senses, to view the landscape and not be distracted by other people, cars, advertising. It’s good for me, for my soul.

Big Boots and Fluro Suits

I have good intentions regarding posting here regularly. I thought once a week should be fairly easy. But things happen. Our laptop’s hard drive died; there was something exciting coming up that was worth waiting until after I had uploaded the photos; things got busy; yada, yada, yada. Ange and Sophie have left, leaving behind 3 new cute little Plymouth Rock chooks – 2 hens and a rooster.


Ange was keen to beef up while she was here so she spent time digging a trench to connect the new tanks located further up the hill to the old line. We now have 10,000 gallons (about 22,500L) gravity-feeding the house, which will also be the main water for the 2 houses we have yet to build. Before Ange left we had a trip toTimbertown – kind of like Pioneer Village used to be in Armadale in WA. The kids had the life scared out of them when our quiet little horse and carriage ride was held up by a bushranger. Not well thought out… Many ear-piercing screams and tears later we managed to calm them down and I snuck off for a quiet bike ride.


Since Ange and Sophie have gone (much to Noah’s concern – “But I need a little friend to play with”) we’ve also been visited by Kate and Jeremy Wilson, as well as Rob’s mum Jean and her man Ern. They were all here at the same time and it was the strangest afternoon down at the dairy when most of them turned up to help. My quiet, meditative, predominantly solo project was suddenly transformed into a hive of activity. What to do with 6 workers?!?! The answer turned out to be ‘quite a lot’. Windows went in, as well as insulation, bracing, weatherboard was de-nailed, even the floor was swept. My load of wood finally arrived last week so I’m really excited about being able to finally get on with some serious building.


Rob and I have spent every second weekend for the last 6 weeks training to be Bush Firefighters. Whilst there was all the usual motivations of helping the community and getting prepared for the worst, the big drawcard in the end was that we would get to ride around in big red trucks. Last weekend we passed our assessment and now we’ve got big boots and fluro suits and we’re ready to go if we get the call.


The weather is getting slowly colder and less wet. It’s actually really nice – not so many huge downpours that force you inside for a week, flooding everything and bringing out the leeches; not so hot during the middle of the day; and the only trade off is that it’s cold enough to have to put on a light jumper at night. To make way for the new chooks we ate some of the old ones and moved the rest down to the dairy into a new chook tractor I made from the old water tank on Sue & Rob’s house. They seem to be happy and are slowly preparing the soil underneath - clearing the grass and fertilising it as they go.


We had our second garden club day on Sunday. It was at Bryony’s place, where we half-buried logs around the perimeter of their new to-be-enclosed orchard. It will act as something to attach the wire on to, as well as serving as bandicoot-proofing. I would have thought they would burrow underneath but apparently they don’t. It was really good work, nice and physical, and everyone pitched in. Every now and then it poured with rain and we would head inside for cups of tea and yummy treats. I’d do a lot for a yummy treat. The kids love Garden Club too. There’s a real tribe of them when they all get together, about 7 kids ranging in age from 1-4, spread across 6 families.




About a month ago, when Ange was still here I found some eggs buried in the ground under a tap in the paddock. They were smaller than a chook egg, about half the size, and very spongy. We dug them up (8 in total) and put them in an icecream container on the fridge. After about a month I thought we must have killed them by digging them up, but then the other day we could hear some noises coming from within. Inside was a baby water dragon that was very cute and just wanted to charge up my arm and take off. A few of the other eggs were starting to hatch so we returned them to where they came from so they would be able to find some tasty water dragon food when they hatched – whatever it is that baby water dragons eat.


In renovating the dairy, and in replacing Sue and Rob’s roof, we’ve managed to make 2 possums homeless. Last week I made a couple of possum boxes so that they’d have somewhere new to move into. After making so many for Joe in Freo it was nice to be making them again, albeit without all the swanky custom built bits, and a lot more improvisation. Instead of the nice muted eucalypt green paint job I just used what was lying around in the shed – a kind of bright sky blue. I think they’re quite funky and I think I may have accidentally found a new line for Joe to branch into – custom colours.

Not much is happening

It feels like not much has happened here lately. Work on the dairy has slowed right down as I wait for my order of timber to arrive. I was planning to spend the week making window frames before the studs arrived but even the timber for those hasn’t been delivered yet. I’ve been reduced to stripping and painting the old windows, getting them ready for when they have to go in. I had visions of cleaning up the brass hinges on the casement windows but after hours of work on the first set, painting them started to seem like a really good idea. On a trip to Port Macquarie I found a set of wooden sash windows at a demolition yard that were in good nick. If you ever come and stay at the dairy you can admire them as you sit at the table or do the dishes. They will look out onto the verandah, the lawn and the forest beyond. Up until last week you would have only been able to see the water tank but I moved it and cleaned it in preparation for the backhoe man who came this week. Now you can see the lovely view framed by our shady pecan tree.


Who would have thought that cleaning out a water tank could get so hot!? I don’t think I have ever sweated so much in my life, and it wasn’t helped by the stench from the decomposing snake. The backhoe man dug a new site for the tank behind the dairy so it will be out of sight. He also excavated where the verandah will be so we can have a wooden floor; created a swale/drain for our drive; scraped back Ange & Ken’s drive, laid roadbase and dug a swale/drain for it; dug and levelled a shed site for Ange & Ken; and dug and levelled a site for our two 5000 gallon tanks on the hill. Such wonderful, powerful machinery. While he’s been doing all that for the last few days Sue & Rob have been having their house re-roofed which means lots of tin for the dairy’s verandah, carport, compost bins, chook house, etc. The shack might even get some. I don’t think it’s normal to be this excited about old tin.


We’re starting to be able to see the garden around the dairy now - in our minds, squinting and dreaming. Emma is keen and impatient, has started a herb garden and now goes down most days to dig and mattock and plant the garden into existence. We’ve made a plan and consult it before planting trees in the middle of the bare paddock, knowing that they will provide fodder and shade for the chook house, screen the lounge window from the road, or shade the lawn. Edges of garden beds are being scratched out of the lawn, and pegs mark the veggie patch, and homes for the chooks and geese. We made a big load of compost last month from mulching up the trees and ferns we removed around the dairy and then added slashed grass from the paddock and cow poo. It’s almost ready to use.


We’ve started a garden club here, continuing on from where we left off in Freo and we had our first gathering at our house a few weeks ago. It poured with rain. Instead, our friend Pete ran an impromptu bread-making workshop and made a couple of loaves, as well as a fruit scroll. During a break in the weather we managed to get down to the dairy and plant about 50 little trees we got from the local Landcare nursery that will form our screen from the road. Then the rain started again so we headed back for tea and fresh bread. All organic and delicious.


Ange & Sophie are still here, which is great. Noah and Sophie get along well most of the time and they entertain each other. We’re still having hot humid days when it isn’t pouring so we copied our friend Bryony’s idea and bought Noah a horse trough to use as a paddling pool. The kids went to the Camden Haven show last weekend, they go to playgroup, they got to milk the neighbour’s cow, and they went to a reptile show which included the horrifying finale where a young girl had an olive python sink it’s teeth into her arm and refuse to let go. They’re non-venomous, but there was a lot of blood.

Living the good life

It’s been raining here for about a week now. Not too much, but enough to soak the soil so that it is now full, squelching underfoot. A week ago I was struggling with the heat in the middle of the day; now I’m sliding sideways through the mud, putting the car in reverse and trying again. The mist hangs low in the hills.


We had our slab poured the other day. Two young roosters turned up in their souped up ute and barrowed and screeded and floated until we had a new floor for the dairy. Everything seems to change so slowly, one day at a time, but having the slab poured is like the click of a ratchet.


It’s a good life here. There’s nothing I’d rather be doing. I’ve been learning fun new things from Rob – re-threading stripped nuts and bolts with taps and dies; the gentle art of drill bit sharpening; sharpening my panel saw; how to drive the tractor.


Angela and Sophie have arrived today for another prolonged stay which is especially exciting for Noah who will enjoy having Sophie to play with. Riding on the truck that delivered the new water tanks and having a cement truck come to your house is very exciting but memories fade fast when you’re two.

Leeches

We have leeches. We came here dreaming of self-sufficiency, beautiful homes, shady trees and abundant gardens. All those things are coming along - slowly, steadily. When we got here it was hot and steamy, about as bad as we would imagine it would get, but we just weren’t ready for it. We sweated and wilted, longing for dry heat and a cool afternoon wind blowing off the sea, wishing it was cooler. Be careful what you wish for. When it started to rain we had 94mm on the first day, followed by 130mm on the second. That’s about a quarter of Perth’s annual rainfall in just 2 days. That’s when the leeches started coming out.

Their favourite place to hang out was in the end of my crocs, hidden from view and able to surreptitiously latch on between my toes; filling up until eventually I’d notice the extra, squidgy toe I had acquired and investigate with a rising feeling of dread. Now if I was caught sucking someone’s blood I suspect I’d probably try something along the lines of denial and apologetic, which would really just be stalling tactics while I planned my quick get away. Leeches however try the totally different approach of latching on and refusing to let go. I think this is a particularly bad move because my response invariably quickly escalates from revulsion, through indignance and then on to a kind of psychopathic rage that ends in an ex-leech.

Now that Christmas is over and the house is down to just the 5 of us we have been able to get on with some work. The dairy occupies most of my days. First it had to be emptied, then gutted, then un-clad, and then we had to remove all the asbestos, then the stud work, then the internal masonry walls. Now I’m getting it ready to have a new slab poured over the existing slab, which slopes on an angle so the old dairy could be mucked out easily. I’m taking out all the internal supports, building trusses and propping walls. I’m also buying lots of tools and hardware which is far more enjoyable than it should be. A new drill here, a generator there (no power down at the dairy yet), and a new reciprocating saw. Not because I want it, but because I NEED it.

The other day we put up some fencing so we could have our own little cow-free paddock. Slowly but surely the blank canvas is filling. I bought an old outdoor table and chairs for $20 at a garage sale and they’re now sitting under a big shady tree next to the dairy. Even on hot days it’s cool in the shade and some days Emma and Noah come down and bring lunch or morning tea. We sit and stare at the steep, forested hills and valleys, dip biscuits in our tea and can’t believe how lucky we are. We dream of our life to come, fleshing out the bare grass in front of us with verandas, fruit trees, a tree house and ducks. Geese would be good here. There are lots of grasshoppers, and rather than see this as a problem per se, the only problem I see is that we don’t have any geese to eat them. Yet.

Some days Emma drags me away down to the river to swim. It’s a short walk down to the river, avoiding the occasional scotch thistle and cow pat. Noah likes to climb on each gate before we open it so he can have a swing. The river is always cool and refreshing. With all the rain it became a raging torrent for a week or so but it is gradually receding back to our familiar lazy, wide sanctuary. We leave our towels in the middle on a wide ford of rocks and then wade upstream. It gets deeper and deeper until you can’t stand. We recently discovered a good rock for jumping in off. If you stand still little fish come and nibble at your legs. There’s big fish too – about 45cms. A friend thinks they might be fresh-water bass. I have no idea. I have seen little turtles though, as well as platypus burrows. Em, Angela and Ken walked up Blackbutt creek and saw some big eels. Noah can only stay in the water for about 20 minutes before he starts shivering and we have to strip him down and lay him on a big hot rock to warm up.

It’s all very lovely – except for the leeches. At least they only seem to come out when it’s wet and raining. It’s fine when it’s dry. Except for the ticks.

Hello Everyone

Hello everyone from the other side.

Well we finally made it across. 8 days of driving and about 4500kms with our 2 and a half year old son in our car without air-conditioning.

We travelled across with Ryan’s mum and step dad which made the going a lot easier. Through the beauty of the West Australian wilderness and the ugliness of NSW ‘goat-land’ country all of which was very dry and relatively flat. Then finally down to though the mountainous rainforest to a tiny thin strip of green oasis that we have decided to call our home.

300 acres of beauty, half pasture half wilderness. Fast flowing fresh water streams, huge rain forested gullies, a perfect swimming hole that never dries up.

We are staying in the one house that is on the property were my mum and dad live while we fix up the old dairy to a liveable state. Eventually my sister and her family will live here as well. So we have lots of house building and gardening to get on with.

Missing all my friends from Fremantle, my little house and my cats, but things are slowly getting easier.

Garden Club

Sadly this may be one of the last garden clubs we go to. Still lots of fun was had by all. Ben Sonia and Adrian's garden, once a sand desert is slowly turning into a garden of Eden. The boys strung wire up to grow vines along the fence including passion fruit and loofers. We rejigged the irrigation and got beds ready for the summer heat and the kids had the great job of grubbing for potatoes.

Sonia, our hostess with the mostess, with her master chef layer cake and excellent pav

Our mighty host, Ben


Amy Dave and Noah


Amy and Nose

Quincey and Aims

Ryan

Amy and the Chinese mini scape puzzle

Adam and Adro

Little Baby Sydney

and her mum Karen