Welcome to the blogosphere on this last day of winter.
My virus is not improving. I have just been gargling with warm salty water to try and relieve the fire in my throat. The chupa chups didn't seem to be working.
Today was spent moving from unit to unit doing little repairs to bring them to a better standard, Today this involved grey and white silicones, no more gaps, lamps and tubes of various descriptions and fluoro starters.
I observed that the fledgling chickens are now in their own group separate from their mother. I must try and take note tomorrow where she is and what she is doing. The littl'uns are sleeping together in the left hand side bay of the hilton. I looked in there tonight in the dark with my torch and saw them all in their room.
Tomorrow our day of work is in Hobart supporting the "Intentional Communities" seminar. Our leader is one of the speakers. The keynote speaker had tea with us tonight. It should be an interesting evening as long as the electronic paraphernalia performs as it should.
Night folks
Simon
Day 214 Nubeena Tuesday 30th August 2011
Shells
Plantings
Tasmanian blue gums i think
Hi all,
from the infirmary. This cold can buggar off any time it likes. It has not been a fun day. I had to have a nap this afternoon for a couple of hours.
We had our day off today. Morphine and Fan-fan called in so i could give him the reference i wrote. Apparently his chosen nom de plume is causing some angst among potential hosts so he may revert to his natural name of Yang, Shang-Jung. Shang Jung is pronounced Sun Long as in the rice so most Australians should be able to manage that.
We drove out to Slopen Main this morning for a look and took several back roads as we returned to Shelly Beach a spot we have driven past many times but never visited.
A nice little cove with a small area of sand, lots of rock and piles of shells. Conservation work was in evidence with plenty of fresh plantings.
From there we proceeded to Port Arthur for a latish lunch at the cafe. Scallop pie for me and spicy beef hotpot for Susan. We returned to the resort for coffee and black and gold fruit cake in our unit. After which i lapsed into sleep before having a spa to try and revive me at 8.
We toodled down to the shed to watch the latest Doctor Who on the big screen. Unfortunately the remote control is still missing so I couldn't make it fill the screen a minor annoyance.
Anyway that's it for the day I am feeling a bit better, with thanks to the inventor of Nurofen.
Bye for now.
Simon
Day 213 Nubeena Monday 29th August 2011
Hi Folks,
from the sick bay. I actually didn't feel too bad today on and off but at the moment I feel like crap or to be medically correct faeces.
Today's special project in addition to the usual was improving the operating condition of several door locks. A small victory with the ever sticking swimming pool double glazed door. I have tried to figure out why the door doesn't hang straight in the frame them both being aluminium and my conclusion is the die cast hinges must be bent. Anyway it works without the usual sticking at least for one day. I had more success with the magnetic pool gate since i was able to hack into the frame with a wood chisel and reposition the latch. The rest of the day was a struggle with activity interspersed by periods of rest. I even managed to forget to watch the new Doctor Who episode. An order of the day for tomorrows day off.
The first batch of 6 chicks are becoming more independent and judging by the comb development only 2 are looking like being girls. Unfortunately "Simon" looks like he will be a boy and there fore become human fodder in a few weeks. Anyway it is not confirmed yet so we will have to wait and see. The other clutch of 14 eggs are being incubated by mum so i think we should see something in around 2 weeks.
Susan has perfected the art of using the wet and dry vacuum cleaner on the carpets. After the first few attempts which to be honest were horrible the results are excellent with good even cleaning. The amount of sand and grit in the carpets is staggering.
On a brighter note 2kg of Cafe Ricca coffee beans arrived today. Praise be to Deborah! There is a delightful odour of coffee beans when you enter out apartment which makes a change from dead things in the fridge and my work clothes.
Anyway time for the carcass to meet the slab.
Catch you tomorrow
Cheers Simon
from the sick bay. I actually didn't feel too bad today on and off but at the moment I feel like crap or to be medically correct faeces.
Today's special project in addition to the usual was improving the operating condition of several door locks. A small victory with the ever sticking swimming pool double glazed door. I have tried to figure out why the door doesn't hang straight in the frame them both being aluminium and my conclusion is the die cast hinges must be bent. Anyway it works without the usual sticking at least for one day. I had more success with the magnetic pool gate since i was able to hack into the frame with a wood chisel and reposition the latch. The rest of the day was a struggle with activity interspersed by periods of rest. I even managed to forget to watch the new Doctor Who episode. An order of the day for tomorrows day off.
The first batch of 6 chicks are becoming more independent and judging by the comb development only 2 are looking like being girls. Unfortunately "Simon" looks like he will be a boy and there fore become human fodder in a few weeks. Anyway it is not confirmed yet so we will have to wait and see. The other clutch of 14 eggs are being incubated by mum so i think we should see something in around 2 weeks.
Susan has perfected the art of using the wet and dry vacuum cleaner on the carpets. After the first few attempts which to be honest were horrible the results are excellent with good even cleaning. The amount of sand and grit in the carpets is staggering.
On a brighter note 2kg of Cafe Ricca coffee beans arrived today. Praise be to Deborah! There is a delightful odour of coffee beans when you enter out apartment which makes a change from dead things in the fridge and my work clothes.
Anyway time for the carcass to meet the slab.
Catch you tomorrow
Cheers Simon
Day 212 Nubeena Sunday 29th August 2011
Hi folks,
A short blog today since your scribe has been laid low with a cold virus.
A quiet day today with some time spent in the pool area. We have had a lot of people using it the last day or so which always happens when we have groups staying with children. Water everywhere and chlorine being gobbled up by germy bodies.
In the general chaos of the kitchen build/shed shuffle the remote for the big TV has disappeared which is a real pain. I found a cheap universal remote in the storeroom, downloaded some instructions and programmed it. Unfortunately the function we really need which is the zoom doesn't work. Means that downloaded programs are viewed in their original size which can be quite small.
I started resorting the shipping container which is a bit of a mess. it was quite tidy until the last lot of gear arrived.
We had a birthday dinner for Ilan tonight with salmon and roasts. Morphine and Fanfan returned along with some local friends. The food was good. I tried to drown my cold however it didn't work. I was thankful i could still taste my food!
It was supposed to rain today but it never arrived so i guess it will still get here.
Time for nurofen and bed!
cheers
Simon
A short blog today since your scribe has been laid low with a cold virus.
A quiet day today with some time spent in the pool area. We have had a lot of people using it the last day or so which always happens when we have groups staying with children. Water everywhere and chlorine being gobbled up by germy bodies.
In the general chaos of the kitchen build/shed shuffle the remote for the big TV has disappeared which is a real pain. I found a cheap universal remote in the storeroom, downloaded some instructions and programmed it. Unfortunately the function we really need which is the zoom doesn't work. Means that downloaded programs are viewed in their original size which can be quite small.
I started resorting the shipping container which is a bit of a mess. it was quite tidy until the last lot of gear arrived.
We had a birthday dinner for Ilan tonight with salmon and roasts. Morphine and Fanfan returned along with some local friends. The food was good. I tried to drown my cold however it didn't work. I was thankful i could still taste my food!
It was supposed to rain today but it never arrived so i guess it will still get here.
Time for nurofen and bed!
cheers
Simon
Day 211 Nubeena Saturday 27th August 2011
Selina, Weiting and us
Weiting's birthday cake
Hello folks,
Weiting left us today so with Ian's departure yesterday our numbers are reduced to three which means not much other than the wheel turning basics will be achievable. Continued long days for Susan as the only receptionist for 4 full days.
A warm breezy day today, good for weed control. After stacking away the wood I cut yesterday I strolled to various trouble areas to practise weed control with the "magic" spray. I will be interested to see if the stronger solution I mixed works on the sprouting blackberries in the gully. We slashed them down a couple of months back. If it doesn't work we will need to use the Armstrong method which will be tough work for someone since some of the runners are large and under the ground.
Susan worked most of the day with a big job in the laundry and prepared the soups for the drumming session tonight. Food wise I rediscovered making pita bread pizzas for late lunch and they were bloody good even if I say it myself.
Looks like it will rain tomorrow to bring an end to our run of sunny days.
night folks
cheers Simon
Day 210 Nubeena Friday 26th August 2011
Evenin' all or few,
The word for today was shorts. Spring is hammering on the door so much so I donned my shorts today. The warm sun certainly puts a spring in the step even tackling the most regular of tasks such as the pools and the animals. The middle of the day was one of frustration as the hardware store tried to cut a room key from an original. An hour and a half later and three journeys to and from the shop and it was done. The sort of messing around that saps the breeze of enthusiasm from ones sails.
However my mood was improved in the afternoon as I took the trailer and the chainsaw down behind the goats to cut some firewood. There is something about the hum of the saw, the smell of the 2 stroke and the spray of the chips. An hours solid work saw a good pile of wood in the trailer. Does this source of pleasure mean I am turning red neck!
The rest of the day was uneventful apart from Weiting losing her ipod. After a bit of detective work I wandered around searching and by torchlight found it on the table by the duck pond. She was one relieved girl!
That's all folks
Cheers Simon
The word for today was shorts. Spring is hammering on the door so much so I donned my shorts today. The warm sun certainly puts a spring in the step even tackling the most regular of tasks such as the pools and the animals. The middle of the day was one of frustration as the hardware store tried to cut a room key from an original. An hour and a half later and three journeys to and from the shop and it was done. The sort of messing around that saps the breeze of enthusiasm from ones sails.
However my mood was improved in the afternoon as I took the trailer and the chainsaw down behind the goats to cut some firewood. There is something about the hum of the saw, the smell of the 2 stroke and the spray of the chips. An hours solid work saw a good pile of wood in the trailer. Does this source of pleasure mean I am turning red neck!
The rest of the day was uneventful apart from Weiting losing her ipod. After a bit of detective work I wandered around searching and by torchlight found it on the table by the duck pond. She was one relieved girl!
That's all folks
Cheers Simon
Day 209 Nubeena Thursday August 25th 2011
Hi All,
A day off for me today. I spent the morning pottering, typing yesterdays blog and putting the car internet back together plus getting it to work on all our laptops.
I had picked out a 2 hour walk for this afternoon but as I was about to leave the heavens opened. Instead I took our three helpers Selina, Weiting and Ian for a tour of a few of the local scenic sights which they appreciated. Funnily enough when we returned the rain had blown away. We had a small community dinner tonight prepared mainly by Susan some fried salmon with salad entree and green chicken curry for main. Susan found out it was Weiting's birthday on Saturday the day she leaves so we had a cake tonight with nine candles. That was the day in a nutshell. Some pictures and video to follow later.
night folks
Cheers Simon
A day off for me today. I spent the morning pottering, typing yesterdays blog and putting the car internet back together plus getting it to work on all our laptops.
I had picked out a 2 hour walk for this afternoon but as I was about to leave the heavens opened. Instead I took our three helpers Selina, Weiting and Ian for a tour of a few of the local scenic sights which they appreciated. Funnily enough when we returned the rain had blown away. We had a small community dinner tonight prepared mainly by Susan some fried salmon with salad entree and green chicken curry for main. Susan found out it was Weiting's birthday on Saturday the day she leaves so we had a cake tonight with nine candles. That was the day in a nutshell. Some pictures and video to follow later.
night folks
Cheers Simon
Day 208 Nubeena Wednesday 24th August 2011
View across to Maria Island from Triabunna
A million dollar hanging home with swimming pool
View of said home to Maria Island
Susan's seafood chowder lunch
Salt and Pepper squid for me
Your scribe snapped walking along the wharf at Triabunna
Hi Folks,
Our day off today and Laurel and Hardy have returned with a vengeance. Our plan was to visit Maria Island about a 150km of easy drive from here. The trouble was that was our whole plan. We stopped for the fruit and vegetable shopping at Sorell Country Market and i took the opportunity to google our destination and the ferry service. The ferry service only runs Monday/Tuesday and it is passengers and bicycles only. Hmm a problem. We proceeded through Buckland before stopping at Orford for morning tea at a nice cafe by the estuary. We drove on to Triabunna a town I only know about through the news because Gunns were closing the chip mill there and it has been bought by Jan Cameron who used to own Kathmandu (the shops not the country) We drove around the town and surrounds and i visited the wharf and tourist information centre while Susan suddenly overcome by tiredness had a catnap in the car.
I now have a plan for our next visit on a Monday or Tuesday when the ferry is running. Book before hand and arrive at 10 with bicycles, lunch and drinks. Travel to island and cycle around before returning on 400 ferry. Planning time 5 minutes! However if you wait till October you get an extra 2 hours on the Island so that is worth considering.
We returned to Orford for lunch and drove around the coastline for a short distance before returning to Cambridge for a short burst of shopping and for my laptop (closed fortunately) to fall out of the car onto the bitumen when Susan opened the rear door. It was fine apart from a dent in the corner. The advantage of having a sturdy Dell magnesium frame which is just as well because it has had a few belts in its time.
We completed the shopping for the resort at Sorell and headed home after a couple of pizzas from Heat.
I spent 3 hours this evening trying to figure out why the 3G/modem router arrangement in the car wouldn't work today. It is designed to give us maximum range when we are out in the bush with external aerials etc. We haven't used it for months preferring to plug the modem straight into the laptop since the Telstra coverage in Tassie has been pretty good apart from today. We can also plug our phone in for extended range as well. Anyway I upgraded the firmware for the router by about 27 versions, reset it, put in wireless password, moved the channel to 13 to get it away from the resorts wireless and knocked the wireless speed back to 54mbps from 150 for better workability. It seems to be working so i will put it all back in the car tomorrow on my day off. 2 in a row woohoo.
Cheers Simon
Day 207 Nubeena Tuesday 23rd August 2011
Good evening,
After a glorious sunny day we have fairly constant rain this evening. What happened of note today? I managed to cut my forehead on a wooden stick in the chicken shack while mucking out the old straw. Most of the rest of the day was spent erecting the floodlight outside the barn. Turn on the switch and it doesn't work. Fortunately it was only the globe. Still you don't expect to get a new fitting and globe out of the packet and the globe is buggared. The rest of the day was filled in assembling a bunk bed and carting 4 mattresses up from the house.
A healthy tea of sausages, onions, eggs and bread with chocolate for dessert. I relieved unit 7 of their brown sugar for my porridge tomorrow. Had to have white sugar this morning and it felt like the end of civilisation. We have also run out of coffee beans and are using up some ground coffee we bought some time ago. It's not the apex either. Life is definitely getting harder.
I was over showing the girls in unit 7 my etchings well actually my videos and pictures from our time here. It was triggered by Weiting walking to the lookout on the Cape Raoul walk but not getting to the end mainly because she took several wrong turns and my wanting to show her what she missed. We finished up where we normally do, an English lesson. I was telling them that i didn't have grey hairs until i came to Parsons Bay and had to talk to Taiwanese helpers. They have some new phrases in their books one courtesy of Susan, "Shuffling the deckchairs on the Titanic" and today "Pulling your leg" from me.
This came about when for some reason we were talking about counting on your fingers and the differences between the way we do it and they do it (don't you love the minutiae of life) i explained that the Germans could only count to 8 because they only have three fingers on each hand. Selina immediately said she had met German backpackers and they had 4 fingers. I explained that pure bred Germans have one removed from each hand at birth to show their purity. The looks of the girls faces were too much and i couldn't keep a straight face. Hence "pulling your leg." Fortunately yahoo translator did the job and saved me from trying to explain the phrase.
That's life. It's not about the destination it's about having a few laughs on the way!
night folks
Simon
After a glorious sunny day we have fairly constant rain this evening. What happened of note today? I managed to cut my forehead on a wooden stick in the chicken shack while mucking out the old straw. Most of the rest of the day was spent erecting the floodlight outside the barn. Turn on the switch and it doesn't work. Fortunately it was only the globe. Still you don't expect to get a new fitting and globe out of the packet and the globe is buggared. The rest of the day was filled in assembling a bunk bed and carting 4 mattresses up from the house.
A healthy tea of sausages, onions, eggs and bread with chocolate for dessert. I relieved unit 7 of their brown sugar for my porridge tomorrow. Had to have white sugar this morning and it felt like the end of civilisation. We have also run out of coffee beans and are using up some ground coffee we bought some time ago. It's not the apex either. Life is definitely getting harder.
I was over showing the girls in unit 7 my etchings well actually my videos and pictures from our time here. It was triggered by Weiting walking to the lookout on the Cape Raoul walk but not getting to the end mainly because she took several wrong turns and my wanting to show her what she missed. We finished up where we normally do, an English lesson. I was telling them that i didn't have grey hairs until i came to Parsons Bay and had to talk to Taiwanese helpers. They have some new phrases in their books one courtesy of Susan, "Shuffling the deckchairs on the Titanic" and today "Pulling your leg" from me.
This came about when for some reason we were talking about counting on your fingers and the differences between the way we do it and they do it (don't you love the minutiae of life) i explained that the Germans could only count to 8 because they only have three fingers on each hand. Selina immediately said she had met German backpackers and they had 4 fingers. I explained that pure bred Germans have one removed from each hand at birth to show their purity. The looks of the girls faces were too much and i couldn't keep a straight face. Hence "pulling your leg." Fortunately yahoo translator did the job and saved me from trying to explain the phrase.
That's life. It's not about the destination it's about having a few laughs on the way!
night folks
Simon
Day 206 Nubeena Monday August 22nd 2011
The chicks grow up with wrestling to establish the pecking order commencing.
The nest is in here
Look closer
14 eggs?
Attractively patterned spider looks a bit like a smaller version of a huntsman
Evening viewers,
The weather here sweeps towards spring with a glorious sunny day today.
I was able to peek into our latest hen nest while madam was having some grits. I counted 15 however the camera says 14. It will be interesting to see if she is still laying in the coming days.
I was pottering away making a light bracket to go above the sign for "The Shed" when Susan appeared saying, "It's time you knocked off and why don't you take Weiting for a look at White Beach seeing as it's a nice day" Never being one to shirk ceasing work i obeyed after angle grinding a couple of bits off. As it turned out Susan's command had followed her misinterpreting the boss saying he would take Weiting for a drive. He was a bit bemused when he couldn't find her. Anyway we drove to Apex Point with Weiting saying she had been there several times already and that this was White Beach. "No Weiting, White Beach is over there! across the bay." Apparently Tatiana took her there and told her it was White Beach. After that we visited the real White Beach as well as the end of "White Beach Road". We then drove back through Nubeena and 7km down to Roaring Beach as the shadows started to lengthen. A rapid walk over the sand hills and on to the beach. The highlight being a large wave which decided to roar about 30 metres higher up the beach engulfing our feet as we scrambled for higher ground.
On our return to the resort on dark concerns were raised that Selina had not returned from her bike ride. Fortunately we did have her mobile number, her phone was Telstra and charged so she answered when Susan rang. I was despatched with the trailer and duly found her at the top of the hill before Premaydema. After proceeding another 2km along the road to find a place to turn around i picked her up and we returned to the resort. She was a bit tired!
We had community tea and after some discussion of logistics our day off tomorrow became a non day off. One gets used to the continually evolving plans and just goes with the flow.
Night Folks
Cheers Simon
Day 205 Nubeena Sunday 21st August 2011
Evening all,
It's late again. Susan slumbers propped up in bed, her hands on her laptop, glasses on, looking at the screen through closed lids and the sound of raspy breathing.
We finished up watching a movie "Hero" just the two of us in the barn with the fire blazing and the heat pump on. It was one of those Chinese fighting epics with some philosophy. A Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon clone. Pretty average.
This was preceeded by community dinner of roast vegetables and chicken drumsticks prepared by Susan and Ilan.
I had a day off today and very nice it was too in the sunshine. Didn't go anywhere. Just pottered through my paperwork, did some painting, hauled our bicycles off the trailer and cleaned/oiled them, put the washing on, generally tidied up and noticed a hen was missing and found her brooding so looks like some more chicks on the way maybe. i will have a sticky beak next time she pops out for a feed.
Finally tonight we saw the aurora australis. Well if it wasn't it was a weird glow in the southern sky. Unfortunately we have to look over the town and we don't get a clear view of the horizon so I wasn't 100% sure.
Catch you tomorrow folks.
Night Simon
It's late again. Susan slumbers propped up in bed, her hands on her laptop, glasses on, looking at the screen through closed lids and the sound of raspy breathing.
We finished up watching a movie "Hero" just the two of us in the barn with the fire blazing and the heat pump on. It was one of those Chinese fighting epics with some philosophy. A Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon clone. Pretty average.
This was preceeded by community dinner of roast vegetables and chicken drumsticks prepared by Susan and Ilan.
I had a day off today and very nice it was too in the sunshine. Didn't go anywhere. Just pottered through my paperwork, did some painting, hauled our bicycles off the trailer and cleaned/oiled them, put the washing on, generally tidied up and noticed a hen was missing and found her brooding so looks like some more chicks on the way maybe. i will have a sticky beak next time she pops out for a feed.
Finally tonight we saw the aurora australis. Well if it wasn't it was a weird glow in the southern sky. Unfortunately we have to look over the town and we don't get a clear view of the horizon so I wasn't 100% sure.
Catch you tomorrow folks.
Night Simon
Day 204 Nubeena Saturday August 20th 2011
Hi folks,
Today was spent under "concrete skies". One of those still days where a layer of cloud clings to the hilltops but it doesn't rain. I did a number of repair jobs the highlight being a seized exhaust fan which was stripped the bearings lubricated and returned to full operation. Chuck in a toilet cistern, a mouldy wall, a fallen light fitting, blown globes, lighting fires and the usual dance with the animals and pools and you have my day.
We had drumming tonight which meant Susan had a session in the kitchen making the soups for tea so a long day for her 8 till 9.
We are moderately busy with guests at the movement which has to be a good thing in the middle of winter.
Anyway thats it for now
night night
cheers Simon
Today was spent under "concrete skies". One of those still days where a layer of cloud clings to the hilltops but it doesn't rain. I did a number of repair jobs the highlight being a seized exhaust fan which was stripped the bearings lubricated and returned to full operation. Chuck in a toilet cistern, a mouldy wall, a fallen light fitting, blown globes, lighting fires and the usual dance with the animals and pools and you have my day.
We had drumming tonight which meant Susan had a session in the kitchen making the soups for tea so a long day for her 8 till 9.
We are moderately busy with guests at the movement which has to be a good thing in the middle of winter.
Anyway thats it for now
night night
cheers Simon
Day 203 Nubeena Friday 19th August 2011
Good evening,
Our day of today. We started with a spa, porridge for me, expresso from our machine, sunshine, and left the resort at around 10. Our main exploration on the road to Hobart was Sommers Bay which is on a side track from the township of Murdunna. The road length and the number of dwellings was far in excess of what was indicated when viewed from the main road. Some very nice houses interspersed among the shacks and some lovely sea views.
We elected to have lunch at the Dunalley Waterfront Cafe. The food was good, I had seafood pie and Susan had a potato and cheese pizza with caramelised onion. Susan had wine, I had water since I was at the wheel. We proceeded to Hobart. I dropped Susan off in the CBD so she could do some banking while I drove north to Derwent Park to visit Jaycar. While I was there she rang me from a payphone to tell me her phone was flat and we arranged a meeting place and time. We met up for a quick look at Mountain Designs which had one of their regular sales happening. Susan was able to vouch for a pair of boots a customer was trying on as they were exactly the same as Susan's pair I shouted her a couple of months back.
We then drove to the airport to meet Dr. Nic a work colleague from my previous working life who was in Hobart for a holiday oops I mean conference. The car park was allegedly full according to the sign and the young lady with the russian accent stationed at the boom gate. I don't know how they figured that as we drove around the outside when we saw the sign and there were at least 20 spaces we could see. It's not rocket science to count cars in and out so I am unsure how they could get it wrong unless of course people were able to drive out without exiting trough the legitimate exit. Nic and i returned to the Pajero and shared some beer from my fridge. What else is there to do on a warm sunny Friday afternoon after work. Susan discovered her phone was not flat it was just turned off! I had in fact charged it yesterday after it went flat. The meeting ended all to quickly and Nic left to catch his flight to Adelaide. The paying of the carpark exit fee was a bit Laurel and Hardy like mainly because we had the credit card reversed in the slot. I hopped out from the passenger seat and was standing at the machine when the boom gate went up and Susan took off to beat the boom gate with me running behind the car.
We drove towards home and settled on tea in Dunalley at the pub so Susan could have her favorite seafood chowder and crusty loaf. I had a fishermans basket. We both had "Death by Chocolate" for dessert and as a result were too bloated when we arrived home to go in the spa again. We had some nice local wine, Bream Creek Sauvignon Blanc which was excellent. We sort of pass Bream Creek every time we drive to Hobart. I have made a mental note to seek out their product in the future.
A relaxing day off with unusually warm weather nudging 17 degrees.
night folks
Cheers Simon
Our day of today. We started with a spa, porridge for me, expresso from our machine, sunshine, and left the resort at around 10. Our main exploration on the road to Hobart was Sommers Bay which is on a side track from the township of Murdunna. The road length and the number of dwellings was far in excess of what was indicated when viewed from the main road. Some very nice houses interspersed among the shacks and some lovely sea views.
We elected to have lunch at the Dunalley Waterfront Cafe. The food was good, I had seafood pie and Susan had a potato and cheese pizza with caramelised onion. Susan had wine, I had water since I was at the wheel. We proceeded to Hobart. I dropped Susan off in the CBD so she could do some banking while I drove north to Derwent Park to visit Jaycar. While I was there she rang me from a payphone to tell me her phone was flat and we arranged a meeting place and time. We met up for a quick look at Mountain Designs which had one of their regular sales happening. Susan was able to vouch for a pair of boots a customer was trying on as they were exactly the same as Susan's pair I shouted her a couple of months back.
We then drove to the airport to meet Dr. Nic a work colleague from my previous working life who was in Hobart for a holiday oops I mean conference. The car park was allegedly full according to the sign and the young lady with the russian accent stationed at the boom gate. I don't know how they figured that as we drove around the outside when we saw the sign and there were at least 20 spaces we could see. It's not rocket science to count cars in and out so I am unsure how they could get it wrong unless of course people were able to drive out without exiting trough the legitimate exit. Nic and i returned to the Pajero and shared some beer from my fridge. What else is there to do on a warm sunny Friday afternoon after work. Susan discovered her phone was not flat it was just turned off! I had in fact charged it yesterday after it went flat. The meeting ended all to quickly and Nic left to catch his flight to Adelaide. The paying of the carpark exit fee was a bit Laurel and Hardy like mainly because we had the credit card reversed in the slot. I hopped out from the passenger seat and was standing at the machine when the boom gate went up and Susan took off to beat the boom gate with me running behind the car.
We drove towards home and settled on tea in Dunalley at the pub so Susan could have her favorite seafood chowder and crusty loaf. I had a fishermans basket. We both had "Death by Chocolate" for dessert and as a result were too bloated when we arrived home to go in the spa again. We had some nice local wine, Bream Creek Sauvignon Blanc which was excellent. We sort of pass Bream Creek every time we drive to Hobart. I have made a mental note to seek out their product in the future.
A relaxing day off with unusually warm weather nudging 17 degrees.
night folks
Cheers Simon
Day 202 Nubeena Thursday 18th August 2011
Hi Folks,
Quiet day today encompassing the usual chores plus changed a door lock including refurbishing the surround which had rusted away and few few other odd jobs. The goats were bleating loudly this morning so Ilan investigated and found their house had been blown over in the night presumably when they were not in it. This was the same house that was blown into the dam when it was the ducks residence. It does get pretty windy here, which is why the power often goes off as it did again today.
We had fish pie for community dinner made by Susan which was good. The laugh of the day was a client in the cafe standing on her head in reception to cure hiccups. Ah alcohol helping people make fools of themselves since the dawn of distillation. Not that i would be prone to that sort of behaviour.
A day off tomorrow, so we hope the drizzle blows away.
Night folks
Cheers Simon
Quiet day today encompassing the usual chores plus changed a door lock including refurbishing the surround which had rusted away and few few other odd jobs. The goats were bleating loudly this morning so Ilan investigated and found their house had been blown over in the night presumably when they were not in it. This was the same house that was blown into the dam when it was the ducks residence. It does get pretty windy here, which is why the power often goes off as it did again today.
We had fish pie for community dinner made by Susan which was good. The laugh of the day was a client in the cafe standing on her head in reception to cure hiccups. Ah alcohol helping people make fools of themselves since the dawn of distillation. Not that i would be prone to that sort of behaviour.
A day off tomorrow, so we hope the drizzle blows away.
Night folks
Cheers Simon
Day 201 Nubeena Wednesday 17th August 2011
Hi blog followers,
My day off and i drove to Hobart along with Weiting. We stopped at Cambridge so I could buy a digital kitchen scale/thermometer that caught my eye at huge discount the other day. It's one of those things you really need when you are travelling! I think i will need to hire a removal van when we leave here as we seem to be accumulating more stuff!
On to Hobart and I dropped Weiting at the Philippine consulate so she could arrange her Visa. I hit the shops picking up a few little items that are hard to find out in the sticks. I found a nice little snack bar and had a smoked salmon, avocado, lettuce and mayonnaise baguette that was very tasty so tasty that i went back for coffee and cake after plodding back to feed the meter. My final stop was Officeworks before heading back to the library to pick up Weiting and to the backpackers to pick up Ian a new helper. The same familiar route back to Sorell with beer at BWS and diesel at Woolies. I must count up how many times i have travelled the road to Hobart i am guessing it must be 25 times up and back at least. Hobart is a nice relaxing place to stroll around so it was a good way to spend a few hours.
We had a nice tea in the community kitchen and spent the evening playing UNO with Ian, Wieting and Selina and a few new rules just to complicate matters.
Night folks
Cheers Simon
My day off and i drove to Hobart along with Weiting. We stopped at Cambridge so I could buy a digital kitchen scale/thermometer that caught my eye at huge discount the other day. It's one of those things you really need when you are travelling! I think i will need to hire a removal van when we leave here as we seem to be accumulating more stuff!
On to Hobart and I dropped Weiting at the Philippine consulate so she could arrange her Visa. I hit the shops picking up a few little items that are hard to find out in the sticks. I found a nice little snack bar and had a smoked salmon, avocado, lettuce and mayonnaise baguette that was very tasty so tasty that i went back for coffee and cake after plodding back to feed the meter. My final stop was Officeworks before heading back to the library to pick up Weiting and to the backpackers to pick up Ian a new helper. The same familiar route back to Sorell with beer at BWS and diesel at Woolies. I must count up how many times i have travelled the road to Hobart i am guessing it must be 25 times up and back at least. Hobart is a nice relaxing place to stroll around so it was a good way to spend a few hours.
We had a nice tea in the community kitchen and spent the evening playing UNO with Ian, Wieting and Selina and a few new rules just to complicate matters.
Night folks
Cheers Simon
Day 200 Nubeena Tuesday 16th August 2011
FanFan
Farewell photo on the deck
"Little Taiwan" L to R, Morphine, Weiting, Selina, Fanfan
Hi Folks,
Drum roll and Tadah! for day 200 away from home this year.
The event of note today was the departure of Morphine and Fanfan. They are going travelling around Tasmania but returning to Saltwater just up the road to do some house sitting. There is no doubt their English has improved in their time here which is just as well as I am sure I would have done Morphine an injury by now. Seriously it has been a pleasure having them here. They work honestly, and are warm caring people who have given us a lot of laughs with their humor (albeit sometimes unintentionally).
We are actually reasonably busy at the moment room wise with people coming to the area in the course of their employment. For Susan this means making continental breakfasts and cut lunches and the odd moment of panic when required ingredients have already been eaten. This is always discovered after the supermarket closes!
Anyway that's it for the day,
Night all
Simon
Day 199 Nubeena Monday 15th August 2011
Hello,
Fairly quiet day today. The pool heater which is gas fired decided to be temperamental and despite the usual remedies refused to play ball. Later in the afternoon i removed the front cover and went through the pilot lighting procedure which is pretty simple, turn off gas and power wait 5 minutes, turn on gas and power. Down on my hands and knees i was able to see the pilot was on but no sign of life from the main gas supply. I took out my Swiss army knife and gave the burner controller assembly a moderate tap and it burst into life. Another victory for percussive maintenance!
Tonight was the farewell tea for Morphine and Fanfan, We had roast leg of lamb with assorted roast vegetables and spicy stir fry veggies. M & F confined themselves to drinking water which in FanFans case was understandable since she was sick in the night and didn't work today. One of their requests for after dinner entertainment was that I sing which only shows their masochistic tendencies. After little thought I chose the the song featured in the video with accompaniment from John Williamson via Youtube at a volume loud enough to drown me out. After several more glasses of wine and after inflicting some 60's & 70's Oz music on our guests we retired to bed. I was resigned to cramps in the night due to the alcohol plus a headache today. Only the cramps eventuated. It was a good night and i think they had fun.
Cheers Folks
Simon
Fairly quiet day today. The pool heater which is gas fired decided to be temperamental and despite the usual remedies refused to play ball. Later in the afternoon i removed the front cover and went through the pilot lighting procedure which is pretty simple, turn off gas and power wait 5 minutes, turn on gas and power. Down on my hands and knees i was able to see the pilot was on but no sign of life from the main gas supply. I took out my Swiss army knife and gave the burner controller assembly a moderate tap and it burst into life. Another victory for percussive maintenance!
Tonight was the farewell tea for Morphine and Fanfan, We had roast leg of lamb with assorted roast vegetables and spicy stir fry veggies. M & F confined themselves to drinking water which in FanFans case was understandable since she was sick in the night and didn't work today. One of their requests for after dinner entertainment was that I sing which only shows their masochistic tendencies. After little thought I chose the the song featured in the video with accompaniment from John Williamson via Youtube at a volume loud enough to drown me out. After several more glasses of wine and after inflicting some 60's & 70's Oz music on our guests we retired to bed. I was resigned to cramps in the night due to the alcohol plus a headache today. Only the cramps eventuated. It was a good night and i think they had fun.
Cheers Folks
Simon
Day 198 Nubeena Sunday 14th August 2011
The dead mother, note blood around the mouth.
The other carcass
Similar blood around the mouth
Twilight being held by Kate
Hi All,
Today's news was the discovery by motel guests of 2 dead Pademelons down by the creek. The female had a live joey in her pouch. Susan arranged for the joey to be picked up and transported to a local wildlife carer. Both wallabies were within 40 metres of each other with the initial concern being they had been shot. Not that it would be unusual for down here but a concern if people were firing into the motel property. After the joey was taken I did my cursory CSI examination and couldn't locate any bullet holes. They both had small amounts of blood around their mouths suggesting poisoning. There is a rabbit poison pindone which does cause haemorrhaging, I also noticed that the hordes of scrub hens that normally buzz around making a racket were also absent or maybe it was my imagination. So the conclusion is that they were probably poisoned. Bottom line is i will have to dig a couple of holes tomorrow.
The joey will be returned to the resort as a pet. The young girls were asked to name him and they chose Twilight.
night all
Cheers Simon
Day 197 Nubeena Saturday 13th August 2011
Hello,
Today was one of those days where time just seems to evaporate.
The weather was a bit iffy with clouds of heavy drizzle drifting through, so i decided to only walk as far as the library and return some items. The rest of the day was spent doing ticky tacky little jobs for myself with not a huge amount achieved at the end of the day. I sorted video files from the cam corder, backed up laptops, spent an hour fixing some software on my new laptop, tidied my desk and the day just evaporated. Did a few little resort jobs, collecting eggs, walking around the property looking at "things", lighting a fire for the drumming tonight. No big ticket items unfortunately, end of story. With that an early night is in order.
Night Folks
Cheers Simon
Today was one of those days where time just seems to evaporate.
The weather was a bit iffy with clouds of heavy drizzle drifting through, so i decided to only walk as far as the library and return some items. The rest of the day was spent doing ticky tacky little jobs for myself with not a huge amount achieved at the end of the day. I sorted video files from the cam corder, backed up laptops, spent an hour fixing some software on my new laptop, tidied my desk and the day just evaporated. Did a few little resort jobs, collecting eggs, walking around the property looking at "things", lighting a fire for the drumming tonight. No big ticket items unfortunately, end of story. With that an early night is in order.
Night Folks
Cheers Simon
Day 196 Nubeena Friday 12th August 2011
Hi Folks,
A slow start to the day for me. I don't know what possessed me to drink straight southern comfort last night. "There's no fool like an old fool he's more experienced"
Anyway after an enormous bowl of porridge and coffee and Susan's stint on reception from 8 till 9, we hit the road under sunny skies to Hobart. After a stop at Cambridge for some shopping we parked at the botanical gardens. Fancying a nice lunch we entered the restaurant at 230 but it was closed forcing us to have some average premade rolls at the kiosk. After coffee and scones back in the restaurant we toured and were impressed. A good variety of plants well laid out and with some very nice touches.
Susan then drove us to the casino since she was thinking we should have dinner in the revolving restaurant. We rode to the 17th floor and checked out the menu. After a budgetry discussion we booked and took a stroll back towards Battery Point. Some nice houses and views. I was intrigued by a large metal cut out sign proclaiming 1909. In the small print it was explained it was the year of Errol Flynn's birth at Battery Point in 1909.
The dinner at the restaurant was everything you would expect. Service was excellent, food was excellent, view was excellent. A nice treat, money well spent.
There just remained the drive back to Nubeena which apart from the Woollies petrol station at Sorell being closed and a trip into a bloody dark dunny at Dunalley (luckily i had a torch) for me, passed with out incident.
I have tomorrow off as well since i am now working 5 days a week. Hopefully the weather will be fine so i can do a walk.
night folks
cheers Simon
Assorted video from the Botanic Gardens
A slow start to the day for me. I don't know what possessed me to drink straight southern comfort last night. "There's no fool like an old fool he's more experienced"
Anyway after an enormous bowl of porridge and coffee and Susan's stint on reception from 8 till 9, we hit the road under sunny skies to Hobart. After a stop at Cambridge for some shopping we parked at the botanical gardens. Fancying a nice lunch we entered the restaurant at 230 but it was closed forcing us to have some average premade rolls at the kiosk. After coffee and scones back in the restaurant we toured and were impressed. A good variety of plants well laid out and with some very nice touches.
Susan then drove us to the casino since she was thinking we should have dinner in the revolving restaurant. We rode to the 17th floor and checked out the menu. After a budgetry discussion we booked and took a stroll back towards Battery Point. Some nice houses and views. I was intrigued by a large metal cut out sign proclaiming 1909. In the small print it was explained it was the year of Errol Flynn's birth at Battery Point in 1909.
The dinner at the restaurant was everything you would expect. Service was excellent, food was excellent, view was excellent. A nice treat, money well spent.
There just remained the drive back to Nubeena which apart from the Woollies petrol station at Sorell being closed and a trip into a bloody dark dunny at Dunalley (luckily i had a torch) for me, passed with out incident.
I have tomorrow off as well since i am now working 5 days a week. Hopefully the weather will be fine so i can do a walk.
night folks
cheers Simon
Assorted video from the Botanic Gardens
Day 195 Nubeena Thursday 11th August 2011
Hi Folks,
It's 1150pm. I look over and Susan who has run herself into the ground today doing a million things is propped up in bed on 5 pillows, head tilted forward, headphones plugged in, hands on the laptop which is whirring away, snoring lightly. This is familiar sight!
Not much happened today. The usual chores. We had community dinner 11 of us all up with 3 ring ins. I had beer, Southern Comfort, white wine and more beer which explains why this blog post will finish shortly! Tomorrow is our day off and we will get in the car and drive, after Susan has done the 8 - 9 shift. We are struggling for people to do reception! I have Saturday off as well so hopefully it will be good walking weather.
Morphine and Fan Fan will leave Tuesday. My mission from Fan Fan is to get Morphine drunk at Monday nights farewell as she has never seen him in this condition. She had a couple of small drinks tonight and kept "whispering" to me in a loud sotto voce "secret" I am going to miss them when they go. I am also comitted to sing on Monday night. I think I should be committed for agreeing to this!
Night Folks
Simon
It's 1150pm. I look over and Susan who has run herself into the ground today doing a million things is propped up in bed on 5 pillows, head tilted forward, headphones plugged in, hands on the laptop which is whirring away, snoring lightly. This is familiar sight!
Not much happened today. The usual chores. We had community dinner 11 of us all up with 3 ring ins. I had beer, Southern Comfort, white wine and more beer which explains why this blog post will finish shortly! Tomorrow is our day off and we will get in the car and drive, after Susan has done the 8 - 9 shift. We are struggling for people to do reception! I have Saturday off as well so hopefully it will be good walking weather.
Morphine and Fan Fan will leave Tuesday. My mission from Fan Fan is to get Morphine drunk at Monday nights farewell as she has never seen him in this condition. She had a couple of small drinks tonight and kept "whispering" to me in a loud sotto voce "secret" I am going to miss them when they go. I am also comitted to sing on Monday night. I think I should be committed for agreeing to this!
Night Folks
Simon
Day 194 Nubeena Wednesday 10th August 2011
Hi All,
Just a short blog tonight. The sun put in a short half hour appearance after not being sighted for 5 days but by this evening light showers had swept in again. A day of little jobs for me. Susan continues to shift the mountains of food to the new kitchen. We had lunch in the dining area in a civilised manner sitting around the tables and all eating at the same time. After work i hopped into the spa along with the helpers from Unit 7. Morphine sets up his laptop so they can watch movies. The first one was in Spanish with Chinese sub titles. This was changed to an animation in English with Chinese subtitles and then that idea was abandoned and conversation took over.
Morphine and Fanfan cooked us tea in the kitchen which was nice. After tea we played UNO along with Weiting. Of course my superior skill meant that i won, just. It was 1040 by the time we locked up. We had a lot of laughs with the UNO and it was an enjoyable evening.
Night folks
cheers Simon
Just a short blog tonight. The sun put in a short half hour appearance after not being sighted for 5 days but by this evening light showers had swept in again. A day of little jobs for me. Susan continues to shift the mountains of food to the new kitchen. We had lunch in the dining area in a civilised manner sitting around the tables and all eating at the same time. After work i hopped into the spa along with the helpers from Unit 7. Morphine sets up his laptop so they can watch movies. The first one was in Spanish with Chinese sub titles. This was changed to an animation in English with Chinese subtitles and then that idea was abandoned and conversation took over.
Morphine and Fanfan cooked us tea in the kitchen which was nice. After tea we played UNO along with Weiting. Of course my superior skill meant that i won, just. It was 1040 by the time we locked up. We had a lot of laughs with the UNO and it was an enjoyable evening.
Night folks
cheers Simon
Day 193 Nubeena Tuesday 9th August 2011
Hi all,
The damp drizzly weather continues, smoke struggles to rise from chimneys and the wind has vanished. 4 days since the sun has been sighted!
Today i put up a curtain rod, changed a door lock, repaired a television, picked up Selina and Weiting from Port Arthur, did the pools, picked up chook poop and many other little jobs. Susan has been concentrating on consolidating the food from several locations into the new kitchen.
The psychology of the electric fence is interesting. The goats have walking and standing close to it down to a fine art. I wonder how often they test it. Once they are conditioned in theory it could be turned off. Tonight they were considering following me through the gate as if they had worked out that it was safe. They were also thinking about charging the fence it seemed. Or it could have just been random who knows.
Anyway I am tired after the mental taxation of the census form so I will say good night. Susan is playing Uno in Little Taiwan.
Cheers Simon
The damp drizzly weather continues, smoke struggles to rise from chimneys and the wind has vanished. 4 days since the sun has been sighted!
Today i put up a curtain rod, changed a door lock, repaired a television, picked up Selina and Weiting from Port Arthur, did the pools, picked up chook poop and many other little jobs. Susan has been concentrating on consolidating the food from several locations into the new kitchen.
The psychology of the electric fence is interesting. The goats have walking and standing close to it down to a fine art. I wonder how often they test it. Once they are conditioned in theory it could be turned off. Tonight they were considering following me through the gate as if they had worked out that it was safe. They were also thinking about charging the fence it seemed. Or it could have just been random who knows.
Anyway I am tired after the mental taxation of the census form so I will say good night. Susan is playing Uno in Little Taiwan.
Cheers Simon
Day 192 Nubeena Monday 8th August 2011
Farewell Suzanne
Hi Folks,
A fairly damp day, the third in a row although the rain hasn't been overly heavy as indicated by the fact we haven't filled the water tanks yet.
It was just the gang of 2 helpers today with Morphine and Fanfan on a day off which included dropping Suzanne off at the airport. We had our farewell photo session inside today such was the inclemency of the weather.
I spent most of the morning demoulding the bathroom in Unit 7. I never actually got my head inside the chook house so today's egg count will be a mystery.
We had a community tea tonight consisting of soup, bread rolls, spinach and ricotta triangles and Atlantic Salmon cutlets all prepared by Charlene the cheesemaker who is staying on for a few days.
Tomorrow it looks like i will be focussing on inside maintenance trying to get rid of a few niggling problems.
We have 2 helpers arriving tomorrow, one returning (Weiting)and one new, Selina. It means Unit 7 will be called Little Taiwan at least for the rest of the week.
Night folks
Cheers Simon
Day 191 Nubeena Sunday 7th August 2011
The new community kitchen at the resort
Cheese making workshop
Cheese making workshop
Ho folks,
First of all the weather report. Constant heavy drizzle then rain then back to drizzle. A very wet day with little wind so bearable.
After the hectic skelter of the last few days today seemed like a bludge. Mind you Susan, Suzanne and Lynne did a lot of food preparation for the attendees at the cheese making class.
The highlight of the day was the first community dinner in the new kitchen. Its not set up properly yet but it was much easier than doing it in a unit or between several units. We had roast chickens and vegetables per the request of Suzanne who leaves tomorrow. She has been here 92 days. For those of you not familiar the Australian Government grants second year visas to people under 31 who work for 88 days in areas designated as rural in "rural" jobs. This only applies as I understand it to countries with reciprocal rights. The denizens of the USA only get 12 months. The focus is to get backpackers working like slaves picking fruit mainly. Anyway we will miss Suzanne. She has really hit the spot with her cooking in the area of bread, cakes, biscuits, in fact, most things. It seems like she has only been here a short while. Those 92 days have gone quickly. Funny she thinks Nubeena is in the middle of nowhere. Wait till she actually gets to the middle of nowhere!
Anyway it was a good tea and I took the opportunity to shoot some video of the renovations which i will post tomorrow.
Night folks
cheers Simon
Day 190 Nubeena Saturday 6th August 2011
Hi All,
Pretty average day today. It rained on and off most of the day.
The cheese making workshop was held and there was drumming tonight.
Susan worked all day preparing food amongst other things. I tidied the shed for drumming. As noted an average working day with nothing to inspire and a few whinging guests. I have all these Basil Fawlty retorts in my head that I struggle not to use. Anyway tomorrow is another day and to paraphrase Tom Hanks in Castaway (since it was on here tonight) "The sun will come up tomorrow and you never know what the tide will bring in" In his case as i recall it was a portable toilet that he used to build his escape boat with!
Night folks
Simon
Pretty average day today. It rained on and off most of the day.
The cheese making workshop was held and there was drumming tonight.
Susan worked all day preparing food amongst other things. I tidied the shed for drumming. As noted an average working day with nothing to inspire and a few whinging guests. I have all these Basil Fawlty retorts in my head that I struggle not to use. Anyway tomorrow is another day and to paraphrase Tom Hanks in Castaway (since it was on here tonight) "The sun will come up tomorrow and you never know what the tide will bring in" In his case as i recall it was a portable toilet that he used to build his escape boat with!
Night folks
Simon
Day 189 Nubeena Friday 5th August 2011
Zoom! What was that? That was your life, Mate! That was quick, do I get another? Sorry, Mate. (Basil Fawlty - Communication Problems 1979)
Friday already! Another long long day. The deadline being to get the kitchen finished for the cheese making classes tomorrow and Sunday and the Shed set up for drumming on Saturday night. Thanks to a lot of hard work all round we actually had dinner in the new kitchen tonight. A splendid piece of roast beef and vegetables prepared by Lynne. We were joined by Charlene the cheese making tutor and her husband. I will try to get some picture of the kitchen tomorrow even though it is not fully set up yet.
The other major achievement of the week is the goats! They are now contained by the electric fence. Less work for us and they were looking noticeably chubby tonight as they are free to roam and gorge themselves all day. Of course when they reduce this area to dust then we will have to build a new compound or move the existing one.
I was also reflecting on the chickens. The original ones arrived here as largish chicks a gift from Annette our receptionist/accounts person. Of the original 9, 4 were boys, 3 became food for the community dinner leaving 1, "Lucky" to become our rooster. As those of you who read closely know we are now on are second generation of these birds. The chicks are now reaching the stage that the original ones were at when we received them. The girls are producing 2 -3 eggs per day at the moment. I harvest them and write the date on each one. Fresh free range eggs are definitely tastier than your standard egg.
A very still rainy day here. The smoke from chimneys was struggling to rise and was spilling down over the roofs like water. Apparently it will be similar for a few days. I am looking forward to having a nice warm shed fuelled by the fire and the heat pump. Should be good for a few social movie nights assuming we have enough helpers to actually have one.
Anyway to bed to bed with the promise of some pictures tomorrow.
Night Folks.
Cheers Simon.
Friday already! Another long long day. The deadline being to get the kitchen finished for the cheese making classes tomorrow and Sunday and the Shed set up for drumming on Saturday night. Thanks to a lot of hard work all round we actually had dinner in the new kitchen tonight. A splendid piece of roast beef and vegetables prepared by Lynne. We were joined by Charlene the cheese making tutor and her husband. I will try to get some picture of the kitchen tomorrow even though it is not fully set up yet.
The other major achievement of the week is the goats! They are now contained by the electric fence. Less work for us and they were looking noticeably chubby tonight as they are free to roam and gorge themselves all day. Of course when they reduce this area to dust then we will have to build a new compound or move the existing one.
I was also reflecting on the chickens. The original ones arrived here as largish chicks a gift from Annette our receptionist/accounts person. Of the original 9, 4 were boys, 3 became food for the community dinner leaving 1, "Lucky" to become our rooster. As those of you who read closely know we are now on are second generation of these birds. The chicks are now reaching the stage that the original ones were at when we received them. The girls are producing 2 -3 eggs per day at the moment. I harvest them and write the date on each one. Fresh free range eggs are definitely tastier than your standard egg.
A very still rainy day here. The smoke from chimneys was struggling to rise and was spilling down over the roofs like water. Apparently it will be similar for a few days. I am looking forward to having a nice warm shed fuelled by the fire and the heat pump. Should be good for a few social movie nights assuming we have enough helpers to actually have one.
Anyway to bed to bed with the promise of some pictures tomorrow.
Night Folks.
Cheers Simon.
Day 188 Nubeena Thursday 4th August 2011
This one is healing well
This one replaces it!
A 3.6m * 0.9m stainless steel bench top on top of 2 of 3.6m * 0.8 m particle board floor sheets on top of an old expanding aluminium ladder. Heath Robinson take a bow!
Hi Folks,
Another week rockets by. The activity in commissioning the new kitchen continued apace today. A long day with unusual mildness in the air (a portent of spring perhaps). The bench we brought back yesterday was installed unscathed. Whilst Susan worked in the kitchen cleaning the whole area and laying carpet tiles I did my usual chores and started on tidying the shipping container now that all the pieces from Ilan's farm have arrived. The highlight of the day was removing a tyre from an old trolley and successfully repairing the tube. It may not sound like much but it was very tight to fit and remove. The lowlight of the day was at community dinner when Susan decided to play a pair of glass jars like symbols with the resulting broken glass penetrating her palm near the left thumb. She ate tea while applying pressure and then we trooped down to the Medical Centre. No doctor on call so the nurse applied treatment in the form of steristrips and a bandage. One of the drawbacks of the country is the 2 hour trip at slow Ambulance speed to Hobart for treatment. Life threatening illnesses require the rescue helicopter.
Morphine and Fan Fan will leave the weekend after next. We have Suzanne leaving Monday and the return of Weiting on Tuesday. In ten days our number will be 3 which will be interesting to say the least. Something will turn up i guess.
Night folks
Cheers Simon
Day 187 Nubeena Wednesday 3rd July 2011
Hi folks,
A long day. I started off to tidy the shipping container but Susan annointed me to get firewood it being one of the tasks on the list titled "getting ready for the weekend" (Cheese making and Drumming).
I duly hitched up the trailer and went down the back picking up some cut stumps and cutting some smaller material. It was then on to swinging the block splitter to break up some of the larger material and stacking it away. This is a good job for a young fit person not an old fossil!
After a bite to eat and a long period of getting ready, it was off to Hobart with the trailer. After a brief stop at Sorell we went to Lauderdale for 4pm where Susan had her stitches removed. The pathology was ok for the bit that was removed. However she must have 3 monthly checks for the next 5 years!
We then journeyed to the plastic shop to purchase styrene containers for the cheese making, before proceeding to Bunnings for 2 by 3.6 metre lengths of flooring for the kitchen bench top and Laminex for the shelves plus other assorted sundries. The flooring was strapped on top of a ladder in the trailer. We then went to pick up the stainless steel bench capping also at 3.6 metres. The idea being to transport it back to Nubeena without a> having it fall off, b> bending it or c> gouging it. After much huffing and puffing and strapping and wrapping we left Hobart at around 630. We were lucky that someone was working late at the stainless forming place otherwise we would have missed out. Returning to Sorell we shopped for food and fuel before having some nice Heat wood fired pizzas. We arrived back at The Resort at around 930. The only item of note was the ambulance, police and one other car speeding the other way just out of Nubeena, lights flashing.
Tomorrows forecast rain!
night folks
cheers Simon
Ps i have not drunk alcohol for 2 days in a row.
A long day. I started off to tidy the shipping container but Susan annointed me to get firewood it being one of the tasks on the list titled "getting ready for the weekend" (Cheese making and Drumming).
I duly hitched up the trailer and went down the back picking up some cut stumps and cutting some smaller material. It was then on to swinging the block splitter to break up some of the larger material and stacking it away. This is a good job for a young fit person not an old fossil!
After a bite to eat and a long period of getting ready, it was off to Hobart with the trailer. After a brief stop at Sorell we went to Lauderdale for 4pm where Susan had her stitches removed. The pathology was ok for the bit that was removed. However she must have 3 monthly checks for the next 5 years!
We then journeyed to the plastic shop to purchase styrene containers for the cheese making, before proceeding to Bunnings for 2 by 3.6 metre lengths of flooring for the kitchen bench top and Laminex for the shelves plus other assorted sundries. The flooring was strapped on top of a ladder in the trailer. We then went to pick up the stainless steel bench capping also at 3.6 metres. The idea being to transport it back to Nubeena without a> having it fall off, b> bending it or c> gouging it. After much huffing and puffing and strapping and wrapping we left Hobart at around 630. We were lucky that someone was working late at the stainless forming place otherwise we would have missed out. Returning to Sorell we shopped for food and fuel before having some nice Heat wood fired pizzas. We arrived back at The Resort at around 930. The only item of note was the ambulance, police and one other car speeding the other way just out of Nubeena, lights flashing.
Tomorrows forecast rain!
night folks
cheers Simon
Ps i have not drunk alcohol for 2 days in a row.
Day 186 Nubeena 2nd August 2011
Hi readers,
Not too much of note today It was going to be our day off and in hindsight we could have/should have made it so. The weather early on the day was fine and sunny. However that's water under the bridge now.
Susan busied herself helping with the kitchen renovation for most of the day.
I tethered the goats in the desired positions close enough to touch the electric fence but unable to burst through it. Ella decided to touch it with her nose. This sent her galloping away at high speed until she reached the end of her rope and went horizontal. I decided to set the controller to the low setting used on bushfire danger days. A short time later Phoebe appeared having broken her tethering rope and exited the Gulag. I returned her and turned the fence up to high again. Ella stayed well away from the fence. Come the end of the day on dusk i took them down to their house and tied them together per usual with servings of their feed. Within 30 minutes Phoebe appeared outside the kitchen. I led her back down in the dark. Ella was waiting respectable distance from the fence and Phoebe i had to drag through the gate as Ella trotted towards me. I don't know how they slipped the tether as nothing was broken. However the conclusion i can now draw is that they are both scared of the wires so it might be close to a win. We will see. It is not overly pleasant watching them get zapped. I drew a parallel to the Iranian woman who couldn't poor acid onto the face of her attacker in a court ordered retribution. Whilst the goats annoy me at times I don't enjoy seeing them getting zapped.
Goodnight from goatville.
cheers Simon
Not too much of note today It was going to be our day off and in hindsight we could have/should have made it so. The weather early on the day was fine and sunny. However that's water under the bridge now.
Susan busied herself helping with the kitchen renovation for most of the day.
I tethered the goats in the desired positions close enough to touch the electric fence but unable to burst through it. Ella decided to touch it with her nose. This sent her galloping away at high speed until she reached the end of her rope and went horizontal. I decided to set the controller to the low setting used on bushfire danger days. A short time later Phoebe appeared having broken her tethering rope and exited the Gulag. I returned her and turned the fence up to high again. Ella stayed well away from the fence. Come the end of the day on dusk i took them down to their house and tied them together per usual with servings of their feed. Within 30 minutes Phoebe appeared outside the kitchen. I led her back down in the dark. Ella was waiting respectable distance from the fence and Phoebe i had to drag through the gate as Ella trotted towards me. I don't know how they slipped the tether as nothing was broken. However the conclusion i can now draw is that they are both scared of the wires so it might be close to a win. We will see. It is not overly pleasant watching them get zapped. I drew a parallel to the Iranian woman who couldn't poor acid onto the face of her attacker in a court ordered retribution. Whilst the goats annoy me at times I don't enjoy seeing them getting zapped.
Goodnight from goatville.
cheers Simon
Day 185 Nubeena Monday 1st August 2011
Susan's stitches. The itching is driving her crazy tonight!
Hi All,
The kitchen installation is proceeding at a pace. It needs to be finished by Friday for the cheese making workshop on the weekend.
My task today was to finish the electric fence. I pulled poles out and rerouted it around the pile of dirt as discussed yesterday. Susan purchased some more insulators and more cable/twine today around the corner at Premaydena. Morphine and I relocated the duck house back to the new compound after Morphine crowbarred and hosed their droppings out. The job was finished after 3, after the necessary trimming of shrubbery and application of some rudimentary warning signs made from the tape one buries in the ground to warn of cables. Ilan decided the goats would go in today.
They were led inside and left off the leash with some bowls of their food. After milling around briefly Ella trotted to the fence and ducked under the lower string getting a good boot. Instead of backing off she pushed through under it and bolted. She was followed by Phoebe who also received the same shocks. We rounded them up readily and returned them to the pen where they gave an encore performance. This time they both gulped down some water probably due to the fright of multiple zaps from the fence. Plan B was instigated. A tether to stop them. The logic being they need to get used to their new home rather than where they have been for the last x months.
I have an idea I will put into practice tomorrow. I will tether them separately inside the fence but where there is enough rope for them to reach it. Hopefully a few shocks when they can't crash through will give them enough psychological aversion to do the trick. I am just a beginner at this hobby farming lark and i don't really know what i am doing. I am impressed by the instruction diagrams on the fencing materials. For instance today was how to join the cable which is a thin polypropylene rope with about half a dozen strands of stainless steel wire to carry the voltage.
I was musing today that I hadn't envisaged goat training in my future a couple of years ago. I have the impression that they might be untrainable. A visitor the other day remarked that goats were intelligent animals. My response was "compared to what? sheep?"
Susan's surgery is healing quite nicely but the itching is driving her mad this evening. We had rump steak for tea after Ilans Thai fish cakes and before Suzannes cake. I cut the steaks inexpertly from a full rump The rest of the rump I reduced to cubes after dinner for a curry on Thursday night
Night Folks
cheers Simon
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