Astonishingly, despite the galeforce (and I do mean, galeforce) winds rattling the house at present, the chook shed is still there. The inside is a little damp, and the hen has moved herself her chicks and her eggs to a drier spot, but it is still upright, so far.

Judging from the rattles on the roof I will need to sort that our fairly quickly if things keep up in this way though.

It having been pouring with rain this morning i got stuck into the tapestry once more and was busy beavering away when Carol called in for a cuppa. She had to go into town and I had the keys to the quilting room so I went with her to pick up some wadding she needed. We decided, since we were in town and both have been a little down in the dumps of late because of the behaviour of others, we would stay in town for a cuppa which we did. And we had a big slice of chocolate cake and cream to go with it, lol.

Then home once more to batten down the hatches, feed the chooks and settle down for the night with some more embroidering to go on with. The depressing thing is that despite having worked on it for some time today, the only progress i have made can be distinguished by the bright blue, grey blue and white bits ...

Last night i had some problems convincing Smidgen to come indoors. I could see him at the bottom of the lane, but he was not coming more than a few paces when I called. Then he would turn around and sit down again. I stood and watched for a while and he seemed to be behaving rather oddly, rolling over and exposing his tummy and generally being cute and appealing. Then I noticed that about five metres from him was another cat - the neighbour's. It was sitting upright and watching Smidgen, but suddenly turning its head to one side. Between them was what appeared to be a lump of dirt. It took me a while, but eventually I realised that there were no lumps of dirt there, and even if there were, it would not be that colour. So I went down to investigate and discovered this:
At first I assumed it was covered in fleas, then realised these were ants - it had its nose in an antheap and was scoffing its dinner. So I picked Smidgen up and took him indoors and left it to its own devices (the neighbour's cat flees at the approach of humans).

I have noticed the last few times i have been down the back that I seem to come back with very wet socks. Now I know we have had a bit of rain, but you do expect your Blunnies to cope with a bit of wet grass without leaving your socks wringing wet. That is, of course, unless they look like this:

There was a time blunnies lasted a good five to eight years, but apparently that was before they were made in China. Will have to investigate some better work boots as these clearly will not last terribly much longer ... Sigh. Still, I guess they will make attractive herb pots for the back door when the terrace is finally paved ...

I was up bright and early this morning and got three tip runs in before time for morning tea. Once that was done I went down and did a bit more work on the internal fencing (but not much as I was being watched, arms akimbo, by you know who). Then retired indoors and did some housework. A little later I went down and placed the litter in the new shed to house the broody hen and also water and food containers so that when she is moved, there is no reason to continue to disturb her until the chicks are running around (or it becomes apparent there won't be any chicks).

Retired indoors once more and lit the fire, despite it being a warm day. Why? Well it is a comfort and it was overcast and I suspect it is just force of habit. At least I now have a hot stove to cook dinner on tonight.

I did eventually light it last night, long enough to cook dinner then let it go out once more. Neither of these 'lightings' has made much of a dent in the wood I cut yesterday, so hopefully when the weather goes off tomorrow I will be snug and warm and can get on with some indoor activities.

Yay! The chook shed is finished. It now has a door, a floor a front wall and is basically ready to rock and roll once the floor dries. The floor is a mix of fat sand, gravel and concrete, poured dry then sprinkled with water from the watering can. Not exactly cement, but it should be fine to discourage digging activities - especially once covered in a couple of inches of woodshavings and several inches of straw. There is a tiny, day-old-chick sized hole left, so I will need to cover that with a brick till the chicks are older (assuming there are any chicks - still trying to work that one out, but not encouraged).

Gavin knocked off around 10:30 and said he would call back for his money, so I popped into town to get some and returned to find this 'thank you note' from my neighbour. I am at a loss as to how I can recover any sort of relationship with her as she appears to have decided that there is no option but open war. Obviously I will not give her this, but it will require careful handling and I think I am going to have to use this blog as a mechanism for documenting this bizarre behaviour for my own protection. Sorry to anyone who is distressed by this.

Anyway, she headed out this afternoon so I went down to sort out an internal fence that will allow me to remove poultry activity from the concrete slab and reuse the concrete slab for a shed to house garden tools and/or chook food/equipment. I felt it advisable to wait as she has once again been patrolling the boundary and busily fixing more wire to the fence from her side (in the area behind the compost bins which is outside the chook run ...). Given the police advice to avoid engaging with her, I felt it prudent to await her disappearance before doing anything right on her boundary.

Anyway, the new fence is in position, though not finished (though the bits at her end are) and I will continue with it tomorrow if it does not rain. In case it does rain, I have also cut quite a bit of wood so I can keep the woodfire burning. At present, I have let it go out, so not too sure what I will be having for dinner as I am not keen on using the stovetop at present, while the gas bottle is not properly stable and there is a strong gusty wind blowing. Oh well, I will work something out I guess.

Well that's me knackered. I had a late night last night as there was a flareup on the forum on which i am moderating and I had to stay on line till I could hand over to another mod (fortunately, it being an English forum, they arrived before midnight). So this morning Gavin was due and I was still in my pjs and so panic ensued and I dressed in a bit of a rush and had no breakfast.

Despite this we made excellent progress. the entire boundary is cleared for two metres (apart from a couple of fruit trees that will need to wait till next winter). Despite this mammoth effort, when Gavin went to the boundary to attract her attention to let her know she was running her mower on the wrong throttle setting her opening words involved f****g fence, so I guess she is still in a bad mood then.

The shed is also upright and has cladding on three of the walls and the roof - and sisalation all round as well. The side walls are covered to within 300mm of the peak, and the gap is filled with wire and the back wall does not reach all the way up to the roof to allow a draft also. this is mainly because, not being bolted down to a concrete pad, as planned I am concerned about wind getting in under the iron and blowing the entire shed over. It does look rather good i have to say, and even has guttering so that tonight's rain should collect in the 44 I have placed under the spouting of the guttering. I can always add a down-pipe if this does not work terribly efficiently as there are lengths of the old gal pipes from the old tank still lying around.

This is none too soon as there was one egg shell ejected from the nest this morning which suggests there may also be a chicken. And the chooks were all spending a lot of time huddled around the hutch, suggesting they too were responding to interesting noises. I will wait till I can transfer the hen into the shed (hopefully tomorrow night) before ascertaining what I have or have not got. Of course, unless there are several more shells there in the morning, I may have to wait a little longer as this seems a fairly critical timeframe to be moving her and I really don't want her to walk away from viable eggs. though I guess I can always hatch them in the incubator and reintroduce the chicks later.

Anyway. Tomorrow, Gavin is coming back just for the morning. That should get the rest of the cladding on, the door hung, and (hopefully) some barrow-loads of gravel into the floor of the shed. He suggested I mix some sand and cement and hose it onto the gravel to provide a floor and I think I will do just that - at least as a temporary measure. Then I can fill it up with all that lovely straw that arrived the other day so as to provide a good deep flooring for mum and babies. I have a waterer I can suspend from the roof and also a feeder which I will fill with chicken crumble so they are all snug and safe for some time to come.

Then I will finish off the internal fencing so that The new format for the runs can be finalised. That is if I am permitted to work in my own back yard without being stalked by the neighbour who made it her business to come over and inspect regularly and to work in the immediate vicinity all day.


Bearing in mind this is the 'vegetable garden' she is so keen to protect from my chooks, I think that perhaps she is being just a little over the top in her behaviour - but i guess it takes all types...

The big shed took some shifting, but we managed to lever it forward onto two sleepers. Its original foundations were below the natural ground surface, so the sleepers fitted under the front wall and we could thus just move it forward. I say 'just'. It actually involved considerable effort and a bath would be in order tonight if it was not full of insulation batts and goodness knows what.

Well Tasmania has now been blocked in and so too have most of the waves in the great Australian Bight - There are only two leaves on the apple to do (yes, I am talking about that longstitch, lol).

I went to Roberts's this morning and obtained the names of three fencing contractors - there are none local but two come from Brighton and one from Colebrook, which is sort of 'in the postcode' so to speak. I will start calling around on Monday as I will be pretty flat out the next two days.

Only one egg today - I am going to have to give the girls a talking-to about that - any more slackness, and they should remember I have a fresh batch on the way (this includes two four-week old Barnevelders (I know, naughty of me, but you know how addictive chooks can be) who are coming from the same place the eggs came from. Hopefully the Bothwell nursery will be open this time so I can also bring home some plants.

I also finally identify the strange green and white flower in the front garden - it is an ornithogalum Nutans, so there!

Jean found it in a catalogue for me.

Ran into her son at Robert's and failed to recognise him until we had been chatting for a bit - I have no memory for faces at all - I asked Jean to apologise for me.

Forgot to mention - last night I clipped the chooks wings and moved the broody to a spot where she can not be harrassed by the neighbour (at least now i know what she was doing out of her run - she was scared out by a rampaging neighbour flapping at her when she took the sun on top of her box). She took the move well and has settled back down nicely.

I sat in the entrance to their night-shed and took down each bird, one at a time to clip their wings, and the third was Rastus,who also got his toenails clipped. Each bird was popped out on the grass once done, and as the next hen came down, poor Rastus ran at me to protect his girl who was squawking. Got to two feet away, realised who he was about to attack and looked self-concious as he turned to one side. This went on for each and every hen as she was done - he has a lovely nature that boy, and does such a great job looking after his flock. Good roosters you breed there Goodlifer!

Well the Quilting group, as usual, has provided some welcome stress release and I am now feeling considerably better than I was last night.

I phoned council's animal control officer and spoke to him and advised him of the latest development and the actions I am planning to take later this week and he thanked me. He also indicated that he was not taking the previous report at all seriously which was a welcome relief as well.

I came home from quilting with a portable tv. Having recently acquired a standard lamp with a bend-down additional light, I am going to try out the idea of having the telly on and doing hand work in the evenings. I suspect that, as before it will not work and I will end up in telly-zombie mode, but it is worth a try, and the tv is only a loan so can go back if it is not working. If it does, the telly will go back and I will keep an eye on Freecycle for one of my own. Worth a try as I otherwise spend my evenings fairly unproductively on the computer or reading a book (which is good too, but not something you can sew while doing.

So I am officially in charge of the keys for tomorrow's quilting day so must be off bright and early to make sure the heaters are on, the kettle boiled and so forth before the rest of us arrive - a terribly responsible position, lol.

I have to assume Rita received my note this morning when she went to collect her mail. The response was not printable, and was sufficiently aggressive that I felt compelled to call the police. They have been out and had a chat and recorded my concerns but I suggested that an actual visit to her place might actually be viewed as provocative and he agreed.

I have therefore made no progress with the shed today and am in fact relocating it to a less potentially contentious position (despite having had her prior verbal agreement to the originally proposed position.

The response so far has been a notice posted stating 'Rat Poison laid to deter vermin' which was promptly removed when she had notice of the impending visit by the local constabulary. And my request that she remove her scarecrow (which actually provides an ideal perch to tempt little birdies to fly into her yard) I was ignored. In the mean time she has developed a dug bed, presumably to 'prove' that her garden is a reality.

I have also tried once again to contact the local animal control officer and asked that a time-dated record be made that i have been trying to get in touch since Friday, as an attempt to pre-empt any further false accusations.

Not sure what else I can do. I will, however, be asking the ladies at quilting tomorrow for recommendations for a local fencing contractor and will then present Rita with the obligatory three quotes. Since she was the last person to suggest we needed a new fence, and I agree, even if I can not currently afford it, I think it has to become a necessity over and above some of the proposed building work...

I will obtain quotes for four foot (existing) and five foot (enhanced security) fencing to provide her with options.

In the mean time I have concluded that placing the shed on the slab will simply be further provocation in an already difficult situation, so will build it on the shared boundary between the two runs the hens now occupy. This will also provide them with housing that can be used whichever run they are in.

Well three walls are framed up and two of them even have tiedowns on them. I felt these were called for as even using 75mm batten screws I didnt really feel that there was sufficient grip to ensure the roof stays on in a gale. Shadow has been supervising closely, and will hopefully continue to remain enthralled for the next few days.

Tomorrow, being Monday is of course the last day I can work on this for a couple of days, so that will leave me with Thursday and Friday before i start stressing about chickens arriving. I will check the long-range forecast so that I can make an informed decision about going to quilting as per normal.

You will have noticed that the side walls suggest a structure significantly smaller than the slab will accommodate. I agree. But when your neighbour is having daily hysterics about the apparent threat your chooks cause to her (yet to be developed) vegetable beds, what's a girl to do? The sloping roof should deter birds from perching on it and causing further hysterical outbursts, and the nesting boxes that I was originally planning to put to either side, will probably still go at the back, but with really steep roofs. They will be a later addition as the priority right now is finding safe haven for the hen, should she produce any chickens.

Rastus and one of his lesser wives came over to inspect before I knocked off. And i have been supervised by the entire flock for much of the day, with regular visits to inspect progress.

I was working away on the back wall when I noticed Shadow responding to someone in the yard, so I peered around the woodshed and discovered yet another strange man peering in the back door tentatively. I yelled out and we met half way. It was Jean's other son, delivering the roll bale that is now safely ensconced in the back yard, half way between the vege patch and the chook run. I peeled off the webbing and rolled it onto a stick as it seems to me it will be quite useful bird-netting for fruit trees and the vege patch. Apparently there are about 9 more where that one came from and they will be delivered as I use up each one - talk about pressure!! Now i have to build garden beds to use it on!!

It will, of course, also be incredibly useful as nesting material and floor-covers for the chooks (with liberal sprinklings of louse powder to discourage colonies in hollow stems).

So a pretty productive day today - though not as productive as it would have been if I had not had to make countless treks back to the house to recut angles, shorten studs and so forth. I guess i still have quite a bit to learn about measuring things ...

Fortunately I was treated to a fit of the sullens today - Rita remained indoors and actively avoided encounters. As a result i managed to get the final bits cut for the chook shed and have even managed to pre-drill holes for the batten screws (hopefully not too big).

The slope of the side walls was a bit of a challenge in terms of cutting the joists to receive the top plate, but they are all at the same angle. Whether it is the correct angle remains to be seen ...

Dry fitting the back wall identified a measurement error in terms of height which I rectified by trimming off 30mm from all the joists. This will also possibly go some way toward avoiding the need for birdmouth joints in the top plate. Not entirely, but some way ...

So now, weather permitting, I should manage to get a couple of walls up tomorrow (hopefully). Sorry about the lack of photos so far, but really what we are talking about is a pile of bits of wood of various lengths, some of which have areas checked out in them. Not terribly photogenic really.

Herby, I certainly hope it will be functional - the chickens are due in six days so I am operating under time pressure here given the state of the neighbour's temperament, and I want it finished, clad and roofed by then.

What else? Nothing really - just a lot of hard work, and hard concentration (not really my thing these days), checking and re-checking the work as I go along. Still, with any luck, like i said, the walls should probably be in position tomorrow, and hopefully also dynabolted down to the concrete once i have worked out how square i can get it to go ...

Lord help us!! Rita's on the rampage again! Apparently one of my hens had the cheek to fly up and sit on the roof of the little a-frame shelter that is on our mutual boundary. Clearly this was a direct threat to the security of Rita's property, despite the fact that the shelter in question has a section of chicken-wire suspended two feet above it, specifically to prevent such outrageous behaviour. But apparently this is insufficient for Rita and so she felt it desirable once more to go on the rampage, thrusting aggressively with her trowel (and later her saw), driving in her scarecrow right on the boundary line (and thus traumatising the broody hen) and generally being unnecessarily aggressive and hostile.

I approached her later and suggested we could have a reasoned discussion but she seems to feel that her earlier attack was a reasoned discussion. So I have written her a note and popped it in her letter box suggesting we need to have a third party present while we have a reasoned discussion and that we reach an agreement to be put into writing that we will both adhere to in future. Hopefully she will have calmed down before she reads it or I will have her around here rampaging.

I suspect the poor girl suffers either from perimenopausal mood swings or the after-effects of her 'herbal' pain relief, but it does not make life easy when you never know when to expect an attack.

Meanwhile I went to Hobart today and picked up lots of animal food (none too soon in the cats' opinion), some basics for the pantry, some batten screws for putting together the chook shed and picked up some Fowlers jars that were for sale at the hardware store my friend's son works in. They are small jars - ideal for a one-person household. Some tall, some short and round. They take a number 3 lid if that helps you visualise them.

Home again, I planted corn seeds, and popped some bean seeds in alongside the corn seedlings that are already established. The others will get their bean companions once they are above ground and well away.

The dog was hugely relieved to see me once more and the cats are feeling better now they have had some wet food that I bought as a special treat for them.

This morning was a bit of a lost cause due to fog rolling in at 7 and sticking around until noon. So not much got done on the chook shed, but the bee boxes got their first coat of top-coat and a bit of housework was done.

Once the sun finally burned through the fog I sorted through some more timber and cut suitable pieces to length. I now have all the pieces required for the front and back walls, but realised that the side walls will require some serious maths and proper scaled drawings to I can work out how long the top plates will need to be and ditto the middle stud for each wall. And the angle their tops will need to be cut and ... well, you get the picture. So I decided that tomorrow, being out of cat food and close to zero on dog and chook food, I will go to town and get those, sort out some hardware requirements and then head home. I will also call the butcher at Triabunna and see if he can take that belly pork for me, and if so, will travel via the East coast. Failing that, will go right into Hobart and get a few other bits and bobs that are on the list ...

Still, at least the sun-burn I got yesterday has had a chance to cool down a bit .

Quilting was cancelled today due to lack of interest so I set about attacking the yard. The grass that had become completely out of control is now back under control (though the rest of the yard looks more than a little overgrown), and I started work on the chook shed.

This is being built from materials found around the yard - so the cladding will be four foot palings, the framing will be derived from the bits of wood removed from the lean-to and the door will be the dunny door. It is being built on the slab, and because of Rita's obsessive belief my chooks are planning an imminent attack on her yard on a daily basis, it will have a steep roof to avoid them perching up there.

The slab itself has a smoothed off surface but is far from level or square as it was constructed in haste when it turned out i had more concrete than was needed. So the shed will actually sit within the slab, rather than being on its edges. This will provide useful support for the nesting boxes, that, despite the sketch I have conclude will be on the side of the shed now.

I concluded that I didn't want to be driving four inch nails into really well seasoned hardwood so have cut rebates to house the studs which reduces the thickness of the timber to 35mm (which will give the 75mm screws some purchase in the stud ends).

Progress was fairly slow today due to the various preparatory things that needed to be dealt with (like designing the thing and working out what needed to be had to do the job) so I found some suitable lengths for the top and bottom plates, removed all the nails in them and cut the housings using my American chisel (the circular saw and a hammer). These are now ready to set to work tomorrow, cutting studs, widening the housings as I had discovered I only have 50mm timber, and hopefully building at least the front and back frames. The side frames will take some thought as I have no idea how to work out what angle to cut the tops, but I imagine I can work something out (maybe lay it all out on a flat surface and place the top plate so I can mark up the angle ...?).

Hopefully this spell of fine weather will maintain itself till I get the frame up and in place at least, so next fine weather I can apply cladding and roofing. The palings will be placed vertically front and back, with one layer overlapping the other to provide a good weather seal. Then, on the sides, they will be placed horizontally as weather boards so as to use their length to the best advantage. With the nesting boxes on the sides also, this will allow me to use some of the spare bits of galvanised offcuts to provide flashing onto the top of the nesting boxes. And hinged lids for ease of access. But that will require more thought and designing I feel.

So I candled the eggs last night. Ten in the incubator showed signs of development, as did five of the seven under the hen. So I transferred the eggs out of the incubator and under the hen and threw the rest into the compost heap, where I broke them to see what had happened. Two showed signs of failed development and the rest were pretty boringly eggish really.

The hen happily clucked when the first three eggs were popped alongside her, then, when they were joined by quite a few more, she just oozled over to cover the lot once I was done. This morning she was still sitting tight so all was well.

The evening, when I got home from quilting I went down to collect the eggs and discovered a black hen was broody on the main nest. I assumed it was the little black hen, but when I turned around, there she was standing out in the open. So I looked again, and it was not the rose-comb australorp either. It seems that the broody had somehow found herself on the wrong side of the wire of her run, and decided any nest was better than none. Not sure how long the eggs were left alone, but i popped her back on the nest and will keep my fingers crossed. At this rate I seriously doubt i will have any chickens at all to show for this. Will have to hope someone has some day-olds I can slip under her to get her off the brood and reward her efforts.

Quilting was great fun today and I made significant progress on the long-stitch tapestry. I am all the way around Tasmania and about to head up the Victorian coastline. When I get to Sydney, the opera house and harbour bridge extend out to the border of the design, so I will stop there and go back over the rest filling in the various details of colour, like waves, pelicans, steam trains, apples and other such tat. And probably fill in the southern parts of the States as well so that I can roll the tapestry up to the next section with a free conscience.

Glorious warm sunshine this afternoon. If it continues tomorrow I think the chook shed should start to take shape.

Today was another of those weird days when you have warm sunny periods occasionally occurring in between grey, rainy windy bits. So rather than fall for the 'indoors? Outdoors?' conundrum that has been crippling me for a week or so now, I decided firmly on indoors and so to work. The kitchen was tidied and a load of washing done. Its predecessor has been hung and folded away and today's effort is festooned in the loungeroom in front of the fire that has been chugging away at a slow pace all day.

Then I decided to finish off those bee boxes that I was having a few design issues with. They are now fully constructed, undercoated, the frames made up and strung with wire and so the whole shebang just needs a bit of fiddly puttying/scraping/prep before I give it a coat of outdoor paint. I will use up some of the paint from the house, so the box will colour coordinate, lol. Hope the bees can tell which of the wooden boxes is their's.

I also bought a particularly bright little LED torch for candling the eggs as I realised none of my torches would do the job (them being rather larger in output than the diameter of an egg. So that remains to be done tonight, once it is dark. I will do the ones in the house first, so that if there are only a few that are developing, I can take them down for the hen to add to her little lot. I can candle hers while i am down there (she only has seven at present). So fingers crossed that I have babies...

Oatlands outdid itself today with pleasant weather for the Festival - most surprising. OK, there was a smattering of showers, and a bit of a chilly wind, but it was generally speaking a lovely day. And there were far more stalls here this year than last, though unfortunately I could not find the one for the Botanic Gardens, so did not find any seeds for rare and unusual species. Oh well. I will pop down town some time next week and see what I can find.

Purchases? Well, some unsuccessful raffletickets, and a book about embroidered miniatures (doubt my eyesight is up to the task, but may be able to upscale some designs ...), and one about coal miners in NSW on the Bulli fields which is where my ancestors toiled. It is predominantly oral histories, so have yet to delve too deeply into it. But there is a good potted history at the beginning which helps to set the scene. And a little glass bottle that is a lamp. It has a glass lid and a ceramic wick holder and uses a rag wick. Once the official wick is burned down, I suspect it will work perfectly well with a plaited wick made from cotton scraps - which every quilter has in abundance. It will probably also make a good thing to burn essential oils in ... will have to experiment once i have a safe place to pop it.

Then Barbara and co came out to my place where we gorged on bacon and egg pie, and the most decadent chocolate cake i have seen since leaving Sydney - great scrolls of chocolate adorned the top and made cutting it a bit tricky. While eating it we were surprised to see the neighbour's big black rabbit saunter across my back yard, but with the help of the cats we got it back onto their side of the fence and the cats and the dog indoors - so if it comes to grief I can not be blamed.

Chased the broody off her nest for a bit of exercise and she has gone back to it with little fuss. She does not appear to be eating much so am a bit concerned she is a little too committed to the job in hand - hence the chasing off the nest occasionally. Can't have her croaking before the eggs hatch ...

So now I am back in my room, in a state of pleasant tiredness and watching the fire burning in the heater. Lovely stuff. Now - for dinner ... will it be healthy food (bacon and egg pie) or chocolate cake? Perhaps a bit of both. I think I have a pot of thickened cream in the fridge somewhere ...

Rain, hail, snow, sleet, wind, sunshine - what have I missed? Well, that was the last five minutes, and it has been a bit like that all day.

Went into Oatlands to help set up the quilting display - made the sign for out the front, came home, baked an egg and bacon pie for my friend's visit tomorrow and have spent much of the last while trying to run every possible scan/fix programme on my computer in the hope it gets rid of that nasty DOS message I get every time I turn it on. Was not game to restart till i posted. So if you don't hear from me again, assume the computer died, lol.

The forecast for today was for rain starting late in the morning then deteriorating to snow. So I thought i would be smart and wheeled a barrow load of wood up to the house, but did not bother cutting it as it was so lovely yesterday. Big mistake. I bounced out of bed at 6, made myself an espresso latte with the new thingumy jig and shortly thereafter it started to rain. So I thought, no worries, I will cover the barrow with some plastic and cut the wood when there is a break in the rain....

I am still waiting ...

In the mean time I have discovered that all the thin bits of wood I have been putting to one side as being too thin to bother cutting up, but too long to go in the fire, will actually fit if I pop them in diagonally (in both dimensions) and so we are all snug and safe indoors. Nothing else to report really - no snow yet, and it really doesn't feel like snow, but you never know around here ...

While I was painting the bee box bits, I found that there were several bits I had no idea what to do with, so today, when I popped into town, I called at the home of the local bee-man to see if he would be out my way some time. He called around this afternoon and gave me a quick lesson in beebox construction, frame construction, wiring and so forth, as well as a quick tip on wax installation (get a cheap battery charger and use it to heat the wires so they embed in the wax sheet).

My main reason for being in town was that I had resigned myself to the fact that quilting activities (which give me access to a clothesline) were never going to coincide with good drying weather, so I might as well wash all my sheets and take them to the laundromat (I had quite a stockpile of ready-to-wash sheets by now).

Bizarrely enough, I was just getting comfy and settling for the driers to take their time, when I realised that that house across the street from the laundromat was having yet another garage sale. So inevitably I went across to have a look and came home with yet more things. The real prize is a little sunbeam coffee-maker (espresso variety) so I can muck about and make cappuchinos and lattes to my hearts content now. I have had a secret yearning to own one of these things but have never felt I could justify the expense (and of course i aspired to something a little more upmarket than the Sunbeam one), so it will be a good chance to see if I would actually get my money's worth if I ever win lotto and buy a good one. Also on the list was a lovely old rectangular wicker laundry basket with a lid - something I have needed for quite some time. It is unlined, so will need to have a pocket constructed for the inside to avoid things catching on the wicker, but it is a real prize. Now all I have to do is work out how to convince the cats it is not a new scratching post...

And then there was a little dustpan and broom set with toll painting on them which will be an attractive addition to the side of the fire place in the dining room (or the front room, whichever seems to suit it best) and two stunning glass lemonade jugs with matching glasses (not complete sets, unfortunately) that have been carefully stowed, pending safe storage options. They will be just wonderful filled with chinking ice and fruit juice on sunny days on the back terrace (when that is finally paved).

Speaking of paving, I found my cold chisel and split some rocks and so finished off the paved area under the tap. Good thing too as apparently we are going back to rain and possible snow tomorrow afternoon. I will have to make sure the broody is comfy in her nest.

Today, on the other hand, was just gorgeous. I have taken some photos of some of the stranger things going on in the garden - crabapple blossoms barely peeking from their buds (and these are my most advanced fruit trees!) and strawberries setting fruit already ...

Last night i set to work to add calico to the tapestry frame and set the machine up on the kitchen counter to sew sleeves for that purpose, then tried the staple gun (that has proven useless for any purpose to which I have yet to put it) and finally resortde to some small brads - knocked over before they were fully in to hold the calico in place. Then rummaged in my box of tricks and found a nut that fitted the one threaded bolt that had nothing holding it in place.

After that little burst of industry I was ready for anything, so dug out the bee boxes, and the wooden coat racks and gave them all a coat of undercoat. They all need to have the other side done, but it is a start. The forecast thunderstorm arrived around 8 at night and dumped 8.7mm of rain on the place which was welcome, though I have no doubt it will make the grass grow even more rampantly than is already the case.

This morning I was wandering around bleary-eyed when Jean came to call with several Moccona Jars for me to use for storage (the shearers apparently go through gallons of the stuff), and a clumping onion thing that is like spring onions but grows all year round - you just pull off a few stems from the sides when you need spring onions for a recipe - a lovely gift to add to the various herbs she has given me in the past. I took her on a tour of the garden so she can check progress (it really is quite hard to imagine any progress is being made given the rampant growth of the grass), and discovered that yes, the crab apples definitely have flower buds (I was beginning to think may be they were just clusters of new leaves) as there is pink showing through between some of the green bits, so yay, I will have enough crabapples for one jar of crabapple jelly with any luck!

It was all grey and rainy again this morning so I set of for quilting with a clear conscience, clutching the tapestry frame and set to work once more. I have travelled half way across Bass Strait now, working my way around frolicing dolphins and whales and a rather strange land mass I certainly don't recall; the sole purpose of which seems to be providing a landing spot for a pair of pelicans. Since it is a bit bigger than the representation of Tasmania, those pelicans are doing rather nicely with their imaginary patch of real estate.

This evening was lovely clear, sunny and warm (despite it having been grey and cold all day) so the blackbirds are busy serenading us all. The cats are sulking on the bed as they have been confined to quarters once more. I have done a load of washing, put all the rest of the washing away, and set some whites to soak in some Napisan - a teatowel that was accidentally stained with tea, and two tops that have seen better days, but should come up nicely.

If tomorrow is as nice as this evening is I will try to get the lawn mowed tomorrow and wrestle things back under control. I did finally find that hexagonal drill bit, but it is the wrong size for the screw heads, so I will have to pre-drill and use my ratchet socket wrenches instead. If that doesn't work, will have to buy a drill bit of the right size next time i am in town.

I'm told the forecast for the weekend is snow - which is entirely possible as we have the Spring Festival on Sunday and it is usually rotten weather for that. But today was sort of grey, humid and icky, though blessedly wind-free. However I continued in my loose interpretation of 'work' and went to quilting. This turned out to be a good thing as I now have a tapestry frame on which to suspend the long-stitch project which will make maintaining tension rather easier and get through the work more rapidly. I brought it home with me tonight and mounted some fabric tabs on it (which were previously lacking) made from that calico roll I bought (which is absolutely the best purchase in yonks as it has come in handy for all manner of applications).

There was a slightly less good outcome from going to quilting which is that one of the former members was selling off her stash. As a result i now have large quantities of fabric that I might not otherwise have acquired ...(ooops). Still, they are nice, coordinated good quality cottons and will doubtless come in useful some time.

Other than that, I have done very little - not even cut wood for the fire as it is still quite warm, and a jumper, later in the evening, will be all I require. Of course this means I also have no fire to cook on so will lash out and use the stove top to heat up some more of that curry (after adding some coconut milk) for dinner.

Allegedly it was going to be 18 today - but it started grey and dreary and windy and continued in like vein all day, until now when it is sunny and windy.

The pseudo-broody hen had deserted her egg and was ranting about being locked up so I let her out with the rest of the birds and she is now ranting about being loose. So I am ignoring her and looking up recipes for older birds ...

That was the sum total of my outdoor activity today and I sat a sewed instead. Now those of you who know I had promised myself I would be working hard this week no doubt find this disappointing. But the good news is that I was actually working. I have been given a long-stitch tapestry to do for money...

I have always been of the view that longstitch is to tapestry what colour-by-numbers is to art, and I was right. It is not particularly challenging. It is however a huge picture - about A2 in size. A map of Australia that is decorated with various images of Sturt Desert Peas, emus, harbour bridges, and so forth to designate the characteristics of the relevant state. Today I made it from the Indian Ocean to the entrance to the Great Australian Bight, with various omissions where alternate colours come in to signify waves. All terribly boring, so I will have earned my money through pain and suffering I suspect. Still, it is all in a good cause.

Other than that, not much has happened so I am currently heating up a second serving of last night's Beef Vindaloo, though why I am bothering to heat it is a mystery. Despite reducing the chilli quotient by half, it is still sinus-clearingly hot. I had to eat a bowl of yoghurt last night to soothe my palate, so will presumably need to do the same again today - possibly two bowls as after 'developing' overnight, it may yet be hotter still - aaargh!

It was only 3 degrees this morning, but soon warmed up during the day and so I got stuck into some gardening again this morning. I finished off digging over the former chook pen which had been colonised by grass, stinging nettle, hoarhound and mallow so it was a bit of a jungle out there. It is now a neat and orderly bed about 2 metres square that has furrows and hills running roughly north south so that the plants are all getting access to the sun (it is also on a gentle slope so the back ones get plenty of their share of sunlight. The top row and a bit has been planted, rather optimistically, with some sweet corn seedlings that were in the shop when i went there this afternoon. The intention is that this bed will be one of those permaculturey things where the corn shades the pumpkins and supports the climbing beans. I have some scarlet runner seeds to go in once I work out if the corn will survive (I understand it is a good idea to give the corn a bit of a headstart to save it being engulfed by the beans).

The broody hens continue dysfunctional and three more eggs were in pieces in the run this morning. So the presumed culprit - the rose-comb - has been removed to her own run where, once again ,she has decided she is not broody after all. The eggs have been transferred to the incubator so if anything has survived the last two days, it will have a better chance of continuing through to final stages. I have left a few eggs with the other hen so she can be rewarded for her patience (I have been diving in and around her several times through this crisis), and if the eggs in the incubator hatch, I will give her the chickens to raise. The rose-comb, on the other hand, may become soup in the not too distant future.

Apparently you should candle the eggs at 10 days to check on fertility rates and dispose of the unsuccessful eggs. It was never this complicated when I was a kid - the hen sat on the eggs, the eggs hatched, or didn't, and everything in the garden was rosy. Sometimes I suspect maybe I fuss too much. But then it does save the aggravation of a rotten egg exploding inside the incubator - which could be very nasty indeed ...

Needless to say I did not find the hex-head thingy yet, I suspect it is in the container, so no progress on the raised beds - but the compost heap is significantly higher than it was yesterday from all the stuff I dug up. Some of the root systems from the more pernicious weeds have been bagged for disposal at the tip - but I forgot to load them when I finally did do my tip run for the day. Oh well.

The weather turned unpleasant by 3 so I retired indoors and have been preparing what smells like a delicious curry - beef vindaloo, from scratch - including grinding the marsala in the mortar, having finally found the pestle!

The weather this morning really couldn't make up its mind as to whether it would be sunny or rainy. As a consequence I too was at a loss as to which activity to start as I was no sooner collecting things for the garden before it started raining, and as soon as I started getting organised indoors it came out sunny. So in the end I did the dishes, sorted out the mess I had made in the kitchen potting up plants of various descriptions and put on a load of washing.

By that stage it had finally decided it would be sunny, windy and overcast, but not raining, so I went out to set up my raised beds. Of course the critical item for making them is the driver bit that takes hex heads as I plan to use some of the numerous roofing-type screws that I have lying about (the ones too short to actually use for roofing, I have no idea why I have them actually) to attach the roofing sheets to the pieces of wood I plan to use for the frames. But i am not too sure where I last put it .... So rather than spend a day searching likely pozzies, I decided instead to make the steps I planned for between these new raised beds and the ones that are already there. For this I needed tyres. I had one tyre with nothing in the middle, but the other two still have their hubs attached. And the jemmy bar does not make a satisfactory tyre lever - at least not when I am using it.


Inspiration struck and I went to the service station which, under the new management, specialises in small engines, tyre rotations and replacement. And sure enough they have a stockpile of tyres out the back they were only too glad to get rid of. So I brought four home, but discovered I really only needed two, and set to work. Here is the result of my day's labour ...

I also pulled out the remaining brassicas which had all run to seed - there are still two broccoli in the patch, but i will cut them tomorrow and haul out the rest of the plants. So part of that bed has been dug over, and more compost added to the soil. The garlics that were poked in among the brassicas have been transplanted (eek, I hear you say) to the edges of the container and three gooseberries installed - their potted companions are to follow if the weather is kind tomorrow but these were bravely clinging to life in the sand heap, so were given precedence. And I have also started digging over the old chook pen floor in anticipation of a crop of corn and cucurbits in there. It is a pretty small area - only 2 metres square, so I will probably continue digging outside the boundaries so that I have a decent sized plot.


Out the front I was astonished to see that the crab apples have actually set flowers - they are still tiny buds at present, but they are definitely flower buds, not leaf buds - so that is exciting news. I also discovered these lovely little flowers in among the bulbs given me by Eleanor. They are a flower I have been looking for for years, but have been somewhat hampered due to the fact I have no idea what they are called. I first saw them as a child when I visited the elderly lady who lived in the two storey house that is next door to what is now Casaveen. Who knows, these may even be decendents of those same flowers since they came from an Oatlands garden ...

Finally, just to prove that the brassica bed did produce something of worth, here is the cauliflower before it became soup ...

It was a mite chilly last night so I turned on the electric blanket but really needed a blanket over the top of me, but the dog was lying on my dressing gown so that was not an option. I rearranged the dog and the cat and huddled in for the long haul. As a result I slept in this morning.

I checked on the broody girls and they were still on the nest and fed them and the rest of the menagerie before throwing the dog in the back of the car for our trip to Ellendale to collect eggs. Stopped briefly at Bothwell and, as a result, missed the turnoff. I had only a vague memory of my last trip and was sure I had driven a way out of Bothwell before the turn off to Meadowbank, but none of the scenery looked familiar, so I doubled back to the turnoff to Ouse that I had seen and followed that. This turned out to be very much the scenic route, being a dirt road that meandered throgh several pastoral properties, where the sheep had right of way and the road edges were whereever the grader decided to finish work. Still, although it was a long and circuitous journey it was, at least, very attractive scenery - though they do seem to flog their pasture out that way, and many of the trees are dead skeletons.

Finally got to Sharons and collected the eggs, had a chat and set off homeward. This time i had a longer stop in Bothwell and explored a cemetery and had a cup of coffee at a place Jean had recommended. Nice coffee, nicer raspberry and vanilla slice ...

Home once more I popped the eggs under the broody girls (who couldn't believe their luck and now have them all tucked up and cosy). They had obviously been out for a constitutional during the day as there was a big poo in the cage (times two). That is actually a relief as it did occur to me this morning that the hole into the run was a bit small for them.

Then I returned to potting up yesterday's purchases and planting some tomato seeds for future plantings. I have about a dozen each of Roma and Grosse Lisse planted, as well as a tommy toe (I had one pot left over from the herbs) as well as rocket and parsley for the kitchen bench. I concluded it will be necessary to substitute a shelf for a window-sill so spent some time thinking about suitable designs for that.

Then a quick circuit of the fruit trees and hedge to ensure nothing was dying of thirst and back inside to settle down for the evening. Fingers crossed for a good hatching, though I at least have an incubator as backup if things go wrong in the mean time (chooks dying of heat exhaustion, starvation etc as they are wont to do).

Weather permitting tomorrow, I will try to establish a couple more raised beds in a terrace where the soil fill slopes down to natural ground level, so I am ready to plant out the tomatoes when the weather is a little kinder.

Today was fairly productive really, all things considered. I headed into Hobart via various Freecycle pickup and delivery points - jam jars from Pontville, stuff for eye patches to be delivered in Glenorchy - then on to Bunnings where they have three pots on a tray suitable for kitchen bench herbs. Very useful as i recently purchased some packs of herb-and-soil-in-foil as a fundraiser for Rural Youth. So I now have three pots of basil, dill and coriander planted up, and three more to go tomorrow when I am feeling slightly more energetic. Also bought two tomato plants - no idea what these varieties are but they looked interesting and they are grafted plants (though one graft looks most unusual) and some seeds for Grosse Lisse and Roma to be planted tomorrow in toilet roll tubes for growing on.

Then I went into town as I had it in my head I needed to go to Spotlight, but whatever it was I needed there, I forgot so I came away with some Christmas flat quarters and that was it. One is an exceedingly hideous glittery fabric, but yesterday at quilting someone had some patterns for Christmas decorations and it should look good as a component of those. Still convinced there was something I needed I headed to the Needlewoman but she didn't have what I wanted either (or if she did, I failed to recognise it) and so onto Spice World for some black mustard seeds and some curry leaves. But they didn;t have black mustard seeds, so I bought brown ones instead, curry leaves as per the schedule, mace blades, because you can't get them anywhere else, and a couple of packages of dried mushrooms for adding to casseroles when i have forgotten to get any and they are not growing in the back garden.

En route I passed a bicycle shop and out the front was my fantasy bicycle - a lovely solid Ladie's bike with a big platform out the front for a pannier. I got quite excited till I saw the price ... Oh well, may be I won lotto last week and can get it next time I am in town ...

Back to the car via Cat and Fiddle where allegedly there is a seconds shop but I am blowed if I could find it, so back to the car and out with the referdex to find my next destination. It was a house in Howrah where I had freecycled a guineapig cage which is just the thing for my broodies - a little raised front to hold the nesting materials in, wire all round, metal roof on the box and a flap at the front for food and water while they settle in, and for a ramp once they are herding baby chicks around. The ramp will not be necessary for the girls as they will be able to just step out when they want to take a consitutional while broody. They will be transferred to this palace tonight and their eggs given to them tomorrow. Tonight they will get three each of Rastus eggs to keep them happy and to add to their allocated dozens. I figure with two girls sharing a nest they should manage a few additional eggs.

It is actually not the done thing to have your broodies share a nest - they should be kept separate in case on hatching, one hen attacks the chicks of the other hen, but these two girls will not settle to brooding unless they are sharing a nest. I will just need to keep an eye on things when hatching time comes around and if there are problems, transfer one into the rabbit hutch.

Once they are done with the guineapig house I may just contemplate rabbit breeding ... or maybe not this year.

On the way home I indulged in a little impromptu sheep herding as a couple of lads had just moved a mob into a new paddock and the inevitable one lamb had become separated and run up the road on the wrong side of the fence. So I drove ahead and turned it so they could get it into the paddock with the rest of the sheep - loving this rural life! I had no idea I could run that fast! I certainly couldn't 18 months ago.

Then I called into Jeans with a ball of brown wool that she wanted for darning the arm of a favourite comfy chair, a cuppa, a chat and then home, finally to unpack the car and cut some wood for the fire.

The trouble with Daylight savings is that you want to be out in the yard until all hours if the weather is good, as it was today. Fortunately a wind put a stop to that idea so I am indoors and getting organised for a day in Hobart tomorrow. I have to pick up some freecycle stuff, and deliver more freecycle stuff (I offered as she is homebound with children) and get some necessary building supplies for the chooks and some paint for the bee box because I really should get around to collecting my bees sometime soon and .... well, you really are not interested in the whole list.

Today was quilting and we had another group come to join with us today. They are a really noisy lot so I have a bit of a headache after being stuck in the room with them all day. They do not seem capable of communicating at less than 500 decibels, even when sitting next to each other. Fortunately I was at the far end of the space and around a corner so it was a little more muted that might have been the case otherwise.

Lyn remembered to bring my cake boxes so they are now safely stashed back where they belong and apparently the Fete raised over $2000 which is a great day from a small community. The fine weather apparently brought people out in droves.

Was a bit worried to see both my broody hens scuttling around the yard this morning, but they were apparently just stretching their legs and are both now safely back on the nest. The other hens have given up on queuing for the nest and have taken to laying elsewhere, which is good as I hate having to lift them up to remove eggs.

The car now runs like a dream with its new timing belt and whatever else they did to it - but the bank account is in ruins from the costs associated with the work. This guy has a reputation for being a good mechanic but very pricey, and so he is. Oh well, it is done now.

Got a lift into town and back to the car from one of the quilting ladies, so was saved the exercise of walking into town, though was fighting off offers of lifts from various folk who were kind enough to consider I might need one. I do love living in the country for that reason alone.

Dinner tonight is the rest of the corned beef with mash, parsely sauce and whatever I can graze out of the garden.

Well, I was so tired yesterday that I fed the chooks, came back up to the house, had a nap, then went outside and tripped over Rastus who had taken advantage of the gate I left completely open and brought the girls out for a stroll. But then, when I went to be I couldn't sleep because it was so darn warm in the bedroom - 17 degrees!! But I nodded off eventually and woke this morning latish. Then off to quilting for a show and tell. Jean was so impressed with the photo I took of a hexagon quilt she is going to try to make one herself. She likes working with hexagons, but is not normally quite so ambitious. I imagine though that hers will be rather larger hexagons than the half inch ones in the photo.

Came home, fed the various livestock then watered all the fruit trees - really an excuse to check on progress which is quite slow. No sign of blossom on any of them, sad to say. But leaf buds poking through all around so at least they are alive. The hedge also got a bit of a soak, and some cabbages were pulled, and the carrots thinned. So a fairly lazy day, but really all I had the energy for. Tomorrow I will be dropping the car off en route to quilting, and since we have another group joining us in our fairly cramped quarters, it will be hand-sewing all round I suspect.

Saturday morning dawned foggy and bleak, but surprisingly not too cold which was a good thing as I was planning to dress for a warmish day. Ran around like a headless chook changing sheets on the bed, feeding the chooks, making sure the dog had done what was needful and drove off into the fog. I stopped at Campbell Town as I realised I had forgotten to have breakfast so I bought some sandwiches for on the plane. But they didn't get eaten on the plane as my handbag was removed and put in a locker, me being in the front row by the emergency exit.

On arrival in Melbourne I went to Hertz for the car but discovered that they had run out of small cars of the variety I had booked so had to take a much larger vehicle which turned out to be a good choice for the long drive. It had cruise control which I finally managed to work out by the time I got to Ballarat which made the whole journey a lot easier. There was a little trouble with the credit card as it did not have enough money on it, but luckily my English bank account is still active so it all went onto that and i set off.

Problem was, I had no idea where I was going, but spotted a sign to Sunbury which I remembered was en route and so followed that. Once i got to Sunbury, however, I was hopelessly lost so followed a sign that seemed to be heading west, then another sign, then another and ended up a Gisborne where I was disconcerted to see signs to Castlemaine and Bendigo. Definitely the wrong direction. But since the sun was still in the right position I kept on and finally found a sign to Bacchus Marsh which seemed about right, and from there I was definitely heading in the right direction.

Fortunately I had plenty of time up my sleeve so the diversion was not that problematic. The big problem was that the road has changed and so Ballarat is a side trip, as are all the other landmark towns. The Tarara Road House is now a huge Caltex complex that has a maccas, so I forewent my anticipated Trucker's Lunch and resorted to those sandwiches.

At Stawell I spotted a sign to a quilting exhibition, so broke my journey (and my bank account) by stopping off to have a look. The quilts were spectacular, and this is the one I gave my 'viewer's choice' to. I also lashed out and bought multiple fabric and a pattern ... The pattern is for a rectangular cushion with the stitchery being a feature of the front panel, some other panels either side and down the right hand side it is ruched - all very arte nouveau.




Following Andrew's directions i found the big blue sign, but there was no driveway anywhere near it. Nor was there a driveway near the rest area with the same name. So after driving around in circles for a while I phoned him. But there was no answer on the mobile and the homephone went to Messenger service. So I left a message asking him to give me a call (but forgot to leave my phone number) and drove into Horsham proper where i found the Exchange Hotel does an excellent coffee. Then I got bored so went for a drive out to College, but once again, the roads have changed, so I got half way to Warracknabeal before turning back to Horsham where i called into a bottle shop and picked up some wine. I spotted a box of little white boxes that intrigued me so I asked and they gave me one. Here is what was inside - it is a radio, believe it or not! I then headed out toward the big blue signs, and discovered that the one on the Horsham side had a driveway near it. So I went down the driveway and found I had arrived safely.

It being Grand Final replay weekend, and me being in Victoria, everyone was sprawled in front of a large wide-screen telly watching the play. It was a little overwhelming to walk into a room full of strangers who, on closer examination turned out to be old friends, but then it has been many years since I had seen any of them, and even Andrew, who I have seem most recently, it was 1983 at the time... As you know, I had anticipated sleeping on the floor so was thrilled when a mattress, pillow and doona were wheeled out for my use. I shared a room with PB who was one of my closest friends at college and we got to talk about all manner of things.

Fortunately we were all Collingwood supporters (or if we weren't no-one was letting on) and so we had a good start to the evening with a thrashing for the Saints. I had carefully selected my little black dress as it has a black and white flounce that peeks out of a slit down the side when you walk. As an exercise in caution, I had also packed some red stockings, but fortunately they were not needed and I wore my grey tights instead. And so we departed to the dinner. There was some debate about driving and whether to catch taxis, but we concluded that we should drive in, then re-evaluate the situation on departure. As it was we ended up driving both ways, so it is a good thing the local coppers were busy monitoring the town's many pubs for footyfan celebrations. In my souped up silver car with double exhaust pipes and spoiler on the back it would have been hard to convince them I was a responsible citizen in normal life, lol.

The dinner was, as all such things are, a little average in the food department, but each place setting had a souvenir wine glass and I actually managed to get mine home safely. Speeches were hilarious - first an old student from the 1940s, then Scottie - who was the first female student at the college and was still there as a third year when I arrived. She was actually the person who managed to manoeuvre the college into allowing female students, but that first year, all four female students had to live off campus to maintain proprieties. Then another chap came along who had been a student after us, but had come back as a lecturer and he told all manner of tales, many of which originated during out period at college. The best one, of course, was the one about the brand new tractor that we convinced the administration had been driven into a dam. It was actually hidden in a hay stack, but the tracks went up to the dam edge, and there was an exhaust pipe emerging above the water at the deepest point so all the evidence pointed to it having been sunk and destroyed. They hated April Fools Day when we were there... Though they got their own back the year we stacked bales of hay across the college driveway. A lecturer got up early, spotted the bales and ran screaming into the dorm yelling that there had been a school bus crash into the bales, injuring small children and so forth, which sent students helterskelter for the phones and calling emergency services (who had all been primed and so did not turn out). When it all sorted itself out the lecturer pointed out that April Fools Day was not just for students, lol.

We posed for the obligatory group photo, and Daisy, Andrew's partner, took it so we could all be there, present and correct (at least the ones of our year who attended). That's me in the middle of the back row.

Then back to Andrew's house were we sat around chatting till 2 in the morning, at which stage I went to bed. Surprisingly enough we were all up by 8 the next morning (daylight savings having intervened, so it was really 7 am) and i was one of the last to emerge. It took me some time to realise I was also the only one still in PJs, the others having showered and dressed already... We were treated to an endless breakfast of coffee, eggs, bacon, orange juice and so forth before heading to College for the Recovery at eleventhirty. That was, of course a very tame affair by our standards, being organised by the administration, but gave us a chance to check out all the photos and other memorabilia that had been organised by the staff. There was bus tours of the campus organised, but we opted to do our own walking tour around the remembered places.

It was so sad. The college started to go downhill shortly after we left though the Principle tried to keep it going. By the time i visited in the '80s it was no longer running the three-year course we had enrolled for (and some of us even completed!) but was running short courses on a variety of subjects. Then Melbourne Uni took over the place and let it run down even further, as the academics could not get their head around the idea it was practical farming that was taught there, not research for the sake of research. Once our principal retired, the new chap came in a threw out all of the images, records and documentation that had been accumulated over the years. They do not even own a complete set of the college magazine ... So sad

Our old haunts are unrecognisable, though the dormitory accommodation has not been updated since our day (well, the bathrooms now have individual cubicles with doors on them in the shower area, but the tiles are the same, the urinals are still boxed off as they were to protect our maidenly modesty back in 1974 and so forth). The rooms even seem to have the same beds in them, and certainly the same bookshelves and built-in desks.

But out on the farm the devastation was heartbreaking. All that remains of the piggery is the cesspool where unlucky first years were dunked if they offended their seniors The butchery where we learned to slaughter animals is derelict and all that remains is the boiler in which water was heated for processing the pigs The dairy was just a building - no bales, no nothing. And the office off the building still contained all the teaching material that its last occupant had used, like the Marie Celeste. and the chook sheds are gone. Not a sign of them anywhere ... The orchard has been bull-dozed. The old Homestead, which was the principal's residence has been partitioned off and is no longer part of the campus. Nothing is left but the people.

After that rather depressing tour, we returned to the quadrangle where they were serving lunch and caught up with our old princpal, who seems to have forgiven us our misdeeds and was glad to catch up and chat with us all. He even introduced me to the new principal (the most recent appointment) as 'I remember this little girl when she first arrived ...' and went on to recount his horror when confronted with a slender girl wearing a violet peplum-waisted summer suit and a wide lavendar straw hat at the station, and his subsequent relief when the next day I turned out in shorts, singlet top and blundstones for the Farm Tour that was obligatory for students arriving for interview.
The time came to leave and i decided to take the back road to the highway, and inevitably missed the correct turn off. But that was a good thing as I came across the Yarriambiack Creek, which was the scene of many an illegal barbecue on a College sheep that had been illlictly slaughtered, then hung in a spare bedroom until the barbecue date arrived, to be consumed along with home brew developed in the ceiling of the residential wing.

And here is evidence of past misdeeds on the Yarriambiack - I took the photo, so no point looking for me in the scrum ...


I eventually found Stawell and so was on my way back to the airport. Won't bore you with the details of the trip home, no real adventures. Was so whacked when I arrived home that that absence of any lights did not help at all. So I staggered out to the front, found my key courtesy of the streetlights, and let myself in the front door to the great delight of the dog and cats. Who naturally all demanded to be fed again.

Slept till 8:30 this morning, and have done diddly-squat all day. Though I am feeling slightly less shattered than I was this morning.

Things got a bit busy around here today. First there was endless cooking to do for the fete - so we now have raspberry slice, peanut crunch, chocolate bikkies, coconut bikkies, banana loaf and I think that is all. In between I was doing a load of washing to take advantage of the lovely day, sorting out broody hens into suitable accommodation. Wondering if I have yet another one as the other black hen seemed to be glued to the nest today and i only got one egg out of the lot of them. And generally making sure they all have water and a food supply. I will fill up the hopper tonight so that if the plumber does forget to feed them they won't starve (not that they don't all have plenty of extra meat on them anyway). And I watered the potted plants as we seem to be due for a bit of a heat wave this weekend. Hope the same can be said for Horsham as I am packing light (carry-on only, and most of that is the sleeping bag).

Tonight i have to make out a list of the things the plumber needs to know, print out my itinerary and car booking info, and sort through the makeup to ensure i have at least of everything I will need to make myself pretty and get rid of the muck once i have done with it. Might also look out a necklace as the dress looks fairly severe without some sort of ornamentation (yes, the dress is back and fits beautifully now, though she could have taken a little more off under the armholes ....)

Picked some flowers and helped set up the hall, and now all I have to do is work out what is for dinner - not sure chocolate bikkies and raspberry slice rejects will do the job.

Hopefully I will then only have to strip the bed and change the sheets in the morning, organise a path through the house so Johnathan does not break something moving around, feed the chooks and the cats and make sure the geese have water. Hope they don't insist on playing silly games with toilet paper on the plane tomorrow as i plan to do a bit of dozing. Oh, and hide the key so he can get in ... so many things to think about, I am not used to this sort of pressure, lol.

Oh, and no updates for the next two days BTW - tomorrow i will be busy and Sunday I don't get home till nearly midnight so will be too knackered to do owt but fall into bed I suspect (after letting the dog out who will have had his legs crossed for several hours)