So this is the hugelkultur so far. Hole dug, thin rotted wood laid, larger rotted lumps of wood laid with thinner bits installed between them. A fairly loose structure so far. Now I will be adding the thin rubbish that accumulates when you have a pile of firewood with bits dropping off it. These will  be thrown over the top of the larger bits and accompanied by the chainsaw waste. Then compost from the compost head will be added then soil and the commercial compost on top.

Next time it rains I will be running the hose into it as well so as to soak the wood and soil, before adding the layers.

At the moment it looks like a barbecue pit, don't you think? Now if I just had a large lump of lamb to throw on top............

Smidgen's abscess is healing nicely - thin, clear serum today instead of the nasty muck so we seem to have managed to avoid the vets once more.

In celebration I did a rather rash thing! I bought a food processor!! I know, I have been moaning about not having one for years but they all seem to come with so many little bits and pieces and are so placky tacky they have not appealed.

This one does. It is a Bosco as1200HD. Cast metal body, metal gears, 1200-1400w motor and all the bells and whistles. And all in one compact unit. It has a sausage mincer/extruder, pasta former, cooky extruder, blender (glass jug), spice grinder as well as two dough hooks and so forth. Half the price of a kitchenaid, but double the accessories. Why wouldn't I. If you want to rush in and get one too they are available online at Boscoappliances.com. Oh, and the recipe book (available online after purchase) has some great recipes in it.
And delivery is FREE!!
Sorry, couldn't resist it really.

This may not look like terribly much progress, but the area on the left is mainly loose fill to be removed by hand (since there are too many rocks in it for spade work). The largest of the rocks at the top of the image is over 40cm long, so gives you some insight into the digging conditions. Other large rocks have been relocated to my stockpile for future use in raising a wall around the future terrace at the back door. Doubt I will dig much deeper than this as the metal tank ring on top of this should give me over three feet of depth on the left hand side and that will do me fine. Reassuringly I have found moist soil as I go down, though it is drying out rapidly with today's wind. There is rain forecast for later in the week, so my goal is to have the timber in place before then so I can cover it over while it is wet from the rain. Might pre-soak it in fact, in the wheelbarrow.

Smidgen has developed an ulcer. I noticed an unusually well developed muscle pad at the base of his tail which, on closer observation, and some judicious hair removal, proved to be an ulcer. It is now draining freely (yuck) to the detriment of my soft furnishings as he is unable to bend that far (being rather portly) to clean it up, though he is doing his best and I am assisting with cotton pads at regular intervals. I suspect all in vain as the pocket of infection is between the base of his tail and the opening, so while it is draining, it is also accumulating in the pocket. A trip to the vet may be required if we do not make progress over the next few days.

So what else? I have drafted my speech for the open day, drafted a petition for signatures at the Sustainable Living Festival (and anywhere else people might like to display it) and re-drafted our Information Sheet for the Sustainable Living Festival also. Finalised the gardening notes for November poised to print of 100 copies for distribution on the Open Day and dropped into town for a lunchtime treat at the Companion Bakery (toasted sourdough with scrambled free-range eggs and local bacon with a large mug of coffee), picked up my Our Tasmania - not for Shale bumper sticker but not installed it as the website is not yet live and am now contemplating an evening of icecream and chocolate topping (well, a slice of spinach and pine nut quiche before that...)

Having now read the instructions for these kugelhopfs or whatever they are called gardens, I discovered you are supposed to dig down about five feet (since the metal rings are 30cm high). So i think mine will be a modified version. Am down 30 cms on one side of the hole (sloping site) and about 10 on the other. It was about then that Shadow dropped his ball on my foot with a very meaningful glare (after several earlier attempts) so we went for a walk around the lake.

And somehow the digging has not resumed. Funny that. Still, I am able to harvest a fair bit of gravel from this location once I start putting the soil back into the hole - I will use my gemmology sieve so it may be a slow process. The gravel will, in turn allow me to make cement so the clothesline can make some progress too.

The run into town this morning garnered sufficient groceries to keep me happy for a bit. And I escaped without running into anyone who wanted to chat - miraculous! I am currently buying milk in one litre cartons so I can save up five to make blanching tubes for the celery. Not terribly economical, but hey it works for me.

The tomatoes are still alive and have put out two new leaves at the top. They are doing better than my 'frost resistant' native hops which were badly burned by that really hard frost we had a few weeks back and which are not recovered yet. It was all new growth, so I guess only to be expected. Once the next frost is passed I will prune them back to the older growth and see if they will start over with a boost of seasol.

Apple trees are all afroth with blossom right now which is a lovely sight. Hopefully I might get some apples off them this year if the parrots leave them alone. I plan to net them when the fruit starts forming.

Just got back from a poke around inside the school's storage shed (only one of them, sadly as we found more than sufficient for our immediate needs in that, though no useable book shelves for me :-( ). So we now have kiddy-sized tables and chairs as well as adult size ones for the clay play, storage facililties for the garden shed and more tables than you can poke a stick at. If you are after a timber table suitable for a shack dining table, a timber knee-hole desk or a comfy if unattractively upholstered chair, then get in early as they will be selling at ridiculously low prices.

Another argument about the cost of signs today (going round in circles here) so I have emailed the Huon group to see how much they are charging (we will, after all be sharing space at the Sustainability Festival or expo or whatever it is). And collected my version of the garden plans so the school board had something to think about at their meeting (which approved Workskills Team, yay).

Have apparently been nominated to be the additional speaker at the Opening of the Garden on Saturday so if you want to see me looking silly then come along on Saturday 3 at 11 am as that is when it is all happening!

my own garden got some water to compensate for the drying wind, but not much else attention.

Oh, and I discovered that in addition to organising the artist I am apparently in charge of organsing her payment (nice to let me know) so have sent off a frantic email to Council to see how we do that. No reply as yet so will chase it up tomorrow also.

Launched an attack on the long grass which lasted all of 15 minutes before I realised the handle of the lawnmower was missing a bit. That would be the bit that holds the handle onto the lower portion of the handle - the big round plastic screw thingy. No idea where it got to as I have backtracked over the path of my activities and there is no sign of it anywhere. So I went inside to sulk for a bit before remembering i had some longish nuts and bolts in the spare room somewhere. Found these after a minor search and voila they fitted. So I did a bit more slashing before exhaustion set in. Still no sign of the big black screw thingy, so I guess it is lost somewhere down there. Hopefully it will put in an appearance at some point in time - and even more hopefully I will recognise it for what it is when I do spot it once more. I have entire selections of screws, nuts and widgets that I find which have clearly fallen off something, but can rarely find them when I relocate the place from whence they fell.

Then cut a few sticks of wood for tonight's fire (the days are milder but the evenings and nights still cool) and then positioned and marked out the location for one of the raised beds. Not got much further on that, sad to say, but at least I am ready to rock and roll when the spirit moves me to do so (hopefully tomorrow).

Well my friend let me down and did not turn up until this morning. But the wood she delivered will be useful. Mainly 'brash' from the trees they cut down two or three years back it is thin, dry and ideal for building the lastest type of raised bed I have read about, the name of which eludes me. Basically the concept is that you build a pile of rotted timber then cover it with sawdust and leaf rubbish (in my case probably the contents of one of the compost bins) and add soil on top. The timber retains moisture (think fallen trees in rainforests sitting there oozing moisture) and so you don't have to water so often. Not sure how this sits with the chemistry of avoiding sawdust in your garden unless you have a high nitrogen fertiliser, but worth a try I reckon since I don't have enough soil to fill them up to the top.

So next problem was heading into town to make scarecrows. Clearly my understanding of scarecrows diverges from that of the others, but at least there was a frame to build mine on, and enough straw to poke out of the openings around neck, hands and ankles. The other three are more what I would call poseable dummies, with no frame and little straw.

The howling gales that traditionally accompany show week have continued to blight outdoor activity, so apart from bunging in some of the celery seedlings (which are pot-bound and not coping with the drying wind), I didn't get much else done apart from engaging in a discussion on FB about the Tasmanian Forest Industry.

Was planning to do some planting today but instead spent several hours digging up plants in the over-the-road neighbour's yard. You might remember he said I could have his bulbs for the Open Day? He forgot to mention he expected me to dig them up. So two barrow loads of bulbs and plants (doesn't sound much but remember between each barrow load it was necessary to sort them, bundle them, stack them and get them ready and identifiable for the Open Day. I now have two milk crates full of daffodil bulbs bundled into 12s, a sack full of jonquil bulbs bundled into 12s, half a sack of sicilian bluebells, nine paper bags with a bit over 20 grape hycinths, 11 pots of hellebores and two of hellebore roots and my back is killing me, and the loungeroom festooned with sacks. Brought them indoors as rain is threatened and drying them out seems a good idea (the bulbs, that is, the hellbores are outside waiting for the rain).

Time for a cuppa before my friend arrives with the uteload of wood for me to cut up for the fire (hope she remembers you can't burn treated timber this time).

Well everything seems to have survived the cold weather (snow to 500m again today) and galeforce winds - me included. Headed down to Sorell for the market but was disappointed to find that outdoor stall holders had either not bothered to turn up at all, or had gone as soon as they arrived. Those indoors had an interesting array of stuff, but the only plants on offer were not of the edible variety. What I did find, however was these little beauties:

Each tray is actually a pair of trays to make a mini-green-house. Inside each tray is two of the strange egg-carton-looking planters as well as 40 minipots all made from coarse papier mache for easy breakdown once in the soil. In addition are labels, a pencil, a dibber and mini-shovel as well as a pair of gardening gloves (of such doubtful quality and minute size that they will probably go straight in the bin). Add to this that each tray cost a mere $4.00 and I have myself a bargain!!

From there we went to Banjos for coffee and a breakfast muffin of sorts, and a trail around the various plant outlets until I had accumulated the seedlings i had sought. So I now have celery plants (enough for me and the teachers garden), beetroot plants, spinach, leek and basil plants as well as seeds for more beetroot. So the beetroot and some carrot seeds will be bunged into the tube-pots (and maybe some parsnip seeds) and perhaps this time I might achieve something!! One can but try. To my great surprise (having resigned myself to buying basil plants) the first of the basil seedlings has emerged in the mini-hot-house I have on the kitchen counter as well, so I should be making pesto all summer, I hope.

Also at the Market I collected two half quiches of the monstrous variety. A slice of one (one eighth of the total quiche) will be dinner tonight with garden salad and such like: the rest will go in the freezer in single-serve slices. Perhaps not the ideal dinner for a snowy day but it will be tasty at least and nutritious.

Home in time to have my efforts at cutting firewood thwarted by a heavy shower, but re-visited once that was passed so I now have sufficient wood to survive the night (brr it's cold when the sun is in!).

The less said about the chocolate slice that failed to survive until dessert time, the better.

Last night while snuggling the tomatoes into bed, I also took the opportunity to pop in seeds for bush beans (french beans) in the row marked by one solitary butter bean; some multi-coloured carrots and some mixed lettuce seeds. I covered these with damp hessian as an attempt to temporarily protect them from marauding cats, then watered the hessian down. Despite subsequent rain showers the hessian was several metres away this afternoon when I returned from Sorell so is now back indoors in disgrace. Hopefully I can be organised enough to cut some mesh to size tomorrow to avoid further consequences. Assuming my volunteer activities do not thwart my plans once again.

It rained in a drizzly sort of way for much of the morning. Despite this two loads of washing were done and are drying on the airers - aided by the lighting of the fire since they were sitting there damply for some time. I rashly decided to downgrade to summer pjs before checking the weather forecast, so this may be revised come bedtime as it is to be one degree tonight (time to wrap up those tomato plants once more). I spent some of this afternoon wandering the garden to see what, if anything, had survived the depredations of cat toiletting habits. This, in combination with seeds past their use-by date, has resulted in one butter bean plant, three sugar snap peas (irregularly distributed across the bed) and one beetroot (which will become a salad plant instead of a root plant since it is so solitary. The broad beans seems to be doing rather better though, so at least something is growing. Also, the fresh broccolini seeds are up and racing as is whatever it is I planted in the other row alongside them (parsnips, perhaps?).

More encouragingly, of the four grape sticks that produced leaves but no roots, two survived the last frost in their pots and one has produced two bunches of grapes. Needless to say this is futile as they will be pinched out now I have the photo, but a good start and they will be coming indoors soon given the forecast (just as soon as I go out to tuck up the tomatoes).

In case you are having trouble spotting them, they are at the base of the left hand leaf, and another just to the right of the white patch which is the back side of another new leaf!!

The kentish cherry is in blossom and the medlar is about to bloom while the apples are starting to progressively bloom from the bottom of the orchard up toward the top. The crab apples are in bud as well, so a good start to the season: time will tell how it ends.

Tomorrow being Show Day, the Sorell Market has been brought forward. So I will be heading down there with a view to collecting whatever plants and seedlings I can afford to fill the gaps in the garden. I also have four packets of seeds (bush green beans, two different varieties of carrot and some lettuce medley) which I can pop in once I cut some mesh to protect the soil. Meantime it is all weeded and turned over in anticipation. Some horse poo will be buried under the celery plants I hope to get tomorrow, or failing that, at our Open Day.

Progress is happening two steps forward, one backward on that one, and meantime Aurora has exceeded expectations and rolled into action on the matter of the Hall power bills. They are sending me a letter that I can in turn deliver to the present committee. Fingers crossed there is someone on the committee capable of reading it and responding appropriately.

Oh dear. The stallion pony appears to have been replaced by two horses now. Unclear as to whether they are tethered but I sincerely doubt it. So it will be horse city around here soon I expect since the fences have not yet been attended to. I really do have to wonder what goes through their heads at times.

This morning I had a nice lie-in as the overnight temps had been immoderate and I did not sleep well. Then leapt out of bed to get into town in time to meet the sculptor who will be working on the Open Day. She has good ideas for the garden sculpture as well so hopefully we can work out a way to get the school to pay her for her work.

So I met up with Kim once she found the school and we had a good gab about the open day planning and also her life in general, then off I went to Diana's to collect eggs, mint and a few packets of seeds she donated to our stall, and on to Eleanors to have a council of war about how to progress the open day when the main obstacle to progress was not communicating with us. Suggested we suggest to him that since he is so busy he could delegate responsibilities to us ... fat chance.

I personally doubt he will since he does not want the school to see who is doing all the work (thus setting things up nicely for his preferred candidate for the presently non-existent position of teaching assistant (who has, by the way, made no effort to become involved so far). Perhaps I am becoming cynical in my old age.

So now I am home and drafting a response to the extraordinary letter I have just received from the now-President of the Parattah Hall committee in response to my demand they remove my letter from the Aurora account. Having phoned Aurora and found out what the obstacle is (they require a business administration number which, of course, is part of the records provided to the incoming committee and completely unknown to me as I was not Treasurer), and ascertained they will not hold me personally responsible for the account, I am now in a stronger position to reply to the remarkable allegations contained in the letter. Basically Bob's approach to life is that, when in the wrong, attack your accuser with counter-allegations. He may get away with that with some, but he is certainly not getting away with it from me. So my response is courteous, points out where the information may be found, reminds him this would have been conveyed to him 14 months ago had he had the courtesy to respond to my earlier efforts to resolve the matter, and informs him he might like to get on and deal with it if he wishes to avoid disconnection (I will in future be binning the bills).

Sorry little apology for a human being that he is ... grrrr

Despite the best intentions, today was even less productive than yesterday. Rain all morning put a dampener on plans for cutting more grass, a visitor stalled activities even further, and then a trip into town turned into a bit of a saga and here is it 4:30 and the sun is finally out but I am already winding down for the day. Oh well, there is always tomorrow...

I did manage to organise the printing of some 80 fliers for the open day, write the November gardening notes for distribution at said Open Day and conclude that my partner in crime has no idea how computers work (I bcc'd her into an email and what does she do? Hits Reply All ... so much for confidentiality.

Another surprisingly warm and sunny day today and the wind dropped to a dull roar so I mowed vast swathes of grass (though not all of it by a long stretch) and exhausted myself and had to have a little lie down. The dog who could barely move last night, seems to be easing back into action today - his muscles had seized up, poor darling. He had a nice long loaf in the sun while I mowed, so hopefully that helped.

As that was all so exhausting I repotted two lavenders (into larger pots as I still have nowhere to plant them) and gave everything a dose of seasol, especially the lettuces which I had ravaged for the salad last night. Tonight it is marinated chicken drumsticks (also from the Triabunna butcher) which I have just popped in the oven. No idea what I will be eating them with as the vege situation is a bit dire, and rhubarb does not quite strike the right note. Maybe pluck some asparagus, do you think? Especially as I can get down to it without having to take a machete with me now. Maybe some tinned bean salad? who knows - whatever inspiration strikes once they are done I suspect.

The gods smiled on my birthday and the day at the beach was lovely. The dog and I had a wonderful time and he attracted his usual throng of admirers so came home exhausted and smug to tell the cats what they missed out on. We continued on to Triabunna in search of some fresh fish but the best I could come up with was a nice bit T-bone steak from the Triabunna Butcher which will be garnished with some lettuce from the garden and other salad bits and pieces from the fridge. I have not been to Triabunna since I was about 16 and a crowd of us went to Maria Island for a camping trip. It is an interesting, albeit dying village with heaps of unrealised potential. My latest 'when I win lotto' plan is to buy this suite of buildings which are down near the Marina. The two warehouses would make great high-end accommodation for passing yachties. Between the Marina and the warehouses is the pub which would also respond nicely to special care.

Just opposite these lovelies is a Christmas shop with all manner of exotic Christmas decorations all year around. Seems an odd venture in such a location but appears to be doing OK (it's still there a couple of years after establishment).

Other than that we bought fish and chips at the Marina and ate them in the sunshine then drove home (after topping up the oil as things were getting warm in all the wrong places.)

Glorious weather for the beach, but a but windy now (glad things are still very green, but time to get serious about the mowing I think!)

 Shadow will only go in the water if given an incentive. We found a tennis ball which did the trick, but now his muscles are so sore he can barely stand, poor lad....

Ok, well the Irish Famine book was so dry and statistically based that it really wasn't worth the effort of continually shoving back in the pages that were falling out of it, so it was set aside in favour of my third choice. This is pure fiction of the Name of the Rose sort of genre but nevertheless an entertaining read, so is keeping me busy with its twists and turns. The basic premise is that modern day English descendents of Dr Dee (Queen Elizabeth's science/astologer) are being drawn back into a past unresolved mystery. Complicated by one of the main male characters dying early on in the place and his doctor brother commencing a relationship with the woman who received the character's heart in a transplant operation. So, despite an American bad guy cousin, it is coming along nicely.

A meeting of our Committee today hopefully resolved a few things we have discussed endlessly, agreed we should do something about and failed to act on. And we have agreed on the wording for a bumper sticker which we will be marketting at the Sustainable Living Festival in mid November (hopefully alongside our signs and membership opportunities).

The weather was less than helpful today - cold snow winds on a warm day so that inside it was freezing cold, and outside it was too warm in shelter and too windy and cold outside shelter. So apart from watering the garden and fiddling with the odd thing here and there, nothing much was done. And even less will be done tomorrow if I have anything to say about the matter as the dog and I are planning a trip to the Beach! to enjoy that 21 degree weather.

So completely over this windy weather. Last night it rained (15.5mm) and this morning was still and sunny - ah, says me, a good day for the garden.... until I was half way through my weetbix and the wind and rain arrived once more - and have been sporadically charging through for the rest of the day.

Last night's casserole was so good it is also dinner tonight (with the rest getting frozen for 'ron).

Finished my book about the Japanese soldier who made it his life's mission to go back to New Guinea to repatriate the remains of his comrades (an extraordinary tale if you can find it in the library) and am about to move on to an undoubtedly deeply depressing book about the Irish Famine. The Japanese soldier book is called "The Bone man of Kokoda"  by Charles Happel - an interesting insight to the other side of the story, only possible now when we are all fairly inured to the horrors of war ... at a distance at any rate.

 I turned off the electrical boost on the hot water yesterday but still got a nice hot shower this morning - tomorrow after a 2 degree night might prove more interesting. But since the sun is up by the time i am in the shower these days, having the booster on seemed rather profligate.

So much for not volunteering... There was a takeover bid at the meeting last night, so since I am on the side of the angels I am now Vice President (thank heaven someone nominated for President is all I can say). The meeting went for some time due to various discussions (including the use of the lane etc, and possibly, hopefully, a fence down my boundary is not entirely out of the question). Then home to read myself down before bedtime.

This morning the first email I received related to the garden so I simply shot back and said I was tied up with the Railway committee and other matters. I then headed off to visit Gavin with the draft  letter for Derwent Valley Railways and the draft minutes had a cuppa and caught up with their gossip, then on to Jeans for another cuppa and a bag full of spring onionish type chives which I will plant carefully in a pot, since last time I planted them in the garden it became impossible to distinguish them from the chives after a while.

Then into town to the secondhand shop to see if he had any rectangular planters. Came home with a flat leaf parsley plant and two rectangular containers that will adapt happily as planters - all for $2.00. Then home to do some mowing but concluded mowing against a gale is never fun, so I finished off my last book and returned it and the others to the library where I traded them in for some more.

Tonight's dinner is from the CWA cook book and involves cubed beef, root vegetables and mushroom soup a the flavouring. It is alarmingly thick already (20 minutes into a 3 hour cooking process) so I must conclude I will need to check it's progress from time to time (though cooking seems to release a fair number of juices from the various ingredients.

So - howling gales rain and too warm to light the fire - what's a girl to do? It is laid in case I crack and feel the need later on. But now I think a cuppa and that book on the Japanese soldier who went back to New Guinea to recover the bones of his mates looks like the best option.

hmmmmmmmmm so much for my volunteering free day. Eleanor dropped around this morning with the plans and a kind hint I was trying to get too much done too soon (basically Stuart is balking as he hates feeling he is being asked to make too many decisions in one decade) and the draft MOU for me to fill in, and well, so it goes. Then into town for groceries (and an apple and cinamon pancake with proper coffee to cheer me up) and then typing up the minutes from the Railway committee meeting so I can hand them over at tonights Progress Association AGM, then requesting quotes for signs to be printed and fielding clarification emails from one printer at least, and just realising I should have sent it to a couple of local printers and.... gargh. At least the tomato seedlings remain healthy and well.
Also had a request for further information on my application for the Masters Course which involved having to find and scan my transcripts (fortunately to hand as I had them out to check years etc) and what else? Too much to remember really. And now it is quite cool so will be hoping they have lit the fire in the Recreation Club for the meeting.

Well Brrrrr - yesterday's snow did not amount to much, but since I have been out and about much of the day, the house is still chilly as today was cool and overcast and is now raining again (not in a meaningful way, but passing showers that would get you wet if you were out in them).

Today was mainly garden stuff - the Mobile Work Team from Workskills came up en masse and we talked through the tasks. I have had a look at Barry's re-design and decided it is fine with just a couple of tweaks (like cutting the 12.5 metre beds in half by inserting a 0.5 m path in the middle to avoid squabbles and make it easier to move around the garden beds), installing rain water tanks in the 'voids' created by buildings, re-using our stock of pavers to defined specific spaces, but otherwise having compacted gravel paths etc. The team seems ready to take on all of our activities for us, but first we need the school to agree to the plans etc And as a last minute obstacle, get the school to agree to us using the Mobile work team... sigh.

Fortunately all my garden commitments tomorrow have been rescheduled, so I can spend a day at home - and get myself organised a bit - not to mention cutting more firewood as I will use the present load up tonight. I can also pop into town to collect some groceries and fresh veges which will allow me to make tomorrow's stew. Tonight will be a little more basis - oven fries and sausages I think, unless I can find some chops in the freezer.

The lad next door is complaining of bullying at school. I suspect half his problem is that he is making himself a target, and also wearing out his welcome at the principals office where he runs to complain whenever he feels someone is being nasty to him. I have suggested he discuss it with his counsellor and also referred him to a teachers aide I know there who is also Catholic and may be able to help him sort out his views (part of the 'bullying' is a male student coming onto him which is freaking him out for any number of reasons). I think next time we talk I will suggest he keep a diary (partly to help him work out that a lot of what he is reacting to is pretty small beer really) and that will allow him t build up a picture, rather than running for help on a daily basis.

Cold and blustery today so I decided to get some work done on our various campaigns. I wish. At this rate we will have a sign printed up by around 2015 and maybe have responded to the numerous offers of help we get from community members which are referred to the President and VP for comment which never comes. Very annoying since i am in the forefront of all this correspondence (Being the secretary and all that, managing the email accounts and twitter accounts etc) and so am left feeling unable to respond for considerably longer than I am comfortable for ignoring others. sigh Spat the dummy today and threatened throwing in the towel in the hope of getting some action, but our President who was online at the time, simply logged off and has not been heard from. Very annoyed.

Threats of snow to 400m today, so those tomato seedlings will be well wrapped up before the sun goes down.

A good night's sleep and a long walk with the dog (he found a tennis ball along the way so he got more exercise than me) sorted me out, but not quickly enough to get to the Monsanto March to which I decided to give a miss. It has been overcast and grey with scattered sunshine and lots of wind - sometime gusting quite strongly. Too windy to get out and do stuff but too cool to be indoors comfortable. Irritating. Not cool enough to light the fire by a long stretch and if I were to move around actively I expect I would soon warm up, but there you go. I can't be bothered. I drafted a response to LTG and left it to the rest of them to sort out how to respond.

I am so knackered and so annoyed I may have to go to bed early tonight. Firstly the saga of our sign and LTG who are supposed to be on the same side as us but are so hell bent on driving the entire show they have actually caused us considerable delay in getting a sign printed and distributed. Their latest sally shows that their 'coordinator' has thrown a tantrum and will not deal with us any more while their central management want us to sign away all independence. We want to collaborate, they want to rule. Not helpful when they are campaigning against CSG and we are dealing with Shale Gas (or tight gas, as MRT would have us believe).

So that was round one.
Round two was a nice helpful chap who has some great ideas which we probably need to progress rapidly but since that seems to mean me and I am flat out organising the garden (more of that later) I can not rise to the occasion and neither can any of the other more reliable committee members. - this has been referred  to the committee for their comment and advice.
Round three was the plans for the garden - despite saying he did not want to get involved Barry has now decided to go ahead and design what he no doubt has wanted to design from the outset. Unfortunately while that is great for the Community Garden side of things, from the School garden side of things it is a disaster as the school will have requirements for disabled access (incorporated into my design) which are about to all get thrown out. Gah!

Then the afternoon in a blustering wind planting up the Teachers Garden with eleanor which had to commence with removing half the soil she and Barry have added to the bed with a fine disregard for the need to add mulch and other nutrients, then add the mulch and nutrients and then top it off with soil once more. Not aided by Eleanors tendency to ask your opinion then proceed without waiting for you to answer before she turns her back (she is deaf) and other sundry annoyances so I am feeling really gah tonight. Add to this, I don't get to see Barry's plan until we are meeting with Workskills on Monday morning and lord knows what changes he will have made that might need tinkering with once we have discussed it with the school (at least I hope we will be discussing it with the school). Too many cooks lead to chaos and acting before planning is disastrous but their preferred approach. Me, I like to do a job once and well - at least that is what I try to do...

So here is the teachers Garden at least - looking good I have to say despite miscommunication on a grand scale

 The light green blobs are lettuce seedlings from Eleanor's garden the green grassy stuff is chives. The two supports will have peas and scarlet runners on them ( once they grow)  and there are lots of other goodies there too. Eleanor was a little heavy handed with the Snail Bait, but live and learn. I read the instructions to her later ...

At home I finally succumbed and planted the strawberries in the planter which, as you can see, is down the side of the house near the gas bottles. It is a very windy spot, though gets sun most of the day at this time of year, so hopefully they will do well. Another small round tank at the garden (about 2 feet high) has been earmarked to become my mint bed - I will bury it into the ground and the depth of the container should surely curb the ambitions of the mint I grow in it.

A middling sized wind today deterred much outdoor activity but that was OK as  I was designing (redesigning) the School Garden to make the beds more useful and accessibly by wheelchairs. Presently a lot of the beds are way too wide for ease of use, and the paths are way to narrow for wheelbarrows, let alone wheelchairs and metres of usable land are under concrete bits and pieces. With the help of the Mobile WorkTeam from Workskills we can get rid of all this rubbish and start from scratch, which is what i am assuming will be the case. There are obvious immutables like the polytunnel and sheds, the footings for the glass house and the raised beds for the teacher's picking garden and children with limited mobility, but the rest should be viewed as disposable and so that is what I have done. It should work rather more effectively this way as all paths are inter-connected so that wheel-chair users (and wheelbarrow pushers) don't have to be backing up and turning all the time. I have extended the chicken run down the side of the shed to consume that negative space there, and have also added compost bins in three locations throughout the garden to avoid traffic jams and having to carry things too far. Seating in two or three locations and some under cover as well. Hope no-one else gets around to submitting their plans as I rather like mine!! lol.

On returning home from delivering that drawing I filled up the trough but have not yet planted it up as I am still having a debate with myself re: Mint vs chives and strawberries. Besides I have realised the mint Nathanial gave me is the perfumed variety rather than the sharp minty mint that I like (and which Dianna has in her garden if I can steal some cuttings). No progress on the new raised beds as I am still a bit bone-weary - I know I should work it out of my system, but I would rather read it out of my system on a day like today.

Spent the rest of my time drafting articles for newsletters, a flier for the Open Day, trying to work out what Eleanor is saying when she tells me a group is catering lunch for the day but then tells me not to say they are doing lunch because they might feel we are pre-empting them, and ... but it's all good. And submitted my supporting statement to UTAS for my application for the Masters Course.

This afternoon's scattered showers arrived at 7:30 this morning and they appear to have now settled into steady rain. Despite this we managed to get all the rubbish out of the Garden and start clearing the soil away from the various bits of paving, as well as finding a short section of pipe. We plan to remove all the pipes and start again as they appear to be as adhoc as the paths and other structures are. Since we have a scaled plan of the site (at long last) we are now going to redesign the layout from scratch. Some elements will be immutable such as the sheds and the heavier slabs of concrete, but most can be removed without much effort (says she) once we get the lads from Workskills helping us. There are shaped blocks of sandstone, bits of concrete poured directly onto soil, cement pavers and goodness knows what all there.
We have also had confirmation from Urban Farmers that they are coming to the Open Day, though just for an hour given the late notice (we accidentally cancelled them ..) so that is all good.

Popped into the secondhand shop to get some bags of compost for my own garden and while I was there found a you-beaut Sunbeam blender - something i have  been lusting after for some time now. It would have been even better if it was a food processor, but a blender is a step closer - glass jug and all.

Knocked together an article for the Sustainable Living newsletter or some such thing and called in on Monika to see how things were progressing with the sign.

Some of the rubbish removed from the garden was two tank rounds which are now at my place and will form two new vege patches up by the rainwater tank so I can reach them with the hose and don't have to trek so far to get a bunch of chives. The container I was planning to use for strawberries and chives will become the mint bed since I have finally worked out how to install it close to the tap, and the compost will go directly into it in lieu of soil, so the mint should shoot ahead. I plan to build up the soil in the two tank rounds using the no-dig method of layers of paper and cardboard with just mulch and compost on the top (and a couple of bags of stallion poo under the second last layer of paper). So a trip to the tip is in order to collect the necessary ingredients. The wheelbarrow had also developed a flat tyre so it has gone into town for more air. So despite an early night last night I am still fairly knackered. Let's just say my gluteus maximus is giving me grief.

Now to sit back 9very gingerly) - wait for dinner to cook and read for a bit - while rehydrating from this morning's exercise. 

Despite the rain it is surprisingly warm, so I won't be lighting the fire tonight unless things change radically. The tomato seedlings are still alive and their cloches have been raised to let the rain in. I will lower them before the sun goes down (not that it is doing anything useful at present), just in case.

There is a reason I rarely spend time in the front garden- problem is i forget what it is given the long breaks between. Basically it has been social life central all day - first Gavin dropping off the minutes from last night's meeting for me to type up (yes, I succumbed and am now their secretary but that is OK as they only meet once a year), then Gordon from over the way offering me endless quantities of daffodil bulbs (like the entire strip down the side of his drive as he wants to get rid of them) and then Nathanial from next door (who just never goes away) and then his mother to find out where he had disappeared to and ... well the list goes on. But I have managed to dig up a broader strip of garden than I had and make the curves a little more curvey and re-plant some of the endless seedlings that had self-sown from last years flowers (Yay) and some of the daffodil bulbs and delphinium seedlings and petunias bought yesterday and I am in so much pain I can barely straighten up to walk... And there is still quite  bit more to be done thanks to all the interruptions.

The tomato seedlings also went in today and were watered in with seasol and covered with milk bottles as cloches. Which just reminded me to go remove the props I had put under the milkbottles to allow air to circulate since it was quite warm today. Warmer still tomorrow - 18 degrees forecast, with rain ... I will be spending the day in the community garden shifting bricks and digging over the teachers' salad plot preparatory to planting it up.

Bought my bag of cement and am accumulating small stones to make myself a gravel as I dig over the front garden. Decided it was easier and cheaper to do it this way than buying two bags of post mix pre-mixed. I may change my mind once I try to mix it all together ... Meanwhile the wheel barrow wheel has gone a bit squishy so it too will have to go to the service station to get some air in it as it is far to big and cumbersome to move around with a load on when the tyre is half flat.

Early night tonight I think - was up quite late last night finishing off  a good book and I am very weary. Banana custard for comfort food tonight.

We had a trip to Hobart today for the Community Garden and loaded up with numerous additions such as tools, hoses, hosefittings, seasol and such like to be for Community use. Since we were there already I also bought a couple of punnets of flowers for the front garden (petunias and delphiniums) to brighten the place up while I wait for the hollyhocks to get out of the ground, some worms for the (so far) unproductive worm farm, some hose couplings for the seeper hose and some seasol for myself. This has now been applied to the newly planted seedlings (the brassicas, too chilly today for the tomatoes) and seeds (more brassicas, parsnip etc) and some tiny lettuce seedlings which will be one chomp for the decent-sized snail I just laid bait for. These were all watered in with the seasol. Then I checked the asparagus bed (which has broad beans, beetroot and parsnips planted in it) and they are all coming up bar the broad beans. At least one snow pea and one butterbean is also above ground, so it is looking pretty good at present. Now all I have to do is wait for the rest to emerge. I will buy two more bags of compost on Friday to sort out the remainder of the bed I am preparing at present, and also to plant the strawberries in, and then I will pretty well have the garden ready to start providing me with food. Time to build some more beds I think - will have to work out what to build them from (or raid the tip). Forgot to get the bag of cement for the post, but will check if Roberts' have some in stock. If they only have straight cement I can always find sufficient small stones for gravel and add some of the fat sand I have on standby and mix it myself, though I am rather hoping they will have post mix to save my back.
Tonight is the meeting of the Railway Preservation Committee which I have been invited to - will resist all efforts to put me on the executive - I have quite enough on my plate at present.

It was the Oatlands Market today (I know, two markets in a row, what's a girl to do?) so I pottered in dutifully to help Eleanor with her stall which is now selling stuff for the garden, the mens shed, a local gardener, and MILE, so it gets a little muddled at times) and spent more than I should have on plants - another strawberry to make up yesterday's purchase to four plants, a broccolini seedling and a cauliflower seedling, and two tomato seedlings!! I decided I would get cheeky and rely on a continuation of the ridiculously mild weather given the forecast for the next week (between 4 and 10 degrees overnight), but luckily doublechecked as tonight's min is 0. The week of warmer nights should help them recover from transplant shock and I can always cover them with frost-fleece if things turn nasty next week. Cloches from milkbottles will also be employed.
I dug some of the newly acquired compost into the spare bed in anticipation of this. Essentially placing it a few inches below ground level as a fertiliser and moisture trap - a new theory I will be trying out. Beds will also be mulched with more compost once the seedlings come up - have to buy a couple more bags to achieve that.

Apart from that, nothing much else to report as it has been a nice sleepy first day of daylight savings...

The ground is fairly sodden after the last few days so the only digging done in the garden was to deepen the hole for the clothesline post. I have struck clay about 3 inches above the deepest I want to go, so I have left it in situ and will hammer the post through the clay in the hope that it, together with the concrete will provide a solid base less likely to bend when the wind hits things unexpectedly.

It was a nice sunny day but the wind spoiled things somewhat and so the only other things done in the garden were emptying out the metal trough (to be moved closer to house for ease of watering and planting out chives) and buying three strawberry plants at the Parattah Spring Fair (which has gone downhill badly this spring given the absence of so many of the key players - and the new minister lacks Meg's natural earthy honesty and strikes me as a bit more self-aggrandising for my taste. Still, a good chance to catch up with others who don't come out of the woodwork until the fair is on and to buy some lollies (now miraculously disappeared).

The rest of the lamb curry is for dinner tonight but I will also be starting off a sausage hot pot  for future meals. And for dessert I will try that five minute cook-in-a-mug chocolate cake that I have had the recipe for for ages, but never bothered to cook. It will use up the last of the cream I have left over from last weekend.

 We spent a happy two hours closeted with Kim Creak and his chief geologist today discovering that this 'no, it's not coal seam gas it's shale gas' is not shale gas but tight gas and therefore of no concern to us at all.... So many twists and turns a girl barely knows which way to turn (fluffy head on tonight).

So apart from the meeting, running around doing treasurer's stuff for the garden, organising Monday's shopping trip, establishing an order at the Men's shed for the tool hanging up thingies and missing the opening hours of the tip, I achieved very little. And ate all the rhubarb before I got around to making up the crumble mix (oh well). The lamb was nice, but being very young lamb, not terribly tasty (apart from the herbs and seasonings in the sauce). Do wish I could find a reliable source of mutton or hogget ...

The spring market that was not on last weekend is on this weekend so not sure if my friend will be coming up or not (since it is on a Saturday probably not). And frankly, I have a bit of work to do right now (reviewing someone's submission on the GMO moratorium review, and drafting my own if I have time), not to mention finishing weeding the garden, planting up the trough with chives since they are so remunerative and mowing the jungle back into submission (again). Still at least I have had a positive reception to the proposal to use WFTD people in the garden so that is a good start.

Stripes of sunshine and rain all day today. The rain had an edge of snow, so tonight the fire is lit and will remain so until bedtime. Despite this got some gardening done and we now have more parsley, lettuces and so forth in the ground, weeds pulled and a harvest of chives cut and taken to market (where they sold for vast sums and provided cash leftover from the trade with lettuce plugs which are  now also tucked into the ground. Rhubarb was once again harvested and is cooked, awaiting distribution into ramekins for crumble topping and freezing in anticipation of future meals. Any not quite fitting into a ramekin will be served with cream tonight for dinner, following the lamb seethed in milk and yoghurt with curry spices.
Apart from getting firewood cut and brought indoors minutes ahead of the first deluge, that is about it for the day as I have been being  secretarial and catching up with stuff for both committees.
Speaking of committees - remember all those urban legends about strangers handing over vast sums of money to complete strangers because they seemed to need it? Well it happened in real life yesterday. A chap wandered in to Monika's shop carrying a large bag and congratulated her on the work we are doing with the Shale Gas stuff, then asked her how much money we needed. She said, about $2000 to print up the signs after which we would be self-sufficient. He reached into the bag and counted out $2000!!! Astonishing stuff. He prefers to remain anonymous, for obvious reasons!!

Today was remarkably productive considering. I had to go into town to have a phone conversation with the Uni about their master of Education course, and have, as a consequence, applied for acceptance into the course. So that's one thing down.

I also had to see the Workskills man about the Garden activities and as a result of that conversation have identified a number of options for getting volunteer labour into the gardens (well, work for the dole) and skills building opportunities for them. Basically at this point we are talking about a supervised team of young lads to do stuff like building beds, building paths, moving the glass house from the school farm and onto the garden etc. The expectation is that I would be the person responsible for reporting who does and does not turn up (policeman) but also identifying their areas of interest and seeing about facilitating them into the workforce or work experience opportunities where possible. So that sounds like fun. Will see how the rest of the 'committee' feel about it. It also allows similar opportunities for the Parattah Committees that are trying to recruit me at present if they would allow me to become their projects officer. So it's all quite exciting really.

Heavy rain this morning but bright sunshine tonight - and a chicken, proscuitto and leek casserole just gone into the oven. Once that is cooked there will be a lamb curry happening.

Well they said heavy rain and they were right - a veritable downpour this morning. I fiddled with the pump and the gasket goo and seem to have achieved a seal which is great. It is humming away as we speak. Before the deluge arrived I got out into the garden and planted about half a dozen of the parsley plants Eleanor gave me yesterday - the rest will go into pots tomorrow to replace my missing donations for the Spring Fair. Also picked some rhubarb which will be stewed for dessert tonight - I will be nice with custard I think. Rhubarb, honey and ginger should work well together.
Also paid the car rego - did you know that I am entitled to a discount because I only use the ute for personal purposes? I had no idea, all these years I have been paying full price, but because it is a commercial vehicle I am entitled to a discount  - who knew? It also seems I am entitled to a discount from Aurora, something they somehow never seem to have considered in all our conversations ... useless twits that they are. Tomorrow I am heading into town to the Garden and also to have a phone conversation with Aurora and the Uni. I am enquiring about a Masters of Education which is apparently a two year course, commonwealth sponsored, so I may well consider doing it as it is available as an external study unit. Who knows what tomorrow will bring?!