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)