I started the day badly with a 6am conversation on Facebook. I made the following remark in relation to a very pleasing announcement that an all weather bus service to the top of Mt Wellington/kunanyi. My comment was as follows:

'Excellent - all-weather, commercially operated and versatile. Probably a lot more affordable too. Cable car rendered redundant in one fell swoop"

So at six in the morning, on a week day when I had to be out the door in fairly short order to do patient transports, I was attacked by some bloke who attempted to suggest that I had made a completely different statement (to the effect it would improve accessibility and render the entire Cable Car Project redundant and who persisted with his argument despite several attempts on my part to cut it short. So I blocked him till I could find the time to attend to his argument.

Off to work  I head and take a particularly unpleasant individual for his two appointments and had to endure politely his reactionary views. Though when we got onto Sikh taxi drivers I felt constrained to politely deflect him 'why, he looks clean and neatly presented' says me.

Back to the office and had to endure a lecture from the boss who takes his responsibilities very seriously, to the point I asked if he had received any complaints about me. He admitted he had and told me a passenger had reported that i had demanded he sit in the back seat as I had my knitting on the front seat! So I pointed out that I had simply suggested that since he was travelling with his wife I had said this to him. What actually happened was that I had arrived, having put my stuff in the back expecting only one passenger, and when he announced his wife was coming too (not actually all that acceptable), I had transferred my stuff to the front to allow them to travel together. When he went to get into the front I had said, Oh, I just moved my stuff to the front so you can travel together and he meekly got in the back. So hardly a refusal, but the boss persisted with telling me how I represent the government when driving etc etc ad nauseum. I am so annoyed, if I could remember his surname I would email my boss to elaborate and suggest in future he simply ask me what happened, but I can't so it will have to wait till the morning when I have another early pickup.

We have three new mainlanders who have moved into the village who have some excellent ideas - one is opening an art gallery, another a shop selling weaving and some of my knitting, and the third also has some interesting plans, so we might even manage to achieve a critical mass to make some progress.

I have also had a chance to meet my preferred candidate for deputy mayor and am very pleased with the meeting - definitely getting my number one vote. My acquaintance who was asked to remove her sign has been stalking me on FB and trying to engage with me - she's a strange girl, and her behaviour is unnerving but I will grin and bear it.

Meanwhile I have a vest to finish, a beanie to knit as a raffle prize for next month and am struggling to get the back yard wrestled into control before the fire season starts (which will be rather early this year). I also have about 20 native tubestock to plant which I can't do till I get some cardboard to suppress the rampant growth in that location. But I expect it will all work out in the long run.

Boo! Weren't expecting that were you!

Sorry for my prolonged absences - I suspect they will only become more frequent as life moves into maintenance mode rather than achievement mode.

The Heritage Bullock weekend was a great success and I really will post photos once I load them onto the laptop.

The Local Government elections are looming and candidates were announced today. I decided not to run - we need to be strategic this time and so the fewer candidates the better the chance of getting someone in (primaries going to non-starters reduce the primaries to viable candidates and insufficient primaries means you don't make it to the distribution of preferences.

As it turns out one of the councillors isn't running this time which at least creates a vacancy, but with 13 candidates it's going to be interesting to see which one gets that seat. My own finances prohibit me also as Centrelink counts the $10,000 annual allowance as income and reduces your fortnightly income accordingly (while the allowance is paid quarterly). So all in all not an appealing option for me.

I agreed to host someone's sign for their bid to be a councillor but today found out they are also running for mayor (which makes about six candidates and basically hands the position back to the incumbent). I explained that in the same post which prompted her request I had also stated clearly who my preferred mayoral candidate is and it's not her. She got a bit huffy (I didn't realise it was conditional says she) but took the sign off. My preferred candidate will be mounting his poster over the weekend.

Apart from a brawl with the new Elders insurance guy (he's a pig who talks over the top of you to the extent I hung up on him and emailed instead), all is good at present. Though I will be ringing Choosi to see what alternate insurance is on offer in the very near future.

Fortunately I have not blown away though the wind had a darn good try. On Tuesday I headed to town despite the forecast because I had some business to deal with. On the way home I stopped off to get some groceries and as I took the trolley out to the car the contents started to blow away. Pausing to hook them back into place I foolishly turned my back to the wind and lost my glasses! I did finally manage to wrestle everything into the back seat and get home safely, but it was a close run thing. Tomorrow is supposed to be seven degrees with rain which may mean snow, but as I have a patient to transport to Hobart it may be I will miss out on that. It's a last minute booking but does mean I can drop something off in Moonah as he is going to Glenorchy.

Dog and cats are lapping up the constant warmth of the woodheater and one little cat is still venturing into the bed for experimental purposes. I imagine she will work it out eventually.

I decided to take advantage of the sunshine to venture down to Chauncy Vale to investigate this drama. To put myself in a good mood I took the loop to the Caves first where I met a nice father and daughter group and had a nice chat (which gave me a chance to recover my breath). The track up to the caves remains steep, unstable and adventurous, though clearly much work has been done. A nice drystone bridge is a new addition over a gully.

By the time i got to the caves I was worrying that the rest of the loop might be as steep and stony as the bits I had already negotiated, but fortunately it is more ziggy zaggy so not so steep. It did provide its own challenges in the shape of a downed tree which presumably dropped during the last wind and has not been noticed by staff yet.






Having had my return to childhood pleasures I then had to address grown up concerns and the works described in the article and it seems the concern is valid (not quite the storm in a teacup my contacts in Council would have me believe).

Basically they seem to think they have finished but are in fact about a third of the way through the work required. No plantings, bed armouring, bank shaping, and the 'barrier' to divert the stream into its new course is a) subject to being short-cutted in a flood due to a pre-existing temporary course on the flood plain and b) loosely piled soil and rock with no effort to seal or compact.

See what I mean? Useless. Basically there are two of these, the one facing the stream has slightly larger rocks in it, but the matrix is similar. Then there is quite a deep ditch/pool the base of which is lower than either stream bed. Presumably the idea is that if the first wall is breached, the water will pond in this. Problem is, once it is deep enough to top the further wall, the lack of structure in that one will result in catastrophic collapse and a wall of rock-bearing water hitting the eroded bank at high speed.

Downstream the failings in the works is even more apparent as even with the small amount of rain we have had of late, the brief flush caused by the downfall the other night has resulted in some fairly significant siltation at the discharge point of the diversion.


Here's what a proper job looks like (though I would settle for something less manicured, as long as it does the job.

It seems I have been derelict in my responsibilities for far too long. Sorry folks.

I have been busy doing all sorts of things like going to markets and meetings to raise my profile and sitting at home busily knitting to finish off the first side of the jumper. I have done this successfully which is all good. Dog and cats are all fine and healthy and patient transport has been involved too.

Yesterday it became apparent that Council has been up to something terrible and so between driving patients to Hobart and dropping them off to their destinations I have been chasing up sources of information to find out what happened and how.

Chauncy Vale is a nature reserve at Bagdad. It was first established by an author - Nan Chauncy - and her husband after various failed attempts at farming and orcharding. Nan wrote some of the iconic tales of Tasmanian life  during and immediately following on from the War. Her characters grew up at the same pace we did and visits  to the reserve are a part of most Tasmanian children's childhood. It is a place on the Tasmanian Heritage Register and is administered by a committee which includes the daughter of the family. The committee also includes two Councillors.

Some months ago the reserve was closed to the public as Council was carrying out work to deal with erosion that was undercutting one of the picnic sheds. The results of the work are horrendous. The have filled in the creek course for part of its length and have created a new channel which is not formed properly, has near vertical banks and no stabilisation. There's an article in the Tasmanian Times showing images of the destruction (there is no other word for it).

I contacted Council staff to get some clarification and was assured it was a 'storm in a teacup', that it was fully supported by the committee, that in a couple of years no-one would be able to tell the difference. I was not satisfied with this response, so I contacted Heritage Tas which was oblivious to the works. I have also contacted DPIPWE and await their reply. Permits and approvals would have been required from both before work commenced. Bit late now.

Having witnessed the methods by which Council obtains committee approval for things they wish to do (ie, feed them bullshit, create obstacles for any alternatives and threaten no action if their method is not supported), their claims to committee support are dubious at best.

I have also contacted a local councillor. I phoned and when there was no response sent a text seeking his intervention. His response was to text back with a request I supply him with the name of a competent conservation professional and recommend funding sources. I texted back asking for an email address so I could elaborate on my concerns - a request he refused. I continue to await a phone call from him.

So this, folks, is why I am standing for Council. In the mean time I am pursuing my inquiries and drafting a set of 'questions on notice' for Council's response. This will obtain a written response (assuming it is not 'lost' in transit). I have also requested an opportunity to address the meeting. I am sitting on the letter as I consider its wording and also who it is that should be copied into the email. Wish me luck.

Well I have finally found out that many of the protestors who attended the Council meeting were not even vaguely interested in the matter at hand but actually have their knickers in a twist about negotiations presumed to be going forward between Council and the proponent in relation to future management of the neighbouring Mill site (no wonder Council doesn't want to deal with them - I can't imagine their psychic powers are up to that). So I have suggested that that particular interest group direct a request to Council to have a meeting specific to their concerns and that they recognise that if negotiations are in fact going forward they will get a better response if they just set out the outcomes they expect Council to be seeking. Sigh.

My elderly neighbour arrived yesterday with family in tow and we had a good chat. He returned the roll of lino I gave him some time (damn, now I have to get rid of it myself) and we discussed house prices. I recommended he ask $180K which surprised him but my arguments seemed to convince him and he has already told someone that is the asking price. He seems to think the place is already sold but I suspect the 'mate' in question was just one of the usual vultures who circle around in such situations. I have also suggested the two real estate agents who actually seem to work for a living in these parts, and he is happy to take my advice on that. I now have the key to his back door so I can let myself in and he has my phone number so I can do that at times when lighting the fire or allowing access to necessary visitors is desirable. I have to say he is looking a lot healthier than he has for some time - the hospital food certainly seems to boost health in the elderly. But he is having memory lapses and gaps so he has definitely made a good decision and seems very happy with it.

Heavy rain this morning and occasionally during the day limited activities to the house.

The chilly morning yesterday was a bit of a shock, and it felt like snow. Not surprising when a peek out the kitchen window revealed the residue of snow on the bales of mulch piled near the garden bed. Today, on the other hand, was relatively mild.

I did get some washing done yesterday which was a bonus, but tomorrow will be nasty - very nasty by the looks of it. Fortunately I seem to have finally achieved the necessary skills to keep the fire, if not burning, at least smouldering overnight so I have hot coals available to urge life into the next day's fire.

A trip to the tip pretty well rounded out my day's activities for all that.