no more Willow

We had a miserable Christmas: Willow our cat went outside at midday on  Christmas Eve and didn't come back. It was dusk before we realised that this was far too late. We were awake all night and can state that Father Christmas didn't come, only mosquitoes in the open door.

Next morning Angela and Josef, Judy and Jon - our neighbours - and son Jon combed the scrub to no avail and checked surrounding sheds. But the place is full of holiday-makers who would have seen her. No body so the options are: snake-bite and overnight fox or cat-napping. The internet informs me cat-napping is common, especially for pretty cats like Willow and the prime time for it is just before Christmas. OUCH! Wish I'd known that before, I'd have locked her up.

I've advertised at all the vets, the animal shelter and in the local paper and she is micro-chipped so there is a slim chance that somewhere down the line we may get her back.

As Di McEwen said: "She had a wonderful life."

 

 

forgiveness?

 

 

My walk yesterday was accompanied by seagulls overhead.

Does this mean they've forgiven us for Willow's misdemeanours?
More likely they remember I threw them some pork fat this morning...



not not-gardening

With the arrival of a trailer-load of sheep manure I have to admit we are gardening. Thanks Max for donating it AND helping to scrape it out from under the shearing shed.

With this good stuff the asparagus will be fatter next year

 

Wildlife continues to wander by: there was a blue-tongue lizard in the shed this morning and last night a wallaby came in search of water from Willow's bowl on the beach deck.

 

 



wandering wildlife

We've got weird snails here: this lot seem determined to get as high as they can and all on one solar light, even though there is another one unscaled nearby:
 

"I'm the King of the Castle, haha haha!"

The pigface we planted is doing well and the bees seem to appreciate it:


Bee with full yellow pollen sacs either side


A pair of brolgas recently arrived in the rapidly-drying swamp and we just happened to be driving back from a newspaper run to Port MacDonnell as they flew in:

This wandering echidna went off-course and found himself/herself - how can you tell? - on our house deck and unable to get down the steps.
Willow was interested but wary: she has possibly learnt a lesson that it doesn't pay to harass wildlife after her seagull experience.

seagull experience:http://babyboomerbooks.com.au/willowswindow%20-%20cat.htm



 

strawberry season

We're still not-gardening.

My early plantings were either blasted by salt-laden gales or eaten by a wallaby: it ate a big rhubarb plant, roots and all overnight, and promptly got run-over on the road - serves it right!

So my efforts have narrowed to the western end and the tunnel house where I try to maximise the space by going upwards, the latest endeavour being two strawberry towers. We read how to make them online at http://www.apieceofrainbow.com/diy-strawberry-tower/ and so far it's working.

 

We've picked one feed, more to come.
The fruit is lovely and clean as it is off the ground.

As it gets hotter David will relocate them outside, but in early spring it's nice to have our own soft and sweet strawberries. Peas have finished, with zucchini and yellow squash replacing them, tomatoes, cucumbers and capsicum still small. My new rhubarb plant from Fred is outside, growing happily in a Woolworths shopping bag where I hope wallabies won't find it and the dwarf lemon, laughingly called "Lotsa Lemons" has finally decided to grow after sulking for a year in the tunnel house and has ONE LEMON.

potatoes and rhubarb in shopping bags, basil in pot outside

David transplanted asparagus from Foote Street and planted it in a long line between the road hedge and the house where is has sent up spindly little sparrow legs not worth picking this year. We've  been offered some lovely mature sheep manure but as it's still under the Lightbody's shearing shed  he's not too keen on retrieving it.

Can't interfere with fishing - 37 nice garfish last Sunday.
Crayfish count for this season is still 1.



another birthday - Daisy's this time

21!
Unbelievable! Where have those years gone?

 

and doesn't she look gorgeous!

photo booth with grandparents

 

Alison arranged a party for her and a hundred guests at the Main Corner in Mount Gambier.

 

It was a terrific occasion! Good food, happy people, loud music, balloons, photo booth, life story in photos  - all the ingredients for a success.

Daisy made an emotional speech thanking everyone especially her mother and boyfriend Chris.


The tablecloth under her cake was made over a hundred years ago by her great-great-grandmother Daisy and brought from Perth for the occasion by cousin Judith. Thanks Judith!

Chris B and Daisy

Gran

 

Daisy's birthday week included the good news that she has a 2016 nursing placement for her grad year at Mount Gambier Hospital.

We celebrated (again!) at home with the first crayfish of the season, caught by David.  

a selfie: David, Christopher, Alison, Helen, Chris, Tildy the cat, Daisy

 

 

weekend in Adelaide

We had an enjoyable trip to Adelaide - it seems a long time since we left the beach...
Willow went to boot camp with 7 other cats.


I shopped, we saw a film, The Martian, which was refreshingly free from bad guys and sex, had dinner at The Apothecary, celebrated my birthday with High Tea and caught up with relatives.

It was hot - the first days of summer - so lunch at the beach with David's sister Tonie was a great option.
 

Tonie and David at Christie's Beach

 

 In company with Judith and Les from Perth we had dinner at Jamie Oliver's Italian restaurant. It's in a former bank building with high ceilings and a buzzy atmosphere: everyone was there to have a good time which is infectious.

 

David, Helen, Judith, Les

 

 

The toilets in the old bank vaults are well worth a visit:
David says it puts a new slant on leaving a deposit...

 

David and Judith hoping they can escape



birthday week

My birthday celebrations lasted 10 days - there are a few perks in reaching a Significant Milestone.

 

 

It started with a surprise dinner at Goodwood organised by Di Cameron who also made a superb Black Forest Cake:





Helen, Di and Mick Rudd

We went to Adelaide for the main event, a family High Tea at the InterContinental, where we also stayed.
High Tea was magnificent!




There were 27 of us including great-nieces Tigerlily, Evie and baby Beatrix.

 

You can see what a wonderful spread they turned on

 

My cousin Judith and her partner Les came from Perth, nephew Ben, Rachel and Tigerlily came from Canberra, Alison and Christopher, Daisy and Chris B from Mount Gambier, granddaughter Hannah and all the rest from Adelaide.

 

Cousins Tigerlily and Evie were pleased to get together

and so were cousins Isobel and Judith

and cousins Alison and Alex

 

 

baby Beatrix with Uncle Ben

 

 

Thanks to niece Rachel for the photos.  

 

 

 

 

birthday weekend

Surprise! Jon turned up unexpectedly for David's birthday which is the same date as Rory's so we all went to the pub in Port MacDonnell - which was unusually full of locals and tourists.


the birthday boys

The next day Julia and Stephen came to stay the night on the way from WA to their home at Ballarat.

For once there was minimum wind, perfect for a drive to the top of Cape Douglas and the obligatory photo shoot on top of the bluff: this one is a bit different as Stephen's long arms managed to get us all in a selfie:

Stephen, Julia, David, Helen


We spotted the beach stone curlew, which has been haunting Cape Douglas for 6 months, still on its own at Jones Bay.
It has had a lot of twitchers keen to see it, as it's way out of its usual habitat around Broome.

a lonely beach stone curlew

 

Jon took Alison's canoe, nicknamed Orange Roughy for obvious reasons, out on the bay and had a good paddle out to the breakers and back.

Jon in Orange Roughy

 



a taste of spring

For a few days the weather had us fooled into believing it is spring.

 

We were outside planting tomatoes in the tunnel house
and enjoying Happy Hour on the deck with Angela and Josef from next door and Marion and Steve who came wandering along the beach.

 

Then it rained again... not even enough to be worthwhile.

We've made it through an exceptionally cold and wet winter and have earned the right to a little sun.

 



major works

Geoff the carpenter arrived yesterday morning for stage two of the garage refurbishment. David has made himself an office in half of it and we are having a ceiling with insulation put in, the old clanky roller doors removed and a wider lift-up door on one side, window and wall on the other half.
 

 

He was hard at work on the ceiling when PJ Pumps arrived to drill a new bore. The old bore was never lined properly and sand has been dropping into the water and completely wrecked the new pump we put in on arrival. So a totally new bore alongside the old one is required, right out in front of the tunnel house.

 

 

 

And what a mess! A slurry of sand and limestone mixed with foam over my grass which has just been persuaded to cover the ground.

 

 

Next day the site supervisor was on hand to make sure the cladding stored upstairs went out the window correctly.

 

 

when the power went out

At 4.48pm there was a flash and the power went out all over Cape Douglas. Howling winds and torrential rain, tide lashing on the seaweed. A phone call elicited the recorded response that they already know and expect power to return at 11 pm. 

In an all-electric house that can be a tad inconvenient but fortunately I had turkey wings in the slow cooker ready to eat with salad so we declined Angela and Josef's invitation to drive into Port Mac for a pub meal. Then Di rang inviting us to share their wood fire - tempting but we reckon we can survive. If it gets too cold we'll just go to bed but meanwhile there's stored power to play iPod music and e-books to read.

 

Some of us ran around chasing a mouse-sized walnut. 

 

A strange thing happened: at 7 o'clock we were sleepy.
"Can't go to bed."
At 8 o'clock "Can't possibly go to bed yet."
At 9 o'clock "Give in - let's go to bed."
I guess it was the lack of stimulation from lights and TV

 

It did show me we needed more conveniences when the power goes out so I have bought a battery-powered lantern, some battery candles and battery lights for the pantries. The one thing I was ready for was lack of water with a 10 litre drum stashed in the pantry: because the pumps operate off electricity there was no water.

new stools

I like the new bar stools. What do you think of the wine?

perfect autumn weather

No wind, low tides and warm sun made our beach walk a delight. 

Seaweed-free after the last storm!

finally moved

 

"The longest house move ever," is what Christopher calls it and finally it's over.

Bertha Street is sold and settled with all Alison's belongings removed to Foote Street or else destined for the final garage sale this Saturday.
Buy One Get One Free
will be the slogan and let's hope we can all lead relatively uncluttered lives from now on.

 

Except Beechwood's garage which has become the resting place for fridges and freezers plus a dryer that won't fit inside the house:

 

We need an electrician to install more power points.

 

Well, there has to be somewhere to store all the fish David catches...
Rory will buy the new Fisher & Paykel 2-door frig and the old long freezer known as The Coffin so it won't be quite so bad after June.

 

Worm water has worked wonders in the tunnel house and we have brassicas like trees and are picking copious quantities of stringless beans.

 

I also planted carrots but they are shaded out by the cauliflowers.

 



raising the roof

Di and Rory's new house at Cape Douglas is progressing remarkably well - minor delays like beams fractionally short and the internal lift arriving from Brisbane with some breakages haven't slowed things down.


The roof is on and one cold Friday evening we gathered at dusk for the Topping Out ceremony.
Rory shinned up the scaffolding and attached a tree to the gable - that will bring good luck to all who work and sail in her.




 

On the fishing side of things, David has decided to adopt Judith's suggestion of using an ironing board on the beach to clean his fish on.

 

 

and we found one of Cape Douglas's rare shells, the purple
Janthina (Violetta) globosa
- well that's what Google says it is.

Gorgeous isn't it!

 

things that wriggle

The worm farm is up and running.
Joe from next door supplied a handful of worms and we topped-up with some from the worm farm at Millicent.

 

They're a lively lot: whenever you take the lid off they're wriggling around eating the delicious left-overs gloop I vitamise for them:

 

remnant cucumbers from making bread & butter pickles

 

they also like newspaper, The Australian more than The Border Watch

Once a week they're  flushed with a bucket of rain water and the resulting liquid - worm tea/worm wee - is diluted 1 in 10 and used as fertiliser.
I'm expecting great results on the tunnel house plants.

 

HOWEVER
There are other things that wriggle, the serpents in Paradise.

 

David is away for two weeks fishing holiday with Roger Pfitzner in Coffin Bay - yes I know, a fishing holiday is ridiculous but they've been doing it for 22 years and hate to break with tradition.

 

My sister Jennifer came to stay for a week, and we came home after a day in Mount Gambier ready for our drinks and nibbles on the deck.

I had Willow on a long lead in one hand and a plate of smoked salmon in the other about to plonk it on the table when I noticed Willow sniffing at something long, brown and wriggly.

 

A snake!

 

I grabbed Willow and levitated inside, Jennifer and me both screaming and the smoked salmon left behind until I decided to risk retrieving it. We watched for ten minutes while the snake tried to find an exit: unable to climb the glass wall it slowly slithered down the steps, across the lower deck then UP the wooden retaining wall and disappeared under the bushes.

 

Willow didn't get much rest that evening as we kept waking her up to see if she was OK and she was; not that hot, floppy, flat-eared look that I remember so vividly from her previous snake-bite.

 

I haven't seen the snake since but now realise we need to make a lot of noise clomping around the deck to warn snakes to stay away.