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.