Yes the car is still in the garage - but the less said about the gas-guzzling carbon spewing vehicle upon which I rely too heavily, the better.....
To truly appreciate the photo on the left (showing the giant inflatable spliff held aloft by Nimbin residents at Mardi Grass 2008) one must attend the annual May Mardi Grass and perhaps look into the history of the town and its original Aquarius festival way back in the 70's. Of course we viewed the parade and loved all the human powered floats and particularly the voluptuous, various-aged and vital Ganga Faeries dancing at the head of the parade. This is all ancient history now, way back in early May.
Following Tam's previous post about demolishing the fireplace - I cannot let this pass without sharing with you the moment
when Tam got stuck with the wheel barrow, having chosen a particularly inventive way of transporting this extremely heavy bit of block & metal up the step. Suffice to say she was stuck long enough for me to get the camera and take this photo. I have film of this too - I may publish in next post......
Please note that Tam is wearing a singlet (aka 'vest' in UK) - this may give the impression that we are basking in glorious sunshine and heat - wrong, wrong, wrong. It is winter here and we live up a mountain (the hilariously named Blue Knob) and so we have our own weather system, so different from warm Nimbin just 9km down the road.
Our house is South facing, chilly and damp, particularly after the wettest summer and autumn on record. And remember, South in the Southern hemisphere is the equivalent of north in the Northern Hemisphere. This has brought home the necessity to fit a wood burner with back boiler for hot water as soon as possible, or at the very least before next winter. The solar water heating just can't cope at this time of year - but with 5 acres, at least half of which is tree covered, stocking up with carbon-neutral firewood won't be too much of a problem, especially now Tam has her shiny new 16" Stihl. Watch this space....
So, as you can see from the next photo - our roof needs cleaning - free accommodation, wine and food for anyone willing and
able to do this job and not break local health & safety laws! This photo is taken from our paddock, for which we have many plans - definitely plots of potatoes, sweet potatoes and sweet corn. Fencing an area and having some sheep or perhaps a horse for a manure-generating transport facility, is also an option, but we need to do some more research, particularly regarding the quality of the drainage in the paddock as hooved animals cannot endure damp.
Next photo, there's Tam, happy as a 40 year old re-distributing cow-shit! This was collected from Nimbin Rocks Co-op down the road. The photo shows the first of three little no-dig beds positioned just out the back for easy harvesting of all our lovely salad veggies & greens. Seedlings c/o sister Felicity, Peter & Connor - a wonderfully imaginative and generous gift to Tam on her recent 40th birthday - a whole tray of seedlings - french beans, sugar snaps, chinese salad leaves, aubergine, rainbow chard, brocholi & cauliflower (the last two are particularly challenging as we've not grown them before AND they don't like manure......
So, general impressions of life so far in Aus, up a mountain with no central heating or car. It is at times a very daunting challenge, in ways that I could never have imagined. Our relationship, Tam & mine, has been dramatically challenged - I've discovered that without the usual comforts of 'home', I can at times become a surprisingly unnecessary brat. I have questioned our choice to move here on many occassions and am still unsure. I have considered the value of the house and the presently beneficial exchange rate from Aus$ to the UK£. I have also discovered, or perhaps I should say rediscovered, that people, particularly family, can be extremely kind and generous and are always willing to help if they can.
And this morning as Tam and I sat supping our morning cup of tea, planning our next veg bed and the design of the forthcoming chook house, a delightful and yet to be identified red, green & blue parrot landed in a nearby native tobacco tree and moments later a satin bower bird chased it off. The garden is graced with fluffy iris (shown left), divine bromeliads and magnificent magnolia, whilst hippeastrum are threatening to erupt all over the place. White cockatoos flew by at dusk, screeching madly and flapping as usual, and later the centre of the Milky Way, including the Emu constellation, revealed itself between silhouetted bangalow palms and swamp mahogony . No flying foxes feeding tonight, but a definite crunch, crunch, crunch of a wallaby making its way through our woods.
To truly appreciate the photo on the left (showing the giant inflatable spliff held aloft by Nimbin residents at Mardi Grass 2008) one must attend the annual May Mardi Grass and perhaps look into the history of the town and its original Aquarius festival way back in the 70's. Of course we viewed the parade and loved all the human powered floats and particularly the voluptuous, various-aged and vital Ganga Faeries dancing at the head of the parade. This is all ancient history now, way back in early May.
Following Tam's previous post about demolishing the fireplace - I cannot let this pass without sharing with you the moment
when Tam got stuck with the wheel barrow, having chosen a particularly inventive way of transporting this extremely heavy bit of block & metal up the step. Suffice to say she was stuck long enough for me to get the camera and take this photo. I have film of this too - I may publish in next post......Please note that Tam is wearing a singlet (aka 'vest' in UK) - this may give the impression that we are basking in glorious sunshine and heat - wrong, wrong, wrong. It is winter here and we live up a mountain (the hilariously named Blue Knob) and so we have our own weather system, so different from warm Nimbin just 9km down the road.
Our house is South facing, chilly and damp, particularly after the wettest summer and autumn on record. And remember, South in the Southern hemisphere is the equivalent of north in the Northern Hemisphere. This has brought home the necessity to fit a wood burner with back boiler for hot water as soon as possible, or at the very least before next winter. The solar water heating just can't cope at this time of year - but with 5 acres, at least half of which is tree covered, stocking up with carbon-neutral firewood won't be too much of a problem, especially now Tam has her shiny new 16" Stihl. Watch this space....
So, as you can see from the next photo - our roof needs cleaning - free accommodation, wine and food for anyone willing and
able to do this job and not break local health & safety laws! This photo is taken from our paddock, for which we have many plans - definitely plots of potatoes, sweet potatoes and sweet corn. Fencing an area and having some sheep or perhaps a horse for a manure-generating transport facility, is also an option, but we need to do some more research, particularly regarding the quality of the drainage in the paddock as hooved animals cannot endure damp.Next photo, there's Tam, happy as a 40 year old re-distributing cow-shit! This was collected from Nimbin Rocks Co-op down the road. The photo shows the first of three little no-dig beds positioned just out the back for easy harvesting of all our lovely salad veggies & greens. Seedlings c/o sister Felicity, Peter & Connor - a wonderfully imaginative and generous gift to Tam on her recent 40th birthday - a whole tray of seedlings - french beans, sugar snaps, chinese salad leaves, aubergine, rainbow chard, brocholi & cauliflower (the last two are particularly challenging as we've not grown them before AND they don't like manure......
So, general impressions of life so far in Aus, up a mountain with no central heating or car. It is at times a very daunting challenge, in ways that I could never have imagined. Our relationship, Tam & mine, has been dramatically challenged - I've discovered that without the usual comforts of 'home', I can at times become a surprisingly unnecessary brat. I have questioned our choice to move here on many occassions and am still unsure. I have considered the value of the house and the presently beneficial exchange rate from Aus$ to the UK£. I have also discovered, or perhaps I should say rediscovered, that people, particularly family, can be extremely kind and generous and are always willing to help if they can.
And this morning as Tam and I sat supping our morning cup of tea, planning our next veg bed and the design of the forthcoming chook house, a delightful and yet to be identified red, green & blue parrot landed in a nearby native tobacco tree and moments later a satin bower bird chased it off. The garden is graced with fluffy iris (shown left), divine bromeliads and magnificent magnolia, whilst hippeastrum are threatening to erupt all over the place. White cockatoos flew by at dusk, screeching madly and flapping as usual, and later the centre of the Milky Way, including the Emu constellation, revealed itself between silhouetted bangalow palms and swamp mahogony . No flying foxes feeding tonight, but a definite crunch, crunch, crunch of a wallaby making its way through our woods.
Corrr...
ReplyDeleteCheck out the Wheelbarrow on that son...
;9)