Wild Wooli & Eggsellent Developments

Karen & Ken invited us to join them for a couple of days at their rented beach house in Wooli last month. This was an absolute delight. Old-style Aussie architecture (clap-board and verandahs everywhere) and literally seconds from the beach. Wooli is about 2-3 hours drive South from our place and is surrounded by National Park. And the big bonus - dogs are allowed on the beach, which is great for Milly (seen above galloping at full pelt, ears everywhere, to Tam). Here's the extensive walk all the way from the house to the beach!

And here's the view at the end of the footpath, showing Ken & Karen indulging in a favourite pastime. We thought the beach was a bit crowded, but we coped.

We had a fabulous time, especially Milly, particularly as beaches are tick free zones. We didn't dip more than a foot into the Pacific as it was extremely windy and the sea was rough. We walked the length and breadth of Wooli - which isn't difficult as Wooli is a long thin strip precariously perched between the sea and a wide river, about 150 metres wide and crammed with ramshackle beach hideaways.

We searched the surf for whales that may have been returning South with their new born young. We were rewarded, not with whales but dolphins bobbing in the waves just off shore. We saw sea eagles and brahminy kites, thousands of tiny crabs marching across the sand, fantastic rock formations, beautiful driftwood, wide horizons and big skies - a refreshing escape from our forest hide-away. We've booked for a week in March to share with Gina and Georgie when they visit next year and may extend to two weeks.

Wednesday 8th October was a big day in the Martin-Yeld household. Our beautiful girls arrived, Un, Deux, Trois and Little F - four lovely white hens - gifts for Tam from Ken & Karen on her 40th birthday. We are in the process of designing and making a chicken house/tractor. Unfortunately, Chicken House Mark 1 failed miserably. We were attempting a polytunnel style run covered in predator excluding fencing - it all went horribly wrong and we are now going for a more traditional A-frame based design. Watch this space.

As the more observant among you will know Tam's birthday is in June - some time has passed since being presented with 4 delightful chicks, which have been growing steadily and residing with Ken & Karen's flock. After 3 months waiting for us to get our chicken-housing act together, Ken & Karen threw us in at the deep end, offering to lend us a temporary run (shown above), and delivered the chickens that very day!

And so our hens arrived and our life with chickens commenced - and we love them. Protection from egg snatchers and predators is essential - snakes, goannas, wild dogs, foxes, rats are all likely to be in the locality and seeking a good meal. Much to our delight, and impressivly only 48 hours after their arrival, Little F (identified by the feathers on her legs) presented us with a Little Oeuf (see photo). To have been rewarded so soon after their arrival is a blessing. Humble yet cherished beginnings.

Once Chicken House Mark 2 is complete we will free range them every afternoon, limiting the opportunity for predators and maximising the likelihood that they'll lay in their nest box, as they apparently most often lay in the morning. We are SO very proud of our hens and will keep you posted on their productivity, housing status, welfare and, hopefully, survival....

I'm off to make a very small omlette!

And now for something completely different...

A short film taken of Tam, Felicity and Connor today...



We've just got back from a weekend with sister Felicity in Brisbane, helping her and partner Peter to clear out beneath their house - which is on stilts and the underneath has become a regular dumping ground for at least a decade's worth of this and that, including an entire Corvette in bits. As usual Peter cooked divine food and we enjoyed a bountiful supply of Aussie red wine. Hopefully we managed to assist in their de-junking exercise. We have, of course, acquired a few items along the way - inflatable dingy, boogie board, directors chair, heritage cast iron pot, dvd player, scaffolding, wardrobe, table....hmmmm? Didn't we just get rid of loads of stuff in England???

We returned from the big smoke via hectic highways and curling mountain roads to our modest and tranquil homestead. Happily the veggies have survived a couple of days of Aussie spring sunshine without watering and the vocal bird-life is as abundant as ever. As Tam and I sat at dusk sipping on Tooheys New and listening to the cicada opera, we were delighted to see two fire-flies flashing rhythmically as they hovered past. Apparently they are moths. Whatever they are, it was a WOW moment for us. Of course, the fire-flies' arrival is due to the warmer spring weather, which has also brought forth the mosquitos - ho hum, the advantages of winter are over and the insect repellent is now my best friend!

Tomorrow we're off to the beach - about two hours drive south to Woolli and a house just behind the beach, guests of friends Karen and Ken for a couple of nights. So a dip in the Pacific Ocean and hopefully not too many mozzies.

Blue Knob Pit Stop

My big brother Piers, being the jet setter he is, popped in to see us for 48 hours last weekend. I have to say, it’s probably the first time since I was a little girl that I have spent this much time with him - even then it’s doubtful that it would have been as long as two whole days. Being 14 years older than me, my memories of him are infused by the smell of homebrew, hanging out in his hazy attic boudoir, where he got up to all sorts of things that I wasn’t allowed to know about. Coming home at weekends in his mustard coloured MG Midget he always had time to rip the mickey mercilessly out of his three little sisters, and to give me a helicopter ride whether I wanted one or not.

Piers's visit to Oz was sandwiched between Hong Kong and Singapore via Melbourne, and so we picked him up from Brisbane airport in our ever-reliable Subie. It never rains in August apparently, so of course the moment his plane landed the heavens opened and he had the full tropical downpour experience. Heading home via Murwillumbah, we stopped to get a few provisions. Piers returned triumphant from the bottle shop with a mere 6 bottles of vino, a carton of Tooheys New and another of Coopers Red. We’re not quite sure if he really had intended to buy 48 bottles of beer, or indeed if he knew that in Australia a carton of beer is a large box containing 24 x 375ml bottles. We would, however, like to extend our thanks - they’ve been keeping us going ever since. And yes, there will always be a cold beer in the fridge for you Piers.

Having total control over Piers for the weekend, we decided to have a full yet relaxed itinerary scheduled for him. We lunched at nearby Sphinx Rock Café on the other side of the Nightcap Range ridge en route home. Welcoming him to our "estate", we gave him the guided tour, teaching words such as “epiphyte”, whilst catching up, mulling over ideas and supping on divine lamb tagine courtesy of Jen. As self-elected designated driver, Jen delivered him for a nights rest to nearby Calurla, self contained chalets (shown below) run by friends Andrea and Bob (www.calurla.com.au).

The following morning, glad to see he could boil an egg and was bearing up under the strain, I brought him back to ours for more walks around Milly’s own private park and to show him where we source our water from - a nearby mountain spring.

We were slightly worried about him attracting ticks or leeches, whilst halfway through a business trip, and possibly contracting some infection or worse. Being the innovative thinker that he is, he devised his own, very fetching, critter repellent...

Off to Mt Nardi, top of the nearby Nightcap Range, for a pre-lunch appetiser - a brief walk and a taster of the incredible Australian rainforest. Then back to colourful Nimbin for lunch on the verandah at the pub bistro. We spent the afternoon at Nimbin Rocks Co-Op on Len and Kay’s sunny verandah for coffee and delectable nibbles, with Grant (Jen’s bro) and Karen (Co-op member) joining us.

Piers got the low down from Len regarding living off the grid – solar power, rainwater collection, composting toilet, and a tour of Len’s fabulous grevillea collection. The sun went down behind the cliffs, the temperature dropped and we quickly showed Piers the community house, basic accommodation where non-members can stay for $5 a night.

So Piers’s fleeting visit to the rainbow region sadly came to an end, hopefully not too exhausting for him, in terms of information overload. My only regrets were that it was too chilly to sit on our verandah and listen to the Whip birds, or watch the Eastern Spine Bill honeyeaters bathing in the pond. We did see a pademelon boinging out of our way one night, but as for the wallabies – there’s always next time. Come back soon Piers.

Scaling New Heights

Comment has been made that our blog shows endless photos of Tam busy and active whilst very few show me doing much at all - which of course is FAR from the truth. In an attempt to redress the photographic imbalance, Tam has been taking a few shots recently. And I hope the photo above reassures you that Tam has not forgotten how to relax.

Jenny somewhat nervously crossing an old logging bridge spanning the gushing mountain creek below on a recent walk up in the mountains.

Vertigo?

What vertigo!









Up on the Roof, scrubbing away nearly 30 years of accumulated black mould and dust to reveal the pale green colour-bond roof. It took us about 3 days - having said that Tam gave up after the first day! It was a horrible job and yet immensely satisfying to finish. I discovered muscles I didn't know I had as I balanced at the top of the ladder, bucket in one hand whilst scrubbing away obsessively with the other....



The contrast half way through the job (photo taken from the paddock).

Hopefully the house will be a bit cooler in the summer as a result.




Its been cold and the nights have been long, so its taken a while for the veggies in our no-dig beds to get going. Spring is just around the corner and everything is finally beginning to grow. We've started harvesting salad leaves while the snow-peas, ruby chard and french beans are beginning to take off.

The aubergines and peppers are very slowly progressing and we've had to improve the fencing since a few plants have been nibbled by mystery mid-night visitors - perhaps possums, perhaps wallabies, perhaps bandicoots... We're yet to plant tomatos, lettuce, coriander, potatoes, sweet potatoes.....

Get off my land! This photo was taken at the beginning of a recent walk along an little known local right of way. The landowners would prefer people to 'KEEP OUT', although they have no right to demand this as it is a public right of way. There is a danger that the route will be lost if this pathway is not used and hence this group of local walkers and horseriders actively seek to keep these paths open and I have joined their cause. Ultimately we are campaigning for a network of 'unmotorised' and sustainable routes between communities to be created (or rather recreated) along these old tracks. A bit of afternoon radical strolling - right up my street. In fact we have one of these old routes passing by our garden.

A Bush-Rat in the cooker and no trap - so we created our own. The one design fault, I was required to sit on Mouse-Watch waiting - and yes it was cold. Thankfully, it didn't take long - the chubby little fellow couldn't resist the toasted sunflower seeds and with a quick flick of the foot we had him. The next day he was redistributed to an even more rural location!


And here's Tam relaxing in the garden - again - and enjoying a fresh cup of coffee, the view to Nimbin Rocks, the palm trees and the deep blue of the late winter sky.

I'm just taking the photo....

Bromeliad Delight

We have thousands of bromeliads in our garden and a lot of the time, I have to admit, I simply do not like them. They gather copious fallen leaves and can be painful and bloody to weed as their skin-tearing serrated leaves often cause injury. Many have pools of water at their centre which will no doubt provide mosquitoes with perfect breeding sites come summer. And finally, given that all our bromeliads are entirely unproductive - beyond their aesthetics - I resent the time required to weed them and am planning a Dig Your Own Bromeliad sale to lessen their numbers and bring in some $$$.

However, when bromeliads come into flower, it is a different story - they can be absolutely delightful. And there is huge variation amongst the flowers. Here's a sequence of one particular Billbergia coming into flower. These photos don't do it justice of course, but you get the idea.

There are thousands of different species of bromeliads; they evolved in South America and have recently been enthusiastically incorporated into Aussie gardens. They produce 'pups' regularly and are therefore relatively easy to propagate, hence we have thousands - the previous owner must have loved them. Many species are epiphytes (can grow on trees) which allows for quite creative gardening.

My favourite bromeliad flower so far is the one on the left below which measures a mere 2 inches with tiny blue flowers. I have no idea which particular species this is, it is no doubt related to the pineapple, another bromeliad flower! We've got 3 of these flowering at the moment.

So whilst we will reduce the numbers of bromeliads in our garden dramatically, we'll keep a small selection to provide different delightful flowers throughout the year. And then there's the pineapple plantation....

Two Weeks in the Life of Dr Len

My dad Len has had an interesting couple of weeks, starting with an unusually dramatic garden club visit a couple of Saturdays ago. There we all were relaxing and chatting on Ozzy's veranda, admiring the stunning view from his garden, looking forward to a talk on orchid propagation and a refreshing cup of afternoon tea. Suddenly there's an ear-splitting crack. I turn to see Len pivoting backwards through the now broken veranda rail and falling down onto the garden bed and rocks below. The drop from veranda floor to ground level is only about 3 feet, but he lands with full force onto his back and his head jerks back onto a rock.

He doesn't move. A number of us rush to his side. There's blood. He manages to raise himself a little, but is completely disorientated and shocked. A towel is brought to soak up blood, and a decision is made to take him immediately to the nearby Nimbin Hospital. Some hours later he is discharged, in typically goon-like good humour having been thoroughly examined by Dr Oscar, and his wound stitched and head bandaged. We're all immensely relieved, especially Kay.

Dad makes a remarkably rapid recovery, bandages off by Tuesday, busy with his usual round of community focussed work by Wednesday and precisely a week after his accident he's off on a 11km bush walk through the Mt Nardi National Park and larking about at the top of a huge waterfall - with a drop of some hundreds of feet. My mum Kay had to walk away not able to stomach his precarious and juvenile antics - afterall, he is 74 and a half! My parents took the walk happily in their stride, whilst Tam and I hobbled the last half kilometre complaining about our knees and spent the next couple of days aching and groaning!

And so another week of meetings, appointments and deadlines for Dad - afterall he is retired - AND preparations for his appearance in the 2008 Nimbin Performance Poetry World Cup on Saturday. Its the first round of heats - each performer has eight minutes to wow the judges with their verbal vitality and virtuosity. Sixteen out of 32 will make it through to the semi-final on Sunday. Dad gives a fabulous performance and is through to the semis. He is delighted, we're all delighted.

So, to Sunday and the semi-finals. The draw has Dad performing first at mid-day - what crowd there is has hardly woken up, he's very nervous, he rushes, we all know its not as good as yesterday. Nervously we sit through the other 15 performers and await the judges decision on the final eight.

Its close, very close - so close that the determining factor is timing - anyone who has gone over 8 minutes is penalised and, given Dad is safely within time and much to our further delight, Dad is through - he's in the final that very night. So its home to get the glad rags on.

Most of the poets perform from memory, whilst Dad always reads, and he knows this is not looked favourably upon by the poetic judges. He is also performing next to some well established and top class performing poets. Typically modest about his poetry and glamorously attired in ugg boots and thermals under his shorts, he is relatively relaxed. Thankfully, he's on fifth out of eight, a good position in the running.

The evening is great fun, with Tug Dumbley, last year's winner and one of this year's judges, giving a rip-roaring and hilarious performance of 'The Dog with the Golden Arse!'. All the contestants give it their best and the standard is notably higher than the semi's. There's a break whilst the judges make their decision. There's only one World Cup Winner with the top prize of $2000, whilst all seven runners up come jointly second and leave with $300 a piece. Dad is relaxed and happy all the performing is over and looking forward to congratulating the winner.

The eight finalists are invited onto the stage.

Tub Dumbley takes the stage to announce the winner.

'And the winner is.......Len Martin'

What can I say - Nimbin's own had won, the audience roared, the Martin clan collectively leapt for sheer joy, cheering and whooping with absolute delight, Dad was completely and utterly flabberghasted - a Stunned Mullet as he said! It was one of the best moments of my life - and I'm so chuffed that Tam and I were there to share it with my lovely drama-queen of a father.

His face says it all - Len, in fetching thermals and uggs, with partner of 51 years Kay (aka Mum) in his arms and Poetry World Cup organiser Gail at his side, astonished, overwhelmed and this year's World Cup Winner!

Creepy Critters: Ticks, Leeches & Termites

I congratulated myself last week - having been here for 4 months (already! where did it go?) I had remained LEECH-FREE! Well done Tam. Of course, having patted myself suitably on the back, I then got 4 blood-sucking little leeches in as many days - one particularly yucky, being between my toes and feeling like some weird gloopy jellified matter - I couldn't get my boots off fast enough.

photo from www.treknature.com

Milly occasionally picks up leeches, and when they've had their fill, we trace a mini trail of blood across the floor or patio, to a happy, plump, soporific fat little leech which (Buddhists don't read on) I throw either into Hell Fire, or into Alternative Leech Hell: a little can of rock salt.

These small creatures (annelids to be precise) are attracted to body heat - miniature heat seeking missiles - they are relentless. Once attached, they have amazingly powerful suction pads and trying to disengage them can be a surpisingly difficult (elastic) experience. Especially if you are phobic of worms - as my poor sweet wife is. Often you don't feel a thing - the leech has already departed leaving only the tell-tale bleeding puncture.

www.treknature.com: the blood-sucking Australian Land Leech (Gnatbobdellida libbata) is found in the moist rainforests and wet eucalypt forests of eastern Australia. When conditions are suitable (moist ground conditions), these relatives of the worm come out onto bushwalking and animal tracks and wait, ‘standing’ in an upright position, clasping the ground with their posterior sucker. Chemical sensors and vibration are used to detect an approaching host, usually native mammals or humans. As the unsuspecting victim moves past they reach over and attach themselves with their anterior sucker; they make their way to a suitable vein near the surface, often around the ankle, upper foot or between your toes. Making a V-shaped incision, blood is prevented from clotting via an anticoagulant and a histamine with improves blood flow directly into the leech. Once attached the leech with fill-up with blood, perhaps tripling its size. When satisfied they drop off the victim and find a suitable niche to digest their meal.

Leeches are most active when the days are really damp. Ticks, however, are more of a constant every day battle, rain or shine. Little Millikins (fondly named by the Southern Hemisphere Martins) requires a daily tick check, despite being safeguarded with either Front Line or a tick collar. Her nether regions are a favourite hideout for these 8 legged little critters - we've never been so close to our dog and she has got used to the check up and all the extra grooming. Most ticks we've found have measured as little as 0.5mm - although the largest we've found has been 6mm. I 've heard they can get up to 20mm - whoopee.

We operate a tick kit, consisting of a jar, a pair of tweezers, and a highly effective invention called The Tick Twister, which does exactly what it says on the packet - twists the tick off, whilst not aggravating it to inject poison. The jar also contains (my) collection of ticks. Dead ticks. Nice.

We are yet to identify the infamous Paralysis tick from amongst the various local species - but I reckon there's more than one in the photo above. Incidentally, local hearsay is that aboriginal people avoided this area because of the high number of ticks. But don't let that put you off visiting...by the way insect repellents do work, we just keep forgetting to put them on. And in the long term we should build up immunity.

And as for bloody termites... 4 years ago I stored a pile of beeaauuddiful red mahogany floorboards in my parental "out-law's" metal shed, 12kms down the road - a safe bet, you'd think, from any wood munching critters. Lo and behold, what should develop in their woodstack just outside, but a dreaded termites nest. Somewhat surprisingly attracted to the metal shed, the little buggers trail in across my timber, leaving all sorts of messy bits in their wake and devour Len's soft wood stacked beneath - see photo. A lucky escape for our timber - just 4 inches of the mahogany was feasted upon - from 275 metres of the stuff. Len and Kay are surprisingly calm, given that all the aluminium joinery within their steel house is in fact fixed with termite tempting timber. Life in the bush sure keeps you on your toes...

















Len, Tam & Kay loading the mahogony onto the co-op trailer to be towed up to our house, 12km up the road.

Whales, Wollumbin, Wattles & Waterfalls

A couple of weeks ago we enjoyed a day beside the seaside with friends Tony and Lesley. A coffee at the pub overlooking Byron Bay, a leisurely stroll along the seafront, a glorious picnic on the beach and an awe-inspiring whale-watching hike around the headland.

And YES we saw whales (migrating north to breed). Most were off in the distance, visible by their fountaining blows of water - a couple were quite close up - close enough to see the patterns made by the barnicles on their huge and curvaceous black and white bodies as they serenely cut through the waves. It brought a tear to my eye, glimpsing these majestic beasts from that other watery world. Their numbers are increasing significantly every year along the Australian coast - fantastic.

The walk over the headland took us through a grove of cabbage palms and a forest of cycads, which was almost as incredible as seeing the whales, but then I've got a thing about unusual trees! The photo above shows Lesley, Tony and Tam standing beside a couple of cycads with crows-nest ferns growing within them. What a lovely day, and good to be off the cold mountain and beside the glorious Pacific ocean.

Here's me half way up Wollumbin (Cloud Catcher) aka Mt Warning on my 40th birthday, photo c/o Dad. The tip of this ancient volcanic plug is allegedly the first bit of Australia to get sunlight in the morning and is just around the corner, by Aussie standards, from where we live. We had a lovely time. Sadly, I didn't quite make it to the top after witnessing a young lad of about 10 scrambling down at break neck speed (almost literally) losing his footing and nearly falling over the steep drop to the side right in front of me. I completely lost my nerve at this point and decided to wait out the last 100m upward stretch to the summit whilst Dad (at the tender age of 74) made it to the top. I've done it before and so knew what I was missing. Its 4km up and 4km down and I have to say I was crippled for the next three days. Hmmmm, more exercise definitely required.

And here's Dad in fine fettle at a recent garden club visit to Bamboo Oasis designing new ways of making use of excess dried out bamboo shoot bits! Moments later the bishop-style head-gear was inverted and placed over the groin - I was laughing so much I forgot to take a photo. I love a bloke with a sense of humour!

Spot the difference between the following two photos? If you look carefully you'll find Tam making the first cut whilst felling a 40' Sally Wattle, with guidance from Grant. The wattle wasn't there in 2004 - which just goes to show how fast a tree can grow here - and how quickly they can be felled!



MISSON ACCOMPLISHED!

Tam cordless drill in hand, up on roof, preparing a batton for the ladder to lie against so that I can fix the leak along the 5' sloping edge of the chimney - ooh, we know how to have fun up here at Blue Knob! The roof is now fixed, and yes it was me, although there's no photo as usual! No more pools of water beside the fireplace after heavy rain. Well, hopefully not, yet to be tested, endless blue skies at the moment. What a hardship, but still very cold nights.

Hell's Bells - here's Tam standing precariously at the top of the rather dramatically named Hell Hole Falls, deep within Mt Jerusalem National Park - a recent hike with Nimbin Bush Walkers on yet another sunny day.

More tales of intrepid adventures and near-death experiences soon....

Elemental my dear Jennifer: Water, Wellies & Mud!

Its late on Monday evening and we notice that the water pressure in our taps has reduced dramatically. Hmm? This can only mean one thing - somewhere along the 200m pipe between our 20,000 litre water tank and our house is a dreaded LEAK. Its dark and raining, so for now we can only hope the leak isn't immediately adjacent to the house and take ourselves off to bed for a night of apocalyptic dreaming - flood, famine, drought....

Tuesday dawns chilly yet thankfully sunny. Tam checks the route of the pipe to the water tank - and when she gets to the tank finds it completely empty. That's a BIG leak somewhere along the pipe - but with all the rain, everything is soaked, so no obviously wet areas. We turn off the supply from the tank to our house - at least the tank can fill up again. So for the time being no water from the taps, no washing up, no washing machine, no showers, no flushing loo and no idea where the leak is....by this time Jenny is in a particularly grumpy mood and has completely lost sight of her pioneering spirit - in fact, she's not sure if she ever had one....

Once the tank is half filled again via the 1km pipe from the creek (currently leak free!), we turn the supply to the house back on and walk the route of the pipe - and there, thankfully, in the middle of the paddock below a tap, is an obviously gushing and gurgling leak. The pipe the tap is mounted on comes away in our hands - we've found the problem. Jenny's mood lifts, much to Tam's relief. We're back in control. Feeling very relieved that it was so easy to locate the leak (this time!), we get on with fixing things and getting our precious water supply back.

Firstly we have to dig down about a foot into the heavy water-logged clay without causing further damage to the pipes and find the problem - at least its sunny, imagine having to do this in the rain! We then flush out the pipes before replacing the joiner - this requires advanced communication techniques - Jenny (at the tank) whistles thrice when she turns the water on, Tam (down at the leak) whistles thrice to request the water is turned off again - ooh its all mod cons up at Blue Knob!

Once the joiner is cleared of mud and replaced to our satisfaction, we set about designing and making a makeshift inspection pit, so that we don't have to dig this all up again in the future. Utilising our ready supply of spare breeze blocks from recent demolition work (read earlier blogs) and with further messing around in gloopy mud, voila:

Its certainly not pretty, and possibly not cow-proof (we do have occassional cattle randomly taking a wander through our garden probably from our neighbours farm!) but WE FIXED THE LEAK AND made the inspection chamber ourselves! So we're quite proud. And whilst we are entirely responsible for our own water supply, we don't pay ANY water rates, so inspecting pipelines and fixing leaks is all part of living the dream! I am my very own Water Board.

Suffice to say, we are delighted to turn on taps and see fresh mountain spring water gushing forth and we have an immensely increased appreciation of the basic stuff of life, be it earth, air, fire or water. Which reminds me, must get on with collecting firewood, its pretty chilly these mid-winter nights.

Green-Eyed Spaniel and the Birthday Blues

Milly managed to damage her one remaining eye a couple of days ago whilst rummaging in the undergrowth in our gully. And so yesterday saw our first visit to the Nimbin vet clinic. The very patient vet finally, after much struggling on Milly's part, got the anaesthetic into her eye, then green luminous liquid which dramatically revealed to minor ulcerations on the front of her eyeball. After further struggles, anti-biotics were adminstered directly into damaged the eye. The photo left shows Milly at home after the vets, looking thoroughly sorry for herself and distinctly Hulk-like in the eye region. Tam has since successfully applied further antibiotics to the eye, with great patience, and the eye is looking good - panic over and all traces of luminous green have gone. We are now looking at how we can fence a safe area off for Milly. (STOP PRESS: a week later, July 7th, and Milly's eye has healed well).

July is here already and our birthdays are over for another year. Yes we over-indulged, particularly as it was Tam's 40th - having birthdays 10 days apart is a bit like Christmas and New Year, a roller-coaster of seemingly unavoidable over-indulgence - and now, with some relief, its time to clean up my act and get on with sensible, productive stuff. Talking of sensible and productive, it must be mentioned that Tam impressively spent a good portion of her birthday making us a sofa - or rather a base for the foam mattresses that now serve as a sofa. Uncle Bob's saw came out for the first time since arriving in Aus and got the job done nicely.
My birthday began with this huge and divine bunch of flowers being presented to me, all picked by Tam from our garden in the early hours. I then spent the day walking up Mt Warning with my ever-so fit parents (Mum 69 and Dad 74), and the next four days recovering. My leg muscles have never ached so much!

My nephew Connor and his dad Ian (he who lent us his car for six weeks) came to stay for a few days - we took full advantage of the extra muscle power - they cleared a huge swathe of lantana from around the lower damn, enabling us to walk all around the pond for the first time ever. Connor enjoyed thrashing around with two machetes which proved very effective as long as no one else was within swiping distance and no emerging saplings were in the way! Connor managed to do all this and still not get any leaches or ticks on him! Ian and Tam spent hours clearing and resetting our blocked water supply to our water tank - given that inlet into the pipe is 1km away through bush/unmanaged woodlands, this was no mean feat. BIG THANK YOU to Ian and Connor for all their fantastic efforts AND the beer!

Today we saw four dark green and red parrots at the top of the drive - we think they were female King Parrots, but are not entirely sure. We also pruned a Tippocina. I haven't a clue how that should be spelt, but suffice to say the fantastic display of large purple flowers that greeted us on our arrival three months ago are now over and it was time to get that tree in shape - the over-grown branches were about 20' tall and we had to be careful not to damage the neighbouring flowering magnolia.

If its mild and dry tomorrow we can either fix the leak in the roof or poison weed trees, both activities require no rain. Poisoning in particular requires no rain AND no wind. We live on the edge of a national park and so minimising the number of invasive 'weeds' on our little patch is a basic and legal responsibility. And after 4 years of tenants who were not particularly interested in the impact of weeds, and with the rapid sub-tropical growth, we have rather a lot of weeding to do - and some are 20' trees requiring felling and poisoning! So leaking roof or invasive weeds? Or both?! Watch this space.

Candy, you may recognise a few items in this photo, taken late into the night last night!