Days since my last update - 29th March

She's back......sorry to anyone that cares that I have been off the air for 2 weeks but in spite of still being unemployed, life has been pretty frantic! I can venture into our garden in the morning and disappear into a mire of weeding, pruning and burning until dark. Also, there's been a constant stream of tradesmen and a couple of trips to the big smoke.

One trip to Hobart was to see Mary Gautier in a pub in North Hobart. We stayed the night and in the morning drove to Bushy park to buy 4 point of lay chickens to join the Spice Girls - so then there were 8. It was a lovely drive about half an hour north of Hobart, through New Norfolk, through the hops crops and up a country lane. These girls are older and larger than the Spice Girls and a blend of 3 breeds in varying shades of red. Welcome the Dixie Chicks...So far so good but there is the occasional evidence of rooster behaviour. Not an egg in sight either so time will tell the gender of our brood. Also, I stand corrected - the breed isn't Wine Dot, as I wrote in my last blog. Wine Dots are something I see when I close my eyes after a few too many, it's apparently Wyandotte.

The removalist finally arrived with the last of our stuff - one month after our house was emptied. The insulation has finally been installed, the electricians have finally finished all the tasks on my list, the slab has been laid and 2 3x3 mtr sheds are being assembled by the McArthur team. This is our creative way of getting enough shed space without needing council approval - His with the wine, Hers with the tools and firewood...hmmm. David, the craftsman of Spice Girl fame has quoted to do our built-ins and will do a spectacular job - just can't start until June (2010, I hope!). Have also had a visit from a plumber/builder to get a quote for the bathroom reno - have to pray for rain to get their attention on our job but at least progress is being made. Water tank installation is scheduled for the 12th. The new lights and the insulation have made such a noticeable different, I've had to start opening some windows. Mind you, we have just broken some sort of record with 100 mild days in a row. Apparently that means 100 days of 17 degrees +. Think my idea of mild is probably more like 21 but we've had some real stunners and summer just refuses to end.

On one such HOT day, I went to the Taste of Huon in Ranelagh which I believe is an annual 2 day event. Sort of like Seafood & Semillon in the Hunter crossed with a market. I was looking forward to trying something new but was sadly disappointed with the small goat pie - could have been any sort of dark coloured meat. The piece de resistance was alpaca. Can't believe I waited half an hour for this massacre! It was a real shame an animal had to die for such an inedible piece of meat. I thoroughly enjoyed the apprentice chef competition with judges that included Matthew Evans. There was much talk of what an incredible food bowl this region is and from the freshness and quality of the produce we have enjoyed already, I tend to agree (though I'm not sure alpaca should be used for anything other than wool products.Not with those cooks anyway!). Apart from apples, berries, cherries and the amazing beef we have tried, there's the salmon farms, the chesseries, saffron, truffles, mushrooms and much more. If only we could buy fresh fish somewhere (very odd) and had some sort of spicy food restaurant, we'd have it all!

My last venture to Hobart was for a job interview - my first. I was in 2 minds about a full-time job as a Rep and luckily they made the decision for me. I made it to the final 3 but didn't get the job. While I was in Hobart, I ran into an old neighbour from Leichhardt...small world. He works in Hobart during the week and has generously offered us the use of his Hobart unit on the weekends.

We made it into the social pages of the Mercury from a previous Hobart trip - the Cascade party. They got Winsor's name and our suburb wrong but it definitely looked like us and we were there. They changed names of others at the party too - clearly the Mercury doesn't worry too much about minor details.

The election has passed without our vote and by all accounts without a result so far. Don't think we got out all day though we heard lots of hustle and bustle in the main street. In the evening, we went to a barbecue at the home of the lovely people who run the post office. They live across the road from the sailing club. Lovely MILD weather, great views, good company, wine & food. A delightful time was had by all.

The new life continues to be wonderful and the small things still amaze me. I was weighed down with some bags for the charity bin recently and lo and behold, a teenager who was mucking about in the park with his mates, called out and asked if he could help me with my bags! Unheard of in Sydney, London, Paris.....

Tomorrow night is book club for me - another first. No one can tell me what the book is, which is a good thing as I don't remember the last time I read one. I will sign off now before I write one and will endeavour to update again sooner than 2 weeks...