She's back.....24th April

Hello all, I'm back!

Mum, in Geelong, had a few days in hospital and I flew to the north island to look after her at home for a few days around Easter. In order not to suffer too much home sickness, I organised a skip and a few friends to empty the rubbish out of her garage and also got stuck into a big "boy" prune in part of her garden. Needless to say all that lead to a back spasm....but that's another story. All in all, the trip was quite fun, caught up with an old friend, my sister and nephew and tried my damnedest to look after my stubborn Mum. Thankfully, she seems to be almost back to normal now and happily celebrating her 88th birthday today.

Tis mushroom season now and I have been a bit obsessed after finding a couple early on - getting out into the paddocks looking for them. Anyone would think I was truffle hunting, they're pretty elusive - worth it though, they are delicious when they are that fresh. Getting a bit spoilt here - it's fresh everything. The Mcarthur team have brought us more veggies today. Winsor just described the carrots as small island nations, then there's the leeks, silverbeet, squash, pumpkin, tomatoes, spuds, apples - you get the drift. Our pears are dropping from the tree and the lemons are finally turning yellow. It's hard to use it all. The chooks have helped with leftovers and we know how good veg is for their eggs. Now that's a touchy subject - WHAT EGGS? Seldom have we seen critters that eat so much and not a sign of an egg! We're contemplating putting an axe in eyesight to see if they get the hint! Mel C is looking more and more like a rooster every day and Winsor is confident one of the Dixie Chicks also has questionable gender. They might as well all be boys if all they do is eat and shit! One train of thought is that if they haven't done so yet, they won't lay now until spring as there's too little daylight in the winter. Pays to be patient...they will be very expensive eggs by then!

Speaking of patience, we've had a constant stream of tradesmen. It's proving difficult to get a bill from one or a quote from another but good progress has been made. The sheds and carport are built, the water tank is installed (had to cut down a Council fencepost to get it in - imagine doing that in Sydney!), all the fences are done. Heating is next and then I can push to get the bathroom underway - 3 weeks without a bathroom - can't wait!

The Indian summer has continued but the weather is starting to turn and today has just about had it all. 2 tonne of wood has been delivered - wasn't that fun to lug and stack in the woodshed.... The bird life has changed in the garden, we now have daily visits from a solo olive green & yellow honey eater, as well as a bunch of robins with eye-watering red breasts. Smelling the roses, watching the birds, picking wild mushrooms...all beat the daily commute. This is the life!

Mind you, not all guests are welcome with a dead starling in the bedroom fireplace and a family of mice scurrying around the house. Must have beat some sort of record, I caught 6 in traps filled (with crunchy peanut butter) over a few days and now the squeaking and trail of mouse turds seems to have been abated. I feel reassured we are not the only ones housing rodents but there are many gaps in this house so numerous places to enter. The past owners stuffed the gaps with aluminium foil because of the misguided view that mice can't eat the stuff. Funny how they managed to munch through foil to eat an Easter egg! I have an aversion to whistling winds indoors, I plan to handle the issue of gaps with something more robust than a bit of tinfoil...(and something more robust to deal with mice, as well). Can't imagine how hideous this house was for past owners - barely any heating, insulation or lighting and then spaces in the walls that you can see daylight through...clearly they are made of sterner stuff than us.

Last night we had dinner with even fresher residents of Cygnet. A lovely couple, Ian and Anne, who have only been here for 2 weeks and are friends of my ex-boss in Sydney (talk about 6 degrees of separation!). They clearly are a damn sight more organised than me, as they turned on a delightful Indian feast in their beautiful architecturally designed home overlooking the water. Tonight, we're off to another dinner party...perhaps we are looking a little underfed! It's time for me to pull my finger out and invite some new friends over...

Floyd is still having a fantastic time and is now proudly sporting his Huonville Council tag. He seems to have become a bit blase, not even bothering to react to the enormous possum we saw in the yard when we got home last night. He gave one of our chooks a nudge yesterday. I'm sure he'd love to rip its head off but wouldn't dare try anything with us watching. He's have the time of his life, time to give him another adventure and look for some mushys. A dog smiling....absolutely priceless.