The first 100 days. What can I say? I just hope the rest of you are having as much fun.
Sadly, I'm back at work. At least it is 3 days on and 4 days off but work is work. Back to the drudgery of routine. Routine? Rut? Is there a difference? It's not that bad (really) and the drive is nothing like routine, rain one day, fog the next, 50 km an hr one day, 100 km the next.... It was a stunning 3 degrees when I got home last night and there was a cute quoll in the drive to greet me. It's yet another glorious sunny day today - but don't think the temperature cracked double figures. Maybe winter has started now, maybe not. Finally got into the garden with the camera today. Let's see if I can rise to the challenge of uploading any of them. Learn something new every day. (Showing my age now!)
Heating being installed on Monday. Can't wait!
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Day 95 - Monday May 17th
Some sort of aircraft just flew overhead and Floyd barked like a maniac...short memory I must say. If he did that when we lived in Leichhardt, he'd have worn out his vocal chords by now! Took him for a walk to the bird reserve at Port Cygnet yesterday morning. The town was bathed in glorious autumn sunshine and he was at his mischievous best until the walk home, when once more he proved his eyes are bigger than his little legs and he ran out of puff on the slight incline back to the house.
It was too lovely a day and the curry at the Lotus Eaters, too much of a temptation to do the usual baked beans on toast at home yesterday so we took our place in the courtyard and had a huge, warming Thai organic beef curry with a copious amount of veg and crunchy macadamia halves on top - superb. We had a view of Mal's Pumping Services' truck with it's cheery slogans - "Your business is our business" and "Yesterday's meals on wheels" emblazoned on the sides - it conjured up truly tasteful images over lunch.
There is less sun in the Lotus Eaters' courtyard at lunchtime now. A few weeks ago, we'd be bathed in sunlight, now it is in shadow and winter is creeping in. Some locals are finding this unusually pleasant autumn weather disconcerting. No prizes for guessing how we feel about it.... The town was absolutely abuzz with locals and tourists visiting the restaurants and market. The Red Velvet Lounge was fully booked out after Steve's recent award and the Lotus Eaters was flat out but the bakery was conspicuous in its absence. Don't know the reason, but it has been closed since mid-week with no explanation. We also heard the Bits and Pizzas pizza shop has finally sold so perhaps we will see some changes there too.
Being a local in Cygnet yesterday afternoon made me feel positively glad to be alive - and in this place at this time. It just doesn't get much better than this.
On Friday, we drove to Cradle Mountain Lodge for a wine dinner. Geena, "perform a u turn when possible" GPS, sent us down country lanes lined with beautiful autumnal trees, through Coal River wine country and along about 30 kms of gravel roads through the Highland Lakes. We'd probably still be trying to find the place if we left her to it! Once we got to the destination, she was still screaming for us to "perform a u turn when possible" and declared we still had 177 kms to go. Who knows what she was thinking! However, the landscape was breathtaking in places - with the lakes the most memorable - the grass fluorescent green, the water a brilliant blue and the banks a rosy pink.
We stopped in Deloraine for petrol and asked for further directions - all we needed was a fourth opinion in the car! He warned me that as dark was not far away, the critters would soon be out to play fish with the traffic so we should take the more main road route. That was all I needed, the thought of roadkill added to an already much longer than anticipated drive up a windy mountain road in possible icy conditions. Luckily, all went well and the temperature was a temperate 3 degrees when we finally arrived at our destination.
It was a fabulous dinner of Barringwood Park wines skillfully matched with four plates of food. We walked back to our room after dinner, well plied with alcohol under the most amazing canopy of stars and what seemed like an endless Milky Way - perhaps I was just seeing double (and feeling no pain, as 3 degrees didn't feel that cold). We stayed in an enormous stunning suite. When Winsor and I stayed there before, about 20 year ago, I seem to remember a rudimentary sort of bunk room. There is quite a range of different rooms and this was true luxury at the top end. We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast and then gave Geena the day off and took a more direct route home with a few shopping stops on the way.
We came home to find team McArthur had reconstructed our collapsing woodshed, chopped down some tree limbs and had a bonfire on the go. These guys are amazing! They also supplied the mushrooms for a big pot of really good soup. Only problem is, they had to move out some of the firewood and as I now have a nasty case of tennis elbow, have little inclination to put them back. Must be getting old, the fingers don't work really well without pain in the mornings now either....
Found out later, that our friend from the B&B saw the smoke emitting from our yard and came to make sure all was well. It is reassuring and pleasing to know there are such lovely people looking out for our welfare and Floyd's wellbeing.
After Seeking on the internet and trawling the newspapers for months, I have finally started a part-time job after asking the people who cleaned our chimney flue if they needed staff for their new heating shop. In spite of my jibes about Kingston (Hobart light), I now have a job there, Tuesday to Thursday. It's a way to go but so far so good and with Friday and Monday off, the hours are pretty ideal as far as I am concerned.
The local grapevine has been working overtime lately and resulted in a knock at the door recently. There was a man with a bag of freshly skinned bunnies. Surprise, surprise - he shot 8 of them but doesn't actually eat them....We now have 2 in the freezer and 2 went into the pot for a delicious stew and dumplings. It was a completely different animal to the farmed version I cooked for Winsor's birthday (that cost a small fortune). We've now had the Veggo, the Fisho and the Rabbitoh. I really love the way the new world meets the old world in this town. Can only be a good thing for those of us who love to hunt and those who love to gather! Wonder what other surprises are in store for the doorstep in the future....Maybe a chook that actually lays eggs!
It was too lovely a day and the curry at the Lotus Eaters, too much of a temptation to do the usual baked beans on toast at home yesterday so we took our place in the courtyard and had a huge, warming Thai organic beef curry with a copious amount of veg and crunchy macadamia halves on top - superb. We had a view of Mal's Pumping Services' truck with it's cheery slogans - "Your business is our business" and "Yesterday's meals on wheels" emblazoned on the sides - it conjured up truly tasteful images over lunch.
There is less sun in the Lotus Eaters' courtyard at lunchtime now. A few weeks ago, we'd be bathed in sunlight, now it is in shadow and winter is creeping in. Some locals are finding this unusually pleasant autumn weather disconcerting. No prizes for guessing how we feel about it.... The town was absolutely abuzz with locals and tourists visiting the restaurants and market. The Red Velvet Lounge was fully booked out after Steve's recent award and the Lotus Eaters was flat out but the bakery was conspicuous in its absence. Don't know the reason, but it has been closed since mid-week with no explanation. We also heard the Bits and Pizzas pizza shop has finally sold so perhaps we will see some changes there too.
Being a local in Cygnet yesterday afternoon made me feel positively glad to be alive - and in this place at this time. It just doesn't get much better than this.
On Friday, we drove to Cradle Mountain Lodge for a wine dinner. Geena, "perform a u turn when possible" GPS, sent us down country lanes lined with beautiful autumnal trees, through Coal River wine country and along about 30 kms of gravel roads through the Highland Lakes. We'd probably still be trying to find the place if we left her to it! Once we got to the destination, she was still screaming for us to "perform a u turn when possible" and declared we still had 177 kms to go. Who knows what she was thinking! However, the landscape was breathtaking in places - with the lakes the most memorable - the grass fluorescent green, the water a brilliant blue and the banks a rosy pink.
We stopped in Deloraine for petrol and asked for further directions - all we needed was a fourth opinion in the car! He warned me that as dark was not far away, the critters would soon be out to play fish with the traffic so we should take the more main road route. That was all I needed, the thought of roadkill added to an already much longer than anticipated drive up a windy mountain road in possible icy conditions. Luckily, all went well and the temperature was a temperate 3 degrees when we finally arrived at our destination.
It was a fabulous dinner of Barringwood Park wines skillfully matched with four plates of food. We walked back to our room after dinner, well plied with alcohol under the most amazing canopy of stars and what seemed like an endless Milky Way - perhaps I was just seeing double (and feeling no pain, as 3 degrees didn't feel that cold). We stayed in an enormous stunning suite. When Winsor and I stayed there before, about 20 year ago, I seem to remember a rudimentary sort of bunk room. There is quite a range of different rooms and this was true luxury at the top end. We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast and then gave Geena the day off and took a more direct route home with a few shopping stops on the way.
We came home to find team McArthur had reconstructed our collapsing woodshed, chopped down some tree limbs and had a bonfire on the go. These guys are amazing! They also supplied the mushrooms for a big pot of really good soup. Only problem is, they had to move out some of the firewood and as I now have a nasty case of tennis elbow, have little inclination to put them back. Must be getting old, the fingers don't work really well without pain in the mornings now either....
Found out later, that our friend from the B&B saw the smoke emitting from our yard and came to make sure all was well. It is reassuring and pleasing to know there are such lovely people looking out for our welfare and Floyd's wellbeing.
After Seeking on the internet and trawling the newspapers for months, I have finally started a part-time job after asking the people who cleaned our chimney flue if they needed staff for their new heating shop. In spite of my jibes about Kingston (Hobart light), I now have a job there, Tuesday to Thursday. It's a way to go but so far so good and with Friday and Monday off, the hours are pretty ideal as far as I am concerned.
The local grapevine has been working overtime lately and resulted in a knock at the door recently. There was a man with a bag of freshly skinned bunnies. Surprise, surprise - he shot 8 of them but doesn't actually eat them....We now have 2 in the freezer and 2 went into the pot for a delicious stew and dumplings. It was a completely different animal to the farmed version I cooked for Winsor's birthday (that cost a small fortune). We've now had the Veggo, the Fisho and the Rabbitoh. I really love the way the new world meets the old world in this town. Can only be a good thing for those of us who love to hunt and those who love to gather! Wonder what other surprises are in store for the doorstep in the future....Maybe a chook that actually lays eggs!
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Day 84 - Thursday 6th May
Picture this Sydneysiders (if you dare...). Headed to the airport on Tuesday night to retrieve the husband from his latest sojourn and arrived 20 minutes early (unheard of, I know) and found an area specifically dedicated to pick ups and drop offs. That was the first shock to the system. But then I parked my car and sat in it...and sat and sat and sat.... I was passed by no fewer than 4 parking Nazis (disguised as Security) several times, and not one tried to move me on or even hint I was doing something wrong. The defences were up, I was ready to bolt, or stay and fight, I wasn't prepared to be left alone. Took all my self control not to roll down the window down and confront one of them about their lackadaisical work ethic...was I invisible? It was distressing, where's the fun in being left alone and not being hassled by some jobsworth, should be ashamed of themselves.
The adventurous drive home made up for the Zen airport incident. A lumbering wombat from the left, about to tempt fate, followed by a possum that tempted fate and lost. Slowed down for it...gave it the opportunity to keep going, instead it stopped - and signed its own death certificate! Sorry guys, notched up my first road kill...When it comes to possums, plenty more where that came from. But if they're all that stupid..maybe not! When we got home a bunny bounded across the backyard, the endless array of critters here is never ending. Bunnies appear to be quite active at the moment. Floyd and I did a scout around the bike park a day or so ago and it is full of rabbit attempts to dig holes and build warrens - great sport for a Jack Russell Terrorist to wear himself out.
Also when we got home, we found the fairy god father had been and left us a big basket of fresh field mushrooms. (His wife had already made dinner and he only likes his mushys fresh! What a perspective...fresh here means picked that day. Fresh in my past, could have been snap frozen a year ago and transported across the planet!) Organic eye fillet and mushrooms on the menu tonight. Getting horribly spoilt here, I tried eating some packet food recently. It was either dire or just tasted artificial (because it was?)...probably a combination of both. Having a good supply has done nothing to curb my desire to go hunting for mushys. Think I must have been reincarnated from a truffle dog.
The disbelieving husband had me doubting my ears when he got back. What rooster? It was just a neighbouring critter or I was hearing things when I counted 22 cocka doodle dos at 4.51am on Monday. He had just about convinced me, when Mel C let rip in the yard yesterday morning and left us in no doubt whatsoever. Had we bothered to take a decent look at she/he in the past few days, there would have been no doubt earlier. Mel C has progressed from Spice Girl to tranny to the full sex change op. Malcomb, as I know him as now, has a wonderful strut, a cute little comb, a very impressive waddle (is that what we call the red flabby bits off his chin?), some gorgeous turquoise tinted tail feathers and a confident rooster chant. That's the trouble with roosters, they're so impressive, it's hard to part with them for the pot. And how disappointing would this Sussex bantam be? Picked 3 of them up recently and they are barely a handful. Would have to be the most expensive over sized quail to hit a dinner plate. Though I'm not sure how letting him hang around makes him any better value for money. They continue to confound me with how much they eat and shit (and refuse to do any work!). Even life as a chook here is great.
RVL (Red Velvet Lounge) chef, Steve Cumper has won Country Style magazine's Country chef of the year award. His reputation and restaurant were already on the map, with diners heading from Hobart on Fridays and Saturdays to enjoy his fare. Now the rest of the country will get to know about his restaurant and our little town. We're keen for him to be a success to ensure we continue to have some fabulous (and some not so fabulous) dishes at our doorstep. If he keeps producing delights like the Nicholls (local) chicken in masterstock with Shittake mushrooms like I had the other day, he will have me as a fan forever! Well done Steve.
On that note...Winsor keeps spreading the gospel about Cygneture chocolates and seems to be addicting followers, one at a time. He says I should approach her to do her marketing. What does she need me for, Winsor is doing a fine job and she can't keep up as it is. Another thriving local industry...bring it on.
Have an interview today (a job I applied for 6 weeks ago) and several more coming up. My unemployed days may soon be at an end. Time to get on with it. Cheers.
The adventurous drive home made up for the Zen airport incident. A lumbering wombat from the left, about to tempt fate, followed by a possum that tempted fate and lost. Slowed down for it...gave it the opportunity to keep going, instead it stopped - and signed its own death certificate! Sorry guys, notched up my first road kill...When it comes to possums, plenty more where that came from. But if they're all that stupid..maybe not! When we got home a bunny bounded across the backyard, the endless array of critters here is never ending. Bunnies appear to be quite active at the moment. Floyd and I did a scout around the bike park a day or so ago and it is full of rabbit attempts to dig holes and build warrens - great sport for a Jack Russell Terrorist to wear himself out.
Also when we got home, we found the fairy god father had been and left us a big basket of fresh field mushrooms. (His wife had already made dinner and he only likes his mushys fresh! What a perspective...fresh here means picked that day. Fresh in my past, could have been snap frozen a year ago and transported across the planet!) Organic eye fillet and mushrooms on the menu tonight. Getting horribly spoilt here, I tried eating some packet food recently. It was either dire or just tasted artificial (because it was?)...probably a combination of both. Having a good supply has done nothing to curb my desire to go hunting for mushys. Think I must have been reincarnated from a truffle dog.
The disbelieving husband had me doubting my ears when he got back. What rooster? It was just a neighbouring critter or I was hearing things when I counted 22 cocka doodle dos at 4.51am on Monday. He had just about convinced me, when Mel C let rip in the yard yesterday morning and left us in no doubt whatsoever. Had we bothered to take a decent look at she/he in the past few days, there would have been no doubt earlier. Mel C has progressed from Spice Girl to tranny to the full sex change op. Malcomb, as I know him as now, has a wonderful strut, a cute little comb, a very impressive waddle (is that what we call the red flabby bits off his chin?), some gorgeous turquoise tinted tail feathers and a confident rooster chant. That's the trouble with roosters, they're so impressive, it's hard to part with them for the pot. And how disappointing would this Sussex bantam be? Picked 3 of them up recently and they are barely a handful. Would have to be the most expensive over sized quail to hit a dinner plate. Though I'm not sure how letting him hang around makes him any better value for money. They continue to confound me with how much they eat and shit (and refuse to do any work!). Even life as a chook here is great.
RVL (Red Velvet Lounge) chef, Steve Cumper has won Country Style magazine's Country chef of the year award. His reputation and restaurant were already on the map, with diners heading from Hobart on Fridays and Saturdays to enjoy his fare. Now the rest of the country will get to know about his restaurant and our little town. We're keen for him to be a success to ensure we continue to have some fabulous (and some not so fabulous) dishes at our doorstep. If he keeps producing delights like the Nicholls (local) chicken in masterstock with Shittake mushrooms like I had the other day, he will have me as a fan forever! Well done Steve.
On that note...Winsor keeps spreading the gospel about Cygneture chocolates and seems to be addicting followers, one at a time. He says I should approach her to do her marketing. What does she need me for, Winsor is doing a fine job and she can't keep up as it is. Another thriving local industry...bring it on.
Have an interview today (a job I applied for 6 weeks ago) and several more coming up. My unemployed days may soon be at an end. Time to get on with it. Cheers.
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Day 80 - Sunday 2nd May
Awoke yesterday morning to the unmistakable sounds of a rooster...cocka doodle do!And to leave me in no doubt, there were 9 further chants of "cocka doodle do". All quiet on the southern front this morning....a reluctant rooster or someone else's? Time will tell but I was sure it was one of our "girls" yesterday and I bet it's Mel C from the Spice Girl team.
Yesterday was a hard slog in the garden and a couple of quick walks with Floyd. I'm so classy nowadays, I noticed when I got home from the first walk, not only was my t shirt on back to front but inside out as well. God help me if I ever get another job, I'll need a refresher course in my personal appearance!
I found a fairytale toadstool in the garden - one of those cute red ones with white spots. Wonder if there are pixies at the bottom of the garden too....(feral cats would probably eat them.)
Came across a fish stand selling mutton birds the other day. Being keen on trying most foods (that brought back memories of dire alpaca), I asked about it. She said don't cook it indoors as it stinks but it tastes delicious! Ughhhhhhhhh. Seems somewhat incongruous to me. Arthur tells me he used to catch them - they are full of oil and so revoltingly smelly that once he finished preparing them, he had to throw his clothes away. How hungry would you have to be? How good can they taste? I can safely say I won't be experimenting with it anytime in the near future.
The other interesting snippet I heard recently is that about 50% of fishermen in Tassy can't swim. This is because they reckon the water is so cold, the cold would kill you before drowning...interesting logic. Apparently, they're not that fond of life jackets either. Its a risky business.
Winsor is in South Australia and I'm now at the picture hanging stage. It's all coming together well and there's light at the end of the tunnel. Only the work front has been slow - not a lot about and not easy to secure something. No doubt once I'm successful with one application, I'll get offered another. Will worry about that if it happens. Til next time....
Yesterday was a hard slog in the garden and a couple of quick walks with Floyd. I'm so classy nowadays, I noticed when I got home from the first walk, not only was my t shirt on back to front but inside out as well. God help me if I ever get another job, I'll need a refresher course in my personal appearance!
I found a fairytale toadstool in the garden - one of those cute red ones with white spots. Wonder if there are pixies at the bottom of the garden too....(feral cats would probably eat them.)
Came across a fish stand selling mutton birds the other day. Being keen on trying most foods (that brought back memories of dire alpaca), I asked about it. She said don't cook it indoors as it stinks but it tastes delicious! Ughhhhhhhhh. Seems somewhat incongruous to me. Arthur tells me he used to catch them - they are full of oil and so revoltingly smelly that once he finished preparing them, he had to throw his clothes away. How hungry would you have to be? How good can they taste? I can safely say I won't be experimenting with it anytime in the near future.
The other interesting snippet I heard recently is that about 50% of fishermen in Tassy can't swim. This is because they reckon the water is so cold, the cold would kill you before drowning...interesting logic. Apparently, they're not that fond of life jackets either. Its a risky business.
Winsor is in South Australia and I'm now at the picture hanging stage. It's all coming together well and there's light at the end of the tunnel. Only the work front has been slow - not a lot about and not easy to secure something. No doubt once I'm successful with one application, I'll get offered another. Will worry about that if it happens. Til next time....
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