Jimmy Who??

Megan was so impressed that the lady who sat in front of us at the school mass had a Jimmy Choo handbag.

Japanese Garden

Many moons ago - I can't even remember, maybe 8 years - I helped plant this bare patch of ground with plants inspired by the design for a Japanese garden. It's grown to be a very peaceful and quiet area of the school; it's just lovely.

The Peace Garden was organised by our friend, Jo F, who took each grade and taught them how to craft mosaic - each grade then designed and made a large tile to be displayed in the garden. Jo and her family moved interstate but each time I walk past here, I think of her.

Leadership Commissioning

What a wonderful morning, filled with joy, smiles and laughter. They're an incredible bunch of kids young adults. Here's a random batch of pics.

Another Moment

Today was opening school mass and leadership commissioning. These are two of my favourite photos from today, more to come.

Oops!

They're Still Alive!!!

The little vege garden is doing very nicely; the lettuce have perked up and the eschallots are standing tall.

Out in the Garden

The garden continues to both please and frustrate me. I planted six new honeysuckles to train as ground cover to fill a big gap;

 four new silver foliage plants to replace some ones that didn't make it:

 and two YTT and two ribbon grasses in the front triangle garden.

I've sprayed, fertilised, mulched and watered; it just never ends. I love living here - but sometimes I would just like it if the perimeter fence sucked itself in a couple of feet, making it easier for me to get around to do everything that needs doing in a reasonable time frame.

I'd forgotten there was a lovely rustic wall under the succulent ground cover in this bed. It was uncovered when someone came yesterday and cut it all back for me.

This is my favourite potplant at the moment - a mixture of two plants that I hurriedly stuck in a pot one day because they were tiny and looking sick. I've regularly fertilised it and watered it with a tonic and it looks great. I don't want to move it from its' spot as it seems to do so well in amongst the geraniums and rosemary at the end of the garage.

The beetroot and (seeded) basil are doing well in the double concrete tubs.

This is the end of the house where the bathroom lives.

And here's Princess Coco, helping in the garden.

Permaculture Update

PS-I wrote this post two weeks ago but couldn't publish it because the photos wouldn't load. Now when I publish, it will be out of order with the post from last night.

I've filled the pathways with sawdust and moved the chooks to their second site.

I was a bit concerned that what was left behind when the chooks moved would be too hot to plant into so I added a bag of potting mix. I think it might have still been a bit hot and I'm not surprised - there was a lot of lucerne, feedlot manure and chook droppings in amongst it. It could have benefited from a week or two of spelling and turning each day. I dutifully planted a variety of root vegetables on the optimum day in the lunar cycle - beetroot, carrots, eschallots, ginger and garlic - and now ten days later I only have the eschallots left! I think the others might have cooked in the hot mix; oh, and the topknot pigeons probably didn't help. They seemed to be partying on the mound each time I went out.

The mandala is now fenced to keep unwanted bovines out although none have made it into the buffel paddock yet. They will though.

The chooks are due to move on today to site 3 but I'm going to leave them where they are for another week or two as I'm out of mulch. There's another batch brewing in the bins. They haven't had near as much to scratch up compared to the first site.

It's been good to have a plan to follow. Sometimes I intend to do things but just never get around to them (like build a vege garden!). At least this way there's a method to follow which makes it all easier. Next planting day is Monday 15th - a leafy vegetable mix this time for the first phase of the moon.

Catching Up

I haven't been around much lately, not as much as I'd like. Life gets busy, work gets in the way and before I know it another week has gone.

I've planted the leafy annuals in the permaculture garden. I haven't moved the chooks on yet as I've had a massive slow down in the available compost so I'll just move them on when I think that what they leave behind will be ready to plant into. The first little vege garden is looking good; the eschallots from the first planting are going great guns and the few carrots that survived have really picked up. I planted the leafy annuals before heading to Brisbane last Monday - lettuce, celery, parsley, basil and silverbeet. I'm due to plant the fruiting veges on Wednesday but I don't really have any room!

Gibbo and I spent three days in Brisbane last week at our company managers conference. Things are looking up in the agric industry and we're hoping that we're turning a few corners and heading in a new and exciting direction. Time will tell. I came home from Brisbane on Wednesday; the kids met me in Toowoomba for Drew's drama workshops; Gibbo stayed down for wagyu board meetings.

On the Tuesday morning, just as we were about to start the days' proceedings, my Mum rang me to say that my Dad was having another one of his heart "events"; the Careflight helicopter was booked for him but had to wait for the rain to clear. In the meantime his doctor from Brisbane rang and gave the hospital some directions re stabilizing him; this worked and the helicopter was cancelled. As it turned out his defribrillator had to kick in between 20 and 30 times to re-set his heart but each time it did, his heart would race again to 200 bpm. If not for that little machine in his chest we may well have lost him last Tuesday; a sobering thought. He's travelling well now and will be one these new tablets for the rest of his life.

On Friday, Gibbo played for QCC against NSW Golden Oldies at Allan Border Field. He was really looking forward to playing and sent photos through of the "incredible" wicket. He scored 41 retired and took a wicket - and won the Man of the Match Award chosen by NSW.

Megan is still home; we're both still loving it. Woofy is especially loving it because she spoils him so much (and because he loves to dress up in her clothes?!). Coco is also loving it, laying on the couch all day watching Austar. Actually, Meg is doing a little bit; she's started her Masters of Justice and is powering through Statistics.

Chris arrives home from Whistler tomorrow; Meg will drive down to pick him up. She's very excited. I guess that means that soon they'll move on and she will be gone once again.

We continue to have beautiful sunsets................

and beautiful food..............................

Another Scintillating Day at the Cricket

January 31 saw us rise at 4.30am and drive to Lismore for Gibbo to play cricket again. We stayed the night in Toowoomba after a family engagement party; Drew was sensible enough to stay with the rellies and enjoy a sleep in. Of course we had to leave an hour earlier than really necessary due to daylight saving.

Just as we arrived in Lismore, it started to rain. And then it stopped. And then it started again. This is what happened every time the shower came across and when the sun came out.

Riveting stuff.

Meg and I could only handle so much excitement so while we waited for Gibbo to bat, we put $10 each through the poker machines. We must have looked like a pair of nongs; we had no idea how to play or that you could only use $1 coins. Finally, Gibbo was in but not for long; he was soon out again.

After commiserating with him Meg and I set off on the drive to Nimbin. Meg hadn't been there before; I went with the boys in September last year. It was very busy, being a Sunday; lots of tourists having a look. It was almost a bit sinister really. We walked up one side of the street and down the other then had a great lunch on a cafe verandah. Meg bought a lovely woven basket and I bought a moon calendar so I can track when I should be planting my veges.

After a couple of hours we headed back to Lismore; not much had changed there really. They were all still out on the field, playing cricket in the drizzle. Meg and I dozed in the car until, at last, it was all over. We got back to Toowoomba about 8pm, picked up Drewy and made it home to bed by 9.30, exhausted.

It's great fun, that cricket.