Watering the Pigs

We hired a little digger today, to trench the water line to the turkey/duck compound and the pig pen. Big boys and their toys.

There were the usual onlookers. The distance between them is very slowly diminishing.

Working out which lever does what.

Oops. This wasn't in the plan. Of course if there's a water line - we'll cut it.

There were helpers (or sticky beaks, depending on how many legs you have).

More helpers/onlookers.

Peppie thinks the shovel would make a good horn scratcher.

Rosie wonders what's this thing?

May I help?

New connections in the chook compound should make life a little easier.

I was standing quite close when Gibbo pulled on a rotten post and half of it fell off and disturbed a large family of huntsman spiders. There was a time when I would have run a mile, screaming, but I'm much more mature now. Lucky the kids weren't there :)

Relish the Relish

I haven't made relish for ages and I've missed pottering in the kitchen; too busy outside lately.

I used mostly supermarket tomatoes and some from the garden and a tiny chilli.

More little quiches - they're so colourful - and so tasty!

And actually - this isn't allowed....but no-one ever listens....

A Bean and Some Garlic

We brought one precious New Guinea Bean seed all the way back from our recent trip to Bendigo. It's taken me a little while to get around to planting it. I cleaned out one square of the vege garden and added some fresh compost, ready for some new veges; I planted the bean seed beneath the little trellis. I hope it grows.

The stick marks the spot!

The garlic leaves all died so I figured it might be time to dig it up. I don't know a lot anything about growing garlic; I even wondered sometimes if it actually was garlic because most people who saw it said it didn't look like garlic. It smells FANTASTIC.

I hung them to dry on the ladder in the garage. This is the ladder that's supposed to find it's way to the bathroom to become our towel rack. I tried plaiting the leaves but I sucked at that. See how they're still a bit green down near the bulb? Maybe I pulled them a tad early? Time will tell.

I got into a lot of trouble from a little willy wagtail as I hung the garlic. I was much too close to her nest for her comfort.

It seems they've been up at my chook pens, collecting silkie feathers to decorate their nest.

Nasty Needles

Much and all as it's nice to go away swanning around the country it's equally good to stay at home and get some jobs done. I booked up my local garden labourer and his chainsaw this morning for a couple of hours and between us we achieved great things. (I also booked him up for some housework but that didn't eventuate - from either of us. There's always tomorrow).

The palm fronds have particularly nasty spikes on them where the branch meets the trunk. Very nasty. I heard a lot of "aarrgghh" and "ooohhh" sounds coming from within and a fair degree of swearing too - I thought Pirate Pete was in there. It seems my labourer got stung quite a lot.

Cleaning out the branches has opened the space up beautifully; it looks so much neater.

There's Pete now!

Two big loads went to the dump, precariously balanced on the trailer but tied down with straps. Loading it up was nasty work.

As always, there was a helper.

Drew's Day

Drew has elected to stay in Brisbane until just before Christmas. He's working as a waiter at an upmarket seafood restaurant and living in a tiny little flat in South Brisbane. Most mornings he has a coffee at a nearby cafe; they now know him and his order. Earlier in the week he took his coffee and book to Southbank and soaked up the sunshine. He's working on securing accommodation in Geneva and has some good leads. Hopefully one of them will come through soon. He's had a busy few weeks and months and is finding it hard to just slow down and enjoy the days of doing little and working nights. "Let if flow", I said. "Just enjoy it". Pity I don't practice what I preach.

Goodbye to PD

We had a late breakfast on Sunday and had a quick spin around the markets then spent half the day reading the papers and relaxing. Sunday night we went to a beautiful restaurant one street back from the main street but it felt like we were in the treetops. We flew out on Monday morning, back to Brisbane, where Drew met us. We took him and his friend James out for a steak lunch then finally headed home.

Here's a few final PD pics. We had a great time.

The boys head off through the beautiful gardens for a swim.

Walk from the unit straight to the beach.

Markets.

PD jetty.

Four Mile Beach. The unit is half way along.

The very nice restaurant. We sat here and had a drink then went "inside" under the trees for our meal.