the moving would be a friend who has stored his gear in Mr Tasmania’s shed for the last three year – it’s all been moved out today so we can move in some stuff that Mr Tasmania’s sister has given us and for building materials and interior bits like floor tiles, vanity units, bathtubs, etc etc etc.  It makes the shed look VERY large – it is huge but with a big pile of plastic covered furniture in the middle of it it’s always looked a little smaller.  But, when you’ve swept it five times in under two hours, you get a good feeling at how LARGE the thing is

Before the sweeping I spent two hours in light drizzle throwing 25kg of gypsum over the new area in front of the shed, which is made up primarily of clay which was taken from the bank behind the shed, where our new driveway runs (had to be moved, old driveway runs right through the ‘imminent garage’).  After the gypsum (which is designed to help the clay all come together so we can grow things in it) I broadcast 2kg’s of grass seed (City of Burnie grass), raked it all in, then watered it all lightly with a mix of water, Seasol, and Ecofish.  Seasol is a seaweed based soil conditioner and Ecofish is basically mooshed up exotic fish ie European Carp taken from the rivers.  I then threw over 20L of cow manure and left it for the light rain to wash it … hopefully some of the grass will grow!

not much to say on new except … i GOT MY WISE GIFT!!!  I’ll attempt to photograph and post properly later or maybe tomorrow .. will see how it goes – needless to say the bits are gorgeous, thank you thank you thank you, I’m so shocking at this I can’t work out who it is though I know who I think it might be … suffice to say it’s someone from Swansea … which I know means half the wibsite so not much help … or I guess it might be even a sneaky person who sent it to someone in Swansea to post!  I will never work it out, am resigned to it

and old … would be the post just previous to this … which is the one that had me contemplating giving up blogging altogether the other day when it just would not post!  Why it works today I have no idea

It’s rainin again. on a weekend. when I want to be out in the garden. and my washing is YET AGAIN in the dryer. SO – OVER – IT! BUT I’m also liking it ’cause it means that I don’t have to water the garden this afternoon, which it was looking as if I’d have to (do you like my grammar?), so even that’s annoying. Ah well. I’ve struck another 50 geraniums … mind you, that doesn’t mean I’ll get 50 plants, but I’ve got a pretty good ratio of living with them so it probably means I’ve got at least 40 – 45 to plant out somewhere in about 8 – 10 weeks.  Not to mention the other 50 or 60 I’ve got lined up on the edge of the front garden. I know, it sounds over the top – but they grow really well down here and even the foliage is interesting (’cause they’re geraniums AND pelargoniums, I just Australianise ie generalise massively, and call them all geraniums) so the more the merrier really – and once they’ve taken off down here I’ll have a never ending supply to plant out at the block too – and there’s LOTS more room up there to fill up with my gardening – so free plants are good! I’ll have to have a go at my lavendars soon – and the mother in law’s roses too!  Never struck roses but willing to give it a go! I’ve done heaps of little jobs inside – MR Tasmania is off down the West Coast on his quad bike with 10 or so mates, getting muddy and wet basically – and am now going to have lunch … the aim is to get the beer bread in the oven, try out a recipe for what look essentially like Moroccan lamb mince spring rolls, and then get into the Christmas cards. Unless it stops raining, then I’m back outside in the garden, of course!

at the block.

I felt like a grownup today as I took the first lump of money from the ATM for something that is leading to the building of our house.  We’ve paid a few little things, council fees, insurances, etc etc but this was the first number with three nought’s after it (not a huge one, mind you) that we’d paid out … and I felt really grown up and responsible all of a sudden.

we’re building a house!  I think it’s really just hit me properly.

It’s very very cool

but for some reason it doesn’t want to take it … I don’t know if I like this new system very much.

anyhoo, horrible blasted weather day yesterday, absolutely gorgeous day today, horribly nasty pain in neck and head most of the day until I went to lie down late this afternoon, rolled over, big crunch, neck fine.

So I think good but annoying sums up the day ..

and I could do with another day to get done all the stuff outside that we wanted to do.

and I’ll post pics of the digging at the block on flickr and here eventually – I’m running out of day these days.  Must be nearly Christmas then!

Bold is for Done. Italics is for want to. Bold and italics is either for done and want to do it again or kinda done but want to do it properly.

1. Started my own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii (I’m counting two stopovers!)
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than I can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sung a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught myself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning (3 times)
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown my own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitchhiked (never gonna! – can we all say ‘Backpacker Murders’? Welcome to my home town!)
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of my ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught myself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had my portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma – but I can’t – chronic iron deficiency
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy – most of ‘em actually
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten caviar – and never will again!
72. Pieced a quilt – does it count if it isn’t finished?
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book – Edited a couple of published books
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had my picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous – quite a number of Australian famous and/or well known – don’t think I’ve met anyone internationally famous – though Simon Baker (The Mentalist) did give me a wink one day J
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone – mobile phone in Oz
99. Been stung by a bee

I’m adding one – something Australian! (this is very Euro/Amero centric for travel!)

100. Climbed Ayers Rock (Uluru) – even though it’s no longer encouraged (or possibly not even allowed)

We have an approved DA!!!  That would be a Development Application.  The local council loves us and they have now authorised to go forth and be stressed and gather enormous amounts of paperwork, spend lots and lots of money and, in the end, end up with a home!

Very very VERY cool!

We also have a Post Office Box, to which our mail is now going – if you want to know it ask and you shall receive

AND … Mr Tasmania has been investigating an Online Auction Site – and today we flung ourselves in with a bang, registered, bid on 4 things, and in short order had bought said 4 things!  Saving ourselves approximately $500 in the process – me likey auction very much!  We are now the proud (almost) possessors of 1) A vegie spray (kitchen mixer tap with an extendable hose), 2) 3 very funky floor drains 3) 2 lovely silver metal double towel racks to mount on the walls, and 4) 2 toilet roll holders (also silver and funky).

Hopefully we can buy my kitchen items ie stove and cooktop this way too, as they have an enormous range of items on this site – we will hopefully save a fortune … though there is a lot of other cool stuff on there…. a dozen bottles of Margaret River 2005 cab merlot … maybe we could buy that too?

The joys of Spring in Tasmania – Hobart was 31deg C yesterday … today snow is forecast for Mt Wellington, which is behind Hobart.

Welcome to Australia

I know the general image of Australia to those not living here is sundrenched, beach, hot, flies, drought, kangaroos, koalas, barbeques, sunburn, ayres rock (or better known these days as Uluru) …

And yep, we got all that.

But we’ve also got tropical, temperate AND alpine rainforest, we’ve got mountains (small as the world measures, but still mountains!), lots and lots and lots of snow (not necessarily accessible or skiiable, but it’s there!), large rivers, small rivers, rivers in crisis (hello Murray river!), lots and lots of camels, black swans (yep, black is the colour of the native swans), sand deserts, stony deserts (called gibbers), big red deserts (the Nullabor), giant weird rocks, lots and lots and lots of different types of bush (that’d be forests for those not in the know), enormous wetlands (Kakadu), big weird bitey black ants, little bitey black ants, whopping big angry black furry spiders (the famous funnel web), little black and red ones (redbacks, obviously), lots of snakes, but lots of lovely things like echidnas (our version of the anteater), wallabies, wombats, quolls, pademelons, kangaroo rats (very cute), Tasmanian devils (not so cute).  We can’t all swim or surf or ride a horse or hypnotise a crocodile … in fact the place is so big that some people have never seen the ocean and possibly never will.  It’s 1200km’s from my place on the north west coast of Tasmania to my parents place approximately 1/3 of the way up the New South Wales coast (the NSW coast, in it’s turn, is maybe 2/5’s of the Eastern coastline of Australia – Queensland is massive!).

Don’t know what brought all that on but there you go

What is the one thing you LOVE about your kitchen / or kitchens you have had?

What is the one thing you’d rather be dragged over hot coals than have in a kitchen ever again?

What is the one thing you would absolutely love to have in your kitchen?

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