The long way home.

I worked a night shift for the first time in quite a few weeks recently.  I decided to take a pictorial journal of what I did on the way home.  

Sunrise from the windows of where I work.  This would be about 6am or a bit earlier. Sadly my camera just could not do this particular cloud or the colour its true justice.

    

I left work at about 8:00 normally I would leave earlier, but as I had some things to do I waited and talked with my day shift colleagues for a while.

My first stop out of town was the tip shop, there are three in the Hobart surrounds. This is the one on one of my ways home.

I love stopping at the tip shop.  I have purchased some amazing bargains here and some things that have been very useful in the garden and house.  The dinner set we currently are using is Wedgwood and whilst is not complete, it  has enough pieces for us to use and entertain with, plus it compliments my other bits and pieces.  23 pieces and only $30.  I wanted to get two more plates these will cost me $25ea!  

It can yield unexpected wonders or absolutely nothing.  From this tip shop (both pictures) there have been one couple who have built and furnished their own home all from recycled materials.  From rubbish that other folk have bought out to dump at the tip!

Can you believe the view from the tip as you leave?

These little treasures are found near one of my faviourite vegetable stalls called Meridith's it is just a shed and they have great deals on fruit and vegies.  They are made out of corrugated iron, and painted.  They change them around at times.  There is also one of a fox, but he was elusive this day. Tasmania used to be fox free, though there are fears that they are here now.  If this is true they would really decimate our wild life and compete with devils.

This is a photo of another Smithfield dog I met at               The topiary mother and baby duck are just the

Meridith's on my way home. Toby is a Smithfield too.       other side of the road.  Pretty fun vegie market!

Below

The sign and little vegie stand under neath is an organic vegie grower, who also has alpacas.  I stop here because she has great value onions and I did not have a great success with onions this season.  So I buy hers and of course usually come away with some other items.

Added to our own bounty, lots of delicious, sweet, tasty cherry tomatoes and our own eggs. I picked and gathered these on my return home that day.

We do have a paradise within 100km to source our food from.

Just to let you know the four girls are all laying eggs now.  My neighbours are sharing in their produce currently.  I will begin to freeze some for the quieter time ahead.

Off course no long day shopping and chasing up messages after a night shift would ever be complete without a coffee from my local cafe.  The Lotus Eaters.  Great food made with love and incredible skill for flavour.

My Kale comes with extras

 Last night I was sitting out on the deck watching three dragon flies swooping and flying after insects.  So pretty especially when the last vestiges of sunlight hit their wings. I did try to get a photo but no luck just blurs.
It was a lovely sultry evening, and today is amazing and much warmer than forecast.  

 This photo on the left shows my scarlet runner peas,

my rocket and mesculan lettuces flowering and below are my tomatoes.

I watered the vegie garden, and was delighted to see this lovely little frog nestled in my one and only kale plant.  He was equally surprised to see me I feel. 

I am hoping that he may be making a meal of any caterpillars, snails or slugs devouring my kale.      

 

This is my youngest chook.  She just seems to be so much behind the other girls in her growth.  I am not sure what is happening with her.  Hmmm I think I may be repeating myself.

I have to share with you that a well meaning colleague told me how she was using shredded paper in her laying boxes.  So in my wisdom I thought why not give it a try!  Hmmmm  I swear these two are saying we did not do it....

Why is it always the youngest gets the blame...

I speak from personal experience here..lol mind you in my case it was so often true.  It was I that done it..lol

So I now have a chicken run covered in shredded paper, and I will not be using it again.  Luckily the girls have succeeded in not only spreading the paper, they have also taken it upon themselves to reorganise the lovely pile of straw, manure and bits removed from their coop. I had put in the corner of their run to let it break down and form compost.  Well know it is going to rot all over their run...sigh.  Just hope it does not rain before I can rake it all up and fence it off.

Last but not least just a little oddity..

On the way into town today we were met with this lovely traffic light.  Which made me laugh, as we are 8km from nearest village, and well there are just so many cars at this very dangerous intersection. 

Ahhh but it was a glorious day and yes my windscreen is tinted. 

A little bit of everything.

Mince pies as I mentioned in the previous post, this is just to show that I do not actually make them as pies, no more pasties style for me..lol much easier when making so many.  

Now onto the vegetable garden.  I have finally put all my seed chest seedlings into the vegetable garden.  There were some that did not make it.  The melons all seemed not to have survived my being away and I have not had the chance to resow them.  May just put some seeds in and see, has anyone ever succeeded with this? 

The tomatoes are my self seeded ones I think that theymay be Tommy Toes, which would be terrific.  I

This is the bed that I have been putting zucchini's and cucumbers.I am letting the beetroot and carrot that are in it go to seed.  There is a bean that has grown must have dropped a seed. You can see just see the terracotta pots that I have sunk into the ground for watering, like a water well.  Covered with mulch. 




This is my last attempt at basil.  I sowed seeds, I put in seedlings into the vegetable garden, and none.  So on the deck in a polystyrene box.  Fingers crossed.  I planted some sage, my sage from last year has died? Thyme and a lemon thyme have gone in.  Pumpkins Turkish Turban, and a butternut pumpkin, chili, cucumber.  One tomato unknown variety in the box with the basil. 

The beans are doing well flowering with lovely scarlet flowers.  This is my first bed I planted with tomatoes, and they have romped ahead.  I have flowers and the aubergine is flowering as well.  Things are going well.
The girls are out free ranging amongst the hazel nuts.  They are growing so well and seem to be happy.  Toby is not going in as much as we have resorted to putting him on a long lead so he can move around but not go into the chook run.

Summer harvesting has begun..

It is cool and very windy down in the Huon Valley, with a possibility of showers.  It has been like this most of the last week. 
I harvested all my garlic ( I know I was going to leave it till the summer solistice, it was just to wet and warm at times, I was afraid it would begin to go mouldy) and I am very happy with the results.  I hope to be picking up my camera on Monday so will be able to return to photos as well as my words.  I have over 200 head of garlic, some are small, but will still taste lovely.  Majority of it is a good size.  So I will have cloves to plant next season, and a lot to use for us.  This was a sucessful year for garlic. 

We have had a harvest of just over 10kgs of broad beans, and we ate nearly all of them. I have some pods drying for seed next year, and I will buy the red flowering seed varitey to plant as well for next season.  So this was a sucess story aswell. 

I am very happy with my flowerpot garden so far.  I have flowers on some of the tomatoes already and all are growing well.  Mind you the same is true of the self seeded one, though they are smaller but very healthy.

I picked some strawberries both my red ones, and my white variety, in fact I had a lovely handful of red currants, jostaberries and a few raspberries, along with the strawberries.  It was so good since I grew them all!  For me that is being a success. 

The beans in the vegie garden are growing and some in a pot on the deck are flowering, they are scarlet runners.  They have lots of flowers on them.  I must have got very carried away with planting seeds.  As in this pot is a star jasmine, and I added sweet peas, which we have been getting quite a lot of flowers off.  I also have some violets growing, not planted by me?  Then I noted I have beans..lol.  My DH wonders if anyother things are going to turn up!

My snow pea and sugar snap also in a pot on the deck is flowering and giving pods, just a few every day.  Added to salads it is enough. 

The chooks are growing and getting used to Toby.  There is one whose comb and wattles are begining to go red and grow, my understanding means that this chook is heading towards egg laying.  The next one is a bit behind this one, and the other two girls well their combs are not very noticeable at present.  I estimate I may begin to get at least one egg in the next 2-3 weeks.  Fingers crossed.   The Chooky TajMahal has had to be rearranged as I realised that the girls jump of their roosts into the laying boxes the way I had it set up!  Not a good idea at all. Unless scrambled egg is my intention. 

It must be almost Christmas, as my DH has been requesting mince pies, (fruit mince) which I make for him as a special thing at Christmas.  I used to make them as a pie, but now just roll out the pastry and use a glass or biscuit cutter in a circle shape, I fill teaspoon of mince on one half, fold the other side over and Wallah Christmas Fruit Mince pasties.  Much easier to do, less pastry, less fat, not less taste!  Quick and easy compared to making pies with lids.