Underhill harvest

Last weekend I went down to Underhill to harvest our fruit. Terry and Ellie, and Greg and Evelyn came down. While Terry cut a huge amount of stove wood from the tree we felled last visit, Ellie, Greg, Ev and I picked fruit.

There was a good harvest from the Five Crown Apple.

Two ice-cream containers of Damsons (and a few delicious plums in the Desert Lime container, we ate them very quickly). There was a huge bag of quinces nearly ripe (even though we usually pick them in March), a tub of peaches and a bucket of pears (tiny King William and a few Beurre Bosc). There was a plastic bag of French Crab Apples and a few Desert Limes both growing in the Berry Yard. We have never had such plump damsons and so many pears before.

One amazing thing was a stringybark with the  bark splintered and stripped all up one side. Either this was caused by a troupe of giant koalas or, more likely, a lightning strike. There was no sign of singeing but from the amount of bark flung out from the strip it was a massive explosion, probably in heavy rain and on an already soaked tree.

All the orange tone on the ground here is scattered bark - in a wedge from the strike area.

Greg was astounded by the splinter of the tree that was embedded in the ground below the tree and others were scattered at great distance.

Thanks to Greg, Ev, Terry and Ellie for coming with me to enjoy the peace and quiet, cool weather, and lots of work.

Berry Show

Last weekend, in the VERY HOT weather Leonie and I and Rod, Ellen and boys visited Janice and Rauri for the Berry Show weekend. It was incredibly hot but still fun to see all the familiar events and displays.

It was an opportunity for the boys to practise their photography...

Luke took a great one of Leonie with Ma's camera...

Alex and Luke found a shady jumping castle (Bruce the shark)...

We sat watching the woodchop for a while because it was shady...

In all it was a good weekend but far to hot to enjoy. We all came home earlier than we had planned so we could strip off and cool down and give our gardens a much needed drink.

Boys and Birds

The last few weeks have been fun with some days of looking after Alex on his own and others with Luke while Alex was at big school. There were even visits to Ma's house and work at Geoff's new house.

We build things together a lot. These are some machines...

And a marble game...

Alex and I went for a train journey to visit Pa's grave...

Lyndal rescued a Sacred Kingfisher one morning and we babysat it while waiting for Wires rescue people.

Then there is another construction set that makes cool garages and houses.

Luke is learning to hop...

And Alex and I did some collecting one day...

There was even some hard work at Geoff's house...

The Bamboo Saga Continues

Today I had a huge advance in the bamboo saga when Kim brought Craig along to help. Craig has now gone home with blisters and sore muscles. How wonderful it is to have friends who will help with such a mammoth task.

The progress is as follows...

When Kim left in early Dec 2010 it looked like this.

Over the Christmas break Anne came a few times and between us we made some progress along the side of the house.

Today Craig was able to use is muscle to lift most of the major clumps along the front. 

We ended up with a huge pile of bamboo clumps and some other tree roots and wisteria roots to stockpile for the next cleanup.

All that is left of the major clumps out the front is this small but very tenacious piece which we will tackle next week if we can.

Now the side looks like this. There is about one metre to go till I get down to the corner of the house with my fine dig and sieve method followed by cutting and poisoning. Then I will need to dig the front section deeply and remove all the broken runners we've left behind.

Thanks a million to all those who have helped out so far but especially to Craig who just annihilated the major clumps today.

Underhill trees

Last weekend Terry & Ellie, Geoff and I met at Underhill to cope with the falling tree. Unfortunately it had not fallen during the time we were away so we needed to assist.

There was much thinking to be done then throwing of ropes and setting up the hand winch to start with. This brought it down a little way but it caught on the next tree.

Then there was  a bit of assistance using Terry's car but that only snapped the ropes.

At that stage (2 hours after we started) we decided that lunch was in order because it was quite hot and we were all exhausted.

Back to more ropes and winching.

Two more hours later the tree fell very very slowly with the assistance of the winch and lots of running away between times.

It now lies in a heap on the ground ready for cutting another day. Hooray!

The most important thing we had to do all day was insure escape routes were free for Terry and Geoff to escape when needed and that Ellie and I were well out of the way. Another very important part was discussing the next option each time so that all four heads could assess the risks. Otherwise this could have happened...

Thankfully we are all well and healthy after 4 hours of work on one tree. Terry just needed a lie down.

I picked greengage plums (and ice cream container full) and golden delicious apples (4).

The dams are looking healthy but not full...

We were greeted by about 6 kangaroos (Eastern Grey) when we arrived and had two other interesting visitors... a Christmas beetle and a small lizard.

Thanks again to Terry and Ellie who have helped so much over the last year or so.

Gerroa Holiday

Last week Ellen's family, Geoff and I rented two cabins at Gerroa Caravan Park for the week because our usual Gerringong holiday rental house has been sold.

Highlights included ...

Gerringong lagoon is open (a rare occurrence but with all the rain here lately it is flowing swiftly).

A python in the tree on the walk to the beach at Gerroa
.

Lots of time for chatting over coffee, tea and games.

Friends who came to stay or just for the day. Elaine, Anne, Jen, Brad & Ali, Mick, Pauline & Lara, Janice and Rauri and Marie.

New skills learned by the boys on their bikes, in the water, and playing Super Mario Chess.

Food shared with friends. In this photo with James, Belinda, Ryan and Cara.

Of course there were also Werri Fish Shop meals with Janice and Rauri and Janice's mum Marie, Elaine. And another large group for fish and chips around Geoff and Ma's table. Then there was lunch at the Gerroa cafe with Anne and dinner at the Gerroa Fisherman's Club with Geoff.

Lots of surfing, swimming in the river, walks along the beach, swims in the pool and riding of bikes around the camping grounds.

Next year I'd like to find somewhere that would allow me to spread a jigsaw and maybe some patchwork to fill the very sunny days when it is too hot for the beach. If you know of anywhere at Gerroa please let me know.

Happy New Year 2011

New Year's Day 2011 would have been Surrey and my 40th wedding anniversary. He was pretty sure he would not make it so he had a ruby ring made for me while he was sick. He then hid it in his underwear drawer and I found it when clearing out his clothes. I've been wearing it since but yesterday was the day I was to officially receive it. One ruby and six tiny yellow diamonds.

There was also other ruby jewellery for me which I have been wearing on special occasions but this ring I wear most of the time.

The day was spent with Ellen and the boys for breakfast (and lots of playing with K'nex) and then Geoff and Jen for lunch. In all a lovely family day as always (but with  one significant person missing which saddened us all). A time for memories, reflection and fun together.

 
Happy New Year to all.