Summer

Well, it's now the 31st January. One month of official Summer left and it has well and truly arrived!!! There's no denying it. It's almost impossible now to tell where the grass stops and the paths begin.....

We didn't get any rain after the hay came off so the paddock is dry and yellow!

No green flush!

We do still have a few shady corners though!

And mountains of Love in The Mist which is so fresh and green!

But the rest is dry crunchy and very very yellow!!!!

Australia Day!

287 bales we got!!! A bit different from the 150 the hay man predicted!!! Cause for  celebration indeed although now we have about 150 bales more then  what we need and not much room to store it all!

We shall have to sell some!

A quick impromptu Ploughman's Dinner was called for out in the paddock as it was such a glorious evening. Loaded up on the back of the ute.

 Long shadows!!

Geoff blocking the Sun!

 Happy Australia Day!



 

 

 

 

Fire On New Road

Today a bushfire sparked up in a Forestry Coop in the Franklin Hills behind us. Quite a long way away but still always a concern if the wind picked up. Luckily the day was calm and the helicopters bombed it consistently for most of the afternoon. The view from our place when we got home...

And a borrowed photo from Dad of his view further up the hill

The enormity of the fire becomes clearer when you see the size of the helicopter !

Reloading with water at a dam near Dad's place

Brave mad people that they are!!!!

 Heading off with a full load.

Geoff and a chook had a quick chat to the local firies who called in to tell us not to worry!!!

Lilli took refuge in a water trough!

Clips got a reassuring cuddle as he's a bit nervous of the noise of the helicopters.

Fatboy Max was totally unconcerned.

But he got a cuddle anyway as Geoff loves him!

Our Little Touch of Narnia!

Today l drove into the outer suburbs of Hobart after  work and  came back the very proud owner of a Narnia style lamp post!!!! It was advertised on Gumtree, an on line classified ad site. It's a bit old and tatty......not quite straight with a few missing panes of glass.........(it should fit right in here!!!!)

It's quite an intricate style. Nothing like you buy at the local hardware shop!

Three metres tall so it's very imposing!!!

It is actually able to be hard wired to the electrics but l can't see us ever getting around to doing that! Where to put it is the next question. At the moment its tied to the Walnut Tree looking rather splendid!!

The Hay Man Cometh!

Our turn tonight, with our paddock slashed at the going down of the Sun. There is lots of clover in our hay so it might take a bit longer to dry out. We wait in anticipation to see how many bales it produces this year!

Peering through the garden from the veranda!

 Nearly done!

 

Hay Time!

Finally the weather has warmed up and the rain has stopped! Time for the Hay Men to move in and make hay whilst the Sun shines! The first lot to be cut has been Geoff's Dads paddock. A bumper 270 bales came off it which is great. We have bought 200 of them and have spent the last two days carting them back to the Farm. Ours gets cut tomorrow so hopefully the rain will hold off to get all that in as well! The garage is now pretty full with more to come!  l think the cars will be outside for the rest of the Summer! A totally idyllic spot

Utes and trailers, nephews and nieces all to lend a hand!

 

Although the kids did more watching and playing then helping!!

And some stunning shots of the garden taken by my super talented sister on a visit from the Mainland.

 A candle on the veranda

This amazing pot from the Margate Train my sister bought me!!! Love it!

 And a full moon by candlelight. Bliss!

The Russian Garden

Geoff's Veggie patch we call the Russian Garden. It's still in its early stages but well under way. It's a big area to look after but as the years go by , no doubt it will produce buckets of potatoes, pumpkins ,tomatoes corn etc etc! The reason for calling it the Russian Garden was inspired by this photo out of a National Geographic magazine of a man at his Dacha in the oh so short burst of a Russian Summer. l love this photo!  

So hopefully as ours fills up it will look sort of the same!!!

 The Greenhouse is going great guns and producing lettuce, chives, basil, cucumbers and zucchinis to name a few!

Not quite sure what will happen when the corn DOES hit the roof!!!

 Seedlings and the next up and coming...

 And a bit of light for the evenings!

l took the photos in  the early morning and found it very difficult to get a picture without my shadow in it! l decided eventually if you can't beat 'em join 'em, so here l am!!!