Not Much for a Saturday!

Things are slowing down here a bit! Well, slowing down but also speeding up! There is not much more we can pack now as the last remnants in the house will be with us till the day we move. We are now patching ,hiding, nipping and tucking this tired old house to try and smarten her up a bit for potential buyers.

Its one thing when you can HIDE all her failings with well positioned pictures and furniture but its a totally different thing when she will be bare bones for all to see as of next week! Eeeek!

Organised our mail redirection yesterday and scooted down to Franklin in my lunch break to do so. It was a cold wet Spring Day and l took a few photos from the warmth and comfort of my car!

The first glimpse of the Huon River as you approach the town

A busy shot of one of the main jetty's on the River

The Post boxes outside Franklin Post Office.

One of the many beautiful old buildings in the town

Absolutely nothing to do with Franklin at all! Just a sweet photo of the old bull down the road from us , happy as Larry to be in the paddock with all his offspring!

And little Pushka appearing at the kitchen window as l washed the dishes, reminding me she's hungry and AGAIN not to forget her in the move next Saturday!

Old Friends

When l came home from work today l was surprised to see Possum and Lilli sharing the sofa.

That's usually Lillis domain and if Possum ever hops up there Lilli leaves immediately in a huff! l think the empty house is making them both a bit nervous and they are sticking together for a bit of reassurance! They used to be the best of pals when they were younger.

.

Possum was three months older and Lilli just LOVED her.

Possum was always cleaning Lilli like a kitten and Lilli used to lie there in absolute heaven!

 They used to snuggle up together to keep warm

It was always very sweet to see them.

Then they seemed to have had some massive tiff and were never had much to do with each other again!

No idea what happened!

So it was lovely to see them together again tonight!

Bonnie Doon!

Spent the day organising new phone numbers ,electricity disconnections and re connections, post office boxes and such like. Glad we don't do this sort of thing every day! What a kerfuffle! l have spent a large amount of my day on hold and talking to robots!!
Thought l would put a few photos up of the house itself as l don't think we have done so before?
An aerial view of the block itself. With the house beautifully positioned slap bang in the middle!

The lane going down to the property

Just a peek of the house through the trees once you get down to the bottom of the lane. The actual property starts just over the bridge. Up until a few years ago it was an old rickety wooden bridge but sadly progress dictated it had to be replaced with an ugly concrete one! The old bridge timbers are still there lying in a discarded heap off to one side. We will grab then and try to reuse them back on the place somehow. Hopefully some will be salvageable.

Side view of the veggie garden area. Hills hoist, and all the utility parts of the place! A couple of big old Cherry trees and quite a few smallish apple ,pear, plum etc etc trees.

View from the back looking towards the house. Check out the size of that walnut tree! Isn't it beautiful ? It's a kids climbing dream!!

Another shot of it taken from the actual garden. Its thought to be about 120 years old.

The old original apple packing shed. Its 20m long and 8 m wide so it should hold a fair bit of gear as well as a few good parties!

 A picture of it taken inside. l hope all that stuff is gone by the time we get there!!!

 The hallway. All solid Huon pine doors and Baltic ceilings.

 The dining room what will be our sitting room. l do have a bit of painting to do!!

 The kitchen.

Can't wait....... 

Sold!!!

Saddlers Cottage has gone! Yippee! Settled this afternoon about 2.30pm! No money in the account yet though! l imagine the Bank will hold onto it as long as possible!!!! (is that right Andrew??) l have been dying to put this photo up for ages but didn't want to jinx it!!! Today l finally can!

.

And here is our other 'sold 'sign as well!!!  Nine days to go!!

Years and years ago l was given a book. It was called John Seymour's Guide to Self Sufficiency. l was only about 14 years old l think and l can clearly remember spending hours pouring over every page and staring longingly at two drawings of how the 'ideal farm' should be set out depending how big the acreage was.

l still have that same book and these are the two pages l used to love so much.

l was telling Geoff about this one night and he said when he was a little boy he used to draw plans of farms and even when he was a tiny wee thing of 6 0r 7 he could remember in the garden laying out paddocks made with sticks and his pretend sheep were little round stones!!!!!

Now all these many many years later we are both realising our dreams. Its all very exciting! Oh and Geoff loves John Seymour's book too , its becoming very well thumbed!

Hoping!

Phone call today from our Conveyancer telling us that Saddlers Cottage should settle tomorrow at 12.30pm! Fingers crossed! Been a bit of a worrying delay but hopefully all will be done and dusted and we will be rich........for a week!!!! Much as l always loved the little place l will be very glad to see the back of it at last!
Saddlers in a heavy winter frost

Saddlers in the Autumn with a burn off in the background! The orchards around the cottage have gone now replaced with pasture. Always a shame as more and more apples disappear from the Apple Isle.

Compared to the freezing cold photo of Saddlers above, here is a lovely one of Elle bathing in Spring sunlight this morning!

Waiting to go for a walk before work! Possum always comes too! Do other people walk their cats??

The Workshop. Getting empty!!!

Empty bookshelves!

Kayaking

One thing we are both looking forward to when we move is the easy access we will then have to the Huon River. Its close here but it involves quite a few kilometres drive to reach a place to be able to drop the kayaks in. In Franklin it will be only a very short drive down to the bottom of our road to a perfect parking spot and an easy drop into the Mighty Huon!
Geoff and l bought our kayaks a couple of years ago. We didn't use them at all last Summer as Geoff wasn't feeling the best, but this Summer should be a different story!
The trusty Kayak Carrier!

This is Egg Island which sits in the middle of the Huon River. We live up the red arrow road (no... there isn't a Plover sitting up there!!.!....she's still there by the way!). In the very middle of the Island is a Lagoon. You can see all its waterways in the photo. Its a bird Sanctuary and a million miles away from the rest of the world once you are in there. 

Inside the Lagoon. the water is only about a foot deep in some places.Its a very peaceful place and full of hundreds and hundreds of Black Swans!

 Paddling back out towards the River. Its such a lovely way to idle away a couple of hours.

 Lill in her life jacket. Always there but always a rather long  suffering passenger!

 This was taken Christmas Day a few years ago with Bear and Treeka trying to join me!

 Geoff , ever the intrepid explorer!

Best way to carry one!!!

 In the Huon River with our soon to be new home town Franklin in the background!

Wine Series

About two years ago l did what l called' The Wine Series'. Once a week for a whole year l took a photo of a glass of wine!. Now when l look back on them , its really quite a fascinating insight into one year whether it was just the Seasonal change or a major event which was captured forever for us by a glass of wine! Here are some of my favourites!
January. Hot Summer evenings on the front veranda under the grape vine

February. The week of the horrific Bush fires in Victoria. 173 people killed. Sad days.

March. Hot summer nights. White wine, pizza. Geoff in singlets!!

April. Armageddon????? No!!!! The month when Forestry Tasmania light up all their log heaps !! Clear Summer evenings filled with smoke. Got to love it!!

May. The grapes start to ripen. Pinot Noir here we come!

June. Autumn. Reds, gold and oranges Such a beautiful time of year.

July. Cold, wet, long winter evenings. We hibernate, read and fall asleep in front of the fire.

August. Wine and Bear. Beautiful gentle old Bear. RIP gorgeous dog.

September. The month of  baby lambs and cherry blossom

October. Tulips! Bulbs, Spring well and truly sprung!

November. Our prettiest month?Greenest grass. Not too hot, flowers galore.

December. Always has to be Christmas Day regardless of what happens for the rest of the month!

And back to January. A BBQ on the veranda on  New Years Day!. How much more Aussie can you get? It was a good year and some great memories. Thank you Wine!!!