Month: March 2019

Hello!!
Yesterday I finally got to the end of making that batch of relish. 14 new jars! (Can’t have too many in my opinion)
I also cleaned out the fridge and did other ‘stuff’ and did a silly amount of dishes… I don’t want to talk about all the dishes.
Moving on… 🙂

So… today was my birthday!! I’d planned to go to the market where Jeff and I were going to do a scavenger hunt with $20 each to get funny presents (his birthday is next week)
Of course the market is not on 🙁 I forgot that there was an extra Sunday in this month so there is a three week break between markets not a two week break.
We dropped in to see Ruby & Margie but they were still at church.
Strike two.
Supermarket. (Because thats a happening place on ones birthday) I bought myself some special orange chocolate… except when I got home and took a mouthful I discovered I had picked up salted caramel since the stupid packaging is orange like the orange chocolate!! (Sadly the salted caramel was too rich for me but Jeff seems to be enjoying!!)

ok… so. Today wasn’t going brilliantly sparklingly well… so I put on my gardening duds and planted stuff!

The potato plot being recently dug to within an inch of its life, was the easiest and best spot to use.

I ‘spot composted’ with the leftover mushroom compost and started getting the plants in.

Dug up plenty of fat worms.

Two types of cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower. I haven’t done a lot with winter gardens in the past, so this seems rather ambitious! Hopefully I will have some success.

Thats one bale of straw!! Those bales are so tightly packed!! Hoping that will slow the weeds

Luckily I’ve kept all the polypipe and stake supports I’ve made in the past. Some are a bit wonky and some of the stakes are a bit shorter because they have broken… but it still works well enough to support the nets and hopefully keep those cabbage moths at bay.

Another tick of my long list!!
The good thing about birthdays – getting to chat to all members of my family! That was fabulous – we all get a bit busy at times, but birthdays are for decent catchups so I love that.
Plus it is my gorgeous niece Emma’s Birthday as well!! Happy days when I was living close by them and I got jelly cakes and fairy bread every birthday just like a kid!!
Jeff and I did go out to dinner which was great! The restaurant down the highway does fabulous gourmet wood fired pizzas and it totally hit the spot… and NO DISHES!

Cheers!

(Snicker – hotwire now protects the corn thanks to the farmer but the rotten greedy cows reached in on the other side far enough to snag one of the running pumpkin vines that got too close to the fence!!! Happily the pumpkin was left behind with not many teeth marks! Made me laugh.)

Friday done and dusted!!
I escaped the kitchen and took a drive out to Bunnings with my $50 voucher that I won at the garden tea party a number of weeks back!
I had intended to buy a tarp so I could get and store lots of straw bales…
But I stopped by my cousins shop to say hi and hand over a bag of tomatoes and she gave me one!! How great is that?
I went to Bunnings anyway and got some cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower seedlings as I am figuring with the time of year and still another guest to arrive that I wouldn’t get seeds in in good time. Might as well jump start with the seedlings.
Plus got some extra netting of the fine mesh to thwart cabbage moths.
(Oh and I might have treated myself to a snag in bread with onions and sauce and a coke – Bunnings often have a sausage sizzle…mmmm)

I dropped into spotlight to get some yarn for another planned Christmas present – and also found tablecloths on sale at $10 each. We haven’t had new ones in an eon and I found two large square ones and picked those up too…
Onward to Wynyard where I bought a mini wheelie bin and put it back at the cafe for coffee ground collections now that I have time and a compost again.

I might have picked some more tomatoes yesterday!
I also chopped up 6lb with onions and half cooked my relish… I’ll probably have to finish it tomorrow.

I started reducing a batch of tomato paste too late yesterday and was up horribly late while it did its thing. Made the mistake of trying out the cast iron pot and it was too slow. Lesson learned. Will go back to the baking trays instead.

I also sold another 3kgs of tomatoes – but still doesn’t look like I have done anything because of the new pick I did haha
Will take some to the cafe as thanks for the coffee!

Last night when I locked the chooks up I noticed a
cornucopia of slugs (yes that is the correct collective noun) feasting on my lettuce!!
I spent a very sticky 20 minutes picking them off! Yuck!

The chooks weren’t interested (rightly so) so I jumped on them.
I reckon I could go out there with a bucket one night and fill it! Maybe … when I feel keen. And its not raining.

Oh, and I picked our first watermelon! For someone that can grow massive potatoes and tomatoes, this is hilariously small!! I’ll have to check the seed packet. Maybe its a small variety? It was tasty and sweet though!

Hope you have a great weekend planned!
Cheers

Hi!
Was a nice day yesterday – so Jen and I did a bit more sightseeing – a wander down on the beach at Fossil Bluff, followed by a loop around Anniversary Bay.

It was quite low tide so nice to see more of the rocks and area than usual

Sand trees? From a spooky forest maybe?

Millions of years ago…

Anyway, Jen moved on this morning and I am up to my ears in tomatoes. Sheets are in the wash, preparing for our next and last guest early next week!
(Well not last ever but aiming to be guest free for 6 months so I can catch up with myself haha)

Hope you are having a great week!
Cheers

Hello!
Lucky us! It stopped raining for most of the day.
We went with our friend Jen out to Dip Falls and Stanley today!
Nice to escape the tomatoes for a while haha

With the recent rain, at least there was a bit of water over the falls. I felt the fact that I haven’t hiked since the Overland very keenly going back up the stairs though!

There were a lot of tourists out today! There was a cruise ship in Burnie so people were doing day trips. Kinda odd to have ‘crowds’ at places like this!!

At this time of year there would normally be a lot of fungi about, but apart from these two I spotted – not much at all.
Got a bit cold a bit quick I think.

Jen and I walked to the top of The Nut while Jeff indulged in a number of coffees in the shelter of a cafe.
Sensible really…the walk up is – challenging, but the wind!! Wow… blown about everywhere! It was great but when we sat back in the car it was like ‘whew – peace!’
Happily we got some decent views today too.
This shot was taken as we did a lap of the area.
Then we did tourist photo things 🙂

I am a bit ‘meh’ about these big, kinda tacky frames… but then I have to admit they are a little more fun that I WANT to admit!!! Ahh well… just go with it!

Anyway – I was trying not to get a late night, but I am still wrestling with my old computer as it huffs and puffs its way though my requests!! Sadly, I am not going to be in bed an hour ago!!

Hope your day was lovely!
Cheers

Hello!!
Its been raining, pouring, cold and occasionally sunny today!
Tassie at its best and weirdest.
Our friend is here and happily Jen is comfortable with a rest day after her travels – we visited some shops in town and took a heap of fresh veggies over to Kirrily and to peek at her new home which was nice as she moved out a couple of months back or more and we haven’t had the time/chance to get over there!

So no exciting photos or stories today from my end of the world…
But I am going to do something a little unusual and let you know of a little fund raiser in Cambodia

We have a friend in Japan who has friends in Cambodia and are involved in a local kids school – they help out with the children and occasionally raise funds for school supplies and such.

Right now they are trying to raise $600 for a school water system.
I love these kinds of projects but sometimes its hard to know if they are a legitimate group – but because I know of the people involved I was happy to donate a little.
Its great that people are doing their best to give these kids a bit of a leg up and a decent start in life.

No pressure, but if you happen to be able to chuck in even five bucks – super awesome. (or even share the cause if you are interested) If not, no worries its just nice to know there are great people out there doing their best to ensure this world is a bit better off.

Link is here

I hope that worked ok 😀
Cheers!!

Hello there!!
Someone should sit me down when I say I have 70 tomato plants in the garden and have a stern chat. Really. 🙂
Anyway, another day in the kitchen to do something with them – trying to make tomato paste for the first time. Its currently in the oven reducing.
After I cooked it on the stove top (with some salt and half cup of oil) I moolied the skin and seeds then put on oven trays

Its going well but I should have stirred it more often as the edges are scorching !!

I also made up a huge pot of cooked tomatoes and veggies as a pasta mix.
I plan to have some for dinner when our friend arrives and freeze the rest for later in winter.

To be honest it hardly made a dint in my tomato collection!
Still… the taste test was pretty good! (Onion, garlic, fresh herbs, heaps of tomatoes, grated zucchini and carrot. And a bit of garlic salt)

Then on to my passionfruit. I tend to stand in the kitchen late at night scooping my way though a couple… mmmm
But some are a bit wrinkled so I wanted to save the pulp in case I want to cook with it later (icing or cordial??)(My friend made passionfruit butter and I am keen to try)

I ate a lot but enough went into the bowl, then into a bag to freeze.
For those not familiar… you crunch your way through the black seeds as well as the pulp! Its fantastic just scooped over ice cream!

Lastly, in the interests of being a good host, I made up a tea cake. But I put apples on top just for something different!!
Smells pretty good in here!
Hope your weekend was full of good food too!

Cheers!

Hello!!
The day before we started our hike, the lovely Margie drove in tandem with us down to Lake St Clair so we could drop our car off at the finish point.
Then drove us all the way back to Cradle Mt and left us to start on our adventure!
It was a great idea staying at the Waldheim Cabins the night before. They are situated practically at the start of the track!

The cabin we had was a practical one room affair – four bunks and a kitchenette.
Showers and loos weren’t far away.
Along with mattresses and a heater – it was going to be a comfy nights start.

The local Currawong was waiting at the front door to see if I had heard the rule about not feeding birds and animals!

The views out the window were great and we had a relaxing night since we had been on the road since 8am. Its not only a long drive down that way, but slow too – mostly due to being stuck behind people who are confused about what the accelerator pedal is for and can’t think to pull aside for those of us not wanting to travel at 40km/hr!!

I’d packed a picnic lunch that stretched to dinner that night and lunch the following day! Not bad!

It was so nice and easy to wake up ‘on site’ have some brekkie, pack up and head straight out onto the track!

Amazingly it wasn’t raining!! It certainly wasn’t hot and dusty, but it was perfect hiking weather.
We headed down the hill which soon intersected with the Overland Track.

We said good morning to a wallaby (Squint and you might see it at the base of the tree):

Then started making Jeff pose for photos (“Its for your Mum – Smile!”)(You’re welcome Judy 😀 )

Before long we were heading up.
Firstly through the tangled greenery by the stream

And out towards Crater Lake (I think that blue pack ahead is ‘Manchester Guy’) (Everyone seems to get a label until names are exchanged. Its happened every trip. Last time Fiona and I were ‘The Cousins’ This time I was ‘Photography Lady’ :D)(Day 5 I finally got Manchester Guys real name – Brett)

It certainly wasn’t hot enough for a dip at Crater Lake but it was nice to put the packs down and take a breather.

The water was low so got to check out inside the boatshed too

Packs back on, we start the slog up to Marions lookout.

Oh those stairs!

Despite not being as prepared fitness wise this time, I didn’t feel too bad about the whole climb up! Not that I did it skipping or anything – just not as tough as it can be!
It did get pretty windy!
Oh… and for the first time I had the camera out for this tricky little bit:

Good fun hauling yourself and pack up here!

Actually the chain really helps!

The views get better, the wind gets stronger and the climb isn’t done yet.

First peek of Cradle!

Its always a nice bonus to get the good views when you reach the top

We were way too early to sit and eat lunch so we were happy to get some snaps and push on.

I love the path along towards Kitchen Hut and the base of Cradle. The world just stretches out ahead of you.

Jeff was very happy to have poles this time around. He is a bit of a classic at twisting ankles and the poles really kept him steady this trip.

Is it me or does that pincushion plant look like a smiling person?
Anyway, we still have half a days hiking ahead – but will share that with you another evening!
We have a friend arriving tomorrow so most of my day was sadly taken up with housework and not gardening or photo processing! 🙂

Hope you are having a lovely weekend!
Cheers

Hello!
I picked these… yesterday?? I wasn’t going out to pick but they were there being very noticeable. Then I couldn’t resist the cherry tomato heart to spice up the photo.

So… the nests have been a bit empty!! Sigh. Locked the feathery ones up for half the day hoping they would just lay in the coop.
Nup… not a solitary egg.
But when I let them out one of them made a bee line for the tree cuttings! She must have had her legs crossed all morning! Anyway, she gave away one hidey hole nest!

I still have a bit of searching to do to see where the girls that lay the white eggs are hiding theirs!! Little pests.
That whole area needs chopping up and putting in the trailer ready for a tip trip. And yuck… the eggs are filthy!!

I spent quite some time doing the rounds of the garden today – picking mostly tomatoes!
I am slightly overwhelmed at the moment! 14.5kgs in todays haul!!
Tomorrow I am going to need to do some more chopping and cooking!
A friend is arriving the day after tomorrow so going to have to squeeze in a little housework too! 😀

Hope you have a fab weekend planned!
Cheers!

Here we are! At the start of the climb up Tasmania’s highest peak, Mt Ossa!
Jeff called me out for my last post touching on this saying I didn’t make it sound like it was very hard. 😀
I’d like to correct that. It was no walk in the park. We are not super young and fit so for us it was quite an effort. The climb was steep and at times dangerous with having to get over large rocks and boulders with no discernible path.
However – to date I think its been my favourite climb!
(Get yourself a cuppa – this is a long winded post 😀 )

The first part of the climb is on well constructed paths, with real steps. It goes up a lot, but takes away the unsure footing of loose rocks and roots.

The views start getting great even at an early stage

Mt Pelion East

At this part of the hike, we are basically skirting Mt Doris, who sits beside Ossa. People who don’t want to climb Ossa can climb Doris or simply get to this point – that the rangers call the Japanese Garden.
Its so unexpectedly delightful

The scrubby bushes, pincushion plants, rocks and weathered wood really make up a beautiful area to walk through.

I really was lucky to be in this spot when the sun came out!

So – now we start going down to then start going up the REAL climb!! Clearly my ‘false summit’ is not the top since there are those nice big craggy peaks either side, but I mistakenly thought that was as far as you could go. (Learning curve coming up)
The tiny yellow dot circled in red is Yoshi – one of our fellow hikers from Japan who was madly fit and seemed to scamper up mountains! Perhaps his presence here gives you a little scale!

So… up we go! (So glad I have a camera. Marvellous excuse to stop and hyperventilate take photos)

See the mountain on the left in the distance? Thats Mt Oakleigh. We walked from that area that morning before we even thought about tackling this climb! (Right then I was feeling rather accomplished haha)

And onwards/upwards

We met Gloria on her way down. Can you believe she is afraid of heights!!?? She didn’t go all the way to the summit but to get where she got to was pretty amazing as even I got unexpected vertigo at times when I turned around and saw the drop!

Actually, it was in the spot in the photo above that I had to step further into the mountain as I turned and blanched as the effect was a sheer drop off right at my feet!

Steep as it may be – it was still so beautiful with the continual rockery gardens.

Where the fun starts…

We are still lucky to be getting views. At times the clouds would roll in and obscure things.

This section is totally ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’. There are posts that guide your general direction, but you have to select the way – not all rocks are fully stable either!!!

I was not a fan of this slab!! It was grippy enough underfoot but I found it slightly unnerving! Its not a short drop if you happen to tumble!

The closer you get, the huger and more impressive this mountain becomes

Thats Jurassic dolomite you are looking at there (and Jeff 😀 )

Now looking back the view is truly spectacular!

But we ain’t done yet!! We actually missed the little dogleg climbing up and across – happily some other hikers appeared out of there coming back so we were able to correct our (happily short lived) mistake.

Coming out on the other side I am not sure I was expressing happiness and enthusiasm when I saw how far we still had to go! Returning hikers were assuring us that the worst was over!!
Again – those tiny dot people are for scale and it didn’t look like a hop,skip and a jump to me!!!

Still… there was no way we were giving up after coming that far!

Its amazing how far you can get on your own two feet after a relatively short period of time! That saddle quickly moved into the background.

So close to the end!

The area at the top was a fabulous plateau of rocks, pincushion plants, mosses, grasses etc.
And it was flat. Bliss

One final little rock scramble and we were at the top!
Proud moment for the Millars!! 🙂

Mt Ossa – 1,617 metres (5,305 ft) above sea level. Tasmania’s highest peak.

We were pretty much the last of the Overland Hikers up here and it was a little chilly up top. No time to linger for excessive amounts of time – it was a long way down and we still had to collect our packs and hike a couple of kms or so into camp.

Still lucky with the views!

Going down is tricky. Its a slow process while you make sure you have stable rocks underfoot and your balance is sure.
It was quite a relief to get back to the ‘path’ (as narrow and steep as it was)

Disappearing down

Back on the beautiful tracks that skirt Doris!!

We are so pleased we did this. It was a challenge for us but a spectacular experience.
I must say were were pretty tired that night and my legs acted a bit wobbly on the final descent into the camp area!

Anyway, now I can actually go back and start working on Day One’s story and photos!! 😀 Hope you enjoyed!!
Cheers!

Hi there!
Quite a day on my feet!
Went to the bank this morning and started the process of organising some available funds from our home loan so we can get those trees removed!
Then came home to finish off the relish.
While that was cooking I spent time cutting up those three huge beetroots!
They totally filled my big pot so I had to wait until the relish was done so I could use the bigger pot to cook them in

As you can see above, I also managed to get the basket of picked thyme into the netting, so now its hanging in the slate room smelling rather nice!
I finished off the photos from the mountain climb, but will wait until tomorrow to write up a post. It somehow got late!!
But all dishes (finally) are done, food put away and bread is baking.
I am deciding what to do with all the current tomatoes – I think I will take a break from the kitchen and see if my friend wants to buy a few kilos… will only be a few days before I will be stocked up again 🙂
A day off tomorrow to laze about??
We shall see 🙂
Cheers!