skylights, veggies

Well, Barbs just sent me a u-tube thingy of how to make skylight from an old coke bottle. Only trouble is it pre-supposes no ceiling, which I think in our climate might be a little harsh. Anyway summer is knocking in the distance, when we have too much light, rather than other way around. I've decided that tomorrow I need to get the seeds in to seed-trays, come hell or high water.

So far no sign of the buckwheat germinating. Not sure if I planted it too shallow. The weather continues foul - should be idea for germination for cool weather plants. We're doing well on lettuce and broccoli, carrots, and spinach and Swiss Chard (silverbeet), and have a little out of season bulb fennel, although it is going to seed. I see a few pea flowers, but not many. My success with sugar snaps has always been tepid. I've got some broad beans in, although they're such a waste of space crop.

Compared to the old several month post back to the old country, we're quite spoiled. We had our James on G-wotever and the sound was fantastic, like chatting to him. We have a webcam, but it's real saving grace is the microphone. Oh I would love to have my children a bit closer. Anyway, it is their lives and as long as they're safe and happy that's first prize.

The weather continues to renew my gladness that I'm not fishing for a living. The sea is chopped up and full of sea-weed. I cut some more wood today, sneezed a lot (I have a cold) and did some work...

Occassional showers

Only they really mean that. And it's winds _strong_ to variable, and it looks like that for the rest of the week. I've barrowed in some sand to the base of my next raised bed -4 barrows full of wet sand and I was thinking just how overpaid desk jockey authors are and how underpaid manual labour is... (which was not my opinion before that ;-))Other than that I planted onion seed(AKA apparently as nigella) Funnily enough the domestic goddess as an onion seed is not a frequently held image.

Barbs is off doing some mental health course, and I live in fear that she'll realise what a nutter she's been living with all this time, and call for the little men in white coats. Oz seems very big on 'courses'. Well, we're here, so we'll live with them. Or at least Barbs will. She did a food handling course for meals on wheels (involves handing sealed containers to recipient) a chainsaw course (after using one for 10 years) and now this.

I'm going to tell her I have signed her up for a cooking course... :-).

Dawn wind

I was out in the dawn this morning, suffering my usual insomnia. It was cold and even the dogs thought I was crazy. The grass was heavy with wetness and flurries of thin rain stung my cheeks. The gulls were swirling inland from the sea, their mewing carried across the empty fields by the wind. September seems the month of winds. I walked a while, tasting the salt air, wishing I'd dressed more warmly.

And then I came back to the house where my love lay sleeping, and dug over a patch for onions, being glad that I was alive and on Flinders Island.

A bird the hand...

Is worthy of a tiny token of its appreciation on the fingers.

The superb fairy wren and his girlfriend are hanging at the local bug-house (aka the screen outside my window) and canoodling, and like any teenagers, tweeting about it. And getting themselves into trouble. Well, into my study anyway. I had the both of them in here the other day. They had been reading the story on screen while I had been planting. I managed to shoo them out before they nested in my beard. This morning himself the pretty-blue-chested fellow's drab girlfriend was inside the window when I came back from feeding chooks and as himself was outside the window she refused to be shooed and both were getting into a panic. So I caught herself and caged lightly in my fingers took her out (himself was twittering away to get a flashmob to deal with me). She left me a token of appreciation on deposit. It's a good thing hippopotomii don't fly and need rescuing from my window.

We're trying out an LED globe in the kitchen. It's bright but hell if you look at it. And the ceilings here very low, so it it is hard not to.

The social whirl

Yes, it's wild out here on the islands. Sorry, it's interfering with your regular updates on the tranquil country life in outer nowhere...

We had a fascinating 'tea'(AKA supper or dinner in other parts of the world) with some Polish friends who have retired here and are also trying the self-sufficiency bit. They got very excited by the idea of buckwheat or Kasha. I can now tell you that beetroot and various forms of vodka are important items of Polish cuisine:-).

Then last night was a couple of birthday parties (and entirely too much food) and the priceless WD40 (Q20 - South African) story. It's good for treating scaly leg... apparently. So some wag adds "and it stops them squeaking". At which point the scaly leg treater says 'yes, they don't even squeak when they lay eggs anymore.' Said Wag says 'You're supposed to spray on their LEGS!'

Hat's off to Australia Post and Phoenix seeds

So on Wednesday, at about 1.30 pm I (and the traveling frog) went into the post office in Whitemark and got the postal order and sent off my seed order to Phoenix seeds - in Snug, Tasmania (yes, there really is a place called Snug). Today - Friday lunch time... the seeds are here.

Wow! Most internet orders can't top that!

I have already planted the buckwheat. (not sure quite what I'll do if it comes up and produces. I want buckwheat flour, buckwheat noodles and buckwheat beer. But that may be optimistic out of one packet of seeds... and no idea how to do any of the above!

I also saw my first snake of the season. Large. Near my chickens and dogs. Unfortunately by the time I got back there with the nearest implement it had left. Yes, I know. But I can't afford to treat the dogs. And they have lots of the rest of the Island