worm mud

I cleaned up the worm farm yesterday. They survived while we were away for 5 weeks and had accumulated a lot of mud and worms in the lower tray. I rinsed all this out, pouring it onto the young corn plants at the end of the house. I swear they have doubled in size in the past 24 hours.

Coming together

We were busy on the weekend; cleaning, mowing and putting the path to the tank back together after the big slump in November. The mesh fence is now in place around the tank with tomatoes, purple king beans and native clematis attached. Hopefully it will be a green leafy fence soon. The beans below the tank were waving around looking for direction and have already started producing so I will need to walk down there each day from now on. Fortunately the grass is now growing down there after all the construction traffic from recent months. The compost bins are also busy with the third one now full of weeds, so I have emptied the first one into the other two with some compost going to the potatoes.
This activity was all prompted by lunch on Sunday to celebrate Dick's last day before turning 60. The forecast hot weather and rain did not eventuate and we had a very pleasant afternoon with friends.

Our combined culinary efforts with Jim produced an antipasto tray, crudites with basil and pistachio pesto dip, macadamias in sour cream/garlic, asparagus/veg tarte, pizzas, smoked chicken breast and salad, cheesecake with mango and fruit cake. Allan brought a sample of his first home brew which was followed by some of mine, then wine.
We were lucky to find George, our resident dragon, in the front garden as our guests were leaving.

photos taken by Allan

The beginning of the end

Tuesday walks have finished for the year. We had a nice walk on the hills at Cooby Dam last week, followed by a shared lunch at a picnic table there. It was a hot day but the breeze was good when we climbed up to the top.


The views were also good - nice and green. The area has really picked up after all the rain in November.

Once again the food was excellent and in great quantities. We really needed another walk after lunch. It is always sad to think that we will not be meeting for a few weeks. I do enjoy the company as well as the outdoor exercise and adventure.
My other activities - tennis and tai chi - are also drawing to a close for the year. We had our tennis lunch at Angelo's on Herries last Friday.

Fruit report

Strawberries still surviving and I will make a new bed for them once the restoration above the tank is complete.
Lime tree growing well with 2 fruit picked this week.
Orange tree looking a bit stunted but new growth coming. It has had a hard time with the tank excavation right up to it.
Grapefruit has fruit set and may need thinning this year as it is still young.
Cherry plum is growing well and should yield a few
Olive tree is growing well.
Lilly pillies are flowering and could keep me busy with jam making next year.
Grapes. The vine near the laundry is growing vigorously and has fruit developing. The NW corner one looked dead so we planted another one there in November and now have two. The SE corner one is slower but doing OK.

Vegies

It is a bit late for spring planting but, with the new water supply, promise of more rain, and plenty of seeds, I am hoping to get the vegie garden going again.
Progress report -
Garlic is approaching maturity
Spring onions flowering - still some to put in a pumpkin soup.
Leeks also flowering - more sown this week.
Chives - some flowering, plenty of garlic ones.
Parsnips - small but nice. We had some roasted in the camp oven for full moon, then more in a roast with Lee this week I am saving the rest for the next full moon.
Carrots - still more to pull.
Beetroot - small and disappointing. I am sowing more in the tank garden instead.
Ruby Chard - flowering and finished [mostly eaten]. More to be sown in the tank garden today.
Tomatoes - some plants surviving with fruit against the tank, thanks to Ann watering them. I pruned and re-staked them last week. Ann gave me [yellow] seedlings and I also got some from the market so I hope to produce a good crop below the tank in coming months.
Beans - Lazy housewives sown with scarlet runners against the house. The former have provided several meals since we got back and the latter are flowering and should start producing soon. I also have young purple kings below the tank, waving in search of a trellis. I sowed mixed lazy housewives and scarlet runners outside the end window the other day.
Corn - sown at the end of the house last Sunday.
Endive and Rocket sown in end garden Monday.
Various seeds sown in germinator on Monday.

Cricket

Our family tradition continued last week with a day at the First Test at the Gabba. Lee provided the tickets and flew up on Thursday evening. We drove down early on Friday morning and, as we had to go past the Gabba to get to Jim's, I jumped out and was able to get in when the gates opened at 8.30 am and watch the warm-ups. It is a pleasant time of day to sit there.
It turned out to be an exciting day of play with Haydn out first ball, Ponting going cheaply and Mr Cricket dubiously. There were also some great catches from Roy. It was a hot day but we did not find it so.
We took the buses back to Jim's then dropped him at a party at Rainworth before driving home with Lee. We stopped for a steak at Plainlands hotel to complete the day. Once again, Lee ran into an old school friend who now lives near the hotel.
We picked the best day as it was all over by Sunday morning.

Replenished

I thought I was kidding myself when I used to say that we would need a major event to replenish our soil moisture after these dry years, but last week we received the monthly average of 93 mm in 24 hours. We had already reached the average with 103 mm - something which has only happened 16 times in the past 4 years. Our previous maximum monthly rainfall was 130 on November 2005.
Although we had no damage from the storms, hail and heavy rain, we did suffer a slump in the fill behind the tank, as predicted by the plumber. I had poured all my grey laundry water for over a month into this area, but obviously this was a different scale of wetting and the area dropped over 20 cm, resulting in the input pipes from the roof dropping and disconnecting. A great deal of water then flowed around the tank with some wash of soil and mulch. Fortunately they did not break and we were able to put things back together before the next lot of rain.
Also, fortunately, we have a bit more dirt to move from below the tank area, so we are able to restore the top area to its previous level.
It was nice to see the overflow pipe spreading the water across the lower paddock.
The top tank has also overflowed so we are fully replete in tank storage.

The Sunny Boy Report

While we have been away, Sunny Boy, our operational manager at the Cotswold Hills power station, has been supplying the neighbourhood. Our latest electricity bill has arrived and we earned $108 of solar bonus for the last 91 day period, leaving us with the sum total of $18 to pay. This includes the $25 ambulance cover for the period.
The white elephant has also been accumulating assets. We had around 50 mm of rain while we were away and the tanks are close to full. Today I am making a bit more space in the plastic tank on the shed and we may get an overflow on the elephant if the predicted rain comes tonight.
With all this wind, we really should be harnessing its energy somehow.
I am not walking today due to the low cloud, strong wind and misty rain. Also it is quite cold out there.

this life resumes

It has been a busy time since we got back last week. On Tuesday we walked in the Grapetree creek area and things were looking good after some rain, although there was not much water in the creeks. It was good to see everyone again.
We celebrated the full moon on Tuesday night - a bit early, but the moon coming through the trees on Mt Peel coincided with the sunset out towards Pittsworth.
On Wednesday evening we went to a cocktail party to launch the 2009 subscription series at the Empire Theatre. After nibbles, there was a good presentation of the shows and we are looking forward to a busy season.
With Tai Chi on Thursday morning and tennis on Friday morning, it has been a full week, as I have continued to work through the accumulation on my desk.

It's good to be back home again

We got back last Wednesday morning and the place looked a bit dry but not for long as we had about 35 mm of steady rain that night and things have really picked up since then. We have been busy tidying up and unpacking. There is so much to do after a long trip; catching up on mail and washing for a start.
Then there are the weeds.
We put the shade cloth up on the weekend and the place feels better for it. We thought the same when we took it down in May to catch the sun.
The new bean crop is already yielding well and we have been eating them most days. There is a plague of small grasshoppers chewing into the garden. Some of the leeks have sent up flowering heads, and one of the grape vines has bunches of fruit forming.
I have planted tomato seedlings below the tank and am now filling the third compost bay. The weeds on the septic trench have been removed to allow the lucerne free range. Otherwise there is little growing on the lower part of the block.

Happy holidays

We are off to Europe for a holiday, and as this may not fit the sustainable theme of Gums and Grass, I am doing a special blog. Click on this link or Circa GMT in the right hand column.
I am also going to explore new ways by emailing the entries and photos from our travel computer whenever we find a wireless connection.
We will have five days in Netherlands before flying to Wales, then exploring UK with Emily for 4 weeks, and a night in Kuala Lumpur on the way home.
It will be our first experience of autumn in the northern hemisphere.

No walk this week

I am missing today's walk as I have caught the bug and am determined to get over it before we leave next Sunday. I also don't want to pass it on.
Last week we walked at Buckamara and the creek was flowing. I have been in this area now for 4 years and rarely seen that. We have walked in many dry creek beds. This one joins Perseverance creek and flows to the dam and local water supply. There was plenty of lantana as well and a bloody sight with some who wore short sleeves.

Tomato crop

This year I have had a very successful and enjoyable tomato crop. I planted out DT Brown Moneymaker seedlings, 'a very reliable variety which produces heavy crops of medium sized tomatoes' in March and despite a cold winter they enjoyed the warmth of the new garden bed at the end of the house. The brick wall faces NNW and captures a lot of heat. As well as giving away a lot of very nice unmarked tomatoes, I have been making sauce with my plentiful crop of spring onions. It goes very well on pizzas as well as with pasta.
This time I followed the instructions on the seed packet and pinched out all the side shoots; a process of care and attention which I enjoyed.

Spring colour.

This year our bluegrass is greatly depleted in many parts of our paddock, although it is doing well on the upper part. We have a lot of Senecio which adds colour but may also compete with the grass.
The paper daisies are doing well again this year. They are mostly self-sown this year, including a nice cottage garden effect on the gravel driveway.

I must admit that the irises are also looking well, although not native, and in future years I hope to have native bulbs flowering as well.

Shopping

One of the nice things about planning a holiday is shopping for special things for the trip. We have had several forays on recent weekends, for shoes and clothes, but none as exciting as today's.
We went out for a new daypack and to order railpasses for Holland, and found a nice little travel computer as well.

A Soldier's Tale

Our last Twilight Recital at USQ for this year, as we will miss the literary seminar in October, was an interesting performance of Stravinsky's A Soldier's Tale, by students.
It is a difficult piece and the concentration of the musicians was exciting to watch. There was a large audience and we all shared in the euphoria of the performers when they successfully reached the end.
Once again we enjoyed the wine and nibbles after the show, before heading across to the Bushwalkers' AGM.

A closer walk

On Tuesday we walked on a property north of here, on the ridge between Gowrie Junction and Meringandan. It was nice to see the local vegetation with some large trees, including Wilgas and Kurrajongs. Wonga vines were in flower on the canopies and there were many other plants of interest. The rocks were round solid basalt types on redder soil, whereas our rocks are more flat faced. We had lunch in a nice park at Meringandan West with a delicious Black Forest cake from Gisela.

An interesting excursion.

On Monday afternoon we headed down to Brisbane at 4pm, collected Jim from Coles at New Farm and enjoyed a meal with him.
We watched some Paralympics with him on his big screen then headed out to the International airport at 10 pm to collect Ann and Keith, who have been in Europe for two months.
It was a nice trip back to Toowoomba, hearing about their holiday, and we were home in bed by 1.30 am.
After a good sleep, I headed out for the Tuesday morning walk at 7.30 am.

Mulch

We got a load of mulch last week and have been spreading it around the tank and on other garden beds. Spring has come quickly with weeds growing madly. We also have a bright display of paper daisies and buds and blossums are starting to appear.

The Solar Bonus

Today I received an amended electricity bill which includes the solar bonus. It was paid for 22 of the 92 days of the billing period and we received $20.68 [44 cents per unit supplied to the grid]. Our average daily cost of electricity for this winter period was $1.13. It did take nearly 3 weeks in July to get Ergon organised with it, but it now seems to have been sorted.

Dwyer's Scrub

I led the walk this week to Dwyers Scrub Conservation Park, south east of Toowoomba. Most of the group had never been there although it is only about 35 minutes drive - a steep descent off the range into narrow valleys, then a narrow rough dirt road up again to 500metres.
It is very dry out there but, despite forecast wet weather, we had a fine day with some cloud and breeze and it turned out very well.
We had a scenic circuit drive down Flagstone Creek road, then up Stockyard Creek to Kennedy's road, aforesaid steep narrow dirt. On the way back, we continued up Stockyard Creek on Rockmount road to Preston with lunch at the Colliery on the way home.
More on Dwyer's Scrub.

Virtual travel

I have been busy with travel plans as we leave in four weeks. It is interesting to visit Kuala Lumpur and Holland on the internet and provides another dimension to travel.

The spring is sprung

It was a cold August. We recently had 2 rainfall events of 6 mm each: the first inflows to the new tank. We have been busy tidying up trenches and covering the overflow pipe. Last weekend we enjoyed making a cover for the pump controller and pipes, and also landscaping the paths to the tank top. The new compost bins below the tank are still in progress.
It is nice to be able to water the garden with a hose after 4 years of restrictions.
since the last entry, I walked at White Mountain again with lovely wildflowers. It was a very cold windy morning in Toowoomba but we were sheltered and sunny down in the sandstone creek beds.
The next walk was up Fifteen mile Creek to Red Rock from Murphy's Creek, not far south of the previous walk.
Our last Empire Theatre subscription event was Possum Magic - the musical. It was a kid's show and cheap and it was interesting to go to the theatre with loads of small people, but the actual show was a disappointment. Our kids theatre events in Innisfail were so much better.
We enjoyed another lunch with DPI people at Governor's Choice winery one Sunday and came away again with a dozen red wines.
It has been good to get back to tennis on Fridays after missing most of July as we could not get four people.

The joy of music

Yesterday's Twilight Recital at USQ was Ensemble A250 - Matthew Kinmont on cello, Marilyn Meier-Kapavale on piano and Martin Crook on clarinet - playing Sonata for Cello and Piano (1915) by Debussy, a Bach cello fantasy and Brahms Clarinet Trio Opus 114. The intimate theatre and the rapport with and between the performers made this a very special recital.

Frosty mornings

We have had a few frosty mornings in August and are waiting on warmer weather to plant for spring. It makes a great difference to the house when cloud obscures the early morning sunshine, but Sunny Boy works well most days and pays well for our heating when it is required. The sun also provides us with plenty of hot water and our tomatoes continue to thrive against the solar heated brick wall.

An independent water supply

Carers of the Murray Darling catchment may disagree but all rainfall collected on our block is returned to it, unless it evaporates from bird baths and washing or transpires from vegetation.
Our house is now connected to our new concrete reservoir and we have transferred 7000 litres from our plastic tank. This should last us until the next rain event, which is forecast for the end of August. There are many rocks scattered along the trenches, now being filled, so there is plenty of physical work to do to restore the lawn areas and complete the landscaping around the new tank.

A weekend in Melbourne

We flew down to Melbourne last Friday and stayed in East Melbourne. It was wet when we arrived but Saturday turned out fine and sunny. We walked across the Fitzroy and Treasury Gardens then down Flinders Street to Federation Square where we followed the river downstream past rowers training, to Docklands. and Victoria Dock. We then caught a City Circle free tram back up Flinders Street to Parliament House and walked back past St Patrick's cathedral and the East Melbourne synagogue.
The purpose of the visit was Mary's birthday party with a nice gathering of cousins. After that we visited the Steel monument in St Kilda cemetery and had dinner at a pub in Sydney road, Brunswick.
It rained on Saturday night and Sunday was a record breaking cold day, but we headed north to fine weather at Metcalfe, passing Mt Macedon with a nice frosting of snow.
On Monday morning we had another walk across the gardens to the top of Collins Street before heading out to the airport and home. It was nice to come back to our clear blue sky.

Things are happening

This week the plumber is connecting the tank to the house. This involves a lot of trenches, pipes, wiring and things. The rain has gone and it is good weather for it.
On Sunday afternoon I found a new eucalypt seedling on the top part of the block, then on Monday another, and today yet another. That makes 13 volunteers. At this rate we will have a nice stand along the top boundary, extending the line along the ridge. Won't the birds be pleased!
I wonder what else will come up on our native grassland?

A weekend at home

We decided not to go camping and walking this weekend. Instead we pottered at home, which is a nice place to be. We were still waiting on the plumber so not much dirt moving to be done.
We watched a wonderful movie on Saturday night RAN.
On Sunday we went for a drive to Irongate Nature Reserve which is 50 km SW from here, between Mt Tyson and Pittsworth. We really enjoyed it. It is interesting how a walk with labelled plants can raise one's awareness of remnant vegetation. We noticed it more on the roadsides after the visit, and look forward to another, when we will be carrying the list of plants, so we can find the ones which have lost their labels.
We are enjoying the cool clear weather at present.

The July Report

We have had 76 mm of rain this month so hopefully the soil profile has replenished well - it was so dry. Last year we had 0 mm in July.
This week has been frosty and clear sunny days - such a contrast to last week. It was windy and chilly on Tuesday morning but we enjoyed a walk in the rainforest at Ravensbourne National Park with lunch at Beutel's Lookout, in the sun.
Wednesday was our Franke Scrub morning and we made great progress on asparagus vine to the sounds of finches.
We celebrated 30 years with Jim on Friday night with beer, sauerkraut and bratwurst at the German Club, followed by schnapps. In the afternoon we had a nice walk along the river at Teneriffe. It has become a very smart suburb.

Full Moon in July

On Saturday we celebrated 40 years since we started going out together. It was also full moon so we had 6 friends around for a campfire. Trish brought a lovely mushroom and blue cheese soup, Don brought his pear wine, we cooked chicken drumsticks and vegetables in our camp ovens, then we had an apple crumble by Rosalie and a lime delicious pudding. Donna also brought a nice slice. We were lucky to get a clear, mild night at this time of year.

A mixed recital

Last night the Twilight Recital at USQ was a tribute to Peter Rorke, a former head of the music department, composer, conductor and teacher, who died 10 years ago. We started with Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man with Toowoomba Municipal Band members, then arrangements of My Fair Lady excerpts by Rorke for Glennie and Grammar Orchestra. Three Dances for Two Flutes by Schocker was played well by two former students, then the USQ Strings played two Rorke compositions, the first with a very good solo violinist. We then enjoyed Arthur Johnson singing Schubert Lieder and a strident and enjoyable Festive by Shostakovich played by the Toowoomba Municipal Band - a very good collection of brass players. It turned out to be a very good program.

A spring walk?

On Tuesday we walked near White Mountain on Sandstone. It was moist and green with purple Hovea and Hardenbergia flowers among yellow wattles and Daviesias. We walked up a dry creek with flat sandstone slabs and it was a most enjoyable morning out.
On Sunday we walked on flat sided basalt blocks up a creek among lantana and privet. It was interesting however to be in such a striking volcanic spot at Hell Hole in Ben Lomond Park, right on the edge of Toowoomba. We sat on a rough rock scree for morning tea then scrambled up a steep slope of loose dirt.

Climate change

It is a wet week. We are signed on to the Solar Bonus Scheme but Sunny Boy is straining to generate anything. Meanwhile we have exceeded the monthly average rainfall for July by almost 100%. The plastic tank is almost full and we are running it out onto the garden so that it does not overflow. The concrete tank is not yet connected and we actually have slight soil erosion from the bubbler off the house roof, where the pile of dirt was. Most of the dirt has been spread which is good with this rain.

Macro meat and sustainability

Last night we cooked our kangaroo mini-roast with vegetables in the campoven on a small fire. It turned out very well. Not only do we enjoy kangaroo meat but it is healthy and environmentally friendly [for meat eaters]. We were lucky to have a mild evening to enjoy the sunset and full moon rise before going indoors at 6pm to watch Le Tour.

It's raining again

How good is this? We got 24 mm in the previous events and now there's more. At this rate the tank will fill - the old one that is - the new one is yet to be connected. One day the plumber will come and do it. Meanwhile I am moving dirt around it and looking forward to a new vegetable garden in spring.
Last week it was wet and misty on Tuesday morning and four of us turned up for the walk as well as Don the messenger of non-start. We headed west to Kingsthorpe lookout and the finer side of town. It was a pleasant drive and climb with things looking fresh straight after rain. Gisela had made a big cake for the planned bus trip to Nanango which was postponed so we four ladies enjoyed it in the park at Gowrie Junction on the way back. We enjoyed the best of the day.
The weather on the weekend was not so good but I got out to move dirt on Saturday afternoon, then on Sunday we went visiting family with lunch at Scarborough. It was nice to see the sea and we called in on Jim and his friends moving house on the way home.
Today we walked in the Upper Perseverance area which was nice and soft for a change. The moss on the rocks in the gullies was lush and moist and the grey green lichens were leafy and bright. We even saw a pool of water.

It's raining

The Arts

This week we had a clash on our subscriptions to USQ and the Empire Theatre, but we made it to both.
The Twilight Series at USQ included a seminar by Carl Conrad Merten, sculptor, currently tutoring at the Winter School with his twin brother Rex Steele Merten, jeweller. This turned out to be very well done, despite the latter being taken ill and thus unable to be there.
We were unable to stay for the reception and drinks following, but headed in to town for Queensland Ballet's performance of Carmen, which was very good, apart from the grumbling of the airconditioning [or sound system] which took away from the music. It was a large cast and the choreography had a nice flamenco feel, while being ballet. The dancers, costumes and set were also very good.
At home my own Grand Design is in progress around the tank.

Into July

Rain fell in the first week of June, then it returned to normal and has become quite dry again. Meanwhile the tank is built and last week I missed my walk as the dirt was replaced around the tank. Since then we have moved six railway sleepers now radiating out from the tank down the bank towards the north and east. We no longer have a mountain of dirt, but there is plenty to play with around the tank.

We are enjoying now moist and overcast weather, a bit windy, but hopefully some more rain in coming days to settle the dirt before the plumber digs trenches to connect the tank to the house.
In the absence of rainfall, the solar energy has been appreciated. We are looking forward to the Solar Bonus Scheme generating income for the Cotswold Hills Power Station.

June Walks

We walked at Crows Nest creek on the 24th and it was good to see water in it for a change. It was looking much better after some rain as it had been very dry when we were there last year. On the weekend we camped near the base of Mt Superbus prior to an early ascent of the Steamer Range. It was a steep climb but we did it on a very good day, with good company in Ian, Adrian, Rodney and Warwick. Six others left at 6 am for a long circuit around the Steamers to the Lincoln wreck, returning in the dark.
After the climb through rainforest, we walked below the vertical walls of the funnel to the eastern end, where we climbed up and along for morning tea on the western end of the funnel overlooking the mast and canopy far below. [photo by Adrian Jansen]

Lunch was on the eastern edge at Mt Steamer where the view to the north was somewhat obscured by smoke from a fire on Mt Greville. It was a steep descent north to the Steamer saddle, then a short climb to a nice spur with large brush box trees. Further west we returned along an old logging track which descended into the valley and back around the prow of the range.
I really like the Main Range. Score one tick on spine.

On mer bike

My knees are calling for more care these days and I am faced with getting out on my bike or pedalling indoors; an alternative I have already rejected, so this morning I made it with a bit of help from my friend and we rode 7.4 km to the shop for a paper at 10 degrees with some SW wind. I enjoyed it. It's about time I got over the fact that we live on a hill.
Yesterday morning was quite hot at tennis, then I went out to lunch, visited a native garden at Cotswold Hills, made a Far Breton, and we had a full moon campfire at Mt Peel. It was a lovely clear evening but quite cool away from the fire. I had chestnuts to roast but perhaps I was already full of food by then as I was not taken with them.

Theatre

We went to another subscription event at Empire Theatre on Friday night. This time it was Menopause the Musical. It was booked out and for many a girls night out. Unfortunately the four singers/actors were heavily miked and although we had very good seats we only heard the loud speakers on each side of the stage. There were some good bits of theatre in it but generally it was not our style. It was more a revue than a musical, with reworked songs from the sixties.

Navigation

Our tank is done [it still needs dirt replaced and connections to house] and we enjoyed being at home on Saturday. Sunday was navigation day at Glen Rock. We really enjoyed it three years ago and were disappointed to miss it in the past two years. Once again it was a day of interesting learning. There are so many aspects to navigation and Ian manages to set a course which illustrates different things on each leg. Dick and I worked well together and made it to all points. We had a challenging climb to a knoll at 1 pm where we planned to have lunch. Thankfully there was a ribbon on top and also a box of lollies - we don't usually get that on a bushwalk.
On Tuesday we walked in the upper Perseverance area. It is greener and softer after the rain and is a wonderful backyard, but I wonder if the creeks will ever run again?

The moon in June

Full moon has come around again and I am quite unprepared. The past few weeks have been busy, with a trip to Mullumbimby to collect Nancy from the airport, then we flew to Canberra for the long weekend with Lee. On Saturday we went out early on a cold morning to the farmer's market then headed out to Namadgi National Park with Liz and Lee, where we climbed a steep hill to the Ororal tracking tower, now defunct, and had lunch on the rocks high above the valley floor. We then drove back to Canberra cross-country via Lost Lake, which we had never visited when the Tavs had it.
Sunday was miserable. We went to the Art Gallery to see the Turner to Monet landscape exhibition but as it was the final weekend there were thousands of people in long queues so we had a look at other parts of the gallery then went home. We started on the chair renovation and had dinner at the Tavs in the evening.

Monday was a better day and we walked across to get something from Liz in the afternoon. Thirty minutes each way was very pleasant. We bought a roast duck for dinner.
Lee headed off for a 4 day workshop on Tuesday morning and Dick also had a workshop, so I finished the chair. On Wednesday I did patchwork with Liz and her friends and had drinks with Rita and Andree in the evening.
I had a good trip home on Thursday, feeling refreshed from the break. It was nice to get back to warmer Toowoomba which is also quite green. This month we have had a bit more rain than the 11 year monthly average for the airport [31mm].

May report

Despite some predictions of good rain in the last days of May, we have only managed 5 mm for the whole month. It has been quite windy in recent days. Our recent electricity bill shows that we generated 413 kWh or 58% of total power used for the quarter.
Today is World Environment Day and my thoughts have moved to wind power generation. A 1 kW system is not very expensive, especially if it could be directed through the existing inverter. This may be next year's project. Meanwhile the tank is poured and waiting for a lid. Then for the fun of replacing dirt around it and redeveloping the site.
Food for thought? We are enjoying lettuce and rocket from the garden, pea and ham soup with home-grown carrots and spring onions, ricotta and ruby chard pie, and still some beans.
Last Tuesday we walked between Spring Bluff and Murphy's Creek cemetery.
Yesterday I mowed the paddock. We are rethinking our management of the native grassland. Although we had a good stand of Queensland blue grass last year, we have lost a great deal of it due to the extremely dry conditions. It has done well on the upper part of the block which was top-dressed with soil last year. In the favoured area below the roof bubbler, it does not seem to suffer from mowing on the highest setting, so we are looking at more frequent mowing than once or twice a year. There are a few prickly pear and white foxtails but only odd Rhodes grass plants.
We have found a new volunteer gum seedling adjacent to the volunteer ironbarks on the top bank above the house. It has grown between the abutting ends of two railway sleepers and is about 15 cm high. It is very pleasing to have well-positioned natural renewal of the native vegetation of this ridge.

May days

The month of May is slipping away and we have had 3mm so far. It is very dry here.

We walked at Stringybark, on hills south of Helidon on Tuesday 13th.

Jim came up for the following weekend and played golf with Dick on two mornings - nice and chilly. I planted out more Xerochrysum seedlings and some lilies I got from Ann. On Saturday night, the wind faded and we were able to have a campfire with roast lamb and vegies cooked in the camp oven. It was very quick, cooked well and tasted delicious. It also used minimal wood, consisting of old garden prunings.

Our tank project is happening quickly. Last week I posted the contract and deposit and the hole is already prepared, and the tank will be poured this week - unless we are washed out!

Last Monday I met up with a Clark second-cousin, Neal Price, who was visiting Toowoomba for work. We have corresponded for a few years.

On Tuesday we walked in the Grapetree creek area, descending below the cliffs into a creek in the reverse direction to our last visit. In the evening we had a sunset/full moon campfire. I cooked chicken drumsticks with vegetables in the camp oven. It worked really well.

On Wednesday I hurriedly cleared the tank site of remaining vegetation and mulch. In the evening we had a Twilight Recital at USQ featuring Collusion and modern music.

On Thursday the hole was dug.

On Friday we had an extra working bee at Franke Scrub.

Yesterday we walked from Peppers Resort to Spicer's Peak, just south of Cunningham's Gap. It was a perfect day. The morning was cool with fog on the Downs. We descended a razorback with nice views of the Main Range to the east, then climbed through rainforest to the western peak, where we had lunch on sunny rocks in a small saddle before some of us continued out to the escarpment above the Cunningham Highway. The views to the east extended to Mt Warning.
It was a long day ending in quite a steep climb back up to the resort and a drive home into the sunset with a hot bath to look forward to at home.

Eucalypt identification

We have over 40 young eucalypts on our acre and I have been slow to identify them.
I have decided that the two just above the shed are Narrow-leafed ironbarks Eucalyptus crebra. They are just forming flower buds for this year. I have also discovered that the two volunteer gums at the top of the bank above the house are also ironbarks. I had assumed that they had come from the box tree on the path just above them.
A woodlot is a natural addition to a sustaining lifestyle and ironbarks are the best firewood, so we can look forward to more campfires, and perhaps an outdoor wood oven in future. Bees and koalas are also welcome.

The vegie garden

We are clearing the lower vegie garden to install a tank this winter. The bean screen is almost finished with the scarlet runners cut off and just a few purple kings providing odd nibbles.
However the end garden now has strong tomato plants producing a lot of fruit, as well as carrots ready to pull, spring onions, and garlic.

Behind the house, the broad beans, leeks, ruby chard seedlings, rocket, and peas are all going well. We made a pea screen yesterday.
I also have a circle of strawberries around the septic. There is some competition with kangaroo paws and paper daisies - to be resolved.
I also have some chillies and capsicums in the corner bed, where they have done well in previous years.

Relatives

I have been back into the Patterson family history and hope to finish the revised edition soon. Richard and Laraine Patterson came up from the Gold Coast with their son Brad on Saturday and we had lunch at Oxygen Cafe in town with Fran and Peter, and Alan and Julie Hohne who were up from Sydney for the day to visit their father. It is nice to have this extended family.
It was a tough tennis match on Sunday and I went down 5-6. The new bouncy tennis balls were hard to handle. It is quite a contrast playing singles on a hard court, compared with doubles on a synthetic grass on Fridays.

Basket Swamp

We camped at Basket Swamp near Tenterfield on the May Day long weekend with Ann and Keith. The days were clear and calm and the nights frosty. We rock hopped down creeks and had quick dips in rock pools. It is worth going in a second and third time as it is not so cold - relatively speaking. There are also good waterfalls and it is a real treat to spend the day around running water.
We were able to have a campfire and produced some good camp oven meals. We had the place to ourselves and also had nice walks along the road and fire trail. This is granite country - a southern extension of Bald Rock area and the vegetation is diverse and splendid.
On the way out we climbed the rocks around Timbara Trig Lookout where the views are stunning and the vegetation resembles a botanical garden.

More music

Dick has bought a new amplifier. Our stereo system is going to be a 100 year old axe. We bought it in Honiara in 1975. The turntable and tape deck went a few years back; the speakers are going to get new fabric shortly; the tuner dates from 1979 in Brisbane and the CD player from mid 80's in Innisfail. We have made a new double shelf of CD's in the bookcase and now have a comfortable music room. It's good to have the CD's all in a sensible order.

Twilight Series

This year USQ is better organised with their Twilight Series and has offered a subscription. The first performance was Marilyn Meier-Kapavale playing piano. She has been lecturer in piano there since last year, and once again she gave a very good performance. It was also nice to see the theatre almost full.

the Walrus said

Yes the time has come for an update. The Anzac thing got a bit depressing as we watched three very good TV programs on the Gallipoli submarine, a Turkish one based on letters, and one on soldiers missing in action on the Somme in WW1.
We went to a pumpkin harvest party at PalmTree that weekend and enjoyed the moon rising as we drove home later that night.
Brew 26 has been made with a mix of Tom's New Zealand malt and my dry malt. It will be interesting to see how malty it is.
We have had a series of short weeks, with Easter coming early in March, followed by Toowoomba Show holiday, Anzac day and then the May Day long weekend. It is good to get back to normal life.

Anzac Day

Today I remember those who did not return - Dick's uncle Sergeant John Hart Steel of 2/2 Pioneer Battalion who died of malnutrition and neglect on the Burma Railway in 1944, and my grandfather's brother Private Walter Charles Patterson of 52nd Battalion AIF who was killed by a shell near the front line at Mouquet Farm on the Somme in September 1916.
And those who returned damaged - my grandmother's brother Sapper Duncan McRae of 2nd Field Co. Engineers, who was shot in the spine at Gallipoli, and Dick's great uncle Lieut-Colonel T H Steel OBE of Steele's [sic] Post at Gallipoli and later in France [14th Btn].
There were many other family members affected by wars, including our own fathers and I hope that the retelling of their stories will help us avoid further military conflicts.
I made Anzac biscuits today - I have actually been meaning to for a couple of weeks so I just used the day to get it done. I also made a wartime chocolate cake and another brew of beer.

The lucky spot or a lurch from despondency

We were in the right place yesterday when this week's storms passed by. We scored 30mm which seems to be pretty good, and we certainly needed it.
The MJO is lost in its navel and the Elders 28 day outlook for rain is very pale, so I have planted out most of the Xerochrysum seedlings in front of the house. I also added Caesia bulblettes [what is a baby bulb?] and Bracteantha seedlings to the inner circle.
Yesterday we walked on some roads near Merritts Creek and in some forestry. We tried a road reserve with mixed weeds, vine scrub and eucalypts and also passed a flock of Yellow-tailed black cockatoos which are very impressive with feathers spread out above.

Weekend by day

On Saturday I attended a workshop for the Richmond Birdwing Recovery network. It is an interesting project to arrest the demise of an invertebrate species and I look forward to spending more time with these people.
After the workshop I made grapefruit marmalade, adding a lime picked fresh from our tree. It was quite crisp and delicious.
On Sunday morning we had a set of tennis which I lost 2-6, and bought some herbs at Wilsonton market.
In the afternoon I went to an organ recital by Philip Gearing at St Lukes. Take one of Australia's best organ recitalists, who is a local university lecturer, one of Queensland's best organs, and a program of lovely French organ music, and you would think more than a few, mainly old people, would turn up to enjoy it.
Their next Sunday concert is a Cello recital on May 18th.

Nightlife

We went to our second subscription performance at the Empire Theatre on Friday night. I was surprised to find that Cabaret is a political tragedy in the form of a musical. It was produced by the theatre and was quite professional. I have not checked just how professional. We had seats in the front row of the upstairs and enjoyed it.
Saturday night was full moon and we had another campfire at Flemings. After sunset with Turkish bread and Mersey valley cheese with Governor's Choice Shiraz we had camp oven roasted vegetables by Ann, camp oven roasted Italian stuffed tomatoes by Sally and beef sate with Tyrrells red as the moon sailed among the gums trees. We then enjoyed their trip slideshow across the top and back through the centre.
On Sunday night the full moon again rose around dusk so we had another camp oven vegetable roast on our campfire. Our site is more open with a large sky but lacks the large trees, and is subject to wind from the same direction as the rising moon, both being to windward of the fire and smoke.
We did however have a nocturnal visitor, when a large owl alighted on the corner of our patio roof.

Oxygen African

As we were not camping last weekend, I emailed some friends to see if they would like to try the African dinner which is done at Oxygen cafe each month. The responses were nice and prompt and fortunately I booked just in time.
The entree was a nice lentil soup with some small bread things and meatballs. The mains were lamb, fish and vegetarian. The fish was very much cooked Nile perch with a nice sauce, on hand-rolled cous cous which was bigger balls than usual. There was a very small bit of salad on the side. I also tried the hibiscus flower drink which was like a sweet cordial.
We also tried the deserts - a sweet semolina porridge with some cooked fruit, and a sweet potato one with some fruit. They forgot to bring the coffee that we ordered.
The Somali girls did the cooking and waitressing and perhaps also the menus. It is a nice exercise by the Cafe, where at least one of the girls works regularly, and a full house. It was good to have a group of 6 of us but noisy and it gave an added appreciation of entertaining at home.

Ruth

Last week we lost my dear friend and aunt, Ruth. It has all been so sudden and unexpected, yet her end came peacefully, surrounded by her family. I was so lucky to spend time with her in recent years and I will miss her very much.

Going Digital

At last we have felt the need for a set-top box for our TV. I wanted to see Graeme Murphy's Swan Lake broadcast live on ABC2 so I went shopping and was talked into a high definition box by a salesman who seemed quite good. I expected to just go home and plug it in as he said but found some mail for Emily when I got home and, as she had already left for Brisbane and the flight back to UK, I drove down that afternoon, leaving the new box unopened.
On Friday at lunchtime we set about the task but could not get it to do the HD thing. Dick came home from work with the news that it was only a standard definition box, so we packed it up to return next morning.
However next morning we were off early to Mullum where we had a good look at Mum's HD box [same brand, same price].
On Monday morning I returned it and with some grumbling got the HD one for the same price. The salesman had sold quite a few of the SDs thinking they were HD, [which it actually said on the docket, so presumably also on his computer screen]. I collected a catalogue as I left and found the HD one in it, on special at that price! Limited confidence in the salesman remained.
Monday lunchtime resulted in another unsatisfactory installation experience and we decided that our TV might not be compatible and we would return to our initial intention of a cheap box.
So I returned it next day and got my money back while Dick got one at our local store at Wilsonton which seems to work well.
The ballet was very good and we also enjoyed the US Masters Golf over the weekend.

Show holiday

Last Thursday was Toowoomba Show and we had planned to go to Mullum for Mum's birthday, but had been down the previous weekend as Ruth was very ill in Hobart.
Instead of camping, we drove north over the Blackbutt Range to Benarkin forest to have a look at the camping area and explored some of the side tracks. We stopped for a pie in Blackbutt then drove home via the Toogooloowah-Crows Nest road. On Friday we headed west, with a brief look at the Bowenville camping reserve on a waterhole on Oakey creek, then on to Dalby and south-west to Lake Broadwater. It was quiet out there as it is closed to boats due to low water levels. We had an interesting self-guided botanical drive there, then, after a picnic lunch, returned home across the Condamine to the Cecil Plains road.
There is a lot more to explore in the 100 km radius from here.

Walks

Last Tuesday we walked at Murphy's Creek. It is a nice gentle climb from the broad grassy creek bed, through prickly Daviesia to emerge on top of Red Rock, a cliff above a winding narrow creek with views north to White Mountain and Hampton. We had our picnic lunch at Spring Bluff.

Yesterday we walked at Mt Prosper at the head of Ma Ma Creek, through partly cleared native pasture hills and valleys and had lunch at the Lions Park at Hodgsonvale, which is rapidly becoming surrounded by houses.

Hibiscus

This small native hibiscus has been flowering in the past month and I managed to catch it this morning.

Combine fruit and sugar

I have made two batches of lilly pilly jelly before Easter, the second one including some green apple. Last week I made cumquat marmalade with fruit from Mullum and today I will cut up the grapefruit I brought back, ready for another cook up tomorrow.
Liz brought up two jars of Mikes Plum Jum in February, and Ann has given me two jars of her fig, rhubarb, ginger and sherry jam.
This is a sweet life.

Walks

Instead of walking, we went to church on Sunday to hear Haydn mass and the organ at St Lukes.
Dick and Em had a long walk at Cotswold Hills in the late afternoon while I turned and emptied a compost heap. It was lovely to be outdoors at dusk.
On Monday morning Em and I visited Ann and Keith to see their vegie garden, quilt and bead projects. We also had a look at the progress of plantings on their hill then had a nice walk on Mt Peel until after midday.
After missing two Tuesday walks, it was good to be back with my friends yesterday. We walked near Palm Tree on a gazetted road leading through some nice trees to the old Munro tramway then had lunch at Hampton.

Beautiful Autumn weather

Rainfall for March was only 41 mm but we choose to look merely at the superficial and enjoy the growth that has occurred over recent months. It was a relief to have a cool and overcast summer and I was fortunate to plant so many tubes, which are all doing well. While things remain green after our rain last week, we remain positive. Leeks and ruby chard seedlings have been planted out, coriander and carrot seeds sown, and I have been given some rocket, chives and strawberries. The broad beans are growing well and we have corn to harvest. Beans continue to be picked from our screen.
I have also picked a couple of bunches of paper daisies - Xerochrysum and have more seedlings coming up, so we may get an earlier flower display this year.
Sunny Boy has reached 476.2 kWh by the end of March and we have had interesting news of a new Queensland Government initiative, whereby we will be paid 44 cents per kWh of electricity fed into the grid, about three times the current tariff. We meet the eligibility criteria and have registered our interest.

Earth Hour

It rained again on Friday morning early and I missed out on tennis but I was able to tackle life and weeds with renewed vigour. I rebuilt the new green house with shade cloth, after my poor plants sweated to death over easter under the plastic.
We even got ourselves together to celebrate Earth Hour on Saturday night with a campfire on our paddock. The sunset was fairly ordinary after a spectacular one on Friday night and the stars came out nicely in a clear sky.
There was an impressive blaze across the valley to the north; I doubt if they noticed our small effort. We were burning Buddleia stumps which I had stored under a callistemon.
There was no dramatic dimming of lights on the surrounding hills, but we imagined that perhaps there were a few less than normal.

At the end of the tether

It was incredibly dry when we got home. It had been quite a hot day and it all looked pretty challenging after several days away in more favoured climes. I seemed to get straight from the car and 2½ hours driving, to filling watering cans and providing respite to parched vegies.
During the night I thought I heard some reasonable rain, but it could have been a disturbed mind.
Around 6.30 am a sound, which was quite familiar in our Innisfail days, arose, and we got an early morning downpour of real wetting rain. We even got some thunder to herald the event.
O joy and what a relief.
And then there was more at 8.30.
And our tank is nearly full.
And I must get some of it onto the fruit trees in case we get more tonight.
Am I greedy?

On tour

Em and I stayed on with Mum on Monday night then headed south, towing the camper. We called in on our friend and honorary granny, Margaret, in Lismore and enjoyed an hour of catching up, which was not nearly enough, then headed down to Grafton via Casino for lunch with Janet and Dick in their new house. It was a good drive with the area looking well after good rain.
After lunch we headed up the Clarence River through the Gibraltar Range and Washpool National Parks to the New England tableland and on to Girraween where we selected the same camping spot where we stayed in February with Liz.
Yesterday we climbed Castle Rock then walked out to the Sphinx and Turtle Rock, then back to the Pyramid, with food stops during the morning. We then cooled off in a pool in the creek before lunch and packing up for the drive home.

Easter

I had expected wet weather on the coast but we had perfect sunny weather. Andrew and Stephen were also at Mullum, making a house party of 8. We ate very well and drank a lot of home brew as well as wine. We also enjoyed the surf which was rough and dumpy, swam in the river and pool, and played some good tennis. Dick and Jim also played golf.

March madness

March has been a busy month for many years. Last week we had a birthday and an anniversary, then it was Easter, and another birthday this week. It has been quite a family time with Emily home from Wales for a short break. Lee surprised us by turning up early - planning to meet Em at the airport except that Em turned up two days early due to airline cancellation of her Tokyo stopover.
I had a big cook-up last Thursday for Easter, with fruit bread and buns, seafood tarte and fruit mince pie and also making a second batch of Lilly Pilly Jelly. Lee and Em travelled down to Mullumbimby with Jim and Dick and I arrived mid-afternoon with our camper.

Sunny Boy

Sunny Boy passed 400 kWh on 13 March, three months after launch. He continues to come up with the goods even on overcast drizzly days like yesterday.

In the garden

Today we have recorded the first rain for the month. Things have been pretty dismal lately and I have grown tired of watering with no end in sight, so it was a relief to have a cool drizzly day yesterday and 9mm in the gauge. Things have continued to grow, with new growth continuing on gums and wattles and the small recent plantings are going ahead well. We also continue to pick beans, lettuce, zucchini and ruby chard and I hope the corn has had enough water to yield a crop.
Our hakea is flowering nicely and I bought an olive tree on Sunday. Yesterday we picked the first lime. The camellias are also flowering.

The shed

The rest of Saturday was spent tidying the shed. On Friday we bought another set of shelves for my garden corner. I have reduced by one shelf and Dick has taken my older ones for his workshop end. I have washed all the pots and we have hung the tools.

We also renovated the lounge suite last week, washing the covers and fixing the straps. That might do it for another ten years.
Tennis on Sunday was well fought and I was beaten 4-6 although my partner strained his back trying hard.

Council elections

This past weekend started with the elections for the new regional council. It has been interesting discussing candidates over the past few weeks, and comparing notes and recommendations. We do not get the local paper so we relied on the internet for profiles and it was good to find a useful site and be able to email candidates with questions which were promptly responded to. I also found some other sites which gave some other perspectives. On Saturday morning I was able to construct a fairly well researched how-to-vote card to take to the polling booth. We now await the results.

Upper Perseverance

Tuesday's walk was back in our Grapetree creek area. The bush is looking good with fresh growth and some soil moisture and odd pools in the creek. The lantana has also grown in places. There is a nice rocky gorge area on Grapetree creek. This plant Acronychia laevis was a highlight.

Ravensbourne Falls

Sunday 9th was our walk to Ravensbourne Falls. As leaders, Ann and I had to consider adverse conditions when planning this walk, but on the day it was almost perfect with a good group of 19, a cool day and the creeks had subsided so we were able to navigate along them easily. So we arrived at the falls an hour earlier than on the reccy, leaving time for some to explore a route below the falls while others swam in the rock pool and lay on the rocks in the sun over lunch time. On the way back we were able to stop for smoko on rocks in the creek without being overly bothered by mosquitos. As usual Ann set a cracking pace back up the hill at the end of the day and I tried to keep up, leaving me quite tired in ensuing days.

Circa

We really enjoyed the Circa performance. by the light of the stars that are no longer ...Three men and a woman performed on stage with good lighting effects and soundtrack. I could relate to the format which explores a space between dance and acrobatics. The kids were doing a simple form of developing a sequence of moves in their workshops in 1989. There was also a strong reminder of Marcel Marceau in Chelsea McGuffin's performance.

Time flies

Two weeks have passed since the last post. We walked at Queen Mab near Crows Nest on Tuesday 4th. Things were greener and grassier than in the past.
On Wednesday we had the first performance of our Empire Theatre subscription. What a nice surprise to find that Circa started in 1987 as RocknRoll Circus. They came to Innisfail in 1989 for workshops which we participated in, forming the Rain Rats Circus.

Tennis

The rats did not play tennis last weekend as it was wet, but we have been out both mornings this weekend. Scores were 0-6, 6-2 yesterday and 6-5 today. The format is 10 games, first to 6, or 9.
We are having clear, cool sunny weather.
I am making another pot of Welsh cawl for St David's Day and looking forward to the cricket this afternoon.

Report for February

Summer is over and we managed 105 mm of rain on 14 days in February, which is just below the 11 year average for the airport. It has been a good growing season although perhaps slower than it might be with more soil moisture. Sunny Boy has now produced 332 kWh and we will record our power generation monthly.
I did not walk last Tuesday due to rain.

The new Toowoomba Regional Council

Last night we went to a public meeting at Gowrie Junction to find out more about the new council which we will elect on 15 March. We waited outside in the cold and wet with a few others until a woman rushed in at 5 to 7 to unlock and put some lights on. It was due to start at 7. They then proceeded to set up about 28 chairs in a small room. Some remained unoccupied but apparently only 9 people turned up to the Toowoomba meeting. Most of those present last night were councillors, staff or candidates - perhaps 10 were citizens seeking information?
When commenting on the poor turnout for most of the eleven previous regional meetings, the organisers aforementioned did not seem to consider that perhaps the public was not aware of it?
We certainly could not find any information on the new regional council website and had to search the Jondaryan Shire website to confirm the note in my diary.
It was difficult to talk and hear under the low ceiling of the foyer after the meeting due to the poor acoustics, so we left after meeting only two candidates.

Back to cool and drizzle

The hot spell was short and we are getting some more rain to boost our February total. It's a good time to do some weeding and remove the dead paper daisies.
Meanwhile, indoors, I have been working on blogs for Franke's Scrub - our remnant dry vine scrub near Highfields, and a family history site to replace the old website. I should be completing the revision of Patterson family history which is my February project.
I also had another look at, and indexed, the Memoir of Rev. Robert Simpson DD 1745-1817. It is an interesting story.

Green continues despite hot spell

Speaking of rain, things have been very green here recently, although we have only had odd mms.

The past few days have been the hottest of the summer and I have worried that we would shrivel in a heap but the cool change came in last night and some promise of imminent rain has appeared. So I mowed the grass this morning and mulched the vegies.

Not much watering has been done in the past busy week.

The paddock vegetation is becoming quite interesting as it recovers. I think there is a range of species, not all of which are weeds. I must investigate more closely.

Butterflies and vines

Yesterday we attended a meeting/forum of the Richmond Birdwing Recovery Network in Toowoomba. It was a hot day but it was well worth going to, with an interesting display of visual material, update of activities, and a discussion of genetic issues for butterflies and their food plants, when restoring fragmented habitats. Some things to think about are - genotypes and phenotypic plasticity, the meaning of "local provenance", and outbreeding and inbreeding depression.

My vine is surviving while not thriving. I did plant it in the most favoured spot below the bubbler off the house roof, but there has been very little come out of that in recent years.

We are not in the habitat of this butterfly or vine, which extends only to the escarpment, from the coast, but I am interested in the project, and got a vine for Mum who is very much in the habitat on the Brunswick River. Are there implications in giving her a vine grown at Brookfield? The source of that seed may have been Mt Tambourine. I should check so we know the provenance.

I am hoping to discover vine and/or butterfly in the wild, while walking in this area. This is quite unlikely but perhaps it is possible.

The full moon club

This week was the first full moon of the Rat year. It was really good on Wednesday night, rising to a lovely calm clear evening at Cotswold Hills. Unfortunately this rat was home alone.
Ann had suggested Wednesday and Thursday did not suit, but we made it to Mt Peel on Friday night for a real, albeit small, campfire on their block.
It was a hot day so it was nice to be outdoors with the sunset through the trees, wine and nibbles followed by camp-oven dry roasted vegetables and Welsh Cawl.
This was followed by a large dessert of stewed home-grown fruit.
The moon had risen, by then, to a fair height in the trees and we headed off for a walk around Mt Peel for an hour or more before heading home around 11pm.

A busy time

Since the last report, when it rained, which seems like quite a while back, life has been busy. Liz flew up from Canberra on the Thursday and I met her at the airport, after dropping Dick at work in the city. We then drove to Scarborough for lunch with Margaret, collecting Dick mid afternoon for the drive home. It is a long day if driving from Toowoomba to Scarborough alone.
The following morning Liz came to tennis with me, which turned out to be most fortunate. We had played one set before our fourth regular player arrived. It was a perfect morning for tennis with some cloud cover and a cool light breeze, and we had some good tennis.
After lunch we packed the camper and headed for Girraween. The planned night walk had been cancelled as there was a chance of rain, but we were not to be disappointed. We got there in good time and walked down to the [creek] Junction. It was a joy to be walking beside the noisy and full creek after years of drought - trying to find a place to cross to the path on the other side.
On Saturday morning we packed up and headed out to Castle Rock to survey the area from above, then on to Mt Norman where we decided that we did not need to reach the top. The weather was perfect, being not too hot and moist underfoot from recent rain, but mostly dry on the rocks. There were a surprisingly large number of wildflowers and Liz's botanical knowledge made up for my book being left behind.
We had enough food left for a third 'meal' after our swim at the day use area. The pool in the creek was deep and very cool.
On Sunday, it seemed like a good idea to rest the legs, but we went out to the Japanese Garden, which has been invaded by flying foxes, then had a look at Laurel Bank before heading home for lunch. Later in the afternoon we drove across to Franke's Scrub then did a loop out to Kingsthorpe where we climbed to the lookout. It was interesting to notice the remnants of dry vine scrub on farms as we drove. We returned via Glencoe and Gowrie Junction for more of this vegetation.
On Monday I took a bus to Brisbane for a meeting while Dick and Liz took a picnic to Ravensbourne, where it was raining. They collected my from the bus at 6pm and we enjoyed a good Thai meal in town.
On Tuesday morning I headed off walking - to Ravensbourne - while Dick and Liz headed for Brisbane and the airport.
We really enjoyed her visit.

walking in the rain

This morning was very windy with low cloud and rain - quite a challenging drive across to our meeting place on the edge of the range, where strangely, it was quite sheltered and not so misty. As the first real Tuesday walk of the year, it was great to see other like-minded friends, although our leader and his wife turned up in case any misguided people did, and as a result they walked without their lunch. We had enough to share with them.
It seems that there is one guaranteed dry place for walking when the rain comes to Toowoomba, and that is Cooby Dam - our water supply for the city. And yes, we had a lovely morning out there walking with no wind or rain. Back at Highfields it was misty and miserable.

Tennis

The rats have been scurrying around the court this morning - it must be ten years since we enjoyed a set of singles together. I was down 0-5 but managed to get my act together to get back to 4-6. My body got quite excited by the release of endorphins.
Let's hope we can make this a regular thing.

the elements

I have been meaning to write about the elements as they seem to come up a lot.

Earth continually finds itself on my shoes and under my fingernails.
Fire is one of the lures of camping, but does not rate highly with me as it destroys things.
Air is always welcome, especially outdoors. I can get claustrophobic in enclosed spaces.
Wind - goes with sailing and change - things I really like.
Water - here we go again, the thing I need so much in life - to float in, to grow things, to listen to and contemplate.
Wood seems to have been an important part of my life. I enjoy working with wood.
Metal does not seem to figure much with me. I prefer silver to gold and its nice to polish silver and brass, but it does not happen very often.

The good news is that we have had 66 mm in recent days and things are fresh and green again and promising to grow madly.

The Year of the Rat

We were both born in the year of the Rat. For some reason I decided to celebrate Chinese New Year this year and then I found that it is my year. I am a Rat and an Earth one at that. As such I hope to finish a few of the things I have started and things are going well!

The Patterson family history document became corrupted around ten years ago - and I made some attempts to rebuild it, but it has lain idle for many years and now I am at last making progress. As well as stripping it back to plain text, I have new information to add and images to re-scan.

This week has been wet and overcast and I am settled in my Rat nest with my papers. I hope to complete this book during February, then move on to revised editions of the other branches of the tree. The Steels are already up to date following our trip to England last year.

I had a curry lunch at Oxygen with my Tai Chi group today for Chinese New Year. Hearty bean soup seems to be a recommended rat food so I must proceed to the kitchen.

Rain at last

It rained last night - over many hours, although not heavily. With luck this gave time to find its way through the mulch and into the soil. We got 32 mm and the tank is now half full. It rises 32 cm with that much.
In anticipation, I sowed carrots yesterday and also planted a circle of kangaroo paws around the septic tank. I also uncovered the compost heaps, revealing a small mouse which appears to have made its home there.
We hope to get more rain today and tomorrow. The lawn had in fact sprung back to some life after 5 mm on the weekend.

water levels

Last weekend we moved to our benchmark water level of "below the shed tap". Since the tank was installed in August 2005, we have only gone this low twice - both times due to accidentally leaving the lower tap running with a hose attached. The first was probably around mid 2006 and then again more recently on 28 November 2007.

The other benchmark level is when it overflows. We got close in November 07 but I can't remember when it did overflow and it has only occurred about once.

We recorded 23 mm of rainfall in January on 9 days - nothing worthwhile. The 11 year average at Toowoomba airport is 66mm.

Sunny boy's double ton

Sunny Boy passed 200 kWh this week. In the 49 days since generation commenced, we have used 490 kWh and generated 220. This equates to the estimated average daily production for Brisbane and has been achieved in mostly cloudy skies with very little actual rain. Diffuse light conditions appear to be more effective than clear skies with direct sunlight. Maximum daily production has reached 5.99 kWh.

The long weekend

We were thinking of camping with the bushwalkers this weekend but by the end of last week we felt tired and stayed at home. This led to participation in our local shire Australia Day events on Saturday. We visited the Oakey Museum of Australian Flying and saw a display of planes and helicopters with mixed feelings about military stuff. Then we drove out to Jondaryan Woolshed which also had [almost] free admission and wandered around old sheds and machinery. Fortunately it was not a hot day. The woolshed is impressive.

Summer has arrived with dried vistas and with the warmer weather, an early autumn emerges as stressed plants shed leaves. We are spending a lot of time watering and the tank is now below the upper tap. There is no rain in sight. We mowed the lucerne and green patches of grass to provide some mulch to the poor vegies. Despite this we continue to enjoy beans, lettuce, ruby chard, corn and tomatoes. We also have some eggplants developing.
A black faced cuckoo shrike has been visiting lately. The wrens are also about, as well as our usual brown honeyeaters, finches, thornbills, mapgies, crested pigeons and galahs. The bird baths get plenty of use.

Walking

Although the walking group is in recess, I have enjoyed some good walks recently. Last Tuesday I went out with Trish to look at a road reserve near Ravensbourne. It was wet, in fact, quite wet, but we enjoyed it. Rainforest looks good in these conditions and it is a novelty to see water running off red soil into a creek below a canopy.

On Sunday Dick and I walked down into Redwood Park from Bridge Street. It is surprisingly strenuous walking back up to Bridge street on the graded track, but an enjoyable walk.

Yesterday Ann and I did a reccy with Trish to Ravensbourne Falls below the National Park. There has been some rain over there and the creeks were flowing and the lantana going mad. We headed off from the car park at 8.30 and got back at 4 pm. It was a bit challenging but also good with a nice swim in a small pool on the way back and lots of botanical observations from Trish. We are leading the walk on March 9 so I should be ready to do it again by then.

We got back around 5 and I stopped in at IGA to collect some food for our first full moon event on Mt Peel. A shower and change of clothes and we headed over there at 6 pm with hot cooked chicken bits, potato crisps, shiraz and raw sausages. Keith was beaming as usual and we climbed up the rocks - my poor legs - to the top where it was overcast and very windy, and set up our picnic behind a thorny bush - the sort favoured by hares and rabbits - on an orange garbage bag.

Ann has got a nice bag for her BBQ, hot plate and gas bottles and Keith cooked the sausages. Ann had potato and onion salad and a tomato, cucumber and lettuce salad with olives - all home produce. We had our backs to the rising moon, wherever it was, and hopped up regularly to see if we could work it out over the lights of Toowoomba. We were facing the sunset and lights of Westbrook so we had a nice outlook and enjoyed our mad picnic.

We headed down around 8pm with our headtorches and had icecreams and fresh fruit with a cup of tea at the house as the sky cleared and the full moon sailed through the trees. It had clouded over as we drove home just after 9 pm but then cleared a bit for some full moon before I tumbled into bed. What a day.

Big brother

What did the big spinach say to the little spinach?
I was going pretty well until my mum and dad ate me tonight, but I will be back.

Happy new beer

I started brewing beer in 1981 and today's brew will be number 224. I have nearly always used my own recipe but with the rising price of malt in recent years, it is no cheaper than buying kits from Woolies, so the ikey side of me prevailed in spring and I made four brews of Coopers [Real Ale, Lager and Dark Ale] and Home Brand. I then realised that I much preferred my own brew and that of the four, my preference was for the Home Brand Lager.
Yesterday I chanced to find malt among the honeys in Woolies, and at a dollar less than the brew shops so we are back in business today. Ah the smell of hops permeating the house!
Next brew will be a special one made from New Zealand Black Rock malt given to me, on his recent visit, by Tom.
There is more tasting to be done.

The Festive Season

The lights and tinsel have been put away, Lee has gone, and the festive season is over. It has been a few good weeks with lunch and dinner guests on four occasions and a steady stream of good dishes, rather than any massive eating events.
We have also had two cricket tests, yesterday being a test in the true sense and hopefully there is more to come. And there's more with the tennis this month.
The only thing missing is rain - there are floods to the east and south of us but we are struggling to get a mm in the gauge, despite overcast and sometimes misty conditions.

Bull Creek

an attempt to get this back on my blog

Sunny Boy's first ton

At 8am today Sunny Boy passed his first century - 100kWh. It was achieved in 22 days and despite generally overcast conditions, he never appealed for the light.

Followed by a trip

Happy New year. It is going so fast already but we are having fun watching the cricket and tennis. Sorry about the photo of the giant leap. I will get back to normal and fix it soon, I hope.
Despite all the rain in SE Qld we are only having overcast with odd mms. Sunny Boy has performed admirably over the break but has slackened a bit since his overseer returned to work. The track worn in the lawn between door and meter is recovering a bit.