75mm of rain in the last five days, and more coming. Everything is cool and damp. I could have guessed it would rain as we have just paid for a tank full of water, c’est la vie! So the past two days have been spent digging ditches to direct the run-off from our garden as the greenhouse was awash. Certainly a change of pace from cutting fire breaks, you have to love Tasmania.
The hollow is greening up again and smells so fresh and is alive with birds. It has been misty around the mountain and the bush has that lovely wet smell. Frogs have been chirping and all the small birds have been hopping about, especially the red robins. Bryon has discovered a new orchid, so he’s been very excited, and was quite perturbed when I nearly trod on it. As you can see it is something worth getting excited about . . .
One of the larger eucalypt trees that I originally decided not to cut down has developed quite a lean and is threatening the house and water tank so I will have to drop it in the next few days before we put the roof on (just in case). I will try to make it fall in the 8m between the two structures. It is about 35m high and very rotten at the bottom so let’s hope for the best.
We just returned from Newcastle NSW where we celebrated Bryon’s grandson Levi’s first birthday and his daughter Ellen’s 30th birthday. Bryon was busy making birthday cakes . . .
The weather was great and I even managed to get a couple of swims in. We had a great time with Levi and the other grown ups too culminating in a BBQ at Blackbutt Reserve for Levi. Of course everyone who relied on their little “ï” gadgets to find the place ended up somewhere else, including us. Remember when we used to look at a map, life was so much less complicated. I have decided never to get an “i” gadget and keep my life simple. If ever the internet goes down I can see that city folk will be in real trouble. Next we followed up with a party at Ellen and Jordan’s place for Elle’s birthday where we played games and some of Elle’s friends were very competitive (Bryon won Zilch twice so suck it up you guys, especially you know who).
Then we trained from Newcastle (an adventure in itself) to Leura in the Blue Mountains to catch up with friends from Tassy who now live on the Tablelands. We had lunch at the best Vegan restaurant in the world. It is called Ruby Fruit, check it out, the food was delicious and I can’t wait to go back there and eat my way through the menu. In keeping with my love of good food we had lunch at Katoomba a couple of days later at Common Ground Cafe and again, they will be getting another visit as soon as I can manage it.
The Tablelands at Tarana were so green with poplars everywhere, I was surprised to find it so lush, as Tassy is very dry in places at the moment. It’s also a very quite and peaceful place. Alex and John showed us around and spoiled us with good food and good company. It was nice to relax after the grime and crowds in Sydney. I guess that is the trouble with train travel as you get to see everyone’s crappy backyards, graffiti and forgotten places. What a mess we make of the planet. Here’s the view from the house at Tarana where we stayed looking towards Evans Crown which is a sacred site for the Wiradjuri and Dharug Aboriginal people. I hope to climb it next time we are there.
I can’t do a post at the moment without a few flowers shots as they give us so much pleasure. The bumble bees are working on a zinnia, then we have white and pink lilliums, nerines, Queen Mother Agapanthus, a gorgeous red geranium and last a beautiful rose that we grew from a cutting. It has a very sweet scent.
The rest of the framing, lintels and roofing arrives here shortly so we will be busy lads for the next two weeks getting the roof on, guttering and framing up for the double glazing. It is getting exciting and I can’t wait to be able to get at the piano and all the things in the container that we haven’t seen for 12 months.
I just had my annual check up and all the results were amazing, my blood sugar is back to normal, my cholesterol is better, everything is better than last year. So that must mean that a vegan lifestyle is the best lifestyle. I guess one last look at the greenhouse is in order before I sign off. The tomatoes are 6ft high (185cm for you youngsters) and looking good, you need a machete to get in there at the moment. We ate the first one today and it tasted like a tomato, not like those rubbery things they sell at the supermarket, I am drooling thinking about the rest when they ripen . . . anyway, I better go as I have a little assignment to work on, Addictions and Drug Classification, sounds exciting (not).
Banksia Hollow 
I’m impressed by your adventurous spirit traveling around Australia.