The pretty

For the past two years - when we described our retirement place to increasingly incredulous friends who wondered why we would do such a thing - at some point we would just shrug our shoulders and say "we bought the pretty". Because we did, we bought the flowers and the blue sky and the embroidered tablecloths and the hammock. But, every day, I look around and admire the pretty. Even in the depths of winter. Here is fog this morning just starting to burn off down the driveway.

But still misty over the back, towards the creek.

Here is the other end of the day, as the shadows get long and it starts to get cold.

But still sunny over to the west, until the sun finally hits the hills.

Or the west this afternoon, as a big storm rolled across. We were enjoying the sunshine and thinking about doing a couple of hours chipping when we heard thunder and saw the black sky. About half an hour later it bucketed through with lightning so close we checked out the windows for burning trees. And there was hail! Just little peas luckily.

Our visitors have left to do some skiing - it was so lovely to have them stay and show them our corner of the world.

Scrappy stars

Here is a little quilt I made because the scrap strips were getting a bit out of control ... and I do love a scrappy quilt. I called it "pruning and mulching" because that is all I think about other than quilting. It was a fun make. 

I tried to do a floral theme but I didn't have quite enough florals so some are just floral-adjacent. I did capture the sunset on the washing line though, it was very pretty.

We have Brad's brother and 11-year old niece staying at the moment, which is lovely, to have visitors! Unfortunately we have had the worst weather with serious rain all up the east coast. They managed to get a bush walk in Monday but Tuesday was a Canberra day of museums and yesterday was wandering around Braidwood (ten minutes max) then driving to see the floods. It's clearing now thank goodness.

The most exciting thing was watching our wombat discover that its burrow was completely flooded and it had to find somewhere new to sleep. It rampaged around the front lawn for a bit (wombats are super cute when they run) before disappearing over into the cow paddock next door. I refused to go outside to take a photo so this is a wombat through the window. They are quite big ... it's called Chonky. 

Here's the creek beside our road into town. It runs behind the properties that sit behind ours, so our house isn't likely to be flooded but our only way out is the bridge just before town and it was sitting pretty close to the water for an hour or two. 

The destruction continues

 A week since I posted! Nothing exciting to report except for three Canberra days this week, which is probably two too many. We went in Sunday for the scale model swap and sell - I went to the Canberra Quilt show for the first time in years. I enjoyed it but it is about half the size that it used to be when I did white glove duty - it used to be in two buildings and now it's in one, with fewer quilts and not nearly as many vendors. But entertaining for a couple of hours. We then had a lovely long lunch with friends and yet another quick trip to Ikea for blinds ... Monday I went in on my own to go to the doctor and have a lovely gossipy coffee with a colleague from work (I'm not missing it, but I still love to get the goss) plus buy some ugg boots because it has been minus 7 which is COLD. Then Thursday we went back to get the house ready for another futile open day, bought some electric blankets (see minus 7 above) and did grocery shopping. Exhausting!

But there has been time for continuing the destruction. Here is a perfectly fine bay tree that was innocently growing away ... except it is three metres tall and about a foot from the house and suckering like a crazy thing. I can understand why you might plant it there - there are oregano and rosemary bushes too - but it has gotten way too big and was making the kitchen very dark.

So it got the chop. Chainsaw guy did the hard work and we pulled on ropes and removed the branches using the less serious chainsaw and the loppers. Small pile for firewood, much larger pile for the chipper and plenty of little suckers still living to supply bay leaves for casseroles.

It went through the chipper like a dream - long straight branches with lots of leaves. Our chipper doesn't really mulch the leaves very finely but that's OK, we are still going on beds where we want to kill the ivy. It smelled lovely and was fun to spread about. 

Of course now all we can see is the sad state of the house exterior. It's weathertight and not too bad but needs a re-paint and a bit of carpentry care in spots. That is not my photography at an angle... that is how badly that wall and the chimney leans in. That's an unused chimney but it is very picturesque so I think we have to keep it. We also had the pipes freeze for the first time! The tenants never mentioned it so we think it was a combination of the cold and the removal of the bay tree. The acanthus certainly looked very sad losing the shelter. Anyway the pipes are barely lagged so we will get onto that, should be an easy fix. 

And in even more exciting news we now have matching his and hers safety helmets with ear muffs and face shields. Gardening is more dangerous than I had anticipated. 

Sedimentary

This quilt is called "sedimentary" - it was only two weeks ago that I did the label but I've already forgotten why it's called that. Perhaps rock? Perhaps the layers of dirt/sand/mulch/rock that we're digging up in the garden? Perhaps I meant to call it "sedentary"? We will never know.

It's a log cabin done entirely because the 2.5" scrap strips were spilling out of their bag. I did 25 blocks, which limits the layout - a lot of log cabin layouts require an even number of blocks in each direction. So this is a deliberately asymmetrical design. It looks quite clear in the photo but in real life it's hard to see, and the colours are quite muddy. You can't go wrong with a log cabin though, it always look homely and very quilt-like.

Path of destruction

It's us, we are the path of destruction, as we prune and chop and dig our way around the house. I know it has to be done but I feel very sorry for some of the poor little shrubs that were just doing exactly what they are meant to be doing - growing and making pretty flowers. But they are all four foot across, with leaves only at the edges and massive dead twiggy hearts and they have to be chopped right back, to look sad and forlorn and covered in frost. 

Dad here is the rosemary that I didn't dig out but cut right back after you said that your one didn't die ... so if it dies it will of course be all your fault. 

This is a before shot of what I thought was going to be a small bed, quick to dig .... it was not. It was a nightmare of grass and bulbs and unidentifiable shrubs - that's a clematis (we think) over a dead tree and it's built up against some very old fence posts and random bits of concrete. And a brick.

This is what it looks like now. Much better! The old tree is very rotten but I figure the clematis will hold it up. There are red hot pokers over the back, and those early jonquils have grass all though them so we'll have to wait until they've died back and dig the lot up.

And here are the apple trees! What a difference. Actually I think two are apple and two are possibly pear trees ... whatever they are we pruned them for jesus and hope they'll live. The 'pear' trees have ferocious spikes on them, but were all very satisfying to chip. 

Isn't that a fabulous apple branch? Quite an old tree I think, and has clearly had a number of solid prunings. We will spray for moth but a proper treatment requires us to clear the bed below, which sounds like a lot of work, so we'll see whether we can be bothered. 

Brad took a lower branch of one of the smaller oaks - half an hour with the chainsaw then half a day getting the branch cut up, chipped and moved, or stacked for firewood. The cows were weirdly interested ... they just stood and watched, especially when power tools were involved? What goes through their minds? 

We raked up all the oak leaves and dumped them underneath the pines were nothing grows anyway (except mushrooms). There are some plants that like an acidic soil apparently (rhodos? Sounds unlikely) so we have a long term plan for a garden bed there. 

Yes, Pam, I do miss my grown babies, but they are very good at messaging / facetiming at odd moments and they are living interesting lives ... Melbourne is about 750 km from here so a good eight hour drive with stops - it takes all day but anything you can do in a day we think is a reasonable drive! It's the overnight ones where you might seriously consider taking a plane ... 

Melbourne and surrounds

We have just returned from a few days in Melbourne which was wonderful except for the weather which was TERRIBLE. Freezing cold, wind, rain and bleak. I took basically no photos which is unusual but it was not very picturesque. We spent time with number two every day, which was really really nice. This did mean a lot of amazing food - we had fabulous Thai, Vietnamese, Korean and an excellent cafe where number two goes for business meetings ... theatre people like a good coffee shop. I took a photo of my meal.

We also did a fair bit of shopping, including some very groovy shops that I would never have found on my own, and then boring grocery shopping to fill up the share house fridge in the time honoured parental way, and op shopping for two dining chairs which they needed. Ten dollars each, bargain. Number two also got the three of us free tickets to this play - it was definitely more peculiar than we are used to but funny and interesting and we really enjoyed it (or my husband and I did, our playwright child was a bit more judgy).

My husband had the Australian Model Expo to visit (he entered a model, got a Commendation which was very pleasing) and I had a quiet poke around and lunch by the river ... I sat outside even though I got a bit rained on.

And we did a day trip up towards Daylesford where friends have recently retired to a seven acre block, although they've had the block for years. It is basically the complete opposite of us - it was a sub-divided farm, so a completely blank canvas, and they built a hempcrete house themselves, and various sheds and outbuildings and planted everything new ... they are going as self-sufficient as possible so goats for milk, alpacas for wool (she spins and knits), ducks and chickens for eggs, huge gardens of vegies and fruit ... it is amazing and we were in awe. They built a greenhouse using recycled materials, have solar panels, feed the goats from farm waste and only need to heat the house when it's not sunny because the insulation is so good!!!! Utterly diametrically opposite to what we are doing (they don't even have a chipper because they are growing not chopping) but it still looks incredible and they are having so much fun. Just like us.

This is feeding the goats. It SNOWED when we arrived. Not much, just flurries, but my god it was cold. We went into town for lunch though and it was so pretty. I would like to return when the weather wasn't so awful.

Another quilt finish

Here is another little quilt finish. Tiktok made me sew it ... or at least the creator that I saw using the $4 IKEA fleece throw as batting. Batting is expensive, so I bought three $4 throws and thought that if it works it will be a good alternative! It's quite thin polar fleece, so could be OK or could be dreadful .. and it was really good. The main problem is it's only 120 x 160 cm, so you're limited to a small quilt, although I suppose there's no reason you couldn't join them? Hmmm, might think about that one some more.

It quilted up nicely and will probably wash as well as anything else I do. I might give it a wash and experiment, although I don't pre-wash any of my fabrics either, despite what the internet says, so it's likely to ruffle up. 

The fabric is largely from the scrap bin with some yardage to pull it together. It's very bright and cheerful and I like it. It's called "Rules for drinking" because I was listening to Annie Lou's song "Grandma's rules for drinking" while I did the binding, and I couldn't fit the word "grandma" on as well. Great song, ordinary quilt name.

Little updates

Here is the after shot of the front beds where I pulled out all the rosemary - not very exciting but much tidier. I've staked up the roses before their winter prune, and we are ordering a wide variety of hellebores to be decorative but close to the ground. It was a satisfying bed to do - not the endless invasive grass - and delightful to dig in. I think it has been a garden bed for 150 years which is not at all what I'm used to.

And Dad here is visual proof of us putting the mulch back through again ... it definitely makes it a lot finer but I don't know if we can be bothered to do it routinely. We have SO MUCH to chip and we're putting the mulch on the ivy covered beds and it can kill whatever it wants until we get around to them. 

We've also built some firewood storage to keep it off the ground. It's not covered but that doesn't matter too much round here. Bessa bricks, stakes, random offcuts of wood we found in the garage. There are four of these side by side on the way to the clothesline. We put brand new mulch from the chipper underneath so in a season or two we can figure out a more elegant solution for the firewood and turn the area into garden beds, as originally planned. We have a lot of plans.

Here is another after shot - we did this a while ago but the kitchen stuff is in the kitchen where it belongs and the books are in the bookshelf. Double stacked, but we did do a big clear out of books down the coast so will take some there ... and get rid of others, honestly. This is one of our two new double-glazed roof skylights - we had just the corrugated see-through stuff which isn't insulating at all, and replaced it with a double-glazed unit in this room and the kitchen.

Custom built of course, at vast expense, because nothing is square, and they don't open. The advice was to leave the laser light in because you don't mess with things that don't leak, and just put the glass underneath. I am a bit nervous about something completely inaccessible for reasons of condensation / cleaning ... but nobody else seemed bothered so we will just wait and see. It does seem to be noticeably warmer but it's hard to tell because it has become so much colder! The bird bath was frozen over until midday.

Long weekend

It was a long weekend in Canberra ... and we didn't notice and didn't care! How amazing. Although that's not strictly true, we noticed eventually because we went to the beach for a few days and there were a few more Canberra people than usual. It has settled into the cold and clear real winter days, which are beautiful down the coast. Beautiful at home too, but pretty cold. We've been having the fire on 24 hours and it definitely takes the edge off.

The beach was just sparkling and lovely. This the kayak hire place which is absolutely pumping now they've started selling coffees. People bring their kids / dogs and just sit in the sun most mornings. It is very delightful. 

We came back up on Sunday for friends who drove out to Canberra for afternoon tea. It was wonderful to see them and show off our country slice of life! Everyone is either recently retired or nearly retired and doing it in all sorts of different ways ... mostly downsizing and lowering maintenance, rather than our version. Oh well. 

This is probably the only photo of the two of us and the house that's been taken yet! We look vaguely old fashioned, maybe it's the knitted jumpers. Side note, both of those were bought from a truly marvellous knitwear shop on Norfolk Island (average winter temperature 21 degrees) which has, for reasons unknown, an enormous collection of no-longer-made knitwear. We think she bought it all ages ago and just keeps it in the cellar? Anyway mine is 100% wool, made in the Shetlands by Judane, which according to the internet went bankrupt in 2008, and was bought by me, in its bag, tags still on, in 2025 for $130. Brad's burgundy number is McGeorge, which at least still exists, but I don't think they've made that cable knit for a decade ... and it was also 100% wool made in Scotland and even cheaper than mine. Anyway it's an amazing shop and if you're ever on Norfolk Island you have to go.

Appropriate clothing

As we know, all human endeavour is improved by wearing appropriate clothing. I have been struggling with gardening clothes - originally I thought I would wear athletic gear like leggings, but I need way more protection against the branches, thorns, prickles and spikes that live in my garden. Then I moved to jeans - which are a bit restrictive for digging and bending - then elastic-waisted pants which are fine except I've lost about five kilos since stopping work and I can't put anything in the pockets without sending my pants to my ankles. So ... I have put sense before fashion and bought myself some dungarees.

They are awesome. Tough, lots of pockets, no plumber's crack, super comfortable and great for stomping about in. All the bits and bobs are adjustable including several sets of waist buttons for pregnant gardeners (not going to happen to me, but I might get fatter) and just general fabulousness. 

I think I am giving hipster, permaculture, millennial vibes ... but I am not. I am giving fat toddler vibes. And I know this because of the seven photos that exist of me as a child (third child out of four, parents rarely remembered I existed) one of them is this delight. Fifty years on, haven't changed a bit.

Finished a solids top

I have no memory of sewing this top, so I think it must be from 2020, when I was doing a lot of solids and everything else was a bit of a blur. For everyone. 

It is super simple, just rectangles. Was I trying to use up leftovers? Not impossible, or maybe I just felt like something very straightforward. Solids look good in simple blocks. I called this quilt "Sensible decision making" - not because I feel that the quilt represents sensible decisions. I think I am trying to manifest sensible decision making in my life, so calling a quilt that seems like a first step.

It was blowing a gale while I tried to take these photos - the quilt was horizontal half the time. We have had massive rain, followed by a sharp cold snap. Our fire doesn't take much encouragement to stay banked overnight, and is easy to wake up in the morning. It's lovely ... but a bit of a trap if you want to go out into the weather and do some gardening, and not spend the morning sitting by the fire reading. I have come very late to Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan novels and my word they deserve all the hype. I have been transfixed.

Simple quilting too - like a meander? I did the binding at quilters, very easy to sit and stitch while chatting / listening. Or not! The group can spend fifteen minutes in silence, just sewing away with their own thoughts. It is very peaceful.

A new toy

My husband is getting a lot of 'how to manage a small acreage' advice from his brother, who has had a similar sized place for quite a few years, and number one advice was Buy a Big Chipper. And after a few dozen trailer trips to the dump of green waste we moved it up the priority list, and bought this beauty. Also a connecting thing so it can be towed about by the ride on mower.

Like all fabulous things it is made in NZ, and can allegedly do a branch up to 7 cm in diameter, but it stalls a bit at that size so we're taking it easy until we are used to it. (Luckily number two advice was Buy a Selection of Chainsaws so anything bigger we'll use as firewood). 

So after a bit of try-and-fail with set up and starting we have had a couple of excellent chipping sessions. It is so satisfying to see an enormous pile of branches and prunings reduced to a lovely manageable pile of mulch. Because our garden is so overgrown we are absolutely in a trim and chop phase, and we have lots of uses for mulch. 

I am slowly moving my way around the house, and next on the list were these rosemary bushes. I felt a bit sad about them, because they were not a bad planting, and looked very cute when we bought the house ... but rosemary won't grow on old wood and these were far too high for the verandah. So I chopped them back to stumps (thank you small electric reciprocating saw, new favourite tool) then mattocked them out. 

This is the pile of rosemary bushes.

And this is the much smaller pile of woodchips! It was a delight to chip, it flew through the chipper and smelt AMAZING. Next on the chipping list is the pile of weed trees that garden guy has cleared from the creek .... not so much fun. 

Dad, I think you avoided the black chairs because they are murder on anyone's lower back - that curve was evil. God knows why anyone would buy them to be honest ... and no we didn't put down newspaper on the weeds ... mostly because we don't get a newspaper any more! We are having to light the fire with bank statements.