winter 2010
26.June.2010
It’s Winter 2010! Things are fine here. Been a little bit cool weather-wise, but not too bad once the sun's out. Summer 2010 passed without an update, so there’s much to catch up on - so I’ll start with the Summer things and continue on from there.
Hmmm??? Let me think back... Summer came and went as usual. The highlight was Graham finished his Residential Design and Drafting Certification earning “2009 Best Student Designer of the Year”. That was so cool! His Mum, Nell, came over for the Christmas holiday, but because of a pelvic bone fracture from a fall before she arrived, after a few weeks in Tassie recovering the decision was made for her to move here permanently from South Australia. Our neighbours, Farmer Tony and Naomi got married! - The 2010 social event for Swamp Road. And we added a bedroom to the cottage, with plans to complete a front deck (work still in progress). My greenhouse planting season was very successful with a bounty of strawberries, tomatoes, purple beans, lettuces, herbs, spices and even a baby watermelon. I even managed to propagate a Mulberry Tree from our dear neighbour Rhonda’s tree. Our Scottish Highland cows, Sarah and Belle, joined our family farm on the hill. Then Summer ended...
With Autumn, the weather was mild - actually fairy warm with very few rainy days. Things just seemed to continue on as they do. The only real excitement - at the very top of the block in May, another border neighbour was burning off... Fall/Autumn's the burn season in the valley and his fire got out of control! The Fire brigade came later that night and set fire to 4 adjoining blocks of land across the ridge to create a back-burn at the base of the ridge so the main fire wouldn't come down above us all. It was a little scary at first, but all was OK. Now we have a good fire-break above the old dam and it cleared most of the burning fuel for the future. We were lucky all around with the weather and wind. Graham and I both had nice birthdays! We went to Freycinet Peninsula (3 hrs north) for my birthday for a mini 4-day vacation, then in May spent Graham’s birthday at home - his sister Helen flew over to spend a week visiting us and her Mum. His Mum by then had settled in her new room at Eldercare with her Huon River view.
This Winter, we had our road on the property re-graded with a clay/gravel road-base and are now in the process of getting it bitumen-sealed all the way to the house. We also put top dressing soil on the main building site for landscaping in the future. With heavy-rain weather, maintaining the dirt road is bit of a challenge, but it's nice and smooth again now. The first part of our road is a steep curve, and being a dirt road makes it hard for cars and trucks to drive up (unless they’re 4x4s) so sealing will really help! Seems not very “green” to seal the road, but the longer-term solution as opposed to on-going maintenance was appealing.
Our neighbours (Tony, Rachel and their two boys Max and Nat) next door want to subdivide their acreage and sell their house, and then build a new house - maybe designed by Graham! - higher up on their side of their property. They want to use the first half of our road to get higher up on their block of land diverting off to join access back on their land. Another reason to seal the road. We’re looking forward to the groundbreaking day!
The weekend's projects include new electric fencing for the cows, finishing the deck and winter greenhouse chores. First, the electric fence. The neighbour on the other side of us wants to move his Dexter bull to that side, but we don't want the girls to get pregnant with another breed, though Sarah does seems keen to meet a boyfriend. Dexters are small milking cows, and our Highland cows are known for their meat quality. We want to have them mated by the breeder’s bull soon, if a boy calf then 18 months later he goes to the butcher! If a girl calf then we keep or sell her - that's the plan. The neighbour swears Highland /Dexter crosses are good, but we’re not yet convinced. It’s nice to have our cows on the upper half of the property next the shed, because they look into the window at us a lot. They love being next to the dam and looking down the hill, plus they like the grove of trees to hide in from the weather. When we had the recent road work done, we dug a new dam on the lower half of the east paddock. Now we only need good rains to fill up the new little dam. Lately, it's been foggy in the valley in the morning and cool, with light frost. Next, working on the little deck as we can - maybe it will be done by summertime (Great place to sit and sip a lemonade!). Then, planting and preparing the greenhouse and the garden beds for Spring. That’s why time seems so short on the weekends, we’re always trying to get so many things done!
Glad the Winter equinox has passed, bring on longer days! Here's some photos of the past months.
Hmmm??? Let me think back... Summer came and went as usual. The highlight was Graham finished his Residential Design and Drafting Certification earning “2009 Best Student Designer of the Year”. That was so cool! His Mum, Nell, came over for the Christmas holiday, but because of a pelvic bone fracture from a fall before she arrived, after a few weeks in Tassie recovering the decision was made for her to move here permanently from South Australia. Our neighbours, Farmer Tony and Naomi got married! - The 2010 social event for Swamp Road. And we added a bedroom to the cottage, with plans to complete a front deck (work still in progress). My greenhouse planting season was very successful with a bounty of strawberries, tomatoes, purple beans, lettuces, herbs, spices and even a baby watermelon. I even managed to propagate a Mulberry Tree from our dear neighbour Rhonda’s tree. Our Scottish Highland cows, Sarah and Belle, joined our family farm on the hill. Then Summer ended...
With Autumn, the weather was mild - actually fairy warm with very few rainy days. Things just seemed to continue on as they do. The only real excitement - at the very top of the block in May, another border neighbour was burning off... Fall/Autumn's the burn season in the valley and his fire got out of control! The Fire brigade came later that night and set fire to 4 adjoining blocks of land across the ridge to create a back-burn at the base of the ridge so the main fire wouldn't come down above us all. It was a little scary at first, but all was OK. Now we have a good fire-break above the old dam and it cleared most of the burning fuel for the future. We were lucky all around with the weather and wind. Graham and I both had nice birthdays! We went to Freycinet Peninsula (3 hrs north) for my birthday for a mini 4-day vacation, then in May spent Graham’s birthday at home - his sister Helen flew over to spend a week visiting us and her Mum. His Mum by then had settled in her new room at Eldercare with her Huon River view.
This Winter, we had our road on the property re-graded with a clay/gravel road-base and are now in the process of getting it bitumen-sealed all the way to the house. We also put top dressing soil on the main building site for landscaping in the future. With heavy-rain weather, maintaining the dirt road is bit of a challenge, but it's nice and smooth again now. The first part of our road is a steep curve, and being a dirt road makes it hard for cars and trucks to drive up (unless they’re 4x4s) so sealing will really help! Seems not very “green” to seal the road, but the longer-term solution as opposed to on-going maintenance was appealing.
Our neighbours (Tony, Rachel and their two boys Max and Nat) next door want to subdivide their acreage and sell their house, and then build a new house - maybe designed by Graham! - higher up on their side of their property. They want to use the first half of our road to get higher up on their block of land diverting off to join access back on their land. Another reason to seal the road. We’re looking forward to the groundbreaking day!
The weekend's projects include new electric fencing for the cows, finishing the deck and winter greenhouse chores. First, the electric fence. The neighbour on the other side of us wants to move his Dexter bull to that side, but we don't want the girls to get pregnant with another breed, though Sarah does seems keen to meet a boyfriend. Dexters are small milking cows, and our Highland cows are known for their meat quality. We want to have them mated by the breeder’s bull soon, if a boy calf then 18 months later he goes to the butcher! If a girl calf then we keep or sell her - that's the plan. The neighbour swears Highland /Dexter crosses are good, but we’re not yet convinced. It’s nice to have our cows on the upper half of the property next the shed, because they look into the window at us a lot. They love being next to the dam and looking down the hill, plus they like the grove of trees to hide in from the weather. When we had the recent road work done, we dug a new dam on the lower half of the east paddock. Now we only need good rains to fill up the new little dam. Lately, it's been foggy in the valley in the morning and cool, with light frost. Next, working on the little deck as we can - maybe it will be done by summertime (Great place to sit and sip a lemonade!). Then, planting and preparing the greenhouse and the garden beds for Spring. That’s why time seems so short on the weekends, we’re always trying to get so many things done!
Glad the Winter equinox has passed, bring on longer days! Here's some photos of the past months.