Digging Tribes

Building has begun at The Barracks.  We watched the shed go up and convinced ourselves that it was the house.  Wrong.  It looks quite raw from the laneway but sits nicely in the landscape when viewed from our house.

The house is to go in the space between the Barracks and the shed - or so my spies tell me.

I have been doing a little construction work myself.  I wanted to reduce the pile of rocks in the southwest corner and use some of them around the fig, pomegranate and lemon tree to create a bit of a heat bank.  While moving the rocks, I became aware of the possibility of sandstone paving under them.  Using my best archeological skills, acquired watching the dig at the Barracks over the last 3 years, I have unearthed this much so far.

This is quite ironic given I had planned such an area for the northwest corner, currently under development.  We'll see.

You may recall that I started to read this excellent book

but put it on hold when it made a mention of this book

so I had to rush out and get it from the library.  It's a lovely read, especially if you are fascinated by Edna Walling (as I am).  It is also a good story of ageing, and the wisdom of accepting.  Of course I got all fired up and ordered a couple of Edna's books.

This mysterious one is from the library stack and their last copy.  I can't believe it is available for public borrowing.  It's a first edition 'Cottage and Garden in Australia'.

I also got this one.  Lovely references to Kahil Gibran's 'The Prophet' and 'The Wind in the Willows'.

And there's my little sandstone floor!

I've got a few reading projects on the go.  Thank goodness for the cold weather.  Ideal for reading and shifting stones.