Now is the time to say goodbye

 Off to the airport in a little while but thought I should share some Christmas with you.

note spekky pruning gloves from Rosa Norte

There's nothing a Bunna Babe enjoys more than a bit of wood chipping at Christmas.

Steve contemplates Christmas Dinner.

It's been an unusual year.

Apres chipping, a girl's gotta eat.

Now the sad bit.  Jill PD's favourite car in all the world left in the Council carpark because Mel doesn't work there anymore.  And nor do I.  Opened the Gatehouse for the final time this morning.

Even the garden looks a bit wistful to me - doubtless in the eye of the beholder.  It's between seasons.

I can't wait to get back and see what happens next.

I'm also starting to think of Adelaide delights...

More adventures

The lead up to Christmas has been wonderful for me.  Lots of little 'end of year celebrations'.  Last Saturday was the Summer Solstice Swim at Raspins Beach with all funds going to the Spring Bay Suicide Prevention Network.

Dot and I emerging triumphant from our swim

this way please for the Covid compliance

working up the courage

bolder and bolder

very brave

judging the fancy dress

What a sterling bunch.  Talking of which we raised $416.35 and had a great time.  I'm even thinking of joining the 9am Sunday Swim group next year.  The afternoon was devoted to sushi at Little Swanport.  Then I hit the wall and was catatonic until Monday, even missing the last Village Market of the year, though I did manage the Van Diemen's Band Christmas Carols at the Mill on Sunday afternoon.

Monday was the last day of my goody commitments.  I had to drive to Swansea to bank the money the School Association raised with its Christmas Raffle.  So I made the most of it with a peruse of the shops and a meal at Salt Shaker.  I was hoping to go to Tellers, a former bank and now a restaurant but, of course, it was closed on Mondays.  I've eaten at the Salt Shaker before on a road trip with Their Majesties and Mrs O Henry.  It was good then and it was good on Monday.  It's easy to get quality fish and chips on the East Coast but fish cooked any other way is elusive.  Above is salt & pepper squid with a salad of blueberries, broccoli and unidentified delicious stuff.  Also a glass of Kelvedon sauv blanc which was excellent.  I passed the Kelvedon vines on the way home.  That's the sort of thing I love about living here.

Someone had gone to a lot of trouble to deck Swansea for Christmas.  This one amused me, not knowing whether or not the allusion to a snowman was intentional.  In addition to the usual painted cut out decorations, there was a lot of yarn bombing.  I must say Swansea radiated far more Christmas spirit than Triabunna, where I can't think of any public Christmas displays.  Sadly our Council has fallen into disarray.

I dropped into Salt Works on the way home just because it is always so calm and beautiful.  I took lots of photos of landing pelicans and congregations of shorebirds but they (the photos) were really not up to scratch.

Monday evening it was off to the church grounds to collect Wallaby Grass seed  for the Pulchella Community Nursery LandCare Group.

Could anything be more idyllic?

Advent(ures)

My friend, Rob, told me about a beautiful patch of grassland behind the Anglican Church.  It is the best stand of kangaroo grass (may be wallaby grass) that we know of and it is dotted with many native wildflowers and orchids.  The Friends of Triabunna Reserves took a stroll there last Wednesday evening.

Rob found this beautiful nest on the ground.  It is like a fairy bower.

Some of the grass and tiny wildflowers

Today I went to the church for its advertised Story of Christmas and carol singing.  It was beautifully decked out and we waited anxiously for the parishioners to amble in.  The church only holds services periodically so the fear was that the flock had forgotten.  Naturally it brought The Vicar of Dibley to mind, particularly because the preacher is a woman.  In fact the whole show was run by women, and it was the first time I've been to a Christmas service where the running around, present hunting, shopping, cooking and preparation for Christmas was mentioned.

Last Thursday, His Majesty took Her Majesty, Mrs O Henry and I for a roadtrip to Oatlands via a circuitous route which had us driving around Lake Dulverton.  This proved very beautiful and I especially liked this paddling cow, very reminiscent of buffalo cooling down after a hard day's work in Vietnam.

the cow in situ

I am struggling to complete all the library books I put holds on.  The Song of the Crocodile took me right back to Wentworth and the lives of some of the Aboriginal women I worked with.  A different world.

This one is a bold attempt to tell Australian history from a different perspective.

And this is where I may go when my Gatehouse Officer job finishes on Boxing Day.  Though first I will fly to Adelaide for a cuppla weeks with Mum.

a lull with 15 minutes of fame

Monday before last took me on a short trip up the road to Pontypool with Her Majesty and Mrs O Henry.  Our destination was the newest cafe on the block.  Justine was a long serving Teacher's Aide at Triabunna School.  She retired recently and has set up shop with her daughter.  It is very nicely done but oh how I would love a change from coffee and cake or fish and chips.

Something like this.  Prawn Thai salad.  Delicious, full of prawns and only $17 at the fish punt in Bellerive.  We have moved on now to last Thursday.  I can't remember much of the intervening days apart from a meeting at Spring Bay Mill, 2 school lunch preps, and the wake for the lovely Kath, aged 93 and former tai chi participant with us.  She was one of the most perfect people I have ever met.

I was in Bellerive for a 7pm celebration of Bellerive Historical Society's 30 years.

Note The Floosie's former abode, Glenfield, on the top of the rise.

Rachel and Fred provided great fun music with a few historical barbs

Covid restrictions meant that supper was meagre.  The bar was open but I was too scared to have a drink because I was there to launch a book, Magical Memories, by the Society's Patron and prolific book producer.  That is his bike propped against the stage - a relic from his days as Bellerive's Telegram Boy.

As it turned out, I was also there to receive an award, timber on sandstone which I thought was a nice touch.  Above you can see more of the night's stash: a packet of tiny scotch finger biscuits from supper, and a huge jar of ginger from a recently opened tiny Indian / Sri Lankan supermarket in Bellerive.  It was a long drive home in the dark, crawling along to avoid any animals.  Fortunately the only wildlife I saw was a rabbit hurtling across the road ahead of me, with plenty of time to spare.

too old, too fat, too slow

It's been an interesting week...  I have been scrabbling around for a cuppla weeks trying to organise strata insurance for the block of units, one of which I own.  The insurance company that we have been with forever (through its incarnations) has got out of strata insurance.  It notified us of this before the policy expired but a bit more time would have been welcome.  Fortunately all the owners agreed on a policy today, so hopefully that's that - apart from the need for everyone to pay up.  The policy expires this Sunday.  Fingers crossed.

There has also been drama at the council with a restructure, and I learned yesterday that I would no longer be Gatehouse Officer after January 2021.  It's been great fun (but it's just one of those things).  I wonder what's next.

Thank goodness for gardens, though, to be honest, my garden's current abundance is proving a bit stressful too - finding freezer space for broad beans and peas.  The garlic is drying in the laundry, so it's lucky that wasn't demolished for the now aborted 'extensions'.

Here are the pretty bits.

Gold Bunny

poppies coming to a close

Sarah's daisy and self sown snapdragon, ixias in the background

this border has done well this year but it will be gone next year

curry plant about to bloom and self-sown nigella

self-sown iris and nigella - happy colour happenstance

good old Daphne finally in flower

Luisa Augustine

more self-sown nigella, in the sage plant this time

poppies, cornflowers and artichokes

pig and teapot

osso bucco with gnocchi and home grown peas and asparagus

I feel better now.

back on dry land

I mentioned a pied oyster catcher in the last blog post.  They are on my mind.  One day last week there was a shrill commotion going on outside and I was intrigued to see a pair of oyster catchers in our back garden and then on our front wall.  This is most unusual behaviour.  Some campers next door explained that the two chicks were on their side of the fence and the parents were trying to get them to my side of the fence.  I have learned that it is best not to interfere in such matters and let them be.

Later in the week I saw the re-united family running down the road but one chick was limping badly and trying desperately to keep up.  On Sunday Mel phoned to say that the injured chick had apparently been abandoned and could I help her keep it off the road.  Which we did, while Mel phoned Eric the shorebird expert to see what we should do.  He said to take it to Bonorong Wildlife Centre.  First we had to capture the terrified little chap.  Eventually we got it and off it went to Bonorong for a consult.

The next day the news was not good:  the foot was infected and the bird was euthanised.  Then on Monday, Mel phoned to say that the other chick had been run over outside the school and would I help bury it.  So off we went again.  Neither of us is good at dealing with dead animals but we did our best.  Pied oyster catchers mate for life and it is earlyish in the season so we are hoping that perhaps they will lay more eggs.  It is all very fraught!!

This is a better story.  I escaped to France for a while.  The book relates escapades from the 1970s, doing what I had hoped to be doing back then - though not with twins in tow.

Thursday I caught the bus into town again.  I do enjoy the ride - $10.40c each way - and so relaxing.  I looked around the shops this time and, curiously, had to take a photo of this underwear.  It so reminded me of the '70s summer of Maglia terry towelling bikinis - mine yellow, Lady Jayne's olive green and Pearl's sky blue.  There was a rack of blue ones but I thought I had drawn enough attention to myself by then.

Yesterday was Remembrance Day and I contemplated the poppies in my garden.

Her Majesty and I went to the service at our local RSL.  Here you can see some Triabunna school kids singing.  These are the little darlings we prepare lunch for each Monday.

Talking of lunch, it was also Mrs O Henry's birthday so after the service we went to the East Coaster for lunch.  I had the mussels - the dish Mum and I have shared in St Davids and Spain.  Good memories.

Jill PD and I took some garden poppies to the (horribly named) Wall of War on the way to close the Gatehouse.

Then I thought better of it and placed them on the adjacent sculpture.