Just desserts

As Jill PD and I left to do our job last night, a tough 4WD lunged into the driveway and scared the daylights out of both of us.  The driver was a lady who lives near us and who I'd chatted to at the Suicide Prevention Network stall.  She reached into the back of the car as I held my breath, and, 

with great panache, produced this Victoria Sponge.  I nearly fainted.  I stammered my gratitude and raced inside to show Steve.

After closing the Gatehouse I came home to a nice cup of tea and a slice of cake.

Now, I like a good sponge cake but Steve loves them.  Thus when I got  up this morning I was greeted with this.  Steve and Jill PD had a midnight feast while watching the last night of Le Tour.

Big day at The Village

Sunday saw the first market at the Village for absolutely yonks.  I was there with the Spring Bay Suicide Prevention Network providing masses of written mental health info, the inevitable key rings, stress balls and magnets but also camellias from a friend's garden, sunflower seeds from the Mill and friendship bracelets made by the amazing Val.  We had a very good time and totally forgot to take any photos.

After the market came the Opening of Steve's latest exhibition.

Tom did the Opening honours,

whipping the crowd into a frenzy of anticipation,

and then the artist took centre stage.

He literally worked the room,

giving the provenance of each work.

An early work of fire-ravaged trees at Paradise got particular mention

as did Steve's invention for holding new and used pastels.

The main works were the 12 paintings done for the 2021 calendar.

All very well received.

Then the audience was free to explore

naturally with a drink in hand.

All in all it was a lovely event and a great tribute to Steve and The Village.

return to good works

On Thursday and Friday I thought I looked well enough, and felt fit enough, to undertake what I had promised to do this week:  Triabunna Plants Trees - a school project with assistance from council and Friends of Triabunna Reserves.

This morning Jill PD and I strolled past for some quality monitoring.  You can see the new planting area ahead on the left side of the track.

We're using mesh tree guards, which can be re-used and don't break down into plastic flakes (we hope).

Here you can see previous years' plantings.  Usually this is our National Tree Day event.

Here you can see the adjacent remnant native vegetation that we are trying to emulate

and a small dog waiting patiently in front of the RSL's container storage shed.

a photo taken by a goddess-invoked slip of the finger

This beautiful patch of remnant vegetation used to be the BMX track back in the day.  It has recently been re-discovered by kids on mountain bikes, which is wonderful at one level but I'm getting a bit concerned at the widening tracks.

And then to The Gatehouse to do our job.  The chain was running with condensation / dew and looked and sounded very lovely - not quite captured in the photo.

between worlds

 Mel's Dad, Robert, told me about the orchids that are springing up

so Jill PD and I went in search of them.  I can't really capture the number of them in the field behind the church - the Glebe perhaps.  It is a beautiful piece of earth that may not have been mowed for years and is full of native grasses.

I shall venture out and take more photos to try to capture the magic of this place.  In the meantime, I have a cold, possibly a cold/hayfever combination, so I'm staying home so as not to scare the daylights out of everyone.

But I have beautiful companions in my isolation.  Wildwood is one of Robert's book.  It is everything I love, and would love to write.  Rob says it gets even better in the later chapters but I am blissfully happy in the early chapters set in England and full of places I know.  It also connects me with my Dad who, after an adolescence down the mines, escaped to London and became a Timber Technologist through the wonders of Night School.  Now there are so many things I'd like to chat about with him.

I am reading the two books in tandem.  They are perfectly complementary.  I have read The Mists of Avalon at least once before but every now and then I like to retreat to the time of druids and The Lady.

Some people

were very rude about Bling & Bubbly zumba 

but,as you can see, we enjoyed ourselves.  Despite it being 10.30am.  The bling was very tasteful being largely crystal, marquisite or pearls.  Jen, on the left above with a unicorn headband, being a possible exception.  However, she maintains our high regard because she is building a wonderful weatherboard house with French doors on the other side of the marina.

I'm not finding much time for reading but am struggling womanfully (like a woman with a niece studying astrophysics or some such) with this book about an astronaut who gets left behind on Mars.  It's full of what I consider to be technical detail because the author has to demonstrate how much he knows about the space program despite not being part of it.  Plus it would be hard to fill a book about someone living on Mars without some technical explanations.

Lady Jayne rewarded my persistence with a profound tea-towel, presumably found during an archaeological dig of times before dishwashers roamed the earth.

It definitely coincides with my daily needs.

Others have also been solicitous of my needs.  Keri has adopted the Reduce, Re-use, Recycle philosophy and last week brought around 7 puffer jackets for me to choose from.  This week she produced more coats and 7 shirts.  I have greedily taken 3 shirts because I realised I can wear them over my Wentworth summer gear which has largely been unaired for quite a while.  Ignore the orange jumper - I actually bought that.

Last Saturday brought an Open Day at the Spring Bay Mill.  I was particularly lucky because I went on the tour led by the owners, and I was accompanied by Phil who used to work at the mill.  It was lovely to see and hear the plans for the future while Phil was explaining how the mill operated in the past.

The Glamping area is well under development.

Cooking facilities for Glampers.

Walking the boundaries

back to the sea.  The land beyond the fence is actually Crown Land but is managed by the Mill.

Driving home, I felt elated.  What a wonderful adventure Triabunna is proving to be. 

Later in the weekend I recalled how much I had enjoyed the 4 night SBS special 'Hungry Ghosts'.  It was so good to see Vietnamese culture on tv and hear the language again.  That was another adventure.

Wednesday was Mum's 94th birthday and she sounded chirpy.

Thursday was Road Trip Day and we jaunted off to Bicheno because we'd heard of a patisserie there.  Covid 19 restrictions meant there wasn't room for us inside so we took our coffee and pastries out to the community garden, which was all rather perfect.  

Bicheno proved to have a lot on offer besides beautiful granite rocks and sea views.  When I'm with Steve I don't get to shop crawl.  Great fun.  Although the only thing I bought for myself is a bottle of worm juice.

Another wet weekend

It's been raining just about all week and rained heavily last night so Jill PD and I decided not to free-range in our usual weekend space and checked out the school garden instead.  It's undergone some changes this year.

They've gone crazy for bee  / insect houses

and become a bit Gothic.

While Steve and Jill PD attended to The Village, I decided to have a go at making ricotta.  This is something I've long wanted to do because it is not available locally, and I remember how delicious it was when Ginny and I made it at her place just outside Deniliquin using the whey from our camembert making.  Best camembert and ricotta I've ever eaten.  Today I had to content myself with ricotta only, using the excess of milk from the miracle of Steve and I both remembering to buy it.

It's very easy.  I used this recipe .

Just-made ricotta, just-cooked silverbeet from the garden and lots of nutmeg =  delicious lunch.

Trying to get a jump on Spring by starting seeds in the kitchen.

It's like Harvest Festival around here.  Steve's banana muffins.  Mel and Rob's pumpkin.  My rhubarb and ginger chutney - bit heavy handed with the ginger.

looking out my back door

Glimpsed these wafty clouds as I was heading out for zumba this morning.  Sometimes I forget how lovely the surrounding hills are.  Red umbrella struggles on, yearning for a summer workout.