Maggie Cool

Back in June I booked a hotel room in St Marys so that I could be at their Winter Solstice Festival.  Sadly I was ill and had to postpone my stay.  So I rebooked for Tuesday and set off along the Midland Highway.  To be honest, the Midland Highway was sort of the destination.  I had driven it many times from Campbell Town to Devonport to catch the ferry but hadn't driven Hobart to Campbell Town for years, and had always wanted to take the turnoff to St Mary's and the East Coast.

It was all a delight.  Mangalore had even more heritage houses than I remembered.  Kempton feels like a village in its own right.

You can always tell you're getting close to Oatlands by the steel sculptures on the hills.

It's also a town of hedges and topiary.

I was rather taken with this garden design centre.

And gorgeous whimsy.

Next stop Campbell Town for lunch.

delicious Cornish pasty and French vanilla slice

Didn't dally because I was 'doing' Campbell Town on the way back.  And so to the Esk Highway.  This is a really beautiful drive.  Dabs of wattle yellow, then ribbons of what I'm pretty sure are Blackwoods in flower along the roadside, river and railway track.

proof  that Wheatbelt Victoria is not the only place with painted silos

Although this is actually a water tower...

The town of Avoca looked architecturally interesting but Fingal seemed post-apocalyptic.  The countryside continued brilliant green and increasingly dotted with black cattle.

small church on approach to St Marys

lovely leadlight in St Marys Hotel

cute little room

I arrived at about 3pm in pouring rain and wondered what to do with myself.  I had seen a sign to Cornwell and a Miners' Memorial Wall so drove back to take a look.

The Wall is not a thing of beauty but the lists of miners' names and the history are well done.  I thought about my Dad going underground for coal in the Rhondda in Wales from the age of 14 to 19 years.  And also the sad lives of the pit ponies there.  The Tasmanian Cornwell ponies seem to have had a much better life.

Adjacent to the Miners' Memorial is a memorial park and garden dedicated to local soldiers in the First World War.  I followed the perimeter path, each plant in memory of a soldier.  About halfway around is this poem (I think, with a spelling mistake) which tells of a real love for this place.  Cornwall did remind me of the Rhondda - cottages clinging to the hillside - and you can see that it is raining!

I had a good meal at the pub and was delighted to find magazines in the guests' common room so spent a heavenly evening.  I got up much earlier than planned the next morning and took a stroll along St Marys rivulet on the Wombat Walk.  Then I drove the Elephant Pass Road to Chain of Lagoons on the East Coast.  I was concerned that, driving East in the early morning, the sun would be in my eyes but the tall trees made dappled light and red-breasted wrens and fairy wrens danced before me.  From Chain of Lagoons it was North on the Tasman Highway to the St Marys turnoff just before Falmouth.  Pranksters have had fun with the road signs:  Long Vehicles Sound Horny;  You are now entering St Marys ass.  Oh dear.

Back in St Marys before 10am, I waited for the shops to open. I chose to breakfast at The Purple Possum.  This is a magnificent shop, stocking the raw foods that I love, Turkish Delight and an eclectic mix of clothes, homewares and souvenirs.  I bought a veggie scrubbing brush and a teatowel as well as edibles.  The owner has run the shop for 28 years and does all the buying herself, guided by what she loves.  Bellerive Village would be perfection with such a shop.

Homeward bound, yesterday's sheep seemed to have lambed overnight and the paddocks played host to little gangs of gangly, scheming lambs.  Stopped in a cold and windy Campbell Town for a much anticipated 'good look around'.  But it was very disappointing.  Lake Leather had beautiful shoes and bags as always, but there were scant other interesting shops, with many galleries closed permanently.  Oatlands definitely has the edge at the moment.

view from the bridge - Red Bridge at Campbell Town

Home to Bellerive, then take Sarah home to South Hobart where she and Jilly Pup said lingering goodbyes.  Sarah and Jill have a deep bond, which is very handy if I need a dog sitter!  I was very pleased with my road trip and realised that I am very much a small country town woman - St Marys teemed with grey haired women wearing boots and baggy jeans just like me.  But how I love being back in Bellerive.

Why Maggie Cool?

I think I look pretty cool in my driving glasses.

[However I felt pretty stupid when I started Wordle and Connections after taking the photo and realised, after a while, that I hadn't gone blind overnight.  I was still wearing the distance driving glasses not my reading glasses...]

time on my hands

Got up bright and early, bought croissants and got ready to go to Reece Plumbing under plumber's orders to get a pedestal mixer and bottle trap.  Fortunately checked online and discovered the place doesn't open on Sundays.  So a brief update.

The first part of the bathroom plan is to replace this

with this.

Georgia made the basin and the guy who did my front fence made the stand.  I shall report when it's mission accomplished.

My next blog post was going to be to recommend these two books, so here they are.

This is clearly written and contains top information on the neurological structure and function of the brain, and a plan to get / keep your brain in tip top form.

I'm a great believer in the wisdom of indigenous culture and a great wisher that Western 'civilisation' would embrace it, so this is the book for me.  Both are library books.

Around the house:

yesterday I awoke to a rainbow in the bedroom window

looking at my back door

blossoming house warming present from the Floosie

Over and out.  Listening to the Floosie on Fleurieu FM

starlight, star bright

I've been getting the guilts about not blogging.  I don't seem to have any coherent stories to tell.  Getting the washing in, I looked for the first star as I do every night, and there it was in conversation with the moon.  A sign!  So I'm having a go.
 

I often blog during the Floosie's Fleurieu FM radio show but today I procrastinated and practised calligraphy while listening.  Tomorrow is the final class for this term.  As you can see, I've still got a long way to go but I think I  may have come as far as I want to go.  There are just so many other things to do.

There had been a discussion at calligraphy about making ochre ink and that you can find ochre on Penna Beach.  So Jilly and I investigated.  Maybe someone was trying out the ochre shades on this log?  Having no idea what ochre looks like on a beach we aborted the search and otherwise amused ourselves.

I am easily amused

Jill is more circumspect

Good interpretation signs:

though, sorry, the print is not coming through very clearly!  You'll just have to come and see for yourself.

The adjacent dog park was a bit of an education.  The Penna Landcare group was out and about planting more trees.

They are responsible for what I had at first thought was a sculpture

but later realised is a very clever way of recycling the nutrients from a dead tree.  I have never seen this done before, and get very annoyed when people think the sole use of a dead tree is firewood for humans.

From Bellerive Beach we had the excitement of this huge ship

being anchored for days.

It was here to pick up InCat's electric ferry which is bound for South America.  Once  loaded, it had to wait a few more days for wave and weather conditions to be safe for the long haul.

Keeping it nautical,

my friend, Pat, completed this jigsaw.  I had bought it many years ago while in an independent bookshop in Tanunda.  I have never liked doing jigsaws but rather fancied the bookshop owner and loved the waves and message.  Plus it's important to support the indies.

and then Pat broke it all up and put it in its jaunty bag

Since we are now back home, let me show you my playroom:

I had been calling it my studio, but one day the memory of being a child and going nextdoor to play with Momery Twigg (now Rosa Norte) came to me.  Mrs Trigg always invited us to play in The Playroom which was actually a conservatory, a lovely light filled space.  Mrs Trigg was a wonderful dressmaker.  She gave us old Vogue, McCalls, etc pattern books to cut up for paper dolls, and we would loll on the floor and live sophisticated lives.

The only other things I have to report are my cooking,

I made the pastry...

sunny days - I made the pumpkin soup -

and signs of Spring.

staying a little bit local

I have started giving granddaughter, Sarah, driving lessons.  Early days yet, so we are staying very local.

After Lesson One we celebrated at Cugini, my local Italian restaurant.  We did indulge but these were not for us.  We were both fascinated with this line of drinks - rum and coke, or something more exotic?  There were 7 lined up on the bar.

I saw this ad somewhere when I first moved back to Bellerive but thought it was not my thing.

granny put the kettle on...

I have tried a few local exercise classes and have discovered Cult fitness is my thing, at least for now.  Tats and heavy duty machines, and conveniently situated in Howrah.  If Jilly would stay happily home alone, I could ride my bicycle here and become Amazonian.

We compromise.  I drive there, Jill stays in the car while I pump iron, then we have a little explore.  The views from Howrah are stunning.

I have also returned to calligraphy classes after a 40 year hiatus.

Again, not saying I'll stick with it long term but the classes are enjoyable and the teacher provides inspiration, like this beautiful book.  One problem I have encountered is that everything for old people is on Monday and Wednesday 12 - 1pm, and there's so many possibilities.

I have used the library a lot for borrowing books and calligraphy lessons and, recently for a film too.

There were 2 of us in the audience.  I still feel angry and ashamed at the loss of The Voice Referendum.  Aboriginal culture, like many indigenous cultures, has so much to teach us.

Filmed in 2017 in Mparntwe (Alice Springs), Sandy Bore Homeland, and Borroloola Community, Northern Territory, a recurring theme in the documentary is the traditional healing techniques.  This ties in nicely with a book Steve sent me for Christmas.  Let's hope this knowledge lasts and continues to be shared.

Jill PD and I have also checked out the Clarence Art Prize Exhibition in the Rosny Barn and School House.

When not seeking culture, we stay home and make very chocolatey crackolates  which Jill PD is not allowed to eat.

inspiration from The Gentle Art of Domesticity

just showing off.  Usually I eat them straight from the mixing bowl.

Now we're off to Pat's place for pizza 🍕🍕🍕🍕🍕🍕🍕🍕🍕🍕🍕

Prepping

As a number of you know, visitors to my place have had it a bit tough so far.  There have been the carless times and the cold, wet and windy times.  Sometimes both.  Sandrine/Sashi Babe/Alex will arrive in September and I want her to be comfortable and fabulously entertained.

so I bought some flannelette sheets for those who feel the cold more than I do.

And I have made a pledge to do some exploring.

Sorell seems to offer a number of possibilities these days.  This is Iron Creek Bay Estate .

There is a restaurant and cherry farm so I figure it will be beautiful in Spring.  It was pretty quiet the day Jill PD and I were there, just a tractor cutting the grass between the rows of cherry trees.  Jill found some grass very much to her liking and I indulged in an orange grove reverie.

It's not all about Jill but it mostly is.  This is the new dog park in Cambridge.  It has only just opened and shows great promise.

Jill chatted to a few dogs and left some messages but was much more interested in the area along Barilla Creek outside the dog park.

For me it brought back memories of the Torrens River when we were kids, before it became the Linear Park.  There were fallen trees, swing ropes, a ford where we could catch yabbies.  Hard to imagine now.

I'm getting the hang of this exploring thing now so, having read about the Richmond Park Track in a local magazine, I decided to give it a go.  I'd been to visit someone in Richmond to the furtherance of Bellerive Heritage Volume 5 so was in a history frame of mind.

I'm sure I read somewhere that Richmond Park was established in 1810 but that seems extraordinarily early.

This is a well kept and respectful public walk - thank you Clarence Council.

As you can see on the gate, Richmond Park is private property.  Jill checked out some of the boundaries.  A lot of sheep checked us out.

An adventure closer to home.

A new park is being developed beside the Rosny Barn complex.  This area was formerly the Rosny Golf Course and the fairways are pretty apparent as you stroll around looking for the pink ball.  Jill gets distracted...

looking towards the Rosny Barn

the well kept Rosny Barn cottage

couldn't resist these parrots

That will do for now.  Pondering what's next.  I've just learned that a neighbour is a world champion power lifter but I don't think that's the next adventure.

Jilly wants  you to see her in her cosy red coat from Aunty Pat.

🐾🐾