Slightly Soggy

What happens when you buy a house on a flood plain - not us though!

The Boorowa river overflow

The local Caravan Park had to be evacuated

This house flooded on Friday the 3rd December & also on Thursday the 9th

Nice day for a picnic?



Same location but after the flood

Water in the Waterworks

Aged Units under attack

Brrrr....bit chilly here

Apologies for no pictures however it was minus 4.2 degrees overnight & I wasn't going to turn myself into an icicle for anyone!

Hope its warmer where you live.

Brrrr

It may be Winter but we are still growing strong.

In the greenhouse...

A thriving hydroponic unit, now that we have replaced the vermiculite with clay balls.

The seedlings are quite happy with their second set of leaves just starting to come through.

In the garden, the broccoli just keeps on growing, even after cutting the main floret & secondary shoots.

I'd better pick these for tea!

Pumpkins, Pumpkins Everywhere!

Last weekend I got stuck into the pumpkin patch & harvested the following...

And then these...

Would you believe that there are still more growing on the vines?

This is my first attempt at pumpkins & I hope to do it all again next year.

I've made a few batches of soup, given away a few & for the rest, I'll store them on their sides so no moisture can collect around the stalks, once they have sat in the sun for a week.

Dad said to coat the stems with parrafin wax but have had no luck in finding any.

Anyway, it will be interesting to see how long they keep.

RIP Robert Edgar Catte Esquire

Terrible photo but pure Bob.

"Leave me alone until I finish my nap, then I might allow you to pat me!"

He couldn't catch a mouse if it laid down in front of him.

He was only interested in food, sleep, tomcatting, food, sleep & the occasional cuddle.

He had a thing for plastic bags.

He thought he was a lover & a fighter but was neither.

He was supposed to be Jon's cat but claimed me as his human.

Will be deeply missed.

Corn Galore

I've started to harvest some of my corn.

Below is patch number 1 of 3 situated in various parts of my garden.

Last night I picked 11 cobs with a total weight of 3.458kg.

I kept 2 still in their husks to either BBQ or Steam whole.

The remainder were cut into pieces, blanched & sealed in lots of 3 or 4 with the Vaccum sealer ready to be frozen.

Prolific Pumpkins

To this cute baby butternut...

Add a mild summer, quite good rain & a large dose of neglect

Result - this feral pumpkin patch!

In the jungle I have 2 Jap pumpkin, 2 Butternut pumpkin & 2 Zuchinni.

Jap or Kent are nutty-flavoured pumpkin with yellowish/orange flesh that is soft and drier than most.

Butternut pumpkin are buff-coloured, pearshaped with dense, dry, sweet-tasting flesh, making it the most versatile type for cooking.

My first Butternut ever, weighing in at 1.7kg




First cob of corn for 2010.

A Shade Sail Saga...

Above is the sail I purchased on ebay for $20.
Postage was about $80 so all up $100 for a 7m x 8m sail.

So far so good...

The posts were from a steel supplier

And I had help digging and cementing the holes from Les and Don...

The sail went up in 3 corners but we needed larger turnbuckles, so down it came.

Fast forward a few days to a massive windstorm which caught the sail & slammed it down on the tomato posts, creating quite a few holes in it.

Patched the sail, put it back up, only to have another gigantic windstorm turn up.

It was so rough that the posts started moving & the concrete cracked.

Down came the sail.

Many weeks later Les pulled out the posts, busted the old concrete away, then we re-dug the holes & put 4 bags of concrete in each.

We also braced the other 2 posts which couldn't come out since the had been used in the colourbond fence.

Last night the sail went up for the 3rd & final time.

This was taken at 1.15pm which is the start of the hottest part of our day.

The garden still receives all the morning sun & most of the afternoon, just not at midday & until about 3pm.

It should also provide a bit of protection from frost.

Phew!

Next project will be more fencing.