Winter Days

Today is Monday 23rd June and winter seems to have arrived at long last with wild winds and lashing rains.The weather has been so mild  so far and everything in the garden seems to think it is spring. I saw the crows tearing the soft bark off the paperbark trees and flying away with beakfulls of the stuff. Then I noticed a magpie collecting the dry mulch of grasses and stems from the front garden, so they too are building nests.....and the thrush is singing its beautiful song in the morning....

Our last Willunga Artisan Market was on a cold day also and our numbers were down. So the young  coordinator suggested a different way of setting up our stalls.

It made no difference to our sales sadly, but the economic climate ( don't you just love that phrase....) is against people seeing value in specially handcrafted pieces.

Speaking of handcrafted pieces, the anamatromic creature on the right, was made out of an old teddybear and bits and pieces by a young friend 

 who is showing prodigious artistic talents. The goat moved and opened its jaw and had flashing eyes as well. It is amazing what the young are now encouraged to explore and so create. She is also a budding sculptor and musician as well.
The rocking horse, appropriately called Bucephalus belongs to her mother who is also an artist and an avid collector of ancient fabrics.
It is always a pleasure to visit them in their lovely old cottage filled with interesting art works.....

 The jonquils have started to flower and that is early too. The little white snails which have suddenly appeared ( where do these pests come from when you haven't seen a one for years?)
I have had to put out snail bait and more snail bait and more snail bait.... at least we have managed to save the kale and leek seedlings from total decimation. Our daffodils are being chewed by slugs and so we have baited them as well. (Not an organic gardener then....?)


Our lemon tree is a delight as we have tried so often to grow one and at last we have succeeded by growing on in a tub. I love their golden fruit and have filled a few jars with their preserves......

More Bird Visitors & Strange Fungi

Our pond seems to attract a lot of different birds at times. At the beginning of last week we were delighted by the sudden arrival of three Kookaburras. They were busy under the olive tree but I am not sure if they were eating olives or finding crickets. Probably crickets, as Kookaburras are carnivores the experts tell us, while Magpies are omnivores. I have seen the Magpies eating the olives which had fallen off the trees.

The Kookaburras stayed for about three days and left, we think, because our trees are too young to have hollows in them for them to nest in. I think the Willy Wagtail was pleased to see them go as the Kookaburras are a threat to young Wagtail chicks...
When I came into the kitchen a couple of days after the Kookaburras left, there was a Chicken hawk sitting on the statue by the pond.I tried to leave without the Hawk seeing me but of course their eyesight is so acute, it would have seen me

back out to get the camera. It had flown into the figtree and I managed to take a photo of it through the kitchen window. Not a very good photo but still a record that it was here for a brief moment looking for prey in the Holm oak. I must say there have not been any more sparrows around the tree for which I am very thankful. Spoggies are my least favorite bird. They shriek and have absolutely no music in their soul at all.

It is interesting to see too, that the Rosellas have found the few apples I threw on the path and are happily eating away at them. They too, will eat the olives in the front of the garden but they are difficult to photograph there as the moment they see you they are off with the speed of jet fighters.

There have been no mushrooms in the garden this year despite the fact we had rains while the ground was still warm.
When we went to Mt Lofty Botanic Park a few weeks ago I found all these orange fungi under

the trees but I have no idea what they are. I noticed in a friend's garden in Willunga that there were these same orange fungi and they were growing on the woodchip mulch.
Then on Sunday at d'Arry's, we noticed this amazing fungi ,like an old fashioned big shower rose, growing high up in the tree on the trunk.
A lot of the time Nature has this wonderful way of surprising and delighting us.....
Don't forget to click on the photos if you want to see the subject matter closer up

An Epicurean Weekend

 How empty the house is
    after the departure of a favored guest......

We had a lovely weekend following Epicurus' principles of eating moderately but well, drinking the local wines, sampling local, handcrafted beers and having interesting conversations.
On Friday night we dined at the Altar Bistro. The food there is always freshly prepared and we sampled the new winter menue. The duck was superb and the slow-cooked beef equally delicious I believe.
On Saturday morning we started at the Shingleback winery as the sparkling shiraz which was tasted the night before, held great appeal.From there, we went to Kays Brothers winery which has stunning views across the hills to Kangarilla almost. They were firing up an outside oven to slow cook pork for the dinner being held there that evening.

In the afternoon we went and investigated a micro-brewery near Middlebrook. It was interesting to see the owners were growing hop plants in wine tubs and we must go back in summer to see what they look like growing up the trellis over the outside tasting area.
In the evening we went to the Barn, that dear old place which was about the first restaurant in the area back in the 70ies.The tasting platter we had was very good but unfortunately we all chose kangaroo and that was not very hot when it arrived.

Sunday we arrived at d'Arenberg to join in with the Bohemian Oasis fantasy which was organized by d'Arry's Verandah restaurant and promised to be full of Persian delights.
The Marquees they have these days are simply amazing, so big and well set up inside with heaters and movable curtains to keep out the wind which can be pretty chilly on that ridge.
The red sash of course was very prominent.
For nibbles we had Sumac pita chips with marinated olives
(nearly as good as mine only much smaller) and Hummus.
They were very good indeed and we were happy nibbling these while waiting for the rest of the guests to arrive.
When mostly everyone was there, the Temple dancing girls started weaving their way slowly around amongst the tables, intending to create a somewhat exotic atmosphere.
The Entree was Harissa prawns with Date &preserved Lemon Cous Cous cake which was delicious.

Everything was served to our table and arrived hot and beautifully presented. The Main course  was Bamieh of d'Arry's Dorper lamb with Spiced yogurt & Eggplant Pickle and a variety of roasted vegetables. The lamb was delicious and cooked to perfection.We had a Footbolt shiraz with this which complimented it very nicely.
Meanwhile the Temple dancers had inveigled some of the diners to join in the dancing and everyone was having a great time. We just watched.... Dessert was nougat Kataifi with Halva and Turkish delight and was a great way to finish the meal.......

To bring us down to earth after this Epicurean
weekend, I have inserted a photo of our miserly pumpkin harvest. Each season for the past five years I have had this wonderful fantasy of Queensland Blue pumpkin vines covering our half acre front garden (well, it used to be a garden till the water restrictions killed most of it)
with dozens of pumpkins of great size ripening in the sun, but ,no, they will not oblige me at all.
They refuse to grow vigorously nor allow themselves to be fertilized by bees ,so I have to go out with a paintbrush and hope there is a female flower amongst the dozens of male flowers, it is all too much......

Lost cat found, Rainy days and a Pink Knit-woven Jacket

I am very happy to report that the cat which had appeared at our doorstep on the last day of April
and our guests took to the Lonsdale RSPCA , belongs to our neighbours two doors up the road from us. They had been away in their caravan in WA and I guess Smokey ,which is its name, wanted some more human company and so wandered down the road to us. So they were able to pick him up from the pound and welcome him back home. He is a hunter my neighbour told us and very hot on rabbits.

Perhaps I could suggest they lend him to my friend at Port Willunga whose garden is over run with rabbits and Council won't do a thing about them.
The rain today is still welcome. We have had over two inches of rain so far and it is still soaking in. The pond is overflowing and the fish are enjoying the fresh algy they can reach with the new water level.

The wet weather of course dislodges all the rodents and they come inside to look for a dry place and something to eat. So we trap them as it isn't very nice to have mouse droppings sitting on the benches and stove. We had a lot of trouble with mouse traps since the good old wooden ones are now no longer made like they were. The ones from China were hopeless I found and the new plastic ones not much better for a while as the spring wasn't strong enough. They are better now but sometimes the mice are so small they actually fit inside the trap and you have to drown them, poor things.

I have been busy designing another Knit-woven jacket.
It took quite a while to get the swatch right.
I am inclined then, to design as I knit-weave on the knitting machine (or knitting loom as the Americans say and I must say it sounds better) and add or subtract colours as I go along.

I had some very interesting rayon ribbon yarn which was used as a contrast and to add some interest to an otherwise boring fabric.

The lighter stripes are my handspun ,hand dyed merino wool which I still had on hand. I don't usually stock much pink yarn
so I ordered the two ply background yarn and the wool/bamboo
eight ply weave-in yarn from the Bendigo Woollen Mills.

I still had some fine cyclamen coloured yarn and I mixed that in too. I like mixing yarn colours as it brings greater interest
to the eyes I find and livens up the whole fabric.
I wanted to do a different closing as well as I loath doing button holes in knitting. So, instead I made separate holes, five stitches
apart and threaded fine cords made from the two ply yarns through on opposite sides and they can be used to tie up
or left as is.

On the back and sides I added godets so as to give more
drape and room as well and to have the jacket sit better
and move better.
It has been a challenge doing this but it seems to have
worked out reasonably well. I hand stitch all my garment pieces
together as I feel they sit better and I have more control over
matching the pieces together.
Now it is waiting for its owner.....

Wildlife in our Garden at Willunga

 What an exciting surprise tonight while we were having our evening drink and sitting in the sitting room as the mosquitoes are so bad outside ... something was knocking on our patio door and I thought "oh,no, not another cat or kitten dumped on us"..but when I switched on the outside light, there was an Echidna, hiding in the potplants, how exciting was that! We had seen one many years ago in the orchard but not since then. For my European readers an Echidna is not a hedgehog.....it is one of the rare animals left in the world. It is a monotreme and lays an egg which takes 23 days to develop when it gets moved to a pouch on the mother's belly and is suckled for two to three months. When the baby develops spines it is moved to a burrow. The mother suckles it for another three or so months. The babe is called a puggle...

It will be lovely if he stays around (Is it a he? or a she?) and eats all the trillion of ants we have here. There are ants nests in the ceiling as the little critters fall out of the pine ceiling at certain times of the year and the Studio has litter made by them at the edges of the skirting boards.
If you are on your knees in the garden weeding or planting things you are immediately chewed on by ants to see if you are a corpse or not and need cleaning up.

 I have been raking up a lot of bark and gum leaves the last week or so ready to burn and I did see an unusual patch which looked as though something had been making a circle in the litter.
I know one year I startled a bearded Dragon hiding under the bark when I was raking up the litter and it looked at me with it's beady eyes in a rather accusing fashion. Sadly we never see the Dragons any more, I think the vineyards have probably destroyed their habitat.

 I found this rather lovely and startling red gum blossom too when  I was raking up yesterday,
such a contrast to the grey and brown leaves and bark and wondered if it may not have been a fairy's substitute for an ostrich feather used in a dance......
It seems a shame to rake up and burn all this litter but we have to prepare for next summer's fire danger season I suppose

This very handsome grey water cover is in our verge. It is where the grey water for the vineyards is piped from.
The water people have made an absolute mess of our verge and it is very difficult to keep it mowed in winter as there are rocks embedded in the top soil now and doesn't do the mower much good....not much good complaining though, authorities don't take the slightest bit of notice.....

Willunga Pastoral Scenes

We spent yesterday afternoon, Sunday the 18th May, looking around Willunga and close by where we live. A friend had sent us an e mail to say there was a free, photographic competition being held in South Australia to get people to see what is interesting in their own piece of deck and the only condition was that the photo was taken between midnight and midnight on Sunday.
We thought how interesting to go and look close by home and see what there is to photograph that might be worthwhile. I suggested we start at the Willunga look out up the hill on the left of the Victor Harbour road.

 When we got there, the trees blocked most of the view of the whole basin which is a bit disappointing. So we moved up the hill and then along to Taylors hill road where we found this interesting ruin. You wonder at all the energy which would have gone into the quarrying and carting the stone up this huge hill and then building the cottage. What dreams were shattered there to leave it so sad and broken.....

 It was actually rather a dull and murky sort of a day and the view across from this cottage showed the distant sea and two huge tankers. Perhaps if you click on the photo you may just be able to pick up the two ships on the silver water near the horizon.
The whole basin is now a mix of golden autumn vines, bare paddocks ready to be seeded as soon as we have more rain and buildings half hidden by trees.

We drove up to the underpass of the Victor Harbor road which gives an interesting view of a gumtree near the Ross Roses Nursery. I am pleased to say they seem to be back in business as we picked up some new roses there last week which we have planted out straight away. I think the roses here do much better when planted from pots in the autumn as they have all winter to get themselves acclimatized ready for our hot and dry summers.

The photo of the Victor main road was taken from the overpass on Malpas road. I was a bit disappointed with that one, as it doesn't show up dramatically at all. But looking East towards Taylors Hill road you can see the rows of olive trees someone planted years ago. Again you will have to click on the photo to see the whole effect better. I often wonder how the people get on harvesting the olives as the site is rather steep.

Finally, while waiting for a dramatic sunset, which didn't happen, I took a photo of the Mount Lofty TV towers we can see from our back gate.
The day being so murky was a bit of a drawback as nothing showed up particularly well. No doubt there are ways and means one can cope with this if one knew ones camera capabilities better than I do. I hope to have some tuition in this in the months to come as the instruction book is so scattered in its information and while the writers know what they are talking about, I do not........
Needless to say, I don't think I will send any photos in.....

Lost Cat and Black Dogs

Dramas invariably happen when someone is staying with you.
Our guests had been over to see friends on Mundoo Island for the day and came back early evening, asking, since when, had we had a blue cat? Well, we don't have a cat because though I like cats, I like little birds about the place better.
We ,or rather I, did not encourage it in and hoped it would go back to where it came from. In the morning, there it was meowing at the glass door when I got up to make the morning cuppa.

 I felt obligated to give it some food of course and gave it a mouse I had caught in the trap.It wolfed it down and so I gave it a bit of mince as well.We went away for the day and when we came back it was there again, waiting. So of course we let it in and that was the end of it. It settled in.I rang the neighbours to see if any of them were boarding a cat but no, no one was. In the morning though, our guests decided since we really didn't want the cat, they would take it to the Vet and see if it was microchipped. It wasn't

so they had to take it all the way to Lonsdale to the RSPCA who would hold it and find a home for it.
I do like black dogs. The one above was saved from a terrible home life by friends whose dogs had died recently and they were ready for another dog. It is taking them quite a while to gain its trust but it is coming along well. It loves the beach and is getting used to having strangers in its home.

The dog above is a black Labrador whose mistress is our neighbour and who brought it over for a visit and  to teach it to lead and sit and have some manners. It is a lovely dog.
The Border Collie on the right was having a wonderful time at Formbe Bay. I was a bit worried it might tumble over the cliff into the sea in its exuberance, they are such active and bright dogs, but no, it stopped when asked to have its photo taken...its master was taking his paddle board down to the beach and the dog followed
I am not sure what it would do when left on the beach while the boss paddled out to catch a wave......