MOVING ON

Blogger, it's been fun but I've moved on to pastures new. Content from this blog has been transferred to: http://applewoodandearth.com/
See you there!

AS FAR SOUTH AS SOUTH GOES

Almost...
In a recent fit of 'I really must get off my property and go explore some of this lovely island', I took a leisurely drive down to Cockle Creek, otherwise known as the southernmost point you can drive to in Australia (you can get a little more southy, but only on foot).

MEDLARMAGHEDDON

It's been a while since I've done a food-related post but this year for the first time, I had the dubious pleasure of dealing with what was a) a fruit I knew practically nothing about and b) the inevitable immense harvest.

If the title wasn't obvious, I'm talking about the ancient, obscure, unusual and astoundingly delicious medlar fruit.

PLASTIC FREE JULY - AND BEYOND

If you're interested in reducing the amount of trash - and particularly plastic - that you and/or your household produces and you're not quite sure where to start, it can seem like a daunting task.  Once you stop, look around, and tune into the problem, it suddenly seems like plastic is simply everywhere - from tea bags to tracksuit pants, to those tiny but annoying stickers on the fruit you buy or the straw that you asked them to leave out that still turns up in your drink anyway.

A GARDEN IN THE VALLEY

It's coming up to a year since I moved to my half-acre block in Tasmania's glorious Huon Valley and I haven't done much writing since...mostly because my average day off involves wandering out the back door a little after a leisurely breakfast and being distracted by a series of tasks that seems to take me until late afternoon.

I've enjoyed taking my time with developing the site, and where to put structures, and beds, and paths and plants. I've sat on a lot of decisions for a while before realising they were a bad idea and I've been putting into practice my old habit of just looking at a space until inspiration hits. Some spaces have needed more stare-hours than others...

THE BEACH FILES - CARLTON

One thing Tasmania has in abundance is gorgeous beaches. It's true that the water temperature is less than ideal for most of the year if you're a cold water coward such as I, but for meandering, dog walking and salt air sniffing there's definitely a generous selection to choose from.

DOUCEUR

Canadian Goldrich apricot in nearly full flower

Bracing myself for the usual sharp drop in temperature as I stepped out the back door this morning, it was a welcome change to be greeted by a calm and relatively warm morning. All signs are pointing to an early Spring and as several of my fruit trees are already donning their floral finery, I can only cross my fingers that the weather doesn't take a turn for the worse over the next few weeks.

A GARDEN AND A LIBRARY

Sun maps and seeds

Cicero, one of those thinky people in the seemingly endless legion of thinky people that were floating around Rome in ancient times, once said something akin to 'if you have a garden and a library you have all you need' (though I might hasten to add dogs, wine and chocolate to that short list).

DRIPPY DAZE

It's been a wet few days, and most of today's live coverage weather coverage came from the vantage point of my home office (aka the dining table) where I watched the rain fall steadily through the last of the autumn leaves - in between my own steady tappings on the keyboard.

MAY HIGHLIGHTS

The entire month of May has been pretty much dedicated to one specific highlight, which is jumping though the necessary hoops of buying a house. A house! A house in the Huon Valley! This is a brave new world for this little chicken and I think I've been doing a great job pretending like I understand a single thing that I'm signing my life away to and poker-facedly assuring my bank manager that yes, I will absolutely not be spending more than $100 a month on wine for like, ever *cough*.

9 STITCHES

There's that old saying about a stitch in time saving nine - which of course means if you tackle a problem early you'll save yourself a much larger problem later on. This is also a saying from an era when mending and darning were not only commonplace but essential. These days a split stitch, broken heel or missing button is less often attended to early, if at all. Cheap, convenient and fast-changing fashions often mean we end up with more clothes than we really need and that we also generally neglect them (not helped much by the inferior quality products on the market that give up after a couple of runs in a washing machine).

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE MONTH - APRIL 2016

April has been a beguiling mix of warm, clear (and frustratingly rain-free) days with the occasional sudden dip in temperatures to remind us that winter is just around the corner, and the occasional spike to remind us that summer still wants to play.

IN THE GARDEN:

Last 3 strawberries of the season...

WORKING LESS FOR THE PLANET

As part of my most recent life overhaul, one thing I wanted to try out was a reduced work week, so that I could investigate that mythical beast called a work-life balance. Luckily, as well as getting a job offer very quickly, it was also a 4 day a week position.  I guess I imagined the eternal 3 day weekend giving me more time to relax and read, garden, get to the end of my to-do list (who was I kidding? It's huge) and go camping and exploring more often. But, as it turns out, there's been more to it...

To me, the life of a 40+ hour week seems to lead to a slow but steady feeling of being consistently flat. Not always exhausted exactly, but a constant feeling of wishing there were just a few more hours in each day. The kind of feeling that has been pretty much normalised by modern society as just 'getting older' - but is it actually normal?

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE MONTH - MARCH 16

Time to get back on track with the earth-loving, slow living posts, it seems like I've been talking about nothing but travel and vague plans to move on for ages! I'll try out regular monthly summaries to keep on track with where I'm at, and as an encouragement to keep progressing.

THE ROAR OF THE 40s

See? I told you. He's fine.

Moving to the latitude known as the 'Roaring 40's', after turning 40, seemed like a satisfyingly poetic thing to do, and god knows these are the kinds of nonsensical whims that dictate my life choices, though I'm happy to report that the wind has thus far been behaving itself.

42 DEGREES SOUTH

Earlier in October, I took a short trip to the bracing south, on my first ever trip to Tasmania. Despite the inclement weather that always takes some getting used to after too long in Darwin, it was a wonderful relief to get away from the soupy hot buildup of the north. With five days up my sleeve I tackled the usual tourist haunts of Salamanca, MONA, the botanic gardens, Mt. Wellington, Richmond and Runnymede, as well as a few lesser known locales such as the Sandy Bay Twilight Markets. However the main purpose of my holiday was seeing if Hobart was a good fit as a new home town.

ROAD TRIPPING THE BARKLY

In a rare turn of events I was let out of the office last week for a work related trip down to the wide open spaces of the Territory's Barkly Tablelands region. It's been an embarrassing number of years since I've been down this way.

ONE STEP BEYOND

It's likely you're all familiar with the eco-conscious jingle 'reduce, reuse, recycle' - aka 'the three R's', but how about my personal favourite - upcycling?

More creative planter ideas here 

LOCAL TOURISM

It's a pretty common experience for many of us - but playing tourist closer to home is something a lot of people don't always get around to doing. For people who like travelling, the allure of the unfamiliar is often far more tempting than poking around the corners of our own back yard.

INDEPENDENCE

A couple of weeks ago, the Northern Territory has its annual Territory Day celebrations. Much like the similarly timed Independence Day in the USA, the Northern Territory has developed its own tradition of celebrating self governance through the detonation of fireworks (somehow the standard total fire ban that's in place around this time always gets waived). Personally, I've always found it kinda strange how DIY explosive devices have become synonymous with declarations of geo-political autonomy.