"Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better person."
Benjamin Franklin
Thank you 2019 - a real treat and a challenge simultaneously. Out of control fires, job losses and gains, travel, plans and projects, visitors, busy days and languid nights, fresh food and great wine, lovely pets and the general joy of the third act. Soon hello 2020 and an opportunity to take Ben's advice above. Take care and catch you in the New Year.
Enjoying rural ambiance in a bright festive light
Random babies doing their best to freak out Anthony
What's Christmas without a pic of peeps squinting into the sun?
"If you study the rhythm of life on this planet, you will find that everything moves in perfect symphony with everything else - by grand divine design. This perfect orchestration of the cycle of life is one of the Creator's greatest and most beautiful miracles."
Suzy Kassem
As the school holidays start the puppies are overjoyed for they get to visit their church more frequently.
OMG! OMG! OMG!
Also this time of the year is about beer and ginger beer making. It is so satisfying to make a lovely brew, but also terrifying when it goes a bit wrong. Last year we lost quite a few bottles that tasted nice but had absolutely no fizz! For a couple of chemists we got it wrong with the temperature of the second fermentation cycle, putting the bottles downstairs but not figuring on the low overnight temperatures to halt the process.
This year we have kept the bottles upstairs, but also we had a first cycle (in the bucket) slow down and then stop due to low temperatures. So outside in the sunshine and then some adding of hot water and stirring and away she went again - hopefully the product (which does smell nice and was bottled yesterday) is worth all the effort.
We started another brew last night and paying closer attention to temperature this is the result:
Early brews have been great and we highly recommend the process and the product.
Look around. There are no enemies here. There's just good, old-fashioned rivalry.
Bob Wells
A recent almost visitor to these parts was quoted as saying that Tassie is like stepping back 20 years in time. People say the strangest things to justify their choices in life (including location), even if they're not really their choices. As a couple we've lived in multiple cities and towns across the world, and we have yet to find Nirvana. Actually, we have not tried Nirvana, Michigan! So maybe it's out there - although looking at the photo below, maybe not?
Apparently the night life is amazing
One strange anachronism here in our Tassie house was the lighting setup when we arrived. Not a priority, but we did wonder why the house was filled with really weird "Lucci Envirolux" bulbs. We learned that they are hideously expensive, but the fun part is that when you turn them on you need to wait about 5 minutes before they come up to full brightness. So in the hall (which takes 10 seconds to amble down) we would flick on the lights and then feel our way down to the other end before the lights even made a difference - very frustrating! Most amusing were the high energy, low illumination globes over the kitchen work benches - you could hear the humming of electricity being wasted while simultaneously groping around for a knife to hopefully cut a carrot. So over the next couple of years we swapped out some of the low energy, low illumination lights for low energy high illumination led globes which has been much better for everyday usage. Due to higher ambient temperatures ("Not Climate Change, Not Climate Change, Not Climate Change" - you gotta love the power of three word slogans) we have recently installed two reverse cycle air-conditioning units at either end of the house. While the sparky was on location we had the team install proper LED down lights in the kitchen so we could finally see what we are cutting up for dinner (mostly dog food as it transpires that Kym is aiming to make Jess look like a WWI blimp for a Christmas Pageant).
It burns! Avert your eyes!
So if Tassie is a step back in time, is it possible that you can find a CWA shop in the middle of Hobart in which to buy freshly made gorgeous cakes for a song, as well as a nice hand knitted tea cosy for the pot? You betcha.
Brilliantly lit on the kitchen bench
And is that a bad thing? Absolutely not! Take care during the festive season, particularly on the roads as you make your way to the appropriate celebrations.
Last year one of our almond trees had the bulk of it's leaves stripped almost overnight. Busy as we are rushing to and from work, we barely noticed the cause, assuming it was something akin to the dreaded leaf curl (that still plagues one of our trees despite treatment this year). But the insect world always has a few surprises for us rural amateurs, and today while we were happily (!) mowing away under the almond tree we spied a clump of jewels where no jewels should be.
Merry Christmas Mr Almond
So do we sacrifice almonds (again) or support our mates in the insect world? Well let's try to do both - so a quick shake of the tree to release the bulk of the little fellas (many of whom decided that human underpants were a great alternative spot to nest), and then on with the mowing (and dancing).
Almost ready for the local rats to enjoy
Kelly thinks that the real beauty of a freshly mown lawn is a clear patch in which to play the relentless "Frow The Ball" game that is at the centre of her universe.
I make sure I get a lot of vegetables, a lot of fruit. I am a big fruit man; I am a vegetable man, anyway.
Magic Johnson
To the older generation (who don't read blogs anyway) we have to say the phrase "Fava Beans" over and over again until we realise that if we only had have started with "Broad Beans" the conversation might have flowed more freely. So this week we harvested and packed up "Broad/Fava Beans" which was a happy way to spend quality time with each other. Fourteen packets of beans later we closed out the night with a stash of them cooling in the freezer - nice one garden.
In terms of "Human Beans" we dropped into some mates today (you can tell they're mates from the Charis101 candle on the window sill in the background) to bask in their newly acquired grandparentness. We didn't get clucky at all, honest.
Well, maybe a little. Take care folks and remember that there are no monopoles out there so enjoy the North and South of all of your relationships.
