Merewether Sunday Tasmanian - Click on it to see full article

Newsletter – May/June/July, 2009

Introduction

After much discussion among the editorial staff, it has been decided that in future the Newsletter will be published on a seasonal basis, the next edition being for Spring.

Highlights of the Months

Elisabeth, Isobel & Tom Sewell’s Visit

On May 7, Emma, Tessa and Stella picked up Elisabeth, Isobel and Tom from the airport and bought them down to Merewether. All stayed for the night.

Over the next 5 days Isobel was exposed to and participated in all aspects of farm life, while Tom was a great help to R in the garden.

If Elisabeth did not catch the young rooster, son of Russell, it was not from her want of trying and her bursts in the garden were amazing.

All too soon it was May 12 and the flight back to Sydney, after a great lay-back visit during which we got to know the children even better. We look forward to more of these easy going visits.

Janise, James & Henry Huckerby’s Visit

The Yu’s picked Janise, James and Henry up from the airport and took them to their house in Hobart where they stayed the night.

Next morning they and the Yu’s (minus Richard) headed down to Constitution Dock and picked up their tickets for the daily Peppermint Bay cruise on the huge catamaran. All except Emma were very surprised when R and J materialised and we all boarded the boat for what was definitely a highlight of their visit. Emma had booked a private booth and we all enjoyed a sensational day of absolute luxury and great interest. First drinks were declared approximately 100m from the wharf and it just went on from there. A takeaway lunch was picked up from Peppermint Bay, and eaten drifting off Bruny Island. No more details as it would spoil it for those who will be doing this trip in the future.

Back to the Yu’s where they picked up the Camry, on loan to them for their holiday. Then with R & J in the Subaru, we all drove down to Merewether.

Again a quiet, nice stay. A typical day saw James get up and mind Henry while Janise grabbed an extra hour’s well-earned sleep. Then it was breakfast for all and then they drove into the Red Velvet Lounge and the Lotus Eaters Café in Cygnet for coffee and cakes, and, we suspect, the odd additional breakfast.

Henry was amazing and we were surprised how he had grown and at how well he interacted with us. Sleeping was another matter, and he definitely has a mind of his own.

The next highlight of their visit was a trip to the Hartz mountains. The road was covered by about 20cm of beautiful fresh winter snow. We arrived at the last checkout centre at the start of a number of the walks and R, Janise and James set off for a short walk to one of the lakes, with light snow falling, and leaving Henry with J. They were back very quickly, because the snow was too deep for walking. Much frolicking and snowballing followed. It was then back a few km to the stone shelter, where we were able to drive up just as the ranger was leaving, having stocked the shelter with dry firewood. We soon had a raging open fire going and were cooking the sausages we had bought on the free gas barbeque installed in the shelter, while sharing a bottle of pinot noir. All this with the new winter snow falling quite heavily outside. Magic, and a definite for future visits whenever there is a good fall of snow. The Subaru Forrester handled the conditions admirably.

All too soon it was into the Camry, and James, Janise and Henry headed off to Hobart for their last night with the Yu’s.

John’s Birthday

New wallet. Lunch at the Red Velvet Lounge.

John’s Jubilee Reunion

On Saturday June 13 J flew up to the Gold Coast, picked up a car and drove to Murwillumbah where he booked into a motel. That night he attended the Murwillumbah High School Class of 1959 Jubilee Reunion at a local club. J was MC for the night and it was amazing to catch up with the 60 in attendance, almost all of whom he had not seen for 50-55 years. It was as if this time had not really happened and everyone had a truly enjoyable and moving experience.

Next day was a tree planting ceremony and morning tea at the school, which was a real trip down memory lane. J was able to demonstrate his Tasmanian hole digging expertise for the planting. That night J booked into a motel at Kingscliff, where he grew up, and explored the area on foot before having dinner with 3 of those who had attended the Reunion.

A real highlight of the Reunion was the special website Phoebe had set up for this event.

Future visitors to Merewether will be required to set aside 3 hours so J can briefly outline the highlights of the Reunion to them.

Sally, Richard, Iona and Isla Hutchison’s Visit

Staying at the Shetland Rest B & B, where R & J stayed for the first 6 weeks when they moved to Tassie, the Hutcho’s packed more into few days they were there than anyone else has been able to do. The South East Cape Walk, the Hartz Mountains in the snow, a visit to Bruny Island and just hanging out at the B & B. But almost always dropping in for pre-dinner drinks with R & J, which was very enjoyable. We all shared a great Sunday lunch at Merewether with the Yu family. R was at her culinary best with slow cooked red cabbage and pork belly (although chicken as far as Stella was concerned). J really appreciated the bumper sticker they got him from the oyster shop on Bruny. The shop is quaintly named “Get Schucked” and this now is tastefully displayed on the tailgate of The Beast.

The Talented Mr Ripley

On May 5 we picked up our new dog, a black labrador named Ripley, from his breeder. Not happy with leaving his mum, he howled loudly for the full 90 minute trip to Merewether. We were having doubts regarding our $1000 investment (partially subsidised by our children) by the time we got there

We had some big holes dug in the inner yard which were full of water (not very good drainage there). Needless to say into one he went. He quickly adapted to his baby crate and then to his big crate. He is HUGE. We engaged the puppy whisperer who believes in teaching by positive reinforcement. He is eager to learn. The last thing being walking on the lead, he so did not like that. Puppy socialising produced a meeting with another couple. She had lived 5 houses down from ours in Larkin Street. Her dog Jet and Rip love playing so we will meet up for that.

Tilly

TILLY DOES NOT LIKE MR RIPLEY

She would like whoever lent him to us to come and take him away. Poor darling has been diagnosed with arthritis and now after a course of injections she is taking him firmly in hand. He is often crying from her strict discipline. Wonder what the puppy whisperer would think of that? One of her really mean tricks is to get in his crate and give him “wolf-face”, just daring him to come close enough for her to inflict serious injury. R thinks she is secretly getting to like him. They are both really good with the poultry and we are hoping Luka will improve. They charmed the house minders and their guests while we are in Bali so that is good.

The Weather

During the month of May it rained on 18 days and Total Rainfall was 64mm. During the month of June it rained on 26 days and Total Rainfall was 131 m. During the month of July it rained on 23 days and Total Rainfall was 73mm.

We have been assured by the locals that the rainfall is the highest it has been for between 5 and 20 years, depending on who you are talking to. The good news is that the garden and grass are thriving. The bad news is the mud, as it is always wet underfoot. However, this has prompted a zero mud campaign, which we have commenced implementing. Zero temperatures and snow on the low peaks were more common as we moved into winter. However, if this is winter, bring it on. After 2 months of “winter”, we have had half a dozen frosts and the same number of zero or below zero temperatures. At no stage have we been really, unpleasantly cold. The house is always warm, due to the under-floor heating and the daily fire in the pot belly stove.

Looking at comparative temperatures, it appears Petcheys Bay is, on average, 2 degrees warmer than Hobart and 3-4 degrees warmer than Cygnet.

The Local Fruit

Apple picking is now finished and the apples are mostly in cold storage. Dave’s (our neighbour) orchard was not picked this season and there are many apples still ripening on the trees. These are very tasty and much nicer than the ones from cold storage. It is quite surreal to see tree after tree laden with beautiful red apples, and no leaves on the trees. Picking these apples has been a great delight to our visitors, particularly the children.

Fortunately R has preserved many apricots, quinces, nectarines etc and there is always fresh apples, so we will still enjoy fruit with our breakfast regardless of the season.

The Beast.

Undoubtedly one of the best purchases we have ever made, The Beast gets used daily either around the property or even picking R up from the airport (as well as a 3 metre tree from a nearby nursery). It has ceased being just a farm vehicle and is our second car. Most trips to Huonville are now done in it The Beast never comes home empty. All timber from the mill, sub-base 1 (or SB1as we driveway constructors call it), loam, 6m steel rods, steel pickets, bricks, concrete and more recently large trees are all picked up by us in The Beast. Some recent loads of 4m silver birch trees and other mature trees would have to be seen to be believed.

Sports and Fishing

Plans are being made to master the graball net this coming spring, with a new net to be purchased. Also the tinny and motor will be mastered and used more frequently.

The Chooks and Ducks.

Of the 4 ducks we had, 3 died of unknown causes, so we returned the sole survivor to run free with Bud’s flock of ducks. This is a real pity as they were personality plus. There was certain amount of disarray in the chicken population until recently, but we now only have Russell Crowe, 2 of the Supremes, Nicole, Cate and Peepo (Nicole’s daughter). Diana, one of the Supremes was sent to Bud’s place for therapy, but she failed to integrate with his chooks, so he ate her. They have not been laying for the past 3 months and if this is not remedied in the near future, they may find themselves having a one way trip to the therapy clinic.

The young black rooster, son of Russell, developed into a great big bird, and he now rules the roost at Bud’s henhouse. We hear him answering Russell’s crowing each morning from across the valley.

The House

All chimneys and pergolas are complete and painted. Unfortunately, Mark the Irish chimney builder, managed to fell a tree on himself on his property and will be in a brace for 3 months. He was lucky that the ground was soft and he was pushed into it, still managing to break his back. This is doubly tragic, as J has developed a taste for his home brew, and supplies are threatened. Mark is the best advertisement for this beer, drinking 8 longnecks each night and playing a game with his partner at breakfast each morning, where she asks him what he had for dinner the previous night. If he gets it right, which is seldom, he gets a reward.

Whilst working with Mark on the big chimney, J experienced a near death experience. Mark had taped a claw hammer to a rope. The claw was attached to a bucket which J was filling with bricks, and which Mark was hauling up about 5 metres to the top of the scaffolding. It was a 2 bucket operation, with J filling one while Mark hauled up the other. J had just picked up an empty bucket and was moving to the pile of bricks when the full bucket came hurtling down, missing J by less than a metre. Mark apologised and said he would take more care with the taping of the hammer to the rope next time. There was no next time.

All work on the house is also complete and we are delighted with the finished product, which works just as we wanted.

Other people must think so as well, as it was featured in The Mercury house of the week (full page with colour photos) and is in a competition for an architectural award for heritage houses.

It is warm, due to the under floor heating, and the large fireplace in the new room is sensational.

The location with the river views at the front and mountain views at the back is very special and presents the house beautifully.

The Garden

Now that the house is complete, the garden has become our main focus.

The starting point was to make it rodent-proof, otherwise in the words of the previous owner, “there will be tears.” If you drive up Kubes Road when darkness falls, you will see 20+ wallabies, all of whom eat freshly planted trees, shrubs and flowers. The boundary fence around the entire property is rodent-proof (?), although we regularly catch the same wallaby overnight. The dopey animal knows how to get in, but cannot get out, and has worn a path on the Kubes Road side of the block running backwards and forth trying to get out. We have to herd it out the front gates or over the bank in front of the house.

We have built two very large gates and slip rails out of specially milled wood at the front entrance to the block. It really lifts this entrance and they are very impressive.

Bud’s sheep have been forever banned from our property, in disgrace. Although he assured us they would not eat the gums and wattle we had planted, what he did not say was that they pulled them out before deciding not to eat them.

During the last 3 months we have planted, hebes (200), red blossoming gums (100), silver wattle (150), poplars (13)*, silver birch (21)*, red flowering cherries (8)*, silver elm (1)*, golden elms (3)*, oaks (2)*. tulip tree (1)*, quinces (4)*, killmarnock willows (6)*, hornbeams (10)*, evergreen alder (1)*, roses (100), rhododendrums (3), cypresses (4). daffodils (1000), tulips (40) jacarandas (4), Leighton greens (12), box elder (24)*, lime (2), kaffir limes (2), lemon (6), lillypillies (6), Japanese maples (3).

The trees vary from 12cm – 25cm root stock to mature trees (marked with * above) from 2m to 4m, and some silver birches needing 2 men to lift them. We hired Jason and the Dingo Digger to dig an additional 40 holes (600 mm wide x 600mm deep), but unfortunately J and Scott were forced to dig many holes, as the Dingo Digger often became bogged in the mud.

Also, staking the larger trees was a major job (40 steel pickets and 150m of rope), as the soft ground combined with the gale force winds would have seen them quickly blown over.

All trees had to be in by the end of July, when we left for Bali, so it was really a manic month.

We have had the large flowering gum nearest to the house lopped, thereby significantly reducing the possibility of a large branch being deposited on our new extension in a gale and thereby also allowing J to sleep easy. At the same time we had a 20m pine tree felled, and the improvement to our view is remarkable.

The vegetable garden has been somewhat neglected, although the onions are still growing nicely. We also have crops of broad beans, beetroot, kale, carrots, garlic and leeks coming on. Our bed of “pink–eye” potatoes, planted late by J using the “no dig” approach, has been harvested and yielded a good crop, much to the surprise of the experts.

J’s major ongoing project at the moment is sealing the drive. Each 1 ton load of SB1 in The Beast seals about 3m of drive, so it is a slow job, but it is gradually wiping out the mud.

We have also had two cement paths installed. One is from the back of the drive to the back door of the house (about 30m) and the other from the drive to the side of the house and back garden. (about 7m). These have been built by Scott and will withstand any earthquake measuring up to 20 on the richter scale. Scott does not skimp on materials.

R has taken responsibility for the lawns, having bought a brand new Victa lawn mower on May 8. She is obsessed with keeping the lawns under control and has them looking amazing. As well she is constantly turning rough areas of the block into lawn and has reclaimed areas that are looking great.

On May 28 we called into a nursery to pickup some rose blooms for the table. The owners told us that they were going out of the business and that we could dig out and take two rows of rose bushes for no charge. It was back home to get The Beast and 2 mattocks and after much hard work and shedding of blood, we headed home with about 40 rose bushes, some 2m high. These now form the basis of our random rose garden which contains these and other giveaways of unknown varieties.

General

Bud’s New Property

Since selling his dairy farms on the Atherton Tablelands, Bud has been spending like a man possessed. His major purchase has been a 100 acre property about 1-1/2 km from his and our place, off Sunday Hill Road. He is in the process of moving his increasing menagerie of various animals from his existing property to the new one.

One highlight was R, J and Bud “droving” 4 sheep and a black cow and her calf along the public road to the new pastures. “I’ll drive in front in the Suzuki and J just needs to walk behind them to keep them moving. No problem.”

Wrong. He had not allowed for the side streets, lanes, paths leading off from the road, all of which the animals duly followed. Having retrieved them from at least half a dozen such diversions, including the invasion of a local commercial orchard and Bud herding them in the Suzuki where possible, we finally got them to their new home about 2 hours later.

Another incident of note was that while R & J were walking the dog, Bud drove up with his two new minature pigs in the back, en route to the new property for a day’s outing. About half an hour later he came roaring back and explained that when he got to the property, the black pig was missing and he was looking for it. He drove off, and fortunately for him, the eagle-eyed R spied the wayward pig in a nearby yard owned by vegans. When Bud came back, we were able to retrieve it amidst much squealing. It had fallen out of his ute when he took the corner too fast.

He now owns 2 utes, 2 cars (1 new, 1 older) and 3 tractors.

Vivienne

Vivienne owns the block next door to us. During the past few months she has appeared twice. Vivienne has been living in her station wagon on the river side of her block. She has a dog, picnic setting and that’s it. Apparently she also lives in her station wagon when she is in Melbourne. She has a bath once a week at a pub in Cygnet. She is clearing, by hand, every non-native plant from her block, whilst at the same time arranging to have 6 massive pine trees removed, install a dam and build an organic garden. She has not achieved any of the latter three. On her initial visit she was bogged twice and flattened her batteries once. All these events involved calls to the RACT (NRMA equivalent), much to the delight of their local contractors. When she returned to Melbourne she left a pile of rubbish beside the road. One of our neighbours, who shall remain nameless, took exception to this and came down with his tractor and blade and pushed it back onto her block. On her first visit she established herself as somewhat of a legend and set a new record for getting the most people offside.

There is not enough space here to document her initial achievements.

On the second visit she immediately accused the grader driver, R & J, the Council and anyone else who chanced by, of moving her rubbish.

We decided to clear the air and left The Beast on her block for her to load her rubbish, which R & J took to the Cygnet tip, Also J pulled her out when she became bogged for the third time in exactly the same spot. So we are currently on good terms with Vivienne.

We are fortunate to have a neighbour who is an expert on all subjects. Although she is quite mad, we think she is harmless and only wants to build a small mud brick house on the back of her block at some time in the future. So it could be much worse.

The 2009 Cider Vintage

We now have 200 litres of apple juice quietly fermenting away and this will form the basis of our 2009 vintage.

Organic Farming Course

On May 16, R & J attended a full day course on organic farming, which was held at a property a few km from us. Run by the local lay preacher, John Middleton, there were some interesting people there. J learnt nothing but R picked up some ideas, particularly about compost tea.

University of the Third Age

R has joined the U3A and attends their Thursday morning meetings, which she enjoys immensely. She was also invited to join a splinter group known as Ladies That Lunch who lunch monthly. As such she is meeting many new people with similar interests and intellect. Unfortunately J has other commitments when these meetings are held.

Wedge-tail Eagle

On May 24 we walked out onto the front veranda and there, sitting in a tree only 50m from us was a huge wedge-tail eagle. It was about 1m tall, and on seeing us, it swooped down over us, showing a wingspan of over 2m. R has seen this eagle on two other occasions, on the ground feasting on a dead wallaby in the apple orchard.

Toffee Apples

On May 25 R, Tessa and Stella went out into the orchard and selected a lot of small apples, which they turned into toffee apples. These were delicious, once you were able to prise your jaw open to take a second bite.

Mutton Bird Dinner

Another memorable experience was a May 17 mutton bird dinner at Bud’s. Nice to have done it, but not racing out to repeat it.