Fight for the Future

It is easy when reading about climate change and peak oil to get into a panic.  Easy, but not useful.  So whenever I start feeling this way I try to step back and think about what positive steps I can take to mitigate the situation, remembering that I am only one person with an individual set of skills, resources and emotional energy.  Nobody can do everything.

So, here are some ideas, in no particular order.  Some are things to help my individual family, some are about my local community, and some are concerned with the wider national & world community.  Some are things I am already doing, some are ones that I am considering & others are ideas for the future.  I think these are important issues because I believe we are going to see significant effects, if not within my lifetime, certainly within that of my children.

Burgled!

Sorry folks - can't give you any photos for this update, we were burgled on the weekend.

Not too much taken - think he had to be quick to catch the bus (which only runs once per hour).  But it did include the cameras.

The main thing I wanted to photograph was the inside of the bee hive!  We put the super on on Sunday.  That is super as in superstructure, ie it goes on top.  There is a small hole through which the bees can enter and a perspex top.  You put the original lid back on to keep out the light and seal the hive.  When it is full we will remove the honey comb, and put it back for them to fill all over again!

We have also had peas, some baby carrots (from thinning) and bok choy from the garden.

Will have a new camera soon - so hope to show you photos then.

On another environmental note: if the invasion of Coal Seam Gas extraction into our country, and the rest of the world, scares you as much as it does me, then please visit this site.  You may want to think about joining Get Up - and make a difference to issues that matter to you. Remember - being a member doesn't mean you have to agree with, or support, every issue that Get Up campaigns on, just the ones that matter to you.  It is not a political party.
Would love to hear what you think though.
Enough for now.
Ravs

Catching Up

I have a lot to catch up with since the computer crash & our holiday - but I'll try to keep it short & sweet.
I can't say what I did on which day - can't remember exactly.

Irrigation
I finished setting up the irrigation system for the vege gardens.

I used two sizes of this tube to clamp the ends of the irrigation pipes.

I slid the tube over the bent ends like so.

I also set up a drip irrigation system for the new pots on the front deck.  These pots will be planted with herbs.

 Chicken Mitigation

Here you can see the back of the 'planks' we installed to stop the chickens throwing the mulch onto the 'soccer pitch' (or lawn).

Trellis
I installed trellis - using tomato wire - on the fence at the back of the vege gardens.
Mrs Skivvy (Mum) helped by holding the roll of wire while I hammered in the supporting nails.

I didn't have wire cutters strong enough to trim off the excess.  Still, it's a safe place to store it for the time being.

Nails were simply hammered in place & bent up to secure the wire.

 The Swarm
 Little more than a week after the bees arrived we noticed some strange behaviour. Lots of bees were gathering outside the entrance to the hive, and those going in didn't seem to be carrying any pollen.
When I noticed them carrying dead bees out of the hive, and a significant number on the ground already I decided to call Col.

Bees gathering around the (closed) hive entrance

 Col informed me that I had a SWARM.  That is another nearby hive (within 700m) had grown too big and had to break up.  The bees had smelt my colony and decided to try and take over their hive instead of finding a new one of their own.  Who ever thought of bees as lazy?
He told me to close off the hive for 24 hours and see what happened.  If the swarm remained after that time then I should hose them, often.
They did, and I did, at least as often as I could. But in the end I decided to let nature take its course, I wasn't home enough to make a difference with the hosing.

I don't know who won - but we are back to a functioning hive again.

Dead bees litter the ground under the hive.

 Tanks
The week before Easter our two front tanks arrived and were installed.  A 5kl tank beside the side fence, and a 4kl one under the front deck, behind the stairs.
The tanks are colourbond steel, in Classic Cream, the same colour as the trim on the house.

The largest tank is manoeuvred into place.

The completed tank system.

The view from the street.

 Fairly unobtrusive don't you think?  We think Eddie (our tank man) did a great job finding the best solution for our space - he really did a heap of work investigating what would fit and how to get them in.  Thanks for the recommendation R&N.  They should be even more unobtrusive when I get some fruit trees planted beside that fence.

We still have two more smaller (2kl each) plastic tanks to go in behind the shed.  The front ones will be mainly for the washing, and the rear ones for the garden.
And with all the rain we have had the last few days the first two are filling quickly!

Dragon Fruit
I've also planted a Dragon Fruit - I think they are ugly plants, but the fruit is nice to eat, and gorgeous to look at, so I thought I would try one.  I've planted in the back corner behind the shed where it can grow over what is left of the mango, and I can't see it except when I want to.
The one I have bought has the red flesh.

 Tasmania
Over the Easter school holiday we went to Tasmania, primarily to visit my Dear Brother (DB) & meet his Lovely Lady (LL).  It was L6 & J4's first visit to the state.
One place I really wanted to visit was the Botanic Gardens - especially to see the Gardening Australia vegetable garden.  Fantastic - so many fruit trees.  And they are building a temporary kitchen garden, prior to a larger permanent one with a real education focus.
I didn't take any photos in the vege garden, but I did photograph some of the herbs, once I think I might want to add to my garden, rather than having to write it all down!

The view from the herb garden

Purple Sage

Golden Marjoram

Lemon Scented Savoury

Salvia & view

I just loved the glimpse of colour through this doorway, and the warm glow of the convict made bricks.

L6 took this photo of the compost bins tucked against the wall.  Just the same as ours!

Beautiful colour!

 Hard at Work!
We helped at a working bee for one of DB's friends.  These are a regular occurrence - approximately once a month or so by the sound of it.  There is a real co-operation and sharing.  A social occasion, as well as helping out your friends.  Also a lot of sharing of equipment & materials.  "I don't need that left over wood under my house, could you use it?", "This couch is uncomfortable for me, would it suit your studio?"
It was a privelege to be invited along.  And I got to see a couple of wonderful gardens.  The soil here is quite poor, very sandy, so raised beds are the order of the day for vegetables.  But the wildlife is prolific (DB &LL live on 100 acres of bush) so the beds have to be fully enclosed to keep out the possums, wallabies etc.  So I now have another use for all that poly pipe - to support a curved roof of netting over my gardens and keep the possums & brush turkeys out of my garden.
Another wonderful idea was using left-over or old guttering hanging on the side of the vege enclosure to grow strawberries and herbs.  I'll try to get some photos to show you.

The highlight of the working bee for the boys was the fires - to burn off the bracken etc we were clearing from the paths, and the toilet.  The main task of the day was to dig a new toilet pit (easier than expected due to the sandy, but still firm, soil - but I wasn't involved, and move a fully enclosed dunny, complete with rainwater barrel & sink for hand washing, from elsewhere on the property.  And here it came!  Sitting atop two large logs and being dragged behind a 4WD ute!  With two of the workers hanging on behind as if riding a sledge!
Once it was nearby we slid two beams underneath and, on the count of three lifted.  Under the expert direction of one lady, we lowered it into the exact position first time!  I really hope I can get hold of some photos for you.

We also helped DB clear an area near his wood BBQ.  The boys enjoyed helping with this as well - the fire again being a big drawcard!

L6 pushing the wheelbarrow full of bracken.

J4 empties the wheelbarrow & throws the contents onto the bonfire.

SMD fully rigged out in safety gear to 'whipper-snip' the bracken near the BBQ

 Port Arthur
We had a lovely day at Port Arthur. And I got another couple of ideas for our garden.
We did explain as much as we thought they could understand about Port Arthur - and the massacre.  We were living in Launceston at that point in time.  Vivid memories of hearing & seeing the reports live on the Sunday night - while at indoor soccer.  But going back now, it still strangely has a wonderful sense of peace about it - as it always did for me.  It is just such a beautiful place.

Love the woven fence around this vege garden at the Commandant's house.  Might try this as a garden edging near the shed - using the Sacred Bamboo.

A beautiful robin the the memorial garden.  And a lovely screen of native grasses.  Where can I put something similar?

 Well - it is my last child-free day before starting back at work next week.  Still some jobs to do, but I have to sort my tax out first (Damn!) or I'll be in trouble with the tax office.

The seeds have arrived from the Digger's Club today as well.

I hope you haven't been completely bored by this long post.  I'll try to keep them a lot shorter now.

Happy Easter
Ravs

To Bee, or not to Bee - is no longer the question!

Day 10 Monday 4th April

Garden
The Bee Question Answered
Actually - this happened on Sunday - Col delivered my (our?) bees in their hive!

J4 trying to get a bee to crawl onto his hand!

The bees are native stingless ones.  They are tiny, black & gentle.  They also only come out once the temperature reaches 17 C or higher.  If the bumblebee, a cold climate bee, ever makes it to the mainland, especially Qld these beautiful animals could be in trouble - they just would have so much less collection time.

The funny 'hat' is to help stabilise the hive's temperature.

The hive entrance.

These social bees make honey just like the honey bee, only slower, they are a lot smaller after all.  I couldn't get a good photo of one today, but we saw lots entering the hive with their legs covered in pollen.  They have been sited with the hive entrance facing approx NE right next to the passionfruit vine, in the first spot to get the sun in the morning.  They should be very happy here.  I am ever so excited to have these hard little workers to help in my garden - along with our other hard working 'pets', the chickens & the worms.

Did you know that most of Australia's bees are solitary?  It is really fascinating stuff.  This is a great site for information about our native bees.

Fencing
On Monday (Day 11) Mr Skivvy and I worked our b...s off, only stopping once for lunch.  I didn't realise how hard I had actually worked him until he left (after a mug of tea).  But we felt really good about it.

Almost since we moved in to this house over 5 years ago Himself (especially) has been concerned about the possibility of children falling off the edge of the lawn, over the retaining wall, and onto the pavers under the deck.  This worry increased after we landscaped the backyard - and added an extra 'step' to this drop.  And one child, visiting to play soccer, did fall down this first 'step'. So a few weeks ago we bought the materials to prevent this happening.

This is what it looked like 'before', or with only the fence posts up.  Getting them lined up and vertical was the longest part of the job - seeing the retaining wall base isn't perfectly aligned itself.

And then after all our hard work......

This shows you exactly what the drop is like - and why Himself was concerned about it!

The final result - not bad.

It was dark when we got home from collecting children (we went to the golden arches for dinner, as I hadn't had time to think and both the local thai and chippy are closed on Mondays), so it took Himself a little while to notice the change.  I had told him I planned to do some preparation work, but didn't let on I was also going to try to put the whole thing up!  He, L6 & J4 were thrilled!  Now they can use the full width of the pitch!  And he doesn't have to find the time to put the fence up himself.

Now I have another trellis to grow vines on.  Or I wonder how espaliered fruit trees would go here?  Whatever I do, they will have to be in large pots sitting on the gravel on the far side of the fence.  Hmmmm?

Today J4 & I added four further trellises to the garden, two at each side. I would rather not have them, I don't think they add to the aesthetics of the garden.  Their purpose then?  To reduce the frequency with which the soccer ball goes over the fence into the neighbours yards!  They have been placed directly behind the goalposts.
Are you getting a picture of a family of soccer mad boys?

  Sewing
As promised - here are the before & after photos of the felted woollen vest I finished refashioning on Friday.
It started out as a daggy hip or thigh length grey woollen jacket.

After felting, before refashioning.  15mm hole near bottom right front.

After refashioning.  Suffolk Puff & button flowers cover the hole, repeated at neck opening.  6 strand embroidery floss in matching colour to buttons, used to buttonhole stich around armhole openings.

 The larger Suffolk Puffs are made from that felted kimono jacket whose fabric I also used in the Junky Styling scarf.  The smaller puffs are scraps from my quilting, the buttons are from another cardigan I have recently felted, and the embroidery floss is from goodness knows what.  The vest is waist length on me.

It is intended as a gift for someone special.  I hope she likes it.  But what do you think?

TTFN
Ravs