37 Black Swans: Happy New Year and the Festival is Coming...

Jan 1 2012 and we woke to a misty morning...Happy New Year to all...
As it was drizzly, we had breakfast in the tent then slowly packed up our gear.
The weather began to clear so we went for a walk down to the dam..and beyond..

Slowly we made our way home...a leisurely 10 minute drive (if that!!)...put the tent out to dry..
then to Red Velvet for morning tea and fresh baked muffins...yummy.
Home again and we packed away the camping gear.
The skies are clearing but there is lovely cloud hanging ovet the hills.

We had an relaxing read, snooze etc and after a late lunch decided to drive to Moonah (north of Hobart) to the Bunnings store to look for thistle chipping tools and pick up a few other items that the local Mitre 10 don't have.
We drove back to Hobart and had dinner at Taste Festival ...then took a walk around Constitution dock in search of Dump Truck (John's favourite yacht). Didn't find it but we did spot some other familiar names and saw 'Lahana' the Handicap Winner.. Great atmosphere down on the waterfront.

Yes...No.2!!

Monday..and already almost oppressively hot outside..heading for 29 degrees today.

A quiet Hobbit read to start the day

We got to work tidying things up a bit and decided to open the doors when we spotted a couple looking with interest at our book display in the window...They ended up buying a couple of fairly pricey books....good way to start the day..
The boys got to work on setting up some seed potting mixture to germinate some plants we are going to need...

Tom and I rearranged the shop shelves in readiness for the Festrival crowds...moving all the samll toys out of reach and packing up the Christmas displays..

I went looking for milkshakes and found that the new takeaway Devour does them...ahh yummy .
Did a couple of orders that came through and sold some more books.
By 1ish we decided to close as it was hot out and very quiet..
Had some lunch then a snooze..
Then up to Red Velvet for a lovely afternoon tea drink outside in the shady breeze..

Back home and John read another instalment of the Hobbit to Tom while I sewed some patches on Tom's scout blanket..

Later Tom and I went for a bike ride down to the public boat ramp..
Such a lovely cooling effect as we rode along.
There was a pleasant breeze blowing by the water.
We watched a couple of motor boats returning to the ramp after a day out..Interesting to watch the loading onto their trailers.
Tom enjoyed some skimming practise...I was fascinated by the farmer in the paddock behind us who was baling hay.

Then we looked along the river to see a magnificent sight..a beautiful ketch sailing into port...such a lovely sight..We rode to the jetty to take a closer look ...really wonderful.

We later Googled it and found that the boat 'Yukon' is making its way around the world
They are stopping in Tassie for a year.
The boats all looked so lovely on the grey water...

Home again and Tom decided to cool off out the back...he had such fun. (I joined him briefly too!!)

It was still quite a warm evening so I decided to made the most of the locally grown berries sold at IGA and made fruit salad for dinner..yummy!!

Tuesday morning and another hot day is forcast...

Spectacular clouds formed out the back...then rolled in to create a humid, still day reaching 31 degrees. A storm is forecast later with a top of 17 degrees for tomorrow!!

We had a few orders and sold a number of our products to local customers this morning.

There was much mowing of lawns in town this morning...in preparation for the festival

Very quiet afternoon as everyone keeps out of the heat.

The boys had another Hobbit session..in the shop.

The working day ended with a number of customers and sales...nice.

Tom and I decided to pack away the Advent figures in the window even though we haven't reached the Epiphany yet...preparing for the Festival crowds...

After work we all headed down to the port so John could see the ketch 'Yukon'...Tom on his bike and John and I walking.

The sun broke through the clouds but there was a lovely cool breeze blowing.

We spent quite a bit of time down at the public boat ramp beyond the Cygnet Yacht Club watching many different yachts setting sail for a Twilight race at 6pm... as John said..."you couldn't do this in Pennant Hills". It really was the most relaxing and enjoyable afternoon.

We slowly made our way back home passing Rob and Lisa (from Post Office) on their evening walk..

Tom and John had a climb on Tom's favourite tree down by the water...

We enjoyed a refreshing fruit salad again for dinner as it was still pretty warm out...though a change is on the way.

Wednesday and the day is cooler with the occasional shower.. The boys head off before 7am to go to the Cadbury Factory north of Hobart and to do some shopping in town too.

I did a shorter walk circuit via Burton's Reserve ...noting the tent sites already marked out for Festival campers....just got back and the rain came down..

After breakie did a walk up to IGA for some milk and saw the Festival street bunting going up..exciting..

I made my first home made coffee with our Christmas pressie before starting work.. yummy!!

There was a big Melbourne Therapy Centre order to keep me busy..

I also had a range of interesting customers buying books lotions and toys...such an enjoyable morning chatting with them too.

The boys had a fantastic time at the Cadbury Factory...bringing home a swag of favourites...

We continued with customers through the afternoon...really enjoyable..

After work we went to our lower paddock to chip thistles and assess the gorse problem...which is quite significant here. For the moment it is fairly contained in this section of the property and we'll keep chipping at the smaller new growth...But it will need a full range of drastic measures to keep it contained...(slashing/burning/goats/revegetaion etc) A project down the track a bit.

So lovely being on the hill with the sounds of Kookaburras, Black Cockatoos, lowing cows...the late afternoon sun lit up.

Back home and after dinner I had a walk to Burton's reserve and found there are already a number of campers set up for the Festival....Tom wants to come on my morning walk tomorrow to have a look...

Thursday and it is a chilly morning...Tom and I did a circuit of Burton's reserve

then walked through the school grounds and Loogana Park where the Festival Markets will be held..

Pretty quiet now so we took some photos to compare with when things are running..

There is a sense of excitement in the street as more people arrive and trucks unload sound gear out front. The Town Hall and Carmel Hall across the road are abuzz with activity.

The Lotus Eaters is open again after their Christmas/New Year break and they have all hands on deck..preparing their famous Paninis , coffee and chai...

I had my favourite soy chai tea with honey this morning...Yummm.

A lovely day with Festival viistors arriving and visiting the shop throughout the day.

The rain came and went during the day too.

We set out after work to go in to Hobart as we were invited to attend the opening of and Art exhibition in a small gallery in Salamanca Place...the works done by our builder David Davenport...

It was a lovely evening..enjoying drinks and nibbles while chatting with friends Ryan and Minky (and Arlo) as well as Dave and Mark (another builder/friend).

We had fish and chips for dinner at the wharf afterwards...not so special... but the seagulls enjoyed the leftovers.

Friday dawned cool but sunny...had a lovely walk by the port to start the day..More campers ar Burton's.

We had a very exciting morning watching the activity outside our shop windows.

Tom and I did a walk aroung town..and I picked up our wristbands for the weekend...(John and I got free tickets as we sponsored a concert event)

We had so many people through the doors during the day...and sold quite a number of books...really delightful hearing their stories...such a joy to be here.

Tom had a great time wandering around town giving us updates on what was happening...buskers etc..

I had a fabulous Curry from Lotus Eaters before heading out to the airport to pick up Lucy..

John decided to keep the shop open as we had so many customers coming through buying books...he eventuslly shut the doors at 6ish..

I always blur these shots cause I'm so excited!

The festival was already underway when we arrived home so we went in search of the boys...stopping at a few venues ...

We eventually spotted them sitting on the bench outside the shop as they had been doing the rounds looking for us!!

We are in a fantastic spot right in the middle of all the venues..Town Hall,Supper Room(next door), Community Church hall(2 doors down) Carmel Hall (across the road) and numerous venues at the school ...and more...The concerts finish at 12midnight so the noise doesn't bother us.

The boys called it a night and Lucy and I set out to take in as many performances as we could...

I definitely have the Unwin FMS ('fraid of missing something)gene and was trying to cover every event!!...(thankfully I relaxed a bit as the Festival went on...)