Daylight hours are slowly decreasing....

Sunday and a lovely sunrise to begin the day...

.... it turned into a grey and rainy morning..

We arrived at the Kingston Beach Hall about 7.30am to trawl through the Book sale. Duncan (who is running the sale) rang us during the week to invite us in early to have first dibs...nice. We picked up quite a number of interesting fiction and non-fiction books.(note Tom on stage surveying the scene)

We had breakie across the road at Citrus Moon cafe...
Then back to Cygnet to open the shop for Market day..
Our local musician  Matsumoto Montz was busking outside the Martket just outside our shop side window...a treat.

Things were buzzing out front and in the hall as usual.

John went down to the Community Garden to a Book Sale there...and again came back with some good finds..
I did a bit of grocery shoppping for dinner...fresh basil and tomatoes from Alex's garden and homemade pasta from Kate's Garden Pantry.

Tom of course had a terrific morning scouting around and buying all sorts of treasures.
He bought me a sparkly rock and a lipstick case to keep it in...so sweet.

We sold a number of books throughout the day and enjoyed our customers.

John and I took it in turns to have a snooze...a good afternoon for it..

John spent alot of the day pricing the books and I put them out on the shelves..

Had a lovely afternoon tea at Red Velvet then back home and Tom did some baking for his school lunch box...some lego...some reading...etc

I made moves to set up a sewing nook in our bedroom...Looking forward to having the space with my sewing treasures around me...

Tom finished off the day working on his SSA (Secret Spy Agency)...its an ongoing 'project' he began in Sydney with his friend Jahan...he  suddenly had the idea to mark out plane and boat/submarine routes to secret destinations on some old maps...great stuff..

Monday morning and the boys(and seal) have a cuddle after breakfast...

We had a pretty quiet morning order-wise so John continued pricing books. I completed labelling the Arnica Cream boxes.. Orders picked up in the afternoon..

Tom enjoyed heading back to Scouts...

It was a lovely evening...and the scouts did outdoor cooking on homemade tin can stoves...pancakes..yum said Tom.

Tuesday and the morning began quite grey and cool.
John left early for a followup dental appointment.
Tom snuggled down with his Scout Blanket to have a quiet read before School.

Swimming program begins at school today...4 days this week and next.

He will go on the bus to Port Huon Sports Centre (about a half hour drive around the other side of Huon River.)

John was back in no time...all  good at the dentist.

We had a number of orders today...and the occasional customer too...sold some books.

Adam the electrician arrived with offsider Jesse to set up an electrical pole to the side of our building for the mains connection to be relocated...its currently over the canopy and not readily accessible so Aurora Energy want it moved.

There is action at th IGA with swanky new counters being installed...

The word is out that the small shop next to the butcher will be an Organic fruit and veg shop soon...yay!!

We saw the Dance Fever duo arrive  across the road..ready for the afternoon classes in Carmel Hall...Tom loves this class. (Tom tells us they are 'professionals' from the mainland..impressive?!?)

After school and homework...Tom and John set up shelves for me in the bedroom for my sewing area...its terrific!!

Wednesday and I went over to help with Tom's Kitchen class from 9.30am to 11.00am..It was quite a morning!!...I helped the group that set tables ready for the meal...the other groups cooked a mild Thai Curry with rice, salad harvested from the Kitchen garden and apple and banana muffins..then we all sat down together and enjoyed the meal...and then the clean up afterwards!!

Back to the shop and orders to be done through the afternoon.

After school and homework Tom and I went over to school to take some photos of the garden etc...lovely afternoon.

John pottered in the shop as we had a group of tourists stroll in about 4pm and begin browsing...it often happens...I guess other shops of interest close at 4...so if we don't have any plans, we'll just stay open longer.

I used up the pastry in the freezer mading up some pastry parcels for dinner (Chicken, Bacon and Brie...yum) as our faulty fridge is being repaired tomorrow and I have to turn it off to defrost..the fridge section keeps warming up as there is a faulty element...

Thursday and its another grey start...though quite warm with an expected 24 degrees today..

Tom is off to swimming again today...really enjoying it.

The boys finished the last pages of 'Lord of the Rings' this morning...after a bit of horseplay...

Quiet day with a few orders to do and some customers through..

The evening light was so beautiful streaming through the shop...

I went out for a walk as the evening was so lovely..

while the boys enjoyed their pre-bedtime reading session..

Friday and the sun is coming over the hills between 6.30 and 7 in the morning..

It occurred to me the other day that I don't hear so many birds on my morning walks...I think they must migrate over the summer??
Amazing cloud reflections in the creek as I head home..

We had a busy morning of orders then customers throughout the afternoon...a nice mix..
I unpacked a box of wonderful wooden puzzles for the shop that arrived today. There is alot of interest from people and I have sold quite a few over the summer..

Warmed up by the end of the day to the predicted 24 degrees with and expected high of 35 tomorrow...
Ryan came over at 4pm to have further discussions on the house plans...still no news on the sale of Windyhaugh...so we have plenty of time to think and re-think the design..we hope there will come a time when we can proceed!!

Off to pack for our brief visit to Sydney over the weekend to see Turandot...so we will miss the heat..haha

Hit the ground running

I arrived back from a fabulous weekend in Sydney..(a little weary) on Monday morning..
Great party..Congratualtions Jess and Aaron!!...Fabulous Cake Lucy!!

John was working his way through a swag of orders.. this is the second load for the day....

We opened the shop despite it being Hobart Regatta Day (a public holiday here) as we knew our mainland customers wouldn't know it was a holiday!!
I crashed for a bit then did some tidying , washing and got to work....
By mid afternoon , I needed another nanna nap!!
After work we went into Hobart so Tom could show me his prowess at the sideshow alley on the regatta ground..Just loved the archery!!

We had some unexotic takeaway dinner..then headed home as I was flagging and Tom had school tomorrow.
Spectacular skies on Tuesday morning as I set out on my walk

The apples are ripening on the trees at the Community Garden..

The boys enjoyed a morning read then Tom had more lego time before school...very pleased with his latest models.

Tom is enjoying school. Mrs Brain sent homework home this week which is a good start... (not too taxing!!) Tuesday is Sports day and dance group in the afternoon called Dance Fever!!
Mon and Wed are Kitchen Garden days....in the garden on Mon and Kitchen Wed. (I hope to do some volunteer work in the kitchen )...Parents are invited next week to come and have a look .
Thursdays is Music and LOTE (Language other then English) and Friday Library.

We had a customer in today telling us to go and look at the Sailing Club as there was an interesting yacht moored nearby...so we took a walk after work.  Hmmm...curious !!
Tom enjoyed riding there and stopping for a climb on his favourite tree...

Wednesday was another busy day of orders and customers..
Finally the new issue of Sanctuary arrived at the Newsaagent..Our article looks quite good

After work Tom and I had a bike ride out to Slab road to eat some Blackberries by the roadside.

Came back via the Oval where a Cricket match was underway..
Tom met up with a mate from school who was on his bike...so they had a bit of a ride about together..

Thursday John got busy making an Arnica Cream and Bath Milks and a Special Order cream.
I had some lovely customers to chat with then on with orders and sealing and labeling thE Arnica cream.

After work we went for a drive to explore Nicholls Rivulet area then over the hill to Peppermint bay at Woodbridge for pasta dinner ..yummy!!
Home and a really warm night....

Friday and the weather has changed ...quite grey and cool today ..Lovely.

It sprinkled a bit as I walked this morning.

John set off at 8.30ish to go into Huonville to the dentist...(he has been troubled by a very sore tooth all week)

I had a nice morning of customers and orders.

John arrived back minus his tooth..ouch!!

Pleasant but quiet afternoon...John had a rest as her was feeling a bit worse for wear..

Tom also lost a tooth today!! Although his came out naturally..

We all had a quiet time after work in preparation of our evening out

Tonight we are going to a Lute concert at St Mark's Church...should be lovely. Hopkinson Smith was a founding member of Hesperian XX with Jordi Savall (16th & 17th Century Music)..should be great.



Wonderful evening of amazing music..and a short walk home to our cosy beds!!

Saturday and Tom starts his Sailing Course today.

Good thing he has his wetsuit as the day is grey and cool.

John and I waited until things got underway before heading home for a few hours.

Tom seemed quite at ease once he realised there were alot of other first time sailors!!

He got straight into helping get the boats  ready...good to see

John and I headed back down about 11.15 to see if we could spot him out on the water.
Eventually the boats made their way back to the clubhouse and we saw Tom on  No. 4 ...Black Swan.
He was in his element...a great success.

Such a great start...so well organised ..Tom is a little sad that he will miss next week as we are going to Sydney...
After sailing we drove over to Kettering Chandlery to buy Tom some shoes for the water...(the ones supplied by the club are a bit big and floppy)
Had lunch at the Mermaid Cafe then home for a snooze.

Spent the afternoon working in the garage clearing and tidying...a big job...but well worth the effort.

Yummy Italian sausages from Graeme the butcher for dinner...a short read then off to bed.
Up early tomorrow for a Book Sale in Kingston Beach...