Winter in Cygent

Sunday morning we have a slow start...Its frosty out but really lovely.

John is a little better (not much though).
We have made arrangements with a couple of locals to visit their gardens and hopefully harvest Calendula so John pushes on...
The first garden is high up on the hill behind Charlotte Cove..a stunning spot.
Although a very interesting visit here, there is not enough Calendula worth picking. We delight in the house and garden and take away thoughts for our own property.
We head back to town and have morning tea at RV...a welcome interlude.

Then we drive up towards Wattle grove to inspect an area where we harvested some Calendula last year..there are a few healthy plants so we may return to harvest them later.
We drive to Silver Hill Rd in Cygnet and spend quite a bit of time in this wonderful haven. Such a brilliant, yet simple garden. Thomas is enchanted ..

John is delighted to find there are a number of lovely Calendula plants...and we also come away with Comfrey as well..We are so enthralled by this place and hope to achieve a garden that is as lovely one day..

Back up the hill we harvest the plants we saw earlier..then back to the shop and we process the plants.

Thomas helps in the pressing...and we get lots of lovely juice. Terrific...as our stocks were getting a bit low.

We eat a late lunch and just potter for a bit. John ends up heading to bed as he is not doing too well.
Tom and I have another quiet night..

Monday is a cool grey day..and it begins with usual chores etc .
We have a few orders ...but it is fairly quiet.
There are a number of customers in today. Its really nice chatting with them and learning about what they are doing . One is an Antroposphical Nurse based in Kingston...and she has been talking to parents at the Steiner school in Kingston...encouraging them to visit us..
A young couple who are visiting  are eager to learn about what we are about and John enjoys spending time with them.
I'm feeling the cold today and decide to get a Lotus Eaters Curry for lunch.. It does the trick and warms me up nicely.. (I only get through half of it and will have the rest tomorrow)

The afternoon passes and Tom arrives in from school having had a good day.
Before long its Scout time and John walks him down.
We have a cosy night once Tom gets home...heading to be early as we are all feeling tired.

Tuesday and its a cool start..

Thomas does some knotting practise before school. He is going for his knot badge soon at scouts.

John gets on with making Sphagni's which is a full morning's work.

I get on with orders and the day passes. We have some lovely customer encounters again today..Some parents from Tarramah have come down to purchase products that Jen mentioned in her talk...nice.

The sun is out a bit more today..and I have an extra layer of clothes on...so I don't feel cold like yesterday.

Tom arrives in from school looking like a real Tasmanian...in a t-shirt. (he does have a thermal top on underneath!!)
We enjoy a quiet warm evening together.

Wednesday and there has been some rain overnight as everything is wet...a lovely gentle morning out.

The sun breaks through the clouds and flood our flat with warmth..

Lovely view out the front too..

Thomas is not so well today. He gets ready for school..but we decide it is better if he has a home day instead.. A few tears are shed as he loves to go to school..poor darling.
John sets up a cosy "nest" for him in the shop area.

There are 23 black swans grazing in the paddock out the back today...always makes me smile to see them..

The rain comes in and it is a grey old day. I feel for the family and friends attending a funeral at
St James...
Thomas takes to his bed and sleeps alot of the day which is the best thing for him really..
It is another quiet day re orders.
A local brings in boxes of books for John to look at...a lovely assortment.
I spend the afternoon with Thomas as he is quite unwell with a nasty headache.. eventually he sleeps...so I keep close by.

We have a very quiet night as Tom is still unwell. Fortunately, after a very unsettled evening, he slips into sleep.
John and I retire to bed early...quite exhausted too.

Thursday...and thankfully Tom has has a good nights sleep. He is still fairly weak so we decide to keep him home another day.
The morning is overcast so it is not so cool out.
We get the fires going and get busy with the day.
There are a few customers in this morning buying our medicines etc.. Really nice to be gaining more of a presence with our medicines..
We had a visit from David Coad who has written a series of local history books that sell well. He is visiting here for a while...he lives in France.

We got busy with some big orders in the afternoon..
Thomas is looking much better and looking forward to school tomorrow..
I have a lovely walk out along Port Cygnet late in the afternoon.. It's a grey sky..but not cold at all.
Just love the views along that walk.

The boys have a nice reading session before dinner.

We have a quiet night as the rain begins to fall.

Friday and its a rainy morning. I take a walk up the main street to keep under awnings a bit.
We spy a large flock of birds having a wonderful fly about in the rain.. (you might just see them in this photo)

Thomas is ready to head back to school...especially as his colour house Lourdes has a been awarded a fun afternoon at Huonville Sports Centre for gaining the most points..(for good behaviour etc)
We have some orders to keep us busy in the morning...then it goes quiet around lunch time.
John and I decide it is probably not a great idea to attend the "Red Faces" night in the scout hall tonight...John is still congested and coughing and we suspect Tom will be worn out after his return to school today. We mentioned it to Tom this morning and he is not too upset to be staying at home..
The day is grey and the drizzle comes and goes..and we are glad to stay in tonight and enjoy a Chicken roast dinner...yummy.
The fog drifts in early in the evening..

Saturday and we are up and prepare to head to Hobart to a Book Sale again. We rug up as the hall is always freezing..

Its a pleasant drive into town in our new car..

We find an interesting array of books...but are fairly selective as the quality of alot of them is not great.
Morning tea at Jackmans at North Hobart is very welcome. We take a quick look in the wonderful Quilted crow shop (a converted church...just fabulous).
Then drive into Hobart and park up in the back streets of Battery Point.

We walk down to Salamanca Place and find a birthday gift for Jahan (Tom's Sydney friend)..
There are choirs performing as part of the Festival of Voices.

After a poke about in the bookshop we head home ..stopping to take a quick look at a shop of Felted garments on Sandy Bay Rd that caught my attention..

John has a snooze while Tom and I go for a walk out to Martin's point...Its a lovely afternoon.

Tom has a lovely time throwing sticks into the water to watch the ripples

We have a relax when we get home then get through early showers to begin our Harry Potter Movie at 5pm... followed by dinner of Jackman's Venison and Quince Pies...delish.
We have a great post movie discussion...comparing the book to the film...and discussing which we liked better and why...(Tom even had a chat to Hannah about Luna Lovegood's Petronus?! )
Then settled down for a quiet night...