2nd week of Advent

Sunday and we are up before the birds..setting out a bit after 4am to head to the north of the island.
Tom and I sleep a for a few hours on and off while John drives...he loves this time of day.

 

We check out a site in the Midlands where we saw Hypericum last year..Alot of it is not quite in full flower yet but we will double back if we don't find anything else..

We stop for breakie at Elizabeth Town Cafe...

then get back on the road to begin our search..
I call upon the help of St John to help us find the Hypericum (St John's Wort) and he comes through.
We find some excellent patches and harvest in the heat of late morning after an extensive search of the surrounding territory.

 

 

Spectacular views of Mt Roland..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lunch and a browse around Sheffield is enjoyed by all. Tom loves the murals and the park!!..(Oh and the Lolly Shop is not bad either).

 

 

 

Back on the road we head south and stop in the Midlands to do a harvest at about 4pm...then stop for afternoon tea at Campbell Town. On to Hobart where we have dinner at Mures before the final leg to Cygnet.

Tom falls asleep in the car and we put him straight to bed.
John calculates we have harvested  about 4.6 kgs of flower...a pretty good harvest.

 

A LONG day...but we have had a successful harvest..

 

 

Monday and we are blessed with another beautiful day..

 

The morning is a busy one..which is lucky as we are feeling a bit harvest lagged!!

John harvests some Hyoscyamus and processes it to make a tincture.

 

 

 

 

 

Paul drops by with some drawing ideas for our house plans..we have a good chat and feel like we are on the right track at this stage..

Tom arrives in from school and we get on with making some stained glass biscuits for teachers..

At 6pm we all go down to the Scout Christmas BBQ night. We play games, enjoy a BBQ dinner, watch a little performance by the Joeys, view a powerpoint presentation of Scout activities for 2012 then finish with a carols singalong...a terrific evening..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday and its warming up..

Tom is up bright and early at 6.25am as the day is so bright..

John is delighted to show us the spores he has collected from the Felix mas plant..

 

I get a couple of orders done before going to Community Garden.. Not a big roll -up today. We weed gardens and move the chooks as well as taking the opportunity to have a chat every now and then..

A nice cuppa break at the end of the morning..

Loads of lovely fruit growing...

 

 

 

 

 

Back at the shop John has had a very busy morning selling about 30 books!! Christmas shoppers!!

We hear sad news that Bruce, owner (with partner Jasmine) of the Old Bank B&B died this morning..a heart attack. A shock to all the community. Bruce had a very high profile around town...campaigning strongly against Huon Valley Council for the good of the Cygnet Community. He had taken on our concerns re the impending construction of a carpark out the back of our place...

He will be dreadfully missed. Jasmine will need alot of support.

The women from Lotus Eaters go and spend time with Jasmine. Alex and Gilly come in to get some medicine and Sphagni to take to her..

John and I talked alot of the blessings of being in a small community that feels the loss of someone deeply.. Everyone is united in their support and concern for eachother..

Soup social is cancelled tonight due to Bruce's passing...

We have a quiet evening at home..I make some Christmas Angels while listening to Christmas music...a comforting thing to to when my heart feels so heavy...

 

 

Wednesday and I take a walk up at about 6.30am to leave a note for Jasmine at the B&B.

I meet George (from IGA) who says he did the same yesterday..

Steve (RV) is also about and stops to share his thoughts and last meeting with Bruce..

It's a beautiful morning.

 

 

We wave Tom off to school and Bec from the Larder comes down to ask if,by chance,we are going in to Hobart. There is a Swiss gentleman outside her shop who has little English..and needs to get to the airport this morning. John chats to him in German while Bec organises a taxi to come..

We get on with orders.

Today is the Christmas Concert at school.  Tom's class are singing 3 groovy Christmas numbers..he is looking forward to it. Has to wear red shirt and black pants, reindeer antlers, a tinsel scarf and sunglasses!! John goes over to see Tom perform..He is there somewhere hiding in the back!!

 

 

 

John processes the Hypericum for Oil then heads into Hobart this afternoon to look through second hand books..

 

 

Tom has his last afternoon at Footy Skills..

We do some Christmas baking for teachers and have dinner.

John arrives in with about 100 more books for our shop...some fascinating ones amongst them..

 

Thursday is overcast but warm..

 

We get on with the usual chores before work/school.

There are orders to start the day..

We have lots of customers.. tourists and locals...and sell alot of books etc

We set up books around the fireplace as we find they sell better if displayed..and it looks inviting..

Jasmine stops out front and I go out to give her a big hug. She is very thankful for all the lotions and potions we have supplied...glad we could help her in some way.

Friends Robyn and Gerry have moved back to town after a 6 month stint in Devonport. They call in to ask if they and other folk musicians can play here in Friday evenings... We'll hold off 'til next year as we felt it wasn't appropriate to begin now due to Bruce's passing this week.

Danie from Devour drops in 2 fruit minces for us...so yummy!!

I go over to Tom's class for the last time this year ..we finish wrapping Christmas pressies...

Back at the shop Alex from Lotus Eaters drops in to get a few things...then we talk about Bruce, life and loss. Jasmine has asked the Lotus women to be at the cremation  as she does not wish to attend. They are going to do a big cook-up in the morning for a Wake to be held at the B&B Tues afternoon...

Giselle and Narissa from Lotus come in to buy a few things too.. the influence of Bruce is being felt throughout the town..

We have a quiet afternoon and enjoy a Devour dinner...Thursday night special!! 

I head to bed at 8pm even though it is still bright outside...just have to sleep as am so tired...Tom tucks me in before he goes to bed too!!.

John sets up a bookshelf next to his reading chair...so now the piles and piles of books have a home.. A wonderful Christmas gift for me as it looks so much tidier...Thanks John..

 

Friday is a lovely  morning.. I have a quiet potter as still feeling really tired today..

We enjoy our breakie and delight in the Christmas tree bathed in sunshine.

 

We all go for a walk down to the water this morning as it is a king tide. John was hoping for a more spectacular sight..but its a lovely walk anyway.

 

 

Tom heads off to school and we get on with orders.

There are a number of Christmas shoppers in today...buying books and our products...nice.

John prices more books and we get more out into the shop.

I have to replenish our soft toys as John sold 4 yesterday...

It's a peaceful afternoon..

The boys head to Huonville after school for a dental checkup.

Local resident Paul drops in to tell me he was hitch-hiking to Hastings in NZ last week and Phillip stopped and gave him a lift...what a coincidence!!. Paul was delighted when he mentioned Cygnet and Phillip knew it well!! Made my day.

The afternoon has become quite cool and grey..

We will probably go over to Woodbridge to Peppermint Bay for dinner. Haven't done that for a while.

Our Advent scene in filling  up...getting exciting!!

 

John is planning to do a repeat harvest tomorrow...following the same distance we did last weekend. He very generously insists he can go alone so Tom and I can sleep in and get on with other things here..Very thankful to be able to have a home day tomorrow..

 

Saturday...and I hear John get up at about 4am and head out the door.

I wake early to the sound of torrential rain and hope John is not experiencing the same.

 

I get up and do a few things before Tom appears at my door and tells me to hop back into bed for a cup of tea...He is so sweet. After cuppa we are up and breakfasted so we can get into the day's chores. We spend a good 2 hours cleaning Tom' room and making a cosy space for Hannah to sleep when she arrives on Thursday night.

 

John calls at about 9-ish to say he has turned back as the rain continued to fall as he travelled north...very disappointing after such an early start. He will have a break in Hobart before heading home.

The black clouds circle about and bring rain on and off..

 

The Hypericum Oil is colouring up nicely..

 

Tom and I continue the big clean and scrub through the flat. We stop for a break about 10.30 and John arrives in..

We do some Christmas baking, wrap presents for teachers and I go into Huonville to get a couple of things from Woolies. Its a full-on day..

 

By late afternoon, John has had a couple of snoozes and suggests we have a bit of a walk together...

Its good to be out even though I'm feeling very tired..

 

We go home and enjoy lovely Lamb and Rosemary pies John bought in Hobart this morning..then have a quiet night.