Mother's day week

Sunday and as promised...I have breakfast in bed.
Delicious fruity porridge prepared by John and a BIG cup of tea brought in by Thomas.
The gifts are delightful...many cards..made at school and scouts...Foot balm and Bath milk made at school (I was in on the "surprise" as I helped the class do this on Thursday), a Downton Abbey book and soap and special tea from Lucy.
Phone calls and messages received from the girls during the day were lovely.
We had a slow morning...me enjoying  a read of my Downton book..the boys Harry Potter.. I did a bit of sewing...but need more material to continue...
The weather was very changeable again today....Was lovely...depending on which way you looked

John realised Alex (the farmer who is usually here on Market day) was out front selling veges..so we do a bit of shopping then Tom and I make a soup.

The market Bread guy turns up later so John ducks out font to buy a sourdough breadstick to go with our soup and a fruit loaf as well..
Its pretty cold out..but if rugged up its lovely...(especially if you have a warm home to go to.)
We set out about midday to visit a couple of permaculture gardens that are open today...sadly the first one is not open due to unforeseen circumstances...so we go up to Wattle Grove and do a bit more work up there for about an hour or so..
There are snow-capped mountains in the distance...and when the wind blows..you can feel it..

We really enjoy ourselves..

John drops Tom and I home and goes to the 2nd garden. (he said it was ok but a bit overgrown and hippy-ish...not how he'd do it)
We have a lovely afternoon of reading and knitting...an early shower and then have our yummy vege soup and bread..

More Harry Potter then we tune in to the Met. Opera performance of La Traviata on  ABC Classic FM..
Really enjoyable listening..

Monday and its not exactly warming up too much.
The morning isn't too cold as I do my walk ..but it doesn't get any warmer as the day progresses.

We have lots of orders to keep us busy throughout the day.
A number of customers drop in ...mainly after lunch...and browse and buy books.
A Mother's day parcel arrives from Hannah...Downton Abbey Series 2...what a treat
Tom is keen to get to scouts as usual.
I walk him down as John is doing some potentising.
I prepare Beef Stroganoff for dinner and get a bread on the rise..

Tuesday and its a grey start.

 The sun makes a few brief appearances throughout the day..but not for long

We have orders to keep us busy...and we fill the shampoo and conditioner bottles and label up for the shop shelf...
There is a nice drift of customers...some just browsing and others in for specific medicines...
I venture out about 1-ish to have a Bowen treatment...a new and interesting experience...to try and address a painful ankle issue and ongoing occasional back discomfort.  It is very deep tissue 'massage'.. sort of...quite painful at times...but Nolan assured me that is due to the muscle tension in those areas..Thought I'd give it a try.

Nolan Alderfox (the therapist) is our neighbour up on the hill...he and wife Julie and daughter Ula live off the grid in a very sheltered shady spot...but they have a fabulous vege garden..
Tom arrives in after ballgames.
We have early dinner as I have a School Board  AGM and general Meeting to attend. A long night as the meeting goes from 6.30 and doesn't finish til 10pm..but much is talked about and resolved and sub-committees formed. I will be working with a group to try and address Canteen issues..currently running at a loss...will be interesting.
Dearest John is waiting up for me when I get in...(well he fell asleep waiting..on the lounge)..so lovely.

Wednesday and again it is grey on my walk...but not cold. 10 degrees.

We are aiming for 16 degrees today.

The boys enjoy a little "Harry" before school.

I go over to kitchen class but am not needed today. Roy explains that there is very little to harvest from the garden so he has had to be more creative with the program, as his budget is low. Today he has a local guest speaker talking to the class about her raw food vegan diet...Interesting!! I decide to head back to the shop as John may need my help with orders. The talk would have been fascinating though...
John and I notice how cold it is in the medicine room compared to the rest of the building. We are thinking of solutions to make it a more comfortable work space as we spend alot of time in this back room.
We work on orders and product research for ingredients for a cream that is sought after.
We have various groups of customers through the shop.. a nice day.
Mid-afternoon we notice some action up the street in front of the new shop 'Cygnet Garden Larder'...due to open on Friday.
I wander up and join a group of locals as we watch the new sign going up.

Tom arrives in and has had a good day..Second day of NAPLAN tests today. He did reading and comprehension..seemed ok with it.

We had planned to dash to Kingston after work to pick up some books we have ordered...but the day is grey and as the evening descends...we change our minds as a cosy night at home is more appealing.

The boys enjoy Harry Potter and later I do a few "Downton" episodes...lovely.

Thursday and the moon is still visible on my morning walk.

  

I go over with Tom in the morning to see if there will be activities to help with today. Kim said she would love me to assist the children with typing up their marine reports...

John and I get busy with a stream of orders and John makes a Rose Cream that has to be filled..

Its pretty full-on.

The day is bright and sunny during the day...so the flat is nice and warm.

I dash across at 1.40pm and help in the classroom til bell time, then back to shop to pick up on a few more orders.

Anne, Gemma and Noah come over for afternoon tea. They enjoy the marble cake that Tom helped me make this last night.

Its nice to catch up with Anne..she heads to China next week in connection with the charity she runs..saving Pandas from Bile farms....

I toss up whether to Zumba tonight as I'm a bit headachey...but bite the bullet and go.

Its actually a bit easier as I feel like I'm keeping up a little better...still can't do those bellydance moves though!!

More Downton then bed!!

Friday and its Walk to School Day... St James has 3 points on the edge of town that the children can walk from. The out of towners will be dropped off by their bus drivers. Tom chooses the Sailing Club..so all 3 of us walk down at about 8am to meet the teacher and children there. John and I watch Tom run the last couple of 100 mtrs to meet the group then we turn around and head back. (We don't want to cramp Tom's style by walking 'with' the group)

We get into the day's work...labelling and packing Rose creams.

Orders and customers keep us busy throughout the day.

I unpack some lovely new puzzles I ordered..

Tim the sign writer is working across the road putting up another School House Cafe sign.

 He calls in as he is keen to come and put up our Dead Cat somewhere!! That will be interesting.

The new shop in Garden Larder opens today..I buy some lovely oranges and some fresh veges!!...such an improvement on the IGA offerings... The Larder also has some interesting kitchen gadgets etc..

Tom arrives in from school with his class photos...

He and John harvest and process Horseradish from our back garden...as we have had an order for a potentised Cochlearia (horseradish). We will leave the tincture to sit a few days then John will potentise.

Its quite a cool evening. We decide to have dinner at the Red Velvet and enjoy it very much...especially the short wander home again.

Tom is not feeling so well with a head cold coming on..so we tuck him in after a Eucalyptus/Plantago Chest rub...

I settle in to watch the final " Miss Fisher Murder Mystery"...

Saturday and we have a slow start (for us) and head into Hobart after a few chores.

We have a busy morning...

First to a heating shop to look at another small heater to install in work room area...we find a suitable size and arrange to have the installer come down and do a quote for us..

Then across the road we investigate options to start a lease of a Subaru to replace the Prius which is finishing lease soon. We walk away with plans of a Forester to be ordered for us. It will be a real bonus to have an off road vehicle for harvest trips and just getting up and back to our land.. (The Prius was great for Sydney traffic conditions..but not ideal for Tassie conditions)

John goes hunting for some Paw paw..and finds some at an organic market stall in Salamanca. He is planning to ferment it and make a tincture to add to a planned new wound cream we want to make.

We do some birthday shopping in town then swing past Kingston to pick up some Cygnet history books for our shop.

Glad to be home, I dash up to the Larder to buy some veges for dinner..

Then we crash and snooze followed by afternoon tea and a read of the paper.

I get on with dinner and some chores while John does some research for a wound cream he is making.

After dinner John and I wander over to the Town Hall to see how the Peregrine School Bush Dance is going. (Tom is not keen to come as he is tired and coldy..so opts to read by the fire)

The Bush Dance seems to be mainly a Peregrine School social event...It seems  to have a nice feel to it. We don't stay long as Tom is home alone. We enjoy the music wafting in as we read in our cosy lounge room.

Another full week......

Melbourne weekend then back home

We enjoyed our weekend in Melbourne..

(It felt a bit surreal after being bedside with Pa for a couple of days...my head and heart were still back in Sydney alot of the time)

Although we were all very tired, the Opera Barber of Seville was enjoyable.

Saturday awoke to Hot Air balloons aloft out our window..we had a lovely walk along the Yarra...a college rowing regatta was in progress...high excitement and activity. Then into the city for breakie and a wander around the shops.We visited the exhibition gallery at the State theatre and NGV. The weather deteriorated during the day but didn't worry us..The boys did The Edge..a viewing platform 88 floors up...dinner at The Blue Train then home for a quiet night.

Sunday we strolled up to a special breakie at The Hotel Windsor...yum ..jumped on the City Circle Tram...jumped off for a spontaneous visit to the Melbourne Aquarium to see the penguins (Quite amazing to see.. but sad they are in captivity)..then back to Ian Potter gallery at Fed Square to see Linda Jackson Bush Couture exhibition..Slowly made our way to airport happy to be heading home..

Monday and there is a fabulous sunrise as we get on with early chores...getting washing out and firewood in..

Tom is happy to head off to school.

John and I run like chooks all day, catching up on orders and filling new ones that come in during the day..

Tom and I do the walk to scouts...its quite cool and I'm glad I thought to put on an overcoat.. (hard to imagine  how hot I was in Sydney a few short days ago). I have a nice chat with Jason who is the dad of Finn. Jason is teaching at St James...they are newly arrived from Beechworth and are still settling in...

After dinner, I tidy up and head out to my first Book Club group at Danie's place just up the road. There are about 8 of us ,ranging in age from mid 30's to late 50's...such a great night of laughter and fun.  Apparently they have been meeting since 2008...and this is the first time everyone has read the same book "The Help".. I gather its not an real literary group..but we have a brief discussion about the novel, tuck into the "Southern" treats Danie made (Cornbread ,fried chicken and Pecan Pie) and generally enjoy eachother's company..a delightful bunch of women.

Tuesday and its overcast but not too cool today. The setting Moon is beautiful in the morning sky.

I get a bread baking then take a load of washing to the dryers across the road..as it won't dry outside today..

We have a quieter day today with orders...but John is kept busy for 3-4 hours making a several batches of Sphagni. I get to work on a new label for a Chestnut/Rosemary Shampoo and Conditioner range we are thinking of doing soon.

One of the ladies from Monday night, Vicki, calls in just to say hi...really nice..

Its lovely and sunny out. I take a walk to warm up a bit...its chilly in the shop.

I go to 'Near and Far' to buy Ma some socks for mothers Day. Gillian, who used to work at Lotus Eaters is there with her baby Georgia, and I offer to have a cuddle  of Georgia while Gilly does her shopping...lovely.

Ryan came over with Arlo after work and we enjoyed a long discussion about our house plans and costs etc.. lots to think about.

Tom and Arlo had a great play.. 

We have a quiet night.

Wednesday and we doze in a bit this morning. Its dark, grey and wet out today. I get the fire going in the shop before breakie.

Tom does some letter writing to his friend Jahan after breakie.

I go over to Kitchen class today.. We bake little Apple Pies and Brownies. The children have a taste and get to take some home for their Mums for Mothers Day.. Its a hectic morning, but I love being there.

We have a few orders today ..and I do more label work.

A number of customers are in for various things which is nice.

Tereza, another lady from Monday night group drops in to give us some eggs.. such a delightful surprise.

We have more wood delivered today...will definitely come in handy.

The afternoon closes in early today.

I bake a cake after dinner and have a lovely long chat with Sandra.

Thursday and its grey but not cold out this morning.

There are more Autumn colours up and down the street.

Lotus Eaters have a lovely display as usual

John goes up to Wattle Grove with Ryan and Dave (builder) for the morning to meet with excavation guy and a plumber. They discuss Cawthorn's Rd upgrade and driveway construction as well as tank placement near house site...We are trying to tighten up our costing of the house project before we commit to proceed. Still have to wait for settlement of Windyhaugh before we make any final decision.

I have a busy morning of customers and orders...a pleasant morning.

After lunch I go over to Tom's class to help with craft activities. Today we make and package foot massage cream for Mother's day presents..Its pretty messy...but we have a lovely time. Kim and Sharon are great fun to work with.

John and Tom go for a walk down to the Apple Stand on the road to Lymington...on the way out of town. John heard that there are good Granny Smith apples on sale there...

The boys buy three bags of local apples...yummy

After homework and dinner I head off next door to Zumba...

Not so daunting this week..even though I am way behind Claudia's moves!! I just try to enjoy the workout.

Friday and the day starts bright but a cold change is predicted.

I notice the new St James Stephanie Alexander Kitchen garden sign...looks good.

As the morning progresses the day darkens..

We have a quiet morning...but enjoy customers that come in and get on with some re-stocking of shelves and paperwork.

Orders come through the day and we watch the rain come and go.

An order of new books arrives for us to unpack and price. Some interesting Tassie books..should do well with the locals and tourists..

I had invited Anne, Gemma and Noah (the family who come from Sydney just before us) over for afternoon tea...but Anne rang to say she was bogged and couldn't get here...Oh well...maybe next week.

We snuggled down to a quiet night in as the rain became steady...and the evening cooled down..

Saturday and the weather came and went ...I got on with some loads of washing..

Ned called in to look at making another book display area in the shop.

Ryan and Arlo arrived as we plan to go up to Wattle Grove to peg out the proposed house site.

But first...morning tea at Red Velvet to get us going...

Thre are fleeting glimpses of blue sky on our drive up...

It was pretty cool and the rain came and went , but we had an exhilarating time up on the hill. John and I began dismantling the old fence near the house site while Ryan pegged out the house. tom and Arlo had a great time playing under the trees then up on Tom's 'weather station'.

It was wonderful to get a feel for how the house may stand on the site..

Back home we shared a late lunch of Lotus Eaters panini's  and some more good conversation..before Ryan and Arlo headed home to Woodbridge.

We were happy to stoke the fire and have a tasty pasta meal as the day closes in.

Tom went to bed with the promise of breakie in bed for me tomorrow for Mother's day ...yay