37 Black Swans

Sunday and its a sparkler....
I have a lovely walk around Burton's Reserve then head home..lots on today.

Our Quince tree is in bloom...lovely

Thomas goes down to the Burton's Reserve Open Day today to help out with the Scout events...and also have a fun day with his mates.
John opens the shop as it is Market day...and we also have a swag of orders that have come through from a practitioner doing a consult visit in Queensland...so he gets started on them.
I go over to Tarremah Steiner School Fair to see if I can pick up some books for the shop...
We all enjoy our activities..
Mid afternoon we pick up Thomas and head home for a rest.
Then go up to Wattle Grove to enjoy a walk (and tree climb).

Then home to dinner and an early night as we are pretty tired..

Monday is another beautiful day.
John and I stride out over the back paddock to harvest some Crataegus flowers for a medicine he wants to prepare...(Tom is still in bed as it's not yet 7am)

Then its on with the day.
We are absolutely flat out today...more email orders from Qld and alot of phone orders too...phew!!
Thomas happily heads to scouts at 5 and is staying until 7.30 tonight as they are cooking their dinner..
John and I go up to Wattle Grove to bring back some Sugar Maple trees that he took up there awhile ago...despite some fencing the possums have had a feast. We hope they will survive in our back garden with some TLC.
I have Book Club tonight at Liz' place out of town. We meet out front of the shop at 7.10 and car pool ...A delightful night of laughter and good company..
It was Halloween theme...amazing scary shortbread biscuits and fun..but no books were discussed!!

Tuesday and the rain has come overnight...but it eases off so I have a good early walk.
Its overcast but about 18 degrees at 7.30am...extraordinary...
I go down to Community Garden and we tackle lots of weeding together under ever darkening skies..

Amazingly the rain holds off until 12...our cuppa time anyway. We shelter under the verandah of the house enjoying salad picked fresh from the garden, home-made dips, nuts, biscuits and strawberries..Yummy!!
There are more orders from Qld to do when I get back to the shop and customers...and the afternoon passes quickly .
Liz Smith (our local hero of sustainable living and good community practises/councillor ) is setting up a table at the Sustainable Living Festival in Hobart this weekend to showcase the producers of the Huon Valley. She asked us for a Calendula harvest photo and some info to include in her display... (Apparently Prince Charles and Camilla may be having a look at the displays before the Festival opens...John gave Liz a Rose Cream to present to Camilla!!)
We enjoy Soup and Bread at RV chatting with Vicki and Lyn (from book club).

Wednesday is a lovely sunny one...

The back garden is looking beautiful.

During the morning I notice a delightful sight across the road in front of the Pharmacy..pig,sheep and goats..just another day in Cygnet..

We have a busy day with orders to do..creams to make and fill and the occasional customer..

I go across to the launch of the Huon Valley Health and Wellbeing website at Carmel hall...showcasing local groups with this focus.. very interesting...

After school the boys head in to Huonville for medical check-ups while I mind the shop.

Then we enjoy a quiet night at home..

Thursday and its exciting to see our first Arnica flower is ready to harvest and process..

I head off into Hobart to do some chores...John holds the fort.

The morning is fine but as I drive back the clouds roll in..(Just in time for Charles and Camilla's visit!!)

We spend the afternoon doing some orders and packing an Arnica cream..

Another unusual sight out front...not so common in Cygnet.

The boys go out the back after school to chop and stack some firewood that was delivered today.

We have Devour for dinner then as a special treat (as I will be in Sydney this weekend) we watch a movie. The boys have been reading a Susan Cooper book about Shakespearean England...so we watched Shakespeare in Love...(a bit soppy for Tom but some good scenes of the theatre).

Friday and the day starts well...

We have an interesting morning of customers and orders....

Then the rain sets in and the temperature drops to 15 degrees...Brrrr

I'm off to Sydney this later this afternoon to see my dear siblings and Ma and Pa...Looking forward to it...

Sunday and its a glorious morning..
John leaves early for another book fair...and kindly leaves Tom and I to sleep in.. (well that was the plan...Tom had other ideas , and was up at 6.30am...shuffling about until I finally gave up and opened my eyes..He was so keen to make me a cup of tea...his new skill...So I had early breakie in bed...delightful)
We went for a walk together out through Burton's Reserve and along the coast to Martin's Point. A cool breeze blowing ..but stunningly sunny with a predicted top of 19 degrees..There were trees to climb too of course.

Then home to some sewing and lego...before stopping to sit in the sunshine.
John arrived home and we decided to spend the afternoon up on Wattle Grove..
The boys drove up after a tree climbing stop at Burton's Reserve...I was keen to walk up.
It took me a bit over an hour...just wonderful.
I set off up the goat track and followed King Hill Rd to the other side of the hill...then down Jetty Rd and up Forster's Rivulet Rd .(A family driving past stopped to warn me they'd just run over a snake.) The boys passed me here..Then up Sunday Hill Rd and down Cawthorns Rd to our place.

Beautiful sounds along the way..frogs and numerous birds..
You really do feel as if you're reached the heavens up there..Such brilliant views across the river to the mountains.

Tom got to work getting his swing up and running.

Then we set up a picnic table and bench and enjoyed some lunch in the sunshine.

We went down to the Petchy Bay paddock after lunch to chip thistles...if we catch then before they develop and flower we will save ourselves alot of work.

Can you spot Thomas?

Tom was happy climbing about as John and I worked.
We made the slow climb back up to the car and packed away our tools etc before heading home. John had a snooze while I had a cuppa and Tom enjoyed a Calippo..(first iceblock of the season).
I did a chores then had a short bike ride with Tom before dinner..
A relaxed evening watching the golden afternoon sun fade to evening...and a stunning moon rise over the hills...

Monday arrives a bit cooler...its lovely out walking today.

Our Berberis plant has some beautiful delicate flowers..

We have a busy day of orders..and time just flies..
Thomas is happy to head to scouts as usual after school...
We enjoy our dinner then a quiet evening...

Tuesday and its promising to be a warm one today..24 degrees...although it starts out a bit overcast..

There are a couple of colourful parrots grazing on the grass..

Thomas has his Athletics Carnival at Huonville today, so he takes an iced water bottle along with his usual water...and wears the Red T-shirt for his team Lourdes.

I enjoy the morning at Community garden...but it gets very hot. We weed, plant out seedlings and move the chooks

...then enjoy fresh salad from the garden and a variety of delicious dips and cakes that have been brought along. Kate and her son Alex(visiting from New York) treat us to Iced Coffee ( ie Farmers Union cartons )They go down well after a hot morning in the garden..

Its a busy afternoon of orders in the shop..

Thomas' furry friend often get up to mischief before he arrives home from school...Its delightful to see his response ..

John and Thomas plant Bryophyllum seeds and re-pot some of the Chamomile and Hyoscyamus seedlings..

We enjoy Soup and Bread and socialising and Red Velvet.. a big crowd this evening.
Quiet reading then bed for all...

Wednesday is a bit cooler...
Our Quince tree is budding...not sure that the slender sapling will support alot of fruit though..

John's pots of Chamomile,Cichorium and Equisetum are doing well

We have a very busy morning with several big orders and lots of little ones too..

The day passes quickly. I have received a Toy order this week from HoneyBee...so spend the afternoon pricing. Getting stock ready to set up a Christmas display in the next week or so.

Thomas gives me a hand with dinner ..and even eats his salad first!! Amazing!!

We watch the news to see the aftermath of "Sandy" in New York....

Then a quiet read and bed...

Thursday ..pinch and a punch....November 1....and its a wet and cool morning..and the rain keeps up through the day. Top of 15 degrees predicted ....Brrr...so much for warming up..

Don't think Tom will have after school Footy Skills today..

John and I get on with tidy-up chores in the shop as there aren't many orders to do first thing..

Its a pretty quiet day order wise...

We have made contact with a local architect...who dropped in for a chat with us this afternoon.

We have decided to explore other possibilities re our house on the hill...and hope to come up with an affordable option.

The afternoon was quite cool...but we decide to have a walk and do the Golf Course circuit.. There are some beautiful bushes in bloom as we walk through town.

Thomas delights in climbing as many trees as he can...(Can you spot him!!)

We head back home via Devour...to order dinner..

Its a chilly night...nice to be home.

Friday... Happy Birthday Libby (and me)...

The day begins well with breakie in bed and pressies...thanks to my lovely boys.

Then its up and chores to be done.

I go over to 9am Mass as Thomas is reading a short prayer...he does well.

Then its back and orders and customers to keep us busy most of the day.

I enjoy receiving Birthday messages and phone calls through the day...

It's a good day ..I even sell one of my handknitted hats to a local who is sending it to Denmark...nice.

After work we drive into Hobart and have a wonderful dinner at Rockwall...a restaurant in Salamanca Place. Ben , our friend who used to work at Red Velvet, now works at Rockwall. It was good to catch up with him...

The rock wall out back of restaurant.

Tom is impressed with dessert..

Stunning Lilac at Battery Point.

A quick swing at Arthur's Circus ...

A lovely birthday.

Saturday and we wake to a beautiful day so make the snap decision to go to Hartz Mountain.

(It was my Birthday Wish...to walk to Hartz Peak) Its about a 45 min drive over the other side of the river..through Franklin, Castle Forbes Bay, Port Huon, Kermandie and Geeveston.

We have absolutely perfect weather...clear blue skies and sunshine...

The scenery is truly awe-inspiring.

Its roughly a 4 hour return walk...but Thomas has such delight in scrambling on the rocks at the peak...we are out longer...Fabulous ...(Apologies for all the photos!!..)