peta’s blog

We went to Narracoorte Caves in South Australia over the Anzac Day long weekend (that's around April 25). Loaded the car up with kids and camping gear and drove 500-odd km to wander through some pretty cool limestone caves that have lots of fossils of now extinct megafauna (marsupials in particular).

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And we went on some tours of the caves, and did an adventure cave tour (first time for us all) which was nifty getting the overalls and helmet with a light on to go crawling through little spaces. I put some pictures of the caves on my flickr page, and reflecting on that made me realise just how many photos of caves I must have, and how little i can tell them apart. When I was a kid we used to go to lots of caves around the place - my dad is into them but it also might have been the weekend access keep the kids entertained thing as well, which is good too.

Can people distinguish between caves when photos have been taken? I might have to get a compare and contrast thing going on by scanning some old pics in and trying to remember where they were taken.

Anyway, here are some views of Narracoorte Caves.

We camped while we were there - it rained most of the time, but fortunately we were underground most of the day. there is also a bat colony - at sunset we went for a walk and found a (fenced off) opening to a huge cathedral-like cavern and stood there for ages just listening to the swooshing of the bat's wings as they flew past our ears. The noise was surprisingly soft and delicate sounding, which really makes sense now that I think about it. If you are down that way - check it out. There are also _lots_ of vineyards.

It's back into winter here - and we have had a miserable few days with hail and rain, and now a very soggy backyard, though it's not very PC to whinge about that, is it now? So on to more positive vibes.

The winter planting has happened - the sugar snap peas are sprouting (pics to be added), and seedlings of leeks, fennel and onions (brown, white and red) have been planted. There is also a lovely crop of Cos and red minuet lettuces, as well as the ubiquitous silverbeet. We have been enjoying Stephanie Alexander's recipe for sauteed silverbeet and parsley - mmm. That's in here if you are looking...

The sole product of the pumpkin vine was harvested - and it's tasty (into pumpkin and fennel soup).

Joe's youngest son Jarrah, who is ten, has gotten into a fabulous habit when he stays with us of picking flowers for the house. Unfortunately, this is the first photo I have taken of his excellent offerings, because there have been some amazing bouquets.

Jaz just came in to give me these ones. He arranges them as they are picked, and they are put into the vase without rearranging (other than making sure they all reach water).

I think they look fabulous - lovely colour selection. Plus the flowers are from our garden - obviously the roses are pretty happy at the moment.

How do you stay organized? 
Submitted by devillibrarian. 

My diary tells me what to do.  That and an awareness of the chaos my life spirals into if I don't.

Well things have been a little quiet on the reporting front for a while.  But we have making headway in that time!  The entry/study and bathroom are practically finished, and we have transformed the lounge area.  This is a very fine thing, and is making a) the living space far more pleasant, and b) the end feel like it is in sight.  Here's the photos before and after.  The first was taken the day the house settled, the second was taken today.

During the work in the lounge, we also moved the TV to a spare room.  _This_ has been fabulous.  The kids even spend less time watching it, as it isn't as comfy and close to the fireplace, which has to be a good thing. 

Other than that, we have also fancied up the front yard a bit, which is something we have been thinking about for a while, but finally inspired by Morabbin's backyard room.  We made a cute bit of paving that is going to be the centre of a rose garden, with a row of fruit trees behind it.

Better get back to it - it is actually a nice day up here.  Yay!

Well, it really feels like we are making progress again.  The front room and downstairs bathroom are almost complete - just waiting on stuff that is easier to do when we can get a few rooms done all at once (like finishing the ceiling).

We have bashed a hole in wall at the bottom of the stairs direct into the lounge area, with the plan to wall up the existing door to provide some wall space in the kitchen

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We have also removed the front window in the lounge.  Previously it was an aluminium window, with this timber bit across the middle, which kind of defeated the purpose of having a wall size window (I think).  It was pretty ugly, and once we removed it, I realised I had been avoiding looking out of the window properly.  I suddenly had a new perspective on the front yard (which also needs work, but that's another post...).

Of course, we decided to pull the window out on Sunday.  Joe started at about 7.30am, and we finished the frame at 7.30pm.  It required more bricklaying and playing than we reckoned on.  So we had to put the old window back over the hole and fasten it in position.  Now, you know it gets cold here, and we are now heading into winter.  And, as has been well publicised, there hasn't been much rain.  I am confident stating that this rather breezy set up in the lounge has bought the lovely rain that is now happening in Victoria.  We both had to go off to work this week, so the new doors and windows haven't been put in yet.  Guess what we are doing this weekend!

Video: What is your favorite children's movie?
Submitted by I-Luv-Eeyore.

It's Easter Sunday today.  Happy day to you.  We slept in today to the luxurious time of 0730 - very decadent these days with my usual 0530 start!  And we didn't get woken up by roosters, as we did the organic farm thing yesterday and feasted like kings last night.  Today, we planted a tree (a callistemon)

and built a pond from an old bathtub.  Very earthy weekend all round.  In other news, we are getting there with the house, the front room is nearly finished.   We have done some more to it than is in this photo, but the camera batteries died, so no pics :-(  Grr, crappy rechargables that don't...

We are starting on the kitchen soon, which means I'll have to stop changing my mind for what I want.  I'm thinking more of this sandstone could be good, but who knows.

Joe bought the kids a go-cart for Easter, which has been excellent fun.  They have been tearing around the yard, until jarrah got three punctures in one go, which has slowed things down a bit.

We have continued to work on the new bathroom while I've been on holidays (back tomorrow, starting a new job, but that's another title). 

After some thought, we worked out how to attached the corrorgated iron to the wall and attached the aluminium strip to that.  I think it looks damn schexy!

babies playing in sunshine

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