Flora and Fauna

Alive and thriving are several fruit trees including the miraculous black current that Dean planted bare rooted in November. Our largest chinese elm (shop bought) is Dean’s height. The olive tree although hidden by rampant weed growth is looking fine and doing the slow grow that olives do. The chinese elms from cuttings from Orizabah are still with us, as are the Japanese irises, a few sturdy looking young plane trees and a stoic oak or two.

New Year's Eve 2007

It’s anything but Frosty...
Must be in the 30s C but the day is thankfully cooled and de-flyed a little by the gentle breeze. A delightful day full of cups of tea and reading in our screen tent. It’s pitched down by the creek under the willows. When I look up from my book, or pause with my cuppa I see butterflies dancing in the breeze along with the falling willow leaves. The creek is flowing–just. There has not been a hint of rain in the last few days, possibly weeks.

To cool off we have had a couple of quick dips in our “plunge pool”; a triple bath size water hole in our creek. We lookout for snakes who might have the same idea.

Today I have had a calculated agenda of reading pleasure: Australian Country Gardens – a Xmas present from Dean; Permaculture, A Designers Manual-mental stimulation - another birthday present from Dean 3 or so years ago; a novel Lollipop Shoes–by the same author who wrote Chocolat, Joanne Harris; and my own writing which needs a review and re-order to set me up for the year 2008–only 5 hours away. Mind you we won’t see it as we go to bed quite early here.

As night falls we eat a hearty Irish stew which has thawed from its frozen state in the big esky.

We hold our inaugural meeting of the Frosty Hollow Astronomical Society. We commence with some study of our astronomy book’s map for the southern hemisphere on December 21. We are hoping the stars have not moved too far in the last two weeks.

I see Orion’s belt before I clock out–such is the soporific effect of the frog chorus near our little caravan .