I moved the kids and I two days after Australia Day, and haven't looked back. Tom is still based in Melbourne because he hasn't quite got round to quitting work (how does that slip one's mind?), but he IS on two week's leave with us to get a few things done, ready for when he does move down and take on new work in the area.
Now, I've spoken to the CMA guy again about our creek. In a couple of weeks he'll bring round those investors and he is positive that we'll be green lit for this work. He assures me it the willows will be out by Christmas and the reveg will be done for next winter (2012). Like everything else, I'll believe it when work starts, but it doesn't hurt to look forward to something. This work will pave the way for our farm planning on that creek section and we can put in some paddocks that will be easier to work with than the current configuration.
I'm really looking forward to establishing a better quality wildlife corridor. We've seen our second koala passing through just this week, so we know we could get more of these wonderfully interesting creatures (two thumbs! On each hand!) when we have more to offer them.
Thanks to an observant and resourceful friend, I have tracked down and bought a tube of a tree I have fallen in love with at the local outdoor pool. It's a Weeping Peppermint, and when I've chosen a location and planted it I'll post a picture. Also, I have some gums that koalas like to munch on, but I've already forgotten their names! Not to worry, I have two that I'll put in a nice spot for shade and a nice, native welcome to the hill track.
We've started a veggie patch (by 'we' I mean 'Tom'), and we're recycling the sheep poo pellets and straw from the cow shed/sheep shed. As we empty out the shed floor for converted living space, we're growing our own food. We'll soon peg out an orchard and start planting our fruit trees. A neighbour has suggested we plant some nut trees as soon as possible, too - good idea.
It's rained in the last week, but as the ground really needed a wetting it has soaked it all up and gone spongey, instead of spilling out of springs in the hills. It's raining as I type, and this rain may start to run off, if we get a good fall.
The annex is up on the caravan, so we have some more undercover living space until the roof gets put over the van. It's nice to sit out here and watch ABC's iView offerings (when the mobile internet network is working!) in the evenings after the kids have gone to sleep. And after our ritual outdoor shower!
I've adapted surprisingly well to living out of a caravan and shed, and wouldn't go back to suburban living in a pink fit. This is the life for me. I always knew it was true and I have to keep pinching myself every evening when I sling the Small Girl onto my back and take her for a walk down the road, along the creek, watching out for wombats, picking up signs of fox activity, calling the dogs alongside me and taking in that wonderful air full of the scent of eucalypt and creek water. It's a smell I fell for as a child whilst camping annually at Buchan Caves, in East Gippsland, and now it's mine to enjoy for as long as we're lucky enough to live here.
I'm expecting my horse, Dante, to join us in the next week, and I am making preparations for his arrival. I will order some salt licks, follow up on getting his paddock buddy down here, I have his rain sheet hanging on a fence (to wash some of the dirt off in the rain!), his tack is down here and now I just have to get his other rugs and feed down here. Though with this grass, my boy won't need extra feeding! All my puzzle pieces will fall into place once that critter is here. Then begins the fun work of finding someone to trim his feet, establishing a new vet relationship and seeing how far down the road I get on him...
What else? The moths around here are impressive - I'll have to get a photo of one of them, too! We've taken some photos of Wedge Tailed eagles in flight up on our hills, and they are truly majestic.
Tom has put in a tap from the water tanks to the shed. The meter reader was finally able to gain access to the meter for a reading and we may even get a bill this time! It won't be pretty, because they haven't been able to give us a bill while the shed's been locked.
Oh, and I installed the letter box! By myself!! I've become a lot more resourceful since moving here - I used a cordless drill in anger for the first time ever. And almost completely ruined the letter box installation, but it all came together in the end.
So, we're in residence and work on the shed is in place - photographic evidence forthcoming!
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