So, today I have planted out a coastal rosemary which I have had in a glass on my kitchen bench for about three months. I originally just picked it 'cause it was flowering, then realised it had grown roots .. it's a creeping form, which will be very nice trailing down the daisy bank at the shack and then, once this one has grown big enough to strike from, over the large boulder bank at the block.

I also planted out a punnet of seaside daisies (erigeron), and seeds of the following in pots (to be planted into the garden later): C*ntinental Parsley, Sunfl*wer Sun King and Prad* Red, Gazani* Giant Mixed, Pumpk1n Buttercup, Bush Be*n Violet Queen, Heartse*se, N*sturtium Jewel Mix, Mexican Cucumb*r, Cucumb*r Long Green, and P*ppy Iceland Mixed Colours. Whew!

Hopefully they'll all come up :)

I want to plant zucchini, a few types of tomato, and lots of basil, as well as some rhubarb, over the next few weeks.

At 4:13am an alarm started sounding outside the house ... for about two seconds we thought it was next door ... the we realised than no, it was OUR LandRover!!!!

Mr Tasmania leapt out and did a nudey run (close your eyes) and raced outside, turns out his very expensive to replace electric car keys had gone through the wash with all his bike gear... we found the spares ... but turned out the first pair still worked (tough eh!) ...

Unfortunately starting the car did nothing ... so he took off (in his dressing gown and crocs by this time!) up the hill and away ... with the trailer still attached! I could hear the horn blaring constantly as he went around the twists and turns of the 6km drive up the mountain to the highway ....

It gradually diminished, and finally, while he was on the phone me, stopped ... hopefully for good.

So, it's parked across the road, to be taken in to the mechanics this morning, along with info I downloaded from the manual he has on the desktop.

ADventures, adventures, they never stop eh :)

Fortunately it happened now, rather than in three weeks time, when his parents are here 'dogsitting' while we're in NSW ... they're perfectly capable but it's not what you want to deal with at 4am on a cold winters night when you're in your mid 80's ... so, silver linings :)

Cleans his bike, washes off the things that can be washed off, puts the rest in the washing machine, sets it all, gets it going, puts the rest in to soak once it's done, and then goes and washes himself (with a nice hot dinner and chocolate in the middle of that - I'm not heartless!).

Quite the gem, actually :)

So, I planted the magnolia, hopefully it will grow nicely in that spot. I've also planted (at the shack) out another purple blob, some daffodils (already sprouting) that I got cheaply (not one single clue as to what type they are!), some geraniums I struck about 6 months ago (in place of one of our miniature Kangaroo Paws, in a gorgeous blue pot - the yellow one has essentially karked it, the red one is going nuts - and I put the deadish one in the garden so it might revive), and some viola and poppy seeds.

I think tomorrow I will try to concentrate on the daisy bank (otherwise known as a big pile of grass!) and planting seeds (flowers and vegies) ... my garden is going to become the classic Sydney wog garden that I grew up with and that my aunt still grows - spinach growing amongst the roses ... or in my case zucchini and pumpkin vines among the daisies and geraniums.

Mr Tasmania is on his way home ... apparently an enormous amount of Tasmanian West Coast mud is coming with him.

So, as JD has spent most of the night running around the backyard barking at the moon (it's almost full) I'm going to skip taking him for a walk, gather all my bits and bobs, and head up to our block to plant the aforementioned Magnolia. I wouldn't need to take much, as we have spades, watering cans etc in the shed, but Mr Tasmania has all the keys with him in the Landrover ... and even if I did have the keys (we really must get around to getting a set cut for me) I can't open the shed door. It needs to be lifted slightly higher (It's big enough for a bus to fit through) and then I will be able to move it .. at this moment in time, even though I'm a very strong girl I'm just not strong enough.

ah well, nothing like clambering over a gate to add to the adventures of the day :)

You will understand why I am excited if you check out the tree pics below .. or rather the ex-tree pics! There is no longer a huge layer of shadow over the loungeroom in the afternoons, sunlight is streaming in the windows, I have shirts airing in the spare room, and the heater is OFF!!!

And this is on a day when my husband (who is off on an expedition to the Pieman River, on quadbikes, with 5 mates) has phoned me to say that it is snowing an hour and a half south west.

But I don't care because I'm in sunshine, the sky is blue (and is supposed to stay that way for four days - my entire long weekend in fact!), I have hung out three loads of washing and brought one back in already (first load to actually DRY on the line since first week of June), and I've done heaps of chores (including grossing myself out with the vacuuming) and been to the nursery and bought plants, manure, potting mix, been to the grocery shop, been to the grog shop (mmmmm, cor*nas!) ... and it's only just now 2pm!

So cool, the aim is to get all the chores done by tomorrow lunch then I will have 2 and a half days to do whatever the heck i WANT do - hooray for flex time!!!!!

So, for those gardeners out there ... i bought potting mix and cow manure so I can plant out some geraniums I have struck, as welll as setting up some fuchsias and daisies to strike ... and i'm planting out another 'Purple Blob' succulent (the first one is AWESOME), and will also be planting out some seaside daisies, and a new shrub I'm very excited about. I use the potting mix and manure because we're essentially on sand here so there's not much holding water or anything in the soil ... see Of Compost, below! ... at the moment I'm just adding, adding, adding ... and mulching with pea straw or lucerne hay will be commencing soon too!

The new shrub is a Telopea bush ... you may know of the Waratah, gorgeous red native, however I have discovered in Tasmania the waratah BUSH ... there's a lot around this area, they get to about 2m tall and are covered in Waratahs - gorgeous! So, I've bought one called a Corroboree Waratah (very indigenous), which is supposed to be a gorgeous dark orange red. It's going to go out the front of the shack (they're very hardy and don't even like fertiliser!) in my 'shwubberwy' and should put on a fabulous display during Spring (possibly not this year, but in the future).

I have also bought a plant for the block ... we planted a camellia (courtesy of Mr TAsmania's mum) at the top of our driveway, which just happens to have his mum's name, so I've been on the lookout for a plant containing his dad's name. Looooong story short, I gave up and bought Port Wine Magnolia today which has a variation of his name in it's name (if you look at it sideways) so I may even go up and plant that tomorrow. We're still getting heaps of rain so it'll be watered in nicely!

And now I think I need to go and read the paper for half an hour or so.

But the compost heap will take care of it all - hooray!

Both went down this afternoon, perfectly dropped by a friend from church, fitting absolutely to the inch onto the ground between our house and next door - quite amazing!

The chainsaws have been roaring all afternoon and there is a whole lot less of the trees now than there was this morning! Also a whole lot bigger pile of stuff for me to burn, but that'll have to wait until the tree tops dry off a bit - not too much, I don't want a wildfire - but a little bit, nothing worse than thick white smoke instead of a good solid flame!

Anyhoo, The Sheriff was very happy to have a chat then he hung up on me :)… which I guess is an advance of just leaving the phone off the hook! I phoned back a little later and he answered (expecting some other birthday calls obviously, as he’s the man of the moment :), turned to his mum and said it’s Aunty Lis again! … too funny!!!!

I had a chat with The Sheriff’s Deputy (her name is being changed to The Amazon Princess – she’s most definitely her mother’s daughter!), who was excited to tell me about her fairy costume (she’s very cute).

The Sheriff left me a VERY excited message on my mobile a little later on … he’d been to the Post Office and picked up his big parcel from Tasmania and was super excited about all his presents – in fact was attempting to play/wear/use all of them at once from what I could gather!

So, Aunty Lis has managed to get it right most definitely! I love buying presents for people but it’s even more fun when they really really really love them!

We had a relaxing day, I'm cooking a citrus poppy seed cake at the moment (should be orange, but couldn't be bothered juicing the orange so used lemon juice from a bottle and zest of the orange - tastes the same!), and Mr Tasmania is off talking to the Dandelion about Archery equipment - his school is having a mini-Olympics on Friday (as I imagine most schools on the planet are, come to think of it!)

And now, I'm going to go and make a cup of tea and read the paper! ... and with excellent timing Mr Tasmania has just driven back in, so I might even make him a cup of coffee :)