Port Fairy in the last days of winter

A bit of a family reunion this weekend, as green grass, budding blossoms and sunny skies heralded the unfolding of Spring ...

Much wet and sandy fun was had by all.

Pokerface

I've realised that our older dog, Gus, doesn't like having his picture taken. Whenever I try to take his photo, he usually looks down and to the side ("You're stealing my soul!"), and it takes a bit of effort to pursuade him to look directly at the camera. If he does look at the camera his demeanor becomes very sombre, a far cry from his general attitude of puppy-like loopiness.
Bracken, on the other hand, is always thrilled to have attention directed at him, and the trick is to stop him from bouncing right up to the camera.

Ah, but when there's a ball involved Gus cheers right up, although he then has no interest in staying still for a photo - there's so much running and chasing to be done!
(note here the sandy nose from too many crashes ...)

Silly ol' pups!

Blog catchup #3 - Port Fairy transformations

.... in the midst of all our other renovations, G spent a week in Port Fairy and made a start on fixing up our little ugly duckling house there. I caught the train down after work on Friday last week - it was lovely to see G and the dogs again and spend some time getting to know our new cottage.

There are lots of crisp, juicy apples on the ground in the garden, upon which Gus feasted non-stop (I'm not sure that it's good for dogs to eat so many apples, but he just seemed obsessed with them). Each evening we walked across the bridge that spans the little river near the port and let the dogs go totally loopy at the beach. It's a really relaxing place.

We managed to finish painting one room (thanks to G's expert plastering and preparation work). The new paint finish, light shades, wafty sheer curtains and thrifted furniture have transformed a once-glum room into a sunny, peaceful retreat. Nice!

Real estate agent's photo, taken before we bought the house.

 Before: greasy-looking olivey-mustard walls and dark ceiling, too much

furniture and horrible synthetic lace curtains

After: a lighter, softer, less-cluttered style

 little Bracken

 Gus the wise (?!)

 

... again, I didn't have a camera unfortunately (just my phone), so I was unable to capture the light and bright feeling of this room properly. You can see that I did snap our canine helpers though. They pushed in and wanted to take all the attention after waiting patiently in the hallway forever.

We're heading back next weekend; while I gallivant around Warrnambool on a field trip with my post-grad students G plans to make a start on the living room. Now that room needs quite a bit of work, but we'll make it look pretty in the end!

(before we bought it)

* While I wouldn't usually choose a bedframe like the one shown above, we bought the queen-size bed, complete with mattress (in good condition) for only $50!

Can you help?!

I'm sending out a couple of pleas for help this evening ....

1. We have been 'offered' a cocker spaniel who is currently rather neglected and alone, and we're considering taking him in so that he can get out of his current miserable situation. Apparently his family are renovating their house at the moment but not living there, just throwing a bit of food over the fence for him in the evenings and leaving him by himself, and they want to give him away.

We've already booked flights to travel interstate from Christmas Day until January 2nd, and we'd be extremely grateful if we could find someone to look after him during that time. Please let me know if you're in Melbourne and would consider giving him some Christmas holiday care, or if you know anyone who might be willing to do so ...

(our little Gus has put on a serious expression to try to convince you!)

 

... and another little snippet:

2. The Diamond Creek Donkey Shelter seems to be in significant financial trouble at the moment - donations of any size will be gratefully received. Just thought I'd better spread the word....

We sponsor this little chap, whose name is Dudley.

Who stole my naughty dog and replaced him with a goody two-shoes?

I think it's funny the way dogs seem to have good days and bad days, just like people. For a few days after my nieces went home Gus was disruptive and restless, particularly at night, keeping me awake and making me grumpier with each sleepless hour.

Over the past week though he's been super-good, sleeping soundlessly, walking beautifully on a loose lead (an achievement for us, I assure you), lying quietly when we have visitors, cuddling gently and generally just being a sweet little dog.

I wonder who kidnapped the real Gus?

(admission: this image is a bit of a cheat .... I can't access my photos of Gus at the moment so I found one on Flickr that looks just like him. - Sort of goes with the idea of Good Gus being an impostor I guess!)

Little bear

You may be aware that our dog Gus is a dedicated treehugger.

I took a couple of short videos of him at a local park the other day.... you can watch him climb one of his favourite trees here, here and here.

(you might have to turn your head or your laptop on the side for the first clip ... sorry!)

Bee feasts and the home harvest

On Saturday I immersed myself in the furious buzz of insect activity that can often be found in my mum's beautiful rose garden. I've never seen so many bees clamouring for pollen in the early hours of the morning!

 

 

 

Gus chased rabbits (don't worry, he never catches any...) and then found a tub of slimy, muddy water to splash around in with abandon. Sometimes it seems his one aim in life is to get as filthy as possible, and he sure has fun while he's trying!

We're still harvesting delicious, sweet veggies every day from our little raised beds - they never fail to delight and I can't wait to expand our garden to double or triple its productive space.

 

By the way, I wrote a little guest post for the US Urban Homesteader blog the other day too. Urban Homesteader is a lovely, inspirational site, full of wonderful ideas for living the good life..... why don't you pop on over and take a peep?

High summer

Today was definitely a day for staying inside - the temperature got to 44° C in the late afternoon (over 111° F.)  .... uggh! We've had a week of very hot days, and tomorrow's set to be hot hot hot again. I feel for all the poor animals that are stuck outside and the valiant plants that are drooping and wilting and being scorched.

I find it hard to imagine all my lovely friends in the Northern Hemisphere shivering in particularly cold winter conditions ....
let me send you some of this sunshine!

Yesterday evening we ate our dinner at the beach while Gus scampered and splashed with glee.

 

Are you getting fresh with me?

This is just one of the many reasons why I love gardening:

- delicious, fresh produce, grown just a couple of metres from our door. We make compost with our veggie scraps, so the cycle of goodness goes round and round and our worms get nice and fat.

This week we're harvesting zucchini and cucumbers (many more than we can eat), tomatoes, beans, rocket (arugula),  lemon verbena and basil, and our sweetcorn looks as though it will be ready for picking next week. I'm keeping my eye out for some warrigal greens and sorrel seedlings and wondering if we'll have room for all the pumpkin plants that have self-seeded in our veggie beds...

 

 

 

 

 

~ all this in a little urban garden that's only 8 weeks old!

Love it!

Summer daze

Hot

Sleepy

Dog