The Rest of October

Actually not much resting until we are finished!

In March the Garden bed at the back fence looked like this..
Plants in pots in temporary positions to 'make look good' for a Party. 

The Garden was shaded by the Neighbours Tree and our Japanese Maples.

Late April and the Trees have to come out - my Temporary garden moved so the Arborists can have plenty of room to work. 

And they DID appreciate it.

But what a mess!

The rest of the fence came down in May and we waited - unable to work on restoring our Garden until the fence was replaced in October.

We raked and tidied.
We raked, tidied, weeded and planted trees in the neighbours garden...

And NOW we can work on our own!

Seeing we had almost a "Blank Canvas" we made a decision that unless it was a Pollinator Plant or you can Eat it - it did not belong.  

So we bought a nice BIG pot for our Lemon Scented Myrtle and planted up our Mainly Aussie Native Garden.

Now that leaves the Corner where the Old Gazebo was parked. 

It was bought for the DD's 21st Party and in fact I really haven't known WHAT to do with it since then.

It can't go back in the corner - so Remove? Re-Home? Recycle? 

Introduce the DH to the new Buzz Word.....

RE-PURPOSE!

We had decided to make a Pergola or Entrance into the Garden and it needed Posts, and Rails and.... 

Why not use what we have literally laying about?

Several Cups of Tea and $20 worth of Screws later - 

All it needs is a Climbing Plant and MAYBE a couple of Gargoyles......

While we were in Re-Purposing mode - Why not find a use for the Red Gum Fence Posts that came off the Old Fence.

These things usually end up in the Tip or Someone's Winter Fire... 

Way too beautiful to Burn.

And I have run out of Bricks.......

DH had fun doing this - a lot easier than laying Recycled House Bricks.

We finally got to plant our Magnolia - and a couple of very nice Black Flax Plants for the "Structural" element to offset all the Pale Grey.

So here we are at the end of October.  

31 Days after we got our Fence and Yard back.

It looks rather bare at the moment but it will grow, and our shade will return and the Birds will forgive us.

And we have somewhere to sit once again with a Cuppa and enjoy the quiet.....

Where has October Gone?

Well, like every other month it started with the 1st and kept Trucking from there!

And on the First day of October our Fencing Contractor finally showed up to install our new fence.

We went with Colorbond Steel this time instead of the  'Replace in 10 years Treated pine' and were happy to let the neighbour choose the colour to match her new paintwork.

I must admit it was worth the wait to get a craftsman who took real pride in his work and was happy to fix a couple of extra bits that weren't really his problem to solve.

But we wondered what we should do with the Plinth board.
Leave it?   Paint it?   Or.....

Remember when Slate Floors were all the rage?
Well, this pile of Slate has been taking up space around our place since my DB couldn't throw it out 3 house moves ago!

What if we used that to face the bottom of the fence?

Hmmm - not bad.
 
A pile of someone else's Stuff is now MUCH smaller and we have a pretty good lookin' fence.

(I just love the way DH manages to look like he does ALL the work - but in fact it is teamwork).

Now it is finally time to deal with THIS.

The Bricks led up to the Bungalow, and behind was a jumble of things stored "Out of Sight, Out of Mind".

The path was partially demolished when the Bungalow was re-stumped and the rest got in the way of a Tree Removal a few months ago.

I do have a recollection that I said I would not ever lay another brick Path again....

Obviously I was not listening!


I kept going until I ran out of Bricks..

This time DH got into the Act.

At 400 mm square these Pavers were too big and heavy for me to work with.

And then -

We Built a shed on top of them. 
It was a bit "Squishy" but we got it in there.

FYI - the sliding door opens to the passage Behind the Bungalow.

Then there are the Wheelie Bins, The Light Green is Garden and now Kitchen waste.
We also have Two of our own - The Purple and Dark Green acquired during the last drought for collecting Rain water and Grey Water from the Washing Machine.

We discovered that the pump from the purple bin still worked so have linked it up to the roof of the Shed and will collect any rain water that comes off it to be used on the Garden.


That part of the Yard is now tidy and has a purpose. (I will continue the path to the shed, when I have more bricks but for now a temporary 'deck' will suffice.)
Also Three of our Five Bins have been given a new more practical home.

Tomorrow I will show you what we did for the Rest of the Month!

Terracotta Warriors

Our Son and DDIL are at the moment in China en-route to Xi'An to see the Terracotta Army.

Something that has been on my "Bucket List" for quite some time.

However -
while they are being distracted by Great Walls and Forbidden Cities and places best admitted to after the fact...

DH and I took ourselves off to the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne

Where the Terracotta Warriors had come to Us!



Melbourne: 24th May - 13th October 2019

150 other Ancient Chinese Treasures dating back more that 3000 years, sourced from Museums and Shaaxni Archaeology Sites are also on display

Eight Warrior Figures, along with Two full size Horses stand silent sentinel, their timber Weapons long gone.

Clever use of mirrored backs in the display cases give an impression of a much bigger army.

Two Half-scale Bronze Chariots, depicting those used to Inspect the troupes on the Battlefield were found.

Faithful replicas have been made as these are so precious, they do not leave China.

Other Funerary items are on display -

Colourful miniatures of the everyday life to assist in the afterlife

And then there are The Birds ....

Follow the flight of these Porcelain Starlings through the exhibition

Wheeling and Dancing - suspended from the ceiling - Until they fill the vault above

Entitled "Murmation"  the phenomenon where thousands of Starlings fly in intricately coordinated patterns across the sky

There are 10,000 Birds in this Artwork

The next room contained a mountain of Porcelain Peony Flowers -

I know how much work goes into making these blooms in Sugarpaste so I was fascinated to look closer.
I was intrigued by how these were coloured...

Like the Silk mural that encircled the room, and the Starlings that flew overhead, they were all placed carefully on the floor, sprinkled with different coloured Gunpowder (like fireworks)

and in a controlled environment in a warehouse here in Docklands (Melbourne)

With many cameras to capture the event -

Set it alight!

The Exhibitions last instalment was a panoramic video showing the process...

You could say it went off with a Bang!



The Terracotta Warriors - Guardians of Immortality and Cai Guo-Qiang exhibition runs until October 13th 2019 and is well worth the Visit.

Checking the Temperature (Quilt)

"Life gets in the Way" - or so the saying goes.

Well, it has sort of got in the way of my Quilting at the moment -
Time and energy are being expended on other projects but the Temperature Quilt is not forgotten. 

Many blocks have been constructed and trimmed.

And some have even managed to be sewn together!

Summer has progressed into Autumn....

and did they say Spring is already here? 
What happened to Winter?

Time to get back to the Sewing....  or Gardening.... or .......

Day 9 - Adelaide

With just 2 half days in Adelaide, we spent our time there exploring the CBD

I found what was the Biggest Souvenir Patch Collection I have ever seen -
I was even able to pick up a couple from places I missed on our trip to Europe.

But these were dwarfed by not one but TWO great walls of Buttons!
The Saleslady was happy to advise "We don't have a website but you can email us"

It was a fleeting visit as our Bags were waiting for us back at the Hotel, and it was time to head to the Airport

So after 9 Days of adventures -

I had walked (at least) 85,291 Steps
Climbed 153 Flight of Stairs
Travelled 9,000 km on Plains,Trains, Automobiles, Boats AND a Camel.

It was now time to Board the Flying Kangaroo and head (reluctantly) home to plot our Next Adventure!

Day 8 - Onward to Adelaide

Our wonderful trip aboard this Classic Train is almost over.

After having spent some 'Quality Time' over Coffee and Nightcaps with our fellow travellers - some of whom have been with us since that first excursion in Darwin

We woke to yet another beautiful Australian Sunrise - this time over the Flinders Ranges just out of Port Augusta

Breakfast, again was wonderful in the Queen Adelaide Restaurant Car- I could get VERY used to this Luxury

Outside the Ochre dust of the Outback has changed to Mist rolling across Green Hills almost obscuring the Wind Turbines

we caught a fleeting glimpse of what could quite possibly be our next adventure...

The Indian-Pacific which travels East/West Sydney to Perth.

Before rolling in to Adelaide and final good-byes to our Cabin Crew.

These beautiful people woke us with Tea and a smile at 6:30 am - accompanied us to all excursions, served our meals and bade us Goodnight at 10:00 pm

Thank you doesn't seem enough!

Day 7 - I Love Her Far Horizons

As a homesick 19 year old, Dorothea Mackeller wrote a Poem.  Originally titled "Core of My Heart" and later renamed to "My Country". 

This Poem is very close to my heart, and as I travel I collect Photographs that one day will accompany the entire Poem instead of just a few random quotes.

I Love a Sunburnt Country,

A Land of Sweeping Plains

Core of my Heart - My Country

Her Pitiless Blue Sky...

The Last excursion on our wonderful trip is 32 km from Coober Pedy at a place called "The Breakaways".  

On the way we stopped at The Dingo Proof Fence, at 5,531 km it is claimed to be the longest Fence in the World 

Originally built to keep the Rabbits Out (Yes Folks that IS a thing - not just a saying), it was later adapted to keep Dingoes from attacking livestock.



Our cheeky Bus driver advised us he has, at great expense to himself, 'organised some drinks' for us at our next stop.

We thought he was joking - Yet here, on a Plateau overlooking yet another breathtaking and Remote part of the Outback  -
Starched White tablecloths flapped in the breeze and cold Beer, Wine or Soft Drinks were waiting for us.

Photographs just cannot capture the vastness of this Place.

Or its Stark Beauty




It was hard to pull ourselves away - especially with stories of being here at night - with nothing but the Stars to light your way

But, Our Train awaits. . .