When will we see you?

Our lovely property just goes on existing all by itself. Even when we aren't there!
We have heard that Bobo Creek has flooded a few times recently with all the rain, so we are anxious to see how everything is faring.
We may get up next week. Here's hoping.
And we'll take some plants up to put in. For my birthday I got a lovely pair of kiwi fruit plants, and a persimmon tree.
Here's a picture just to remember that place...

We had a bit longer at Bobo Creek this time. Necessary to recover from our first fritter festival (alliterative, I know) at Peats Ridge. We've been cooking our famous corn fritters at local markets for about 9 months now and felt it was time to try a larger crowd. We spent the weeks leading up to the festival making huge batches of our Chilli Jam and Roast Capsicum Relish and ordering eggs and yoghurt and corn and all the ingredients for our gluten-free flour mix....

Well, large it was and work we did and sleep we did not. But, apart from a steep learning curve which will hopefully form a useful trajectory, we had a great time. And our fritters were really popular. We made paletas too (basically delicious fruity and creamy popsicles) and they were such a hit. In fact we couldn't keep up with the demand.

So, Pete and I needed to chill out at the property for a day or two before we got stuck into some real work.

Here are the two dogs exploring by the creek:


We insulated and lined the ceiling of the 3m deck with heavy duty metal-backed insulation foam and really nice dark recycled timber panels. A little bodgy as the joists were a bit curved, but it looks great.


Then we used dacron-filled cargo blankets to insulated the ceiling. It sounded easy - staple gun the fabric to the trusses and hold it all in place with strips of wood. But...Pete had really sore arms at the end and I blunted so many blades trying to cut through the dacron.


You can see our new solar light set hanging in place. Excellent thing with a little cell and battery that will charge mobile phones and Kindles.
The next day found time to cut up more of the heavy-duty insulation and line each recess of the stud walls at either end (East and West facing). It meant measuring every panel and cutting accordingly with Pete wielding the gun and me the knife (typical isn't it) .

some painting from our trips to bobo creek recently

I struggle with watercolour - but at least I persist with it. Wish for more time and courage with the medium!
Here is a little study of the view from our deck to the East:

And down by the creek. Beautiful grey-black smooth rocks in the shade:

A quick sketch looking West from the deck:

Trees down by the creek:

sporadic work on the property

problem being we only get up there every five or six weeks! and only between markets on the weekends. but better than not at all...
this time was school holidays and springtime - although it felt more like winter. again, the area has received much rainfall and it was even muddier than before. we were glad we'd dug little gutters across the road and pathways to divert a bit of the water.

the good news was two-fold: the newly installed watertank next to the cottage was more than half full, and that's with only one gutter installed. second, was that the citrus orchard area we trialled with a dozen or so plants on the slope below to the east of the cottage seems to be a good spot. the trees have really come on well, with blossoms on the limes and lemons.


bad and good news was that somehow cattle are on the property again and trampling all over stuff and compacting the soft earth with their wretched hoofs! BUT they do massive and luscious poohs everywhere. so i gathered heaps and worked them into the garden around the watertank.

the pooh came in handy for planting the 20 grevillea and callistemon plants we took up. they (the plants that it) are on the hillside above the cottage.

With help from josh we managed to drain the shed tank down in the bottom paddock, tip the tank over and rebuild the sagging tank stand. the whole thing was looking so precarious and we were worried it might collapse. so now it is really strong and will last for years.




and our neighbour keith came over with his chainsaw, expertise, entertaining stories and an esky of beer to cut the tree down that was directly in front of the cottage. we were sad to see it come down, but knew it was inevitable. keith first got pete up the tree to loop a sturdy rope about the upper trunk. this was attached to our tractor. pete idled the tractor and i waited for keith's signal.




a diagonal cut first and then a straight cut below it to form a wedge, and then from the other side a horizontal cut in. pete moved the tractor to gently pull the tree in the right direction and it gracefully toppled. the wedge itself formed a hinge. it didn't take long at all and now the view from the deck is even better.





so that was about it. not much music. no painting. a bit of reading. the usual amount of eating.

and here are a few random pics:
moss on a rock


more rocks


creepers on a tree by the creek


the bottom paddock


the raging creek

watertank and a new orchard

pete and i had a productive few days midweek. we managed to install the watertank next to the cottage, planted a new orchard and did a major re-organisation of our recycled building materials.

the area has had a fair bit of rain lately so the creek was pretty full:


the road across the lower paddock was wet too and we worked to cut channels to direct water away from the road itself.


eventually the roads will be reworked to provide useful catchment and transporting of water around the property. everything needs to work together to manage water on a rural property. we can't waste a drop!

we've wasted a bit in not being able to fully install the tank last time we were up. this time we carefully landscaped around it and pete built a good retaining wall to help avoid water washing across the pad and undermining the tank.


herbs planted around the tank as well as some lomandra grass and a pair of passionfruit plants to train over the tank itself.


we started a new orchard area, that pete keyline plowed last year. it's sheltered and north-facing so should go well. we put in a variety of citrus that i've had in pots at home as well as a trio of mulberries grown form cuttings, a mango and a couple of guava trees.

here, behind the guava tree you can see the keyline cut from last year.the whole area holds more water now than before the plowing



finally we shifted huge loads of timber that has been stored in front of the cottage. it was all looking a bit of a mess, so now is sorted and stacked on metal frames to keep it off the ground and away from hungry insects.

another winter-time visit

we managed another five days mid-week - between markets in sydney!

we were anxious to know how the recent deluge and subsequent flooding had effected the place, especially the cabin which is well and truly within the flood zone.

pete and i drove up on monday morning with the two dogs and were joined by more teenagers and our friend suzanne (an adult, thank god!)

well, the cabin did go under, although it was saved by the swinging walls that allowed the water to flow through.

there were eddies of driftwood and leaves around the legs of furniture and we lost a few buckets that must have floated away. the broom was about a hundred metres from the cabin in the bush. it all felt pretty clean though and kindling for the fire was in neat piles. the grass and bush around the creek has a distinctly brushed look to it, and the remnants of "bob dwyer" are festooned with leaved and little twigs.

the dam was a bit damaged by 6inches of rain in 24 hours, and as it is such a crappy dam it didn't do so well. we cut a channel to allow for overflow and our excellent neighbour keith "simmo" came over with his amazing envy-inspiring 4wd tractor and did some repairs for us:


pete unloaded the last of the concrete blocks.


we had music and good food (natch!)


over the few days we managed to finish the pad for the watertank and moved the tank (thanks to suzanne, jesse and gabe) down from where it had been moored to a tree for a year. next time pete will complete the plumbing from the roof to the tank and it can start to fill up. you can see the watertank in this photo, along with mookhi and manny-rose sitting on the deck:


suzanne and i staked all the trees in the three orchard areas. the avocados we planted last time are looking good. the papayas don't look very happy, but are hardy things. suzanne remarked they look like they want someone to stand there and hold their trunks for a few months.


i had time for a brief walk and relax by the banks of the creek with the dogs...

we got to the property last week

so glad we went last week and not now as it's been pouring rain and there's flash flood warnings on the mid-north coast.

so pete and i took a car-full of plants again, guitars, paints, books, food, beer, piano accordion and no dogs or children to bobo creek for five days.

pete took the flu too so spent a day or so lying in the sun on the deck of the cottage and felt better after that.


i planted avocados, figs, lilly-pillys, papayas and many other trees in our various orchard areas and flattened more of the pad for the water tank next to the cottage. pete managed to get the wiring in the cottage done, so now we can insulate and line the cottage walls. we slept up there as the cabin by the creek in the heavy shade is so so cold. perfect in summer but not now!



here are some shots from inside the cottage, and our various bits and pieces: