New Windows and unsnapped wonders

We made our shortest ever visit to the shack on Friday; we were only there for about 18 hours! But it was important to see our new windows before we leave. We were very pleased with the job that Jarrod Poke has done: neat joinery and a tidy worker, so there was little mess to clear up.

The new kitchen windows
They seem huge! We plan to have roller blinds.

Bathroom roll-out.

Bathroom #2.
This one is fixed. There will be a net curtain.

Kitchen windows outside.
I would really liked to have primed the wood.

Bathroom windows outside.
The frames will be iron blue, like the other windows.

Despite a gloomy weather forecast it stayed fine for our trip up on Friday arvo, and remained very pleasant for the early part of Saturday morning, which gave me the opportunity to cut the forest, sorry I mean grass, while Jeannie dusted inside. I was nearly finished when Jeannie rushed out mouthing words I couldn't hear with my ear muffs on, and brandishing the binoculars. A whale! A Southern Right Whale, we think, just past the far point on the Table Cape side, heaving its tail out of the water and crashing it down in a mass of spray. We watched it for quite a while before it moved off eastwards.

Then just time for a coffee on the deck, before jumping into the car and heading south, since the Mortons were coming to dinner. As we drove south, listening to the Grand Final on the radio, the sky over Campbelltown got pitchy black and we drove into a fantastic hailstorm. The road was quickly white and the noise so loud that we couldn't hear the radio at all (and there are distinct chips on the paintwork!). Thunder and lightening too, before we drove out of the other side.

The weather hasn't finished with us either, since a violent southerly gale blew up in the night with torrential rain, several trees down and the creeks all running bankers. Roll on those balmy days in San Antonio!

Geelong to be here?

Last weekend we were in Geelong for the biennial Conference on Science and Christianity, organised by ISCAST. The main speaker was Prof Simon Conway Morris, from Cambridge, and we had just been hosting him in Hobart. He does a very good impression of the rumpled Cambridge don, kinda neo-Chestertonian. I love the story of GKC who sent a telegram to his wife one day which read "Am in Market Harborough Stop Where ought I to be". I can imagine Prof Morris sending something similar from Hobart. But the visit here went well, though I was glad when it was over.

This was our second visit to Geelong, but better weather this time allowed a little more exploration of their fine waterfront. One of its features is a host of bollards painted, rather whimsically, to represent people, and apparently some local stories.

Geelong waterfront
No takers for the seawater pool yet

Botanical gardens
Nice cactus beds

Jean liked these metal trees

The rather nice botanical garden has this very proper lady and her butler. But why the slight blush? From behind we see that she is discretely nicking a few cuttings.

Caught in the act!

Then there were bathing beauties and lifeguards, but why is one of then carrying a seagull? and why do two of the others have black eyes?

Note the seagull in a bag
The rabbit turns up in many places

Two lovely black eyes
(But why?)

The waterfront extends right around the bay and offers a pleasant stroll and many opportunities for food and coffee. Having visited the interesting wool museum last time (Geelong was the main port for wool export and has many impressive old warehouses), we went to see the art gallery. Amongst the good things there we found this charming little statue. Why hasn't someone made a replica for sale? I'd buy one.

About half life size

And this week in Australia I couldn't finish without noting that it's the footy grand final this weekend and that Geelong are playing for the third year in a row. We were in town in 2007 on the day they won, but this year we were there for their victory in the semi-final. Hard to over-emphasise how important footy is for the town and indeed most people. They play St Kilda on Saturday afternoon. Go Cats!

The Geelong strip is blue and white, but the style has changed a bit

Spring has sprung

Despite the grey, wet weather of the last couple of days there is no doubt that spring has arrived at this end of the world, and we don't even need the official date of 1 September to remind us.

So here are a couple of pics from the garden to prove it.

Jeannie has a nice patch of hellebores that brighten the winter garden

And I love camellias!

Old EG Waterhouse makes a fine annual display at the front steps

And a dish of "hoop petticoat" daffodils on the front step

We shall be leaving all this soon for Texas (2 October) and I'm wondering what to do with the vegetable garden. Probably plant a few things early and hope for the best.

The Third Man

It's true, there is another grandson, and I fear we have been guilty of neglecting him in these pages, so here are some pictures of Curious George.

What can I tell you about him? He's four months old now, he's a great watcher (especially of his Mum) and he thinks his big brother is wonderful, even though he's a bit rumbustious at times. I can also testify that he's a little furnace: always a very warm cuddle. Not sure yet where he gets his looks and his nature; not obviously a Richardson, at any rate. Time will tell.

Here he is, getting dressed on our front room floor.

Love my Mum!

Two little boys

(Cue Rolf Harris)

So grown up, when you're going on two and a half.

But wait! There's more. We all (well, all less three) had dinner at the Mortons last night, so here's a bonus pic of a couple of old grandfathers and their grandsons.

Only a lite beer at that stage, I promise.

That's George and me, Russell and Campbell.

Wattle Blossom, and a sad story

You could hardly call winter in Tasmania dire. Here we are in the first week of August (=February, for you guys up the other end of the planet) and and there are daffodils everywhere, the camellias are all coming out, and amongst the native plants the wattles are putting on their annual display. I snapped a couple of examples on our way round the Inglis River walk at Wynyard this afternoon, but you don't get the perfume. Think almond essence.

Wattle blossom
An introduced species, I think

But this is a native
Good old Black wattle

And a sad tale. We were just congratulating ourselves on spotting well over our projected target of 23 bird species (including a White Goshawk) and getting a really good view of a Tasmanian Scrubwren, that should at last enable me to distinguish it from the elusive Scrubtit, when I noticed a bundle of feathers up a tree. On close examination it was a recently-dead Grey Thrush that had somehow managed to wedge its neck between two branches and hanged itself! We love Grey Thrushes because they are so tuneful, and will often enter into a conversation if you whistle back to them.

Just too greedy, I guess

Boat Harbour Bulletin

I believe our small (but select) readership will appreciate a short bulletin from the shack, if only to take their minds away for a while.

We are here briefly to meet the builder who is going to install our new windows in the kitchen and bathroom in the coming weeks. Jarrod Poke turns out to be a young bloke from Wynyard who lived in Kingston Beach (Auburn Road!) for a while, and was taught by Alan Snare. We were very happy with him and confident to leave him a key so that he can just get on with it when the windows are made.

Lots of Pokes up this way

Jarrod will soon be building the replacement shack at the prime end-of-the-road West Bay site where the old shack was half blown away (not very well built, Jarrod said). At our last visit it was being dismantled, and now it's gone altogether, and the old slab is being broken up. We hope the new place has a design to complement what must be one of the all-time great sites (even if it is a bit windy). Who could complain about having albatrosses gliding past 100m or so away?

The West Bay shack: going
That Beamer has been sitting outside, unloved, for weeks

Gone!

Of course we have made a weekend of it, and so far the weather has been wild (overnight) and then classic BH winter: clear blue sky darkened periodically as cold squalls blow over the top of the hill. The albatrosses like it, and so do we. On our walk this afternoon we had five eagles in sight at once: two sea eagles and three wedgetails!

The office ain't bad either.

It's really good for your eyes to have a long view when you're working on the computer

Oh, and because he was on the camera, here's grandson #1 in his natural habitat.

Angus playing cars with Budda

A certain resemblance??

Just got home and Jeannie dug around in the archives to find these pics. Does anyone else notice a certain similarity here? Or do all recently squashed babies look the same?

Two days after arrival, 1977.

Within a week of arrival.

And who's the chick with all the rich dark hair?

Stop Press!! Tuesday, Tuesday

"I said it first", said Little Fuzzipeg.

Tuesday Martyn Tango etc has arrived!

All well, very thankful.

A certain curtain (and Elna the Mighty)

Visitors to the shack will know that the wet weather drives straight into the side of the house, and that on more than one occasion water has got under the sliding doors, soaking the bottom of the long curtains there and staining them.

While I was away gallivanting with the science teachers diligent Jeannie set to work to replace the curtains. This is a big job, apparently, with much careful measuring, anxious cutting and endless modifications to cope with curtain rods that aren't quite horizontal. She completed the two big ones while I was away and looks set fair to finish the other two today, before we head home tomorrow.

The sewing room

The seamstress

New curtains in place

(And check out the weather!)

And I should put in a plug for Elna the Mighty, Jeannie's little sewing machine, which has done sterling work on this and so many other projects in its career of well over thirty years. It even went to Pakistan with Sue Morton, as well as being lugged all over the place by us. Statutory declaration: we receive no favours from the Elna company for this endorsement.

Elna the Mighty

CONASTA at Cradle Mountain

"Look at me posting!", said Piglet.

(And there's more to come.)

Part of the reason for the current visit to the shack was my involvement in an excursion for science teachers at Cradle Mountain. Their society is called CONASTA (you can work out the acronym for yourselves) and the conference proper had been in Launceston, but on Wednesday they came by bus (via Marakoopa Cave) to Cradle Mountain, where I met them at the Lodge.

Cradle Mountain Lodge

Cradle Mountain and Dove Lake

Cradle Mountain in July is a bit of a gamble, but in the event the weather was well nigh perfect. It had snowed the day before, but for our field day on Thursday it was bright and sunny, with almost no wind. In the morning we took them round Dove Lake, a six kilometre walk, but pretty flat, and everyone made it, including the person who had just had knee surgery, and they were all very pleased.

Intrepid leader and happy science teachers

After lunch I had to give a lecture, and given a) that they had had an energetic morning, b) that they had just had lunch and c) that the room was very warm, it's not surprising that a few eyelids drooped (nothing to do with the lecturer, of course, who incidentally was still wearing his thermal underwear and sweating like a ....). So it was a relief to get out again, to go and sample some freshwater invertebrates in Pencil Pine Creek, even though the water was very cold.

AMMR using a Surber sampler in Pencil Pine Creek

Water temperature: 3.6C!

On the first evening we all went up the road to "Devils @ Cradle", where there was a very good display of Tasmanian Devils, and their slightly smaller relatives, the spotted-tailed quoll. Everyone got to see (and hear) the devils' charming feeding habits.

Dinner time at the Devil park

Spotted-tailed Quolls are excellent climbers

The Lodge was comfortable, luxurious even, though the neatly stacked pile of firewood in my room was a little incongruous, given that the "wood fire" was actually a faux gas one!

My room at Cradle Mountain Lodge

The un-needed wood is in the corner by the chair.

Minor works (for some)

The thing about shacks is that there is always something to be done. Always the grass to be cut, but also those small maintenance jobs that are a breeze for some people (a pleasure, even), but that for me are a challenge.

The new deck goes over the downstairs door, and we needed to have some shelter there to make a dry doorstep and to keep the ready-use wood supply dry. The old deck had a sheet of cement board and so it seemed sensible to replace it. After some measuring and drawing we went into Stubbs Hardware in Wynyard and tried to convey to the man there what we were planning. That was surprisingly difficult until we produced a sketch, then he sold us two sheets of cement sheet, the necessary fixers and the strip to join them together. The first thing I discovered was that cement sheet is very heavy, and the second was that my measurements of the inside of the car were only just right. But with help from the shop man and with the driver's seat well forward, we got them home.

Threatening cement sheet, waiting to be fixed up

I had a restless night wondering how we were going to manage to hold those sheets up and fix them in place, but somewhere in the small hours I decided that the easiest thing would be to cut them in half. When we looked at the area again we decided that we didn't really need to protect quite so much, so one sheet was duly sawn in half, giving two pieces that we could just about manage. We also thought it important to have some slope on the sheet so that rainwater would drain away from the house and not soak into the deck joists. I was going to use stacks of washers between the sheet and the joists to achieve this (are you paying attention?), but how to get them in place, especially in the middle of the sheet? Jeannie had a brainwave: stick them together and them stick them to the sheet, over pre-drilled holes!

Jeannie's invention

Halfway there. It's hard, working above your head

And, mirabile dictu, it all worked! Another wrinkle was the outside light, which Craig the builder had moved from its old position, but it was quite easy to cut a hole for it in the sheet with the jigsaw. We still have a spare sheet which we can use to extend the protected area if we want.

Finished job

The hole for the light.

So professional.

And finally, a couple of shots of the old wood cutter and a critter from the woodpile. The four skinks that came out of another log had already made their escape.

The axeman of Morton Street

Slightly stunned log froggie

Beautiful evening too.