Sticks and Stones

Did anyone watch Landline?  I watched it today – I think it’s a re-run? – and was shocked to learn that the Geelong CRISO wool reserach area has had such large funding cuts.  They are set to sell off their wool scouring plant which is a great shame as it processes the fleeces of many small growers.   It’s a pity that we are sending even more services off shore!  Got to go as I missed Gardening Australia yesterday and it’s about to come on…

Pretty boring photo?  Do you know what it is?

On Tuesday night Pete and I went to a Bio-diesel fuel making course and it was great – I was the youngest there and only female, it seemed to us that the majority of those taking part were farmers over 60.  There was a lot of information and we bought a book about it but I think it’s something we will look into in the near future.  I want to get a bigger car – the Festiva  2 door is just so hard with 2 kids in car seats – and we were thinking something that runs on diesel so this may be a way to go for us – recycling  local  oil waste and  making cheaper fuel (they say between 30c-80c per litre).

Something to think about anyway…

Last week I said watch this space and I should have updated my post on Monday as my designated gardening day as set by The Growing Challenge but here it is anyway.  This is what we have done so far:

Pete cut up the old red gum and laid it out for me – we have made 6 beds in total that are around 1300×2600.  I filled 3 of the beds with 3 bales of leafy lucerne mulch that the farmer across the road gave us and put a layer of composted mulch in the middle – ie layer of horse manure on ground, 3 inches of lucerne, 3 inches of composted mulch, a sprinkling of horse manure, 2 inches of lucerne.

I have started transplanting my vegetable from the old garden in hope that they will survive and give us some produce soon.  So far I have transplanted 6 cabbages, 12 lettuce, 12 garlic, 24 Welsh Red stem spring onions,  2 mustard, 12 peas and 3 parsley plants.

It was a lovely day enjoyed by all:

But it was pretty fresh – lots of snow on the mountains!

I have finally candled the eggs with the help of one of Pete’s work colleagues and I think we may have a successful batch of chicks coming along so far!  The ones that were in the fridge seem to be going very well so fingers crossed.  The only downfall is that we decided to crack open a “non-viable” looking one and it had a perfectly formed chick inside…. Poa ate it so it wasn’t wasted but a bit sad.

I do have knitting and gardening posts to write but I am feeling a bit lazy due to 5am wake ups so maybe later in the week.

Pattern: Guardian Angel Knitting Book: Mock Cable Beanie & Scarf (beanie)
Yarn: 1 skein 8ply Carnival Acrylic given from previous next door neighbour
Needles: 4mm
Project started: 16th July 2008
Project completed: 12th August 2008

Notes: I feel that this beanie has turned out too big for it’s intended target range of 2-4 year olds – it fits Pete!  My gauge was correct so I am not sure what happened….I often find this with beanies not knitted in the round.  I omitted the tassel as I think that if it goes to an older person it would seem a bit childish with it.

How could I resist the little sing song cry of “Gloves for me Mummy?”  So here they are…more mitts with the same specifications as the last pair except yarn type – for this pair I used some Patons Misty Alpaca from Mum’s Stash.

(a bit out of focus but it show the triumph)

I have finally got the Elizabeth Zimmermann bug and it just equals even more WIPs.  Even her name is exciting!  Funny to think that books/newsletters published so long ago can be so inspirational and exciting and it makes you wonder why you have waited so long!  I’m talking about this book:

I recently bought it on Amazon – my first ever Amazon purchase – and I am in love with it.  I read it in bed every night and I can read the same page over and over and over again and still get more out of it every time.  My Bosworth Mini was lying around with some Finn/Cashmere blend my friend Nat gave me spun so I decided to start knitting straight off the spindle and I now have this:

Love it!  It is so so soft and lovely to knit with even on yucky steel circulars!  I am not sure how far this lot of singles will go but I have plenty of fibre left so more is not a problem!

We are about to do some backyard renovations and this space is going  to change into a fenced yard for kids to play plus some formal vegetable beds.  I am not sure when we will get to start but not much will be happening until the ground dries out a little bit – we’ve had lots of lovely rain lately.  Hoping to get it done soon to ready the beds for Spring planting!

I have finally finished my very first PAIR of hand processed, hand spun, hand dyed and hand knit socks and I am very very proud of myself. I feel like I have achieved a milestone in my ideals of clothing production – pity it has taken such a LONG time as I could never keep my family in hand knit socks at this rate . Oh well – the journey is as much a pleasure as the results!

Pattern: Cable Rib Socks by Jenny Occleshaw (Printed in Creative Knitting Issue ?)
Yarn: Hand spun gifted fleece (some sort of Downs breed), hand dyed by me to self stripe
Needles: 2.75mm DPN
Commenced: 5 June 2008
Completed: 25 July 2008

Notes: Easy to knit and a very easy way to keep track of knitting in the round as no stitch markers were needed for this pattern. Cable may have been a bit “lost” in the self striping yarn but I enjoyed it still. I would knit these again but next time I think I will make them slightly smaller.

Poa – 7 weeks old