Recycle

The chicken's self watering container bought in 2018, has been sitting in our garage for over a year after multiple failed attempts at fixing the leak. Not wanting to toss the container out, I had a light bulb moment. I cut the container in half to create two new laying boxes replacing the existing milk crate which they never used anyway.

While in recycling mode, I tried my hand at a bit of macrame - using some old beads for decoration and a old terracotta base as the plate. The new bird feeder was hung in the crepe myrtle outside the front window. 

A few days passed before we spotted the first bird to visit, a large cockatoo. The following day more cockies came to check it out and have a feed. Unfortunately their visit proved that my bird feeder was not up to cockie standard - when landing on the edge, the cockie was too heavy and would tip the plate sideward resulting in most of the seed tipping on to the ground. Eventually the plate also fell from the hanging :( Back to the drawing board.

Feijoa Inspiration

Normally I admire the flowers on our feijoa tree then watch the fruit fall to the ground and be slowly consumed by possums, birds or bugs. This year I collected a few of these strange fruits and after a little search on the web found a recipe for Feijoa Crumble Slice. Feijoa's have a strong intense aromatic flavour but this slice served warm with ice cream was delicious.

Ella's Crafty Projects

There has been a crochet frenzy - a handmade blanket and octopus for Aunty Susie's big birthday that is coming up.

Learning something new - embroidering with her own design which was made into a pouch.

Looking Good

I think I have spent more money on Indi's haircuts than on my own! We tried Petbarn today and opted for a wash with a scissor trim to take off the tips. They did a good job and she looks great! A day at the pet shop certainly is tiring and requires a post cut treat and nap to recover!

Let There Be Light

We had a long list of electrical issues that had been gathering and so made the plunge to arrange for an electrician to come around the fix them all up. 

We purchased new table lamps for our bedroom which are much brighter enabling me to actually read at night without squinting!

The light above the bathroom mirrors both had corroded and were replaced. Various other boring jobs were completed.

Pincushion Hakea

 What a gorgeous flower! A large tree in full bloom spotted while out running with Cath.

Theatre!

What a treat! We took the plunge and emptied our wallet to purchase tickets to see Six the Musical at the Canberra Theatre. It was also Mothers Day so was extra nice to spend time with the whole family plus Cath - who was supposed to go the previous weekend with her family but Covid foiled those plans so she came with us instead!

Another simple but awesome production. A total of 6 actresses and 4 band members (plus all the backstage / lighting crew) with same backdrop given different moods through variations in the lighting.

Each actress represented one of Henry VIII wives. Each sang their own story with modern twists on historical facts. Great show.  Post musical, we met Eoin and Aoife for a lovely Thai dinner at Lemongrass.

New Opportunity

At the end of May, Andy began his new role as the inaugural Director of the Australian Community Climate Earth System Simulator - National Research Infrastructure commonly know as ACCESS-NRI. It's a bit of a mouthful and a title I'm struggling to remember. Currently he is working 4 days in the new position located at a new premises but still at ANU and spending 1 day back at RSES.

So far everything has been going well. At the moment the main focus is recruiting - there is potential to have 20+ people in the group. He has also been on a few interstate work trips - what a novelty!

So if you are interested in more info, here is an article ANU did....

Still Going Strong

Much to our surprise, Katy has stuck to her vegetarian guns! It definitely makes menu planning a little more tricky but we've found new recipes and experimented with new vego foods. The benefits of split meals is that there is always leftovers for lunch!

Here is tonight's dinner - pasta bake - same but different - Carsten's Surprise on the left and Vego on the right.

Boboyan Divide O Event

Andy volunteered to set an orienteering event at Boboyan Divide - an area located in the most southern part of Namadgi National Park bordering on NSW. Doing my duty and keeping things simple, I offered to organise.

Andy and Tony (controller) went up Saturday morning in order to put out all the controls. I did the car packing and netball run with the girls before driving up to join the boys arriving mid afternoon.

The girls and I were responsible for putting our signs; setting up the arena (tents and finish chute); putting up start and then putting up our own tents! It was a busy afternoon and while the sun was out it was really lovely.

We cooked a simple pasta dinner as the sun was disappearing. By the time we had finished eating it was freezing! We didn't last long before retreating into the tent to seek warmth from our sleeping bags.

The overnight temperature dropped below zero! It was very cold! Frost covered our tent and the grass outside. It looked beautiful in the soft light of the sun rising. We were up early having to finish a few jobs including taping and waking up controls as well as adding the final touches.

As for the event, it ran very smoothly. A few normal computer hiccups but Bill and Bob M came to our rescue. Andy received lots of positive comments regarding his course design however many found the terrain tough especially the older folk.

Pack up was relatively quick and we were on the road heading home by 3.30pm. A tiring weekend all up.