ALL IN THE BLUE UNCLOUDED WEATHER

Bush walking just out of Taradale, Victoria

Dylan walking Gracie in a hilltop paddock in Taradale, Victoria

Long expanse of sky on a hilltop in Taradale, Victoria

On top of a hillside paddock in Taradale, Victoria

Dylan sitting on the hillside looking into the bush in Taradale, Victoria

Sitting in the sun looking into the bush in a paddock in Taradale, Victoria

Gracie the happt border collie sniffing the air

Surveying the landscape near Taradale

Teaching gracie dog tricks

Tom investigates an old gold digging near Taradale, Victoria

Looking back across the gum trees, Taradale, Victoria

Following an old bush track we came upon a metal gate which opened onto a cloudless sky. Our thrill at scaling the locked barrier only slightly dampened by the friendly sign suggesting the gate not be left open.

The sun glittered off rooftops in miniature below, I never realised that sight was uniquely Australian until our housemates remarked on it, I think they found the naked metal vaguely appalling and crude. But there is something lovely about a corrugated roof hugged by silver gums, and the bedtime sound of rain pattering on its ripples is a memory that gently drifts me back to childhood snug under the covers.

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SWIMMING FOR STICKS

Papery seed casings in the Botanical Gardens, in Mamsbury

Old historical building in Malmsbury

Old bus in someone's backyard in Malmsbury

Looking at a bus parked in a field in Malmsbuy

Parents investigating Malmsbury

A rogue water fountain in the Botanical Gardens, in Malmsbury

Gracie the border collie fetching a stick in the river at the Botanical Gardens, in Malmsbury


We spent a lazy weekend showing our new housemates the Australian countryside. We thought we’d ease them in gently by setting off from the Malmsbury Botanical Gardens which is very British before taking them down the bumpy dusty dirt track into the bush filled with all our lovely venomous slitherers. I do love a town with character, and when people have old retro buses in their backyards you know you’re somewhere special.

 

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THAT FANTASY PLAYGROUND

Dog and ceramic pipes at the building site

Paint peeling off old wheelbarrows

That dog greeting dance

Gracie unhappy with other dog at the building site

Tom patting dog at the building site

Dog snoozing at the building site

Kids playing in the sand at the building site

Kids playing in the bags of insulation at the building site

Kids playing with insulation bags at the building site

Shoes and socks at the building site

 

When you were a child did you play on building sites, climb trees and jump off. That nervous excitement at falling and that life affirming jolt as your feet hit the ground? It made me smile to see the kids (and dogs) on the building site running amok, making ghastly potions for each other out of barbecue sauce and Tabasco and climbing and dreaming.

From what you hear that kind of play is dead, or at least frowned upon with all these identical blue and red playground with tanbark and monkey bars lowered year after year at the whisper of danger. I saw it happen while I was at Primary School the exciting timber castle replaced with shiny and slick and same same.

But, there are some big kids at heart out there letting kids run wild, what a relief everyone hadn’t lost their sense of fun.

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ONE PERSON’S CLAY…

Laura and Tom moving clay at a building site for our Permablitz

Dylan and Tom moving clay for our Permablitz

Dylan, Laura and Tom collecting clay for our Permablitz

Tom and Laura collecting clay for our earth bag garden beds for our Permablitz

Tom and the wheelbarrow at the building site

Dylan and Tom  packing car with clay for our Permablitz

Unloading the clay from the car for our Permablitz, Flemington

Pushing car to have a spot for the clay for our Permablitz, Flemington

Cups of Russian Caravan tea

Pile of clay for our Permablitz, Flemington

The countdown to our Permablitz has begun and we put our new housemates to work not five days before they moved  in, after all manual labour is the building block of a beautiful friendship right?

Sadly, at our house the greater part of our subsoil languishes under a thick layer of bricks, concrete and, on preliminary investigation old rusted metal including the odd bike. The foundation of a  permaculture garden shouldn’t be built upon bought earth. We had to look elsewhere. You don’t have to look far when you are an architect.

After filling a few wheelbarrows of some quite uninspiring clay* we left the building site with Gracie dog in the back of the ute riding high on the mound. (She didn’t find it as amusing as we did.) Then a quick refreshment of Russian Caravan tea and a brief push of the vintage car that has been renting space in our driveway to make way for the mound of clay. Just your average Saturday really.

*Note: uninspiring earth is the best kind of earth for an earth bag garden bed.

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