We've had a couple of single days out at Mia Mia in the past few weekends. It's never as good to go out just for the day. It helps to go out the night before so we have time to sit around the fire and unwind before getting to work.
No actual building has gone on since our last posts but miraculously the veggie garden and fruit trees are going strong. I expected to go out and see a dry patch of dirt and bare sticks that resemble our trees. Instead the constant rain means that everything is thriving. The potato plants are big and bushy, the celery has been eaten by some sort of pest, but we only really planted it because it was limping along in a pot at home, who needs that much celery anyway? The peas are going great guns, and there are even a couple of little carrot tops poking out the top. The fruit trees are covered in blossom and thanks to the lend of a wheel burrow the second 'plot' is filled. and we've planted all the rosemary I'd grown from cuttings. I'm starting to feel a bit more like a green thumb, it's very exciting. Now we just need to grow some actual food. It's the first step to our sustainable life out there.
My dad, aka Grandpa Alan gave the boys a swing set for their birthdays which has gone up. Oscar and Aidan built it together. It probably doesn't sound as amazing to everyone else, but I sat there watching Oscar taking initiative in the assembly and do things like pick the frame up from one corner on his own to take the wrapping plastic off it while Aidan did something else. It is what the whole experience is about, the boys learning how to create things on their own and become independent human beings.
The rain and thriving plants also means thriving grass. It just never ends. We cut the grass around the container after a warning from Mary over the road that a brown snake had been spotted on our driveway, but a week later it looks like it has never even been mown. We've decided to go with drastic measures and I've contacted the local CFA about burning it, we're just waiting to hear. It will mean we're not a fire hazard, there will be nowhere for the snakes to hide. Eek! Just like in Alice in Wonderland, we'll "Burn the monster out!"
The warmer weather is also starting to change the dynamics out there. The boys were so hot and sweaty last time we went out. It reminded me of picking grapes in the heat on the block when I was a kid.
The plan of attack is to get water delivered and to get some shade happening. The roof on the container is still happening, but we're going to take a big market umbrella.
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