Inspired by our European Adventure

Arriving back in Brisbane, we quickly plant grapefruit, orange, guava, mandarin trees. Shrubs which remind us of our home countries such as the Protea from South Africa and a Pohutakawa from New Zealand are carefully planted amongst the grevillas which grow so well in Queensland and encourage the cheeky lorikeets, rosellas, galahs and king parrots.

 Camellias and rhodedendrums thrive in the rich, volcanic soil and remind me of my English roots.  Soon we have created a rose garden and moved a small tank so we can water our garden without having to use watering cans!

Another two new water tanks are added to the property and the guttering extended in places.  Every time it rains, we get excited as the tanks fill.  Steve, the water delivery man flies up up the mountain, when our visitors have dried up the tanks. Most weekends, we spend up at the Hut gardening and tidying up.

Sometimes we have same day turnaround as our visitors pour in at peak season.  This is usually in our dry winters with cold nights and warm sunny days.  Every guest now gets a welcome gift of an individually hand crafted teacozy. The firewood has to be replenished often and the tedious job of stacking the firewood falls to Bruce and I. We open our guest book and are delighted with our positive comments.

The camellias start flowering and we find that there are two different types of avocado trees.  The macadamia  nuts continue to fall and we collect them and put them into a large wooden bowls.  Attempts at trying to crack the nuts prove impossible!  I collect lemons, mandarins & oranges which are then used to make curd and marmalade. (see recipe under 'Tricky sweet treats')

 Wild mint grows like a weed and I proudly cut off a sprig of rosemary for our barbecued lamb chops.

I learn new customer services skills as I answer the telephone sometimes at odd times of the night.  My patience grows thin when visitors lock themelves out and telephone us to find out what they can do!  I learn the value of friends like Sam, the electrician who comes to our rescue when spare keys cannot be found.