Foraging where I really shouldn't

If anyone has been to the property, there are so many sheds and quaint outbuildings, it is confusing to say the least.  It is no wonder husband Bruce and myself frequently forget where we put things. Also I am known to be fairly clumsy and my last attempts to retrieve something, meant that I bruised my arm for weeks.

For ages I had been asking Bruce to get down a rustic, old handmade ladder that was mounted high in one of the garages. Being a pragmatic sort of person, I had immediately located what I could do with it.  In reading glossy country magazines for my new life, I came across a delightful idea for a bathroom or guest bedroom.

Mounted against a wall, I could imagine thick soft towels on each rung, welcoming guests as they arrived.

While in France, we bought cotton quilts and posted them back to Australia such was my penchant for linen. I could also imagine my printed quilts softly folded on the rungs of the ladder in a guest bedroom.

Once the ladder was taken down from the shed, 4 coats of timber polish were applied and because Christmas was coming I joked that I would buy a blow up Santa and prop him on the side of the house on the ladder.  Adult children did not find this amusing so I went back to plan A!

It is good to shake things up a bit, don't you think!

Hail stones, birds and cream tea

Last weekend saw our first hail storm. Large hail stones spread like confetti all over the green lawns as they struck the roof noisily. Celebrating our full rain water tanks and nourishment for our garden, we planted shrubs and watched them begin to shoot in the rich, volcanic soil and warm weather that is Queensland.

Lorikeets, King parrots and cockatoos cheekily looked on us as they wiped out the sunflower seeds, prompting a second breakfast!  Our daughter, Natalie managed to coach a king parrot to eat seeds from close to where she was standing. 

 The previous day I had woken up at 5 in the morning with sunlight streaming through the curtains and had startled two wallabies munching.  They stared at me for a while before hopping away.

Later that morning, we took photographs of a country tea with chocolate cake, lemon tart, banana and carrot cake to load on my Facebook page.  Wild flowers picked from the garden, made a colourful display. I was reminded of the heritage of the building which was originally a diary and then a tearoom.  The diary farmer used his cream for tea and cream scones which they served up to the public.  I was reminded of all the empty plastic containers of strawberry jam that I originally found in my clean up when I first arrived at the Hut.  There is a lot you can tell from people's rubbish and what they don't discard!

The story of the Bavarian Hut has quickly unfolded and it will take time before its history is revealed...