and made by Clare....with enthusiasm and not that many skills! That's about the sum of it. The tiny block, tiny parking spot for the Mouse House (tiny house in a van) and the Tin Hut tiny house (camp shelter) are collectively now called, 'Happenstance'.....things that happened and the circumstances that lead to it all coming together. A good name I think, don't you? Lots of photos in this edition..enjoy! A week ago a big backhoe, driven up the road by Geoff, made short work of digging out the little pond hole making it into a big pond hole. A frog and wild life habitat and also a source of emergency water should it ever be needed. Now I would just like some water in the hole! As a result of the digging I now have quite a lot of old bricks for making a pathway. Some of them were even still in one piece! I'm guessing these bricks are old. They come from the old hotel that was built on this block in 1888 A couple of weeks ago I quite enjoyed the channel 10 live interview with Joe Hildebrand. I did it sitting in the Mouse House. An interesting experience with footage from Jordan Osmond, myself and the ABC. I loved seeing Miriam Margoyles in my mouse house van again. We shared some great laughs that day of filming for the ABC, 'Almost Australian'. What a shame they spelt Jordan's name incorrectly. It happens to me a fair bit too 🙄 A surprise on the 19th June saw a lovely group of woman at Happenstance'. They came bearing gifts, fantastic home made food, chairs, tables and even a gas stove to make the coffee on. That's the way to have a nice surprise... everything came with them and everything (except some home made goodies) left with them too. A very relaxing, fun time. Thank you all so much. I have been enjoying biscuits, cake, cheeses, bread and bacon since you left. I am yearning for another one (or 6) more of those fabulous home made sausage rolls though....yummmmmm! You can see a bit of the frivolity in this most recent YouTube video... Between working and having visitors I've had some time to take out the camera and take photos. My neighbour, Noel, took me for a drive recently along Long Point Road to the National park where we released a spotted Quoll that had killed all another neighbour's chooks the night before. It was humanely caught but it was still a very cranky little critter while it was in the cage. When released it did seem a little bit happier. Alas Margaret isn't, she has lost her entire laying flock of IsaBrown hens. Here are some photos of that little excursion.... Here are some of the images taken on 'Happenstance' recently....The red moon in June, a visiting eagle and some images from inside the tiny house including the bed I mad ..with scrap wood... the kitchen sink unit and Scottish scones cooking on the stove. (click on any to enlarge) And then...2 days ago...Marty came with the poles and bearers for building the tin hut tiny veranda. Thanks to Jordan Osmond, who did the YouTube vid on the Mouse House in September (over 4 million views so far), I now have some funds to go towards building that. What a great surprise gift that was! Thank you so much Jordan and Antoinette 🤗 It has been a very good month of lovely surprises. I have also sold some of my images on items through RedBubble, T shirts, Stickers and 'Wallaby Teatime' (One of my all time favourite images) on metal. A big thank you to those who support me and my work. There have been many cold, cold, windy days and nights here on the block but with the little 'Squirrel' wood stove I have been quite cosy. What a good buy that was 😊 I do all of my cooking on the stove top so, as well as the food tasting great, I have also saved on gas. Here is the recipe for the 'Mediterranean soup' (as seen in the vid above) I made the day my visitors came.....as close as I can remember it 😊 I don't own cook books anymore! Toast lightly in a dry pan 1 tbs of cumin and 1 tbsp coriander and a pinch of cardamom. Add a little oil and fry chopped onion and garlic. Add chopped carrot (3 small) and then chopped potato (3) Cook a bit and then.. Add 1 tin of brown lentils and 1 tin of crushed tomatoes with a tsp sugar. Add 1 cinnamon stick, salt and a little chilli (if you like it) I think that was it. Simmer gently until potatoes and carrots are cooked. Nice with toasted sourdough bread. Leftovers make a good pasta sauce. If you are still with me by this point, thank you. It's nice to know I have company as I sit in the Tin Hut, with the north sun streaming in, writing this on my laptop, powered by the sun and the solar in the Mouse House.
Until the next one... Be well and Happy everyone. Clare 😊 oops..I nearly forgot!! For the love of happy 'high country' horses....
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On the 1st of June it’s windy and drizzling outside and warm, dry and cosy in here. You’ll possibly be surprised to see the changes that have occurred in the past 4 weeks. I was quite amazed when I watched the last YouTube video - the one I did in May with Tigger. Tin Hut is now free of workshop type ’stuff’ and, with the recently gifted pre-loved rugs, and the new outdoor stuff shed…yes, indeed….with shelving for the ’stuff’ she’s looking pretty darn fine if I do say so myself. I am very happy with my 20sqm. Starting from the 1st pic (click to enlarge then just scroll through) this is how it happened. I now have a dear little stove, the smallest, nicest one I could find. It was delivered and installed about a week ago. I can cook one pot meals on the top (coq au vin at the moment) and it is the most efficient and best burning and lighting stove I have ever had the pleasure of using. One sheet of newspaper, a few sticks and she’s off and running. No need for fire lighters with this little ’squirrel ‘. Many thanks to Ali who brought this (and the twin tub…more on that in a minute..) out for me neatly packaged and tied on the back of her ute. After the installation Ali and I shared a lovely lunch and then put the timber around the edges of the cement fibre, 8mm thick, hearth that I painted slate grey the day before the stove came. It looks lovely. 😊'It's all too beautiful'..... hah! Right now, with only the sound of my typing and the ‘singing’, well braced, chimney in the wind, I am plugged into the power from the Mouse House. An inverter and an extension cord are a very good idea. Typing as I am now won’t use much power at all but when I edit film clips and photos that usage will increase no doubt. Lucky the sun just came out 😊. Withe the extra fold out solar panel I’ve managed quite well after 3 days of no sun last week. The battery did get down to 25% but with a lithium battery that is still ok. Running the van for a while will put in 40amps per hour if I need to. Why buy a generator when the van, with DC to DC charger, is a generator of power anyway? I spoke with Andrew at Enerdrive, where my system came from, and he explained it all to me in a very clear way. I feel more in control now....as the panels currently get a decent wash from a downpour. And then....The magical appearance of the outhouse/wood cover/garden shed. The outhouse has a 2nd skin and a higher roof....nice 😊 The best deterrent for flies is...a fly swat! Honestly, you'd have to kill a fly by fatally chucking the can of fly spray at it for all the good spraying them does. Look at that wonderful wood box I was just given. Fits the space and my wood size perfectly. I have a confession to make here. The lovely neighbour that gave me the wood box also gave me a fabulous, really old bikky tin, a very unique one. I washed off the years of shed grime and put the pieces on the stove stop to dry. It was too hot and the pieces were all scorched. I wish I hadn't done that🙄 Things have slowed down with tree planting. I think I have enough now as they will grow quite big in time. A lovely neighbour gave me a red flowering gum tree he’d grown from seed and I planted that 2 days ago…maybe the last tree to go in. The veggie garden is doing quite well and I eat something green from it every day. Mainly lettuce and kale. I’ve even made bread again, the first in over 2 years. I baked it in the gas pizza oven I actually kept from the sale of my house and possessions. I think it will come in handy after all. I know I have some artworks around the place, being looked after in different homes, but I can’t remember what or where. Won’t that be a lovely surprise when they come back and decorate this simple little home? Back to the twin tub washing machine… Yes, I succumbed. After hand washing in cold water for a couple of months, and suffering the painful splits in my fingers as a result of the cold wind and water, I decided that things were only going to get worse as the days became even colder so I bought, for under AU$200 a portable, low wattage, washing machine. Fair enough, there is still a tiny bit of work required, if water is to be be conserved, but it sure gets my clothes cleaner and the little spinner is great! With the sun on the solar panels I found that I did not deplete the battery at all by using 240v with this little 5kg washing machine. Another ‘little thing’ that has made me very happy. |
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