Broody Chook Pen, Fruit Set 2013, Cuisine Night

Finally finished fiddling with the broody chook pen which was blocking the doorway of the workshop. We managed to slowly carry it out into position at the side of the workshop close to the chicken run. After getting it level a star picket was hammered in at its rear and a couple of metal straps attached to make sure it didn't get bowled over in a strong southerly. A job well done - free to good home item + a couple of hours labour and good as new ready for action.

Spent a couple of hours putting fruit fly exclusion bags on the apples and pears. There is so much fruit this year. I wonder if it is because of the dry weather that the prolific flowering has set fruit much better or is the serious pruning two years ago? The pears have these great bunches of baby fruit and the tropical apple is so prolific the tree is nearly completely covered with cotton exclusion bags.

It will be interesting to see how the season matures.

One of the two compost bins in progress was due for its first and only turning. It was well broken down and cool. This turning should stir it up again. Before shovelling it into its new bin all the fallen citrus was collected from the orchard and put in the bottom. There were also a small pile of pruning's that needed mulching and these were also tossed in. This should all be ready in 5-6 weeks for use in the vegetable garden and as potting mix. I'm excited by the speed at which a bin can be assembled from scratch and that it only needs a single turning. The high temperatures really do kill off any seeds and diseases in the pruning's. No need to burn anything - all recycled.

The base of this compost was some citrus windfall and mulched pruning's from a diseased Orange tree.

We were recently invited to a culinary event in the local area. The format is a brief meeting a couple of weeks before the event where a cuisine is chosen from around the world, dishes are planned and shared out to the participants. On the night we all bring our prepared and themed  dishes to one location and enjoy the result with the appropriate liquids.

This theme was Shanghai and so lots of interesting dishes pertaining to that area of China were on show and some Chinese beer along with various wines (Australian). After much eating and chatting we adjourn to the lounge (with drink glasses) and watch  a brief DVD on Shanghai, the region, it culture and food. The DVD cover has a booklet with various multiple choice questions on the DVD. What ensued was a Len Evans Options like game seeking answers.

The food and drinks were excellent and the DVD and follow on questions amusing. A good and interesting event and an opportunity to meet people.

Sourdough Biscuits and other things

Being a public holiday meant the owners across the river were onsite and we had a day off.

Jean had put together a sourdough bread but it failed to rise which meant rather than feed it to the chooks I turned it into savoury biscuits. Plain, Fennel seed, Sesame seed and caraway.

Went down to the workshop yesterday to run the generator for 20 minutes - a monthly chore to ensure it is working. Rather than move it outside I started it in situ but it would only run for a minute and conk out. Today with more time it was dragged out into the light and the air filter checked for mud wasp nests, the fuel bowl drained and cleaned and a thorough overall check. It was then I noticed the fuel on/off switch was in the off position. It ran well after that.

Harvested some more coffee beans and at each opportunity spent a little time shelling the previously dried beans. This is a tedious job but I'm committed to making at least one batch of our own coffee. Finished the shelling while watching a Annabel Langbein DVD that evening.

As usual, it is Monday and a fast day all day from our morning tea/coffee until dinner time. That doesn't prevent us from doing a dozen laps in the pool, 30 minutes of Aquarobics and a HIT session.

With the moon still in the right place bottling continued with another 4 dozen bottles. This time it was 36 litres of Petit Verdot. We had a bottle with dinner in the evening (what diet?) and found it really very good as a varietal. It is normally blended with other varieties but we prefer the unique individual flavours. So we aren't connoisseurs.

The weather continues to be dry and we have started the watering program again with both pumps working on the dam. I never have a problem with them as I don't turn off the fuel.

Some weeks a go we were given a largish pen which had been used to house broody hens and thus get them out of the busy laying boxes. The mesh in parts was badly rusted and today we finished replacing all the damaged sections. It now just needs a little rust proof paint and will be ready for action.