The Bin Theft

christmas

Twas the week before Christmas, and all through the house..

Not a creature was stirring, except for the mice in the chook pen.

The bin had been placed on the kerb with care..

In the hope that the bin truck would soon be there.

The Other Half and I were nestled all snug in our bed..

While visions of sugar plums danced in our heads.

4thekids

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,

but because we were asleep,

nobody sprang from our bed to see what was the matter.

Luckily the security cameras caught the bin thieves,

who rather stupidly live just up the street

and chose to use their quite recognisable 4wd to try and steal our bin.

bintheft2

Because they took off like a bat out of hell,

This bin theft did not go very well.

brokedbin

Because I use very recognisable bin bags,

we found our bin right where they left it.

Just between you and me,

The council replaced our broken bin for free.

And they would have provided our caught on CCTV thieves with a free bin regardless of why it went missing. Your results may vary depending on your council.

Perhaps in the old days before CCTV, people might have snuck out in the night to steal someone else’s bin if something happened to theirs, and the destiny of the bin would forever remain a mystery. These days, not so much.

Home

Building A Chook Fence

chookfence1

The previous fence arrangement was Not Great. It worked for the most part AKA it kept the chooks on the lawn where they were meant to be and NOT on the concrete pooping up a storm. However as time went on, it began to biodegrade and holes began to appear.

20161013_173102_600x338

It was originally meant to be temporary until we built our Queensland room onto the back of the house. Realistically that is a HUGE job and may even require getting council approval depending on what we want to build and how we want to build it.

20160904_132016_600x338

Normally the chooks ignore the holes but sometimes one would find their way into the promised land. That was no big deal. But when all 5 of them scratched up my seedling bed – seen above with Grumpy before I planted the seedlings in it, it was time to get to work on something a bit more permanent.

20160904_131918_600x338

I never question the how, what, why, where or when. The Other Half just creates a plan and implements it. I am purely there to assist and sometimes this causes problems when I do not understand his vision. But I must say I am usually very fashionably attired to assist. These are my Aldi $15 wellies which originally were gorgeously shiny, several months of doing chook jobs has dulled them a little. They are due for a good clean.

20161120_132124_600x338

So his plan involved stardroppers, chicken wire, and wire to tie the chook wire to the stardroppers. That was the time consuming fiddly part of the job.

20161120_150119_600x338

It did turn out very well indeed.

20161120_150604_600x338

Here are the girls back out free ranging once it was finished. This photo was taken on the Sunday before Purple Comb became so unwell. You can see she seems perfectly fine, free ranging happily with her besties. However it is more likely she was starting to feel unwell and just very good at hiding it.

20161127_115901_600x338

I had become very sick of our hose arrangements, and it was time to find a better solution. You know when you change something and it works so well, and you are left wondering why did I not change this thing before? That applies to this hose purchase. It is incredibly useful and has me out watering the plants way more often than ever before. Which can only be great for the plants in the long run.

20161127_120031_600x338

Life goes on, for the girls. They do seem to be sticking together in their flock more, just recently. They are still being spoiled rotten with blueberries, baby spinach, corn on the cooler days, tuna, strawberries, and occasionally scrambled eggs as well.

20161120_132110_600x338

If we make it through the summer with 4 chooks remaining, we will be very lucky. Rosie and Dark Comb are over 6 years old now. Lizzy and Kitty are expected by our vets to have shorter than expected lives due to the early vitamin deficiencies their previous owner inflicted upon them by feeding the wrong food. We will make their remaining days as great as they can be.

Chickens, country life, Home

What Plant Is This?

zgarden4

This plant in the chook pen has grown as a surprise to us. The chooks have left it alone, which is strange. Most plants do not get past the seedling stage before a chook eats them.

zgarden1

We have absolutely no idea what it is.

zgarden2

Clearly it grew from seeds which likely arrived from a plant the chooks were fed. But they get so many treats, and I do not recognise this plant at all. Recently things with seeds that they have had include pumpkin, tomato, zucchini, cucumber, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and likely more treats I have completely forgotten about. If something is on special at Aldi and it is something they like and it is ok for them to eat it, chances are it will jump in the trolley.

zgarden3

I never see bees inside the chook pen, so I suspect this plant will not bear any fruit. Maybe it isn’t anything good – maybe it is just a weed and I should pull it out?

zgarden5

Over to you – Got any idea what this might be? ;)

garden

Sussex Inlet RSL – Bamboo River Restaurant

rslclub

My parents are strange people. Driving 5km for dinner or lunch is sometimes very far away, for them. For us, 5km away is just around the corner. We’re willing to drive for an hour or two for lunch or dinner if the food is something we enjoy. Sussex Inlet is about 30 minutes away so it is about a perfect distance to have a nice drive then have a lovely dinner. They are usually willing to go here if we suggest it, because they like the food.

redcurry1

We’ve been visiting here from time to time for nearly 10 years now. The first time we went, I found my dish and I have never ordered anything else here. I always order the Thai King Prawn Cinnamon Curry. It is a little spicy, as it does contain red curry, but it is not too spicy for me.

pekingprawn

Dad loves the Peking Prawn. We always swap a prawn. This time his prawn had a bit of a kick to it, it was way more spicy than usual.

rice1

We also share a fried rice between us, mostly to soak up the sauce. The sauce on my meal is amazing and I don’t want to miss any of it!.

mixedgrill

The Other Half loves a mixed grill, this one was very flavourful. The meat was beautifully cooked.

crumbchop

Mother cannot go past a crumbed lamb chop.

Dinner was yummy. I don’t have any photos but we did pick a couple of desserts to share. Sussex Inlet is a gorgeous place to visit, so if you are in the area you might want to have lunch or dinner at the RSL club. It is good reliable tasty food.

We are coming up to the holiday season here on the South Coast, I will be adding some more food reviews for the travellers over the next couple of months. You might want to view some of my previous local food reviews –

Greenwell Point Chinese Restaurant
The Huskisson
Orient Point Bakehouse

Bamboo River Restaurant Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

food, Sussex Inlet

Moona Moona Creek

zmoona2

Moona Moona Creek is a popular spot with locals and tourists alike.

zmoona3

It essentially splits Huskisson from Vincentia.

zmoona4

There is a bridge to cross, and you will see a lot of photos taken from the bridge (see the first photo) purely because it is a great view. However you do not usually see many pics of the bridge itself. So here is one. ;)

zmoona1

The creek is home to a lot of creatures. You will find baby crabs, baby fish up to larger fish, stingrays nestle in the sand – this would be my one note of caution about taking kids here, probably best to put them in water shoes. Also a good idea to get your foots in yourself and move around a bit first as this will usually send the rays swimming away.

Huskisson, Jervis Bay

Spring Preparations @ Bay Walk

zzbay1

The weather has been pretty incredible here in Jervis Bay, as I write this it is the 12th of August and we’ve had a solid week of gorgeous days.

zzbay2

I went walking at the bay every single day for 5 days in a row.

This week I have seen – the Shoalhaven Council added new gravel to some of the beach stairs. Plus they raked away a lot of leaves and sticks.

zzbench

Shoalhaven Council re-planted this bench which used to be elsewhere on the path but there was a beach erosion incident, and it fell over. It is now back in a more sheltered position, on the opposite side of the path. If it suffers from beach erosion again over here, something is really wrong!

zzbay3

The following day the concrete had been laid, and the day after that it was painted.

menatwork

One day Shoalhaven council workers were busily trimming trees that had overgrown onto the path, plus mowing lawns along the path.

zzbay4

There was some larger tree trimming done, which I did not get photos of as they had closed off the park for safety. Today as I drove there and back, there was lawnmowing being done along Jervis Bay road.

zzbay5

I think we are ready for spring now. Fingers crossed it will be as great as winter has been – blue skies, and happy weather for walking? But perhaps it might be too much to ask. We could do with a little rain. ;)

Jervis Bay