tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26029569672500533722024-03-13T04:23:33.280-07:00The reinvention of Marmalade CottageMarmalade cottage was built in 1917. Then it was renovated in the 1950s. Then nothing, really. It's been empty for a couple of years and still has its fabulous, kitsch linoleum floor coverings. And an outside loo and a beautiful cream and green Metters wood stove. Come with us as we transform a gracious shell into a functional house and create a fragrant, edible garden around it.Marmalade Cottagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08267122371340744878noreply@blogger.comBlogger166125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2602956967250053372.post-13008468112437297162020-06-15T20:49:00.000-07:002020-06-15T20:49:19.109-07:00Of potatoes and lemons and the smell of coffee<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The coffee sack potato experiment seems to be going rather well. They've been in their sacks for a good month now. The theory is that once the plants show leafy growth, you cover that with soil, and in doing so prompt the plant to grow another layer of tubers.<br />
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Here's the Creative Reinventor holding the sacks' sides so the soil doesn't fall out. Two of the three sacks have reshot leaves, so it's time to fill them again. We also decided to try the same with leeks. No such progress yet.<br />
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You've got to admire the tenacity of plants. This lemon tree had a nasty citrus gall wasp infestation. It needed hard pruning twice to get rid of all the galls. And it's done this. Quite out of season, but it's in a sunny spot, and Perth doesn't really get cold.<br />
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Meanwhile the Practical Reinventor struggles with the black dog. The Corona-crisis has rendered her unemployed and this is not a good state of affairs. Thankfully the weather is mostly nice enough to cycle every day, and exercise is a saviour.<br />
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The Creative Reinventor is doing rather better. With the pandemic forced the early closure of his first cafe, it's also brought a new landlord who's most supportive of setting up a quirky cafe. And the rent is rather more reasonable than the original site. There has been much fitting and sawing and painting and discussing and we're looking at opening in July. Exciting!Marmalade Cottagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08267122371340744878noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2602956967250053372.post-91587379862478413492020-05-20T06:46:00.002-07:002020-05-20T06:46:44.045-07:00Autumn growthThe sunflowers have started to bloom and the bees are befuddled, but grateful. Well, a bit grateful. It appears the bees have gone feral. The Creative Reinventor went to say hello to them the other day and was stung for his trouble. It may have been his black t-shirt, but the consensus is they've gone feral. Fortunately he's not allergic.<br />
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Neither reinventor can deal with this disaster. We'll have to pay a proper apiarist to do something. Either take the hives away and requeen. Or just take the hives away. The hives sit in quite a large bit of back garden that is now out of bounds. <br />
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In other news, there are lots of green tomatoes. Of all sizes. There's a slim possibility, if the sunny weather holds (it won't, there's rain predicted for most of next week) that they're in a sheltered enough position to ripen. We could, of course ripen them on a windowsill with a sacrificial banana. Or we could make green tomato chutney. With the rip-roaring success of the ripe tomato relish, the chutney idea is winning.<br />
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<br />Marmalade Cottagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08267122371340744878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2602956967250053372.post-33978928039439381672020-04-29T01:53:00.001-07:002020-05-12T06:01:30.505-07:00In which we try to avoid using any cliches to explain our potato-related activities...It's been a nice week at Marmalade Cottage. The Creative Reinventor's <a href="https://www.boltcoffee.com.au/" target="_blank">business</a> looks like it might survive the State of Emergency, and the Practical Reinventor has been doing some freelance policy wrangling. From the garden.<br />
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Meanwhile, we are deep in planting season.<br />
Being as we have almost unlimited access to hessian coffee sacks, we did this:<br />
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This gives the sacks are more stable bottom. Then we rolled the sides down so they stand up like this:<br />
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Then we filled them with dirt and added some seed potatoes, thus:<br />
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While Jodie supervised. She did, at one point curl up in the middle of the sacks for a snooze, which was very cute, but didn't want to be photographed. Who knew kelpies were shy?<br />
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The ingenious plan is to wait for leaves to appear, cover them with more dirt, rolling the sacks up to contain this, repeat, repeat until the sacks are standing full. The potato plants, wise to this ruse, keep growing, and at each adding of dirt, grow another layer of tubers. You can buy commercially produced gro-sacks to do this, or make a pile of tyres. We're using what we've got.<br />
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<br />Marmalade Cottagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08267122371340744878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2602956967250053372.post-40191153436767886342020-04-24T21:59:00.000-07:002020-04-24T21:59:02.374-07:00Optimism IIYou might remember the chook pen garden?<br />
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Things have progressed.<br />
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The self-sewn tomatoes have teensy fruit on them. They're unlikely to ripen - it simply won't be warm enough for long enough, but you have to admire the spirit of the plants.<br />
The pumpkins are about to flower, but they're all male flowers. Regardless, they do provide rather good protection for all the leafy greens around them.<br />
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The sunflowers, also, are unlikely to flower, but this one has an interesting mutation.Marmalade Cottagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08267122371340744878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2602956967250053372.post-65650880314540991362020-04-23T21:55:00.004-07:002020-04-23T21:55:54.418-07:00Optimism<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This is a dragonfruit cutting. It sat in its pot silently for weeks. Then it put up a shoot. The Practical Reinventor feels like this is her spiritual plant totem. She's not being doing well of late. While the coronavirus restrictions have not helped, it's the employment market that's been the problem. Where she'd normally have a week or two off between contracts and just enjoy the time, there have been 11 contracts withdrawn from offer. Employers are either terribly nervous, or realise that one of the employees they've just sacked could do the job instead. Sigh.<br />
However, there's a short, freelance contract happening, and her mood has lifted.<br />
Hopefully this is the first step out of the mental morass.Marmalade Cottagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08267122371340744878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2602956967250053372.post-51867529017380019022020-04-09T22:33:00.003-07:002020-04-09T22:39:45.501-07:00There were tearsWhile all the fun things are put on hold, and we're all confined to quarters, there's been a lovely resurgence in the skills we used to value. Of course this isn't all good - there's been a run on vegetable seedlings and when they ran out, seeds. Some smaller seed companies are completely overwhelmed. The price of laying hens has skyrocketed. One feels a little sorry for the hens going to homes where the people know nothing about looking after them.<br />
However, Marmalade Cottage has always grown vegetables and baked bread preserved food.<br />
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First up, onions. The Practical Reinventor is very fond of a pickled onion, so there's no excuse for years of buying them. <br />
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It'll be about a month before we know whether they're any good. A report then.<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aw8BxCUJ9K8/XpABnC6xTkI/AAAAAAAABGs/EbN-V3chnJInfeAXLbylEe0YQOVE7HYOgCEwYBhgLKskDAMBZVoBTZUq8jTpPB7exnQ0tBqV6MEaqfTSOOCvqlrEMbKzhJdtTk9XS20SEfvnFleCMN3SjPWWTBYdVRLMJem0RHg2LireNH827KnOLsWkukwWwgik0eX2RDwxpej5nLWR1Xyra1Sf3UQWKIrBTsIZj00ScJHC13mE9A4KEgTid6W6PsFx8IKi6ASfnLxWfcGSm_ZBk7KQnQlgifBaVRF-r1v_ltLdGNm3u9W9WGDRKLOGm5utpbZAr5wgmM4QBcZOojGT3FUIcxoyV7Fj22WMsmvQUABJS41DFueMhuK-wOHJuwKluyVKnmFfLZjrTab_3g7LfHPNeOSKdn1Ytkau-_viyg3Cs5kO-j1H-NWVFWa5yLvTTgyQZkJBDE_osqkz0J9FSN5MLhgKZGM30a3JlIEt-qyUEou6hj2J8xdumwEgiORpYNBCLa9QBV6ehuAYIQFgm4fyJ1DYgVxXPx4eCUcqL0pJkVsaqd1XOA90gpF79tNmCRow4PoNI_uosp0iYnZ75G3pOmI1i5vB1FrQLWBoTs4zEmdKdDVgf2yPuf0qwNMghomKKn9X7jtr1_tXY9vPmZ3gykDaisESRaj2B1STjKJUoyDDljMD0BQ/s1600/1%2B-%2B7%2B%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aw8BxCUJ9K8/XpABnC6xTkI/AAAAAAAABGs/EbN-V3chnJInfeAXLbylEe0YQOVE7HYOgCEwYBhgLKskDAMBZVoBTZUq8jTpPB7exnQ0tBqV6MEaqfTSOOCvqlrEMbKzhJdtTk9XS20SEfvnFleCMN3SjPWWTBYdVRLMJem0RHg2LireNH827KnOLsWkukwWwgik0eX2RDwxpej5nLWR1Xyra1Sf3UQWKIrBTsIZj00ScJHC13mE9A4KEgTid6W6PsFx8IKi6ASfnLxWfcGSm_ZBk7KQnQlgifBaVRF-r1v_ltLdGNm3u9W9WGDRKLOGm5utpbZAr5wgmM4QBcZOojGT3FUIcxoyV7Fj22WMsmvQUABJS41DFueMhuK-wOHJuwKluyVKnmFfLZjrTab_3g7LfHPNeOSKdn1Ytkau-_viyg3Cs5kO-j1H-NWVFWa5yLvTTgyQZkJBDE_osqkz0J9FSN5MLhgKZGM30a3JlIEt-qyUEou6hj2J8xdumwEgiORpYNBCLa9QBV6ehuAYIQFgm4fyJ1DYgVxXPx4eCUcqL0pJkVsaqd1XOA90gpF79tNmCRow4PoNI_uosp0iYnZ75G3pOmI1i5vB1FrQLWBoTs4zEmdKdDVgf2yPuf0qwNMghomKKn9X7jtr1_tXY9vPmZ3gykDaisESRaj2B1STjKJUoyDDljMD0BQ/s320/1%2B-%2B7%2B%25282%2529.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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And this old favourite - once a winner (well, third, but still) at the Perth Royal Show. Pineapple relish. Which comes out looking like this:</div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MchJfBvNv2Q/XpABlzNoEnI/AAAAAAAABGQ/s3lCbhiCdKwnkxbGbTiaXVJNTdCnHpb0ACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/1%2B-%2B10%2B%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MchJfBvNv2Q/XpABlzNoEnI/AAAAAAAABGQ/s3lCbhiCdKwnkxbGbTiaXVJNTdCnHpb0ACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/1%2B-%2B10%2B%25281%2529.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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And is fabulous with cheese.</div>
And since the tomato lady up the road is still selling her wares by honesty box, some of these: <br />
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OG8IyOlcLeQ/XpADM6eBF5I/AAAAAAAABG0/P39URwi7YxYCwTVwcAvECbauy1nOh0IUgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/1%2B-%2B5%2B%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OG8IyOlcLeQ/XpADM6eBF5I/AAAAAAAABG0/P39URwi7YxYCwTVwcAvECbauy1nOh0IUgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/1%2B-%2B5%2B%25282%2529.jpg" width="240" /></a><br />
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became these:<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Zv8wI3dZH1s/XpABm8_iAYI/AAAAAAAABGo/ltFr3XwW3vMvMMuDwSOWu8cH7mVDsLuPwCEwYBhgLKskDAMBZVoBTZUq8jTpPB7exnQ0tBqV6MEaqfTSOOCvqlrEMbKzhJdtTk9XS20SEfvnFleCMN3SjPWWTBYdVRLMJem0RHg2LireNH827KnOLsWkukwWwgik0eX2RDwxpej5nLWR1Xyra1Sf3UQWKIrBTsIZj00ScJHC13mE9A4KEgTid6W6PsFx8IKi6ASfnLxWfcGSm_ZBk7KQnQlgifBaVRF-r1v_ltLdGNm3u9W9WGDRKLOGm5utpbZAr5wgmM4QBcZOojGT3FUIcxoyV7Fj22WMsmvQUABJS41DFueMhuK-wOHJuwKluyVKnmFfLZjrTab_3g7LfHPNeOSKdn1Ytkau-_viyg3Cs5kO-j1H-NWVFWa5yLvTTgyQZkJBDE_osqkz0J9FSN5MLhgKZGM30a3JlIEt-qyUEou6hj2J8xdumwEgiORpYNBCLa9QBV6ehuAYIQFgm4fyJ1DYgVxXPx4eCUcqL0pJkVsaqd1XOA90gpF79tNmCRow4PoNI_uosp0iYnZ75G3pOmI1i5vB1FrQLWBoTs4zEmdKdDVgf2yPuf0qwNMghomKKn9X7jtr1_tXY9vPmZ3gykDaisESRaj2B1STjKJUoyDDljMD0BQ/s1600/1%2B-%2B6%2B%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Zv8wI3dZH1s/XpABm8_iAYI/AAAAAAAABGo/ltFr3XwW3vMvMMuDwSOWu8cH7mVDsLuPwCEwYBhgLKskDAMBZVoBTZUq8jTpPB7exnQ0tBqV6MEaqfTSOOCvqlrEMbKzhJdtTk9XS20SEfvnFleCMN3SjPWWTBYdVRLMJem0RHg2LireNH827KnOLsWkukwWwgik0eX2RDwxpej5nLWR1Xyra1Sf3UQWKIrBTsIZj00ScJHC13mE9A4KEgTid6W6PsFx8IKi6ASfnLxWfcGSm_ZBk7KQnQlgifBaVRF-r1v_ltLdGNm3u9W9WGDRKLOGm5utpbZAr5wgmM4QBcZOojGT3FUIcxoyV7Fj22WMsmvQUABJS41DFueMhuK-wOHJuwKluyVKnmFfLZjrTab_3g7LfHPNeOSKdn1Ytkau-_viyg3Cs5kO-j1H-NWVFWa5yLvTTgyQZkJBDE_osqkz0J9FSN5MLhgKZGM30a3JlIEt-qyUEou6hj2J8xdumwEgiORpYNBCLa9QBV6ehuAYIQFgm4fyJ1DYgVxXPx4eCUcqL0pJkVsaqd1XOA90gpF79tNmCRow4PoNI_uosp0iYnZ75G3pOmI1i5vB1FrQLWBoTs4zEmdKdDVgf2yPuf0qwNMghomKKn9X7jtr1_tXY9vPmZ3gykDaisESRaj2B1STjKJUoyDDljMD0BQ/s320/1%2B-%2B6%2B%25282%2529.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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which got whizzed up into the most amazing tomato sauce. They're in the freezer waiting for a day cool enough to justify lighting the pizza oven.<br />
It's been a while between loaves, so we made some of this too: <br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-L9Hl8Rmx3Ig/XpABmFhbGpI/AAAAAAAABGU/fSsjRojmm28Rx93H1ItV8DDVpOGK2djlwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/1%2B-%2B11%2B%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-L9Hl8Rmx3Ig/XpABmFhbGpI/AAAAAAAABGU/fSsjRojmm28Rx93H1ItV8DDVpOGK2djlwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/1%2B-%2B11%2B%25281%2529.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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All in all, it's been rather productive. <br />
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<br />Marmalade Cottagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08267122371340744878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2602956967250053372.post-4445601736022929932020-04-06T20:44:00.000-07:002020-04-06T20:44:07.631-07:00Desperate timesWe had to finally close our little cafe last week. It's been coming for a while, not just the corona-crisis, but the upcoming end of lease and the clear animosity of the landlords towards us.<br />
That means four people out of work, and a significant portion of income lost.<br />
The much-vaunted jobkeeper payment doesn't apply. <br />
Right now, we're focusing on surviving this crisis and working out how to rebuild when things improve.Marmalade Cottagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08267122371340744878noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2602956967250053372.post-82321005985324041182020-04-01T01:46:00.002-07:002020-04-01T01:46:29.226-07:00Autumn veg <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-q06C68Ww1dY/XoRTiBFmC1I/AAAAAAAABFI/blnsJAMBt90rbjalEqb7c8rxn3E26s6cQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/1%2B-%2B2%2B%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-q06C68Ww1dY/XoRTiBFmC1I/AAAAAAAABFI/blnsJAMBt90rbjalEqb7c8rxn3E26s6cQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/1%2B-%2B2%2B%25281%2529.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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The new bit of vegetable garden, the bit that was the chook shed is doing remarkably well. The Practical Reinventor planted some species thoughtfully (potatoes, garlic, broadbeans) then added an array of seeds. Firstly because a variety of plants produces a variety of scents and that helps to confuse and repel insect predators, and secondly because she likes a riot of species growing together, something like what happens in nature.<br />
In this picture you can see rocket, sunflowers, assorted lettuces, kale, and probably a few others.<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-K9Z2ij09ERI/XoRUPj_-xNI/AAAAAAAABFQ/JbcpFpnRaLsO9Fl7dMwAP1weafYWmR5pACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/1%2B-%2B3%2B%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-K9Z2ij09ERI/XoRUPj_-xNI/AAAAAAAABFQ/JbcpFpnRaLsO9Fl7dMwAP1weafYWmR5pACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/1%2B-%2B3%2B%25281%2529.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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For perspective. We did not plant those tomatoes and pumpkins. They most likely won't fruit, but you have to admire their spirit!<br />
And that is a pizza oven in the background. Rescued by an associate from a former pizza oven, and (mostly) installed on the plinth we built something ridiculous like seven years ago. It cooks magnificently, but takes a good three hours to heat up enough to be effective. So we don't use it terribly much.<br />
<br />Marmalade Cottagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08267122371340744878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2602956967250053372.post-7800943046374985202020-03-30T06:53:00.000-07:002020-03-30T06:53:04.039-07:00And in an aside...The Practical Reinventor is active in a couple of community groups. With the new social distancing regulations (are they regulations or directives, or what? One wonders, but they do seem to be enforceable, even if they're not law as such) the groups can't meet. <br />
As well as not meeting, the groups can't really do much. In Western Australia, the local councils have cancelled all bookings of public space, put closed signs on playgrounds, and the police will shout at groups of more that two people by drone. It is most distressing.<br />
So we've taken to zoom. In the middle of tonight's zoom discussion about holding onto our sanity, the Creative Reinventor wanders past from the shower. In his altogether. Rather derailing the discussion.Marmalade Cottagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08267122371340744878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2602956967250053372.post-55707914446123974712020-03-26T17:14:00.000-07:002020-03-26T17:14:04.294-07:00Time at homeWith the coronavirus crisis limiting life, the reinventors spend considerable time at home. It might be autumn officially, but today it is 37 degrees. The garden is wilting. The bees hum very slowly. <br />
Several weeks ago, lovely new neighbours asked us to look at our chook pen. They'd cleaned up the back part of their yard to put in a shiny new shed. Our chook pen was on an embarrassing lean over the boundary.<br />
So we rehomed the chooks and tore it down. Which immediately created about 12m2 of new veg garden space.<br />
That's got potatoes, broadbeans, snow peas, sunflowers, rocket, and an assortment of other seeds and self-sown seedlings busily growing.<br />
Jodie the Neurotic Kelpie is fascinated with the new smells.<br />
<br />Marmalade Cottagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08267122371340744878noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2602956967250053372.post-92043231317286653972016-06-09T01:08:00.000-07:002016-06-09T01:08:05.211-07:00Drama QueenIt's perfectly normal and healthy for chooks to moult once or twice a year. They stop laying, lose some feathers, have a bit of a rest, grow them back and go back to laying.<br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SUvlEvob4Os/V1E0VuZM6vI/AAAAAAAAA4w/fsUgNFBzhY8_T8bCxdi4R0_1zuaI5KStwCKgB/s1600/IMG_1106.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SUvlEvob4Os/V1E0VuZM6vI/AAAAAAAAA4w/fsUgNFBzhY8_T8bCxdi4R0_1zuaI5KStwCKgB/s320/IMG_1106.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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Violet has to go further than everyone else. Of four attempts to take this photo (she kept running away - do chooks feel embarrassment?) this was the best. Makes you groan.Marmalade Cottagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08267122371340744878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2602956967250053372.post-64424208992601275332016-06-07T01:05:00.000-07:002016-06-07T01:05:09.900-07:00Little tartsMarmalade Cottage didn't have any citrus when the Reinventors moved in.<br />
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Now it has tangeloes<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-P5ipDsDofmI/V1E0bsfTZDI/AAAAAAAAA5E/OM4MuacJt445Zqu--rZWlqXWujYj6SnCQCKgB/s1600/IMG_1108.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-P5ipDsDofmI/V1E0bsfTZDI/AAAAAAAAA5E/OM4MuacJt445Zqu--rZWlqXWujYj6SnCQCKgB/s320/IMG_1108.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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which make sublime marmalade, and grapefruit<br />
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which would make good marmalade, but the Practical Reinventor eats them all fresh.<br />
<br />Marmalade Cottagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08267122371340744878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2602956967250053372.post-89996437164677115752016-06-05T01:03:00.000-07:002016-06-05T01:03:12.816-07:00UnexpectedThere's a fence somewhere under the ivy hedge at the front of Marmalade Cottage, or the remains of one.<br />
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What we didn't know was that it still had this.<br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gjlr3VbUsPU/V1E0l34UfTI/AAAAAAAAA5I/-8SPfFAJsCMAAvBsMTeK3uQqYlMzkRzdQCKgB/s1600/IMG_1111.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gjlr3VbUsPU/V1E0l34UfTI/AAAAAAAAA5I/-8SPfFAJsCMAAvBsMTeK3uQqYlMzkRzdQCKgB/s320/IMG_1111.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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Rather sweet vintage numbers. Nailed on crookedly.<br />
They suit the place.Marmalade Cottagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08267122371340744878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2602956967250053372.post-38711924279421788372016-06-03T01:01:00.001-07:002016-06-03T01:01:34.424-07:00Climate creepIt's winter in Perth, which means it's something like spring would be in Europe, a bit of rain, lots of gloriously sunny days and the garden has covered itself in green.<br />
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One of our local gardening celebrities has been talking about climate creep for a few years now, and it's pretty obvious what she means. Our seasons really are changing.<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fWKcayBYRaI/V1EzjZ7BbtI/AAAAAAAAA3o/u2wf7ZpAiTghi-U0ABqZDIkVWBGbKPKyACLcB/s1600/IMG_1103.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fWKcayBYRaI/V1EzjZ7BbtI/AAAAAAAAA3o/u2wf7ZpAiTghi-U0ABqZDIkVWBGbKPKyACLcB/s320/IMG_1103.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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Exhibit A: baby silverbeet. I'd ordinarily expect to seem them a couple of months ago, but it was far too hot, or in a couple of months' time when it starts to warm up a bit. But it's warm now, at the beginning of winter, and we have a carpet of these.<br />
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And roses. We have lots of roses. Mostly green waste collection passes Marmalade Cottage by - leaves get mulched and composted, branches dried off and used as kindling, and the chooks take care of most of the weeds. But this year we pruned a few things quite hard in late April. <br />
The poor roses are blooming magnificently, but not drying off well at night as we are getting a bit of dew, so lots of them are rotting on their stems.<br />
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The pomegranate seems to know what to do.<br />
<br />Marmalade Cottagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08267122371340744878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2602956967250053372.post-4096218408147155052015-12-17T17:51:00.000-08:002015-12-17T17:51:04.421-08:00Arranging and rearrangingThis dresser (art deco, found in an op shop, painstaking stripped of multiple layers of ceiling white) has been our main piece of kitchen storage furniture since we moved in. But it really doesn't hold a lot.<br />
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So it's been sold. Which means it needs to be emptied and huffed and puffed out of the house.</div>
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This will form part of its replacement. The other bit is much prettier!<br />
<br />Marmalade Cottagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08267122371340744878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2602956967250053372.post-73936151549046357202015-12-16T17:30:00.001-08:002015-12-17T17:12:46.657-08:00Another transformation<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
When the reinventors moved into Marmalade Cottage, this back bit of the house was a kitchen of sorts. It was so disgusting most of it went straight into a skip, and the reinventors put a sink and stove and such into the original kitchen.</div>
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This bit got left as a storage room/passage to the sewing room, but with the cold water sink.</div>
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The sink was moderately useful for washing dirt off vegetables or paint off brushes. The rats that moved in last summer found it a useful entryway and nest. </div>
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Finally the sink is going and the space will be far more useful. </div>
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We definitely needed expert help with this. Once the sink was gone and the wall behind reinstated, the area needed plumbing and some useful stuff fitted.<br />
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This is as far as we got in a day. You can't see the plumbing, trust us there's now hot water and washing machine fittings.</div>
The reinventors are going to have a go at tiling that unfinished bit of floor (how hard can it be?!), and then the bench will have a cabinet end put on it, a big hole cut in it and a sink and shiny new taps installed. Then there is space for some shelves or a cupboard, and the front loader to fit neatly under the bench.<br />
It'll be a proper, indoor laundry!<br />
The only downside seems to be that we won't be able to put the greywater from the washing machine on our tiny patch of lawn/green weeds under the Hills Hoist.<br />
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The filthy, rat-poo infused, broken sink unit went out on hard rubbish. And was snaffled by someone with lots of ambition within a couple of hours. I guess it did have its original bakelite handles, but still... Marmalade Cottagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08267122371340744878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2602956967250053372.post-26548570292661980352015-11-29T16:09:00.000-08:002015-11-29T16:09:09.938-08:00This took too longWhenever the back verandah of Marmalade Cottage was filled in to create more indoor space, the builder (who wasn't too sure on the concepts of level, plumb, or square) used what pretty much every house of its day used: louvres. <br />
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They let air and light in, but you can't see through them when closed and they're most definitely not secure. <br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pFF5fCoztU0/VluSED32hhI/AAAAAAAAA1M/XTE62IU3u88/s1600/IMG_0762.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Louvres being removed" border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pFF5fCoztU0/VluSED32hhI/AAAAAAAAA1M/XTE62IU3u88/s320/IMG_0762.JPG" title="Louvres being removed" width="240" /></a></div>
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So we finally got them removed. All five banks of them.<br />
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And put in a real window. Which is secure and provides much better vision and air-flow. And cost $50 off Gumtree. Hopefully someone will want the old louvres, otherwise, it's hard rubbish collection week and they'll go on the pile.<br />
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The reinventors are particularly pleased that they're now compliant with their house insurance...Marmalade Cottagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08267122371340744878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2602956967250053372.post-18464245973717230362015-10-13T19:04:00.000-07:002015-10-13T19:04:00.611-07:00When life hands you mulberriesMake mulberry gin!<br />
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That's it on the left. And there's the Practical Reinventor sieving passionfruit for strawberry passionfruit gin.<br />
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Strawberry passionfruit gin on the left. We'll leave them to mature for a bit. They should be wonderful with soda on a hot afternoon.<br />
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<br />Marmalade Cottagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08267122371340744878noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2602956967250053372.post-36454677301272392552015-10-11T18:18:00.001-07:002015-10-11T18:18:34.675-07:00LighterOh the relief.<br />
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That's five large garbage bags of stuff that we don't use. So it's gone.<br />
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Who needs KonMari? We just got ruthless.<br />
<br />Marmalade Cottagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08267122371340744878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2602956967250053372.post-50686463657572419612015-10-01T06:29:00.000-07:002017-12-23T19:42:51.343-08:00She barely squeaked when she landed awkwardly catching a stickThe Reinventors knew when they adopted Jodie the Neuriotic Kelpie that kelpies tend to tear cruciate ligaments.<br />
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So she has health insurance, where the Reinventors are happy to rely on Medicare.<br />
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And it's a good thing.<br />
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She's torn her cruciate ligament.<br />
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Surgery next week.<br />
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Sigh.Marmalade Cottagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08267122371340744878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2602956967250053372.post-76540749316651505622015-09-28T06:26:00.002-07:002015-09-28T06:26:40.463-07:00Goodbye MarionSeptember has been a bastard of a month.<br />
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Aside from considerations of bills, middle-aged aches and caterpillars destroying the lettuces, the second-last of our original chooks, Marion, got sick. We thought she was just broody.<br />
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She was looking bloated and hormonal and refusing to get off the nesting basket.<br />
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So we picked her up and took her outside, made sure she got water, the usual things you do for a chook you do not want to be broody.<br />
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But last Sunday, the Practical Reinventor was outside gardening and noticed two other chooks and the kelpie sitting with her.<br />
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Just sitting with her.<br />
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The sun started to set and the other chooks headed back into the pen. Marion did not.<br />
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We took her in and settled her on the roost. <br />
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Not 10 minutes later there was a desperate flapping, and then silence.<br />
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She died.<br />
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Just like that.<br />
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She's buried with Joan and Joyce under the mulberry tree.<br />
<br />Marmalade Cottagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08267122371340744878noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2602956967250053372.post-2965003746350990752015-08-25T18:21:00.000-07:002015-08-25T18:21:00.132-07:00ExhaustingThis climate change lark (should that be accorded capital letters? Is it a proper noun?) isn't fun.<br />
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Exhibit A: the lemon tree.<br />
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It has, simultaneously, mature fruit, juvenile fruit and blossom.<br />
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The poor tree hasn't had its traditional rest over winter. Largely because winter hasn't happened. There's been a bit of rain. It's been a bit cool. But winter - nope.<br />
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The other citrus are suffering similarly, but it's most noticeable on the lemon. The poor mulberry hadn't even lost its leaves before it was bursting forth with juvenile fruit.<br />
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We also feel sorry for the bees who are as busy as they are in spring and summer.Marmalade Cottagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08267122371340744878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2602956967250053372.post-30705042771771216762015-08-21T18:16:00.000-07:002015-08-21T18:16:41.416-07:00The perfect thing.There's been some decluttering at Marmalade Cottage of late.<br />
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The Practical Reinventor is thoroughly sick of the 1930s furniture that came with the house. It's lovely Art Moderne, but too modern for a lady of 1917, who's more suited to Art Nouveau, or at a pinch Art Deco.<br />
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So it was out with this:<br />
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Which is a fairly large sideboard that had seen better days. There had been plans to sand it back and revarnish...<br />
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Anyway, the Creative Reinventor's mum was delighted to load it up, take it to her workshop and lavish the shabby chic treatment on it.<br />
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In its place we have this:<br />
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A very simple telephone table with storage - that little drawer and a box under the seat.<br />
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And this detail:<br />
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Much more appropriate to the era of the house. Also not in perfect condition, so it fits in beautifully.Marmalade Cottagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08267122371340744878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2602956967250053372.post-22369385451952954992015-08-02T18:48:00.000-07:002015-08-02T18:48:01.946-07:00A gentle parting of waysIt's taken a week for this post to compose itself.<br />
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Grief does that.<br />
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Our lovely Maremma (Italian sheepdog) Maddie, she of the long legs and platinum blonde coat, is no more.<br />
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We think she had a stroke on the flight over to come to join our family 16 months ago. She was always a bit wobbly.<br />
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Then she collapsed last week, possibly after having another stroke.<br />
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She was in obvious distress, panting, licking her nose, not able to stand or sit comfortably, not even wanting water.<br />
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We did the compassionate thing.<br />
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The Practical Reinventor held her as the vet put her to sleep. Heartbreaking.<br />
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She's buried in the front garden of Marmalade Cottage. Heaven knows what the neighbours thought if they'd seen us digging a large hole in the dark with tears running down our faces.<br />
<br />Marmalade Cottagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08267122371340744878noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2602956967250053372.post-14225733820370720272015-07-10T18:05:00.001-07:002015-07-10T18:05:23.839-07:00Saturday morningThe sun is shining outside, no doubt the chooks are respectfully enquiring after their breakfast.<br />
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The superannuated Italian sheepdog is snoozing in the hall and the neurotic kelpie is snoozing at the Practical Reinventor's feet.<br />
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Breakfast has been had and the Creative Reinventor has been at the coffee roastery for more than an hour dispensing caffeine, which is the nearest thing to happiness made tangible.<br />
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Rage has finished off with ABBA.<br />
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The reinventors are going to dinner tonight with dear friends, which requires the making of a birthday present and card. What does one make (or even buy if inspiration does not strike) the gentleman who has everything? Wine, while appreciated, does rather lack imagination.<br />
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And there is housework to be done. Marmalade Cottagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08267122371340744878noreply@blogger.com0