The Lair of the Emerald Serpent

Two weeks ago the public transport authority moved a whole bunch of goal posts.
While the bus services to some of my lurking grounds are now a lot more frequent, I still had to do some major rearrangements.

Unless I don’t mind a 20 minute walk from the train station that I used to go to in order to get to the plant nursery, I now have to catch a train 10 minutes earlier and get the new bus at the station where I get off which is on the new airport line.

I tried it out on Friday and figured that I may as well cross a few more bus routes from my “To Do” list. One of these is a circular route that goes to the domestic terminal of the airport. The last time I set foot near the place was way back in February 2002 when one of the sons of my Fairy Godmother came to visit.

There has been assorted developments and a few mining booms since that time. Fly in Fly out work is a big thing and a major source of custom for the domestic airport.
It was completely unrecognizable from its former state.

( Boom and bloom )

Izzie has been pigging out on what is possibly a last online seed buying binge.

As of Monday 1st July courtesy of the state government, there are now new fees for home gardeners who buy seeds from overseas or even interstate
Not one or two dollars per order but a ridiculous $56. It's supposedly for the quarantine mob to keep out all the evil nasties so often found in all those ghastly heirloom and organically grown seeds.

They got this little trick in under the radar. The permaculture people and other tree hugging greenies had started a media campaign and were getting good coverage when suddenly a certain drama in Canberra wiped the story right off the map. Ever so convenient for our little Emperor sitting in his ivory tower on the hill

The government made no effort at all to inform anyone about these new charges. In fact they went out of their way to keep them most secret indeed. And this in the very same week that they let Monsanto increase its share in Intergrain which used to be a government owned grain research organization.
Letting The AgriBeast in was just about the first thing the present state government did when it first got into office back in September 2008. Despite the warnings from organic growers, greenies and others that this would risk Western Australia losing its clean and green food producing reputation. Here we are with the natural advantage of distance from most pests and diseases and these goblins go and throw it all away for less than 30 pieces of silver. But they are still happy to use the excuse of quarantine to slug home gardeners with these outrageous charges

It’s not that difficult to show up this big fat new carbon tax as the revenue grabbing scam that it really is. Garden Guru Trevor Cochrane has blown some serious holes in the sad and pathetic concern for protection of our precious biosecurity.

The serpent’s supplier of choice is for the moment absorbing the cost. But here is guessing such good will towards their customers in the wild west will not last longer than a month or two.
And the 8 packets of free seeds that Diggers members get per year will soon be a thing of the past over here in the wild west.

Izzie doesn't want to buy the dodgy seeds in the big barns and supermarkets. Even most of those come from the United Kingdom. Not to mention one is never quite sure of the parent companies and there are less and less of those these days

If the goblins really think they will make a killing on these new fees, then they are in for a big big surprise. Never ever piss off the greenies.
The folks who don’t get all sneaky (and there’s huge fines for seed ‘smuggling’ to discourage them) will find other ways to get even

If there ever was a time to get organizing local seed saving exchanges, this is it.

A certain serpent has been somewhat psycho of late. Not the axe murdering, baby munching, cat killing uncontrollable and sadistic sort of psycho but just plain neurotic and as mad as a hatter. Jittery and agitated and totally unable to snap out of such a crazy state. So it is simply pointless to go pottering on grand adventures as it is simply a waste of time and train fares. As there’s a rather large pile of mulch on the verge and and a botanical monster needing to be tamed, termite infested den of iniquity that it is, figured that it made more sense to linger about the Lair and sort this stuff out rather than go on any pottering, plotting and planning camp nano coffee crawls. Not quite coffee as that is well and truly off the menu but a pot of tea or two

Yesterday in a fit of nostalgia paid a visit to the Muse cafe located appropriately enough in the grounds of the state museum. It was exactly six months ago yesterday since discovering the place in its new incarnation. It used to be a quaint place selling crappy coffees and sandwiches at exorbitant prices. So it was hardly a surprise that it closed

The new mob are big into retro and the 1950s look but most importantly of all they have loose leaf tea in real china pots and cute cups and quirky spoons to match.

The very first visit did think that six silver sickles for a big pot was a bit decadent but chose to indulge anyway. But the whole ritual with the gorgeous china pots and a good four cups of real tea per pot made that six dollars most reasonable indeed. So been pretty much a regular since then.
That particular day had brought a stash of papers printed out the day before but waiting for a suitable occasion before a proper peek. These pages were several weeks worth of home work assignments for the Coursera “Introduction to Mathematical Thinking”

Spent a good few afternoons doing that stuff there as well as the crypto course homework. There is just something about sitting outside under the trees with a cup or two of tea rather than staring at a blinking computer screen that makes the old serpent green cells function a lot more efficiently
It was also an excellent spot for nano plotting, planning and squiggling and almost became an unofficial city HQ for a certain serpent

But it was a muggy day and the magic was just not there. It was not the bus ride but some phone dramas that had made the Izzie crazy and even cups of tea at the Muse cafe were not going to cast their usual spell. Did resort to pulling out the very same stash of maths assignments from six months ago and doing some of assignment 6 sort of served as a circuit breaker. But it is very easy to be reasonably calm when it is quiet and there are no distractions.

( Crazy Izzie and the Chain Saw Massacre )

The garden is filled with the intoxicating scent of pine needles and tree bark. A most unexpected surprise indeed

Returned from this morning's goblin taxation class to find the verge overflowing with an enormous pile of mulch. Freshly chomped up street tree prunings literally delivered to the door. Had signed up way back in November for the 'Free mulch" service and kept renewing the request every four weeks as required. Had pretty much given up hope. There usually is no such thing as a free lunch but the logic behind the business is that tree loppers and lawn mowing contractors often have to pay to get rid of their waste so that if they can have a network of gardeners offering a drop off point then everyone gets to benefit.

So it was a most delightful delivery indeed. Pity the news is not so good on the roof front. These buggers have been playing the waiting game. Rang several times in the last week or so to find out when they are coming back to do the job that should have been finished back in early February. They have finally replied. But it just so happens that the date they have chosen is the Friday kept reserved for the annual garden festival. Thursdays are out due to the goblin taxation course and weekends are pure pandemonium at any sort of event as that's when all the crowds are there


Here's hoping the buggers finish the job and don't come up with yet more excuses. It would be awful to end up with a roof still leaking and missing out on the gardening show

On the camp nano front, still not yet unleashed the Zombie Deck of Doom. Went to the writers group instead of lurking around the Lair carting barrows of mulch or tossing several thousand words on the Camp nano fire

It looks like the icky sticky sizzling weather is back to bother us. Having the month of March dead buried and cremated is no longer a guarantee of cooler weather

As a dyed in the wool militant emerald serpent, the Izzie despises a certain colour with a pathological passion. It’s all fake bright and cheerful and a wishy washy attempt at being both smily and sunny and fiery and passionate. It also represents a bunch of bitter twisted prudish puritanical people who cannot stand the thought that some one out there just might be having fun.
But for four weeks each year this serpent abandons her detestation and not only embraces this colour but positively and utterly adores it and is intoxicated by its presence

Yessss. In this bit of the world, September is Orange Blossom season. It is a week or two later than usual but as intoxicating and as magical as ever.

It is reassuring to know that in spite of all the toxic toads out there, some things don’t change. The seasons are generally shifting but they remain just the same.

After the turmoil of the last two months, it was time to return to some semblance of normality. The scheduled programming of gardening days on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays had been somewhat neglected of late due to a combination of rainy days and being so brain dead due to toadish toxicity zapping the Izzie green fingers.

Was supposed to be planting tomato seeds but in the end was contented with doing some serious weeding. Assorted grain grasses and nasturtiums had been running rampant and it was time to do a bit of sorting. Weeds are better than bare soil but there’s some serious planting to be done in the six week window of opportunity.

The Chemical Centre had an open day two weeks ago and were offering not just free Ph testing for soil samples but also analysis of trace elements and water repellency. Due to a last minute promotion on a local ABC gardening show they were totally inundated with samples. As well as providing a free service to gardeners and good public relations there was another motive. They wanted a diverse selection of soil samples to map the local area

Normally it would be a complete waste of time doing such tests as the cost of getting them done would be better spent buying a few cubic metres of lupin mulch, blood and bone or all sorts of other soil improvements.

Izzie took advantage of the opportunity to get such an amazing freebie. Figured that it would make most sense to snatch a sample of our crappiest unamended soil. No point in turning up will a pile of piggie poo totally overloaded with nitrogen and other useful elements

So was out with a container and garden tools at 10 in the morning. Picked a crappy patch amongst the rampant nasturtiums. It was kind of reassuring to be told that they could not do the water repellency tests due to the soil sample being damp. Had not watered the patch in question. The water content was basically morning dew which lingered due to the soil being protected by all those wicked weeds preventing evaporation

It was a wonderful geekish day but had to leave at 1pm due to needing to be at work for 3pm. August is seriously the most nerdish month of the whole calendar. Not only do we have four university open days but the Chemical Centre has its open day that month and of course there is the wonderful National Science Week

But September is wildflower time and an opportunity for serious gardening. Time for planting tomato seeds and taking a chance with pumpkins. Everything is coming to life. The fig tree has tiny little new leaves slowly unfurling along with the teeny weeny fruits. The woolly bush has little red flowers and the wattles are all yellow and fluffy.

The almond tree has finished flowering and now is covered in leaves. It turned out not to be self pollinating as the label claimed. Any day now the grape vine will be producing little buds that will turn into leaves and the mulberry tree has scrawny green fruits and lush leaves.
All the citrus trees are blossoming and the aroma is totally intoxicating.

Tomorrow will be time for planting all those seeds. Soon last week’s Diggers order will arrive and this serpent will have her very own wasabi plant and a juniper berry bush. Petunia will be getting that one as part of her birthday stash as she has a much better record for keeping plants alive and well than a certain serpent. Still regretting not giving her half of those ten very precious saffron bulbs.

They were not available at the markets this year and last year’s lot never did make it through the sizzling summer. The serpent has learned her lesson the hard way. Number 4 Privet Drive is our own personal version of the Svalbard Seed Bank. Ever precious plant that ever comes our way must be shared with Petunia. She has much greener fingers than this wannabee. Her and her two girls Thelma and Louise have magic powers when it comes to gardening.

Izzie is still a dabbler in the dark art of gardening. A bit more practice and some constant never ceasing vigilance might prove to be the secret.
The two months of sizzling summer will separate the wheat from the chaff. Maybe this time the Izzie will be prepared. Only time will tell

What seems like centuries ago before the recent cane toad infestation, the serpent attended a movie night organized by an amazing bunch of greenies.

Every month they show one film on the theme of green. It began as a street community building thing but word got around and soon other folks started turning up.
The movie was held in a crazy place called Replants which is dedicated to rescuing local vegetation from the chainsaw and dump truck of developers. They rescue the trees and other plants and offer them for resale at reasonable rates. Their site features assorted spooky weeds and trees. They have offered the building as a location for the movies but outside in the garden they have a bonfire in the midst of the creepy plants and a couple of cauldrons brewing full of soup, lentils, rice and other usually kosher munchies.

Izzie was in a bit of a tizzy for her first visit in the middle of June. But even so could recognize the magical atmosphere and the beautiful food. Never did snap out of the zombie psychotic state but vow to return again next time when much more able to appreciate it.
The movie that first night was called “Bag it” and it was about one American and his attempt to avoid using disposable plastic shopping bags.

Was ever so miffed that the movie supposed to start at 7.15 did not get going until some 30 minutes later. Most of the folks attending were locals but the serpent was relying on the Floo network to get back to the Lair. The bus stop was right outside the door but needed to be at the Canning bridge before 10.30 to catch the last bus and it was a bus and a train ride to get there.
But once the film started soon got lost in the adventure and soon forgot the muddled mad serpent mind. Can distinctly remember seeing the scenes from the local town where the film maker was based and the rivalry with another for some tidy town competition. This pretty town with old buildings on the main street had a backdrop of snowy mountains and could have easily been in the Alps but it was some place in Colorado. Izzie thought “How gorgeous” It was not sponsored by any tourism commission but certainly looked like a stunningly beautiful place to visit.

It was a strange sort of movie. It was thought provoking and seriously scary but not miserable and depressing like so many documentaries about the environment. Best line ever

“There is no ‘away’”




Never did get to see the whole thing due to the bus business but will definitely keep an eye out for it.
Now one month later they had another film called “Growthbusters”. The producer had already been featured on “Late Night Live’ so was definitely looking forward to this one. It was the story of a single solitary citizen taking on the whole “Growth is Good’ mantra of goblins and economists

( Spooky Places and People )

The Izzie has been a busy serpent. The big event aside from the wonderful graveyard tour two weeks ago was the last minute attempt to gate crash a certain sold out political event

In the bad old days before the green lightses used to think “There’s no point in asking because the answer will be no” And it turned out to be true more often than not. Without even realizing, the expectation of rejection emits an irresistible aura that invites the very thing it seeks to avoid. Restating this belief to see the silver lining of the expected cloud was not simply a matter of spin but something else. The new position became “There’s no harm in asking because even if the answer is no we are no worse off than before."

By the time the serpent found out from a flyer about the Bob Browne farewell tour and visited the booking site it was already sold out. There was a possibility of tickets - double bookings and such if ringing on Tuesday. But first seen that particular email at 8pm and had no money on the mobile anyway. Would just have to take a chance and drop into the Greens HQ after work on Wednesday. Still no luck.

The event was scheduled from 6pm Friday evening for nibblies and drinks and His Bobness would take the stage around 7pm

Decided to drop by and take a chance anyway since the bus to the Lair goes right past the venue. And it was rainy stormy weather so it was quite likely some folks got stuck in traffic jams
So slinked into the city for the afternoon doing the usual coffee crawls and such. Around 5pm found a most interesting little cafe attached to a rather arty book shop. While not having loos, they did have the newspapers and proper dine in coffees for $3 which is unheard of these days. But best of all was the cozy book shop feel and the fact it is quite near to the bus station.
No point in wasting such a cute and cozy place on reading newspapers. It was time to shuffle the decks and got on with preparing the ingredients for August’s alphabet soup.

It was getting very tempting to lurk a long long time. But got to thinking that this cafe would be still here next week and the Bob Browne evening would not. But going to BB did have one major drawback. Assuming there was some spots left, it would cost a princely 35 silver sickles leaving Izzie with 30 to last till Wednesday afternoon as the goblins are so kindly using the Monday public holiday over east as an excuse to pay us a day late

But in the end solved the dilemma with some sage advice from an old friend. When you cannot choose between two or more options think about how you will feel about your decision a week from now, a month from now, a year from now and ten years from now. For most things this does not matter but on the rare occasion when it does, this has proved to be a most potent and reliable test. (It is amazing what stupid and risky things people will do to save five minutes which will be long forgotten if anything goes wrong - ie the minute you save may be your last)

So would resist the temptation to linger in the cafe or return to the lair for an early evening snooze and would at least make an attempt to go to the event instead of spending the next few weeks wondering what wonderful evening the Izzie missed.

( Green and Browne )

Izzie is becoming a somewhat domesticated serpent. Decided that it might be a good idea to do something with the remnants of the cauliflower cooked on Monday evening. It had been sitting around nearly a whole week by then. Petunia is presently in possession of the kitchen blitz so soup was off the menu. While Monday’s effort was a bit of a cheat, a bottle of pasta sauce with the cooked cauliflower tossed in, tonight was a bit more adventurous.

Izzie has a bad bad habit of buying munchies with the intention of cooking up a storm and then putting it off on the long finger. So so often we end up with shrivelled up ginger, garlic that has turned to dust or cauliflowers with big black spots and fit for nothing but the compost heap.
Made so many new year’s resolutions to do things differently this time and it looks like we got lucky this time with all those good intentions.

There’s a stash of garlic sitting on a kitchen bench top waiting to be planted. Some was acquired recently at the annual garden fair and the rest was from the Hulbert Street festival - some seriously hot pink and purple stuff. The lady selling it lived on Hulbert Street and grew the stuff in her own garden. At only four silver sickles for a bunch it was a steal. There was a good seven bulbs per bunch and you could smell the stuff a mile away. Lucky to grab two bunches early because it sold out very quickly and had gone up to five silver sickles the following day. Still pretty cheap for such seriously spicy kosher critters

So grabbed a few cloves, grated them and tossed them on the pan along with some freshly grated ginger and then added the cauliflower from the fridge. Had the inspired idea to toss in some of the coriander seeds got today also for planting. Soon the whole Lair smelled of ginger and garlic. The final ingredient was a couple of free range eggs and freshly ground pepper. It was much tastier than expected especially washed down with a glass or two of chardonnay

But all those attempts at turning over a new leaf and not succeeding have taught the serpent that ‘should be’ and ‘wanna be’ are not good honey bees. Just acknowledge the reality and live on bread, cheese and peanut butter at the Lair and save the vegies and real food for elsewhere.
For a single solitary serpent it does not work out cheaper but is less wasteful. But did use the week or so annual leave as an opportunity to do a bit of home cooking.

The usual lurking grounds include Annalakshmi on the Swan which does home cooked Indian vegetarian food. It is a bit of a lucky dip. You never know what will be on the menu but there’s always a soup, one flavoured and one plain basmati rice, something with potatoes, cabbage salad and two curries. Dhal, mushroom or cauliflower curries are the Izzie favorites.

Govinda’s run by the Hari Krishnas is also cheap and cheerful but a bit more bland due to the lack of garlic and onions. Izzie always visits after 4pm when it is only $4 a meal. Otherwise would rather pay more and get something real and tasty at Analakshmi

Then there is Juicy Beetroot which does have Indian style stuff but could be best described as plain old fashioned whole foods. It is the only place where the serpent prefers salads. There are about 8 to choose from and all seriously delicious.

Then there are the vegetarian equivalents of McDonalds which are usually Malaysian or Taiwanese in origin. They often have soya bean or gluten based products dressed up to look like and taste like meat. Some of the sneakier ones only admit this in the small print and many a carnivore has been fooled. But charging meat prices for soya beans and wheat is a bit of a rip off.

On the subject of soya beans, can’t stand the critters especially as most of them are not kosher. Soya milk is the most disgusting muck. But the beans do wonders for the garden as green manure so paid a visit to a certain Greek grocery store to get some. It was actually alfalfa seeds and buckwheat that was on the agenda but seeing they had Australian rather than Chinese soya beans and supposedly kosher could not resist the opportunity. They made a point of proclaiming the non GM status so that is a good sign. Usually it is necessary to buy organic beans to be absolutely sure
Kukalis is way the cheapest place for sourcing seeds. Today’s stash along with the soya beans includes lupins, buckwheat and coriander. Could not find any alfalfa.

So along with the lupins they are presently soaking in a bowl waiting to be planted tomorrow. Petunia also brought over a banana ‘tree’ so that will be getting planted too. She has at least twenty and some of them still have bananas on them but at this time of year they will not be getting ripe in any great hurry.

Got to make the most of May and the next month or two for planting and drought proofing the garden. Been buying avocados for their seed and burying pecan and macadamia nuts in the ground hoping that some of them will sprout

Even been out with the tape measure plotting and planning. Sort of started several years ago but got sidetracked. Also dusted off the wonderful book “One Magic Square- grow your own food on one square metre”. Figured that this time it is best to start with small steps. Will still fart around out the back with bananas, green manures and assorted tree seeds but will concentrate energy and attention on proper food production to one square metre at a time.
Fourteen years of mucking around and producing little of lasting value has taught the serpent a lesson or two.

Izzie has set a deadline of three years to become self sufficient in fruit, herbs and vegetables and this time it is serious.

Since the January Chainsaw Massacre the serpent decided that the best revenge is the creation of a thriving wilderness full of green goodness that will represent everything that the Man from Monsanto detests.

But the serpent had some shameful secrets too. As much as the Izzie ranted and raved about old Vernon Dursley rampaging like a rhino around the Lair and committing all sorts of appalling atrocities against green and growing things, she too had some critters on her conscience.
Planted a macadamia tree for the serpent birthday back in 1998. It got nearly blown over in some wild storms several years later but lived to tell the tale. These critters have some strange habits. Unlike most fruit or nut trees, they do not slowly and steadily produce ever increasing quantities of nuts but suddenly hit puberty and go from nothing to lots and lots of babies all at once. It must have been 2008 that it first put on a pretty show of white catkins but they never set fruit. A few sprinkles of sulphate of potash worked wonders in the following year and both 2009 and 2010 had lots of nuts to nibble. The summer of 2011 had the heat wave from hell and the nuts were much smaller and little brown patches started to appear on the leaves. Silly Izzie has this guilt thing about feeding drinking water to trees (as well as worries about a big fat water bill) and as we have no form of reticulation it is either rain or tap water the critter is relying on. There was also that zombie phase induced by goblins at the day job that lasted from January 2010 to June that year which resulted in the weeds of the Lair being left to fend for themselves.

This year did not have a solid three week heat wave like the summer of 2011 but a whole bunch of 40 degree (celsius) days randomly dispersed in January and February. Even the pesky old gum tree gave up the ghost and stopped sprouting new shoots. One month after the chainsaw massacre the old macadamia was looking the worse for wear. It had half as many leaves as in previous years and in no time they were all brown and shriveled.
The water bill arrived in early February and it was a pissy 30 silver sickles. Izzie felt like such an idiot. An extra ten thousand litres would have cost just over 10 silver sickles and could have been the difference between life and death. Poor old Big Mac died for the lack of a decent drink after ten long years of green gorgeousness and the last three of those providing lots of nuts to nibble

Started digging the grave on Friday. Came across the wonderful permaculture concept of ‘hugelkultur’ which involves filling a pit with logs of wood, twigs and leaves, (preferably wet and rotting) covering them with leaf litter, soil and assorted organic matter and then eventually using the pile for planting things. This would be a most worthy fate for this ten year old tree. It would be literally pushing up the daisies.

Was supposed to devote an hour or two to the task yesterday but got seriously distracted by a flock of rather rebellious mockingjays. But that is another story and the stuff of nightmares and serious serpent envy. No peeking at the third instalment of this tasty tale until all the work is done.

So this afternoon was devoted to sawing up the remnants of the macadamia tree and laying the main trunk to rest in its grave covered in the smaller branches and twigs, some mouldy cocos palm branches and piles of leaf litter. Tomorrow will be adding the piggie poo and at some stage some oat straw will find its way onto the pile.
Still not quite decided what sort of green and growing things will find their way into this little patch of woody goodness. Most likely kale and cabbage and pumpkins for summer.
Most happy indeed with the whole concept as it is a perfect way of getting rid of wet and mouldy wood and bits and pieces of green waste. As there is a hole in the roof of the wood shed this is the perfect way of using the ruined firewood.

Did plant two baby mango trees the other week and have been digging pecan and macadamia nuts into the ground hoping that some of them will sprout. Presently got around four baby maccas grown from seed but most of them turned up in some inconvenient locations.
Some have been snatched from “Eden Vale” seeds and others are nuts from the recently deceased tree which is the less common variety that has prickly holly like leaves rather than the beautiful smooth crinkly ones that are the most common
There is one lonesome pecan tree lurking in the Lair but it is hiding in a corner where it never gets enough sunlight to be happy. Will just leave it alone as the Izzie does not have the greenest of fingers when it comes to transplanting trees. In the meantime got lots of avocados to gobble. All the stones will be given a decent burial and with a bit of luck they will sprout. Petunia must have a good dozen avocado trees of assorted sizes and most grown from seed. Three of them are pretty productive


Got until the end of October to get any serious planting and growing done. And the new Izzie rule is that no tree gets planted after the winter solstice.
Going to be a bad bad serpent and renew our Diggers Garden Club membership. Had let it lapse as there is no need for unnecessary temptation but sort of missing all the Monsanto gossip and the pretty catalogues with all those gorgeous heirloom fruit and vegies and four packets of seeds every year
And if we stick to sorting out the soil and water first then any new weeds may just manage to survive.

After a very scary visit to the local Coles supermarket today, it is becoming apparent that the only way to guarantee a kosher food supply is to grow your own.

The serpent is making progress on the decluttering front. Still attending to those kitchen cupboards. A dustpan and brush takes care of the cobwebs and a drop or two of peppermint oil scares off Wormtail and his mousy friends. Kidnapping the neighbours’ cats and giving them the run of the house was also a rather effective deterrent one particularly cold winter when the little critters had taken to nesting in the bread box and feasting on assorted packets of almonds and macadamia nuts. Lucky that peanut butter comes in jars because they love that stuff even more than cheese. At Petunia’s place they eat the mangoes and avocados while the fruit is still on the trees
Trying to find some way of doing a pantry stock take while in the process of doing the big sort and toss ritual.

Had a productive day in the garden after an almost toad free day at work. Mixed up some batches of coir peat, sand and clay kitty litter and put them in the green vegie bags. It was such a glorious sunny day. Was so busy pottering around doing garden things as well as the end of month meter reading rituals that silly Izzie forgot all about having a proper Oz Halloween party. Did sit watching the sunset with a bottle of bubbly but that is not quite the same as gobbling a big fat cauldron of pumpkin and ginger soup. But sort of made up for it yesterday at Petunia’s place. She cooked a big fat grey pumpkin from her garden with ginger, garlic, turmeric and assorted spices and the Izzie used the big fat Braun wand to blitz the brew into a cauldron of very tasty soup. Been lending her this very useful gadget and now she is finally convinced as to just how useful it is. No mucking around with bowls and blenders and having to do the whole thing in installments. A minute or so of zapping in the pot and a quick rinse of the amazing magical wand was all it took.
Will need to snatch this gadget back before the end of the month as it will be indispensable for the intended invite for dinner.

The first of the month will also make the start of the grand $25,000 in 250 days Big Bad House Goblin Buyout along with some serious progress reports on that 101 things in 1001 days list.
Will also be marking the day with a ton of turds. A big fat hessian bag from the hills will be arriving containing a whole cubic metre of piggie poo with lots of lupin mulch mixed in for extra vitamins and minerals. That should keep all our little weeds most happy indeed

Had been slinking around assorted garden supply places last week and was most disappointed with what was on offer. They are charging city slickers a ridiculous 15 silver sickles per bale of straw and even more for lucerne. That makes growing your own vegies a most decadent luxury indeed.
Will just go to the Greek grocery store in the city and get a few hundred grams of oats and alfalfa seeds and grow our own instead.

So looking forward to a month of plotting and planting. Not just weeds but words as well as Camp Nanowrimo draws ever nearer and the serpent needs to have a stash of story outlines ready for the starting line.

It is so so true. All you really need to be happy is something to be enthusiastic about