"It's 'haha' not 'ha_ha'..."...P.S. Melbourne still hates me

I feel like I could be sitting here, somehow up so early that I am waiting for the sun to rise, but I am actually behind on my morning, and technically the sun has been up for hours.  It's just so obscured by a cold, cloud cover that I find knowing that it's there there isn't enough to make me believe.

So! Arrived back to Australia ten days ago.

I have already been to Melbourne and back (again) to see the first Australian show for Z's band. The show was more crowded then any of us guessed, and with an enthusiastic audience that were singing along.

So, far all the shows have gone this way.  Of course, here on the small island with it's cloud of "such a small population, -what can you expect?" pessimism - the last two shows might prove to be different.

Everyone stays here for about four days, two show days and two off days (read, sleeping, eating, not sightseeing).

Then I am the one left behind for the next eight - to nine weeks.

But fear not readers, I have BIG plans.

People always ask me 'What does it feel like to be back?'-

I am not sure what is missing from that question but something is...

I am always a bit tangled and confused for a few weeks-

There are large differences, language, concentration of people, driving versus riding trains/buses...looking for a piece of clothing that is in the 'other' hemisphere.

A lingering feeling of displacement.

Also, my constant internal feeling of needing to always be doing...

So, when I sleep through the first alarm, or do nothing with my first forty minutes beyond coffee, loading the washer, and trying to will an email to appear...I have a hovering sense of failing to fulfill the days potential.

Meanwhile, another simultaneous truth could be -Wow! Look- it's all happening...

Venice and Stockholm last month, rock shows in Australia this week-

Also breaking news from "our" garden (so please note that if you are someone other than me reading this- (hey call it what it is- my journal)-here is an example of Z's new project that just irritates me to no end- as I had to change that sentence)

I think for the first time (what ten years?)
The wisteria is going to bloom!

"...Imse vimse spindel klättra' upp för trå'n. Ner faller regnet spolar spindeln bort..."

Can you tell from the title that I have been learning the Swedish version of 'itsie bitsie spider'?

Well I have.

I have also learned that I can converse with a four year old (who speaks by the way, English, Spanish, and Swedish)- as long as we keep to simple tasks such as water activities.  Of course the look of disappointment when I could not translate her Swedish book about a brave girl, who goes to the ghost castle into Spanish...was pretty devastating.

Other events have been staying in a small summer house.

This is not to be confused with a family's summer cabin- by example out on the archipeligo.

But one of the small shed-like houses that are on small garden plots.

They are in almost every neighborhood, and in the center of the city as well. They were allotted to the people when food was scarce so people could try to grow food and feed themselves.

Now they are normally dominated by beautiful flowers and only small amounts of food.

The one we stayed in was larger than I had seen before, and modern- a loft bedroom, small kitchen, open plan.

With a large garden and many places to sit.

It was absolutely lovely.

I did of course feel pangs of homesickness for our own garden in Tasmania.

But Stockholm is ruled by the apartments, surrounded by green spaces and waterways.  Having this much garden space, to oneself, well- that is typified by the fact that the waiting list can be on average 25 years.

 

 

"...we change the tune but not the song, over and over..."

Zok and I seem unable to tear ourselves from the garden, come rain (mostly rain) or shine.

Zok is on some building mission as you can see.  I think he is making an obstacle course for the birds so they have to exercise on their way in to eat our fruit and vegetables.

He also created a new space for the BBQ now that our (new) deck is too small and too flammable for the BBQ to be right outside our back door.

I have had the chore of weeding which is pretty dull really- and seems never ending, sometimes I think "Ahhh geez just let grow big so they are easier to pull out." But of course this is how weeds spread by getting to the point where the one weed goes to seed and spreads itself.

But right now most are really, really tiny and hard to pick out through the mulch.

I listen to books and hours go by, yesterday I got cranky and demanded treats, so we had lunch and beer on our porch before calling it quits for the day.

Next month my yoga classes start up, regularly 3 x a week in the morning, so I should well be on the path to earlier starts and summer light.

Speaking of which, I have been coming to the realization that many, many people here get up extremely early, like 5:30 am or earlier.

I think I only know one person from my life outside of here that gets up at that time.  (you know who you are!).

Things that have taken up my time outside of the garden:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Cartier-Bresson 

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-10-11/malala-yousafzai-wins-top-human-rights-prize/5015628 

Have you read or heard about Malala?

The type of story that keep any complaints one might have firmly inside the brain, because of the diminished size in comparison to her life.

"I beg you, friend, be happy. I have the vague sense that on your capacity to be happy hangs our only hope."

People often ask me how I feel about Hobart.  How I feel about Stockholm.  Where is home?

Well, due to the amount of easy cliché sayings involving "home" that come to mind. I think that this is a very common question.  I, alas, do not have an answer.

 Our house in Hobart is a home.  We have invested into the maintenance and garden in ways that an apartment, especially a socially run Swedish apartment does not need.  I would say we have done a fair job of cluttering up the Swedish apartment, it is no match for the remnants of forty-five years worth of slogging stuff from place to place.  Stockholm feels like a vacation because we have so many friends there, and so much to do.  Hobart feels like home, but we are still quite insular in the sense that we don't engage with our community at large.  We are trying to work on that.  Our neighbor and house protector Sue left us a vase of daffodils to prove that spring is definitely coming on.

Tomorrow we will have been back here in Hobart for two weeks.  Zok played a lot of Croquet matches already, and now has a rather large trophy in his office.

I have started Yoga classes at a newish place by the waterfront.  Mostly we have been gardening and organizing the house.  Being gone for months at a time does impact the kitchen. 

I haven't studied Swedish, or gone swimming.  I haven't caught up on my issues of 'The New Yorker'.  

I did start the latest Ian McEwan book.

I have planted many seeds both flowers and vegetable.

I started to 'grow' a vinegar 'mother'- from a bottle of wine we opened and didn't like.

I am waging a serious battle against 'onion weed'.  I have given in and I am just digging out heaps with a fair bit of dirt as well.   They have to be bagged up, sealed up, left to smother in the sun and then they still have to be put into the garbage aka the "deep" landfill not into compost of any kind.

I caught the very last of the Magnolia blooms.  The Lilac tree looks months away from blooming, but the Swedish ones can come on quite late in spring so I am not worried yet.  My newest tree which I call a 'snowball tree' because of its blooms is thriving since Zok had the large tree nearby taken down.

The Clivia, (large orange flowers) that I divided all bloomed which I think is amazing, because seriously, I had to hack it out of the ground.  We added a second bird bath, onto the stumps of the tree that was taken down.  The single bird bath used to be at the corner of the house, on the old apple tree stump- however when the brick work was done they moved the tree stump (?!) too far back, so we are going to just pull it out.  We only left it there because we used to be able to see the flock of new holland honey eaters bath there in the evenings, which is hilarious, and really counts as entertainment.

However, birds do not seem to be attracted to the new location yet, so we might need to move them again, as the space might be too open.

Each day we find ourselves exhausted by our efforts and feeling as if we are farmers. (Ha!)

"...my brain hurt like a warehouse it had no room to spare..."

Jam, Jam, Jam
The gateway food to 'putting up your garden largesse for the winter'.

I am a bit of purist about Jam, I really don't want to get too fancy, I think that combining fruit(s), together, with spices or flavoring is good if your fruit isn't up to the grade. But when the fruit tastes so great, and your only problem is you can survive eating on that fruit day in and day out before the fruit spoils well, then I say just preserve as much as you can.

I seem to be unable to do anything without a book, our first year with the fruit trees I borrowed books from the library, until I found a copy of Ball basic tips-
http://www.amazon.com/Ball-Complete-Book-Home-Preserving/dp/0778801314/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1298244316&sr=8-1

I tried to find a book put out by the jar company of Australia which was a company called Fowlers not Ball but I haven't found one yet.
I did use the book as a guideline for making apricot butter this year.
But I would describe apricot butter 'jam you put through a processor'. Although as you see in the photo, after it is processed you cook it one more time to thicken the mixture.
I also use about a fourth of the sugar recommended.
I do use pectin, natural pectin because our tree is on a two year cycle, and I did just use the last jar of jam about two months ago-and I think pectin has a lot to do with longevity. I also split the apricot kernels and cook the fruit with the center bit, as almost any person over the age of fifty will tell you to do so.

Jam making at least in Tasmania is really, really common. I don't remember ever even idly thinking of making jam when I lived in America.
I can't imagine not making jam, or eating jam that came off an assembly line.
I can only feel sad for anyone I know who hasn't experienced the difference between a tomato from their garden, and the ones from a large store or the difference between homemade jam and jam from a grocery store. I really plan on storing my jam for at least two years, as many people here already have jam and therefore I find it hard to find people who want any. Plus I get nervous about getting my jars back...so I like to give jam to the trustworthy.
We will see if the neighbors across the road return my jars to me...
(Of course if you are reading this and want but didn't get jam just call me).

Making jam is really as easy. You don't need a recipe, also if you only want to store your jam for less than a year, I don't think you even need to be that careful about the process. If there is a fruit tree in your area, I would knock on the door and just ask for a few pounds of fruit.

This is what I do.
I rinse the fruit, cut a small x into skin at the bottom of each fruit.
I flash boil them, this is an obvious process as you can see the skin coming away, transfer to a large bowl filled with cold water and the fruit practically comes unpeeled on its own.
The skinless fruit is then cut into chunks- this makes it easy to pull out the seed/core and cut away any bad bits you couldn't see with the skin on.
These go straight into a pot, I add sugar about 1/4 of a cup and another 1/4 if taste dictates.
I add the juice of one lemon to help the color set.
Pectin needs to be whisked into the mixture thoroughly.
I let it boil to get the heat high, and then simmer for about five minutes.
I like my jam thick so I strain it a bit as I put it into the jars.
I use the left over as well, as this goes really well into smoothies.

Then I boil each jar for about 10 minutes, let them sit for 5 minutes off the heat.
After the five minutes of 'resting' I transfer them using tongs to the counter and wait for that wonderful 'pop' sound that says, "Well done!" your jar is sealed.

I don't use anything fancy and I re-use my lids and jars.
I run them through the dish washer but you could boil them.

I also just cut the best of the fruit in half and place them in jars and top them with light simple syrup about a fifth cup sugar to every one cup of water.
I don't take off the skins or cook them, but I leave them in the boiling water for 20 minutes to make sure the lids set.

Winter is much nicer when you can go down to your basement/garage/pantry and get a jar of fruit, from your garden, or stolen (kindly) from a neighbor.
Try it! You won't be sorry.

I'm going camping- excited but apprehensive...I am pretty sure that my time in a tent is wholly comprised of a trip in the sixth grade and sleeping out in my yard, in Hollywood California.
Also I am not bring ANY make-up, so other than the time Zok and I were up in the Arctic Circle where make-up was rendered impossible, this event is a first.

For Monte

The garden centers have sales going on.
Buying plants in Tasmania is a bit tricky. There is no pattern that I can find as to when and why certain plants are available and I am often told that 'we haven't had that plant in years you should ask for a clipping if you see that plant in a garden'.
I have yet to knock on a strangers door to beg for plant clippings...
I do however keep an eye out for honor boxes which often have plants for sale. Prolific gardeners divide up their plants in spring and autumn and sell them in pots, I feel these have the advantage of being 'tried and true' for my immediate climate. As opposed to some plant coming from the North (read Tropic) area of Australia sitting in the local nursery.

I cut back a vine to put in a 'joey' paw, this is of course a dwarf kangaroo paw plant. So I hope that the plant will grow up to but not exceed the space under the vine. I swore off buying any new paws because of my ill fated three from last year that the council so rudely pulled out and crushed while doing some sort of 'more important then your garden' work near the place I badly choose to place my new plants.
But this one had such a nice color and the plant was on sale.

Zok and I are braving areas of the garden that refuse to yield healthy plants, but we have the hope that each time we will do better.
We do dig up the area and mix in nutrients and new soil.
Now that Zok has his two new and one improved vegetable bed, we are going to try and grow Bosenberries and Currants, in the spot where we had Peppers and Tomatoes last year. The Olive Tree is there and is growing steadily if slowly.

So far in the ground Zok has planted: Garlic, Spring Onion, Red Onion, Carrots, Spinach, Sweet Corn, Rhubarb, Oregano, Rosemary, Mint, Mixed Basil, and Parsley.
Next will be Tomatoes and Chillies.

The other berries that were planted in autumn-Blueberry, Blackberry, and Gooseberry are all budding and getting taller.

"...a sense of something fleeting and harmonic, longed for and repeated..."

How did a week at home pass by so quickly?
The world without me just continues on; the garden grows, dust collects as the mail becomes a heaped pile, and besides all that-the sun is out and the days so warm that I never have to put on shoes.
No shoes is my equivalent of being sick and not getting dressed, I gaze at the beach yet decide to lay on the grass in my yard and dream or read.
More than that has actually happened but I like this scenario so I'll stay with it.

I found a new honesty box, or honor box, or by Australian spelling honour box. Surely they have these in America, but I don't know of any. I know about places such as 'Terra Bite' in Kirkland (the Microsoft dominated suburb of Seattle) a nice cafe that has no payment system other than a box for patrons to pay as they choose.
These sort of roadside stalls, (although often located in a more remote place as this one is, on a side street, a cul-de-sac even) are common in Tasmania. I actually depend on them during road trips for my snack supplies.
People sell vegetables, or fruit from their gardens, and more aspiring people put up home made items such as jams, or plants they've divided from their gardens. I like to think that many a stall is a project of some pre-teen, where they make their spending money.
I won't go on about the difficulties of Australian soil, but buying plants that have done so well that they needed to be divided is not just a bargain, it is damn smart.
From this honesty stall, I got a huge quantity of mint (read mint julep), and about forty flower bulbs for four dollars.
This is something I love about Tasmania, and home.

"...I think you have me confused for a better man..."

Here are the plants grown together and joined by weeds.

Sure this looks like the photo above but actually this is about five hours of weeding and pruning away from that photo.

Here is what the area looks when it has been cut back, in the dry of summer.

Here you see the same corner before I went away.

The yard is trying to kill me.