The copa and prosciutto:
Both the copa and the prosciutto turned out brilliantly. I know, I know: prosciutto shouldn't be eaten this young. But what the heck. It is marvellous. We gave some samples out as Christmas presents and they have been universally admired.
Our afternoon drinks and nibbles have been greatly enhanced by these beautiful air-dried meats.
I also made some Moroccan-spiced lamb sausages from the trimmings from the lambs we had butchered a few months ago. Shared them with Josh and the boys for breakfast while they were down. Delicious! 'Er indoors has already ordered more of them, so I fear that I have created a monster. Sausages, made with a hand-cranked meat grinder/sausage stuffer are very time consuming, even if the results are great.
Tuesday, December 31, 2019
The best Christmas present imaginable:
At Christmas, on the ABC news website, I noticed a human interest story which brought tears to my eyes.
The story was about a 37 year old man who had received a triple transplant - heart, lungs, liver - to deal with his cystic fibrosis. It told of his wife and child and the effect the transplant has had on his family, of his remarkable recovery, with only 2 weeks spent in post-operative hospital recovery. A nice story so far. Then the name.
The man was Josh Leveridge.
Josh and his family used to live next door to us in Condong, NSW, 33 years ago. Our kids used to go over regularly to play with Josh and his brother Sam, who also had CF. We babysat him several times.
Our daughter, Leah, contacted Josh via Facebook, and found out that his little brother is going well and also has a family. Leah spoke for all of us when she declared that the news was the best Christmas present any of us could imagine.
Best wishes to Josh and Sam and their families and parents. God bless you all.
At Christmas, on the ABC news website, I noticed a human interest story which brought tears to my eyes.
The story was about a 37 year old man who had received a triple transplant - heart, lungs, liver - to deal with his cystic fibrosis. It told of his wife and child and the effect the transplant has had on his family, of his remarkable recovery, with only 2 weeks spent in post-operative hospital recovery. A nice story so far. Then the name.
The man was Josh Leveridge.
Josh and his family used to live next door to us in Condong, NSW, 33 years ago. Our kids used to go over regularly to play with Josh and his brother Sam, who also had CF. We babysat him several times.
Our daughter, Leah, contacted Josh via Facebook, and found out that his little brother is going well and also has a family. Leah spoke for all of us when she declared that the news was the best Christmas present any of us could imagine.
Best wishes to Josh and Sam and their families and parents. God bless you all.
Monday, December 30, 2019
Post Christmas update:
Today was 37C here in Franklin, much better than the 40+ being experience on the North Island (mainland Australia) but still plenty warm. There is a small bushfire burning to the West of us, but it is of no concern at this point. In the North of Tassie several homes have been lost in bushfires today. The mainland is insane: out of control fires in 5 states with over 1000 homes lost this fire season - and this is just the beginning of the fire season. And our politicians are still pretending that there is no need to be concerned about climate change.
Courtesy of our son-in-law, Duncan, we have had the road into our place repaired and a container put on a new gravel pad to store some of the masses of stuff currently in storage.
Christmas visitors
Our son, Josh was down with his two boys for the lead up to Christmas, and Yanna and Jack, and our granddaughter Alex, joined us for our early Christmas on 23.12.
Among other things, I received a Boer goat: Vinnie.
Josh and Buddy with Vinnie.
Xaviah became Vinnie's adopted Dad while he was here: complete with late night visits to make sure the goat was settled.
Jack admires Xaviah's courage in bringing Vinnie inside to sit on his lap on the lounge. Sue was taking a nap at the time, but when she woke was fairly forceful in expressing her opinion about having a goat inside.
Xaviah got involved in applying render to the north wall of the house - it helps to be 6' 3" when reaching the high bits of wall - and Che was on render mixing duties. Thanks guys. Your help is really appreciated.
And then, to top off a great Christmas, I was taking Vinnie for a walk, when I noticed bees going back and forth through the grass to get under an old telescopic hive lid I had left on the ground. A little investigation revealed that a colony had established itself in the old lid. I made up a hive out of two old ideal boxes and some left over full-depth frames, popped the populated lid on top, and there's a new hive doing very well for itself. I will complete the rehousing over the next few weeks as money becomes available for hive bodies and frames.
As I finish this posting, it is just starting to rain. Here's hoping we get a decent fall tonight. We had a paddock hayed on Saturday afternoon, but the rain won't be a problem, if we get a decent fall, as the rest of the week is forecast to be fairly dry. So all good!
Today was 37C here in Franklin, much better than the 40+ being experience on the North Island (mainland Australia) but still plenty warm. There is a small bushfire burning to the West of us, but it is of no concern at this point. In the North of Tassie several homes have been lost in bushfires today. The mainland is insane: out of control fires in 5 states with over 1000 homes lost this fire season - and this is just the beginning of the fire season. And our politicians are still pretending that there is no need to be concerned about climate change.
Christmas visitors
Our son, Josh was down with his two boys for the lead up to Christmas, and Yanna and Jack, and our granddaughter Alex, joined us for our early Christmas on 23.12.
Among other things, I received a Boer goat: Vinnie.
Xaviah got involved in applying render to the north wall of the house - it helps to be 6' 3" when reaching the high bits of wall - and Che was on render mixing duties. Thanks guys. Your help is really appreciated.
And then, to top off a great Christmas, I was taking Vinnie for a walk, when I noticed bees going back and forth through the grass to get under an old telescopic hive lid I had left on the ground. A little investigation revealed that a colony had established itself in the old lid. I made up a hive out of two old ideal boxes and some left over full-depth frames, popped the populated lid on top, and there's a new hive doing very well for itself. I will complete the rehousing over the next few weeks as money becomes available for hive bodies and frames.
As I finish this posting, it is just starting to rain. Here's hoping we get a decent fall tonight. We had a paddock hayed on Saturday afternoon, but the rain won't be a problem, if we get a decent fall, as the rest of the week is forecast to be fairly dry. So all good!
Tuesday, November 5, 2019
Another day, another swarm.
Luckily, they formed a cluster within 10 metres of the old hive (thank heavens for woody weeds) and were much easier to catch than Sunday's lot.
They're settling in.
Problem is, I have run out of boxes and frames. That's why the full depth box in this picture has gaffer tape on it. I was about to throw the box out because part of the wood is rotten but it has been pressed back into service and the gaps are taped up until I can get another.
Less than a month ago we only had 4 hives, now we have expanded to 8: all healthy, and 7 are very strong.
Less than a month ago we only had 4 hives, now we have expanded to 8: all healthy, and 7 are very strong.
Sunday, November 3, 2019
Ginger Beer Recipe
Here is the recipe I use for ginger beer.
500 ml of water in a wide mouth glass jar.
Add 3 tsp of sugar, 3 tsp of powdered ginger and 2 tsp of yeast. I have used bread yeast and beer yeast, but find that champagne yeast gives a crisper finish.
Cover with a clean cloth, held tightly with an elastic band, to keep bugs out.
Each day for the next 7 days, add 3 tsp of sugar and powdered ginger.
On the eighth day, strain through cloth into a clean bucket.
Add 7.5 l of warm water.
Add 1.5kg of sugar (or 2 kg of honey) and stir until dissolved.
Add 2 tsp of yeast.
Cover with a cloth and place in a warm place for one or two days.
After a couple of days, pour into a demijohn or small kive, with an airlock, and leave in a warm place for another 7 or 8 days.
Decant into clean PET soft drink bottles. I prefer these to glass bottles as it is easy to tell if pressure is building too strongly. A squeeze of the bottle will indicate if the bottles are building pressure. If the base of the bottles bulges, you need to release some pressure: carefully! Glass bottles can easily explode under these sorts of pressures, so should be avoided.
The fermentation process can be stopped at any stage after bottling by simply putting the bottles in the refrigerator. This is an effective way of controlling the alcohol level.
Open very slowly in order to avoid needing to wash the ceiling.
I usually ease the lid off a half turn but keep my hand on the lid and re-tighten it as the fizz begins to rise. If a lot of fermentation has gone on, it can take several minutes to open a bottle.
Variations: Play around with this if you want. You can add a few dozen sultanas to aid fermentation, but it's not really necessary. I accidentally added 3 tsp of cinnamon one day when feeding the whort and the result was surprisingly pleasant.
Chilli is a great additive! Just don't overdo it. Some dried chilli added to the demijohn stage really gives the brew a kick.
Enjoy!
500 ml of water in a wide mouth glass jar.
Add 3 tsp of sugar, 3 tsp of powdered ginger and 2 tsp of yeast. I have used bread yeast and beer yeast, but find that champagne yeast gives a crisper finish.
Cover with a clean cloth, held tightly with an elastic band, to keep bugs out.
Each day for the next 7 days, add 3 tsp of sugar and powdered ginger.
On the eighth day, strain through cloth into a clean bucket.
Add 7.5 l of warm water.
Add 1.5kg of sugar (or 2 kg of honey) and stir until dissolved.
Add 2 tsp of yeast.
Cover with a cloth and place in a warm place for one or two days.
After a couple of days, pour into a demijohn or small kive, with an airlock, and leave in a warm place for another 7 or 8 days.
Decant into clean PET soft drink bottles. I prefer these to glass bottles as it is easy to tell if pressure is building too strongly. A squeeze of the bottle will indicate if the bottles are building pressure. If the base of the bottles bulges, you need to release some pressure: carefully! Glass bottles can easily explode under these sorts of pressures, so should be avoided.
The fermentation process can be stopped at any stage after bottling by simply putting the bottles in the refrigerator. This is an effective way of controlling the alcohol level.
Open very slowly in order to avoid needing to wash the ceiling.
I usually ease the lid off a half turn but keep my hand on the lid and re-tighten it as the fizz begins to rise. If a lot of fermentation has gone on, it can take several minutes to open a bottle.
Variations: Play around with this if you want. You can add a few dozen sultanas to aid fermentation, but it's not really necessary. I accidentally added 3 tsp of cinnamon one day when feeding the whort and the result was surprisingly pleasant.
Chilli is a great additive! Just don't overdo it. Some dried chilli added to the demijohn stage really gives the brew a kick.
Enjoy!
More of bees
As mentioned in the previous post, I checked my top-bar hive a while ago and cleaned out some large chunks of comb containing honey but with a large proportion of nectar, so I decided, as the nectar was likely to ferment anyway, to use it instead of sugar in my latest ginger beer brew. Not sure if it's honey ginger beer or ginger mead, but who cares? It's cranking strongly.
Yesterday I was feeding the chooks when I found myself in the middle of a massive swarm of bees. I followed them to the neighbour's place (Ben and Anna) and found they has settled on a dead stringy bark. I figured they would settle in the hollow of the tree, but they decamped to another tree nearby and formed a cluster 4-5 metres off the ground, on a steep slope among some scrubby saplings.
I put a garbage bin under them and then whacked the branch with a long stick. Kerplop!
Missed the bin.
Gathered up as many as possible by hand, put them in the bin and then dumped them into the hive, scrambling up and down the slope with a bin of bees three times.
Then I used the same stick and duct-taped a plastic flower pot to it, put it up under the remaining cluster in the tree and shook as many bees as possible into it, and dumped them into the hive. This was repeated 5 or 6 times, with the pot getting stuck in tree branches each time.
Somehow I managed to get lucky and get the queen in the process because the rest of the cluster moved down to the hive over the next couple of hours.
Went back just before sunset, gathered up the hive and brought it back home. Woo hoo! One strong colony ready to make honey. I checked them this morning and they are quite active and settling in nicely.
There is a general rule of thumb that swarming bees will not sting. My experience is that this is true until you start whacking them with a flowerpot on a stick, then all bets are off. One little beggar got up the leg of my bee suit and stung me on the bum.
Sunday, October 20, 2019
Bee time!
Did a split with the hive we have at home, and set the split up as a nucleus at Neil and Denise's at Glen Huon - we'll see how the new hive goes.
The bees are laying up honey and raising brood at a great rate.
Opened the top-bar hive and it is over 80% full of brood and honey. I cleaned out the cross combed bars and am about to bottle our first few kgs of honey for the season. Not much, but there's something exciting about the first small harvest of the season.
I'll check the other hives and check on the progress of the split later in the week.
The bees are laying up honey and raising brood at a great rate.
Opened the top-bar hive and it is over 80% full of brood and honey. I cleaned out the cross combed bars and am about to bottle our first few kgs of honey for the season. Not much, but there's something exciting about the first small harvest of the season.
I'll check the other hives and check on the progress of the split later in the week.
Monday, October 14, 2019
October update
This week we turned off two sheep: a ewe and a wether. For less than $400 (purchase price, supplementary feed and the cost of slaughter and butchering) we now have over 50kg of prime organic lamb in the freezer plus enough bones to do the dogs for the next few weeks and enough trimmings for sausages.
Sue has been in and out of hospital in Ipswich, while visiting Leah, and she has found she has kidney stones. She has also found out that opioids are good gear when you are in serious pain.
The bees are working overtime, and it is possible to smell the honey from 20 metres away from the hives. The 4 remaining colonies are all very strong so we might get a split or two this season as well as a good supply of honey.
I managed to get a good report from the oncologist last week, so that's a blessing.
On the down side: the batteries have died so we are relying on running fridge and freezer in daylight hours with the generator for backup on heavily overcast days. We're looking at replacement batteries and have found a good source at a good price, but will still have to wait until early next year to get them. There is enough residual power in the current bank at the end of the day to run the internet and our LED lights during the evening. Fortunately, the footy season is over, so the lack of evening TV is not problem.
The batteries died the week before the Grand Final (Rugby League) but I was still able to watch it live online. Unfortunately, the Canberra Raiders lost - but only just.
We're giving eggs away at present, and selling some to friends, as we're getting more than we can use.
We have spinach and lettuce planted and potatoes are up in the old potato patch. We just need to keep the wallabies and possums away from them.
We have temporary fencing around half of the orchard but wallaby wire is very expensive, so the rest will have to wait.
Sue has been in and out of hospital in Ipswich, while visiting Leah, and she has found she has kidney stones. She has also found out that opioids are good gear when you are in serious pain.
The bees are working overtime, and it is possible to smell the honey from 20 metres away from the hives. The 4 remaining colonies are all very strong so we might get a split or two this season as well as a good supply of honey.
I managed to get a good report from the oncologist last week, so that's a blessing.
On the down side: the batteries have died so we are relying on running fridge and freezer in daylight hours with the generator for backup on heavily overcast days. We're looking at replacement batteries and have found a good source at a good price, but will still have to wait until early next year to get them. There is enough residual power in the current bank at the end of the day to run the internet and our LED lights during the evening. Fortunately, the footy season is over, so the lack of evening TV is not problem.
The batteries died the week before the Grand Final (Rugby League) but I was still able to watch it live online. Unfortunately, the Canberra Raiders lost - but only just.
We're giving eggs away at present, and selling some to friends, as we're getting more than we can use.
We have spinach and lettuce planted and potatoes are up in the old potato patch. We just need to keep the wallabies and possums away from them.
We have temporary fencing around half of the orchard but wallaby wire is very expensive, so the rest will have to wait.
Monday, August 19, 2019
Further progress.
The first coat of render is almost complete on the house.
Duncan put in huge hours on the render when he was home over July, and I've been able to continue since. The really high stuff is a pain to get on as we don't have access to decent scaffolding, but we're getting there.
The heifer (Poppy) seems to be progressing well with her pregnancy, with the battle being to keep the weight off her so she doesn't have calving issues. Complaining about too much good feed is not a bad problem to have, I guess.
..and as part of the preparation for Spring, Alex (my granddaughter) has started painting hive boxes.
Thursday, May 16, 2019
Tuesday, May 14, 2019
Saturday, May 11, 2019
11.5.19
The 12kg prosciutto hanging in the homemade meatsafe.
Only a year or two to go
and then - yummo!
I've also hung a 2.2kg copacolla today.
Will upload a photo shortly.
Spectacular double rainbow from a few days ago.
Poppy, the heifer, went out to a nearby farm on Thursday to spend some time with a little Dexter bull. He was immediately very interested in her and she seems rather appreciative of the attention, so we hope they get down to business so we can have a fresh supply of dairy products in about 10 months, and another beast for the freezer in about 2 years.
We have been told that we only have 2 years to have the house completed, so the pressure is on now to get everything done and dusted. Plumbing, electrics, rendering and roadworks to be done. Most of the rest is either completed or almost so.
Monday, April 1, 2019
2.4.19
I've just returned from another sojourn to hospital. 10mm of kidney stone on the move and then stuck in the pipes. A stent went in, and I'm back to hospital in 2 weeks to have the rock lasered. Oh joy!
We just ate the first few rashers of the bacon for breakfast. A little salty, as I was a bit heavy-handed during the curing process, but still delicious. I'm going to leave the second flitch to hang for a few more days before slicing and sealing so it can firm up some more.
I've just returned from another sojourn to hospital. 10mm of kidney stone on the move and then stuck in the pipes. A stent went in, and I'm back to hospital in 2 weeks to have the rock lasered. Oh joy!
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| My home-made meat safe for air-drying. It's on the south side of the (unfinished) house, out of direct sun and open to the breeze to help with the drying process. |
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The first of the bacon hung out to dry. The
mesh is seriously heavy duty, stainless steel.
|
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The same bacon sliced and vacuum sealed.
A little fatty and salty, but delicious. It's
in the freezer now.
|
It was nice to see news reports last week about nitrites being unnecessary for curing meat. I've gone the traditional approach and only used salt and time to do the cure on the first two flitches. The next one, I'll try some spices as well but don't want to overdo it.
Time to turn the prosciutto in its salt this morning, so it will be interesting to get a feel for how it's progressing. It'll be more than a month before it can hang, but it will fit in the meat safe when the time comes.
Monday, March 25, 2019
26.3.19
The prosciutto needs nearly 2 months in the cure before it hangs outdoors.
Rasher was on her way in the mobile butcher's chiller trailer to become Rashers - 85kg dressed weight. The butcher did a great job. Rasher died with a happy mouth full of apple, and did not suffer stress or pain at all. We gave the head to a friend to make brawn, but next time I might make some for us. Eight days later we had the first two pork chops and we started curing a prosciutto and two flitches of bacon. Looking good.
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| 85 kg of Rasher |
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| The first pork chops for dinner |
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| The first bacon flitch ready for salting |
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| The prosciutto goes intro the salt |
Seven days later, the first flitch is out of the cure and air-drying in the fridge. It'll then air dry for a week or so outdoors. Can't wait till we get our first crack at home-cured bacon next week. And only another year or two before we have a crack at the prosciutto.
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| The flitch rinsed and starting to air dry |
I've built an industrial-strength meat safe to hang under the eaves of the verandah on the south side of the house for the air-drying, to keep wasps, flies and other nasties at bay.
I've done bresaola several times, with our beef, but this is the first attempt at curing pork.
I've also bought casings so we can have a go at salami, and a giant casing for copacola.
In a little while I'm going to fire up the barbie and smoke the hocks and two cutlets. The hocks will be vacuum sealed and refrozen for winter soups and the chops will be cooked for dinner.
On the booze front: I've been doing home-made ginger beer and decided to give it a bit of a kick along. It's about 7% apv but needed a taste boost, so I upped the ginger content and added 2 tsp of chilli flakes per 4 litres to the next batch as it was brewing. Very palatable. But it does sneak up on one.
I started the mead and chilli mead before I realised that the honey season was going to be pretty much a write-off for the year, so there'll be no more until next season.
Blackberry and black currant wine are bottled. Not the greatest, but they should improve with more time in the bottle.
Tuesday, February 12, 2019
Wednesday 13.2 1616
Last week fires: this week snow. Welcome to Tassie!
Ok, the snow didn't fall this low, but in the highlands where the fires had been severe, there was snow this morning, and we were down to 5 deg C last night.
I have mead, blackberry wine and ginger beer brewing. I put the blackberry and mead into demijohns yesterday then had to wrap them to keep them warm last night. The mead blew the water out of the airlock and overflowed.
Blackberry wine.
The mead getting excited.
The pig is growing on nicely and due to be turned off in three weeks.
Last week fires: this week snow. Welcome to Tassie!
Ok, the snow didn't fall this low, but in the highlands where the fires had been severe, there was snow this morning, and we were down to 5 deg C last night.
I have mead, blackberry wine and ginger beer brewing. I put the blackberry and mead into demijohns yesterday then had to wrap them to keep them warm last night. The mead blew the water out of the airlock and overflowed.
Mead and ginger beer bug.
Tucked up for the night.
Wednesday, February 6, 2019
Wednesday 6.2.19 1930
Opened two beehives today to see if they are ready to rob. They are both starting to cap honey in the supers, but not ready to go just yet.
Some of the commercial beekeepers in Tassie have lost a large percentage of their hives and significant stands of leatherwood trees have been destroyed. Leatherwood is Tassie's best known honey and commands a premium price. Production is going to be significantly reduced, not just this year, but for some time into the future. Hobby, and small-scale, beekeepers like us are going to need to be careful as the value of colonies and honey increases. The problem is likely to be opportunists who see hives in accessible places and knock them off under cover of darkness. I have one which is visible and accessible from the highway, so I'll move it within the next few days.
We have no W&As for our fire at present, though there are some for other fires in the state. Rain is forecast for tonight and tomorrow, with showers predicted for the next few days.
Opened two beehives today to see if they are ready to rob. They are both starting to cap honey in the supers, but not ready to go just yet.
Some of the commercial beekeepers in Tassie have lost a large percentage of their hives and significant stands of leatherwood trees have been destroyed. Leatherwood is Tassie's best known honey and commands a premium price. Production is going to be significantly reduced, not just this year, but for some time into the future. Hobby, and small-scale, beekeepers like us are going to need to be careful as the value of colonies and honey increases. The problem is likely to be opportunists who see hives in accessible places and knock them off under cover of darkness. I have one which is visible and accessible from the highway, so I'll move it within the next few days.
We have no W&As for our fire at present, though there are some for other fires in the state. Rain is forecast for tonight and tomorrow, with showers predicted for the next few days.
Tuesday, February 5, 2019
Tuesday 5.2.19 2028
We now attend St James Anglican church at Ranelagh, after a break of about 10 years from regular church attendance. We were very browned off by the scammers and hustlers operating too many of the entertainment centres masquerading as churches that we had been exposed to over the years, and seen too many people hurt. Having been part of the problem for 12 years in the 70s and 80s, I found I couldn't sit and watch people being manipulated and keep my big mouth shut. So we gave church a swerve for a decade.
Jimmy's (St James) is about as non-scammy as you could get: caring, genuine people with gracious, gentle people and a minister who is a young man of integrity. Can't ask for much more.
We now attend St James Anglican church at Ranelagh, after a break of about 10 years from regular church attendance. We were very browned off by the scammers and hustlers operating too many of the entertainment centres masquerading as churches that we had been exposed to over the years, and seen too many people hurt. Having been part of the problem for 12 years in the 70s and 80s, I found I couldn't sit and watch people being manipulated and keep my big mouth shut. So we gave church a swerve for a decade.
Jimmy's (St James) is about as non-scammy as you could get: caring, genuine people with gracious, gentle people and a minister who is a young man of integrity. Can't ask for much more.
Tuesday 5.2.19 2004
All the Emergency warnings are now lifted for the State though quite a few fires are still uncontrolled. Firies are working on back burning and clearing containment lines. Water bombing is continuing. Several villages near us are still under Watch and Act notices but we are at Advice level.
All told, the fires have burned over 200000ha (500000 acres) so far across the State over the past month. And north Queensland is having record floods. Townsville, where we lived for a while, has had more than a metre of rain over the past few days and the Leichardt River is running a banker n the Isa (where we also used to live.) The river at Cloncurry is mad! And Julia Creek had over 230mm of rain in 24 hours. At Julia Creek!
Here, we had a gentle Nor' Easter today which kept the smoke away so Sue and I picked fruit (about 10 kg of plums and nectarines - Golden Drop and Greengage plums, mmmm!)
We have rain forecast from tomorrow night, for several days. Hopefully, it will fall in the fire zone and surrounds.
All the Emergency warnings are now lifted for the State though quite a few fires are still uncontrolled. Firies are working on back burning and clearing containment lines. Water bombing is continuing. Several villages near us are still under Watch and Act notices but we are at Advice level.
All told, the fires have burned over 200000ha (500000 acres) so far across the State over the past month. And north Queensland is having record floods. Townsville, where we lived for a while, has had more than a metre of rain over the past few days and the Leichardt River is running a banker n the Isa (where we also used to live.) The river at Cloncurry is mad! And Julia Creek had over 230mm of rain in 24 hours. At Julia Creek!
Here, we had a gentle Nor' Easter today which kept the smoke away so Sue and I picked fruit (about 10 kg of plums and nectarines - Golden Drop and Greengage plums, mmmm!)
We have rain forecast from tomorrow night, for several days. Hopefully, it will fall in the fire zone and surrounds.
Saturday, February 2, 2019
Sunday 3.2.19 1543
The fire is still about 60000 ha. It has just made a run to the SE towards communities North and South of Geeveston. The warnings are for impact in those areas in 30 minutes to an hour. The winds are not particularly strong here, but are a little gusty, and gusts of 70 km/hr are expected in places. It's very smoky here at present.
All 40 fires in the state are increasing their activity at the moment as warmer air moves in from the North. Hopefully, the containment lines will hold.
The perimeter of the fire is over 1600km (1000 miles.)
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-02-03/tasmanians-prepare-for-severe-fire-dangers-on-sunday/10774452
Tomorrow is expected to be cooler but no significant showers until Thursday.
On a lighter note: the pig has not escaped today and seems fairly settled although she must be grumpy with the heat and smoke.
All 40 fires in the state are increasing their activity at the moment as warmer air moves in from the North. Hopefully, the containment lines will hold.
The perimeter of the fire is over 1600km (1000 miles.)
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-02-03/tasmanians-prepare-for-severe-fire-dangers-on-sunday/10774452
Tomorrow is expected to be cooler but no significant showers until Thursday.
On a lighter note: the pig has not escaped today and seems fairly settled although she must be grumpy with the heat and smoke.
Rasher enjoying having more room to move.
Friday, February 1, 2019
No emergency warnings this morning, which is great relief. The fire has now covered 60000 ha - about 148000 acres.
We are back at our place, sorting everything out.
The pig escaped twice from its pen yesterday evening so I spent an hour or so replacing the electric fence. I'll make a bigger run for it today, so it has more room to move and more things to do.
We are back at our place, sorting everything out.
The pig escaped twice from its pen yesterday evening so I spent an hour or so replacing the electric fence. I'll make a bigger run for it today, so it has more room to move and more things to do.
Thursday, January 31, 2019
Thurs 31.1.19 2050
The fire is now at just over 56000 ha - about 139000 acres. That's the bad news. The good news is that during today the firies were able to strengthen containment lines in several areas to guide the fire away from homes and villages. Judbury, Glen Huon and Lonnavale are still under Emergency Watches and doing it really tough. However, Franklin is back to Watch and Wait: not out of the woods yet, but a much improved situation to last night.
I'm back home now and Sue will come back tomorrow if the situation is the same as tonight.
We received 1 or 2 mm of rain today which cooled the place down and raised the humidity, giving the firefighters opportunity to work on back burning, etc, in several areas. Water bombing was going on South, West and North-West of our place until about 1830.
Still praying, but less stressed than last night.
Still no lives lost and no more structures lost today. These firies are magnificent!
The fire is now at just over 56000 ha - about 139000 acres. That's the bad news. The good news is that during today the firies were able to strengthen containment lines in several areas to guide the fire away from homes and villages. Judbury, Glen Huon and Lonnavale are still under Emergency Watches and doing it really tough. However, Franklin is back to Watch and Wait: not out of the woods yet, but a much improved situation to last night.
I'm back home now and Sue will come back tomorrow if the situation is the same as tonight.
We received 1 or 2 mm of rain today which cooled the place down and raised the humidity, giving the firefighters opportunity to work on back burning, etc, in several areas. Water bombing was going on South, West and North-West of our place until about 1830.
Still praying, but less stressed than last night.
Still no lives lost and no more structures lost today. These firies are magnificent!
Wednesday, January 30, 2019
The fire increased by 5000ha today, to 37000ha. That's roughly 92000 acres.
I was up at the house for a few hours this morning and then managed to get back after the highway was closed this evening, just to feed the pig and wet down.
Really strange to be soaking the bale walls again with the fire hose after 2 years of making sure they were kept completely dry. We figure that if we lose the bales to mould, but save the house from fire, we're way ahead.
Praying and waiting.
Monday, January 28, 2019
Tues 29.1 1410
The fire is now at 32000 ha. We're getting a little ash, but no embers at this stage. Castle Forbes Bay, about 6 km to the South of us has just been evacuated.
Waterbombing is continuing NW and S of us.
I pulled out shortly after writing the above. We watched the Huon Council briefing session on Facebook this evening and it was pretty grim. The fire continues to grow, but, thankfully, there has been no loss of life.
We are still hopeful that our place might dodge the bullet. The fire is still to the S, W and NW of us with a prevailing NW breeze forecast for tonight and tomorrow. The Tas Fire Service have been bulldozing containment lines to the NW and W of us, so we are hopeful that the fire might bypass us.
The fire is now at 32000 ha. We're getting a little ash, but no embers at this stage. Castle Forbes Bay, about 6 km to the South of us has just been evacuated.
Waterbombing is continuing NW and S of us.
I pulled out shortly after writing the above. We watched the Huon Council briefing session on Facebook this evening and it was pretty grim. The fire continues to grow, but, thankfully, there has been no loss of life.
We are still hopeful that our place might dodge the bullet. The fire is still to the S, W and NW of us with a prevailing NW breeze forecast for tonight and tomorrow. The Tas Fire Service have been bulldozing containment lines to the NW and W of us, so we are hopeful that the fire might bypass us.
We're just to the West of the red flame symbol.
The fire doubled in size today and has made a massive run into CFB today. That's the community impacted by the northernmost finger of fire front near the river above Geeveston.
Tuesday 29.1 0915
We were door knocked by Police yesterday afternoon and evacuated. Our neighbour stayed to monitor the situation while we went to a friend's place on the other side of the river.
I'm back at our place now and am relieved to see that we got through last night with no dramas.
However, the situation today is still rough. Temperatures are higher than yesterday, low humidity, and the wind is due to pick up this afternoon. The fire is about 4 km away from us.
Before we left last night I fired up the fire pump and watered around the house site, under the verandah and the bale walls. It felt seriously strange to be playing a fire hose on bales that I've spent 2 years keeping dry.
I'm about to go down to the house site to see if there's anything I can do to better prepare it.
We were door knocked by Police yesterday afternoon and evacuated. Our neighbour stayed to monitor the situation while we went to a friend's place on the other side of the river.
I'm back at our place now and am relieved to see that we got through last night with no dramas.
However, the situation today is still rough. Temperatures are higher than yesterday, low humidity, and the wind is due to pick up this afternoon. The fire is about 4 km away from us.
Before we left last night I fired up the fire pump and watered around the house site, under the verandah and the bale walls. It felt seriously strange to be playing a fire hose on bales that I've spent 2 years keeping dry.
I'm about to go down to the house site to see if there's anything I can do to better prepare it.
Sunday, January 27, 2019
Monday 28.1 1533
This is the current situation.
The fire has made a run and the firies on the ground have been pulled back to protect homes and door knock for evacuation South and NW of us. We are still on Watch and Wait.
The fire is about 5 km from us at present.
As a trivial aside: my bees are seriously irritated with all this smoke around.
The fire has made a run and the firies on the ground have been pulled back to protect homes and door knock for evacuation South and NW of us. We are still on Watch and Wait.
The fire is about 5 km from us at present.
As a trivial aside: my bees are seriously irritated with all this smoke around.
Despite the title to this post, it is Monday morning, 0630.
We made it through the night. It's clear here this morning, as the breeze is in our favour, but the fire is still going.
The village is full of cars, caravans, trailers, boats on trailers, etc. We took Sue's car down to the village last night so we would only have to get the one car out if we had to evacuate.
We made it through the night. It's clear here this morning, as the breeze is in our favour, but the fire is still going.
The village is full of cars, caravans, trailers, boats on trailers, etc. We took Sue's car down to the village last night so we would only have to get the one car out if we had to evacuate.
It's 2130 and dark. The fire is about 8km from us. It has grown from 1000ha to 14500ha in 72 hours.
The smoke is quite heavy. We're packed and ready to go if we need to.
Sue and I are sleeping in shifts tonight while we keep up to date on the radio emergency service.
We are back to Watch and Act status. The upgrade to Emergency status usually indicates that there is likely to be direct threat within about 6 hours and we haven't reached that status yet. It's still going to be a restless night.
Our thoughts and prayers are with those who have their homes on the edge of, or in, the fire zone.
The smoke is quite heavy. We're packed and ready to go if we need to.
Sue and I are sleeping in shifts tonight while we keep up to date on the radio emergency service.
We are back to Watch and Act status. The upgrade to Emergency status usually indicates that there is likely to be direct threat within about 6 hours and we haven't reached that status yet. It's still going to be a restless night.
Our thoughts and prayers are with those who have their homes on the edge of, or in, the fire zone.
Saturday, January 26, 2019
How quickly things change. There are now Emergency Notices for Judbury and Glen Huon which are about 8-10 km WNW of us. The fire is about 8km West of us and the winds have strengthened considerably to about 45km/hr in the last couple of hours.
Still a long way to go with this one.
Our neighbour has gone to an information session with the TFS in Huonville and we are waiting for her to get back for the most recent advice and information,
Still a long way to go with this one.
Our neighbour has gone to an information session with the TFS in Huonville and we are waiting for her to get back for the most recent advice and information,
Good news.
There is now only one emergency alert for the state, and that is for the midlands fire. Geeveston has been downgraded to Watch and Act.
The smoke has cleared here, and it's a beautiful, clear, cool summer evening in Franklin. It's hard to believe how quickly things have changed.
Thank God and the firies.
There is now only one emergency alert for the state, and that is for the midlands fire. Geeveston has been downgraded to Watch and Act.
The smoke has cleared here, and it's a beautiful, clear, cool summer evening in Franklin. It's hard to believe how quickly things have changed.
Thank God and the firies.
Friday, January 25, 2019
The nearest fire to us is now entering the outskirts of Geeveston, to the south, and people have been advised to evacuate immediately.
There are numerous towns and villages in the threatened area, and only the one road out. Our thoughts are with everyone in that area. They not only face the threat of the fire itself, but the smoke is very thick, making breathing difficult.
We woke to thick smoke this morning due to a shift in wind direction overnight, but are under no direct threat for the time being. We still have the cars packed in case the situation changes.
Thursday, January 24, 2019
Not a lot of sleep last night.
We have strong winds, high temperatures and low humidity today. Predicted max of about 37C. There's a bushfire West of us at Tahune, about 20km away, which has burnt out about 2000 ha and is out of control. At present it is tracking to pass just South of us, if the wind direction holds. Several communities in our area are at risk, including Geeveston. We are under a Watch and Act notice.
We have the cars packed with clothes, personal papers, etc and are ready to bolt if we need to.
We spent yesterday packing gaps in the bale walls of the house with rockwool and making sure the windows were locked shut. I set up a fire sprinkler on the western verandah, and we have a fire pump and a fire hose set up. However, if it gets really serious, we won't stay around to fight.
In the midlands, there is a fire which has burnt out over 20,000 ha and is expected to double in size today. Several villages are under Emergency warnings.
The predicted winds today will limit the use of water-bombing aircraft.
We have strong winds, high temperatures and low humidity today. Predicted max of about 37C. There's a bushfire West of us at Tahune, about 20km away, which has burnt out about 2000 ha and is out of control. At present it is tracking to pass just South of us, if the wind direction holds. Several communities in our area are at risk, including Geeveston. We are under a Watch and Act notice.
We have the cars packed with clothes, personal papers, etc and are ready to bolt if we need to.
We spent yesterday packing gaps in the bale walls of the house with rockwool and making sure the windows were locked shut. I set up a fire sprinkler on the western verandah, and we have a fire pump and a fire hose set up. However, if it gets really serious, we won't stay around to fight.
In the midlands, there is a fire which has burnt out over 20,000 ha and is expected to double in size today. Several villages are under Emergency warnings.
The predicted winds today will limit the use of water-bombing aircraft.
Wednesday, January 23, 2019
I also have enough 2nd grade honey that I can start some mead. We used to make it from supermarket honey in El Salvador, and are looking forward to giving it a red-hot-go from our own honey. The 2nd grade honey came from our top-bar hive which has too much uncapped nectar mixed with the good honey to sell but is perfect for mead. It's a very strongly flavoured honey, so should provide an interesting brew.
I have a Llangstroth hive alongside the top-bar so should get some nice strong honey to sell from it when I rob the hive next.
The top-bar hive.
We have so many blackberries on our block, I think I'll make a 25 litre batch of blackberry wine when the berries are ripe.
Yesterday was much cooler and the wind was an easterly breeze which cleared the smoke. We also received a light shower at night which dropped 0.4 ml. Not enough to settle the dust, but we'll take any moisture we can get at this point. Much more tolerable.
Tomorrow, Friday, is still the worrying day. 39C and 50km/hr winds from the west. No rain expected for the next week, except the chance of some very light showers.
The only fire of real concern to us is West of us and about 20km away, near the Tahune airwalk. It has burnt out about 1000 ha (2600 acres) and is rated as "Going": i.e. not contained.
The Tas Fire Service website says that an aerial response to the fire starts today.
I drove from the house, across the paddocks and out our escape route just to make sure it's clear in case we have to use it. Otherwise, our only road route takes us west through forest.
Anyway, still hoping that everything goes well.
There's a couple of much larger fires in the middle of the state which are threatening some small communities, so our thoughts are with the residents and the firies who are battling those blazes.
Tomorrow, Friday, is still the worrying day. 39C and 50km/hr winds from the west. No rain expected for the next week, except the chance of some very light showers.
The only fire of real concern to us is West of us and about 20km away, near the Tahune airwalk. It has burnt out about 1000 ha (2600 acres) and is rated as "Going": i.e. not contained.
The Tas Fire Service website says that an aerial response to the fire starts today.
I drove from the house, across the paddocks and out our escape route just to make sure it's clear in case we have to use it. Otherwise, our only road route takes us west through forest.
Anyway, still hoping that everything goes well.
There's a couple of much larger fires in the middle of the state which are threatening some small communities, so our thoughts are with the residents and the firies who are battling those blazes.
Monday, January 21, 2019
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