It has been a bit hotter lately and I’m obviously concerned about snakes about the place.

Most weekends now involve at least an hour on Penfold (the ride on mower) as I try and keep the grass down and the ground visible for when we are walking around.

Of particular importance is the vegetable garden, as the pond in the middle provides a water source and the variety of lizards and small animals provide a potential meal for the snakes.

Tonight Meg rang as she arrived home to find a brown snake on the concrete outside the roller door of the shed, “looking for a way in”.

After advising Meg to keep an eye on it, I quickly packed up and headed home.

Arriving home in a cloud of dust, I saw Meg standing under the pergola at the end of the shed. The snake had left and she had been following it to where it disappeared, under some rocks on the corner of the concrete slab.

After making sure that it wasn’t still visible and turning a large rock over, we revealed what looked suspiciously like a snake hole…

Meg wasn’t all that fussed though, and we’ll just look carefully when we enter the shed and try to ensure that we don’t have mice. As well as this, Meg taped up a small gap at the bottom of the roller door of the shed.

While this excitement was going on, the very small, male mistletoe bird was twittering around us, landing on the car antenna and also on one of the small blue gums next to where we park.

I grabbed the camera and the 100-400mm lens and snapped him a few times in the approaching twilight.

Before packing the camera away again, I thought I’d capture the new flock of sheep that we have grazing in the paddock. Hopefully they’ll eat their way through our bushfire risk in the next month or so and won’t keep me too awake at night.

Check out more in the gallery.

Winter is here in full force which gives me a great excuse to sit and tend a fire.

We have three regular fires; the combustion heater inside the shed, the cob oven that Meg built and the bonfire site. Occasionally we burn off the light pruning of gums that is mainly leaves to reduce the summer bushfire risk, but this isn’t very often.

Friends dropping in is a great excuse for a bonfire and camp oven, and the latest recipe turned out a treat. An incredibly simple recipe of sausages, potato, sweet potato, carrot, onion and a large tin of tomatoes transformed into a hearty meal by the fire.

Meg’s been cooking up a storm in the cob oven as well and has discovered the simplicity of chicken drumsticks with soy and honey. The smoky roast potatoes and garlic in local extra virgin olive oil are hard to resist and we plan to branch out with more roasts soon.

A daily ritual in winter is lighting the combustion heater in the shed, and while it is nice and warm with the insulation installed over summer we seem to be burning a reasonable stack of firewood.

On cold nights, it has been getting down below five degrees so far, with much cooler to come in the coming months and I find that Meg and I are filling a wheelbarrow full from the wood shed every two or three days. At this rate, we seem to be going through a trailer load of firewood every couple of weeks, which means that I must find dry days without anything else on to cut seasoned firewood from the property.

I find cutting firewood quite enjoyable if I have the time to spend – there is a bit of a Zen like quality to the monotony of the physical work and the sound of the Stihl on full throttle – but there are only so many easy to get to and well seasoned trees that are either still standing or have fallen so that they lay off of the ground. (The best firewood is old and dry and hasn’t been transformed by white ants.)

The plan last year was to cut green wood and stack it to season for this year to provide for out firewood needs, but the wood hasn’t seasoned as fast as I’d hoped and we are using much more than I’d prepared anyway.

I’m dealing with this in a few ways; I’ve cut a lot of green wood for future seasons and I’m travelling more of the property to find the “ready to burn” wood.

We’ll never be able to burn all of the dead wood on the property because I doubt we’ll be able to get to eighty percent of the available resource due to the steep hillsides and gullies and the groves of bluegum that block an available path. This means that there will always be habitat for natives and (unfortunately) introduced fauna and our property will slowly return to the original state.

In the meantime while we wait for the bush to return and watch the development of our land, I’ll still plan and react to our firewood needs as I can, driving the 4WD and trailer where I can, cutting, splitting and stacking firewood for warmth and comfort.

A week or so ago on a calm, dark night, I went outside for some reason and heard the rustle of leaves in the blue gums along the path between the shed and the toilet.

Being a curious bloke, I grabbed the torch and crept slowly to about where I’d heard the noise and pointed up to see a furry little fellow. It looked like we have Common Brushtail Possums on our property, which are listed as “rare” by the Department for Environment and Heritage.

Tonight I heard the distinctive rustle again and quietly returned to the shed to put the camera together.

Using the Canon 28-70mm f2.8L lens with the Speedlite 550EX flash for starters, I used the torch to identify the general area that the possums were in before clicking off a few shots. Shooting directly up into the branches was a bit of a stretch for me, and after using the torch I couldn’t see anything through the view finder as my eyes didn’t adjust in time to the pitch black, moonless sky.

It must have looked quite interesting from the neighbours place across the hillside, with the trees occasionally lighting up from the powerful flash!

I changed to the Canon 100-400mm f4.5-5.6L to try and get a bit closer and this greatly increased the level of difficulty of getting the possum in frame, but the shots that I did get were much better.

I think that it is interesting that the possums were eating the blue gum blossoms and not the box mistletoe that I’ve been told is their food source. There is plenty of mistletoe around, although we have been slowly reducing it by selectively pruning with both chainsaw and rope saw.

Possums are meant to be quite rare in the Clare Valley area. I’ve read that the average is down to one per hectare, the lowest in the area including the Yorke Peninsula and the Mid North and I’d wondered where and when we would see one – we should have more than 40 on our property.

While many people don’t like them, I haven’t seen evidence of them in the vegie garden yet, so as long as they stay in the trees then maybe we can just get along together.

Check more info with the Dept of Environment and Heritage Fact Sheet

After sitting down to a hearty meal of pasta and meatballs, I thought it might be nice to go for a walk.  It was getting later and twilight was approaching but it’s a wonderful time to walk in the country.  Rob was finishing something on the internet(gotta love that satellite!) and I was subtly encouraging him to come with me by taking his cider hostage and forcing socks and shoes on his feet.

After leaving our driveway we rounded the corner and saw a family of kangaroos.  One of them had a joey in it’s pouch.  There was a slight standoff as we watched them and they watched us, waiting to see who would move first.  Eventually they must have got bored and gently hopped off through next door’s paddock and Rob and I continued on our way.

Just across the road from Eldredges Winery we saw an owl in a tree on the edge of our property.  Nothing really interesting to report, but it was just nice to see an owl.

We continued on towards the Spring Gully Conservation Park, did the loop of the carpark and then walked back home chatting and laughing and generally enjoying each others company.  It’s nice to just walk around occasionally, take things in and really appreciate where we live and what we’re doing together.

Summer is upon us. The dry winter has led to an average spring and the fields have turned to straw.

Despite the recent inch of rain, the veggie patch still looks half done. Beds have patches of growth where rows of carrots should be, tomatoes are struggling to raise themselves up and the beans are gone.

But this is not just the action of a brilliant sun and harsh, dry winds. This is also the result of the first major attacks from predators.

The garden has evolved from the first trial beds ten months ago in February to what it is today through a process of trial and error. Initially I figured that I could attempt to grow some vegies and see what would attack them. Would it be bugs, mice, bunnies or kangaroos? Would the deer venture out of the trees to the pond to drink and have a nice succulent bite of something as well?

One of the major reasons for just having a go has been the fencing issue. If I am to keep pests away, what sort of fence is required and how big should it be? How big will the vegie garden get? Should I fence in part or do the lot and if I fence a little will I ever expand the garden and fence more? How will the chook run be set up and where will that go?

All of these questions led to indecision and a “suck it and see” approach.

But the first major attack has now happened.

A few months ago I scared a little bunny that was sheltering under the leaves of one of the last remaining broccoli. It darted off so fast that I was still trying to work out what it was as it zigged out of the bed and zagged passed the stack of pea straw bales.

Weeks later, I disturbed another in the shelter of a zucchini and felt that a trend was beginning to form. The soft piles of soil near the zucchini looked like the beginnings of a burrow and I was quick to water and mulch to discourage a repeat visit.

But after a night away in Adelaide, we returned to the carnage. Dozens of climbing beans that were just hitting their straps were gone. The carrots had been decimated and even the tomatoes had been nibbled. I knew that it was just something that was bound to happen in time, but the reality of summer without beans was deflating.

As the massacre sunk in, it was not just the loss of a crop but the potential loss of future crops. Was this just the beginning of the attacks? What if they returned night after night to reduce my hard earned crops to nothing? How could I stop them? What could I do?

I noticed that the corn was still going strong. Not even the kangaroos had been tempted by the towering corn, even though most of the beans planted within the same bed, around the stalks of the corn were just stumps.

The plan formed slowly in my mind. More corn! Raph and I had replenished some beds a few weeks ago with aged cow manure and pea straw mulch and now I saw that these would be planted with corn.

The half full vegie garden would be prosperous again within a month if I planted more beds and we would see some summer crops. Corn would be the summer saviour.

As the days grew warmer out of winter, I was looking forward to the new growth in the garden and explosion of vegies onto the table.

What I hadn’t counted on was the huge growth of grass around the place. It was starting to become a bit of a problem as high grass and snakes seem to go together.

The first sighting had been after our last party on the October long weekend. Raph had seen the brown snake as he walked back to the shed, prompting a frenzy of mowing and a clean up around the area.

Since then, I’d tried to keep on top of the mowing with the standard Victa mower, pushing up and down the hill and throughout the vegie garden and fruit trees. I’d had some success, but then a bit of extra IT work, the fencing project and some weekend trips to Adelaide mounted up and suddenly I hadn’t mown for a month!

During this time, the grass had taken off again and I’d had a few confrontations with various browns. Raph and I had successfully relocated one near the shed (relocated = relocating the snake’s head far away from the rest of the body) using a combination of long handled spade, rake and lightning fast ninja skills.

I’d seen a second hand ride on advertised at a reasonable price and so Pa and I went for a look and ended up bringing it home.

How much quicker is it to use a ride on mower to cut the grass? In a couple of hours I had not only mowed all of the grass that I normally would, but had extended the mown area significantly.

Meg approved and promptly named the mower “Penfold”. Apparently this was a reference to the lights on the front looking like glasses and the old “Dangermouse” cartoon that she watched as a kid.

So Penfold now sits patiently at the wood shed, waiting for the grass to grow and the opportunity to put around the hillside.

The major advantage I’ve seen so far is the increased visibility when you walk around. I used to hear the grass move and not know whether it was a snake, lizard or “other”. Now I can keep an eye on the ground around me as I walk and pick up movement quickly.

Raph and I used this increased visibility just last week when we were working on the new water tank. We’d both walked past the snake, but Raph saw it in the mown area and we relocated it easily.

Raph took a picture of this one on his phone and posted it at his site.

The grass is drying off a lot now and I’m glad that we kept on top of it. The fire season is well and truly here and reducing the fire fuel load is pretty important. The cows are eating steadily through their paddock and Penfold clears around the shed, toilet, vegies and fruit trees.

All we need now is to hook the fire pump up to the water tank and I’ll be a lot happier.

Australia can be a dangerous place. It has started to get a little warmer lately and we’ve already had encounters with some brown snakes outside.

Tonight was different though. We have the usual community of millipedes, ants, beetles and spiders, but we don’t generally get anything bad crawling through the shed.

It was late at night, and I was about to go to bed when I saw a scorpion wandering across the floor in front of the tv. I was a little surprised as I’d only ever rarely seen them under rocks and here was a scorpion crawling slowly across in front of me.

I grabbed a pint glass and covered it before grabbing the camera for a few happy snaps.

Initially I just put my 28-70/f2.8 L lens on, but was soon reminded that I’d need the Speedlite 550EX flash to get around the lens on close up shots (the standard flash is too low and the size of the lens causes a shadow in the shot).

I set up the camera and tried to get a good shot, but it was hard with such a small object and the lens is more for portrait work rather than close up macro shots.

To try and get some perspective, I lay down on the floor, trying to get as close as possible and modified the angle of the flash for different lighting effects. I’d lift the glass with my left hand and take some shots, trying to get the detail of the scorpion – the end of the tail, the hairs on the body, the angles of the pincers and the shine in it’s eyes.

See how the grains of dirt on the concrete floor show up – the scorpion was only about five centimetres long.

I was having trouble getting a full frame, so I swapped lenses to the 100-400/f4.5-5.6 L zoom. With this lens I had to be much further back, but it gave slightly different lighting from the flash.

After taking shots from all angles, I put him back in the glass and walked outside, releasing him along the driveway.

OK, it wasn’t really a scorpion attack, but it did raise the heart rate just before bedtime.

One of the things that I really enjoy about living in the country is the birds.

From the top of the hill where the vegie garden is, you can look back to the north and east and follow the horizon along a ridge. Sunset provides the “Golden Hour” and when it is still you can stand there for ages watching and listening to various birds as they prepare to roost.

The Kookaburras are my favourite. There are a few pairs around and they often call to each other, with the call starting at one end of the road, passing through the pairs of birds to the other and back.

I’ve had a couple of tries at photos, but today was a day where it worked.

Previously I’d heard or seen Kookie about and headed for the camera, changed lenses and the like and come back to the spot to watch him fly away.

Today I was in the shed and heard them in a tree outside. Before heading out, I swapped to the long lens and then quietly opened the shed door.

Rather than going for the perfect shot, I clicked off a couple on the way to where I thought it would be, making sure that I at least got something.

Kookie sat there for a while, letting me take a few shots from about twenty metres before flying off.

Thanks Kookie!

We’ve been very busy lately and haven’t been taking enough time to enjoy what we have.

With the “Shed Raising” party a few of weeks ago, Meg and I realised that we hadn’t walked the property enough and should be doing it more regularly, noticing changes and getting fitter.

The days are almost getting longer and there is some good sunshine now so we really should make time to do it.

We started last weekend with a Saturday afternoon wander. I had an ulterior motive and had taken the mattock to do battle with some artichokes that have been rapidly spreading across the property. We walked and talked about life and plans and views and trees.

Today was also a nice day and I’d taken the camera instead of the mattock.

First stop was the bore. The tank hasn’t been filled for a few months (a testament to our water saving lifestyle) and it was time to fill up.

This would also be a test of water pressure to the shower as I’d installed the instant LPG water heater in a tree and wanted to see what it could do. As the tank is on the hill above, I was wondering whether adding a metre or two in height to the water level in the tank would increase the pressure noticeably.

The late afternoon sun was broken by the trees as we wandered down the valley away from the bore. The valley was peaceful, with no wind or traffic noise – just the sounds of birds playing in the trees.

As we came to the main creek I saw a slight movement on the opposite hillside and watched as a couple of kangaroos looked back. (Sure, they might not be “kangaroos”, but Euros or something similar, but until I find out which is which anything that hops and looks like a kangaroo will be a kangaroo.)

I clicked off a couple of shots, but I was using the 28-70mm lens. If I’d had the 100-400mm lens we could have seen what they were thinking but I’d only taken the camera and not the entire camera bag.

Walking a few steps further on spooked the kangaroos and they were off.

We walked the creek line and stopped to check on the artichokes that I’d had a go at last weekend. I’d dug a fair bit  of them out but had heard from others that spraying or using pellets is really the only way to get them. We’ll see what happens.

I saw a photo opportunity in the creek and entered. The tree on the left side of the creek had roots that had been exposed by the bank and with the late afternoon sun and a little bit of flash, I thought I could get an interesting perspective.

Meanwhile, Meg was being creative on her own, creating a monster out of an ant hole, some bark and moss. Arrrggghh! The monster!

The artichoke population increased dramatically as we reached the western boundary of the property. This is turning into much, much more of a priority.

We took some time to take it all in, sitting around a huge, old gum tree that must have some stories to tell. It must be at least a metre across – how old does that make it?

Wandering up the step climb I spotted a different type of thistle. It has a purple flower and reminded me of Scotland for some reason.

A storm was heading our way over the Blyth plains and we watched the changes for a while as it moved before heading back along the road and checking out the neighbours sheep.

It was a pretty good walk and taking the camera really made me look for things and take notice.

All wasn’t right when we returned, as the tank wasn’t full or even noticeably better off!

I raced to the bore and after a while discovered that a switch had tripped inside the control panel. Fears met worries and frustrations as they bounced around my mind. Had we run out of water? Had I blown up the expensive submersible pump? Had we hooked up the tank without the right valves and done some damage?

I reset the switch and turned the pump back on. A short while later, the switch clicked off and the pipe moved – it was off again.

The questions went around my head again as I failed to learn anything from the process and was left with the realisation that things are always going to break and go wrong and it was up to me to deal with them.

It has finally happened – the first event at the Journey!

We may have been here for a while, but it has been pretty hard to entertain when it is winter and you only have a caravan.

Getting the shed meant that if the rains came, at least we could be under shelter and warm. It also meant that we could move the fridge in and store the food and drinks – a handy situation when you have a crowd coming along.

Thanks to everyone that came along and caught up with us. We had neighbours, friends from Meg’s work, heaps of friends from Adelaide, Clare and around the place, family from Adelaide and Clare and more.

We even had our adopted dog, Xara for the weekend. Xara comes over from the winery when the mood hits, and having another pup from Adelaide to visit seemed just the thing. The two of them played for ages, keeping us entertained as they roared around and wore themselves out.

Lunch on Saturday turned into dinner, drinks and bonfire on Saturday night, followed by breakfast for the fifteen or so that stayed, then another lunch and afternoon snack.

It was pretty relaxed on Sunday with a wander through the property and some wildlife spotting leading to more sitting around the fire.

I was really happy with the way things went. The toilet remains intact, despite the best efforts of my mates! The barbie didn’t run out of gas. The drinks were cold (even if they weren’t in the fridge) and the weather was perfect. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and it looks like this will be the first of many casual weekends of friends enjoying our Journey.

It must have been about five in the afternoon when the last group packed up on Sunday and Meg, Raph and I retired to the shed. I think the eyes were closing in front of the box a couple of hours later when Raph headed for the tent.

Meg and I weren’t much later.