Lavender Cheese

Called into Ashgrove Cheese Farm on the way home from Devonport the other day and bought some cheese - Lavender and some cloth cheese.
We visited the farm back in late February this year, and if you wish to read my post and see some photos visit the link [here]....

The first photo is of the Lavender Cheese, this piece was a mere $4.50 which I thought was a small fee to taste.  When opening the cheese it really didn't smell of lavender, the taste is different of course, but, I can say I didn't taste the lavender flavour.  The cheese had a bit of a bite with it, but I don't believe I will buy it again.

Photos taken with my phone. Sorry the photos are a little blurred.

My husband was looking for a cloth cheese he used to eat heaps of when he was much younger, the above cheese is not the same but close to it at $41.00 a kilo.

Top End of the City.

Brisbane Street in Launceston is the main street, the top end of it is always busy.  There is no mall there but chairs and seats are on the footpath and coffee shops serve their coffee there.  To me those tables and chairs are a nuisance as you really have to watch where you are treading.  It's beyond me as to why people sit there with fumes from trucks and cars going past which taint ones smell.

This week we have had the painter painting the down pipes and under the eaves of the house.  Then a bit inside.  The ceilings are going to be painted as well this coming week or two.
New gates are to be made for each side of the front of the house, and that will do for the time being  as we await with much patience the arrival of the new caravan in late April.

These photos were taken a few years ago, I will take up to date ones shortly.

Arabella! The British Blue.

My youngest sister in law has a cat called 'Arabella' she is a British Shorthair the pedigreed version of the traditional British domestic cat, with a distinctively chunky body, dense coat and broad face.  Also my eldest daughter in law has one and her name is Chloe.  These cats are kept inside, need a lot of brushing and leave their cat hair everywhere.  A good scratching pole is a necessity for Arabella.

I used to own a few cats when first married when we lived on a farm.  When we came to the city to live, all the other cats had gone expect one which I brought to the city and he eventually died of old age.  No more cats after that.

Family Picnic.

There was a wonderful family picnic recently at Gowrie Park in North Western Tasmania.  A pretty Tasmanian bush setting with a little creek at the side of the park, mountains above.
The picnic was organized so we could all meet each other for those of us who had never met.  People came from each State of Australia, so there were many of us.  These are the people on my husbands mother's side of the family.  I had a wonderful day, we all did.

Just a few 'cousins' the remainder are to the left.

There are 3 mountains in the area, this is part of one.

O'Neills Creek.

The tables and seats provided plus provisions for a fire.

Mt. Roland, Northern Tasmania.

Mt. Roland is 1,234 meters high. 4048ft so it's not a high mountain.  Recently a well respected man and his wife from the State of Adelaide spend many weeks traveling Tasmania.  Their last journey together was on a walking track at Mt. Roland.  Her body was found not very far from the summit.  Her husband was taken into custody and charged with her murder - the remainder we wait to hear.



I have done posts on Mt. Roland before 'here' and you will see a photo from a very different angle.

A wet Autumn Day in North Western Tasmania.

We went to Devonport yesterday and it rained all the way and most of the way home., it's welcome, the rain.

Had lunch at an Eatery across from the Mersey River, a great meal and even sweets, oh I'm naughty....but I won't go into that.

My dads Plaque was being put in place when we arrived at the cemetery at long last. First the death date was incorrect, then a word was spelt incorrectly but all fixed now. His is a leaf of a page that is now placed beside my mums.  So that is final and over and done with.  The plaques are made in Melbourne.

Not far from Devonport we stopped for a rest as I saw a Horse Chestnut tree was changing it's colour.  It was raining so I didn't get out of the vehicle.
Here in Tasmania there is not a lot autumn colour in our trees.

Opposite to where we had lunch - The Spirit of Tasmania is docked and will turn around in the river to sail to Melbourne in the evening.

Just up the road is Neptune where the Mersey River meets Bass Strait.

The Horse Chestmut at a rest stop not far from Devonport.

Tamar River, Launceston, Tasmania.

The Tamar River is a 70-kilometre (43-mile) estuary which eventually flows into Bass Strait in Northern Tasmania.  It's a muddy colour river at times in some places but the blue sky makes it appear bluer than it is.
This River mostly faces north so it's either early in the morning or early evening that one can capture a decent photo without the sun being in the way.  We always like to be home at that time, lucky for me the day this was taken we were late.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

St. Patrick's Day is celebrated in many areas of Tasmania due to so many past and present immigrants from Ireland including many of my ancestors at the time of the potato famine in Ireland.

Little is known of Patrick's early life, though it is known that he was born in Roman Britain in the fourth century, into a wealthy Romano-British family. His father was a deacon and his grandfather was a priest in the Christian church. At the age of sixteen, he was kidnapped by Irish raiders and taken captive to Ireland as a slave.  It is believed he was held somewhere on the west coast of Ireland, possibly Mayo, but the exact location is unknown. According to his Confession, he was told by God in a dream to flee from captivity to the coast, where he would board a ship and return to Britain. Upon returning, he quickly joined the Church in Auxerre in Gaul and studied to become a priest.

According to legend, Saint Patrick used the three-leaved shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity to Irish pagans.
In 432, he again said that he was called back to Ireland, though as a bishop, to Christianize the Irish from their native polytheism. Irish folklore tells that one of his teaching methods included using the shamrock to explain the Christian doctrine of the Trinity to the Irish people. After nearly thirty years of evangelism, he died on 17 March 461, and according to tradition, was buried at Downpatrick. Although there were other more successful missions to Ireland from Rome, Patrick endured as the principal champion of Irish Christianity and is held in esteem in the Irish church.

Just a little something I made that happens to be of Irish Origin.

The Girls

Miss 8 and Miss 6 go to swimming lessons each week early in the evening.  The pool is just down the road, about 5 minutes from home and their school.
Sometimes my husband and I take them which is great for us for when they lived in Queensland we missed out on attending their activities.
Also I am teaching Miss 8 a bit of Ballet, just a few basics.
Interesting, for I have danced on the oldest stage in Tasmania, being a Signet in Swan Lake when I was very young.

Photos taken with my phone and the last two are zoomed in.

 

Miss 8 standing, Miss 6 fixing her cap.

Miss 6 doing her thing.

On top of Mt. Wellington, Tasmania, Australia

It's always a nice feeling to be on top of a mountain, and Mt. Wellington is in southern area of Tasmania  with Hobart our Capital city at the foot of it's hills.
The mountain can be seen from many points and areas around Hobart.  I was very lucky to be up there on such a clear day to capture these photos.

Mt. Wellington is 1,271m high was first climb in 1798.

The Pinnacle

Launceston, Tasmania, Australia

Went into our small city so took a few photos whilst shopping for a new cutlery set.  We bought a 56 piece and 42 set of the same kind.  We had two settings we are going to give away to a charity, then it was discovered that we had 3 more large settings in the garage which came from my late dads.  Forgot about them! Will keep one set for the new Caravan when it arrives hopefully next month.

Launceston College.  In my view not a nice building to look at, it just about takes up a whole city block.  There are much nicer buildings than the ones I am showing here. I will take a photo of them eventually.

Myer a well known department store.

A bit of Art Deco

The above Pizza shop was once a Service Station, then a clothing establishment.

A shoe shop.

A mess!  Apparently here is going to be a nice new supermarket as if we need another.

A street opposite a shoe store.

The RSL which used to be the Public Works Department.

As it says, anything you wish to buy pertaining to a horse.

Pieman River, Tasmania, Australia.

On a calm sunny day the Pieman River is beautiful with reflections in the water.  The river goes out to the Great Southern Ocean on the West Coast of Tasmania.

My husband took two of his male friends on a trip there several years ago.  I gave him my little camera to take a photo or two.  Husband came back unbroken, but the camera wore out on the way :)
Back then we had a caravan and it's where they slept in Parks.

We sold the Caravan at the end of 2008 or early 2009 because I was looking after my late father.  In April this year we are buying another new one, and at the present we hope it's being made.
So with a new Caravan coming we are thinking about where we will visit in Tasmania and the remainder of Australia in our Winter.
We have traveled Australian States and Territories many times, both with the Caravan, and by car staying in Motels along the way.


 

Few things at Deloraine, Tasmania, Australia

Took a photo of a few people by the Meander River, I was some distance away and I do believe they knew what I was doing :)  It's difficult to take people's photos sometimes, and I don't blame them for turning away..

The hotel was established in 1848, the Meander River is opposite. 

  

Not sure what the above represents.

The Windows!

Has been fun this week with the new windows and fly screen doors put in the house.  The windows are double glazed and tinted.  All is looking good and the cleaning is still going on.
In the middle of this my hairdresser came as she has gone mobile.  The rent in the salon she had went up over half.  In April she marries and she and her future husband a building a house.
It seems strange having a hairdresser come to my home, but it was lovely.  The men putting in the windows were tormenting the life out of me :)  At least for them it was a site they probably had not seen, me with foils in my hair.

 The finished product and part of the new windows which of course were not complete.

 The guest room window but no glass in the middle.

What I call the Girls room (grandchildren) with no glass in the middle panel.  Interesting how one can't see inside, only the reflection of me and two of the men.

 Getting ready to put the window in the guest room

The windows and screen doors before most of them were taken off.

The colour of the windows are Monument the same colour as the new spouting.