New year, new house, new adventures.

New year's eve was the perfect time to spend our first night at the new place. We don't have much furniture there but with a sofa bed and a picnic table what more did we need for a perfect new year's eve away from people and from the homemade fireworks that seem to go off all night in town. So we got out the cheeseboard that Emery carted round Tassie and then couldn't take home and sat looking at the sunset while Indy continued to explore her new digs.

No new years resolutions made here, just a clinking of glasses to celebrate how fortunate we are to have good health, a great place to live, and friends and family to share our journeys with. So as the new year begins we look forward to whatever lies ahead!

 Our morning view

Indy surveying life from her bed

Good friends and good times.

Work on the farm continues at a cracking pace. Rohan rolls out of bed early each day, unfolding his limbs and easing his feet into his workboots as he heads out to continue cleaning up the yard and the wood/tin from our demolitions. He's also been doing some tree trimming, including the chestnut tree at the back of the house, which has been trimmed a bit so that we have a better view of the mountain from the dining room window. There are a couple of other chestnut trees, so we can still have some to roast!

On Sunday my friends Kim and Jem came to visit Innisfree and it was great to have them at the farm. As the year draws to a close I'm grateful for good friends and both Kimbo and Jems have made me laugh many times this year, including at my birthday dinner with them and Tan, where I went home with a sore stomach from laughing so much. Jems was channeling Annabel Crabb and turned up with afternoon tea ready to assemble, may it be the first of many visits from them!

Monday morning Rohan and I did a bit more exploring in the sheds, looking for ways we can recycle and use some of the things lying around. In particular, I'm thinking of desks for both my inside and outside study (yep, such an academic I need two rooms for working!). We were checking out this bench in the machinery shed, which is currently covered with tin but which has some lovely looking hardwood planks under the tin cover- could be time for a bit of a makeover as a desk? With the old Remington typewriter Dave gave me for Christmas it could be a perfect addition to one study.

Dave and Jeff came down from Trentham for the day to help out and did some more painting inside. Dave has nearly painted all the rooms, and the paint colour has really transformed the interior of the house. While they worked inside, I did some packing back at the old house and then took to the outside room with the spray gun, putting an initial coat of white primer over the blue walls. This will be the outside study/ library/ gym/ extra spare room and while we can't do much about the blue tiles on the floor at this point, we can make it less blue by whitewashing the walls! From inside this room you have an excellent view of the orchard where the sheep were still eating themselves happily through the grass. They were happy to eyeball me through the flyscreen!

So as 2013 draws to a close, I'm grateful for good friends and for the good times that have already occurred at Innisfree - I'm sure that there will be more to come :)

New residents, demolition and painting

A busy couple of days on the farm. We had a relaxed and low key Christmas in Warrnambool strolling along the beach in the morning in the brilliant sunshine and eating multiple helpings of  mum's amazing pudding.

Mum with her pudding recipe.

We headed home so that we could get prepared for Dave, Lily and Woody who were coming up to help out with some tasks around the house. So on Boxing Day it was off to Masters to get some paint made up. We'd decided on 'Chalkdust' as a colour,which basically just means white, but a white that hopefully would make the most of the natural light and give a lift to the internal walls that are almost a railway yellow colour, and a colour name that has a link to our teaching lives! Back at the farm, I jumped on the ride-on for my first spin. I was tentative at first, with Rohan telling me his dad said it's just like driving a tank. Information that wasn't going to be particularly helpful to me! In no time, I was obsessed with the mower and took to the paddocks. There's something quite peaceful about mowing your way through the rows of olive trees with the view of Mount Warrenheip in the background and I could have easily stayed out there for longer than the two hours I was zooming along.

If you come to visit and I'm not around just head towards the sound of mowing, and bring me a drink - I might be thirsty. Mowing was not all smooth sailing however, as the previous owner has at one stage ploughed the paddocks with a tractor leaving some bumpy stretches where my bum flies slightly off the seat and causes the mower to sputter and cough as the safety switch kicks in.


Friday we were up early and ready for a day of painting and cleaning. We got to work with Woody taking to the roof to clean the gutters and spouts of leaf litter and gunk. Inside Dave and Lily were beginning to paint our bedroom while Rohan and I bunked off, heading back into town to grab things we'd forgotten, and I made a quick trip to Bunnings. I'm still not sure of what a double male hose adapter looks like, seeing as I bought two females, convinced that they looked like the dummy ending Rohan had described to me. Maybe next time I'll get it right! It's moments like these I'm glad we're only 10k out of town as it makes being forgetful easier to live with.

 Lily taking the mower for a spin and Woody cleaning up the gutters.

Meanwhile back at the ranch things were progressing well. Masking tape in hand I began taping the floor around the skirting boards, with Dave having seen my painting before knowing that I have more runs than Bradman and usually end up with more paint on me than on the walls. Lily and Dave did an amazing job, finishing off the bedroom, the lounge and making good progress on the open kitchen area.

Outside moves were afoot to open up the house. When we arrived there was a dingy carport at one end, a strange little lean to shed at the other and around the back, a sunroom that was more like a sauna and a breeding ground for all manner of spiders, including some large, chunky and terrifying redbacks. Life on the land is terrifying and I feel like an English tourist terrified that each bug I see is going to kill me. Still, if it is going to happen let it be today when Woody the paramedic is here! Dave, Rohan and Woody took to the sheds and the sunroom, and the difference was instantly recognisable.

There's still a bit of cleaning up to do around each of these areas and some painting of the posts, but it is looking so much better.

 Dingy carport before

The side of the house with the carport gone.

 The dodgy side shed.

With the tin gone from the side shed.

 The closed in sunroom

Sunroom opened up. 


On Saturday we set about cleaning up all the tin, wood and laser light from the sheds and sunroom, putting it all in a shed down the back henceforth known as Masters supply on Kiely's.

While we did this Dave the painting machine continued his painting bonanza. Nam arrived at about 11 with our new residents, the three sheep, informally named, Lambchop, Roast and Cutlet. The sheep headed into the orchard where the grass is long and spent all day happily munching their way around. We discovered an existing resident today when Rohan came across a snake near the water trough - I think the snake was more surprised to see that people have moved back to the farm- although I'm hoping I don't come across one anytime soon!

So things are coming along at a cracking pace, thanks to the family who have volunteered their time to help us out. With the changes to the sunroom in particular I'm really looking forward to sitting out the back watching the sun set at the end of the day!

 Sheep waiting to enter their new home!

 Happy as larry in the orchard!

Farmer Quach comes to visit

We had our next visitor to Innisfree with Farmer Quach (otherwise known as Nam-Ha) dropping in for a visit yesterday. I turned up to see him and Rohan clad in matching pants and surveying the back paddocks. Michael and Jenny, our neighbours, drove down to the boundary fence with Michael saying he can come in and round bale our paddock as we had been asking at the Christmas party about who might be able to do it. He's done it before for the previous owners, so we figured he would be a perfect person to get in to do it before it gets any longer and before the weather gets any hotter!

After they headed off, Nam-Ha suggested we go check out the boundary fences and our back paddocks in his 4WD ute. While Rohan and Nam-Ha leapt out to open fences, I stayed within the safety of the ute - I wasn't testing my short boots with that grass!

We piled into the cab together and set out through the bumpy paddocks, discovering dams, gorse that will need to be ripped out and the remnants of the lake that existed in the back corner of our land. When I chose 'Lake Isle of Innisfree' as a poem to guide the name of the property I was figuring it was a stretch to say the dams were lake, but it turns out we did have a lake at some point and so the name becomes even more apt!

Thanks Quachey for the adventure - it was nice to actually get to all corners of our patch of earth!

Getting to know the new place

After a final week of stress as banks and lawyers were having difficulty talking to each other, lawyers were closing for the Christmas period and I was picturing not getting our house until everything re-opened in January, our settlement finally went through on Friday at 4.45 and we had the keys in our hand just after 5pm, just in time for the lawyers to close for the festive period.


We trundled straight out to the property to see how much work was waiting for us. The grass was overgrown close to the house and Rohan had seen that on his pre-settlement inspection, meaning that we took a trip to the local mower place to buy a more heavy duty ride-on, figuring that his little greenfield in the shed wouldn't quite cut it (pardon the pun). The first couple of days have been spent in a haze of grass cutting, whipper snipping and cleaning up inside ready for painting the yellowy walls and grey skirtings a crispy white.

We welcomed our first visitors on Saturday with Dave and Jane coming up to check out the new digs, and then Terry, Liz, Laura and Thomas came out on Sunday to have a look as well. It's great to have family coming over straight away and we look forward to having family and friends here a lot. We don't want the redback spiders that were visiting in the back sunroom/greenhouse and so we have killed them off (sorry spiders) and are planning opening up that section to be an open verandah area rather than a closed in hot house that is perfect for redback living! The patch of dirt in the corner where tomatoes were growing well in the greenhouse environment will be perfect for some kitchen herbs within easy access. So far we've discovered chestnut, peach, cherry, lemon, apple, mulberry and fig trees around the house and in the orchard and we're keen to see what else we discover! I think there may be a pear tree or two lurking as well. I've become at one with my new workboots and had my first spin on the ride-on when Rohan bogged it yesterday and we had to take the ute down to the back paddock to drag it out!

Last night we went to the local community hall for the Christmas Party and to meet our new neighbours and community. Everyone was friendly, welcoming and assured us what a great place it is to live. Our next door neighbour, Michael joked about the size of the snakes and also figures that the sandy deposits in the back corners of his and our paddocks are remnants from a lake hundreds of years ago.

Already there is something beautifully peaceful about driving out the road from town, turning at the bluestone bridge and heading up the road to our place. The view from the kitchen window with Mount Buninyong in the distance will improve the experience of washing the dishes I'm sure! As I sat out the front yesterday just gazing at the view, rosellas flittered past and into the trees in front of me and the wind whispered through the pines. So life at Innisfree is good, there's lots to be done, but when we look out at the views surrounding us, almost anything seems possible!

 View from our bedroom.

 Our first visitors!

 Learning how to ride the mower

 Dave enjoying taking it for a spin :)

Getting the mower out of the bog!

 Figs in the orchard

 This is one of my fave views

 Farm life may be sending us mad!

 More fruit trees in the orchard.

Rohan surveying his paddocks and then getting geared up to
do some clean up.

 Happy farmers! Merry Christmas from us to you :)

Welcome to Innisfree

Finally! Contracts are signed, finance is approved and so come the 19th of December we will taking ownership of our 38 acres of green patch of earth.

Moving to somewhere which has been known in the past as "Little Ireland" and living on a road with the good Irish name of "Kiely's" means that we have had to do some thinking about what we want to name our property. After a bit of thinking and a bit of searching, we've decided to stick with the Irish theme and we're calling our bit of land "Innisfree" after the William Butler Yeats poem the "Lake Isle of Innisfree".  I like the idea that he wrote this about a paradise, a utopia, where it is imagined that it is green all year round and the land will provide all that one needs. We may not have a lake but I'm hoping that we will have some peace there!
Here's the poem if you're not familiar with it:

Lake Isle of Innisfree

I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made;
Nine bean rows will I have there, a hive for the honey bee,
And live alone in the bee loud glade.

And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;
There midnight's all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet's wings.

I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,
I hear it in the deep heart's core.
                     - W.B. Yeats


Now we need to swing into full packing and organisation mode as we think about moving and saying goodbye to Bond Street. So many good memories are held in this house, including our surprise wedding! But almost 10 years after that wedding it seems like a nice bit of symmetry to embark on a new adventure and move into a new home.

We're looking forward to having you all part of it!

Waiting to move to 'Little Ireland'

Yesterday spring arrived with sunshine, increased pollen count and a slight breeze. Spring appears to have gone already as I sit on the couch this morning, and knowing that this was likely to occur, Rohan and I took the chance yesterday to jump on the bike and head out towards what will hopefully be our new 'hood.

First stop was Mount Buninyong where we wound our way up towards the top of the mountain to survey the vast expanses of land before us.

Looking out towards Mount Warrenheip we tried to pick out the organic farm who will hopefully be our neighbours and the row of pine trees that signify what will hopefully be our own little patch of dirt. I keep saying 'hopefully' as we still haven't signed those pesky contracts yet, although the agent is still convinced that the sale is going ahead as planned and that the vendors are happy with the slight tweaks to the contract. So all being well, come mid-December we will be able to stroll through the gates of the new place.









 Rohan enjoying the view!




Back down at ground level, we zoomed around back roads (finding a shortcut to uni that is only about 5 mins drive - no more tackling main road traffic for me if this goes ahead!). We pulled up at the site of the old Navigators Railway station, just near the turn-off with the beautiful old bluestone bridge where we could learn a bit more about the (hopefully!) new 'hood. I was delighted to see that so many Irish people had been attracted to this area that it was called 'Little Ireland'. See - I knew there was a reason I wanted to come live here!

The bridge itself is very cute and from our journey yesterday we discovered that it was built in 1860 - a nice landmark on the road to our (hopefully) new place!

All this thinking of Ireland has got me coming up with names for the new pad - I've got one in mind, but I might wait until the ink is dry on contracts before I reveal that. In the meantime - fingers crossed!

A new adventure

We've always flirted with the notion of property and some space to call our own. Last weekend, we went about our normal routine - a weekend run, a walk with the dog, a leisurely reading of the papers with a cup of tea. In the real estate section, we stumbled across a property not far from town that looked picturesque. Having just missed the open house, we randomly googled to see what else was available in that area and stumbled across a little hobby farm of 38 acres, with a house and an established olive grove.

Ideas began to form. Dreams began to filter into reality. Should we do this? Could we do this? Would we do this?

By Tuesday we had arranged a time to go and see the property. I emailed a friend saying 'check out this property we're going to look at' - she emailed back saying she had driven past it a few days earlier and thought it was cute. My brother rang to say 'thanks for finding me a property'. 'It's mine', I squealed in response. Tuesday night I could barely sleep, picturing how I might be able to construct a life on 38 acres.

Wednesday afternoon saw Rohan, David and I assembled at the property ready to check it out. During the day at work, I'd joked about the writing I could do in the midst of rural serenity - academic writing would go on overload I was sure. I wandered into the house and it seemed smaller and grubbier than the ad on the internet - and yet in my head I was already picturing how I could lighten it, how we could bag the brick walls, freshen the inside and take advantage of the views outside the windows. The land seemed bigger and more beautiful than I had imagined. Shut in the bedroom away from the ears of the agent we whispered, 'will we do this?'

Soon, it was done. An offer was made and less than 24 hours later, the agent rang. The house and land would be ours if we wanted it. Everything sped up. Finance meetings, meetings with lawyers, accountants. Hurried conversations where dreams bloomed and grew.

Right at this moment, the possibilities seem to unfold onto and into each other. On Monday we meet our lawyer to go over the contracts and already I'm praying nothing goes wrong. 

In the meantime we hatch plans, olive oil, microbrewery, woodfired pizza oven, lazy lunches at an outside table, a giant chess board, a golf hole and a rustic refurbished barn. Once we sign the contract the dream will be a bit closer and then you're all invited to pick olives!