The Franklin Quilt

Some very clever Franklin folk made this:

It shows 24 of Franklin's historic buildings along the main road, each unique and instantly recognisable. The finished work was presented to the Franklin Progress Association and now hangs in the front room of the Palais Theatre. You can view it on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays when the Franklin Collective is open - and pick up some great local produce at the same time.

The battle for the fruit trees

This year's battle with the possums has begun. Two of my apple trees have not yet started growing again after the savage "pruning" they received last year from these cute but pesky critters, who ate every last leaf. Our silver birches were all broken off at the top and now sport a plastic band in the hope of making it harder to climb them. So far so good on that front... The plums, cherries and peach planted last year had only a few blossoms but lovely healthy leaf growth so far. If only the possums would eat something else. Apparently they don't like pear trees, the only ones spared in last year's feast. The pear blossoms are so pretty, and the bees love them - see if you can spot them in two of the pictures below. This year I planted two new trees, a medlar and a quince.

Home grown

We've enjoyed gifts of produce from several friends' gardens before, including raspberries, silverbeet, kale, zucchini, tomatoes, but this was a first - home grown mushrooms! Absolutely beautiful they were too.

In heaven there is no beer

In heaven there is no beer
That's why we drink it here
And when we're gone from here
Our friends will be drinking all the beer*

Our annual Oktoberfest is over. It's become something of a tradition for us, first in Sydney and now here in our "beer hall" (shed) in Tasmania. The real deal in Munich actually happens in September, but weekends in late September in Tasmania are reserved for football apparently. It's Grand Final season you see. So we hold ours in October.

This year we were excited to procure pretzels baked by a local Franklin woman, Sip Visser of Grey Hen Bakery. They were absolutely delicious. We had pork and beef bratwurst (proper German sausages, not what is passed off as bratwurst in most butchers) from Silverhill in Cygnet. Sauerkraut using a recipe told to me by a Bavarian butcher in Sydney. Cucumber salad, fried potatoes, mustards, Glühwein, my favourite apricot streusel cake that uses quark in the pastry (can't wait to be sourcing that from Elgaar Farm in Tasmania again once they re-open) and of course plenty of (imported) German beer. Oktoberfest music, dress ups and decorations. Our fellow Teutophile friends came down from Sydney for the weekend and kindly stayed to help clear up afterwards. The weather was beautiful, sunny and mild - unlike last time we held it, when snow flakes drifted onto the barbecue as the sausages cooked and we spent the afternoon huddled around the fire barrel. I'm sure our Tassie Oktoberfest would horrify many Germans, but we love it. It's a wonderful way to catch up with friends while enjoying many of my favourite foods.

*For a lovely old German version of this song, see here. Prost!

Model trains at Hartzview

We often take visitors to Hartzview Vineyard, in Gardners Bay, only a short drive from Cygnet. They make some delicious fortified wines and liqueurs, the best (in my view) being a honey mead, served in a slightly warmed glass. The cassis is lovely as well. The vineyard is in such a pretty location, on a hill with - as the name tells you - a perfect view of the Hartz Mountains. They also have a collection of old pickers huts on the property that you can take a look through. And a very friendly cat.

David found out a while ago from owner Anthea that there is a shed containing her husband Rob's model trains on the property. He's been trying to gain access ever since. In fact there are two sheds, each containing a couple of different layouts. A few weeks ago, we read in the local paper that they would be opening the sheds and running the trains to raise money for the Salvation Army's Red Shield Appeal. What a great fundraising idea. Apparently they had so many people on one day last year that they opened for two days this year. We arrived bright and early, just as the volunteers who would be running the trains arrived, and were treated to a personal tour of one of the sheds. It's quite a collection.

If you're a Huon local, keep an eye out on the local paper and classifieds to find out about next year's model train expo fundraiser.

Defrosting

As I write, it's warm and sunny. We've had three days of T-shirt weather. The welcome swallows are back again for the summer and swooping around, with their distinctive chirping. Bright yellow daffodils have popped up in the front paddock. We've been out in the garden on the weekend, digging, planting, weeding, watering, relocating raised garden beds. It's light enough to be outside at 6pm. The tomato and basil seedlings have popped up in their warm, indoor pots. Soggy patches of ground have dried up. The strong scent of wattle fills the air. Tiny buds have appeared on the fruit trees. Sebastian the rooster has a spring in his step and a look in his eye as he chases the ladies around the place. With our windows open, cheerful bird and frog noises float in. I know the warm days won't last (I'm not about to plant the potatoes yet), but for now, isn't spring wonderful?

A bird's eye view

Our neighbours are fantastic property photographers and run the Tasmanian franchise of Open2View, a nationwide real estate photography and marketing network. Shortly after we moved here, they acquired a telescopic pole on a trailer that they would tow to client properties to take elevated shots of the property. Now, technology has moved on and it's all about drones. The photos they can take are amazing. During last week's snow, our neighbours drove past our home just as the sun came out and flew the drone to take some photos for us. How nice is that! I just love the photos.