Time flies, it’s nearly 4 years since Rake the rescue cat & I made Dunmovin our home
a lot has happened since the Fire Horse galloped in on the New Moon in February and 60 years since the last time we saw the wild free energy of the Fire Horse race in with the power of music
Dunmovin at the beginning of autumn
Brugmansia aka Angels Trumpets, the perfume at night is intoxicating
the beginning of autumn, we had such an easy summer this year with gentle rain and warm sunny days
passion fruit flower is so tropical, too cold up here for fruit but the flowers are magic
a posy from the garden
Chia is the fastest growing volunteer plant I have ever seen, it will burst into sky blue flowers soon
a ring tail possum visited one evening looking for a new home
love the prehensile tail!
this photo is of a very burnt piece of flat bread under the griller, went outside for a minute to gather some herbs & fiddled around pulling weeds for so long the kitchen didn’t evern smell of smoke… A perfect offering to the Fire Horse!
view of the Grose Valley from Horseshoe Falls, I love this mountain life!
To celebrate the Summer Solstice my friend Eva and I walked to the magic cave at dawn to give our crow feathers in gratitude to the Spirits of Place
Magic Days!
The garden is flourishing here at Dunmovin
the xmas wreath is on the front door & found Bronwyn Berman’s Xmas Banksia Pod in the box of xmas decorations
come in and have a look around!
Magpie by Irene Manion & ceramic xmas decorations by Dotti Dauter
Rake enjoys sharpening his claws on the old lounge, have a bit of patching to do before my friends arrive on Monday!
the fireplace with all its treasures and some old pop up xmas cards
Bronwyn Berman’s Whisp VI on the back deck
It’s nearly 6 months since I moved into Dunmovin and have never felt so happy and settled in my whole life. The garden is a joy & Rake makes me laugh every day with his wild ways and devilish grin.
Roderick’s music and all the good memories accompany me when I am out bushwalking, such good soul food. Have made new friends and feel very much a part of the community, I love being a Blackheathen. Best Wishes for 2024! Peace Love Hope
On the Blue Moon Rake & I scattered the rest of Roderick’s ashes around the garden, introducing his spirit to all the plants and what I plan on planting.
The mosaic winged heart nestled on the lotus chest is by my friend Liz D’Achilles né Walker. She is a busy mother, artist and nurse who had made the ball but hadn’t yet grouted it until one day it jumped off her shelf next to the envelope of Roderick’s ashes that I had sent her and landed on her toe! The ball had cracked so in the process of repair she added some of the ashes, glued it all back together, grouted it and sent it down to me.
the deck has come into it’s own since a neighbour gave me that fabulous lotus chest with the old coffee table making a perfect place to have my morning coffee and consider what I want to do next in the garden. All the home repairs are finished for now, the guttering and downpipes have all been replaced, the water tank is filling up and the gazebo is roofed with Alsynite over the shade cloth end.
For the first day of spring I planted all the key trees except the coral red Acer palmatum ‘Senkaki’ which will be available in our local nursery at the end of October
Silver birch next to the driveway in front the of the studio to make a trio with the next door neighbour’s two mature specimens on the other side of the fence.
Magnolia grandiflora Little Gem to fill in the gap in the hedge near the water tank
Old Man Banksia aka Banksia serrata is a tough and gnarly tree that will need to be as this side of the water tank faces the wild westerly winds. I am on the lookout for a big rock to protect it from the fire hose if and when it will be needed.
Hairpin Banksia aka Banksia spinulosa in the bed under the kitchen window to give the Old Man Banksia company
Fiona and Barry sent their weathergram and a peace dove for the International Day of Peace before they headed off for their cottage in Scotland
Guard Dragon & Old Man Crow from Old n Dazed with the weeping cherry in full flight
Rake enjoying the garden
the pirate cat makes me laugh every day with his wild enthusiam & it’s Spring!
the Alsynite for the roof of the gazebo arrived on Monday ready for the plumber to come back and roof the section over the shade cloth which is still in such good condition I am holding off on the patchwork of old windows idea til after summer to see how hot it gets in there!
10,000 litre water tank all connected up with a fire hose fitting, the garden tap is on the other side, will plant a Banksia serrata and Banksia spinulosa on the fence line with a tough low growing native groundcover, this side faces west so will get very hot in summer but need to keep an easy access there for the fire hose.
I joined our Community Fire Unit, the training was sobering & had me rethinking a lot of my garden plans, feel much more prepared for a hot summer. Dunmovin is two houses away from the bush to the North and one house away to the West where the ember attack came from in 2019 that burned the thatch on the roof of the gazebo.
Cecile Brunner rose planted on the corner of the gazebo with a Daphne and polyanthus, the forget me nots are wild things that spring up everywhere along with Herb Robert, spread 30 bags of organic compost on the garden last week as the soil has not been tended since 2015.
the studio is settling in well, the DeLonghi Dragon heater is a little beauty, heats the space in about 10 minutes! Only problem is I can’t get the external speakers to work with the computer… feel sure it’s an easy fix, the system preferences don’t want to recognize them, I upgraded the operating system recently so will look at the Apple help when I can be bothered, the internal speakers still work fine for now
the lounge is the next project, it’s going to be cold and windy today so I want to just stay inside and attend to Rake’s clawing continuing the collaboration that Ariel started back in 2009!
Rake loves the garden, he is allowed out during the day when I am home but comes in at night as there is a big resident ring tailed possum and this cottage is part of his territory. They checked each other out through the lounge room window on Monday, hoping they will just let it each other be.
will spread the rest of Roderick’s ashes around the garden on the next Full Moon in September
the roof caught fire from an ember attack in the 2019 bushfires, thankfully Lee my fabulous next door neighbour was home, spotted the roof burning and put it out. I will plant a climbing rose to grow over the burned rafters to honour the fire element.
the last corner, it took a few days to unbind all the thatch
the panels of thatch for the roof were imported from Bali in 2015
I learned so much in the unbinding about how to weave a thatch roof
the unbound grass still smells of smoke from the bushfire!
cut hand twined grass cordage that bound the bundles of grass
the bamboo batons are still sturdy enough to reroof in clear Alsyinite on the unburned back section to create a Victorian style conservatory & replace the shadecloth with a patchwork of old windows
the unbound thatch making a good thick layer of mulch for the Eucalyptus in the back garden
Rake enjoying the afternoon sun & overseeing my work!
Lee has done a stellar job this week in the studio, just about to shut down the computer so everything can be moved out to paint the floor & ceiling, look forward to getting all my books and art materials out of the boxes and on the shelves this weekend!
I received the whimsical Morgan’s Tarot deck circa 1970 from Tarotopia on Monday along with the beautiful gift of the Dimensions of Light card No. 20 The Unscripted Journey.
with such impeccable timing
floor to ceiling shelving is happening in the studio this week
front verandah in a state of chaos with the studio overflow, thankfully the weather is sunny!
Rake is such a brave and funny little guy, he makes me laugh every day!
discovered this ancient lizard face in the cliff down a fire trail nearby Magic Days!
Rake & I are enjoying getting to know each other here at Dunmovin!
Rake is such a confident, brave & funny little cat, he curled up and slept in his carrier all the way from the Cat Protection Society in my very kind friend Kerry’s car to Blackheath, when we arrived home he hopped out with his tail up, chirruping to explore his new digs.
the lounge room
looking out the lounge room window
kitchen table
studio with the new dragon heater which works really well
the armchair that folds out into a guest bed
hanging in the hammock in the gazebo out the back
Rake slept curled up next to me last night, we’re both loving this new life together here at Dunmovin!
It's Crow Time 