Retail therapy ...

The beautiful spring weather of the last few weeks disappeared on Friday and the Huon was battered by high winds and pelting rain. By late afternoon the ground was sodden and our spirits were at a low ebb given that we had been stuck inside all day and the forecast for the weekend was pretty dire. Then around 4:30 in in the afternoon, one of the storm water pipes around the side of the house ruptured. Two very bedraggled ex-city dwellers were then seen stomping around in knee deep mud tying to stem the flow of water pouring out on the ground instead of going into the water tank which is our only supply. After only a modicum of marital disharmony, we managed to cap one of the pipes and divert the flow from another away from the footings of the cottage. Unfortunately our repairs have not been sufficient to restore the flow of the water to the tank which made us reflect on the futility of our efforts.

Saturday wasn’t much better. We did manage to get over to Cygnet, a nearby town famous for its alternative lifestyle, to their market, but weren’t particularly impressed with any of the produce on display. An enforced spell in front of the fire in a disgruntled mood can be a dangerous precursor to something profligate and so it transpired. 

We both spent much of this down time researching very expensive trees we would like to see planted at Cracroft Farm and I am sure you can anticipate what happened next. Off we went to a local nursery outside Huonville and returned with an very beautiful but equally expensive magnolia tree. I shuddered inwardly at what Sunday was going to bring. 

The weather was much like the previous two days with the addition of a light dusting of snow on the surrounding mountains, which made the wind extremely chilly. For the first time since the Covid crisis began, our local hamlet of Franklin was holding its monthly market and despite the inclement weather we felt obliged to attend. It was delightful. We stopped and chatted to a local who knew all about us despite the fact we had never met before – one of the joys of living in a small community. He insisted we have a book of his photos of the Huon Valley as a welcome present. I sensed that the day might actually pass without misadventure.

But then Cath saw the silver birch saplings and it was all over. They were obviously grown from seed and were only a few inches high but the typical birch leaves were already prominent. We bought 3. But this only stoked Cath’s fire and we were off to the local garden store in Huonville to check out ornamental pear and crab apple trees. A leisurely perambulation around the store was followed by a drive out to the nursery where we had found the magnolia. We entered with high hopes and exited, significantly poorer, with 4 ornamental pears and 1 flowering Japanese crab apple tree (shown in the photo). So by my count that made it 9 trees for the weekend! 

Somehow the stack of trees on the front deck has soothed the irritability of confinement as well as the anxiety of the plumbing problem. Then late this afternoon we noticed that the Japanese flowering cherry we planted about three weeks ago has shown its first blossom. Suddenly the week ahead seems full of opportunity …