The Three Cliffs

This is one of the views from our back verandah up to the Billen Cliffs. There are three cliffs: on the left is Cliff Richard, the middle is Cliff Face and the far right is Montgomery Clifft.

Changes starting to happen

We dug out the garden at the front of the house last week, transplanted the natives we wanted to keep and then had about 5metres of soil brought in from a Lismore landscaping business together with about 10 metres of cypress pine mulch (supposed to be least susceptible to termites). We shaped and sculptured the soil into some mounds, covered with mulch and have started planting grass trees, cycads and other natives. Oh and as you can see we have removed that steel archway structure and those awful awnings.

Taking out the garbage

We hired a big skip from Richmond Valley Waste and started filling it.... an old sofa that had been left here, the remains of the kitchen we pulled out, old shelving from one of the cellars and some door framing and what not. Quite a lot of what not to tell you the truth. But, as you can see, if you ever want something neatly packed, Steve is your man!

Our first snake

Steve found our first snake today. It was a lovely small eyed snake which was minding its own business under some old carpet I had put down months ago to kill some grass. I let it go in our new rainforest garden at the front gate. We saw 'our' wedgetailed eagles for the first time in a couple of months as well yesterday...they were soaring above us with their new fledgeling. They nest in the Jiggi Valley which is the next valley over from us.

We've had a very busy day today, trying to get the place looking OK before friends start ariving just after xmas. We started the day as we usually start our Saturdays by going to the farmers' market in Kyogle. A very glamorous Mrs Claus was sitting on her throne amongst the veges. I wish that I had taken our camera!

Hmmm, don't know why that pic is so small..anyway, we seem to be in channel-billed cuckoo country at the moment...these large cuckoos with their large curved bills fly down from New Guinea in late spring and lay their eggs, like other cuckoos, in other birds' nests. Can you imagine the fright from some smalllish bird when junior starts to develop into something like this! They have taken to calling their gargling strangulated calls from around 5am lately...then the kookaburras joined them followed by maggies and currawongs...the dawn chorus around here is way more orchestral or operatic!

Channon Craft Markets

Had an excellent, if hot, morning on Sunday at the Channon Craft Markets. The Channon is about 45 mins from our place, and it, along with Bangalow Markets are our fave market. Lots of really interesting stalls, lots of interesting looking people, lots of colour, lots of yummy food, trop plants and all kinds of stuff. We met up with our friends Stewart and Matt who have recently moved to Jiggi from Melbourne and trooped around with them. We bought a bunch of plants, steve bought lots of hand made soaps and we also bought some really nice locally made cushions for our day bed.

Different view of Maryville

This pic was taken before we bought the place and I took it from the half of our property that is on the other side of McGuinness Road. It shows the two 'pavillions' that make up the house. The right hand (north-facing) pavillion contains the kitchen, lounge, dining and one bedroom and the upper pavillion that faces south has the other five bedrooms (one is now a study) and the bathroom. Our water tank can be seen in the middle. The space between the two pavillions is going to be converted into a tropical wonderland complete with fish pond, heliconia, gingers and Nepenthes pitcher plants. We took off all the hideous awnings on the house at the weekend as well (you can see one in this pic).