Author: Paul_McGaughey

We both finally got our second dose of  the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine, so we are now fully vaccinated and even have a nice digital certificate saying just that.  I don’t really know how useful that is since it brings no special privileges here, but at least we are now about...

It’s the 21’s of June here, Winter Solstice, our second in Tasmania. It will take another month or more but we will start to notice the longer days and hopefully more sunshine, although they are forecasting a wet winter. I did a check on our electricity usage, and the prediction...

​We had just over an inch, 28 mm overnight Tuesday, enough to fill up the pond for a couple of days anyway. The big plastic tank by the shed is also full again, says it is 14,100 litres, about 3,725 U.S. gallons. I managed to get the entire property mowed...

I’ve finally come up with an interim plan for the vegetable garden after a lot of discussion and throwing a lot of crazy ideas around.The first step is to raise the surrounding barrier another 90 cm using some treated fence railing, and then attach a panel of chicken wire above...

We are finally getting some cooler weather here, and it’s nice to be able to work outdoors for a while without getting too hot. I’ve been rotating around doing a few different chores that need doing. Sometimes in the mornings when it’s coldest I like to have a bash at...

We are back on standard time here, Australian Eastern Standard Time. I had originally thought we might just leave the alarm clock set on what it was before, but there is just too much light, so we will start getting up half an hour earlier for the next few months....

Another birthday has arrived, and it has been going pretty well so far. I still don’t feel any different, but I suppose it will eventually sink in. To treat myself I bought a new “utility” lawn mower and also a pull behind garden cart, and Eva got me some more...

My brother and sister-in-law made it over to Tasmania from Victoria, no lockdowns or border closures. They had paid for some cheap flights a while back and there was some concern whether they would be able to even use them. Her sister and brother-in-law also came and they shared expenses...

We have been having very pleasant late summer weather here, even had a couple of warmer days where it got into the low 30’s C. Lots of sunshine, refreshing breezes, birds singing, etc.  We see that there have been over 500,000 deaths from Covid-19 in the U.S., but the actual...

 They say they have managed to secure another10 million doses of the Pfizer jab here, as well as the 50 million doses of AstraZeneca. For some reason they didn’t organise any of the Moderna vaccine here. The big announcement from the federal government is that the vaccinations will start the...

They are still saying mid February here before they start vaccinating the frontline workers, aged care staff and residents, etc. with the Pfizer vaccine, the rest of us with the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine in March, but things are very much under control anyway. Tasmania is now 35 days without any cases...

Hooray, we made it to 2021!We had a fairly quiet night in, watched some British comedies on TV, then went out and watched the kangaroos and wallabies for a bit. The nearest fireworks were up the river at Riverside, but we couldn’t see anything from our place.​We had a warm,...

Summer solstice here in Tasmania, it’s starting off sunny but we may get some clouds later and miss out on seeing the “great conjunction” tonight. I’m still hoping for a clear night. The solar panels are still churning out the kWs, we have had a couple cloudy days with only...

We finally made it, we have been back in Tasmania for a year now, and a very eventful year it’s been. This time last year we were staying at a holiday rental in Launceston waiting for them to get the title so we could settle on the property. A few...

Eva always likes to do a little something for Thanksgiving, even though the only place it’s an official celebration here is on Norfolk Island. We had a frozen 3 kg turkey thawing in the fridge for the last couple of days and I cooked it on the BBQ in a...

We now have 10 stage 3 Covid-19 vaccines that are either awaiting approval or have been approved for emergency/limited use in their countries of origin, e.g. Sinovac, Sputnik V, plus another 3 that are still doing concurrent Stage2/Stage 3 trials.Three that have recently released Stage 3 results and are awaiting...

Firstly, fantastic news that the U.S. has dumped the bat shit crazy loser, Trump. Now how to re-engage with the 48% of voters who thought it would be a good idea to give this idiot another 4 years to wreak havoc. Secondly, the death toll in the U.S. continues to...

Not really the place for tick or treaters here, semi rural, 2 -3 acre properties with farm gates at the entry to long driveways. Neither of us figured anyone would come through our gate unannounced, and we were right, so a quiet night or us at least. The cats are...

The retaining wall is basically finished, and the first section of the garden screen is up. I may put up the rest of the vertical posts this week and then continue with the screening on the other side. I decided against using the expensive Ekodeck or Modboard product, instead going...

Finally getting some warmer weather here, although it has been quite windy. The work on the retaining wall is progressing slowly, but I finally made it to the final corner post. I have a little work to do on that end and then I can start on the upright posts...