Celebrating Stray-ya Day

Today is, of course, Australia Day, and some of our Aussie icons were prominent- quite a few Eastern Grey kangaroos feeding on our front ‘lawn’ and hopping off in classic style when disturbed, and some colourful green and gold plants in the garden.  It is, however, raining steadily now, and many Celebrations have been washed out.  It’s been as dry as chips all month, and record hot temperatures, but now we have some very welcome rain.

My main celebratory feeling today is that, with another month coming to a close, I have now ‘finished’ the work I set out to do in this time.  I have been working really hard to establish the bushfire-safe clear zone around our cottage and am very, very, pleased with the progress.  It is not yet finished, but will be by the end of March, which is our deadline.  Working towards the completion of a defined task is satisfying in itself, however as I progress I am finding some very attractive bushy areas which previously were unusable scrub, and which ultimately will be part of our bushland garden.  So the work has progressed way beyond merely complying with a local-government regulation, to developing our place in ways that we had always hoped for and envisaged.

Of course I am still itching to get more involved in the ‘train’ side of Whistlestop, but with the end of this clearing in sight I am getting very excited about focusing on all things ‘train’ again.  I finished all the routine mowing and maintenance of Whistlestop the other day, and it is looking really, really, good, despite the dry conditions.  As I work around the property I see many small jobs which won’t take too long to do, but will improve the look of the place immensely, which I’m looking forward to tackling soon.

On the toy-train front, my O gauge F7 set arrived the other day and is absolutely superb!!  So now the F7 collection is complete and ready to be displayed when space is available.  Here is a list of the different sizes and manufacturers:-

Z-   Micro Trains

TT- Rokal

N-   Kato

HO- Athearn Genesis

S-   Showcase Line/ S-Helper

O-   MTH Premier

1-   MTH Railking garden

G-   LGB

Another item on it’s way Downunder is another Lionel Corporation landscaped plot accessory, which like most of my Standard Gauge trains is a very authentic replica of the item that Lionel produced in the 1930s.  This one is a #911 with a Red Villa.  These look great and will complement the trains very nicely, and help cover the acres of green plywood!

Good enough reasons to celebrate!!

Looking good!!

As another month draws to a close I like to reflect on what I’ve managed to achieve during my recent time home at our property, Whistlestop.  In no particular order:-

-       I cut my finger really badly, requiring three stitches.  (Don’t ask)

-       I fell sideways off a Penny Farthing bicycle in Evandale Tasmania, and didn’t break anything.

-       We had some wonderful times with family and friends, both here and elsewhere.

-       Pulled out masses of tea-tree scrub and other rubbish from near the cottage, and did umpteen trips to the Wallangarra dump.  The resulting cleared area is looking fabulous, and ripe for creating rock-gardens.

-       On Tuesday I mowed the whole top area of our block, around the cottage, and it looks absolutely fabulous!  This is the first time I’ve ever managed it completely in one day- brushcutting edges etc and push-mowing around trees included.  I find this really encouraging as it ‘proves’ that it is very do-able, and not a potential maintenance nightmare.  I’d rather be running trains, not mowing!!

-       Drank about a million glasses of fresh, cold, rainwater from our tank!!  Pulling out scrub is very sweaty work!

This is the area I've just cleared.  It doesn't look like much, but it was a huge amount of work!!

Overall, I’m finishing the month feeling very encouraged regarding my hopes and dreams for Whistlestop.  No, I’m probably no closer to building the Trainbarn or Miniature Railway- I had hoped to have the Trainbarn built by now- but an important part of what I want to do here is to create an attractive bushland environment  as a ‘backdrop’ for all the train things, and I can certainly see that aspect coming together well.  Yes, there’s a lot more to do, (a LOT more!!) but it’s really happening.  And, I’m really enjoying it.