31 December 2004.


Last day for spending money, and we've only managed to spend around $50. Cleaned the car out ready to go undercover for six months, last minute junk food fixes and a few different seed packets. (after last night's nightmare that I'd run out). We've over indulged over Christmas. Not sure how many 'last' chocolates I've eaten.

Ran out of tissues, and now using those strange woven squares of fabric that you don't throw away, but wash. A few rolls of toilet paper left before we're onto luffas and telephone books.

On the lead up we've had a few mishaps. A storm knocked down half of the bananas; the dry five months meant the avocado, custard apples, olives and grapes decided not to flower, which is a more than just a pity. On the plus side we've had great rainfall and have two all but full tanks, just under 10,000 gallons all up.

We've had a health check. My blood pressure is up, Trev's is average. Awaiting the results on blood tests to ascertain liver and kidney function, iron levels etc. We'll repeat the exercise at the end of our six months (should we last that long) and see if there has been any change in these health indicators.

We've all been unsettled by the recent death of Trev's dog Bella on Christmas Eve. Bella, who was 16, was found whimpering under a tree. Unable to walk anymore, she'd peed herself where she lay. We had no choice other than to put her down, and she is now buried in one of her favourite spots. We're still finding dog hair on the verandah and getting startled when people arrive, for the first time in years, unannounced. We both agree we won't own anymore non-productive animals. Caleb asked recently if he could have a guinea pig. I asked him if they tasted any good, and if not, can you milk them, or do they lay eggs? He'll have to settle with having Possum, the occasional kids and chooks.

The garden looks like a jungle. Pigeon pea is going crazy, along with sunflowers, sorghum, arrowroot, lablab and millet. Good goat food. While we've had a great year with apples and now plums, we struggled with fruit fly maggots in the peaches and nectarines. The goat was offered the affected fruit and didn't seem to mind the extra protein. The blackberries, young berries and boysenberries were similarly afflicted. In this case Trevor has decided he also doesn't mind the extra protein.

The chooks had their first ever serious moult in the weeks leading up to Christmas and we went down to two eggs a day. We bought a couple more point of lay chooks, which still haven't started laying. The others, given copious amounts of yarrow, nasturtium, parsley, comfrey and whey have started back up, but still at reduced amounts. Things will improve, and we were able to maintain our barter with neighbours over the period.

We have bartered a small excess of flour, sugar, brown rice, salt and oil. We're still eating the last of the Christmas indulgence, but will be back to our own resources in the next few days. After all the rich meals we're looking forward to something green and barely cooked coming up soon. I'll have to think up something interesting for Trev's birthday dinner tomorrow night, when he turns 47.

We waver between being confident we can last six months to despairing of our ability to last two weeks. It will remain to be seen. We'll be providing updates on our progress at least once a week over the period.



Week One - January 7th

Having completed our first week we might be tempted to say this is going to be easy - but then Caleb only ate the last piece of Christmas leftover chocolate two days ago. We're on our last roll of toilet paper - Trevor's right out of chewy and tobacco and now smokes his own - inferior - product. We've been eating well; watermelons, passionfruit, plums, and figs are our main fruit. Eating lots of onions, carrots, cabbage, capsicum, potatoes, beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, squash and fresh herbs in dinners like Mexican bean doner kebabs (with wholemeal and homemade wrappers) - eggplant and tomato ratatouille and Caleb's favourite dish called 'nothing'. For in-betweens there are fruit shakes, fetta cheese and tomato on homemade bread, and baked potatoes. Desserts are plum and vanilla custard swirls and passionfruit gelato.

It's been a hot and humid week and we've been quite lethargic about gardening. Trev finished making a new 'paddock' for Possum and came up to tell me. While talking he pulled off his shirt and wrung it out on the verandah, it couldn't have been any wetter than if he'd dumped it in a bucket of water.

We had 37mm of rain one night, neither of us heard anymore than the first shower, and were almost convinced someone had topped up the rain water gauge as a joke, till we found two full wheelbarrows and two full water tanks. It was a good opportunity to weed, and Trev, after a few hours concocting himself a new weeding tool, joined me in the garden to pull weeds and sweat.

The chooks have decided that the Christmas break is over and are back on the lay, Possum has had a few 'bellow' days where you can't seem to feed her enough, or provide her with enough of our stimulating company. So she stands in her pen and 'sings out', as the neighbour says.



Caleb and I set up a calendar on the fridge to mark off the days, and he seems certain we will make all 181. When I jokingly said 'Ahh, lets forget the experiment and go have a swim' - he was horrified I might be serious. He is determined to make it, but I wonder if his resolve will erode on hot afternoons walking home from school.

Strangely we've had no real desire to spend money - we know it's out of bounds, so we tend not to even consider all the marvels of our consumer society. In fact I haven't thought twice about the lack of cold, dark, brown, sparkling, sugar saturated liquid of renowned fame of which I used to guzzle plenty.

As it is our medical results came back and Trevor is hoping that his cholesterol reading, which is twice that of the highest recommended level, might be reduced, along with several other higher than they should be results. I'm a tad high on cholesterol, but otherwise normal in all respects. Considering the belting we gave the takeaway outlets in town during our last buying week I'd expected my liver tests to be similar to that of a one hundred and ten year old alcoholic's.

Trev's back at work next week, it will be interesting to see how he fares away from home and closer to those dens of iniquity - shops. As it is I should get back to planting out the latest batch of snake beans.


Week Two - January 15th

This week has had it's ups and downs. The parrots have hit the high life in our backyard eating millet, sorghum, sunflowers and now the King Parrots have been seen eating beans off the trellis. My feeble efforts (I look like I'm doing the Haka, complete with sticking out my tongue) have done nothing to abate the onslaught. One of my jobs today is to go around and put hoods over the poor sunflowers heads, they'll look like condemned men.

Trev's first day back at work was marred when he put his bike battery onto charge and it went up in smoke (the charger that is) - it is still under warranty, but it's been a week and the replacement has yet to arrive. Which is unfortunate for Trev who has had to brush the cobwebs off his low tech bike and ride against the winds that the cyclone hanging off the coast has whipped up - it manages not to be around for the bike to work, but is punctilious about turning up when he needs to bike home - against it. We thought he might lose weight - but he seems not to have, and considering today's breakfast of pumpkin flowers stuffed with a creamy style fetta cheese, chillies and onions, dipped in a wholemeal batter and deep fried, it's no wonder he hasn't

People have been fantastic. They've been turning up with food for a week, in which case we've had to explain we will need to barter for it, as gifts are not allowable. So for 1 kg of fetta cheese we have oil and sugar; For 4 dozen eggs we have flour; for plums and pumpkins we have bananas; for eggplants we have mangoes. A friend has asked us how she can help out, and we've arranged a non food barter of computer lessons (my previous life's work) for haircuts (her previous life's work). I think they're worried we will starve. We won't. We're going strong in the food department. The big fear (I lie awake at night calculating protein levels) is that the parrots will eat the crops we're growing for possum and the chooks and cause shortages.

The strong winds have dried the soil, and now the cyclone has decided to wind down so the promise of rain has gone with it. The passionfruits have decided to die, they've been slowly dying over the last few weeks. I have no idea why, and considering we've had bumper crops over the past two-four years from them it seems a perverse thing to do. Making passionfruit and yoghurt jellies, passionfruit and lemon flans and as many things passionfruit as I can while they last.

Still have watermelon, plums, paw paw, a few mangoes coming on. Caleb is happy.

Week Three - January 22nd

Managed to be under a cloud when it rained on Monday; 19 very welcome mm.

Caleb and I made an elderly scarecrow this week, boneless, he can only manage a very half hearted sit in an old chair out among the sorghum. We haven't noticed any benefits yet, as we watch over the verandah at the cavorting parrots.

While on the subject of birds, two of the elderly chooks died today. We've not killed (should I say culled) before- apart from a pair of insane bantam roosters - as we've always known we can buy in enough feed to support them regardless of their inclination to pass 6grams of protein a day. (This protein counting business is getting out of hand).
Now, trying to survive on our own grains and seeds while supporting any number of uninvited guests, it's clear we will need to reduce their numbers, and the least productive girls were first on the list. Trevor did the deed, Caleb watched, but only managed a couple of seconds of horror before he ran, gagging, to the house.
However, he ate the chewy pieces in his fried rice with what could only be described as relish. Mine were parked on the side of the dish for someone else to eat.

This was not part of our plan, but is probably something we should have foreseen. Maybe we could have given a couple of them away as pets to people who really like old chooks ;-)

We've moved two of the bully chooks from the goat pen and put them in a pen of their own, where they can sulk for a week or two before being reintroduced to the group. Chooks can be nasty creatures, and these two were heckling two of the newer girls right off the lay. Already they (the new girls) have resumed laying their protein pills. Or was that Proton, Roger?

Spent a few hours this week harvesting seeds of various types and getting more organised storing them. It was a case of finding various packets, bowls and jars all over the house and under it. I rarely find myself accused of being highly organised.




We have cherry tomatoes by the kilo, making things with them left and right, and once I get over my fear of starvation, will probably barter some as well. Sweetbite, moneymaker and yellow pear' cherry tomatoes are the only ones we've found to be fruit fly resistant.

Ate fresh bananas, and dried 10kg - made smoothies, banana cake and all manner of things banana before they went off. I'm picking whatever figs I can before the birds do. Scored the last kilo of late peaches. I'm planning so far ahead for each meal, I say it's three months, due to the growing time of most of the ingredients, but usually have tomorrow night's dinner planned in advance. I'm going to greater lengths to to try to cook something special to please all our palates so we don't feel we are missing out. I thought I was succeeding, but Trev declared he's hating every minute of our 'adventure' and, although he's got his tongue firmly in his cheek, I think the dens of iniquity he has to drive past while on the road at work call to him from the roadside. He has to drive past peanut vans, pie vans, and fill up the work vehicle at service stations redolent of hot chips.

For me, I'm happy to be at home. I'm not missing money, in fact I already wonder how we ever spent so much. I can't even think of what I'd spend it on. Oh yes I can, a big 40kg bag of grain, then I might get some sleep!.



Week Four - 29th January


29 days down - 152 to go.
4 weeks gone - 22 to go.
1 month almost done - only 5 remaining.

We've had rain, 58mm in all. We all arrived at school and work in various stages of wet, soaking wet and ever so slightly damp. Caleb's waterproof jacket turns out to be less than that, mine was never bought due to an oversight. Trev didn't like the way his flapped and removed it, and we all discovered how delicious it is to be rained on - but how revolting it is to remain that way for too long. People either thought us mad or felt sorry for us. But it wasn't bad. The mound of washing grew on the floor as we divested ourselves of wet clothes in preference for dry at least three times a day.

Australia Day was wet and Trev and I went out in it and weeded. They come out so much easier. While this was rewarding, things came out in the metaphorical wash. We felt like watching a video, something that wasn't made for six year olds and we hadn't already seen twenty times, and while we were watching this mythical video we wanted to eat something fatty, salty and sweet - while dousing ourselves with carbonated drinks.

Trevor and Caleb started a …. "if we could spend money this is what we would do…" rave. Caleb intends to spend some of his money on lemonade… actually a bottle of every kind of lemonade there is! But we got through the day with a bowl of hot chocolate custard with chunks of mango. I made passionfruit cordial too, in an attempt to abate the sugar horrors.

Possum is miserable, she hates the rain. I cleaned out her 'house' three times a day to try to combat the fact she doesn't seem to have any idea what her rear end is doing, while her front end is chewing. Hence lots of damp spots and little black balls are in the way when she wants to lie down.

The pumpkins are on, twenty or thirty ready to eat, and thousands queuing up behind them. Possum enjoys carving up half a pumpkin a day.

Finally figured out why one of the chooks always lays broken eggs. She's been laying them while sitting on her perch. Not sure, bar a brain transplant, how I can resolve this bit of animal lunacy. Really, do animals have any awareness what's happening beyond their shoulders?

The birds have scorned Caleb's scarecrow. It sits in the garden sporting a wide brimmed and be-splattered hat. Not sure what bird thought it funny, I'm hoping it dies of protein poisoning before too long. Either that or they get so fat on the free feeds that they can no longer fly.

Trev's son Ehren bought over a belated Christmas present. It's been hard to track down a scythe, but he finally managed to at the markets - and it's brilliant. Trev has been out there practicing his swing. Much more satisfying than golf.

We're eating well. Caleb's lunches are chilled egg custards and mango, baked potatoes, cinnamon scrolls, plum jam sandwiches, plums, dried bananas, fresh figs, boiled eggs (boil deggs) and homegrown popcorn. I'm still putting in a big effort with food, even opened a few recipe books - tried spinach pancakes last night, and while they looked appallingly green, tasted fine along with goat's cheddar cheese sauce, and a spicy salsa. Caleb was revolted by the cheese sauce and ate the pancakes on their own. Very brave.

Trev's story of the week - (he has many temptation stories) - Stopping off at the Ettamogah Pub and watching his workmate buy and consume an gold medal winning pie and washing it down with a coke. The positive side to this is he weighs less than he did a month ago.

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