getting back on track

21.4.2011

BUILDING NEWS

Gradually our work force is staggering back from the Easter break. Edd talked to our neighbour Craig who recommended a company with a bigger, better’ concrete pump and hopefully less attitude. We are now scheduled to retry the block fill next Tuesday.

OTHER NEWS

Still perfect weather. Once Edd had got our building plans back on line he returned to fencing work. Progress is much slower now that we are on our own again. Al dropped in at lunchtime with stories of his holiday but otherwise it was incredibly peaceful.

It is strange but it is at times like this that the difficulties of donga living really hit me. When we are rushed off our feet with workers or visitors there is no time for thinking but once they have all gone and at last I have a moment to myself I feel rather lost. I have no room in our confined space for my craft and art hobbies and my social and work life is dead. How I long for space to do things indoors.

Well, no chance there, but the garden needs plenty of work. The wheels have fallen off my cart but other tools remain, so I got stuck into a new area and cut, dragged and pulled out everything that was past it’s use by date or had grown in the wrong place. A large bush was so rotten at the base it just twisted out and I got rid of my bad mood attacking it and other problem plants.

In the evening it is a choice on TV between the royal wedding and soccer. I try to shut it out and read but this is not very successful. I think I need another trip to the second hand bookshop for more absorbing literature. Beni has leant me a pile of Australian historical material but it is not really standing up to the soccer. What is needed is a good thriller.

At present my sanity is maintained by a little book of code word puzzles that can focus my attention and provide a break from things. The trouble is that I am nearly at the end of the April book and the May one is not in the newsagents yet. This constitutes a big problem. I have resolved to demand private time for art group and pottery. Everyone always plans things for these days but I need to get stronger about insisting on my own time out.

Easter party time

21.4.2011

BUILDING NEWS

Zero

OTHER NEWS

We have been blessed with perfect weather for our enforced Easter holiday. We had failed to achieve the progress we needed towards getting a new home but there was absolutely nothing we could do whilst all the trade’s people were on holiday. We had to just forget about it and concentrate on farm work. We have been so tied up with the building that there were lots of jobs reaching priority rating on that front.

Our very pregnant cow needed arrangements made for her and all our fruit trees were badly in need of weeding and mulching. Luckily we gained a very hard working team of young people who set about helping us. Some how they all squashed into Josh’s donga at night but they set out and worked with a will all daylight hours. It is so nice now to look out at trees that are properly cared. Much of the needed fencing is also done and Edd has been busy working on it again today.

There was no time for moping either. At night we made a campfire in the ruins and feasted on gourmet food that one of the guys prepared. Lots of good wine encouraged Edd and I to get a guitar out and try to remember a few songs. Dave P joined us for a farewell party. One of the young lasses was his daughter so we needed to see him off in appropriate manner. He only does summers and the time has come for him to migrate back to the UK.

Our little swallows are also preparing for their migration. They gathered this weekend for pre travel meetings, which is a sign that they will leave soon. I am worried about them. Edd says they are heading off to Japan and there is no way we can warn them about the radiation. I can only hope for their safe return next year.

Our own birds are doing well. The new chooks have mastered their bucket door and have even started to lay eggs. The older chooks are still looking in moult but they are laying as well as can be hoped and are enjoying the mild autumn sun. The new fence we are doing will keep the cow on one side and be the start of a new chook area under trees on the other.

Many of the trees in down the old drive are now looking healthy again especially after the tidy up they have just received, The girls pulled out all the wire and debris that was hidden under the undergrowth around them and I have now been able to mow under them as well. I planted out two stone pines I have grown from little seedlings in the potting area and there is room for at least one more tree.

This year the good weather made for a better Easter egg chase for the youngest in the family. They all dashed around and soon had a basket full of all the little easter eggs I had hidden as soon as I woke. Their next job was to cut twigs and toast their own bread over the camp fire whilst Bo cooked real eggs. She also cooked a great family meal in the evening so we were able to catch up with her parents in law. Al and his two eldest kids were away on holiday but Bella came with Ti and her father and step mother so there was quite a crowd. Easter has been duly celebrated.

disaster

21.4.2011

BUILDING NEWS

Disaster! After all our efforts it rained all night and when the concrete pump arrived the men refused to drive over the stone Edd had just put down to get close to the building. We then had to have at least one load of concrete fill returned and abandon work.

This is really bad. We have now lost time and our budget is bulging. Edd is very depressed. We were hoping to have an Easter holiday rest feeling we had met targets and had earned a break but this is not to be. The pump drivers also complained that they did not like our scaffolding. It is the new stuff we brought which I thought was perfectly legal. We will have to totally rethink this part of the build.

I assumed that building equipment like pumps was designed to cope with building site conditions but obviously this is not so. Perhaps most places now have the concrete drive put in first. Perhaps we picked the wrong pump people. We loose hundreds of dollars just for the pump even before we pay for the wasted concrete.

OTHER NEWS

The new chooks got bold enough to make the first steps to freedom today. I have been leaving grass just outside the tunnel exit (that Edd made from a tin bucket with the bottom knocked out and a trap door added) to try and lure them out. We needed this devise to get the chooks through a fence into the lower veggie garden. I arranged a series of round tree logs as steps and this worked well. Most of the chooks got down into the garden, had a good feed and then returned to the safety of the shed. I expect they will spend more time out tomorrow.

When the builders had all gone Edd used Skiddy to move some logs that were blocking the way to the washing line gate. This is the quickest route to the new food forest and the next job is to get in mulch and compost round the plants. At least Skiddy copes in all conditions. I am hoping that Edd will be able to use the tractor and back the trailer in under the clothesline with the mulch.

In theory there are some younger people coming to give us a hand this week end. I could really do with extra help. I have put my name on list for bushfire relief help many, many times but have not got lucky very often. I would love to have Wwoofers again but we do not have a proper place to care for them yet. I do not think the vermin in our donga would go down very well.

getting ready to fill the walls

20.4.2011

BUILDING NEWS

We have had one of those funny days when loads of people work flat out and when I go down at the end of the day nothing looks different! This must be because all the walls were completed yesterday and today’s work was to prepare for filling them tomorrow. We had a few minutes of total panic this afternoon when it looked as if all the arrangements for concrete and the concrete pump had fallen through but after several frantic phone calls Edd managed to get us back on track.
So, tomorrow is the big day! John says he will start setting up to pour the roof next week (once he recovers from Easter) and when his work is done we will enter a totally new stage of the build.

At the weekend we went to a neighbour’s place for a wedding party. They were also burnt out in the fires but have managed to get a new weekend house built and totally fitted out. I was totally impressed. The house is entered through a mega height glass door set in a red tile surround. The building is basically grey, mostly mini orb corrugated iron with two red sloping columns outline the entrance.

To me it symbolises passing through a stage of fire. Once inside peace returns with extra high ceilings and a predominance of white. The kitchen is mostly stainless steel but one bench is beautiful snow like marble with grey grains. Else where a few items; the rim of a light shade, a glass vase and the flowers on the table picked up the red theme.

When everything you own is burnt it is a very good excuse to get new things that all go together. Even I now own my first set of matching pans! In this house some Asian antiques, some art works by neighbours, and some fitted furniture all worked together to create an effect that looked co-ordinated without being over matched. Did I mention that this neighbour works as an interior designer? Is that an excuse for being totally out classed even before I start?

OTHER NEWS

I have found the Bacon avocado and it is now planted in the new food forest along with the citrus trees and its’ mates. I now have to mulch the area but I may need to clear away some logs first so that we can get a trailer as close as possible. As fast as I plant stuff I have a variety of pest trying to dig things up but a good heavy layer of mulch helps a lot.

The pest infestation extends to our living quarters where we have mice popping up through holes in the floor and running everywhere. They are annoying but after all the disasters happening at present they do not count as any great drama. Rats and mice are always an issue in autumn when they look for a warm dry space in which to spend winter.

sunny monday

18.4.2011

BUILDING NEWS

What a fabulous sunny start to the weeks work. The internal walls are just about complete now and Geoff is working on the arch leading into the spare room. Edd has been back up ladders doing yet more conduits. The plumbing team finally arrived at the end of last week and zoomed around making up for lost time. We had a day of frenetic but productive activity, however, it will need a second day of work for them to complete this stage.

Al came to inspect our efforts on Sunday and we took a sample of glass that Peter had prepared for us down to the house site to see the effect. Peter had produced a strip with bands of the different glass colours and styles that we had chosen so that we could it on site. We held it up in position and were able to see the pools of coloured light on the floor. Even with the soft bush colours we had chosen it gave a lovely effect. The plain bubble glass sparkled in the sunlight almost like water which was much more dramatic than I expected.

Edd and Al discussed how the cool air inlet pipes would duct through the walls to help air movement and Al explained how he saw the fireplace and chimney working. He insisted we do the other internal arch with double brick like the first one. He is probably right.

OTHER NEWS

The new chooks have settled in and I opened their hatch door today. They only stuck their heads today because but the sunlight and fresh air was a bit overwhelming for chooks who have always been confined. They do not know what greens and bugs taste like yet. The old chooks are loving their freedom and egg production from them is up this week.

Sailing was fabulous on Sunday. We all agree that it is very relaxing. Morren took our boat out on his own for the first time. This is a huge step as he is a very cautious child. Ti is very confident and the rest of us now feel that we should learn to handle more wind next.

Today I worked on my new tree area by the clothesline. I got several citrus trees out of pots and into the ground and the turned over most of the earth with a spade ready to plant out the other avocados. I still have not found a “bacon” tree, which I should have to assist the pollination of the others.

Mud and chooks

14.4.2011

BUILDING NEWS

Mud. Horrid sticky yellow clay mud. The type that sticks to your shoes in large amounts. Geoff and Glen soldier on with the last of the walls. Today they put a bond beam over the back passage entrance and did the utility and storeroom walls.

Edd tidied up the pointing on the arch where the frame had been and worked on wiring and plumbing. The plumber says he will come tomorrow. Who knows? He might. It was a little drier by the end of the day and we were able to brush the water off the back of the slab.

OTHER NEWS

My plan had been to take the green-eyed monsters with me and pick up chooks for Bo and I but after a bit of thought I came to the conclusion that two kids, 30 chooks and I might not all fit into my little car! In the end we went to pick up my twenty chooks in Bo’s car. She had decided to collect hers later. At least, that was the plan.

My bit went according to schedule but when we arrived at Wagner’s chook farm the boys and Bo discovered a try of day old chicks and ducklings. Plans were recklessly thrown aside and a new scheme of chook rearing began to form. Chicks of all colours and two ducks came home with us.

My new chooks were put into the newly cleaned shed through Edd’s cunning bucket entrance. This worked extremely well. Bo went home with chick rearing equipment and I just hope that she has got all her charges sorted. It is good to buy point of lay chooks at this time because you get winter eggs.

trip to garden world

13.4.2011

BUILDING NEWS

The honeymoon is over! Once again the climate is on the attack with a sudden drop in temperature and the wettest April ever. All work stopped for one day but I did get to Dandenong to pick up the towel rail. Today everyone was back on the job and the frame was remover from the big arch. It looks fantastic.

The house floors are continually being flooded but luckily we put the front windows up on lugs so we can sweep the water out under them. Still no sign of the plumber! Geoff now has only a couple of tiny walls to build and then the second arch into the spare room. If the rain can just keep away from daylight hours we might make John’s roof pouring target.

We had a great visit to the glass place where Peter works. Peter had set up a demonstration of his ideas, Al joined us to ensure the integrity of his design was retained and the manager showed us round all his glass. I could have spent a whole day there just marvelling over the huge range of colours and styles.

Al wants to have pale colouring that looks almost undetectable from the exterior but give a surprise when seen from within. We are all happy to go along with this idea. There is a big temptation to add strong colours just for their beauty but it would probably end up looking like a church. Which is not what we want.
I was really glad to have Al there. I think we all needed some guidance and I liked the way he did it. Am I allowed to say how proud I felt that he was my son?

OTHER NEWS

I took the green-eyed monsters with me on the towel rail-fetching trip and afterwards we made a B-line for garden world. I do think I am converting them into enjoying the place. We all probably spent far too much on things we love. Morren brought bits and pieces to build a sort of mini raked Japanese garden complete with Buddha, shrine and one plant. Ollie was more into fossils and crystals whilst I discovered lots of interesting food plants for my poly house jungle.

Bo took the time off to sort out lots of jobs and even found time to get her back shed ready for chooks. Edd has worked on our bottom chook shed to make a tunnel for chooks to get into the old vegetable garden for grazing. We are now just about ready to fetch the chooks. Our old ones look very settled in their new home and are loving the fresh greenery.

10.4.2011 BUILDING NEWS

Last week was so good. The perfect weather encouraged us all to work long hours so much was done. Geoff has built most of the first big arch and the internal walls are almost done. One day was taken up by core filling, a really hard job for Geoff and Glen. They decided that it was the only sensible approach and just put up with the pain!

Edd has been busy working on the conduits. Pat, the electrician came over to make certain we knew what was needed and leave the right materials. We wish the plumber would come too; we really need to do the same with him. John keeps coming to see how far things are on because he is keen to pour the roof straight after Easter. He wants to set up the decking and scaffolding before this.

My tasks are less important. I get the job of oiling and wrapping wood work and cleaning up at night. I am worried that plastic or cement bags might blow into the dam so I make sure everything is tied up in chaff sacks and moved away.

OTHER NEWS

With everyone being so efficient I had time last week to do more work on the garden. The present job is to move perennial plants from the old vegetable garden and to plant out the new trees. Al brought me an avocado plant for my birthday, which is now planted, in the bed I had worked for citrus trees.

One lovely thing was that Dave P arrived with the old rocking chair that he had taken away to repair. The chair is the one bit of furniture that was saved from the fires. I tripped over it when I went in to try and get the dogs. I dragged it outside when I worked out where the door was. It now looks in better shape than ever before because the arms were always loose. It is so nice to that we will have one original piece in our new home.

Celia came in season today so she got taken to visit the buck. I am hoping that some of the younger goats will be large enough to mate this season. It would mean that we do not have to have eleven first kidders altogether the following year. My chooks are now homed in the poly house shed. I am afraid to let them out all day if the dogs are loose so they get to run out in the later part of the day. They look very happy now they have access to endless green grass.

It looks like a home!

6.4.2011

BUILDING NEWS

Now the house is starting to show its personality. With Geoff’s skilful brickwork the arches are going up and suddenly it feels as if it might be “our” home. Loosing our old house was like the sudden death of a loved family member. It was large and cumbersome but it had special places where treasures made at school by my kids, like the odd clay mask made by Al that hung over the kitchen hatch had their own niches.

The brick doorframe had a series of lines names and dates as the changes in height of each child were recorded. Really old furniture donated by my parents fitted in with other stuff rescued from junkyards and strange shaped doors (, a result of a misunderstanding with our original brick layers,) gave each space character. It was a home in all senses of the word that sheltered us, protected us comforted us and allowed us to explore any activity we could dream up.

Today was the first time that I saw that although that home is gone it now has a child growing to take its place. The funny brick arches made from our recycled bricks, and contrast between large open spaces and little enclosed ones are already inklings of what the future will hold. Seeing this makes us feel very happy.

On a more realistic note we are under pressure to complete the walls so John can pour the roof. Doug, our engineer, wants the front pillars to cure for two weeks after being core filled and John wants to do the roof at the end of April a month earlier than we had planned. The logistics here are looking very dodgy.

OTHER NEWS

We have had perfect autumn weather. Crisp cold morning sand sunny clear days encourage us to spend every moment out doors. This evening a skinny peel of a moon rose over Brockspur as the solar lights came on in the garden. The walls of the new building felt warm to touch like a living thing and the smell of wood smoke filled the air as our neighbours lit their evening fires. How I long to do the same. There is nothing better than a glowing fire to relax by.

During the day I completed the chook shed clean out and painted it with lime to try and cut down infection. I had to re-evict a rat family who keep dragging sticks in as fast as I clear them out. Tonight I tipped rat bate down the hole they had made in the floor and covered it over with a concrete block. That should fix them.

Merrie came over with some lunch she had cooked and told me that her problem is possums. They have moved in and are doing their best to destroy her house. She is planning to do battle with the main culprit tonight. He freezes if she suddenly shines a light on him and she thinks it might just be possible to put on gloves, pounce on him and drag him into a box. Well, maybe.

Donna, the cow, looks a bit baffled at ending up here again. I wonder if she remembers the goats. They seem to remember her and are all prepared to walk past her on the way to their grazing paddocks every morning. Donna looks extremely fat and pregnant. I am not sure I am ready for a calf yet!

work,work,work

5.4.2011

BUILDING NEWS

More fine weather and building steams ahead. This week Geoff is working on the short internal walls. Like the other walls they are made of concrete blocks core filled with more concrete. The idea is that they are part of the thermal mass that helps keep the house temperature stable.
These walls have brick arches in them, so Edd and I are struggling to have the formwork ready for when it is needed. The second arched doorframe went in today and they are now setting everything ready to build the first of the large arches.

OTHER NEWS

The working B on Saturday only consisted of Edd and I, and Bo and her kids but we got through all the tasks we had planned. Bo dug all the rubbish out of the large polyhouse and her boys lit a bonfire and burnt everything possible. Edd and I bagged up all the chooks and put them together in the lower chook shed to wait until their new home was ready.
The next stage was for us all to get together and wriggled the big chook shed onto the ute by tipping it on one side. It was then possible to drive it down to the new location. Our battles were still not over because some how it had to be put inside the polyhouse.

We tipped it off the ute into an up right position and man handled it until it lined up with the door but alas, it was fractionally too wide at the roof. We were all exhausted and made a unanimous decision to chisel wood off the doorframe rather than admit defeat. Once this was done we used our standard method of rolling it through on pine posts. By nightfall the chooks were all in their new house, they were confused but in much better shape than the rest of us were.

Sunday needed an early start too. We had over twenty students from Melbourne booked in for a tour as part of their Permaculture studies. They turned out to be a really lovely group of people and we got them all milking goats and tasting goats cheese and milk. Part of the deal was that I provided morning tea so I had spent Saturday evening cooking cakes and biscuits.
When the group left Edd and I drove up to the sailing club to find out how the rest of the family was getting on. Edd and I had secretly brought them an old sabre sailing boat during the week and when they got to sailing club they found out. Everyone looked pretty happy when we got there. It was rather a cold miserable day so Al brought his group back to our place and we cooked sausages and ate the remains of the morning cake.

We hoped that yesterday would be more relaxing but a new complication arrived in the form of our cow, Donna. She has been away for several months visiting a neighbour’s bull. We did not have much time to get anything ready for her and we were worried that if we let her loose with the other animals she might get hassled at this late stage of her pregnancy. The only option we could think of was to put her in the croft behind the dairy with a slip rail at the top gate so that the goats can go off but she has to stay in. We will have to sort something better as soon as possible.