roof and floor work start

3.9.2011

BUILDING NEWS

We have had a busy week and it is not finished yet! As I write Edd, Dion and Helmut are raising the heavy metal roof girders into position over the solar buffer zone. Edd has borrowed the 12 ton digger from Craig and is using it as a crane. It all looks pretty dangerous to me and the strong winds are not helping. I have given up watching. Once my husband gets loose with weapons of mass destruction I am happier elsewhere.

Garry started work on the floors on Thursday. Edd had been working half the night before to get the waterproof spray on the area at the back to the West. Gary has laid a border of the Moroccan coloured pavers and is now filling in with the Merino coloured ones on the diagonal. He has started in the walk in robe, it looks fantastic and very unexpected in what is basically a cupboard!

David H came on Thursday and put another coat of oil on the windows and a school group that Edd thought he had cancelled also turned up. Luckily we had baby animals to feed and the extra hands were helpful. Some of the students also raked out more of the packing sand where the new veggie beds are to go. It was pretty chaotic with so many people doing different things but some how achievements were made.

OTHER NEWS

Our sick lamb has survived and become quite forceful. He lives with the baby goats and is better at working out how to get a feed than a lot of them. We have now got most of the babies sucking milk from up pipes in the feeder, which is much less time consuming than individual bottles. The next stage will be to sort them into groups of four who all drink about the same rate.

The big goats are milking well but we still have some sore feet after the wet winter. We do not have a ready answer for this, as it is not a problem we have had before. Usually feet trimming and basic treatment does the job. We are now using the milking machine again so my hands arte getting a rest. It has been hard going through this birth season with the added building work. There has been just too much needing doing to fit in a day. At least now the last goat has kidded and we have that issue under control.

Something ate the lettuces I planted but the strawberries are looking good. The mulberry and loquat trees have small fruit forming on them and the plum and peach trees are in full blossom. The citrus fruit are ripening and the garden flowers look fantastic. Spring has really arrived. All we need now is Dave P to turn up at the door and then we will know that winter is totally over.