the earth moves again

24.5.2012

Mike returned with his earth moving equipment and dug a ditch around the front of our house. Our job is to line it with plastic and rocks so that it makes an aesthetically acceptable way to drain excess floodwater away from the house and drive. Edd has spent the week in the walk in robe putting up flat pack units so we can store our clothes in some sort of order. I should have painted the walls and ceiling in the storage area but I got stuck on accounts and other domestic jobs, so no big steps forward were made by me anyway.

We are still taking the young goats to the buck. It has been a very long drawn out mating season. We are feeding out branches from the lucerne trees. They will start flowering soon and not be fit for fodder any more. Really, they flower at just the wrong time of year, because it would be much more helpful if we could use them for green feed over the winter months.

The chooks are also having a rest period. I usually have new point of lay birds coming in at this time, but we are still short of chook sheds so I cannot introduce young stock until we have extra sheds and clean green runs for them. Luckily there are still enough eggs for family and friends. The eggs are pretty good too, extra large with deep yellow yolks.

Our new wood stove is going well. Last night I put a rabbit stew into the oven before going to bed and it was perfectly cooked in the morning. The fire went out in the night but the radiators still had hot water in them, so the house was as warm as toast. The heated towel rail is a real luxury and we seem to have plenty of hot water. It is fantastic having a wood stove and a fire again but we now have to do the extra work of cutting and collecting firewood.

I collect kindling in the mornings when I go out to feed the cows and sheep but Edd gets the wood splitting and chain saw work. We still have a lot of wood piled up from the trees that were cut up after the bush fire. What we need next is a woodshed so that we can keep it dry and ready for use. Yet another job to be tackled!

Al has started work on his new house. He first demolished the old laundry to make room for a unit for India and then started stripping the old plaster in the house. This job became complicated when he discovered asbestos hidden behind the plasterboard. He was hoping to work slowly through the house when he moved in, but this find has caused a change in plans.

The house block is basically vertical. The first grass terrace behind the house has a good view of the chimney top! Perhaps we will have the hanging gardens of Warburton. It is probably a good thing to strip the house back to the frame because they can rewire and put the plumbing in the right place as they go. Al is getting quotes for replacing the dodgy stumps too so the house will get a new lease of life all round.

Despite all the above we are not spending all our life building any more. Edd went to the Welsh choir rehearsals this week and I managed to get to art class. I even had a girl friend visit today! Life is looking up.