Brockspur news

hot weather at last

2012-01-24T03:40:00.000-08:00

24.1.2012

BUILDING NEWS

Richard has now done the walls in the snug and smoothed render around the fireplace. Today he started on the final two bedrooms. Edd has now put up two doorframes and is getting more confident about making them. I am still working on the floors, so no exciting news there.

What is exciting is seeing how well the house controls its own temperature. Today was the sort of scorching day that kills plants in large numbers but even with doors open the house stayed at 25 degrees. Our donga thermometer measured 40 degrees this evening so Edd and I ate out at Beth’s restaurant!

Edd has been on the phone trying to get the build moving again. He has contacted the scoria people and they are now grinding the stuff again. It might arrive tomorrow! He has also talked to Charlie about connecting the power and the Telstra people about the phone. The next trade we need on the ready is the plumber.

It is an odd sort of build because by the time we get to lock up stage almost everything will be done. We have extended the building insurance for four months, which we hope is the maximum time we could take. Famous last words?

OTHER NEWS

I had to drive to town today because we were out of milk bottles. I usually have to wait ages for my order but today I was the only customer and I was in and out in a flash. My next stop was Ikea. Alvyn has taken time out of his holiday and sprayed the weeds we needed treating in NSW so I wanted to get him something as a thank you. Wayne helped us get the equipment he needed and together these two have managed to take a lot of stress off us. In NSW you get harassed and fined for having weeds and rabbits.

I picked our first cucumber tonight. I was very late getting them in but they have grown well. The tomatoes are also doing well this year and now we can add blackberries to the morning straw berry meal. I have started work on the next beds but I need to find the staple gun. It is somewhere in Edd’s shed but so far remains hidden.

The old pool is such a blessing. It is battered, burnt and patched but still wonderful for cooling off. Beth and her three kids have been over almost every day for a swim. Edd is not into swimming but I am trying to get him to have a day off this week and go to the sea. He does dip in the sea.

slow but steady

2012-01-18T04:00:00.000-08:00

18.1.2012

BUILDING NEWS
Work continues slowly on the house. Richard is now rendering the snug and I am grouting the floor in the guest bedroom. Edd has brought himself special tools and is preparing the hardwood planks he brought so that they have the right profile to be made into doorframes. I just want to move in.

About 32 years ago I moved into our old house. We had been living in the shed but it had no walls and only dirt floor so that once the roof was on the I decided winter would be easier in a half a house. Moving in was relatively simple. I had two heavy things to move, the gas fridge and the potbelly stove. We relocated the stove in the ingle nook and it could then be used for cooking and warmth. I had a huge old cast iron pan that I could use to heat water.

We still had to walk to the tank beside the shed to fetch the water. There was also no electricity on the property in those days but we did have the phone and we just dug holes for toilets. When they got smelly we planted a tree in the hole and moved to the next one. Life was pretty simple in those days.

I am, of course trying to work out exactly how soon I could shift into the new house. We would need the phone down there and a fire. The fire is in but the chimney needs sorting out. A toilet and running water would be bliss. I cannot see any reason why the drains and reed bed could not be put in now but I suppose it would be better when the earth works are complete and the last of the piles of soil moved. Then we can work with the final contours of the land.

OTHER NEWS

Edd has gone to choir tonight for the first time for months. Josh has gone out and I have had the donga to myself for a few hours. This has been great because I have managed to clean up a bit and sort things out. Everything got a bit out of control around Xmas but I am fighting my way back to the top of the problem pile.

some positive things

2012-01-16T01:30:00.000-08:00

16.1.2012

It was great. We were able to relax with our friends and enjoy a party in the new house. Everyone helped carry food down there and as our friends have many interests in common there was lots to talk about. I am so pleased with how Alvyn has managed to design the house to make this sort of event possible. The house really works for temperature control and now we find it is perfect for entertaining too.

Edd agreed to buy the bedroom furniture and with in a few hours of putting in the order we had an e-mail from friends wanting to come and stay! I knew we really needed it, but I did not expect instant proof. Today Edd went off to buy wood to make the doorframes so that we can render the guest and small bedroom.

Richard spent the day in the toilet. It looks much better now he has rendered the walls in there. I hope he will start on the snug room tomorrow whilst Edd is building the doorframes for the bedrooms. My task was to pay all the bills but in the afternoon Beth came over with two of her friends who were visiting her.

They both lived in our old house when we were in the NT and Beth was looking after the place. Anne joked that we should go back to the NT so she could move into the new house. Donna is a photographic artist and enjoyed how we had incorporated features from the old house. It is sad that we lost the lovely framed photos she gave us in the fires but one of our friends gave us another artwork on Friday that we all agree will be perfect for the new place.

We are still waiting for the scoria we need for the roof to be crushed. When this is delivered we can get the soil covering put on. I think that we have done enough earthworks now to put in the power and water so the roof covering is mainly cosmetic. The house seems to be very well insulated even without the covering. My job is still to do the floor grouting. I have two bedrooms and a small amount of passage to go so I am definitely winning.

Josh has been making clips for the fly screen windows. Josh heard Edd complain that he could not find good ones to buy, so he made a plaster mould and melted down some pewter scraps we salvaged from the fires and cast new clips. They are really very good and a most unusual recycling approach that rather appeals to us. His course in WA starts again soon but he has only to complete a small amount and write it up so we are not sure what the time frame is. It would be good if he could just flyover for a few weeks and fly back.

I must be crazy

2012-01-12T03:08:00.000-08:00

12.1.2012

I must be crazy. Somehow I have organised the first dinner party I have given for years on Friday the13th! There are layers of difficulty to over come anyway. Firstly there is no power, water or cooking facility in the new house yet. Secondly Richard is going to finish rendering the dining hall tomorrow where we intend to eat, and also the kitchen cabinets are due to be completed during the day as well. Some how I have to get everything cleaned up and food prepared whilst the workers do their things.

Our friends are our age and have food issues. One is a vegetarian who does not eat dairy products, one is glucose intolerant, and at least two have cholesterol issues. I expect the rest have needs too but they are less obvious. My coping plan is to have mostly salads and cold food and have various different dishes that people can choose from. I am cooking the meat tonight so that the oven will be free for the rest tomorrow.

Despite these factors I am determined to try and do this. My friends have all been so supportive over these last three years when we have not had a house and I would love to take a turn at putting the effort in. Bernie goes back to the territory soon so I want her to come over before she goes off. She tells us that she loves working with the Aboriginal kids and has signed on for another year teaching in her community. Listening to her brings back all our happy memories of our time up North, especially this week when we have suddenly been plunged back to winter conditions.

Yes, we have had hail, really low temperatures and rain for several days now. Thank goodness our building work is now indoors. Edd put in the last of the air vents today. They are not difficult to put in but he has found it hard to locate the pipes now that the ceiling has hidden them. The walls were marked but they got rendered over so he has had to rely on measurements. These pipes go from the ceilings right out underground and out into the paddock away from the house. The idea is to get airflow through the house but to cool or warm the air by using the ground temperature.

I am still grouting floors. I have almost completed the smallest bedroom but I still have the larger two bedrooms and the hall passage to go. I am also organising their furniture as a way of inspiring myself to keep going. Today a small bedside rug I had ordered for Edd arrived and I also tried to get Edd interested in buying a bedroom suite for the guest room. Edd has never brought any furniture in his life so I cannot imagine why I thought he might start now. You have to keep trying, people do change, sometimes.

Beth and Simon went into the hospital in town for a consultation. It is all pretty scary. They want Simon to start the next stage of treatment fairly soon. Alvyn has phoned from NSW and says he has treated our week infestation at Cooma. This is a great relief as we were being hounded about the issue. Josh is waiting to get his exam results in writing so that he can register himself as an audiologist but mean while he is being very helpful with things round here. Yesterday we repotted some of our houseplants and split a banana plant into two. I am filling our hall with colourful plants as a form of decoration.

Harvest time

2012-01-05T00:38:00.000-08:00

5. 1. 12

It has cooled down after a scorching week. Edd and I got in two ute and trailer loads of hay by moonlight one night and Beth and Josh helped get the rest in at an early hour next morning. Yesterday Edd returned borrowed trailers to their owners and stacked the last few bales neatly. Josh and I took Beth’s kids off to garden world for the day whilst Beth worked. This was the first time we have taken Sylvie on a long trip and she was very good.

Today Edd went off and brought a ton of oats and I went shopping for human food and needs. There were sales on and I found a wool rug at half price in spotlight that was the right colour for our guest bedroom. Our friends are already making noises about coming to stay when we move into the new house and I need to be ready for them. What a joy it will be to have somewhere to host friends again.

Nothing got done on the house during the very hot weather. It was well over 40 degrees in the donga every evening so mostly we ate out at Beth’s restaurant. She looks after us well. In fact it is almost impossible to do anything anywhere when it is that hot. It is going to take a huge effort to get our selves motivated and back into building every day.

The fox attacked again and dug into the chook pen. This time we lost the remaining faverolle, which was sad. I have left the chooks shut in their houses today but we will have to think of a new plan when it heats up again or they will cook. The pens were damaged in the fires but we have managed to keep them in action up until now.

2.1.2011

Happy New Year to all our friends and family. Basically 2011 was not very inspiring but lets us all make an effort to have a better time in 2011. As predicted it is really hot today. Wayne, Josh and Edd started work early and have already brought in one load of hay. I stayed home and did the milking and farm work and am now boiling eggs for lunch. It is already 30 degrees in here but that feels relatively cool.

It was up to 40 and beyond in here last night. We stayed out in our new house as long as possible and then came back in to sleep. I woke in the night feeling much too hot but it was a clear starry night and easy to walk down to the new house. It had stayed really cool in there all day so I was surprised that I still felt hot down there. It was actually just me starting to cook. After about half an hour I cooled down and actually needed covers to keep warm!

Hot days are not a problem now that the pool is in action again. We can live here very comfortably if we use all the facilities. I even managed to grout another metre of floor before lunch. Today is a day of high fire danger and I plan to move some of my treasured stuff down to the new house. It would be tragic to loose the little we managed to save if the donga burnt. The boxes are rather heavy so I am waiting for some help to lift them. How did I ever manage to carry them to the fire cellar three years ago?

Year's end

2011-12-30T17:19:00.000-08:00

31.12.2011

It is now the last day of the year. My main feeling is that it has gone very quickly. It is a pity it has ended on such a difficult note but let us hope things are better in 2012. Our hay has been cut at Judy’s property down the road. I suspect that it will be baled and ready for carting on new years day. We are expecting stinking hot weather then and possibly a change afterwards.

Why does hay always happen at the worst possible time? Really this is a totally stupid time to have Xmas if you live in Australia. I guess we are stuck with New Year but my Xmas is gradually shifting to mid winter when I have time to deal with it. This might be the year I just go whole hog and accept the inevitable.

It actually feels a bit odd not building all day. Yesterday I went back to work and began to teach myself to bag walls. I have started in the laundry because I need to set up the sink in there so the plumbing can be done. I also measured up the wood needed for the vanity tops where we have basins. Edd repaired the mower, which was tangled up with wire again and did some slashing with the tractor. I found a huge snake on the lawn in the morning so we want to make sure we can see it coming.

The first of our tomatoes are going red but our biggest crop is from the runner beans. I have already blanched and frozen two bags, as there are more than we can eat. The straw berries are doing well too, but we are able to eat all that grow. The garden is also a riot of flowers despite total neglect. The red-hot pokers are on fire this year and the agapanthus makes a good contrast. The arum lilies have died back and now the Canna lilies are having their turn.

The jacaranda trees are beautiful as always and our little crepe myrtle looks all ready to bloom. Peaches, plums and apples are ripening and we even have limes on the new trees this year. There are lots of pomegranates and figs and the grape fruit are huge. We have also started eating the cheese we made from Donna, the cow’s, milk. I covered it with yellow wax and it has stayed lovely and creamy. I am really pleased with how it turned out.

The chooks are gradually recovering from the fox attack. The chook in isolation is eating and drinking well but still a bit unsteady on her feet. I have weaned Dot’s kids onto bottles and the other five kids have grown huge. Last years goatlings have filled out on the abundant grass and are fat and glossy. We still have not shorn the sheep but hay seems first on the agenda.

A memorable Xmas

2011-12-26T22:01:00.000-08:00

26.12.2011

We did it! Our usual Xmas eve meal took place the in our new house. It was a perfect evening. The day had been hot but we kept the double glazed sliding doors shut and the house stayed lovely and cool. Beth brought over a seafood feast with crayfish, oysters and fantastic scallops. I cooked a turkey and everyone contributed to deserts and side dishes. Even the salad

Beth brought over was a good enough meal by its self!
It had taken a super human effort to get to this stage. Richard had worked flat out to complete the rendering in the kitchen working late into the last evening. Edd and I put the first layer of paint onto the ceiling in the kitchen and then Josh helped us transport chairs, tables, rugs a bed and pot plants so we could make the place like a home.

We even got down the Xmas tree and decorated it with new bobbles that were the right colour. We covered three Bunning’s tables with a long cloth of Xmas design and dressed the table with green candles and table napkins. We were stuck with plastic glasses and chairs but at least everything matched. Edd strung up a rope of coloured lights and everything looked fantastic.

We catered for 18 people but at the last minute Simon felt too ill to come. Peter and Thea brought over Peter’s mother and their daughter so we had several generations represented which was what we wanted.

When everyone had stuffed themselves with too much food and the younger generations had got rid of excess energy swimming in the dam we settled down to produce music. Alvyn had his ukulele and Pia, Beth, Indigo and the rest passed round guitars. Beth sang a love song she had written for Simon that reduced Wayne to tears and sounded as if a visiting angel had joined us.

Everyone agreed that the house was just what we wanted and ideal for our way of life. All together it was just right as a start for life in our new home.

Xmas day was on a different wavelength and demonstrated all the faults in our present accommodation. The day started off stinking hot and the water in the tank rang out. There was also a power cut but just after we had finally got onto the power company to report a problem the power came back on so we had to go through the whole report process again to cancel our first communication.

By this time Beth had phoned us and was taking Simon back to hospital because he was so bad. Edd shot off into Yarra Glen to mind her kids and I tackled the milking and other farm work before starting the cleaning up process. Beth asked us if we would take the kids over to Bianca’s house so that they could join Alvyn’s kids at her house for their Xmas meal so we drove over to Warburton and back, which did for the next two hours.

There was a delay getting back to the farm because three fire engines were dealing with a fire on the embankment half way down the road. The fire was caused by a problem at and electricity pole so when we got home there was no power again. This is a disaster in the donga, as it means no toilet, water, lights or anything else.

It was getting late, and it was far to hot in the donga, so I decided that a good approach would be to do the milking early on the theory that if you have to milk by hand it is easier not to do it in the dark. I had just set everything up when the thunder storm that had been rolling around all day moved up a gear and sent down a massive burst of hail stones.
Some of the stones were an inch in diameter and not the sort of thing that allowed anyone to go anywhere. I did not know it but other places were much worse off. Alvyn and Pia both got their cars pelted with golf ball sized missiles at Yarra Glen and

Beth, who was driving a heavily drugged Simon back from, hospital had to take their van right into their brewery. She reckoned that the stones were lemon sized down there. I am not sure this is an exaggeration either, people in the city found some cricket ball sized!

Amazingly, just as the hailstones stopped the power came back on so I rapidly milked the goats and fed animals. Then the heavens opened and torrential rain drowned everything. Water was going into the tank so fast that it was leaping back out over the edge like the Niagara Falls. The gutter on the shed failed to cope and spewed a curtain of water down just by the entrance of the donga so that there was no choice but to get soaked when we tried to get in.

The thunder was still crashing away and Flynn abandoned his guard dog duties and hid trembling in the shower. We are rather dependent on Flynn to let us know if anyone is around but on a night like this it did not seem a problem. There was still no running water so I came to the conclusion that an early night was called for. The toilet on the veranda had the floor flooded and it could not be flushed, but it was too wet to worry about this and I ducked in there and left the door open so I could see where not to stand. I nearly jumped out of my skin when a large man loomed up out of the dark right in front of me.
He had been dining down the road with friends and turned up towards Craig instead of back towards Yarra Glen when he left.

Apart from the fact the road was just about washed away the creek up in the bush was flooded and he had got his gar bogged there. Edd has to turn out again in the storm with the tractor and struggle for ages to get him out! He could not even have a shower when he got in all muddy. I did not offer to help. I had had enough of Xmas day by that time!

good and bad

2011-12-20T03:26:00.000-08:00

20.12.2011

BUILDING NEWS

So far no one has slowed up for Xmas. Frank’s mob are hooling around on big machinery moving vast quantities of earth at unbelievable speeds. The air pipes are in and the soil is now level with the roof. We tried to order the scoria that goes under the soil on the roof but there is none just now. The big trench behind the house has totally gone and everything looks different. The big pile of soil stored by the road and the pile behind the house are now used up and they are starting on the soil stored below the dam.

In doors I am still grouting, but Tom and helpers have put in the new kitchen. It is made of chunky origan and looks very neat and solid. The wood is a bit pink and we might end up having to tone that down if it looks wrong with the cream stove. I went off to buy handles today and had a lucky find in a bargain store with handles a dollar or less each!

The coloured glass went in to the window tops yesterday and looks great. Most of the other glass is now in but the infill to one door was the wrong size and so are some of the louvers. I guess we will have to wait until after the holidays to get that done now.

OTHER NEWS

Yesterday was draining. I spent the day in Box Hill hospital with Beth whilst Simon went in for surgery. My main function was to make regular trips to our cars and replenish the parking tickets. On the map there was a car park but when I got there it was full of bulldozers and no use to us.

I felt so worried and upset myself that I did not feel as if I could actually be much support to Beth or anyone. Simon was brought back to the ward just before 4pm so we had a very long wait. The operation went well and he is now back home. Sadly he is in a lot of pain but he can talk very quietly. At least it is all over quickly and they do not have to worry about that bit anymore. Bianca and Indigo have been helping Beth by looking after her kids whilst she was with Simon and Wayne has been there too. Everyone is trying to help with delivering beer and the brewery is still churning out produce.

However, none of us are on top of the Xmas work. This is the first year ever that I have not been organised. My main objective is to get the hall floor grouted so that we have somewhere for our party.

The good news this week is that Josh has passed all his exams and is now an audiologist. He still needs to do some work on his research project before he completes his masters qualification. His tutor has still not contacted him about the draft he put in so he is just doing the work as best he can and sending it in at the due date, tomorrow. The other good thing was that when Alvyn came over at the week end we had our first meal in the new house. It was so relaxing! We could all sit round a table in comfort and watch the kids build a raft for the dam. It is only when at last we can do a simple thing like this that we realize how hard the last years have really been.

Can I take a rain check on Xmas?

2011-12-16T16:05:00.001-08:00

17.12.2011

Saturday again. Edd is at the market hopefully exchanging our produce for other edibles. We have been far too busy to go shopping and everything in our vegetable garden is eaten at the first possible opportunity. (I grabbed some runner beans today and noticed that there was another lettuce available for tonight.)

We are all so tired. Edd and I have to start physical work about 7am and continue on our feet until 9 or 10 at night. That is why I like the grouting job, I can do it sitting down and the house is a much better temperature than the donga. People say we should take time off and relax, but how? When we have nowhere we can even sit in comfort.

Simon goes into hospital for his operation on Monday and we really cannot think of much else. I keep making silly mistakes like pouring the kids milk into the washing up bucket instead of their feeder and my worst error was not closing the chook pen door well enough. The fox arrived mid day and we spent the afternoon trying to catch frightened hens hiding under plants all over the garden. Some of course were lost and one is in an isolation pen seriously injured.

The house is going under ground well and the earth is within a meter of the roof now. At last we begin to get an idea of how well it will fit back into the paddock. My main worry is the lack of glass. The birds are still getting in through the missing panels and I am worried that they will shit all down my newly plastered walls.

burial starts

2011-12-16T15:38:00.000-08:00

15.12.20011

BUILDING NEWS

Frank arrived early this morning and the back fill of the house began. It was amazing to watch the huge machines work within inches of the walls moving vast amounts of earth really carefully. I was surprised at how much they got done in just one day.

They have even got the first layer of polystyrene insulation foam in. They dug a trench for this after they had filled the earth in and just slotted it down.
Better still all the rubbish at the front of the house was carefully sorted and the real waste trucked behind the house for burial.

Richard also arrived early and has worked hard on the rendering. Edd and Josh got up at the crack of dawn and moved all the stuff from behind the house so Frank mobs could start and guess what? I did more grouting.
Just when it looked as if everything was going to plan we noticed that the glaziers had not showed up. This is really bad news. Why not? They left yesterday complaining madly that Yarra Glen had run out of meat pies but surely people do not stop work over that!

After a few phone calls the boss man turns up with his poor wife instead of the labour team, but by this time the day is nearly over and it is really hot. They did get some of the front panels in but the coloured glass and the rest of the double glass were in the too hard basket. We think we have extracted a promise to come back on Monday but it looks very dodgy.

OTHER NEWS

I have lost all interest in the aesthetic side of our building project, and can now only think of features that make it liveable as soon as possible. Our thoughts are dominated by worries about our family and really nothing else counts for much. How does one deal with these times? Is it better to aim at distraction or just acknowledge the situation as it really is? I suppose that I see my role as being on standby for whatever is needed. Other than that we must work as hard as possible on the house, which will give us the resources to be more helpful.

On a lighter side, Josh has found a magnificent growth of luminous fungi on the big gum tree stump. We all trouped out for a viewing last night and a neighbour with a good camera took photos. Josh had taken some shots the night before but we all felt they could be better.

14.12.2011

BUILDING NEWS

Today the glass started to go in. A team of guys arrived in the morning and unloaded the glass and then some stayed on to put it in. they were a bit of a Laurel and Hardy act at each other all day. Richard, Edd, Josh Steve and I helped when needed but mostly got quietly on with our own jobs.

I began work on the snug floor because no one really needed to go in there and Josh took his turn at the waterproofing. It was a good job he did because Frank’s gang arrived this afternoon and announced that they will start earth moving tomorrow.

Some big machinery arrived tonight so they are obviously in earnest.
Richard has nearly rendered almost all the kitchen wall and Edd helped Steve put in the laundry doorframe and the last of the architraves. Things really are changing now and it is hard to keep up with all that is needed.

OTHER NEWS

Yesterday the chook run door opened and the chooks got out. Unfortunately the fox noticed before we did and several are missing. Josh and I picked up stragglers all day. The buff Orpington was badly injured so she is on her own in an old beer drum where she may or may not recover but is at least safe from being pecked to death by her former friends. Chickens have no empathy for any of their mates who show weakness.

I moved the sheep out of the earth moving area. This was an easy job because when they saw me they followed me to the gate and went through of their own accord once I got it open. We also need to move the buck but that is harder as he has a sort of shelter that has to move with him. Then there is the fence! We probably should have moved that too. Oh well, we still have two hours of daylight.

I am rather relieved that the hours will soon start to shorten again. The sun now sets over Mt Everard but in mid winter it sets to the right of our own hill, which is a huge difference. We tend to work outside until dark so by the time the hour changes we are pretty worn out by all the extra activity.

a black cloud approaches

2011-12-12T03:28:00.000-08:00

12.12.2011

BUILDING NEWS

The plasterers were back to complete their work today and it was Edd’s turn on the waterproofing. I went to Healesville to meet Tom who is making the kitchen to consult about colour finishes. The cupboard doors are recycled oregon but I want them lightly limed so that they do not go really dark.

OTHER NEWS

I feel very helpless tonight as today brought bad news. Life can be so unfair at times.

11.12.11

BUILDING NEWS

The plaster on the ceilings is nearly finished. One more day’s work they reckon, and then sanding when it has had time to dry properly. Now that we have ceilings, keeping out damp is essential. With the threat of rain I spent Friday at the top of the scaffold water proofing outside on the west wall. Edd waterproofed the east wing on Thursday, and Josh did work on the west wing the day before. It is a horrid job and none of us is game to do two days running.

The good news is that even though it rained most of last night the inside of the house stayed dry and the ceiling was fine. I admit to rushing down there first thing this morning to check!

Steve worked on the architraves for the sliding doors this afternoon and with his, Alvyn’s and Josh’s help we loaded the heavy wood stove onto the back of the tractor and manhandled it into the house. The glass goes in on Wednesday so we needed to bring it in the easy way through the front window rather than the door at the side. We should get the gas stove in the same way too but we were running out of time today.

Alvyn discussed the driveway with us and I explained how I wanted a turning circle at the end with a carport and paths to the door. Alvyn said a twelve-meter circle diameter was needed and we worked out where this should go. We need to think of these things now before the earth moving gang arrives because it affects where the water runs drains go.

OTHER NEWS

We discovered that a feral cat had kittens under the hay in the shed. The hay is held off the earth floor on pallets so they could have a huge hidden play area. This did not put off Josh who hurled hay bales in every direction and eventually caught the fugitives. There were two kittens, one pale grey stripped and one with dark spots and stripes. They were pretty wild so we put them with food and milk in a big empty drum.

When Alvyn’s kids came today the kittens were rescued from the pit and handled until they became tame. They really were very cute and attractive so the kids, (having assured us that mum had agreed) took them home with them. That solves the cat problem for the time being, at least as far as the farm is concerned but they may be returned tomorrow because I found out later that someone was not being factual about what mum said!.

Apart from cats our other big worry is Simon who is still sick. I am so glad our windows are going in this week, as it is one step nearer to moving into a home where looking after grands kids is possible. Simon may need an operation so I need to be ready to drop everything and go into childcare mode.

2011-12-07T21:14:00.000-08:00

8.12.11

BUILDING NEWS

Today was unexpectedly entertaining. The plasterers brought stilts and strode up and down the house fixing the joints between the plasterboards. One guy had had extensive tats and definitely looked good enough for a circus! I was despatched to Lilydale to collect base coat mix but I managed to do another mix of floor grout in the afternoon and did not miss all the fun.

Josh has been grabbed for work at Beth’s restaurant so Edd is going on with the wing walls waterproof coating. Richard came but could not get much done with all the other activity where he needed to work. The plasterboard is now up in all the front rooms and some of the back passage, it makes the place seem much lighter.

The house is a cool place to work as the sun hardly gets inside this time of year. I did notice an arch of light in the snug room about lunchtime that came from the curved front windows. It was not direct sun and to tell the truth I am not totally sure what it was. Our glass is going in the windows next week so maybe we will get colour reflections in strange places, who knows.

OTHER NEWS

Alvyn is back from his trip to Lao. We have spoken to him but not face to face yet. He sounds a lot more relaxed than he was when he left. He seems to have had a real adventure. Edd spoke to Wayne on the phone too. He says he has had lots of work and been very busy so hopefully no big dramas there.

My garden is still neglected but we are getting lots of lovely strawberries and even a few raspberries and blueberries for our breakfast. The tomatoes are now setting fruit and the lettuces are large enough to eat. I have almost filled the small raised bed ready for zucchinis but I need Edd to move some earth for me with Skiddy before I plant anything.

Dot’s little doe kids are growing but have a lot of catching up to do before they are strong enough to go in with the rest of the years youngsters. They are soft gold colours and I am rather glad that she never got to her new home and have them there. Dot has always been a favourite goat so having one of her daughters that looks very like her is nice.

Difficult times

2011-12-05T19:36:00.000-08:00

6.12.11

BUILDING NEWS

There are definite signs that everyone has begun a mad bolt to finish and get things done before the Xmas break. We are having a difficult time keeping up with all that is going on.
Last week Gary and Andrew put the final touches to the actual structural work when they put the bricks onto the parapet. Luckily we managed to find just enough by raiding the last of the bricks we rescued from the old house. As these ones did not have to bear weight we could use those that we had classified as seconds. In some strange way fetching them from the house and using them seemed incredibly symbolic. Some how it signalled the move from the ruins to the new place as our family abode.

Richard also began the rendering and has now done all front arches in two days. He then got chased away by the team of plastering people who came here at some ungodly hour yesterday to start putting in the ceilings. They demanded that we clear everything out of the building and give them a clear run. This sounded like a really good excuse for me to have a break from grouting so I did a mad dash into Ringwood to my favourite hairdresser, Zoe, and she sorted me out.
Once again the plasterers arrived early today and seemed intent on working simultaneously in as many rooms as possible.

Rather reluctantly they agreed to put up the insulation as they went which left Edd free to complete his air pipe work. Luckily Josh arrived home and his extra height and long skinny arms were just what was needed. He sorted out Edd’s problems but his thoughts are off at a tangent designing a special light system that kicks in automatically if the power goes out. He carefully explained the details to me but I lack even the basic knowledge to understand more than the concept.

The ceiling went up in the end bedroom very quickly because long boards curved straight from the back wall to the front over the wood frame. The flat ceilinged rooms took a bit longer because the suspended metal braces needed to go in first. One of the men does this with the aid of a laser levelling devise and the rest follow behind. They plan to start the curved main room ceiling today whilst he is framing the east end of the back passage. The East passage is already done!

I imagine the plastering of joins will also start tomorrow. My job was to buy a role of black plastic from Yarra Glen to cover the pavers and protect them from any plaster drops. It is useless for me to think of grouting today too. I need a rest but I was doing rather well over the weekend and have almost completed work on the large kitchen floor area.

Meanwhile, Tom our cabinetmaker has injured his back and is out of action this week. He really wanted to get our kitchen in but the wall it is to go one has not been rendered so this delay is not a problem. The window glass is another matter! There is some talk of it going in on Friday! As I said it is all going a bit too fast.

OTHER NEWS

I thought I was doing really well getting my hair done, the chook food collected and the shopping done yesterday and still being in time to go out with Beth’s parents in law for dinner. I ruined my efforts at looking civilized by getting speared in the eye by a sharp twig as I dived under the oak tree to pick up a heavy bit of wood. Now I have an eye full of blood and anti biotic drops and look as worst for wear as always!

After the meal last night I drove to the hospital and read a novel until someone had time to check it out which is how I managed to get the drops early this morning and miss out on most of the nights sleeping time. It is sore but not too bad and at least I was sensible enough to spear the white of my eye not the seeing bit.

Thank goodness Josh is home. He got his work into uni by the correct time, fitted in the ethno botanical conference with his Queensland university friends and is now giving us much needed help. Alvyn should be home this week too. I have found pictures on face book of the completed pizza oven in Lao, and bread it has baked.

Simon has had yet another huge order for his beer but he also crashed the van trying to avoid a dog and is suffering from some ghastly throat complaint. Beth has her restaurant breaking all previous records and also looks about to drop. I am sure that Wayne will be in drama too but he has not seen fit to involve us at present. The Williams mob are going through tough times.

Monday, Monday

2011-11-29T00:58:00.000-08:00

29.11.11

BUILDING NEWS

Mondays always seem totally hectic. Everyone turns up all ready to roll and we are flat out making sure they have everything they need. Today we had Andrew, Larry and Phillip working on the roof putting the bricks on the top of the parapet. Gary began laying the last of the pavers in the solar buffer zone and Ayden ran around being everyone’s labourer. The stonework is now complete and the feature wall is magnificent and even has rings hanging from chains to tie up prisoners (or plants).

Richard turned up to set things up for doing the internal render and we had special expensive sand delivered, white cement and more lime for him to work with. Steve came back and put up shelf brackets and strengthening ties in the ceiling woodwork and Edd (when he got the chance) put in more of the ventilation system. I grouted another section of floor and fenced it off with discarded wiring spools to try and stop everyone walking on it until it had a chance to set.

The ground has begun to dry out after the heavy rain at the weekend. Healesville was flooded again with River Street living up to its name. It was over 30 degrees today and the house walls dried up enough for Phillip to be able to do more waterproofing.

We have run out of the final coat and need to order more to complete the job. The ceiling plasterer said he would be here but has not shoed up yet and we are not complaining because we have not put in all the air tubes. We have ordered more pipe and it should arrive tomorrow so this can be done.

OTHER NEWS

If it is not freezing cold and pouring with rain the temperature shoots up and life in the donga becomes impossible. We are happy to keep working on the new house for totally over the top hours because it is already a better place to be than up here. The good news is that Josh arrived back from Perth safely having managed the journey in two and a half days.

The bad news is that he has to get some work in for uni tomorrow and so he is not exactly good company. Edd is pretty stressed out about the building too so I am living in one room with two stressed men. Luckily Josh has decamped to Beth’s place tonight so she can try and help him with his writing. He has done all the work but finds condensing what he has discovered into a written form almost impossible.

Beth also cooked us all dinner as she guessed that it would be too hot to eat here. I am extremely lucky to have such a kind, thoughtful, hard working daughter. Especially one who lives so close! Alvyn is still away on holiday but I have found photos of him on facebook building pizza ovens!

more rain

2011-11-25T17:02:00.000-08:00

26.11.11

BUILDING NEWS

Oh dear, it is pouring with rain again. The water is still getting down the chimney and there is still one leak at the flashing on the solar room roof. Josh’s donga is also leaking and his bed is wet but our donga is miraculously dry. I am so over rain. Frank is ready to bury the house, but we must have dry soil, so this will not be happening just yet. Maybe it will be dry enough on Thursday or Friday.

The stone on the chimneys looks great and we think we have enough stone left to complete the feature wall inside. Gary then plans to put the capping bricks on the parapet and pave the rest of the floor. I am getting better at grouting and am now working on the large kitchen living room. I have made the path across the room to get the stoves in and now I will work on the rest of that room as it is taking the most wear.

Edd spent yesterday doing the waterproofing on the wing walls. It takes him a long time with his sore hand. We wish Josh was here to help. He is on the journey back from Perth and is now somewhere uncontactable on the Nullarbor. I worry about him doing this long drive alone and will be much relieved when we can get him on his mobile again.

Sioux is coming tomorrow to plan her strategy for doing the rendering on the internal walls. Edd still has the air ducting to put in so this could be a busy weekend.

OTHER NEWS

Moira had dinner with us at Beth’s restaurant on Thursday night and told us how distressing interviewing some of the fire victims has become. The more the researchers look at what is happening the clearer it becomes that the problem does not just go away after three years. Some families are breaking up under the stresses and some people are still lacking any clear vision of how they should reconstruct their lives.

We know that the farm is in a total mess but at least we have a new home that is nearly ready to look forward to. How to tackle the other issues is harder. On Thursday we got a busload of kids that we were not expecting from the high school. We have enjoyed having the kids here but we need to do something that generates an income if we are ever to be able to put the rest of the farm right.

Actually it is amazing how much can be done with a tractor and slasher, but we really need to start soon before everywhere gets totally over grown. My garden is now smothered in weeds but like the farm I am having to ignore it in order to focus on getting the house built.

stone work

2011-11-24T22:40:00.000-08:00

full speed ahead

2011-11-23T14:58:00.000-08:00

24.11.11

BUILDING NEWS

Where on earth did this week go? I can’t believe that it is Friday tomorrow! We have had lots of workers this week. Gary arrived on Monday with a team of extra workers. I was happy to see that these included my friends younger son, Andrew, who I have know since he was a baby. He has done lots of work for us over the years but his main job is in landscape design so he is good with the stonework. The stone team also included Larry, who I have not met before and Andrews apprentice, Ayden.

Pat and helper came to work on the wiring and one of the plumbers worked with Edd yesterday trying to fix the solar panels, Trying being the operative word because the stands we were given in Dandenong last Saturday did not fit the panels. Even

Steve came back to finish the wood framing he had put up and set places for the lights.
I carried on with my usual grouting but this was hard because all the workers brought their dogs to work with them. I am not happy about this but as I really like the work they are doing and want it done fast it is probably better not to make a fuss.

The stonework outside at the front is now complete and today everyone is up on the roof putting stone round the chimneys. They have also started a feature wall inside the solar buffer zone that looks fantastic. They decided to do the wall before paving the last floor section in case the stone messes up the pavers. I am now grouting a path from the to the kitchen back wall so that we can bring the stoves in.

Edd has now brought the air pipes and we need to get them up in the ceilings as soon as possible. The plasterers say they will be here Monday or possibly tomorrow and it needs to be done before they get here. The drainage cell to go outside also arrived yesterday so now all that is needed is a bit of waterproofing on the back of the wing walls and then we are ready to bury the house! Things really are moving fast now.

OTHER NEWS

Moira visited us again this week and interviewed me again as part of her fire trauma research project. I actually found it very hard this time. It is well over a year since we last did this and I have got used to the new shape of our life so that it is now our normal. I just do not have time to think about the past. As we get close to having a house again I do sometimes think of all the things we don’t have to put in it.

I miss silly things like a big smooth rock that lived by the door. It shattered in the fire to reveal that it was made of quartzite but we could not tell this before as it had been polished in the creek until it glistened. How sad also that all the artwork I had done over my lifetime is gone and of course I will miss the amazing antique furniture my family in the UK gave us.

a dip into colour

2011-11-18T15:34:00.000-08:00

19.11.11

BUILDING NEWS

Saturday has come round very fast this week. It is a wet day so we are planning to go down to Dandenong and pick up the rest of the water system from Pivot. I have fed the animals and done the milking but Edd is still not back from the market.

Yesterday got quite hot but I was able to start grouting at by the front entrance. We need to have a path grouted from the door to the kitchen so that we can bring the heavy stoves in without damaging the pavers. I have still a bit of a way to go on this project!

One uplifting thing was that the rug I had ordered on line arrived and we like it. I have found a wonderful web site with an endless supply of rugs from antique Persian to kids Disney. They seemed so cheap that I was a bit dubious so I waited until one came on sale that I fancied and tested them out. Rather to my surprise the delivery was prompt and the rug amazing! The temptation for more adventurous buys increases. At least I have a start to planning the colours in the living room now.

Colours are one of my great loves. I dream about wool shops with every colour combination imaginable and get very excited when I find new combinations that please me. The challenge now is to paint a picture that will go with my rug. In reality I had better just keep building. There is still a lot to do and we need to keep at it if we are to get to a non-building stage.

After three years of effort to rebuild the house shed and fences we have forgotten what a different life was like. We are sore, exhausted and just long to be able to relax and think about something else.

OTHER NEWS

It was 37 degrees in here again last night but Peter and Thea came over and we cooked a BBQ tea in the ruins. It all worked out well because the storm did not come in until our meal was over and then it brought cooler weather so we got a good night’s sleep.

I am very excited because Josh is heading home from Perth next week. We have really missed him and his plants need some attention. I try my best with his collection of orchids and cacti but they do need more TLC as the weather heats up.

We have strawberries fruiting large delicious fruit in the big pots and Indigo picket a large bucket of mulberries on Friday. Our grape fruit are huge this year with all the rain and the peaches apples and plums are forming. The loquats seem to be having a low production year but they are badly fire damaged so probably need their energy for survival. The old oak tree by the house is looking much healthier and has grown new branches to replace the old burnt ones that are gradually falling off.

Beth has started writing songs and singing with her guitar again. We are all thrilled and love her work. I do prefer that sort of music to most opera though I admit that some duets can be very beautiful.

pass the buck day

2011-11-16T01:54:00.000-08:00

16.11.11

BUILDING NEWS

This week is crazy. We have so much going on that it is hard getting my head round it. Gary is amazing. He just keeps working at a steady pace and lets everything else flow around him. He now has a helper and together they are hammering the sandstone into shape and slowly disappearing the concrete blocks. Edd is totally thrilled. He thinks it looks exactly as he wanted.

I am more interested in what is going on inside the house where the plumbing and wiring is also being done. The termite barrier guy apologised for the barrier falling off and he is back today reapplying the orange stuff. Edd and Craig are trying to organise the drainage cell that forms the layer over the termite stuff. I just carry on with the grouting. It is quite a nice job because it is cool and fresh in the house. The builders complain our donga is too hot at lunchtime! It is not even 30 degrees then so we think this is odd.

By evening today the back of the house was once again orange with termite protection and the basics of the hydronic system are plumbed in and tested. The head tank is now in one of the chimneys and the skinny plumber was inserted into the chimney to get all the pipes through the bond deck. Pat has wires looped everywhere and some walls have socket fittings in place.

OTHER NEWS

Yesterday there were two more agendas going on as well as the building. David H came over and built made two new above ground vegetable beds and goat keepers from North of us and South of us met here so we could exchange buck kids. I was rather worried about the latter.

My farm management is not at its peak this year whilst we have been concentrating on the house building. The goats are looking reasonably fat and healthy and have their feet trimmed but our fences and sheds are very make shift with baler twine being a prominent feature! We have brought bucks from both couples before and I was worried that they would not think our set up was up to scratch.

The Banjo, the Pinerock buck kid that was brought down for us is a lovely little boy. He has been shown and won ribbons so we are very lucky to have him. He is white but is not from Saanen parents so he could throw any colour kids. Whilst the buck swap was occurring David managed to sort out the grow beds so I now have the basis of a big new area to grow food which is fantastic.

We thought yesterday was pretty full on, but it was even more so today when another group from Eaton came to do volunteer work. We had a very messy area behind Josh’s donga that was full of fallen trees, wire, and a tangle of weeds and long grass.

By tonight these wonderful people had the area all cleared and everything sorted. The trees are sawn up and added to woodpiles. The wire is back on the old concrete brewery floor and the rubbish is down on the burning pile. I feel much happier now about snakes who have just lost their hiding places.

life is one long build

2011-11-12T21:32:00.000-08:00

13.11.11

Sunday and we are back building again. Steve is here and I am just about ready to start the day’s grouting session. Strangely my knees are fine but my hands are wearing out fast. A storm is gathering and I have had to waste time getting in the barley we were drying in the sun and hanging out the washing in the hope it dries before the rain arrives.

Steve says he will help me build the funny shaped bathroom which is fantastic. At present it is all pre-plastering work. None of us can agree on when the plasterers said they would start. Steve and I are worried it might be this week but Edd thinks the following one. The wall rendering definitely could start next week so I am working on relevant floors.

12.11.2011

BUILDING NEWS

It is Saturday, but work continues. I am grouting the bathroom floor and Edd and Steve have put the flashing on the back of the solar zone roof. The idea is to get everything ready so that the ceilings can be plastered. Also with this dead line in mind we had an invasion of plumbers and electricians at the end of last week. Everything looks very messy but there is hope that order will emerge once these tasks are complete.

I am still on the search for suitable lights and that sort of thing. I had a hot tiring day looking at shops last week without much to show for my efforts. My big purchase boiled down to two cushions and a tea towel! This is part of my research into suitable colours. The other good thing was that I saw tables in a café that are like the one we have ordered for the kitchen and I really thought they looked good.

We also had the termite barrier put up but it was not done with much thought and some of it washed off when evening came and we had a storm.

OTHER NEWS

I am still struggling to treat goat’s feet problems. Edd used to do feet but his broken hand made this impossible so I have had to take over. I am slowly winning and now only two still have problems. I really need to get the horses in and have their feet done again. This wet year has caused their feet to grow fast too. I am finding that a rasp is easier to use on the goats than the clippers. I see on the net that some people use an angle grinder. On the other hand the goats are now looking well fed and glossy. They shed their winter coats fairly early this year.

The mulberry trees are covered with fruit but sadly I have no time to make jam. I am spending every day from 8 in the morning to 6 at night working on our new house. Then I have to come in and cook tea before doing the milking and even feeds. We are too tired when we eventually get to bed even to read books.

Thunderstorm stops work

2011-11-08T00:13:00.000-08:00

8.11.2011

BUILDING NEWS

We woke today to a thunderstorm and heavy rain. It even managed to get into the toilet and make the seat damp. Not a good way to start any day! On the positive side all our builders stayed somewhere better and we had a chance to go out and tackle all the issues that we have been ignoring.

Yesterday was completely different with sunshine and heat and we worked on the house from 8am to nearly 8pm. I managed to grout the laundry floor and Gary continued with the stonework. Edd organised the next stage of the build. The termite layer people could come this week and the earth covering could go on next week.

With this organised Edd had to get back onto his task of waterproofing the front and wing walls. He has taken the plaster off his right hand but he is finding that he gets very sore and he is not working very fast. The floor rendering is not doing my hands much good either. In other words we were glad of an excuse to do something different today.

Tom has gone off to buy the recycled wood to make the kitchen and we have spoken to our friends at the stone place and started the process of getting our granite bench tops. Pat thinks he might come tomorrow to work on the electricity and Edd has to chase up Craig about buying draining cell. This all adds up to making a lot of things that should all get done fast.

OTHER NEWS

Christmas is coming. Panic, panic panic ! Today our odd shopping trip included buying cloth to hide the trestle tables for the Xmas feast and some decorations. We also collected barley from Simon’s brewery and took produce into Beth’s restaurant. We also found some stainless steel tube in Pete’s bargain centre that would do to hang pans on too, but it was too long to fit into the car.

The man who has the air tubes was once again unavailable but we checked up on the steel works where they are making our chimney covers. This is a great place. They let me raid their waste metal bin.

One hour was wasted in the hospital waiting to get Edd’s hand injury checked. The wait was actually our fault as Edd had got the wrong day. The girls in the hand clinic bent over backwards to fit him in. They do tell him he is doing all the wrong things but they tell him nicely. Rather belatedly we found time to get some food.

It is getting sort of tropical. Steamy, hot and damp with plants growing wildly and very green. My poor garden has been neglected and is disappearing under all the weeds. We had planned a workday there today but the weather won.

full on action

2011-11-05T22:39:00.000-07:00

6.11.11

BUILDING NEWS

This week has been crazy. There were so many trades’ men in the house that I could not get to the floor to do any grouting until Saturday. Pat has started roughing in the electricity system, Dion has been finishing his roof and Gary has started the stonework. Edd and Steve are back on carpentry doing the bits that are needed for the electrical and plumbing work.

We are thrilled with the stonework, the pale gold of the sand stone gives the right contrast with the other materials and is not too overpowering. We are so lucky having Gary around to put it up for us. I am also excited about the chimney for the kitchen exhaust that is Steve is doing. We have studied Google images and are building our own interpretation of ones we like.

I am having less luck with light fittings. Once again the only ones I like cost nearly $500.00 each! I need to go on a search mission to see if I can find anything useful for a cheap replica. I can see that hanging metal baskets and cooking basins up side down with holes drilled might work if we could find the right ones.

OTHER NEWS

Our poor sick lamb died yesterday but I think I now know what was wrong. The land here is deficient in selenium and the lambs symptoms align exactly with white muscle disease that a lack of selenium causes. We always have the right salt licks for our stock and have not seen any problems for about 25 years. I think there is a link with high rainfall but I have not had time to research this yet. It is a pity the vet did not make the connection when we took the lamb in, because he might have been saved with the right treatment at that point.

I will now need to look at all the other animals and find out if we need to do anything for them. Long ago we gave our horses injections as it helped them when their hoofs were soft so there may even be a link between the feet problems people are having this year. It certainly accounts for animals being weak at birth.

31.10.11

BUILDING NEWS

Edd and Dion have spent the day working on the roof. They are just finishing off the two cantilever ends now. I started to dig out a hole in the solar zone to sink a planter box into. It is hard going and I am having lots of breaks to do other things. It is still too wet for grouting so I am leaving that at the moment.

Chris L delivered the laundry system that I had brought second hand. He has a taxi truck service that I frequently need for large purchases and this was certainly one. The difficult bit is going to be getting into the laundry it is so large and awkward.

OTHER NEWS

We had a great party at Beth’s last night. Everyone brought food so there was a feast. Alvyn came in with Pia and told us that he had been sailing in high winds. He had managed to cope with the situation but found odd turns were needed to avoid capsizing.
Indigo is coming to stay tonight and we are all planning some sort of do for cup day.

time to relax

2011-10-29T22:40:00.000-07:00

30.10.11

BUILDING NEWS

It is raining yet again. This time I am actually rather glad. It has given Edd and I the chance of a rare days relaxation. Last Friday, completely to our surprise the waterproof mob turned up and completed their work and the first truckload of sand stone arrived for the cladding. Dion and Edd could not put up any more roofing iron because it was blowing an almighty gale. Dion sat on his roof and added more screws. This seemed a totally appropriate approach top the conditions. I am so glad the big gum tree has gone.

Unsecured stuff all blew everywhere. All the bin lids in the shed set off for a holiday but they fortunately avoided crashing into our cars as they exited. The swing seat blew over and ended up twisted over the ruin’s back wall. The stone deliveryman had come a day early because like us he was aware that the wind was bringing in more rain. He had the longest truck we have had here so far because he had a forklift on the back. He helped us by shifting the out door paver pallets that were too close to the building.

Alvyn came on Saturday. This was good because I wanted to discuss the lights and other such stuff. We have ordered the kitchen benches but I was still not sure about whether a table or an island bench would be best to complete the area. I realised that we needed to be clear about this so we could place the light fittings correctly.

With Alvyn’s help and some chalk marks on the floor we agrees on a correct position and size but what of the height? When Alvyn showed me some suggested designs I saw that it was possible to make a piece of furniture that could be raised or lowered to the desired height Nothing like keeping your options open.

OTHER NEWS

The poor animals are once again hating the shifts in temperature. The sick lamb is a lot better but the goats are moulting and have no protection. Edd and I have put the donga heater on again and shut the windows. Opening or shutting windows is an effort. They have to be opened from outside and are often too stiff for me to work.

Tonight we have a party at Beth’s place for Simon’s birthday. Recently I discovered that I still had Lady Mary’s recipe for Anchovy biscuits so I have made some for the party. I think I will add less anchovies next time but two tins were stated and as my anchovies were in a huge glass jar I just had to guess the amount.

I am disadvantaged by having lost all my recipe books in the fires. I had collected recipes from relatives and friends for years and carefully preserved them. I mostly cook by seeing what food I can find in the garden and using the herbs and spices to hand but just sometime I like to remember the past. Talking of which, Beth has suggested we do a repeat of our first Xmas meal here. We ate crayfish and Stilton by fire light under our old shed roof and watched the full moon rise over Hargreaves Hill. We had not yet built the old house and were sort of camping out on the land here. This might be a really lovely way to start life in our new home.

at last roofing starts

2011-10-25T23:54:00.000-07:00

26.10.11

BUILDING NEWS

Dry weather and the first sheets of roofing iron have gone up on the solar buffer zone. Amazing! Edd and Dion worked first to put up fencing wire, then insulation and finally the iron itself. The fencing wire supports the air cell insulation, which would sag without it.

Gary did half a day on the floor but then had to leave. Once again we had school kids. They moved the last of the gum tree logs. So now that area is ready and the trench for the services can go in.

I have been researching light bulbs because I know that the electricians are soon going to ask all sorts of questions about the fittings. I think I will get LED globes that fit in standard pendant light fittings that go inside lampshades. These bulbs are horrendously expensive at present, but they seem the most ecologically sound option as they are low energy and free of toxins.

So far I have not found a picture of the hanging unit I want over the island bench in the kitchen. I want a rack that I can hang my pans from and that has lights and a power socket that can be lowered when needed. As usual I decide on something that no one else has heard of and have to start from scratch. I see myself as finding practical solutions but I am aware that I must seem just plain difficult to everyone else!

An interesting point is that the house is already keeping a more stable internal temperature than the donga we are living in. On hot days it is like a cool cave and when the temperature drops you can feel residual warmth coming out of the walls.

OTHER NEWS

The lamb we are bottle-feeding got sick this week. Edd took him to the vet and she thinks he might have pneumonia (which was what I thought). He is now on antibiotics but still very sick. The sudden temperature changes we are having might be causing the problem but I suspect some other factor that we have not thought of as well.

We have now treated all the young female goats for worms as well as the skinny elder goats. I cannot treat them all because we cannot drink the milk from those we worm for several weeks. There is a different drench that can be used but it is not being very effective this year.

The school kids have raked out all the sand by the pool and I have planned a layout for my new raised veggie beds. Edd has gone to the hospital this after noon for a check up on his hand. I hope it is better soon because I need his help with the bed building. I am totally hopeless at woodwork.

Do we have gutters?

2011-10-22T20:56:00.000-07:00

23.10.11

BUILDING NEWS

It is Sunday and Steve and Edd are working hard trying to put up the gutters before the next rain strikes. They had planned to do this work yesterday but it rained all day and in the evening we had a thunderstorm and very heavy rain. We are definitely over rain and wondering why we ever complained about the thirteen-year drought!

I have been sent off to by gutter silicone but I also called in at a local bargain centre and found a second hand commercial sink unit that will suit our laundry. It is slightly smaller than the space but we can adapt it. It has three enormous sinks that would be ideal for beer making or washing big stuff like blankets and animals.

My other good find was a picture of the type of toilet door I want. I have a good site on the Internet called ‘one of a kind’, or something like that and it has loads of photos of buildings inside and out that are different. I did not think anyone else had a door like I wanted but I was wrong and there was a photo of exactly what I tried to explain to Steve and Edd.

At the bargain centre I also brought two second hand lead light lampshades. That sorts out two rooms. Edd and I can never decide about light fittings, mainly because anything we really like costs a fortune. These were very cheap and will put off the problem for years.

The kitchen building man is coming on Monday. We also have more school students and possibly Alvyn. Lets us pray for dry weather.

OTHER NEWS

Dot is bagging up and getting ready to kid. Unfortunately her new owners have found it impossible to get ready for her and now she will have to stay until after the birth at least as it is too late for her to have the upset of travel and relocation. Not to worry, she is always an asset to have around.

My family is muddling on. Josh slept for a day and a half after all the stress his uni put him through but luckily he has woken up still prepared to keep trying. I wish he was still studying at James Cook University. There they put in an enormous effort to get the best out comes and put the students first. It seems to be different in WA and the distance means that he is not able to come home much.

When he went to JC the study allowance we gave him (equal to the government allowance), was enough to pay for board at the university so at least he did not have to cook, clean and shop as well as everything else. In WA the university accommodation is too expensive so the whole exercise is much harder. The trouble is that all the universities say wonderful things about themselves but it is not until you get there that the real story emerges.

20.10.11

BUILDING NEWS

Rain so all work stops. Actually a break was needed badly. Edd has been on the phone all morning working on organisation and he has now gone off to collect materials. Two of the gutter pieces, had to be redesigned. When Edd and Steve put up what they had thought was needed, the fall towards the gutter pop was not enough.

Gary has completed all the internal floors and is now in a rain-affected area under the non-existent roof. We were hoping it would be up by now but our mistake over the gutters has caused yet another delay. We have had our usual Friday check up on the progress of our stone and as far as we can make out it is still being split.

Edd has found a plasterer who could start in approx three weeks and the waterproof mob are still talking. The net conclusion is that we are not getting things done on schedule. Or anywhere near what we had planned. At least Alvyn has found someone who says they can make and install the kitchen by Xmas.

OTHER NEWS

Things other than our build range from black to white. On the positive side a local school has supplied us with young people all week and they have worked miracles. We have now completely cleaned out the cellar and sorted and cleaned all the stuff that was dumped in it. Today we got all the camping gear, sports equipment, spare furniture and clothes up the ladder into the storage area above Edd’s tool shed.

All this is a big step forward. The cellar had not been cleaned out since before the fires. After the fires it was the one place left to put everything and was heavily used. It was, offcourse filled with the smoke fumes and dust but we managed to ignore this.

Moving everything was a heavy dirty job and I just did not feel I could tackle it on my own.
Now that the cellar is empty we can wash it out, reseal it, and raise the floor a bit to avoid future flooding. The only reason we were able to save anything we owned was because it provided a safe spot so I am really happy now that it can be reclaimed.

On the negative side we are really worried about most of our family who are totally stressed and having a bad time. They are all working incredibly hard and yet not really managing to get their situation into calmer waters. I am not sure if this is just us, or part of a more general problem. Certainly all the men who are helping us build are going through similar stresses.

Chris is back today sawing up the big tree trunk. Yesterday morning we were woken up by strong winds rocking the donga and sending tree limbs flying. I was so relieved that the big gum was no longer a problem. Dead branches from the oak tree blew everywhere but it is not hanging over a main pathway.

everything going wrong

2011-10-19T01:11:00.001-07:00

19.10.11
BUILDING NEWS

The water proofing mob were not sent all the stuff they ordered from Sydney so there is yet another delay. BUT, Dion has been here this morning and put the missing bolts into the roof structure. Edd and Steve are now doing the gutters and then maybe, the roof will finally go on.

Gary is soldiering on alone with the paving and is now working his way down the solar buffer zone, front section of the house. My back is very sore after helping to hold up the AC sheets yesterday. My left hand is weak and can hardly pick up a piece of paper so I find handling weights at heights on a scaffold hard. Basically, I am exhausted, I think Edd is too.

OTHER NEWS

Today I was meant to have four students from the Catholic school here for Christian weak. I drove to Yarra Glen to collect them but they failed to show up. Luckily I had anticipated that this situation could happen so I had organised numbers to phone to contact the school.

When I got home one student had arrives because he had been driven up by his parents, so we started to clean out the cellar. This poor young man worked really hard all day with me. I tried to make things a bit more acceptable by teaching him how to drive the ride on mower and use it to cart the contents of the cellar to new locations.

Nothing has gone well today and we also have Josh in difficulties in Perth. The way Josh has been treated by his university supervisor seems absolutely unacceptable even allowing for any thing Josh might or might not have done. The last thing we need is a new battle but sometimes sticking up for ones rights is essential.

18.10.2011

BUILDING NEWS

We have finally got all the AC sheets up under the eaves. It was harder this week because we have lost Toby! He and Gary are on opposing sides in a family issue and he told us it was better if he did not come at the moment. This has also slowed down the paving because Gary is now working alone.

Yesterday was a perfect day with no wind and Chris came with two mates to take down the big gum. He said that the big branch over hanging the swing was just dust inside! It is very sad now it has gone. I have already forgotten how it looked in it’s dying form and only remember the magnificent tree that it was before the fires. It is a bit like my feelings about people.

Once they have died you can remember what they were like at their best.
We will now be able to dig the power and water in safely and when that is all over I can replant with trees again. This time I will not put anything that grows to such height next to the power lines! This might be soon too. The water proof mob tell us that they may be able to complete the job tomorrow and then we can get organised for the back fill and burying the whole building, that really would be a big step forward.

OTHER NEW

The animals are looking a lot happier now the weather has improved. My teenage goats are filling out a bit and we have let the sheep and lambs into the old hay paddock where they have fresh grass. Tomorrow I have some school kids coming so I have to prepare work for them. I have decided that with the weather like this we can clean out the cellar.

Tired

2011-10-16T14:50:00.000-07:00

14.10.2011
BUILDING NEWS

Thank goodness it is Friday. We are all exhausted. Steve is putting up the AC sheets under the eves and the cantilevered end is very difficult. Today we had Toby Steve and myself up on the scaffold and Edd balancing on the top of a ladder, all trying to get a sheet fitted and into place. Good thing we are not affected by heights!

My hands feel like paws after all the grouting work. I try to do at least a square metre a day. This is slow progress but I am getting better at it. Toby’s main job today is to carry buckets of concrete and do the last bit of core filling on the wing walls. We all agree that for a young chap, Toby is exceptionally good-natured and hard working. A result of this is that he has become everybody’s dog’s body and is continually pulled off one task to help with another.

By the end of the day the lining to the eaves is up on two sides of the roof and there is only the third side, another over hang one to go. Once this is done the gutters can go up and then the roof!!! The plumbers disappeared again but they sorted out all the issues when they were here earlier in the week so we can all keep going with out them now.

We have been sent photos of the stone, which is being split, for us. It looks like a long job to me. People say we should put the stone in before the glass. I suppose it might be a good idea. I am still crawling round in the back passage with grout and there is still lots to do.

OTHER NEW

A tragedy. One of the moorit ewes lambs was dead this morning. It was still warm when I found it and there was no sign of anything wrong. A sort of cot death happening. I have also got three large goats scouring. They have probably eaten too much in the way of spring greens but I have wormed them just in case and kept them in the yard eating hay. They are not at all happy about this. It has been an extremely difficult year for animal health. The continual rain and extreme swings in temperature do not help at all.

The grass is certainly growing like mad now. I mowed down all the pathways today because it is now warm enough for the snakes to come out. I did not see any snakes but an enormous fox walked out right in front of me by the old house ruins. I expect it is after all the rabbits that live there.

Josh rang up from Perth last night to debrief about a young child he had to test. He found that the kid had very little hearing and this had not been picked up until he was almost school age. Josh was very worried about him. Josh is nearly at the end of his Audiology course and we are looking forward to him coming home for Xmas soon.

a difficult birth

2011-10-12T14:16:00.000-07:00

12.10.2011

BUILDING NEWS

A small army of workers showed up today when a team of plumbers joined the usual mob. Plumbers arrive unannounced as usual but luckily Steve had most of the hot water cylinder support up so we were all able to raise it into position. We have been told that tomorrow they will add water and test their system for leaks, but where will the water come from?

Gary and Toby have almost completed the big room floor and Steve and Edd spent the afternoon working on a system to suspend AC sheet under the large eaves. Edd has to keep explaining that he only has one hand, but basically he is managing remarkably well. I could not get at the floor top do any grouting so I occupied myself by painting the AC sheets.

We are waiting for things to dry out again for the waterproof gang. We really need them to complete their work so that we can fill in behind the house before putting water and electricity in. Pat came yesterday to do some power down the walls under the outside roof but we need the gutters up before Dion comes back to put the corrugated roofing in place.

Chris our local tree doctor came out to inspect the last of the big blue gums. It was burnt in the fire but we trimmed off some dead branches and waited to see if it would recover. Last time we had a strong wind it really scared me showering dead limbs over the path and the power line. I then looked closer and saw that it was dying. It is an awfully big tree to die in such an inconvenient location.

Chris agrees that it will not recover so we need to deal with it before we dig the power lines in over it’s roots. There is, offcourse, no “we” in this operation. I leave the whole procedure to Chris and try not to watch. He dangles at horrible heights with a chain saw in what looks like a totally suicidal scenario.

OTHER NEW

The old moorit sheep and her two lambs are recovering well and I will be able to release them back to the paddock soon. The ewe lambed earlier in the week but the second lamb was presented wrong and got stuck. Luckily I was able to catch her and in a rather unorthodox procedure I was able to hold onto her tail with one hand to stop her running away, and grope up her back side with the other hand until I found the front legs and could hook them forward and deliver the lamb. I had thought it might be dead already, but I was wrong and it has recovered well with out intervention.

I did find a little time this week for the garden and planted out more lettuce seedlings. I should really have snow peas in and all the other spring crops but there is nowhere rabbit proof for them to go yet. I must get the basil in somewhere; I can’t imagine a summer with out pesto!

Time is going too fast

2011-10-10T16:55:00.000-07:00

10.10.2011

Monday morning saw us all back at work on the house. Gary and Toby laying pavers, me grouting them, Steve building a support cupboard for the hot water tank and Edd still trying to sort out his roof. Steve came over on Sunday and he and Edd planned to do the gutters then but the weather was so wet and the house site was flooded so we all went out to lunch at Beth’s restaurant instead!

We are at a funny stage where we are doing some of the internal fittings despite the fact that we are not at lock up stage and all the rain and weather still blow right in. If we wait until the roof is done we will be so behind that we will run into Xmas and everyone we need will disappear.

Alvyn has done the kitchen plans and sent them out for quotes. Steve says he can do it if all else fails but he has a lot of other work to do so I don not want to hold that up. The stone people have the stone but it is not quite what was ordered and they are having to break it into smaller pieces. Edd and Gary would like to go and look but there never seems enough time.

Even I have too much to do. The grouting is a very long job and needs to be done so that the plumbing bits can go in. Also the walls need rendering behind radiators etc. but I have not even started that yet. Edd is being very brave and doing as much as possible, (probably far more than is sensible), but still, with a splinted right hand some things are impossible.

OTHER NEWS

Edd can now drive my car so he took the produce to market on Saturday. I did the animals so that in the afternoon we were able to join the family up at sugar loaf dam. Alvyn was on duty so I joined him in the rescue boat and Edd stayed on shore and talked to Beth. The three young boys entered their first race but they got in the wrong position and the wind dropped so we had to tow them back to the ramp. Not a good start to competing! I hope it does not put them off.

Simon joined us later and also went out but the wind had improved by then. He is off interstate this week to try and buy more beer vats. He has some very big orders and needs the capacity to brew ten times a week instead of three. Mean while he was serving in the restaurant in an apron when we went in. No one could ever say he is not a worker!

Bianca is also working at the restaurant; helping with the cooking. She is trying really hard to earn enough money to pay the mortgage on the house so she can keep it. We are all a bit worried that it will be too much for her, but she is really trying.

6.10.2011

BUILDING NEWS

Rather to our surprise the plumbing team turned up today and started putting the pipe lines in the ceilings. We were expecting the waterproof guys but they could not find a generator so that was off. This was a shame because it was a good day for that work and the building was dry.

Gary and Toby are working steadily and the floors are getting paved. The designs are a sort of compromise between their practicalities and my ideas but we are getting better at working together. They hate the way I do the grouting but there is method in my madness and I am the one who will be cleaning the floors!

Dion did not come but Edd got up on the scaffold and started cutting the cement sheets that go under the eaves. We both are rather amazed at how neatly it goes together. Our biggest problem is that with day light saving we are working until we are exhausted each night.

One hand Edd

2011-10-03T02:04:00.000-07:00

3.10.2011

BUILDING NEWS

Everyone turned up to work on this very frosty Monday morning. I am not sure if much progress was made but at least we all tried. Things are happening but so slowly that one day does not show much progress. Tonight I exhausted myself undoing some of the work because I we did not like how the floor in the hall had turned out!

Over the week end Edd (using only one hand), and I cleaned out the building. We swept up all the sawdust and moved all the off cuts left by the carpentry work and then sealed as much of the floor as we could. There were huge puddles in some places and although I mopped them up even a heater did not get them dry enough to treat with the seal stuff.

OTHER NEWS

Sylvie had her third birthday on Saturday, so we all had a family day at Beth’s house in Yarra Glen. In the morning she had the birthday party with a pink theme. Beth decorated her house with pink flowers draped over the doors and made pink food.

Beth’s mother in law cooked a special pink doll cake and every child went home with a gift in a pink bag.
It was also grand final day for the football so when the birthday guests had left we got down to the serious business of making our traditional Cornish pasties. Edd directs this procedure so that the finished pasties are very authentic. Some how it always seems to be Beth that does most of the work though.

Alvyn Indigo and Wayne joined us to watch the cup on TV. I fell asleep during the best bit of the game but I was very relaxed. In my opinion there is nothing better in life than to be surrounded by ones family, all happy and just enjoying the moment. I am so privileged having such a big peaceful family group. I support Collingwood, as it was the Yuendumu team, but everyone else supported the winners.

Edd went back to the hospital today and they rearranged the splint on his hand so that he now has two fingers he can use as well as his thumb. It took up most of the day but Edd is thrilled. His hand is still very swollen but the X-ray showed that the bones are still aligned. The X-rays also showed that he had a break last time his had was hurt a few week ago but it all seems to be healing. It is probably a good thing no one X-rayed my ankle!

rain and broken bones

2011-09-29T03:08:00.000-07:00

28.9.2011

BUILDING NEWS

Zero.

OTHER NEWS

X-rays revealed that Edd had broken a bone in his hand and the hospital plastered his arm and hand and strapped the whole thing in a way that prevented him driving and doing more or less everything else. He drove himself to the hospital but Beth, Simon and his dad rescued him and the ute.

I worked with the builders and then we met up again at the Bohdi tree restaurant for Tilba’s birthday. Bianca had organised a party and asked us all along. She and Alvyn deserve top marks for the way they handled the occasion and put aside any personal difficulties to give their son a good family party.

Even so there was this overtone of sadness. Indigo and Arjuna were busy else where but all the other usual friends and extended family were present. It was the same as usual, but totally different and my main feeling was sadness.

Huge winds yesterday blew in a thunderstorm and non-stop rain. It is still pouring now and everything is thoroughly miserable. Down at our house site I picked up all the tools and put them in dry corners because the rain was blowing right in the front where there should be a roof and windows. It was obviously impossible to do any work there so we have all had a day off.

Edd and I went out and sat by the fire in Beth’s restaurant where we had a very delicious meal. Then we worked on organisation. I worked did the accounts and Edd got on the phone to get gutters and flashing picked up and that sort of thing. For once the donga has not leaked but the rain has blown right through the sheds and the animals are having a bad time.

27.9.2011

BUILDING NEWS

Steve and Edd are now working on the frame of the passage ceiling. Edd fell over and hurt his wrist and Steve cracked his head on his trailer. They both tried their best to ignore the pain and keep working. Dion comes and goes but there are no noticeable changes to the roof he is building and we still have no protection from the rain.

I have made some progress with the grouting. I do this job myself so that I can fill the joints between the pavers right to the floor level. Once I do this the floor looks like a brick floor and is extremely easy to clean even with a sponge mop. It is actually better than a brick floor because the edges of the pavers are rounded and much smoother than bricks.

Gary is now working on the rounded patterns in the main bedroom. He has completed the back passage and made a great design in the entrance hall. I am well behind him with the grouting and I can see myself spending the next few months on my knees trying to catch up.

OTHER NEWS

There were a lot of men all working in one corner of the house today so I abandoned my work down there and cleaned out our donga instead. It really needed doing.

2011-09-27T04:24:00.001-07:00

27.9.2011

BUILDING NEWS

Steve and Edd are now working on the frame of the passage ceiling. Edd fell over and hurt his wrist and Steve cracked his head on his trailer. They both tried their best to ignore the pain and keep working. Dion comes and goes but there are no noticeable changes to the roof he is building and we still have no protection from the rain.

I have made some progress with the grouting. I do this job myself so that I can fill the joints between the pavers right to the floor level. Once I do this the floor looks like a brick floor and is extremely easy to clean even with a sponge mop. It is actually better than a brick floor because the edges of the pavers are rounded and much smoother than bricks.

Gary is now working on the rounded patterns in the main bedroom. He has completed the back passage and made a great design in the entrance hall. I am well behind him with the grouting and I can see myself spending the next few months on my knees trying to catch up.

OTHER NEWS

There were a lot of men all working in one corner of the house today so I abandoned my work down there and cleaned out our donga instead. It really needed doing.

Friday at last

2011-09-22T22:09:00.000-07:00

23.9.2011

BUILDING NEWS

The good news is that Garry and Toby have paved the back passage. The bad news is that Edd and Steve have not yet finished the main room ceiling frame. Dion is making slow progress with the roof and even though the waterproof mob worked all yesterday they still did not complete the job. I have got no more done on the grouting either because I have been sent off fetching stuff for everyone else.

Yesterday I had lunch with Alvyn and we planned the kitchen cupboards. I do not find kitchen cupboards at all inspiring but I suppose they are useful. I have decided on a whitened wood look and Alvyn suggests oregon wood so that I can have thick shelves like I had before. He also likes the granite we found at our special stone shop.

I rang the stone people today and apparently my stone is moving slowly closer and might reach the shop next week! I am told that granite bench tops come slowly too, so I need to allow two months or so. That means an order has to go in soon if I want them before 2012. At least now we have planned the kitchen we know what we need.

It will all be possible if Garry continues to be able to lay the floor at this rate. Everything goes on top of the floor so it has to be done first. Garry is not at all sure I am capable of doing the grouting and keeps making worrying noises. I am sure I can do it but with everything else I have to do even I have to admit that my progress is minimal up to date.

OTHER NEWS

Our life has basically contracted to building only, but the goats and other animals still need to be cared for. The big question is, is Dot pregnant? It does look as if she might be, and if that is so I have a nice home waiting for her. She has been in our herd for her working years now and has been a great favourite with guests and everyone. I think she deserves a good home with more individual attention now.

The plan is also to sell the spare bucks and excess doe kids this weekend. I would love to keep them all but we actually need a smaller herd now, not a larger one. Last years kids are still at the leggy stage but they are a nice bunch and well trained now. Since we started using the brown bucks we are getting longer winter coats so I expect they will look a lot better once they have shed to summer wear.

oh no rain again

2011-09-20T00:21:00.000-07:00

20.9.2011

BUILDING NEWS

Back down the slippery slope today. High winds over night brought back the rain and cold weather. Dion did not work on the roof today because it was too wet for welding. Slightly protected from the weather Gary and Toby kept on paving in the storage passage and Edd felt well enough to help Steve on the ceiling framing. I was sent off to collect screws, nails barley and information. This was fine by me because at least I was warm and dry in the car.

This is so disheartening. We all get everything going and then the rain sends us backwards. It floods straight in the front and will do until the roof is up. It is a month now since the roof was started with the steel paid for but the job that was said to be two weeks work now looks like two months. At least we can still go on with some of the other stuff.

The waterproofing has also been put on hold. We can do nothing about this except grit our teeth. It looks as if we will get a jungle spring this year. The plant growth is already phenomenal. The forecast warns of a bad bush fire year! Come on house, we so need you.

I have with arranged to go and talk to Alvyn about the kitchen on Thursday. I have tried to find fabric warehouses on the internet but all the places I used before seem to have disappeared. Alvyn said he had a contact for curtain fabric so perhaps I should suss that out as well.

OTHER NEWS

Bindi is a lot better but she is now in isolation in case she had something infectious. I use her milk boiled for the kids. She is not happy about being separated from the herd and is now feeling well enough to object. Edd says he feels slightly better today but he should probably be avoided as well.

action on monday

2011-09-19T00:55:00.000-07:00

19.9.2011

BUILDING NEWS

Massive action today. Gary and Toby are back doing floors, Dion is here worrying about it being too windy to weld the roof and Steve and Edd are doing the main bedroom ceiling. I would like to go on with the grouting but after taking a look I have come to the conclusion that I would just get in the men’s way. I did the animals and then found that Edd was feeling very sick so I took over as carpenter’s labourer for the rest of the day.

Dion went home because the wind went on and Gary with Toby’s help steamed away and got the back storage room paved. I was surprised at how so many people could work in the house without getting in each other’s way or drowning the place with noise.

OTHER NEWS

Sunday was one of our permaculture open days, basically so that people with kids can see the young animals. We had a very nice family over and enjoyed their company for the morning and we had further visitors later in the day. Simon took the boys sailing with his parents and we met up as a family for tea at Beth’s. She had cooked what she called a “Tessa” meal of roast beef and horseradish sauce, which was delicious. Alvyn brought a salad of rocket he has grown in his new garden. He made the garden less than a month ago but he always did have green fingers. ( jealousy , jealousy).
It was so nice to have every one happy and full of the things they had done over the weekend. I worry about Beth who just keeps working and encourages everyone else to do the fun things. Still, the nice warm sunny weather is giving us all a boost.

It is actually very dry now. Today it was warm even before the sun was up. The wind is warm but I always like the warm winds even if no one else does. The builders comment on how much cooler it is in the house even though there are no doors or windows in yet. I will miss the light in the house when Dion puts the roof on but I know we need the shade to keep the heat out. It will probably be much lighter when the walls are white instead of grey concrete block colour.

Caroline and family called in tonight on their way home from a country drive. It was fantastic to make contact again. How I long to have a house and give dinner parties for our friends again. At least I have now made lots of the dinner plates and serving dishes and have started collecting things like napkins so that I can be off to a flying start when the house is built.

busy saturday

2011-09-17T05:39:00.000-07:00

17.9.2011

BUILDING NEWS

We are learning that Dion always works on Saturdays. This is difficult for us as it we have more work and commitments over the weekend than any other time. Apparently, this is non –negotiable and if we want a roof we will have to get our life re-arranged. Edd is still feeling sick but he had to work with them this afternoon lifting beams with the weapon of mass destruction.

Who knows why? Today seems to be action day. Before Edd got back from the market the waterproof men had begun work preparing the house roof. They want to try and complete the waterproofing job as soon as possible and could even start on Monday! Once they have done the waterproof layer the termite proofing and geo-fabric go on and the drainage cell stuff that protects the first layers. The plan is to back fill as this goes on.

We now have the massive metal front on the roof and some of the beams but there is still a lot more to be done before the iron can go on. It is most frustrating. Every ones timing is most unpredictable. Where is Gary? Somehow despite all the chaos we are making progress.

OTHER NEWS

We had a warm dry wind today, perfect for dealing with wet washing. The goats were happy too. They could spend all day out grazing and start the process of fattening up on the spring grass. Every day there are more flowers. The arum lilies still look magnificent and lots of daisy type flowers are out in clumps of white, pink and purple.

Thank goodness I am now feeling a lot healthier and even my ankle is working a lot better. Edd is still not right, but even he is now able to eat normal meals again. Dry weather helps a lot. Life is just so miserable when it rains and getting anything done takes twice as much effort as on fine days.

This afternoon I helped Maureen who had the pottery shed on display for the open studio weekend. She had worked incredibly hard and put on a magnificent display with ever pot labelled and priced. Helping was pretty easy and a lot of fun. She had even fired my pots and I was able to come home with lots of plates and the green tea cups that I did for Alvyn. I hope he likes them.

visiting angels

2011-09-16T01:41:00.000-07:00

16.9.2011

BUILDING NEWS

Everyone disappeared after Wednesday. This has suited us as we are still feeling ill and it has given us time to organise things on the phone. I got out today and picked up the splash backs from Bayswater.

The quote has come for a new spa. Our old one was totally destroyed by the fire. Alvyn has identified an area he thinks it should go into and I am beginning to form plans for a private relaxing space for Edd and I. What would we need? Music, a soak in hot water for aching bodies and perhaps a glass of wine. Friends too might be good, and a house to retire into. I would have to have rocks, and stones and possibly plants.

We already have the view, a clear vista of the night sky and the sounds of nature. I care less about the look of kitchen cupboards. The house just needs to be comfortable and easy to keep clean and tidy. If we build it with all the features we planned it will be interesting without too much in the way of fancy fittings.

OTHER NEWS

We have had gastric flu, and have felt far to sick to do much of anything non- essential. Somehow everything must be fed, goats need milking twice a day and the dogs need walking. Who ever felt least sick at the time did the job.

Amazingly we have still made enormous progress, but this was due to our wonderful volunteers from Eaton Vehicle Group. A very serious team arrived on Thursday and set about the horrid task of separating rubbish and undergrowth. Wooden rubbish was burnt, total rubbish went in skips and possible useful stuff was stacked elsewhere.

I thought it would take all day to do the area by the house but it was done before lunch. This meant that the team could clear up the old drive and move the last of the fencing wire. Someone got Edd’s angle grinder and cut up the old water tower and they even started on building a bridge over the gully. I got all the spoiled food out from the cellar and the wet mouldy material and that went in the skip as well.

One of the men borrowed Skiddy and filled in the holes that I keep falling into and also dragged out difficult stuff. I think that is most of the junk gone now except for the mental waste and building materials. We will dispose of them when we have finished building.

Today I mowed all the grass in my newly cleared areas. What an enormous relief it is knowing the rubbish is finally gone. After the fires we worked on priorities and so some problems just had to be lived with. I tried to clear it up every now and then but it was far too difficult on my own and the last thing I wanted was to take Edd away from his work building the new house.

I am still feeling so weak after being sick that just writing this makes me feel like crying, we are so grateful for all the help we have been given. I do not suppose any of the people who helped yesterday have any idea how much their contribution has meant to us. We have been enormously lucky to have Eaton’s support.

when in doubt just keep going

2011-09-12T23:14:00.000-07:00

13.9.2011

BUILDING NEWS

Dion is back welding on the front roof beams. It turns out that Edd and he had a misunderstanding over the beam lifting and that Edd had agreed to do this. Edd is now a lot better after the mystery illness but I have also felt pretty crook for the last two days. Anyway the roof is going up and Edd was able to borrow the weapon of mass destruction again and raise up the heavy beams. One thing is certain. With those beams attached the roof will not blow away.

Steve has put up most of the ceiling wood in the kitchen on his own and is now working on the main bedroom whilst Edd is occupied on the roof. I was not able to get back to the grouting, so my sand mixture has gone off and I will have to start again and brew up a new batch. We got a bit depressed over the weekend when we felt so sick but the sun today makes it all feel possible again.

The truck came this morning with the big sheets of foam needed for insulation behind the house. It goes a metre and a half away from the back wall so the men plan to back fill and then re-dig a trench to slot it in. Luckily, the big poly house is almost empty so we can store the foam in beside Skiddy where it is protected from the weather.

I saw a mosaic floor from the first century on time team last night and it was the same colours as our pavers but much more intricate. Our house looks more like something from the past as it progresses but it is a nice look.

OTHER NEWS

I planted onions today. I am not sure if it was an onion planting day but I thought the seedlings would die if I ignored them any longer. We have eaten almost all the stuff we planted in that first raised bed and only have a few cauliflowers left of the winter planting. I desperately need to make the other beds but I need help and every available man is full occupied on the house. I so miss Tony. When we ran the host farm I employed Tony on Monday mornings and it was fantastic. All these jobs just got done.

There were two new lambs born yesterday but luckily they were single births and their mothers are coping well. It is getting to the stage where we need to sell some of the baby goats. They are all bottle trained and doing well but we need the milk they drink for ourselves. We will need to sell some of the older goats too but after this horrid wet winter they are not looking at their best yet and will look a lot better when they shed their hair.

I have ordered a skip for Thursday when the Eaton group return for another working B. We will have a go at moving the rubbish to the east of the old house. It is busy disappearing into the undergrowth and cannot be ignored any longer. There is no pottery this week because Maureen has a display for open studio weekends. I am wondering if she fired my pots and how they turned out. I have heard nothing, perhaps it all went wrong!

the sick and the cold

2011-09-11T00:36:00.000-07:00

11.9.2011

BUILDING NEWS

Our dry spell has ended and we are back to winter weather with hail cold and lots of rain. Dion does not seem to be getting on with the roof very fast. He quoted to do the job but now it seems he needs us to get machinery to do all the lifting. He brought over the heavy front metal beams on a trailer yesterday. We were very lucky because Alvyn was here and he managed to unload them with rollers and a crow bar. Edd was in bed very sick and not able to help.

Edd got chilled working with Steve on Friday and has not felt well since. Today Steve worked alone putting up the bits of wood that hang from the metal bond deck on the roof and support the arched inner ceiling. The ceiling frame is made of light timber that can be shaped but it needs cut out supports at the edges.

The back of the house has not flooded after these rains because Gary’s floor acts as a barrier, but the back walls are still damp despite the first sealing coat that was put on. The rain can blow in through the front and so the kitchen floor is now covered with damp saw dust.

With Edd and the goats sick I have had no time to continue with the floor grouting but I did get off on Friday shopping. In Clive Peter’s bargain centre I BROUGHT THREE STOVE HOODS, TWO 90CM STAINLESS SPLASH BACKS AND A DOUBLE UNDER BENCH SINK! This all came for an incredibly cheap price and most of it fitted in my car along with the food shopping and three twenty litre tubs of barley from the brewery.

Alvyn has talked me into granite bench tops instead of stainless steel and he has ideas how I should have the cabinets. At present kitchen cupboards seems too remote a prospect to worry about. I thought if I got the stainless steel splash backs I would have something whilst I think about tiles as I have no clear idea about them either. I would actually love to have ones like I had in the other house but they do not make them any more.

OTHER NEWS

Bindi is still alive and has started eating, though she still is not well. I thought she was lost at one point, as she would not eat at all. I offered her seaweed meal as a source of trace elements and she ate about a cup full, which I felt helped. We have more goat woes because the teenage goats keep jumping out and getting into the wrong queue at milking time. I have dragged round every gate and unused piece of metal I could find and redesigned barriers.

The dogs are also being teen age and have started to chase sheep, so they have to be confined and taken for walks several times a day. I am rather over young animals. At least I have now got the kids and lamb into pens of four so that feeding them is much easier. Steve helped me build the extra pen because Edd is still too sick for work.

production increases

2011-09-08T00:45:00.000-07:00

8.9.2011

BUILDING NEWS

Productivity is increasing! Steve spent the day cutting wood for the kitchen ceiling. Yesterday he and Edd made a proto type arch and put it in place so we could assess it today full production began. The waterproof people also arrived, rather to our surprise, yesterday and put a first sealing coat on the back walls. Edd is busy doing the water proofing on the floor and back walls.

Gary is off somewhere so I did the first square meter of grouting on the floor. I have started in the robe which is now officially designated a practice area. I expect we will try our first wall rendering there too. I mean who looks too carefully at the inside of cupboards? Actually the room is large enough for a small bedroom. Knowing my luck as soon as we do it someone will move in!

We think that Dion is off working on our steel roof and will soon appear with the next stage that needs putting up. So far there has been little rain but we do need it up as soon as possible. I have payed a deposit for the stone today. It is to come from Tasmania, so who knows when it will get here! I also paid for the foam insulation that is to go a meter and a half outside the back wall. The plan is to water proof, termite proof and then fill in behind the house but as we go up we will dig a trench and slot the foam in place. Edd has already ordered the air pipes and they will have to be fitted in about the same time.

OK. If this sounds extremely complicated. To you, imagine how it feels for us! I am just hoping that somewhere, someone knows what they are doing.

OTHER NEWS

Bindi, one of the large sable goats is sick. She went down suddenly with a fever but we thought that last night she was recovering. Unfortunately it may not be fast enough and she is now very week. I have given her injections and continually try to tempt her to eat with more offerings but I am worried it is not enough. This is where I miss having the Toyota. It was so useful for taking animals top the vet in situations like this.

We have done the kids horns and they are all feeding well. The sick lamb is a lusty feeder now and will grow up with a complex as he lives with the goats. It has been so dry I have had to water all the plants but last night there was a very heavy frost, which did no good. Something ate all the lettuces I planted again but bottomless plant pots have saved some of the sparsely.

Arjuna stayed last night and I swear he has grown visibly in a week. He has no energy, but what would you expect of any creature growing so fast. He eats well and got up early for the school bus, so no one has reason for any complaint. We think Alvyn is getting closer to having a phone connected but it is not quite there yet.

2011-09-04T22:47:00.000-07:00

5.9.2011

BUILDING NEWS

It is quiet today. Edd has strung up extra lights and Gary is working his way paving and is now out of the robe and into the changing room. It looks as if he is about to strand himself in the inner corner. I have almost finished scraping off the storeroom floor. It is much easier to do now that Edd has set up lights.

There is so much now that we need to do at once. Edd is cleaning the back walls ready for waterproofing and setting up scaffold for when Steve arrives to start the ceiling frames. I cannot start the grouting of the floor until Gary completes the first area. The weather has really been helping. Warm and dry is exactly what we need right now.

OTHER NEWS

We had a family breakfast for father’s day yesterday. Our family arrived en force and we combined ingredients to provide a sumptuous breakfast. The weather being kind, we set up a table on the donga veranda, which was much nicer than all trying to cram inside. The missing person was Josh who is still in Perth but he phoned up with his best wishes. Arjuna looked super smart with his new summer hair cut!

The goat’s feet have improved a lot. We have been soaking them in hydrogen peroxide and either this has worked wonders or we have a double coincidence. I have moved the chooks into a new pen to get fresh greens and today we tackled the lamb’s tails. They are still too young to geld. The goat’s horns are the next task before we can say that the kidding work is complete.

I have glazed the pots I have made and Maureen has got her studio ready for the open studio weekends in two weeks. Theo is leaving for a long holiday so I will not have her company when we start potting again after the open days. My plan is to make a set of pots to serve our Xmas meal on. We are planning a family dinner on Xmas eve, which was what we always did before the fires. It would be wonderful if we could get back to the old routine this year.

My old pewter platters and jug are gone but I have brought cheap Indian imitations to stand in for them. We can use the trestle tables but I will need to make a new long tablecloth. Last time I got metres of fabric so that it would run the length of three tables. If we have a stove working I will cook turkey otherwise we will have to be more inventive.

roof and floor work start

2011-09-02T21:47:00.000-07:00

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.

bye bye old wire

2011-08-30T00:13:00.000-07:00

30.8.2011

BUILDING NEWS

On the surface nothing much is happening but the roof for the solar room is being made off site and we are getting organised for waterproofing. The materials for doing the above ground waterproofing were delivered yesterday and I have nearly cleaned off all the floors ready for work.

Today Edd and I measured up around the back of the house for the insulation layer that has to fit a meter and a half away from the concrete walls. This is in polystyrene slabs and has now to be ordered. The stone is ordered and we have begun to organise the termite layer. Unfortunately it has to be done by a special person so we can get it signed off properly.

Gary, who was due to start the pavers this week, has not contacted us yet and Steve cannot start the wood work until at least next week. He and Edd looked at the job again at the weekend and agreed on what wood to get in. Steve does not want to work with Gary there, but as neither Gary nor Steve are ever accurate about when they can come, it will have to be a matter of who arrives on site first.

This afternoon we have been trying to design the curve for the ceilings in the main room. We got coloured chalk and drew several different curves on the floor until we agreed on a shape. The next stage is to make a template and draw it on the walls to see if it still looks good in the right position. Even with out workers here we have all to work all day sorting out building work.

OTHER NEWS

Alvyn has prevailed and Arjuna, minus some of the offending hair, is back at school. He seems to have worked through the consequences of his actions and taken the intelligent option. We all heave a collective sigh of relief. I think Alvyn has had less luck with the phone.

Last week we made huge strides forward because Eaton sent out another team of workers and an enormous skip so that they could move all the old wire and metal rubbish by the gate. When the team arrived I was worried that there were only two men and three women and that it might be too much work for them. I am not quite sure how they managed it but the job got done perfectly. We even found time to stop and watch a goat giving birth and have a BBQ lunch in the ruins. It is wonderful now that all the signs of the fire are gradually disappearing. I was worried that I would be stuck with that huge pile of waste at my front gate for years!

My foot is still sore which is a terrible nuisance.It has now changed from all over black /blue to dirty yellow colour but at least some of the swelling has gone down. Edd has to do all the walking farm work but I can still feed babies and do the milking. I have now moved the first eight kids away from their mothers and am teaching them to drink from bottles. Once they get this bit we can get them using a communal feeder and the whole job gets easy.

Today started with drama when Edd found an abandoned lamb in the paddock that was dying from hypothermia. He brought it in and I filled the sink with warm water and began the process of trying to warm it up. I can tell the core temperature by putting my finger in the mouth and this one was as bad as could be. It took all morning to raise its body heat back to normal but we got there before it died and it has even been able to stand and suck. It is now resting between feeds in a laundry basket. Survival is far from guaranteed yet, but there is hope. Luckily a goat kidded the day before and we have fresh colostrum handy.

This is my busiest time of the year on the farm and with everyday building concerns it is hard to keep the housework, meals and accounts up to date. I had to go to the shops last week but I leant heavily on shopping trolleys and managed somehow. Yesterday I made the first cheese for the year and baked more bread.

I am not up to date with my letter writing and I forgot to say happy birthday to Wayne yesterday for which I feel dreadful. Luckily Wayne is not taking offence. I still have not got Beth a birthday present either, so perhaps we can gather up a team and have a combined celebration.

another accident

2011-08-23T23:53:00.000-07:00

24.8.2011

BUILDING NEWS

Today marks the end of the last stage. We have now said goodbye to Geoff because he has completed all the block and brickwork. He rounded off the wing walls yesterday, and today helped to set them up so that they could be core filled this afternoon. It is fantastic to have finally got to this stage but I will miss Geoff, he has been a great person to have working here.

There are a few of the bond beam blocks left over and some bricks. Looking at the house today I think that it would be better to cap the parapet wall with bricks rather than stone. It will be cheaper and more in keeping with the look we have achieved so far. Dion set his pegs in the wall so that the roof can fix onto them and Edd put in the last of the electrical conduit yesterday. So we are ready for the next stages to start.

I am still on floor scraping but I did not get any done today because I fell in a hole this morning and now have a swollen painful ankle. There was an ominous snapping sound when I fell and I was worried that I had broken a bone but luckily I do not think this is the case.

OTHER NEWS

After falling this morning I am reduced to a slow shuffling form of locomotion, which is a major nuisance. My car is automatic so I was able to drive to Warburton and have lunch with Alvyn. He sounded so down last night. Arjuna is playing the teenage monster from hell and Alvyn still has no proper Internet in the office. Edd has been phoning the politicians to try and get some pressure on the phone company but so far a month has gone by and nothing has moved forward.

I know how bad it feels when you have a child who is determined to loose their chance of getting a college education. I also have has one that nothing I said or did would get them to stay in school. Perhaps parents could get the child to sign a release for so that when they realise how much their actions have affected their life you could bring out the paper work documenting exactly how hard you tried to get them to avoid the problem.

On a more positive note the packing sand was delivered yesterday and dumped by the ruins so that we can level out the area by the old pool and prepare it for vegetable beds. We are rapidly eating through everything we had growing over winter. All the broccoli is gone now and we are eating the green cabbages and cauliflowers. I have replaced what we have eaten with lettuces but we need space to put in snow peas and the rest of the spring crops.

soaking up the sun

2011-08-22T00:43:00.000-07:00

22.8.2011

BUILDING NEWS

We have started the working week with a glorious sunny Monday. This was lucky because we had a lot to get through. Geoff arrived early and finished building the chimney and Dion came to work out his roof steel and let us know where the connecting bolts need to be placed in the front walls when they are core filled.

Our first order of pavers from Boral was delivered about midday. The ground had dried out over the weekend so they could be stacked right next to the house, which is very convenient. I use any spare moment I get to brush and clean the concrete slab so that it is ready for the pavers to go down. I am not sure if we paint on a waterproofing compound on first or not. So far the floor has shown no sign of letting any moisture through.

Gary has told us to mark the floor with chalk to show the design we want the pavers to make. When we have done floors before we have actually laid all the pavers out and adjusted the design, but the snag with this is that they must be taken up in sections as the are cemented in. The chalk idea might work better.

It is amazing to think that we will soon have a roof and the flooring done. Edd has rung up the door people to try and get them to measure up and make the double glazed panels for the inner doors so that the glazing can be done after the floor and roof. We also need to sort out the water proofing so that we can find Steve and start the ceilings. Things will probably move too fast now.

OTHER NEWS

We had a Permaculture group here all morning and we all ate lunch together in the ruins and soaked up the sun. It was Graeme’s birthday so it was good that we could all share a special meal. When the visitors had left Edd noticed that Imogen, the goat with a white belt was doing something up in the old vineyard paddock.

Once we got up there we found that she had given birth to one enormous buck kid. She followed us back to the shed to join her friend who had decided not to go out to graze because she is very soon to give birth as well. We are definitely into kidding season now.

With all this activity I did not get to my pottery group, which was annoying. I am really enjoying making my pots even if they are a bit wonky. It is odd but in good weather I hate being indoors even for things I like doing. I actual like spending my time in the ruins of my old house. I have a lot of gardening to do there now that the weather has changed.

adoption, goat style

2011-08-19T21:45:00.000-07:00

20.8.2011

BUILDING NEWS

Dion is here measuring up, again, for the roof. Yesterday he put his quote in and we agreed that he should go ahead. This is a great relief because the lack of a roof was holding things up. He tells me he will start on Monday but that the first few days will be just for organisation purposes. The steel has been ordered and will come later in the week.

We also got the solar tubes put in yesterday and what a difference they make. I did not think that they would be so effect yet, because the wall in the back storage area is made of very dark concrete blocks that absorb light. We will render and paint some time and the effect should be stunning. Two men, Michael and Tom, put them in and covered the light chimneys with neat colourbond steel caps with the Perspex domes in the centre.

There is a special inner glass that stops bushfire embers from entering the house at these points and the other end of a tube has a light deflector that covers the hole in the ceiling. We do not have our ceilings yet so it is suspended from above for the moment. The men worked very efficiently and left with the job completed and everything tidied up, I would recommend them to anyone.

OTHER NEWS

I was all ready to leave for market this morning when I heard a small bleat in the goat shed. I know what that means so I went into the pen and discovered that the goat, Erin, was cleaning and feeding two babies. The problem with this was that I was pretty sure that Erin was not pregnant. On examination it was obvious that she had not given birth so logically another goat must have had the kids.

Looking round the pen the obvious suspect was the teenage goat, Queenie, who was peacefully lying down chewing her cud in a far corner. I stood her up and yes, she was the mother. The kids refused to suckle off her and Erin was definitely not going to hand her adopted kids back to their irresponsible mother. The kids needed colostrum though, and Erin could not provide any so we had to milk Queenie and give the kids their colostrum in a bottle. By the time we had sorted this out I was late for market.

Erin is taking her self-imposed responsibilities seriously and has stayed in the shed with “her” kids when all the other goats, including under age mother Queenie went off to graze. We should be grateful to Erin. If she had not been able to help the kids would probably not have been licked off at birth and would have died.

This means goat season is with us again. I am stuck home bottle-feeding and Edd has gone off on to buy oats. I was looking forward to getting time away from the farm but it was not to be. At least the sun is shining and I have eventually had time to prune some of the new fruit trees. Better late than never!

Edd works hard

2011-08-16T00:47:00.000-07:00

16.8.2011

BUILDING NEWS

We now have drains behind the house and the first half of the fireplace and internal chimney! It was a warm sunny day and all things felt possible. I am still working on the floors crawling around scraping off any lumps of cement and concrete that have fallen on it. We have arranged for the first delivery of pavers next week and then when the floors are clean we are all ready for Garry to start putting them in place. That will be a big step forward.

The fireplace is looking good. I love the fact that the arch is made from bricks recycled from our old house and that some of them are still black from the fire. Our house will have its own history and tell a story before we even move in. I have noticed that even a small shiny object like a trowel can bounce light upward and inward. Perhaps a sculpture with mirrored leaves would work as a light deflector.

Quotes for the waterproofing are looking very scary. Dion is still asking questions and has not got to the roof quote yet. I think building costs are going up so fast we are not keeping pace.

OTHER NEWS

The days are pulling out now. It is light by half past six in the morning and not dark until later at night. The buds are opening on the fruit trees, unfortunately before I have got round to pruning them and I had to cut all the grass again today.

The last sheep to give birth produced triplets so that I have to go out with a bottle four times a day and top them up. At least this means they are all friendly and come when they are called. We are still putting them inside the shed at night for protection. The first twins are doing OK outside day and night now. Beth has reminded me to be on the look out for fly strike now the weather is warming up. It can be a problem in wet years.

Edd got the men with the diggers to dig out footing trenches for the end wall of the shed. He has brought blocks so that at least the first section of the wall will be solid. Edd also got out the wiper snipper and cut the grass by the pool so that I can keep going with the garden there. He even did the paths as well so it is all looking a bit more cared for. We have a school trip here on Thursday so I am glad that we have been able to get this done.

Full moon rising

2011-08-14T18:14:00.000-07:00

8.13.2011

BUILDING NEWS

This week has got off to a flying start. Geoff is working on the chimney and the Wood gang are here with all manner of digging machines to do drains behind the house. It is all starting to look possible. The intention is to dig a trench around the top of the bank to stop water coming in whilst the waterproofing is being done and to bury the land drains by the slab.

OTHER NEWS

Against the forecast, the weather was good this weekend. Edd got Skiddy going and we cleaned out the rubble that was between the pool and the brick floor in the ruins. The next step is to put down a level pad of packing sand so that we can build garden beds and lay broken bricks as pavers between the beds.

We also got rid of another left over from the fires in a most enjoyable way. It was Ollie’s seventh birthday so Beth brought over meat and bean stews and a big cake so that we could have a family meal. I baked chocolate and poppy seed bread and we all picked greens for salads. Alvyn carried one of the trestle tables into the donga, and with the Queensland chairs everyone could sit round a table. When the first course was gone we all went in to the dairy croft around the huge pile of dead trees and rubbish and set it alight.

Edd had added a bit of diesel earlier so it went up in flames with our any resistance. Soon we had to move back several metres because of the heat. Indigo somehow managed to carry an enormous pile of chairs up through the mud so that we could sit down for chocolate cake and raspberries. At least, some of us did. The younger more athletic members of the family climbed up and stood on fence posts so that the rest could try and throw circular glow sticks over their heads!

As the roaring fire sent a column of glowing orange embers up towards the stars the full moon rose majestically over Hargreaves Hill. Scorpio was overhead and I felt so blest that we had such a beautiful dry evening. One of the younger kids said he would rather be in the donga watching videos. I feel sad about this. For me second hand experience never satisfies as much as simple pleasures.

lambs and a fire place

2011-08-13T04:09:00.000-07:00

8.13.2011
BUILDING NEWS

Last week Geoff built the hearth and put on some pavers to tile the top. I grouted it so it became a smooth flat platform. Wayne came over first thing this morning and helped Edd and Geoff to lift the wood fire insert onto its hearth. It is extremely heavy but luckily Wayne is extremely strong and comes to help us on occasions like this.

Geoff cut a hole through the bond deck so that he and Edd could assemble the chimney pipes and put them up through the slab roof into the outer chimney. Geoff has cut some bricks and is planning to build the chimney and fireplace in the house next week. Putting in a fireplace seems a very significant act. The bare shell of the house is now developing organs that will one day allow it to function as a home.

It was really rather busy today. Dion came this afternoon to measure up for the steel solar room roof and Garry and Leah came over to talk about the paving job. Yesterday, Edd and I drove down to Nar Nar Goon to look at stone. The manager in the stone shop was really helpful and we quickly found a sand stone that we liked. Edd wants to have rough-cut uneven stone on the walls but we need it cut and dressed to top the parapet. If we can afford this rock it will be perfect.

OTHER NEWS

It was frosty again this morning and one of the white ewes had given birth to triplets. She had managed well and they were all up and sucking. We bring all the sheep into the small croft by the shed at night. With multiple births it is hard for the ewes to defend their young against foxes if they are all spread out over a larger paddock.

The first twins are a week old now so they are out in the croft tonight and only the ewe with triplets is actually in the shed. A crow was eyeing off the newborn lambs. Before we put them in. Crows are rumoured to peck lambs eyes out but I have never seen this myself. I have seen a hawk fly off with a guinea pig but again I have never seen an eagle take a lamb.

Poor Alvyn is still having to manage with out the phone or Internet in his new office. The telephone service is so difficult to get connected now. I am not sure what is wrong with the service industries. Our power company has not sent us a single bill this year, only a letter to say they are late with bills! This does not seem at all normal to me. We use one of the big power companies too. I got them deliberately because I thought that they might be organised.

Perhaps everything in the world is on a slippery slope sliding into total chaos.

It was warm last week

2011-08-10T01:31:00.000-07:00

2108.2011

BUILDING NEWS

The block work is nearly done but the weather is not helping. Geoff is working on the chimney now that the side grates have arrived. Edd is still trying to get the roof organised and we are waiting for the solar tubes to be installed. I was hoping the pavers would be delivered last week when it was dry but some had to come from interstate so that was impossible. Now it is too wet to deliver them again.

Frustration is the word that sums up the present situation,

OTHER NEWS

Our week of fabulous dry warm weather has ended, but winter has not totally returned. To emphasise the point the first lambs have been born. The daffodils and arum lilies are putting on a tremendous display and the buds on the mulberry trees are starting to open. We all loved the warm weather and ended the week with a trip down to the peninsular to use the gift voucher our kids had given us for the hot springs. Oh what luxury. We soaked for hours in a bubbly rock pool and relaxed with a massage and meal. I could put up with this treatment every day ..no worries.

Reality has returned this week and once more we are slopping round in the mud. Every past injury we have had has started to ache and the building process has slowed right down. Tonight when I came back from shutting up the chooks I paused in the ruins of our old house and tried to imagine a winter evening in there, with the fire burning brightly, and everything warm and dry. Surprisingly my first feeling was that I am actually happier now. I am not at all sure why but I recall being so tired when I ran the host farm business and struggled to maintain everything.

It was so miserable today that I met a friend in Yarra Glen and we sat by the fire in Beth’s restaurant and swapped news. Beth does a great pie and peas dish which goes well with Simon’s stout. Just what is needed on a damp, dark, day. Merrie has been studying pottery in a serious way for some years now so we could talk about things we have learnt. I feel very happy this week because I attempted to through proper sized bowl on the wheel and actually did not find it as hard as I thought it would be.

I offered to make some pots for Alvyn and in a typical Alvyn way he immediately got out a pen and paper and drew exactly what he wanted! This was really good because it challenged me to try new things that I was slipping quietly into the too hard basket. I am really loving our pottery afternoons. Thea and I just quietly do our own work but Maureen is always around to answer our questions and help us when we are stuck. She is a fantastic teacher.

The end of a stage

2011-08-01T20:51:00.000-07:00

2.8.2011
BUILDING NEWS

Geoff has started to build the chimney. It looks as if all the block work will be completed by the end of the week. This is fantastic and already we are on to the next steps. I fetched some pavers from Boral today so that they can be put under the fire insert and we hope the rest of the pavers will come this week on a truck. We can lay the pavers any time now as they will stand up to damp conditions before the house is water proofed and all the wood work has to go on top of them.

We laid the pavers in our old house long after it was built and as a result they did not go under the kitchen cabinets or other fixtures. This was Ok until we had to change things and then we had the mad search round numerous garden supplies to find pavers that matched and fill in the holes. It was also a problem with the doors. We either had to take them off or cut a slice off the bottom, which was not entirely satisfactory. I intend to lay them everywhere and put everything else on top this time.

The pavers I got today are a lovely soft terracotta colour and have a good smooth surface. They are about the colour of the desert sand in the centre of Australia, which I feel is a symbolically significant base for living on. Once they are down most people think the pavers are bricks but they actually make a much better floor because the edges are rounded so they can be cleaned with a sponge mop really easily. It takes a few years for them to wear in and get a glowing patina but I cannot see anything wrong with having a floor that improves rather than deteriorates with age.

OTHER NEWS

Oh the joys of warm dry weather. Sunshine lifts the spirits like nothing else. The buds are swelling on the trees and everyday a new type of flower comes into bloom. I am hoping Edd will get Skiddy out and level a site for more raised vegetable beds so that we can get the new seasons crops going.

A near escape

2011-07-29T21:30:00.001-07:00

30.7.2011

BUILDING NEWS

Amazing, three days of dry sunny weather. It has even been enough to activate hibernating contractors and plans have been made to do the drainage behind the house as the first step to waterproofing. Geoff has built the internal wall and is now worrying over the fireplace plans. It is not simple, like everything else.

It is possible now to get a better mental image of our spaces inside the house and I am now trying to visualise how to do the place up. The brick corbelling on the front corners is very dramatic and set up the tone for things.

OTHER NEWS

There was real drama yesterday when the school bus that was taking kids on a trip to the snow caught fire and exploded. Beth’s eldest son, Morgen, was on the bus but thank goodness the teachers acted promptly and got all the kids off the bus safely. The bus burnt to a skeleton of metal and the kids had to wait in the cold on the mountain pass until another bus came.

Morgen was pretty shaken but also fed up because he never got to the snow and his new ski pants got burnt. It is actually very rough for the Dixon Creek School kids. They were all affected by the 2009 bushfires and are already having nightmares about fires.

signs of spring

2011-07-27T18:05:00.000-07:00

28.7.2011

BUILDING NEWS

It has been dry for two day! Despite the freezing nights the builders have arrived early every day and have almost completed all the arches. It looks pretty special. It is hard to keep up enthusiasm even with the progress because it is a home we need right now not looks.

Edd is still trying to sort out the roof. Numerous phone calls and discussions have still not resolved all the issues but we may be getting closer. When the roof is on we can get the glazing and the whole place will be dryer. We think we can put lids on the chimneys and sky light wholes fort the time being. It doesn’t seem to matter how much energy we expend each day we never get through all the things we really should get done.

OTHER NEWS

Tuesday was too wet for builders so we used the day to go north and pick up lucerne bales. The animals are thrilled about this. The sheep refuse to eat our normal hay but love the lucerne. The cow just eats everything and is putting on weight now she is up in the old vineyard. The strange thing is that so far there are no lambs! I wonder why the pattern of 20 years has changed.

Indigo is coming to stay here tonight because Alvyn is flying interstate for work and there is still a male tenant in one room of the house he has rented. The man is supposed to leave at the end of the month, which will be a great relief. It is not that anyone thinks he will do anything wrong it is just that we are making sure the chance does not arise and at present he is taking up badly needed space.

On the bright side our vegetables in the raised bed are fantastic. We have nearly eaten all the swedes and are working our way through the broccoli. The green cabbages will be next and then the cauliflowers. This at least has been a tremendous success. Now that we are out of the cheese making season I am knitting whilst I wait for the weather to improve. Already there are many signs of spring.

The wattle and cherry blossom have bloomed and the buds on the deciduous trees are swelling. It is such a relief after the difficult winter. Amazingly I have seen the two gold fish in the house pond. After the fires all the burnt treated pine fell into this pond so we moved the fish elsewhere in case they got poisoned. Two fish evaded capture and look perfectly healthy so we were probably not right about the amount of toxicity around. This is good news for all of us.

A fantastic party

2011-07-25T18:17:00.000-07:00

20.7.2011

BUILDING NEWS

Rain, rain, rain. Mud too, so building crawls forward very slowly. Geoff and Glen have now only got two more arches to do and then the inner wall and fireplace. That is only a few days work if it would just stop raining! Edd is still struggling to work out how the front roof goes and we cannot start anything else until these tasks are complete.

Mean while I have found a company making light weight dome shells in Australia that might be suitable and affordable as accommodation replacements for our host farm business. Alvyn left room for domes on the flattened area between our house and the ruin gardens in his master plan.

OTHER NEWS

We were all busy last week helping Alvyn move his home and office into a rented house and then prepare for his 40th birthday party. The house needed quite a lot of cleaning and Alvyn had a huge task trying to get on the phone and Internet for his office up and running. In addition to this he found time to build a pizza oven at the back of the house.

Someone must have the ear of the Gods because on the day of the party it stopped raining and we were able to light a fire pit on the front lawn and the Mexican band could play outdoors under a market gazebo. Beth brought over enough salad to feed all of Warburton and baked a mega birthday cake. Indigo worked hard at making pizza after pizza and Carolina and I danced all night, mainly (on my part anyway) to keep warm!

The party was a huge success and a good way to start life in the new place. Edd and I went back next day to pick up the tables, chairs and beer keg and found that Alvyn and family were absolutely exhausted. They had all slept outside in the tents so that their guests could have the beds! We sent Tilba to buy chips to go with the salad for lunch as he still had the energy to walk.

Once the party was over the rain started again. I can see that in some ways Edd and I are well off. Living in one small room at least we can keep it toasty warm where as Alvyn’s house is larger and much harder to keep at a bearable temperature. Our exhaustion is self-inflicted because we have been up late every night watching the Tour de France but, what a way to go.

Finally we have an Australian winner. My next ram will be called Cadell.
Yesterday was pretty miserable but Indigo and I spent most of the day shopping for her school shoes. Then we baked a chocolate cake, as it was the true date of Alvyn’s birthday. We had all planned to have tea at Beth’s restaurant but everyone was too worn out to risk another late night.

Progress on the farm

2011-07-20T02:35:00.000-07:00

20.7.2011

BUILDING NEWS

Geoff injured himself yesterday and was not able to work today. He is absolutely essential at this stage as he is the only person with arch building skills. Once again we had a rainless day with out much building progress. Edd is still discussing the steel roof of the solar room with metal work people. Yesterday he went to see the works near Shepparton that did all the framework for our sheds. It is not all sorted out yet.

OTHER NEWS

On the farm we had a day of big achievements. Melissa and I inoculated the goats and sheep at milking time and then five men from Eaton Vehicles arrived for a second working B. They picked up all the old wire and rubbish in the vineyard and adjacent paddock so that after lunch we were able to take Donna and Sharron up the road and put them in this area.

They have reduced their paddock above the dairy to a muddy swamp and they were having difficulty coping. Now they are in a much larger area with a dam and t-tree to shelter under. Sharron can now run around in circles getting rid of her surplus energy with less risk of injury.

The men also got the steel ramp from the big polyhouse and helped us put it between the dairy and the shed. This is so the goats can get to the dairy without getting muddy feet. All the goats hate getting their feet wet so they will be delighted with this change. All in all this is one of those days that one feels as if we might be getting on top of all the problems. We are so lucky to have had this help on a dry day when we were able to get so much done.

2011-07-18T22:00:00.001-07:00

19.7.2011

BUILDING NEWS

Yes, guess what? It is still raining. Fortunately not as often as yesterday and our student is able to work out doors again today. Edd has taken the trailer and gone north to pick up bales of hay and lucerne for our long-suffering animals. This will take him all day but the builders seem to be coping on their own. Today they are putting the blocks above and around the first two arches. It is very slow work but I think the result is worth it because I love the shapes that are emerging.

OTHER NEWS

I was woken by the telephone ringing at 5am this morning. It was my mother wanting to discuss issues in the will she is writing! I am not sure this is a good sign and I do hope I do not have to make a dash to the UK just at the moment. We are having another go at sorting out passports, just in case. Actually Mum sounded really good and strong and I am so proud of her for being so on top of all her affairs now she is over 90.

Today once the animals were fed I retired into the dong to do domestic chores. I needed to bake more bread but this took longer than usual because I had to open a new sack of flour. The sacks are quite large and heavy. They fit perfectly into the big plastic drums we have but that is only once you have bashed them into a round shape that will fit through the top. This is always a battle.

To add to the problem we were also out of oil and I needed to start a new can. The cans have a plastic pouring devise that fits down for travelling and then has little rings that can be used to pull it inside out for use. This can fought back and the rings and lid pulled off the pourer covering the floor and me with oil. The floor and all my clothes were already covered with flour from the flour sack battle and the resulting mess took longer to clear up then the bread took to make! We ended up with pasta and salad for lunch as time ran out.

I have completed the cardigan I am knitting for Sylvie from the wool I have been spinning. I have not been very productive this year and so far it is the only thing I have knitted. To be fair it is in fine wool and needed a lot of stitches. I am going to knit a matching hat next.

its raining in my heart and everywhere else

2011-07-17T21:01:00.000-07:00

14.7.2011

BUILDING NEWS

It is unbelievable. Today it was dry everywhere except here at the end of Steels Creek. After two dry sunny days mud rules once more. Geoff has phoned up to say that he is not building here tomorrow so things are at a dead stop. On Friday he built the first two external arches but there were only two frames so they have had to wait for them to set before they can move the framing on to the next pair of window arches. It could take weeks at this pace.

At least we were able to use the dry days to stack up all the building and other rubbish in the skip. There is still lots of old wire and burnt things left from the bush fires and it always feels really good to get rid of piles of mess. I had been collecting all the plastic off the blocks and the cement bags and putting them in chaff bags but I really had to get them off the property before they biodegraded and released all the waste again.

OTHER NEWS

We took bedding and some bricks over to Warburton for Alvyn today. He and Tilba were in the house he has rented in the main street setting up the office ready for work on Monday. The bricks are to build a pizza oven to cook food for his birthday party next week. Some how I feel that this might be rather too short a time frame but who am I to say? I was actually more concerned that he had some warm stuff for bedding as the nights are freezing.

We all feel very upset about the events in our family life this week. Most of us like to consider everyone’s point of view and needs. Up until now we have always managed to sort out problems peacefully and look after all the members of our family when they need help or support. We are on totally new ground when someone behaves in a way that makes this approach impossible. Once a mother, always a mother. I cannot be relaxed if any of my children are having difficulties.

Beth, however, has done well out of the office move. One of the wood work tables would not fit in the new place so Alvyn has sent it over for her to store. It is now acting as a beautiful dining table. Beth had an old round table she found on a tip but it was very unstable and tilted wildly when anyone put weight on an edge. She chucked this table out so Edd and I hauled the top onto the ute. I think it might make a good rat proof lid for the large burnt beer vat that we use to store oats! Nothing gets wasted round here.

foul weather

2011-07-13T18:36:00.000-07:00

14.7.2011

BUILDING NEWS

It is foul. The weather, that is. Our brave builders are doing their best to ignore the constant drizzle and have started the brick arches on top of the solar room windows. Yesterday they core filled the pillars and set up their first two bays of scaffolding so they were all ready to start this morning.

Edd went down to Melbourne yesterday and fetched another load of second hand bricks so they have the materials to keep going at the moment. Alvyn wants to have the cut off half and quarter bricks to build a pizza oven so that he can have a pizza party for his birthday. I have ordered a skip for the rest of the rubbish; it has begun sinking into the mud, which is not a good look.

OTHER NEWS

It is school holiday time so yesterday I took Beth’s green eyed monsters to the cinema. Bianca and Tilba met us there and the kids conned me into buying an enormous bucket of popcorn. It was so big that when it was empty it completely covered a kid’s head! The film was not as bad as I had thought it might be and I enjoyed the graphics in the scenery. They were beautiful colours and referenced traditional Chinese art

It was Beth’s birthday yesterday and for the next few weeks she is the same age as Alvyn. He came over in the evening to babysit so that Simon could take Beth out. Bianca is going to live in Alvyn’s house and he is renting a place he can use as a house and an office in Warburton centre. Both Indigo and Arjuna are coming back from Queensland and continuing school down here so he has a busy next few days getting them a home ready.

All the animals are suffering from the miserable weather. Yesterday we got all the sheep in and wormed them and sorted them into two small crofts by the shed. Luckily we are getting more barley from the brewery now so at present we will have to heavily supplement their grass diet. The ewes have been loosing weight and as they are due to lamb I have to try and reverse this trend.

Sharron is really growing and taking almost all her mum’s milk. In some ways this reduces our work because I can hand milk Donna and save us the task of cleaning out the milking machine. The little croft they are in is turning to mud and generally making their life miserable. They have free access to hay in a round feeder but we have brought some lucerne hay to give them something extra each day.

I have abandoned all hope of getting the goats out to graze and they are now living in their bedroom pens in the big shed. We still have plenty of hay bales left and they are looking fatter and more pregnant by the day. I will have to start working out the dates they are due. I am not sure we are really ready for an influx of new babies.

accounts tackled

2011-07-10T19:08:00.000-07:00

10.7.2011

BUILDING NEWS

There is a very benevolent spirit watching over us. I have had flu at just the right time and it has kept me inside until all the paper work for our build and our end of year accounts was done. I now have all the finances worked out so we can see exactly how we are going against the build budget. Basically we are over the allowed amount with the brickwork because there are extra features but Ok everywhere else.

However, we have a plan to get back on line with things. The moment I mentioned Steve to Edd yesterday he drove though the gates. He says he is happy to work with Edd to do all the ceilings and wood work. Not paying for two carpenters will help a lot. If that is not enough I will need to rapidly improve in my rendering skills!

All in all, I feel one hundred times better now I have it all on paper in neat summaries. We have a lot left in our contents budget too and I plan to pay for the artwork in the glass and metal out of that part of the insurance money. There should still be enough for curtains if I make them myself which I always intended to do.

OTHER NEWS

The broccoli is now ready to eat. The above ground grow bed has been so good that Edd suggests we build another one the same as soon as possible. Wombats have added to my rabbit woes. They have made massive holes under the fence and are digging and shitting everywhere in the garden. My father used to complain about moles in his lawn but wombats are like the mega fauna version of this problem.

Beth and kids came over yesterday and we made plans for my day out with the boys. They want to see”kungfu pandas 2” which sounds pretty unlikable. Oh, the trials of being a grand parent! Alvyn has left Indigo and Arjuna in Queensland where they are having a holiday with Bianca’s father and he has now arrived back in Melbourne. We might even see him for a meal tonight. Luckily I have already baked fresh bread. Our vet student likes the bread and she has been such a great help that I would cook her anything.

On Saturday she got out the horses again and Mossie came to trim their feet. Melissa has combed their manes and tails into beautiful flaxen waterfalls and surprisingly they are already looking fat after a few weeks on the hill. It is absolutely wonderful to have a young person working with them again and seeing them all happy.

Geoff starts the arches

2011-07-07T19:39:00.000-07:00

5.7.2011

BUILDING NEWS

We are on the move again. Geoff has completed the block centres to the front pillars and has started on the brickwork that frames the windows. Luckily he enjoys this sort of challenge. Poor Glen has the less romantic job of cutting the bricks to the exact sizes required with a very noisy saw. Geoff says this build is good for him because he is getting lots of unusual experience!

We have also got in contact with Steve who has been the carpenter we have used for years and he is coming over soon to assess the ceiling and mezzanine floor work. He has told us that it is no use him starting before we have glass in the windows and have got it dry inside. Now, there’s a challenge.

Edd is trying to make a second supporting frame for the arches so that the bricks can set on one whilst they use the other. It looks rather a difficult thing to make to me but Edd is confident in his abilities at this stage. Pity Steve is not here.

OTHER NEWS

At last I am getting some energy back. I am still coughing but other wise feel a lot better. It has been a real help having the vet student here. She is confident with animals and a big help. Today she has started to sort out the horses. Just un knotting their manes is a lengthy task.

I am gradually winning with the accounts. All the little numbers are retreating, fully tamed into their correct columns and some sort of sense is emerging. It is interesting to see that we spent very little on our last holiday and we are within a chance of staying in budget for the new building.

I feel sorry for Beth who has her boys on school holidays. It has been a terrible week weather wise for them and she had Tilba staying with them as well. Her house looks a bit ragged. Sylvie has been having some sort of breathing attacks that have worried us all. The boys get croup but Beth thinks this was more different. She phoned the nurse on call service one night and they insisted on sending an ambulance. Now the doctor has given her all sorts of medicines for emergencies.

I have not been able to be much help whilst I have the flu but hopefully I can take the boys out one day next week and give her a break. Like us she and Simon are doing accounts. Simon was worried yesterday because the new computer he had just brought had swallowed everything. I hope he has retrieved it by now, we will find out because we are due to go and pick up barley from the brewery today.

winter woes

2011-07-05T19:04:00.000-07:00

5.7.2011

BUILDING NEWS

The weather has turned against us again and the builders have with drawn to unknown havens. They have constructed the lower part of the concrete blocks in the pillars but the windows are still just propped up. They must have secured them reasonably well because so far they have withstood killer winds and an earthquake. Things are not really going our way this week.

Edd has been trying to confirm the details of the solar room roof. Our engineer has looked at things and so has a steel worker but all we get is more questions that must be resolved. The roof edges and guttering are the problem. The roof is designed to cantilever out over the ends, but I am not sure what drains to where.

Alvyn is away until next week so not much help there.

OTHER NEWS

My flu bug is gradually loosing its hold but for the present I am staying inside and concentrating on the accounts. They got a bit neglected this year and although I booked in all the receipts for each month I did not do the maths. I am a messy account keeper and it takes me ages to get the amounts balancing.

At least I am better of than some of our kids who brought expensive computer systems, paid for some one to use them and have found out at the end of the financial year that there were mistakes made and owe more than they have in tax! All I paid was $20 for a book and a biro.

Each night we watch the tour de France. It is a real landmark in our winter trials. Even the cyclists seemed to be having bad weather last night. We will have to keep a close eye on the sheep from now on. I think that up to six of them could lamb soon.

The goats hate this weather and we are treating several sore feet.
This week we have another vet student here on work experience from Melbourne University. She is a Yarra Glen girl and is a most welcome addition to the work force whilst I recover from the flu. Edd is showing her the ropes today, as he is not busy with the builders.

A new look

2011-07-01T19:36:00.000-07:00

1.7.2011

BUILDING NEWS

Yesterday the weather was fantastic. Warm sunny and very dry. All the ground has dried out and life is much pleasanter for all concerned. Geoff and Glen are back on the job and yesterday Edd helped them transport the large arched window frames down to the house site and set them up in the correct positions.

It all looks so different now. I had got used to the way it has been and feel a bit rattled by the change. Alvyn came for a site visit in the morning and we discussed the shapes for the internal ceilings. Once again I have become used to the tall boxes and felt resistant to change. How odd that unconsciously I have already so much identity with the new house in its unfinished form.

I have let Alvyn guide me about the ceiling shapes but I am sticking out for a plane white look that we can do with plaster board and a bit of tricky corner work. Alvyn still feels that there might be acoustic problems but I am very much against using any material that gives off fumes when hot there is very little in the way of alternatives available in Australia.

Today the bricklayers have run out of some vital glue needed to fix the steel rods for the pillars into the slab. I am getting ready to do a transport run down to the city to get some. We have tried asking what materials will be needed so we can get everything on site in advance but it is probably our job to know so this sort of problem keeps coming up. If we were not so busy we might get time to think.

OTHER NEWS

I am fighting off a virus that started with a sore throat on Wednesday. I did a lot of sleeping yesterday afternoon and am back on my feet this morning. Alvyn is feeling a lot happier about his situation and so there is less to worry about there. Today he heads off north on the long drive to take Indigo and Arjuna up to Bianca’s father in Townsville.

This is one of the wonderful things about Australia. If you are not enjoying the weather, you just drive somewhere else. It has been a difficult time for these Grandkids but I am sure a holiday by the sea in the sun will help a lot. Alvyn and Bianca are getting legal advise but they still hope they can sort out separate lives with out a court battle, something that is not easy but we all think is for the best.

On the farm the broccoli heads are growing larger by the day and the swedes are big and juicy. The celery has been good this year but strangely the silver beet is slow. The red-hot pokers and arum lilies are flowering and the daffodils are growing taller every day. All the sun this week has brought the chooks back into lay and has increased milk production.

starting again

2011-06-28T17:31:00.000-07:00

29.6.2011

Today we have a treat in store. We are driving down to the glass works to see what is happening with the windows. Peter says he has already done some and he is pleased with the results. I love the workshop because of all the colours and textures of glass on display. It is such a wondrous material. In our old house the corner of Edd’s fish tank made a rainbow of light on the brick floor when the sun shone at the right hour in winter. I once had a photo of one of the grandkids catching a rainbow in their hands.

Our windows also tell the story of the rainbow but they also symbolise hope of an era of peace in our new home. One of Sundays permaculture group said that the new building resembles cloisters in an abbey so perhaps the coloured windows will add to the feeling of a sacred place. To me a home is sacred. It should protect the family who live in it and give them the space to lead meaningful lives.

28.6.2011

BUILDING NEWS

At last it has stopped raining! Unfortunately we also have no builders and it seems an awful shame not to be seizing this window of opportunity. Edd rang everywhere yesterday trying to contact Geoff and just when he had accepted failure, who arrives at the gate but Geoff himself. This was fantastic because not only could we organise work to start again but also they helped get the fire insert off the back of Edd’s ute and into the house.

This is the first of our homes internal organs to move in. Very exciting. We think that it may be easier to take the ute and a trailer to pick up the bricks in two trips rather than borrow a truck. Edd has begun moving more of the recycled bricks from our old house to the building site ready for use. We need to mix the bricks from the start to get an even balance of colour so we need all the bricks on site before the front arches can be started. On the other hand the materials are all here to start the fireplace.

OTHER NEWS

Our spirits rise as the mud dries. We are all very tired after many sleepless nights but basically we are still all heading in a positive direction. Indigo has now done her year eleven exams and Josh has also done well enough to keep going on his course. Today the kids have orthodontist appointments so soon I have to drive them to the bus so they can meet Bianca in Lilydale and she will drive them the rest of the way.

At least this has meant a late start, as I do not have to get them to school by quarter to nine. The weekend was very busy. On Saturday there was the market and looking for bricks and on Sunday we had a group of 25 permaculture students for a site visit. Luckily the sun shone this time and everyone could relax a bit.

25 people are a lot to manage in an open area. When this happens Edd talks to the group at one end and I talk to a group at the other. I am not sure if the middle section gets to hear anything. One just hopes that people position themselves to get what they want from the experience. At least when they sit down for lunch in the ruins we can pass the photos and written information around everyone.
We are always impressed with the people who come and really enjoy having them over.

our impossible week

2011-06-25T00:26:00.000-07:00

25.6.2011

BUILDING NEWS

Yesterday the truck came to pick up the scaffolding material. This time they did not send the forklift but sent only one man with a crane truck. This was not helpful because Edd had to help him with the loading and then the truck got bogged. Our plan had been to get off early and look for second hand bricks before picking up the log fire insert from the city.

When we finally got off we only had half a day left so we decided to just do the fire job. Everything fitted on Edd’s ute so that part was easy. The company would not take a cheque so that bit was hard. We did ask them about how much we owed when we rang about collecting the stuff so it seems pretty slack that they do not communicate with special payment needs at that point.

The good thing was that on the way there we passed two very exciting shops selling Indian and Asian doors and furniture. I did have the time to check them out and was thrilled to find all that they offered. I will now measure up square doorframes in the house and keep an eye on what would fit.
Having failed to check bricks out yesterday we decided to do it today. We have found some suitable second hand bricks just off the western ring road. Now all we need is a truck to pick them up.

OTHER NEWS

This has been a totally impossible week. We did eventually get Josh off on a plane to Perth but this involved another 4am start, and guess what? This time when I woke just after 2am with the dogs stirring it was Alvyn and Indigo arriving to spend the night here.
Indigo took my bed and Alvyn slept on the floor because Arjuna and Josh already had all the bed space in the small donga.

Next morning Indigo was totally all in so we put her back to bed for the day and got the school to reschedule her year11 exam. Alvyn had to dash off to work because he had important meetings. I took Arjuna to school and Edd (who did the 4am run into the airport with Josh) started on the animal feeding.
Really, our whole family has just muddled through this week’s series of dramas in a state of total exhaustion. It has all been very upsetting. I find it really hard seeing people I love so upset. On the plus side the shortest day has now been and gone and the year has started moving back into the light.

The Low-lying paddocks around Yarra Glen are all flooded and have been on and off for weeks. Today I noticed one sheep in the Herbert’s paddock and it had a young lamb. This is significant because our sheep lamb about three weeks after sheep in that paddock. Thank goodness for the working group this week. With their help we have now moved the horses away from the sheep and onto the hill.

some welcome help

2011-06-22T02:47:00.001-07:00

22.6.2011

BUILDING NEWS

Nothing happened today. Sue is busy for two weeks so we will have to wait for her to be ready to do the rendering on the parapet. We have to get more bricks on site before Geoff can start the front arches. We always seem to need more of everything than anyone estimates.

OTHER NEWS

We have booked a ticket for Josh tomorrow morning, which means another early start. It is impossible to contact Tiger airlines directly. The phones are too busy and the web site lacks any relevant information. Josh is now missing his intensive course at university but there is nothing we can do about it, volcanoes being well out of our control area.

The good news is that a volunteer group actually turned up today despite the miserable weather and worked hard to clear the fallen trees and wire so the horses will be safe on the hill. This group consisted of six adults from Eaton Vehicle Group and included people with very useful skills, so we got a lot of work done.

With all these people and Josh and Arjuna here I am spending a lot of time cooking. I made three loaves yesterday but in the evening Bernie came over with a bottle of wine and we managed to eat the first loaf before it had time to cool. The next loaf went on breakfast and a packed lunch for Arjuna and we ate the rest with our helpers at lunchtime. I have made another three loaves this evening.

I actually feel very privileged to have so many people around. Yesterday the rain leaked in near the desk again and our donga is hardly comfortable or even warm. I guess you really find out who your true friends are in conditions like this. Josh has been really helpful, and Arjuna always does every job we ask him to do. They are both pretty good blokes to have staying. I will really miss Josh when he leaves tomorrow.

a bit of luck

2011-06-20T23:16:00.000-07:00

21.6.2011

BUILDING NEWS

We have been amazingly lucky. Last night was terrible with high winds and torrential rain but in the morning it cleared and we were able to core fill the parapet and move the scaffold in dryish conditions. Once the work was done the doom, gloom and storm descended again but at least we can get into the house now.

I have been inside and it looks a long way off from being any thing like a habitable dwelling. We really do need a house when the weather is like this. I so long to sit by a warm fire and relax.

OTHER NEWS

No sleep last night. Josh went out to say goodbye to his friends in my car and at 2.30am his friend Scott phoned us to say that Josh had left an hour ago and forgotten his mobile phone. I went out side but there was no sign of the car so all I could do was wait and worry until Josh got back between 3 and 4 am having realised about the phone and gone back to fetch it.

By this stage there was no point trying to sleep because Edd and Josh left at 4am to get to the airport. This was a wasted effort because his plane was cancelled due to volcanic ash. All they could do was come home by which time I had to get Arjuna up and drive him to school. All in all it has been an exhausting day.

20.6.2011

BUILDING NEWS

Edd is working hard to get things rolling again after our short break. He has organised for the parapet blocks to be filled tomorrow and we are hoping to pick up the fire insert on Friday. He has also contacted a stonemason on the peninsula who knows where to get the limestone we admired on a wall on the beach.

I have been looking at the situation with bricks. Edd has counted the number of bricks in each arch and it looks as if there will not be enough recycled bricks from our old house. We have cleaned out all the local demolition spots so it would be good to look at places in town, maybe another job for Friday. The builders will need all the bricks ready so they can start the next stage when the scaffold is removed.

My next task is to organise a skip. The waste is building up and the storage sacks will start to biodegrade if I leave them much longer. There are high winds forecast for tonight and more bad weather, nothings seems to be going our way at the moment.

OTHER NEWS

These conditions are so hard on the animals. We are hand feeding them all and now have recycled brewery barley from Simon, which all the stock enjoys. The goats and sheep are now visibly pregnant and the calf, Sharron, is larger and plumper. She walked into the electric fence whilst we were milking her mother and was most put out at getting shocked. She blamed her mother for this and Donna was most put out at the unjust accusation.

mission accomplished

2011-06-16T18:51:00.000-07:00

17.6.2011
BUILDING NEWS

We now have chimneys. Next step is to move the internal scaffolding and core fill the sidewalls. Geoff still thinks we should render the parapet before we add the solar buffer zone. One problem. It is still raining; this is far from ideal for the tasks just mentioned.

Alvyn and I have discussed covering the whole top of the building with a tarp or plastic so that work can continue inside before the water proofing is done. The waterproofing needs to be put on a perfectly dry surface and the chance of getting one in the near future looks depressingly dim. If we were able to put the glass in the windows and a lid on we could be totally weather proof fairly soon. This would add extra expense but we would get a house to live in sooner which is rapidly becoming a priority.

OTHER NEWS

Edd and I got home plus tables and chairs on Wednesday evening after an easy drive home. We made a dash up to Kippa Ring (north of Brisbane) using mostly the Newel Hwy. The journey took us two whole days because it was dark about 5pm and we stopped for the night just before 8pm so that we could get an evening meal and settle into a motel.

Everywhere was pretty booked out in Kippa Ring because it was the Queens birthday weekend. Strangely lots of the restaurants were closed for the same reason. Strange policy for tourism. We found a berth in Scarborough beside the sea in a sort of automatic building. Edd collected a key and then we had to try and work our own way in through a series of locked system that would have done a top security prison proud. We totally failed to get our car into the park the first night but next day we were more awake and began to work out the systems.

On Sunday we rang up the people we were buying the furniture from and went to see them to arrange a pick up. Luckily they were friendly and helpful and the chairs were even more like the ones that I lost than they looked on the photo. I felt extremely happy about this. Edd was very impressed with the table, which was amazingly unmarked after 25 years of family use.

We then went to Bunnings to buy packing material and collect cardboard after that it was time to explore. We walked by the sea and found the most beautiful fig tree, it was enormous and many branched. I suppose as we were by Deception bay, which is part of Morton Bay that it was a Morton Bay fig. We ate Middle Eastern food at lunch and found a fascinating place serving Indian Street food for an evening meal.

By night we had decided that we had done enough in Kippa Ring area and that our best bet was to pick up the table and chairs in the morning and set off home. We brought maps and considered taking a different route back but in the end the option we chose was to take almost the same route back but do the journey in three days. This way we would get the best chance of shedding rather than gaining stress. This turned out to be wise because floods closed the coastal high way.

Our first day of travelling was beautiful with sun shine and mountains, There was a slight delay due to road works on the mountain that were repairing massive rain damage but we were going in the right direction and the biggest traffic jam was on the other side of the road. We got to Goonwindi in good time and found a fabulous Chinese restaurant and a good motel.

For me the best bit of the holiday was not having to cook in a tiny space, in fact, not cooking at all, and having bathrooms with mirrors and space. Our motel rooms had heaters and comfortable beds. We found the best deal at West Wyalong on the second night at The May Fair motel. This was by far the cheapest, but also the most spacious and best equipped of every place we stayed. It had rained all day so we chose this place because it had under cover parking and the rest was a surprise.

Our final day of travel was in sunshine again and we stopped for lunch at Rutherglen in a winery. There was a courtyard with a fountain and good food. It was also the warmest place we had visited so we relaxed with a glass of wine and tried to forget about the fact we would be home in a few hours.

Back at home we found everything in order. Beth and Josh had made sure our donga was clean and all the animals were well. The goat, Melissa had been sick and Beth had got a vet out who could not find exactly what was wrong but gave her medicine and she recovered. Beth has not dared to tell me what the bill is yet so I suspect the worse. Usually if we call a vet we get several hundreds of dollars in billing and a dead animal so I cannot really complain.

Josh back so we are off

2011-06-09T14:48:00.000-07:00

10.6.2011

BUILDING NEWS

Geoff and Glen are back at work and have added blocks to the sidewalls. I am surprised how much this changes the look. They are starting on the chimneys next. The blocks to build these arrived on time but it was pouring with rain and by the time they were unloaded there was a quagmire of mud all over the front entrance from our shed to the new house site. This makes life hard because everyone who comes to our donga gets muddy.

OTHER NEWS

I actually think we are getting off. We picked Josh up from the airport as dawn broke yesterday and he and Beth went through the feeding regime together. At this point we discovered that the goat Erin had developed mastitis over night. This meant a trip to the vet to get antibiotic injections and teat squirters. I have given Josh a quick lesson on how to use the former. Is n’t it typical?

No sick animals for years and then the problems come just as we are about to leave!
We are still going. Next week I hope we will return from Queensland plus table and chairs. I also hope that the long drive will act as a bit of a holiday and give us a break from building woes. Part of the time it is the Queens birthday bank holiday so no one will be working anyway.

houses once had shippons

2011-06-08T04:02:00.000-07:00

8.6.2011

BUILDING NEWS

This is an all time low. Icy winds and continuous rain, guess we can forget builders for a bit. Even so, we were run off our feet all day. The paver people came in the morning followed by Peter about glass and Alvyn about architectural matters. (Good on them all for braving our terrible conditions.) In the middle Edd had to take his car to get some work done and we had to fit in care for the animals.

The E-mail to the stove people does not seem to get through in a readable form and the solar tube people have not rung back. Edd rang up John and is trying to organise for the scaffolding to stay and extra week. I just feel like curling up in a ball and waiting for time to pass.

OTHER NEWS

I have nothing good to say about the weather or other conditions today, but at least we got to talk to nice people. The animals are having a rough time. The goats stayed in the shed with full hayracks but poor Donna, Sharron and the sheep had to seek shelter wherever they could find it. I wish the shed had walls and stall so we could bring all the stock inside.

We used to do this where I came from in the Yorkshire dales. The houses had a shippon on the weather side, which was an extension of the house. The animals lived inside for the winter months and were thrown hay down from the loft for feed. In turn their warm bodies protected the wind side of the house. If I could get into a warm dry place with the animals now I would not mind the smells at all. As it is I am just going to write this and then get into bed with a hot water bottle.

It's hailing!

2011-06-06T22:15:00.000-07:00

7.6.2011

BUILDING NEWS

It is hailing, and we are waiting for the Boral truck that is on its way to deliver the blocks for the chimneys. Boral have been really good about delivering our last minute orders by the next day. The builders drove in at dawn and drove out again fast before Edd got to speak to them so we do not know why.

I think the weather forecast was enough to put anyone off, though this morning apart from the cold it was not too bad. We have been sorting out all the odds and ends that meant sitting down with the computer and the phone. It is amazing how long organising materials takes. We are trying to get the solar tubes lights ordered and the inset for the fire order completed. I have paid a deposit for the fire but I just want to make sure we have it here before the builders are ready to start the internal chimney.

Edd is now putting the second coat of seeling stuff on the front windows. It is really good to have this time to seel them all over before they go out doors. The external woodwork is made of spotted gum and it comes up darker than the other doorframes. Edd went to meet a man who does steel work in Healesville. We need someone to make the roof frame for the solar buffer zone and are collecting quotes. This guy had lots of questions but our engineer has flue and our architect is busy so we have no answers for him yet!

We are worried that the ramp up to the roof will have to go before the builders get round to doing the chimneys. It is very expensive to hire so John only paid for it to be here the minimum time needed to set up, pour and then cure the roof. It will be really hard to get onto the roof once it is gone. This weather is really not helping at all.

OTHER NEWS

Beth came over today to practice the morning feeding and milking regime. I had everything in the right places and so everything could be done in an hour and a half. If you get things wrong or do not put buckets and other equipment back at the right place it can take much, much longer. Even doing the animals in the wrong order can result in chaos.

At least Beth has done it many times before. She is the only one of the family who puts her self out to make sure we sometimes get away. This time Josh will be here too, so I hope that together they can manage things smoothly. Donna is very good about the milking and so far Sharron stays at a safe distance whilst we are working. I am worried she will soon become more of a nuisance.

I am now making bread and ironing all the washing so that it will fit into our small storage places. I have even printed out Google maps for our trip and started packing my case. There’s keenness for you. Yesterday I shopped and got some nibbles for the journey plus some of Josh’s favourite foods. Three more sleeps to go!

slow progress

2011-06-04T22:52:00.000-07:00

5.6.2011

BUILDING NEWS

Progress has slowed down again but last week the big arched windows for the front of the house were delivered and stacked in the shed until they will be needed. Edd has been treating them with special sealing stuff and I suppose we need to wrap them up as well. Sioux has been over to look at the parapet but Geoff says we need to fill it before it is rendered. Sioux brought over the latest edition of the owner builder magazine where her own house is featured so that we could see her work.

We do not want to hire the concrete pump more than once again so the bricklayers will need to complete the sidewalls and the chimneys before the filling is done. That means we need to order more blocks but we have not been told how many. I hope Geoff will be here tomorrow so we can sort all this out.

OTHER NEWS

This time next week we should be on the road to Queensland! Josh should be here helping Beth to look after the animals and I will be getting the first break for two years! I am really looking forward to that. Last week was very busy because as well as building we had 20 kids from the high school over for the day as part of their course work.

The idea was for them to see how our permaculture system works. Kids always love the animals but this group surprised me by enjoying the push mower. They quickly worked out that with two people on the handles they could get the blades really flying around and cut grass shooting out. They even kept mowing during their lunch hour!

They also like exploring the new house. It is still filled with scaffolding so in effect you get a giant climbing frame inside dark tunnels. Even I enjoy climbing around. We had to drag the kids out when it was time for them to leave on their bus! They were very well behaved for such a large group and although we felt fairly drained at the end we enjoyed their visit.

I have made the first cheddar cheese for the year from Donna’s milk. I find that cows milk behaves very differently to the goat’s milk during the cheese making stages, so I will have to learn how to cope with it. We have dried off a few more goats now and wormed all those that are not producing. I hope to worm all the small goats and the sheep before we go away.

Today Edd and I went to look over the hill to find out how much repair is needed to the fences before we can put the horses on the hill. I have started to hand feed the sheep but they need the paddock cleared of horses before they start to lamb. Donna will also need another large round hay bale in her paddock. She has nearly eaten all the last one. Her calf, Sharron, is really started to grow now but she is loosing some of the excess fat she was carrying. We take four to five litres of milk once a day from her and Sharron gets the rest.

a holiday is planned

2011-05-30T22:08:00.000-07:00

31.5.2011

BUILDING NEWS

The week got off to a flying start with builders arriving about 6.30am on Monday. It was still dark but when I joined them at dawn they were starting to build the parapet on the roof that stops the soil falling off the front. Mid morning the sun came out and things were moving fast. Again today the sun has broken through the morning mist and work is steaming ahead.

Alvyn came over and helped us draw out the curved line he has designed for the top of the parapet wall. Geoff and Alvyn measured out heights on the wall at 2 metre intervals and then we held a curved pipe up to the line to draw the desired shape. We needed the architect for this step as only he could make the final call.

Edd has ordered the windows to be delivered on Thursday and we have Sue coming to see if she can do the rendering. I think we will need to order more blocks to do the chimneys and solar tubes. We seem to have gone through an awful lot of blocks.

OTHER NEWS

I am thrilled. I won the E-bay auction for the table and chairs. Beth’s kids had to stand back from the computer and they counted down the final minutes as I poised, all ready and terrified in case I did not get a bid in fast enough. This stress was not really necessary as I think I was the only person bidding, but at least I stayed focussed enough not to bid against myself!

Luckily the man selling the table and chairs is OK about waiting until we drive up there when Josh gets back from Perth. I would have set off straight away on my own but Edd is keen to come too, and if we both go we can enjoy the drive to Queensland like a mini holiday. I said I would go off once the cow had calved and was over the stage you worry about milk fever or mastitis.

Yesterday was a pottery day and Thea and I worked with Maureen in her warm shed. This week I made a lamp base to go with last weeks organic flower vase. Next week I will have to make more side plates for the dinner service I am making. Thea is proving an expert on the wheel. She has made a set of coffee mugs that all look exactly the same and are totally perfect. I get more and more worried about doing wheelwork again. I am sure I have forgotten everything!

Spinning is a different matter. I spin whenever I sit down for a cup of tea or a conversation. I will soon have enough wool to start on Sylvie’s winter clothes. The lanolin from the wool is correcting all the damage a years building and gardening have done to my hands.

On Sunday I showed Beth’s kids how to make butter. It turned very easily because Donna’s milk is so rich at the moment that I have been able to collect lots of thick cream. Donna is very pleased that Simon has sent up barley from the brewery and she is at the gate bellowing for breakfast now. We have named her calf Sharron; she is now bouncing round the paddock and has coped with the wet and cold weather.

rain stops play

2011-05-26T02:18:00.000-07:00

26.5.2011

BUILDING NEWS

It is still raining! The land is so saturated that it is impossible to do any work out doors. The roof on our house has stayed in place and Edd is cleaning off some of the bricks inside with acid.

OTHER NEWS

It is hard to keep ones spirits up in this dreadful weather. We have had a few wins though. Donna the cow has been very reliable and has permitted us to hand milk her in a make shift bale on the drive. Yesterday Edd and I went down to Warrigal to buy new parts for the cow milking set up. Today she let us use the machine with out any resistance, which was incredible as it was hard to get it on.

The new chooks have begun serious laying, today there were five eggs from them so we are really heading back into egg production. The goats are miserable. They hate getting wet or muddy feet and shelter in the shed all day rather than risk the mud to walk out to their grazing paddock. This behaviour has reduced their milk yield yet again but we now have cows milk to compensate.

I have fallen into temptation and invested in a little retail therapy. I have brought a huge dough trough from the Lilydale antique shop, and a large round floor light from a shop in Warrigal. They were both incredibly cheap and very unique. I am worried that when we eventually get a house we will have nothing to put in it. At least, that’s my excuse.

I am also trying to buy a table and chairs through e-bay. I am not really sure how to do this and up till now have relied on Josh to sort it out for me. Unfortunately he will not be home here in time. The chairs have the same shape as the old ones I lost in the fires. I brought those chairs at an auction in Yorkshire about forty years ago. They were in need of a lot of TLC and as I did them up and painted them I imagined that I would paint them many time in different colours as our life changed. This turned out to be true and I felt so attached to them that they were the first non-living things I grieved for after the fires.

There is a slight snag even if I win the chairs. They happen to be in Queensland. I guess I could fit them on the back of the ute if I can’t find a company to transport them. I will deal with that problem if it arises!

sad news

2011-05-22T23:58:00.000-07:00

23.5.2011

BUILDING NEWS

It rained on and off all night, I know because I kept waking up with the noise. It was still raining at a totally ungodly hour when the phone rang with last minute calls confirming our intention to pour the roof. The crane arrived whilst it was still totally dark and was rapidly followed by John and his team. The concrete trucks started to arrive as dawn broke and the work began.

The rain was not heavy but was enough to make things hard. About mid morning we were actually glad about the damp conditions because when half the roof was poured and we discovered that some one had cancelled the trucks bringing the second half of the concrete! John got onto this but there was still a long halt in proceedings before the next truck arrived. It was good that the damp conditions delayed the concrete set and that there was not a break in the roof structure.

The sun came out at lunch time and the workers began to get a finish on the cement. The sunny break did not last and heavy rain interrupted the procedure. John tells me if it is dry in the morning he plans to come back and work on the surface again. The good thing is that almost no cement came through the bond deck so there is no major clean up job needed inside the building.

OTHER NEWS

Alvyn came over this morning to see us start the roof pour. He seems to be OK. Last night he posted a message on facebook that I am probably better off just quoting.

“Just a short message to let you all know that Bianca and I have recently separated. We both still hold much love and respect for each other but are choosing to go in different directions as individuals rather than continue as a couple. This is a mutual decision; there is no animosity and we are still good friends and committed parents. After 19 years together we don’t see separating as a failure, but as a point in our individual journeys where it’s not helpful to travel together as husband and wife. Rather than dwelling on the aspects of our relationship that weren’t so positive, we are committed to remembering the richness and joy of our time together. We are currently working out the best way to support our family through this transition, and at this stage we see continuing to share our home as the most positive and stable arrangement. We would like to thank everyone who has supported us as a couple and as a family, and hope that you all can respect our decision and continue to share in our lives. With love.”

We have been aware that issues have been building and in some ways it is a relief it has finally come to a head. I have known Bianca since she was under four years old and have got used to her as a daughter in law. I just hope she will be happy in the new life she has chosen.

It's a girl

2011-05-21T02:02:00.001-07:00

21.5.2011

BUILDING NEWS

We have muddled through until the weekend and with any luck we pour the roof first light on Monday. We are still waiting the all clear from engineer Doug but as far as the rest of us can see if we add any more reinforcing iron to the roof there will be no space left for any concrete!

Yesterday the winter sun came out and it was really interesting to see how it entered the building now that the bond deck is in place. Light came in at a low angle and touched the base of the back wall and light bounced off the water in the solar buffer zone and reached up to the ceiling. Our original idea had been to have a lap pool in the solar buffer zone but this was going to be too expensive and complicated so we now have to think of another way of reflecting the light. The water there now is just what collected from rain fall in the area without the slab.

OTHER NEWS

Donna, our cow calved this afternoon. It was an easy birth and the calf was a good size and strength. I switched off the electric fence round her paddock in case it rolled through the wires and we should probably leave the fence off tonight. We will worry until the calf gets past this next stage especially as it is winter with cold nights.

We have now dried off all the pregnant goats and the milk from the rest has thickened and reduced so all milking is by hand. Donna usually over produces so we will milk her once her milk drops to stop her getting engorged. We have dug out the old rusty bale but now we need it set up in the milking shed so at least we can hold her still.

I just hope she has remembered that being milked is an acceptable procedure. I had to rope up her legs last time when she was milked for the first time. Getting a maiden goat to give milk is just so easy but cows are built like tanks and have a much greater power of resistance! They also kick backwards, like a horse, as well as forward and I have been sent flying against the wall many times in my youth.

Having said that, milking a cow is one of the most satisfying tasks on earth. On a cold morning a cow walks in like a warm radiator and extrudes an atmosphere of calm benevolence. You can lean on a cow. A cow gives you milk, cheese, butter, and yoghurt and produces calves one can eat. If you look into a cow's eyes you see a truly giving being. Cows are great. (P.S. You may hear a different story from me as we go through the week)!

troubled times

2011-05-18T02:16:00.000-07:00

BUILDING NEWS

We woke this morning feeling optimistic. The day was cold but clear and John had got all the iron laid out on the roof ready for Thursday. From that point on everything started to unravel. Doug, our engineer, came first thing to check everything but for once he was not totally happy and explained that we needed to make a few changes. This required buying more steel and John discovered that it would not be delivered until late afternoon.

All in all it was concluded that it was better to get things exactly right rather than rush and make mistakes so we all agreed to postpone the pour until Monday. There are some problems with this because the weather could turn against us by then and first thing Monday is a difficult time to cancel pumps and concrete. We will just have to keep fingers crossed.

The builders have also come to a stopping place. They really need the roof poured to go on. Once again everything grinds to a halt. We are actually so lucky that we have this donga here to live in. It is far from luxury but at least we are not under crippling financial stress to get the job done. Edd and I have all sorts of loose ends to tie up so we have lots to get on with.

OTHER NEWS

We are a very tribal family. We do things together, we talk a lot and we really care about each other. This is wonderful, but it means that we are all sad when one member is in difficulties and bad times come round. All my sons, and two of my grandsons are having problems this week and any difficulties or delays in our building plans seem relatively unimportant.

On a worldwide scale even these problems are miniscule. A macabre fascination lures me to trawl the Internet and keep informed about the disaster going on in Japan’s nuclear industry. Just right now we seem incredibly lucky to be living on food producing land in the preferable hemisphere. Also we are happily not living on a flood plain or the join between two of the earths plates!

My plan is to become even more self-sufficient. The lack of garden fences is making progression in this direction harder than it needs to be. Now the cold weather is here we are moving to winter activities. I am drying off the pregnant goats so that they can use their energy to stay healthy for the latter half of their pregnancies. The six non-pregnant goats will continue to provide everyone with milk but we I think I have made the last goats cheese for a while.

My next concern is the sheep. I am negotiating with Simon to try and get barley from the brewery to give them supplementary feed, as they get closer to lambing. The horses really need to move to the hill but last year they got out through the fencing and this year there has been so much growth that replacing the faulty fence has become a major task.

time to move into hibernation

2011-05-16T03:28:00.000-07:00

16.5.2011

BUILDING NEWS

Oh the mud! It has stopped raining but last week’s deluge has turned most of the building site to heavy yellow clay mud. It also stopped work for days and now we have a rush on our hands to prepare for the Thursday pour. The bricklayers arrived early this morning and worked on the roof all day to lay an edge layer of blocks that make a rectangular bond beam. In theory this stops the concrete falling off during the pour.

I helped Edd try to work out exactly where on the top the holes for skylights and chimneys go. I was below and Edd was on the roof with the builders. It was very hard to hear each other because if any one moved about on the bond beams they rattled made a dreadful noise below. Just when I was getting really frustrated Alvyn arrived to help sort out other plan details so I escaped.

Peter also came round with his latest pictures for the coloured glass. This was much more inspiring. It is nice to think of some artwork as part of the build. Concrete blocks, and concrete floors are not really inspiring.

OTHER NEWS

I am moving into hibernation. The spinning wheel is back in action and we have a large jigsaw puzzle taking up all of our dining bench. In the evenings I am reading my way through the pile of second hand books I got last week and loving it. Arjuna came to stay for two days at the end of last week and he is reading them after Edd and I. Nothing stops worry as well as a fast moving thriller.

There is a dreadful smell of dead mice. The mice all come in through holes in the floor and I admit to putting down poison. Now we are suffering the consequences and new mice continue to arrive. Sometimes I miss having cats. We had cats years ago, but when we realised how they devastated all the wildlife we decided that cat keeping was not appropriate in this area. I am going to make sure there are absolutely no holes for vermin to enter in the new house.

The frost finished off the basil and tomatoes so I have dug them out and replaced them with parsley and winter greens. I should really try and rescue the chilli peppers by digging them out and relocating them in the polyhouse for winter. This level of activity does not accord well with hibernation mode. Or maybe I am just too tired and unmotivated.

Luckily Thea dragged me out to Maureen’s, which was good. The potbelly stove in her converted cowshed creates a beautiful warm work place and we all potted together in quiet harmony. Thea and Maureen are masters on the wheel so I am trying something different by making a free form pot with three, joined sections. Maureen has lit the kiln and is firing the plates and bowls I started all those years ago! Her son, Justin, and Peter are combining glass skills and metal work ability to make birds and then insects. Justin has a workshop in a shed next to us. We are a little hive of artistic activity.

getting ready for the lid

2011-05-10T18:47:00.000-07:00

11.5.2011

BUILDING NEWS

It is pouring. Not concrete, rain! Poor John and his team are out there trying to get all in order to put on the bond deck. I have now discovered just what bond deck is because it was delivered yesterday along with big sheets of reinforcing iron. Luckily, although yesterday we woke to heavy frost, the sun soon came out and delivered a crisp clear day. The big trucks all came with cranes so they could unload easily and turning round on the dry grass made it possible for them to get out. That would not have been so today.

The scaffold people worked all yesterday and filled the house with blue poles so that it is now impossible to walk inside. They also built a fairly plausible ramp from the roundabout beside the large polyhouse to the top of the walls. It did not look one hundred percent safe to me, as it was tall and thin, with all the weight at the top and was not attached to anything.

Apparently the internal scaffold is not for walking on but to take the weight of the concrete roof until it sets. John informs me that it will need to stay in place for at least twenty-eight days to allow the concrete to harden. The good thing is that the ramp also stays so Geoff can use it to build the parapet that stops the soil falling off the front of the building.

OTHER NEWS

I have a bucket catching the rain as it falls through the ceiling onto this desk. The trick is to put a towel over the top of the bucket to prevent splashes and irritating noise. The rain is probably doing the garden good but the frost yesterday was heavy enough to finish off some summer plants.

David H worked hard and moved lots of the old wire down the drive to the rubbish pile by our entrance. We are stockpiling rubbish until the building is complete so that it can all be dealt with together. There are still piles of stuff there from the old brewery and we can rummage through for materials if we think there might be something we can recycle.

I have started cleaning up the foot of the big bank above the garden. My plan is to terrace it with above ground beds for vegetables. I would like to get broad beans and rocket planted but there is no more space yet. The new chooks are now very much at home in the old veggie patch. They have adapted well to a life of freedom and gradually their combs are enlarging and reddening, so more eggs will be coming soon.

Edd and I completed the fencing and Donna, our cow, is now in her own paddock above the dairy and the goats have a separate road out to their grazing areas. We have rescued the round bale holder from the gravel pit paddock and set Donna up with her own big bale of hay to eat through. She seems happy about this but we have no idea when her calf is due because she stayed with the bull down the road for months.

solar tube research

2011-05-07T01:02:00.000-07:00

7.5.2011

BUILDING NEWS

The scaffolding needed to pour the concrete roof arrived on Friday morning on a big truck. It is now sitting around the house on pallets waiting for someone to come and put it up. Once the truck had left Edd and I headed into Melbourne. Our plan was to visit the Skylight shop in Airport West and then go to the shop in Bayswater where our windows are being stored.

The skylight shop had a really good display of different sorts of solar tubes. They had set up various rooms from to be like normal house rooms and lit them with solar tubes through the roof. The staff really looked after us and gave us a piece of tube so that we know how big to make the holes through the concrete roof. There were different makes of tube to choose from but we ended up feeling like Alvyn that the heavenly intelligence one would suit us best.

There are about five solar tubes in the house back passage so this was an important factor to find out about. The next job took us right across the city and back to the window people. Edd showed them Peters glass designs and they gave us the template to use for cutting out the corners of the big windows. They were said that it was no bother for them just to supply the rectangular pieces of glass.

OTHER NEWS

It is getting so dark in the evenings now, the light is almost all gone by six o’clock in the evening. It is colder too and the wether was bad enough for me to stay indoors long enough to get the accounts up to date. We are actually not as badly over budget with the building as we feared.

Edd is still working on the cow fence and spent today digging the old insulated cables out from under the ground so that he could re-use them under his new gates. They are needed to carry the electricity for the fence. We are still recycling old fence posts, which is help.

I have been working in the garden weeding and mulching along the orchard fence line. I have now almost done this area and so far the new citrus and avocado trees that I planted are doing OK. They need a lot of protection from the rabbits who are still as destructive as ever. The vegetables in the raised bed are doing best. They are covered by a net too so even flying perils are kept off. This has top be the way to go.

boys their toys and good guys

2011-05-02T22:57:00.000-07:00

3.5.2011

BUILDING NEWS

Action again today. The new pump company arrived this morning with the biggest boy toy yet to adorn the property. Strangely it came manned by someone who has been a dairy goat farmer in a previous life situation. Fortunately for us he arrived with the intention of getting the job done and worked with a will. Boral kept up a steady flow of concrete trucks and Geoff and mate arrived in time to help with last minute jobs and scaffold moving. Thank goodness, our walls are now filled with concrete and it may be possible to talk to Edd again!

OTHER NEWS

The weekend was full of parties. The only problem is that I now feel really bad because I have nowhere suitable to return the invitations now the weather has changed. I had a great laugh at Peter and Thea’s on Saturday, and on Sunday afternoon we got together next door to celebrate Craig’s daughter’s first birthday. Craig is also starting to build and spent Easter digging a cellar and building in concrete walls with no mortar, locking blocks. I have no idea how he managed to get so much work done in so little time. He and Edd decided to pour concrete on the same day as we are now using the company Craig recommended. I wish we had done this first time.

There was no sailing on Sunday so everyone came back here. Alvyn organised Tilba and Morgen to help him move away broken blocks from the front of the building site with the tractor. Both boys worked well, I think turns at tractor driving or rides helped, and Alvyn is so good with them. Whilst this was going on Edd moved piles or earth with Skiddy and I picked up wood, plastic and bricks. In a couple of hours we had made everything much tidier.

When I am not driving round fetching building materials I am struggling to get the accounts up to date. I am soon to start
March, so I am catching up. I rely on a system to cope with dealing with piles of paper where by I do task one, task two etc and then it all just sorts out if I keep going. As light relief I have been putting together the under bench trolley I got last week in Ikea for the dairy. Today I finally got it assembled and the results are just what I needed. Now my big pans have a place to live.

The goats are really drying off now and only one needed a repeat mating up to date. We still have enough milk for everyone but there is less cheese making. Edd has kept going on cow fencing and my next task will be to dig out the cow bale and recondition it. All the galvanising burnt off in the fires so it will have to be a paint job. Once the cow calves I will be extra busy in the dairy.

getting back on track

2011-04-28T03:30:00.000-07:00

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. Alvyn 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. Bernie 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

2011-04-27T02:27:00.001-07:00

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 Beth 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. Alvyn and his two eldest kids were away on holiday but Bianca came with Tilba and her father and step mother so there was quite a crowd. Easter has been duly celebrated.

disaster

2011-04-20T23:51:00.000-07:00

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

2011-04-20T00:26:00.000-07:00

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

2011-04-18T00:47:00.000-07:00

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.

Alvyn 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 Alvyn discussed how the cool air inlet pipes would duct through the walls to help air movement and Alvyn 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. Morgen took our boat out on his own for the first time. This is a huge step as he is a very cautious child. Tilba 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

2011-04-14T00:47:00.000-07:00

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 Beth 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 Beth’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 Beth 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. Beth 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.

2011-04-13T03:58:00.000-07:00

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, Alvyn 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.

Alvyn 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 Alvyn 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. Morgen 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.

Beth 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. Alvyn 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!

2011-04-06T03:27:00.000-07:00

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 Alvyn 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

2011-04-04T23:00:00.000-07:00

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 Beth and her kids but we got through all the tasks we had planned. Beth 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 Alvyn 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.

changing colours

2011-03-31T17:24:00.000-07:00

1.4.2011 BUILDING NEWS

The weather gods are looking on us kindly this week and steady progress continues. He first wall with glass on the north side is almost complete. Geoff made the bond beam above the doors yesterday. We have probably made a mistake and raised the doors off the floor when they should have been directly on the concrete. This has meant block cutting to get the block levels to match up and means we may have to raise the floor slightly! Bother.

On the plus side Peter has been over with his thoughts on glass decoration and we were very impressed by his illustrations. He thinks we could colour all the twelve quadrants of glass under the external arches in a pattern of shapes that repeats but gradually changes from warm colours in the eastern living side to cooler ones as towards the western bedroom end. He wants to put semi circles of colour in each central lower corner so that they radiate beams of coloured light into the house as the sun moves along.

The other local artwork I would like to have in the house is some metal work from Justin, my friend’s son. He does amazing sculptures, gates and screens. He made the outdoor iron screen for Beth’s restaurant and the ants wall panels inside. When we searched through the ashes of out old house I found the latches from the doors, so I could use these as a model for new ones. The other thing I would really like is a special iron gate door for the entrance to the back passage. I have also just noticed that Alvyn has designed a window screen for the main bedroom west-facing window so perhaps that could have metal work too. I will have to be careful not to get carried away by dreams.

OTHER NEWS

The new raised garden is now complete and planted out with seedlings, thanks to all the help I have had from Dave, David and Edd. Luckily the metal shade frame is about exactly the right side and it is now holding up a net to try and keep off pest and dogs. The first four goats are mated and it is a lot more peaceful now the bucks are moved. The only snag is that they are now down wind of us!

I have begged family to help me with a working B on Saturday rather than give me birthday gifts. I hope this works because we need a gang to move the chicken shed and chooks so that we can get a new mob and have enough winter eggs. The poor chooks have been in the same two orchards since the fires! Our usual practice is to move them to fresh ground several times a year but for a long time this has been impossible.

I also need help with the front garden fence. Now the season is changing the kangaroos and deer come out of the forest and graze in paddocks and closer to houses so the threat from these big raiders is increasing daily. Living off the land takes quite a determined effort in our valley.

2011-03-28T01:21:00.000-07:00

28.3.2011

BUILDING NEWS

Perfect weather, and steady progress. We finished oiling the windows on Sunday night so the first task this morning was wrapping them with a shrink-wrap roll we purloined from the brewery. The idea is to protect them from the weather and falling mortar. All the walls and windows have to go in before the roof is poured so it is worth taking the extra care to protect them.

Geoff and mate spent today setting them up in position supported by leaning poles and setting in the steel work for the walls and pillars on the internal front wall. The blocks are now all neatly stacked so that they can start putting them up when they get here in the morning. After this only the internal dividing walls and arches need to be put up before the roof is poured!

We measured the hot water cylinder and luckily by making the slightly bigger arched door it is possible to get it into the back passage. I assume that the mezzanine floor it stands on will be made of wood. Geoff helped Edd get the cylinder off the ute and tonight Dave has brought his big machine to try and lift the stove off. I am afraid to watch. I hate moving heavy things and it is even worse when they could be damaged!

OTHER NEWS

We had a great a day sailing on Sunday. Edd arranged for us all to have a training session so that we can take out the wooden boats. The kids all feel the need to move on from the access dinghies. Beth came with her kids and Alvyn brought Tilba and Indigo. Beth spotted an advert for a cheap boat that we all hope to get together and buy. It is called Gael Force, which is very suitable.

We were lucky that it was such a calm day. Tilba and Morgen took the sabre out on their own for most of the afternoon. Edd and Alvyn found a second sabre and Indigo got some other smaller craft. Beth and I took turns at baby-sitting and sailing access dinghies. I rather enjoy them especially now I have learnt how to get some control. It is nice to know that they do not sink or tip over and I could get everywhere the others went with out any hassle.

Back on the farm we are well into mating season. Our sleep is broken through out the night as the goatlings express their desire for male company. Every day some of the young does are confined in the yard to guard against under age pregnancies. Today the first of the older goats, Dot and Cindy got their visit to the buck but not before we had moved him and his house to the small croft by the gate. At least his own randy daughters cannot get near him now.

My big task this week is to smarten the garden up a bit because we have a large Permaculture course from Ceres coming this weekend. My winter bed is almost ready to plant out and a bit of mulch will work wonders elsewhere. The zucchini and cucumber crop is almost over and is due to be replaced with spuds but it will probably still look about right at the weekend. Not really, but we might wing it.

2011-03-24T01:59:00.001-07:00

24.3.2011

BUILDING NEWS

The internal wall of the back passage is now complete. It has an arched door in the kitchen and two ordinary doors in from bedroom one and two. Edd had lots of conduits to get into this wall so progress was slower. Luckily we only had two bricklayers so we did get some time to deal with other issues. We finished off the oiling job on the doorframes and I unloaded our trailer that has sat for a year filled with scrap wood from the shed building.

Edd has also fixed up the pipes to the tank and put a bolt on the milking shed door. All the rest of the time was spent on organisation and phone calls. G is away tomorrow so we have arranged to drive the Ute down to Dandenong and pick up the hydronic system and wood stove. Never a dull moment.

I am trying to make a model of the free form shower and bath I would like to build. It is a lot bigger project than I have taken on before apart from the waterfall and ponds. I have started the scale model by sticking pipe cleaners into foam and building the model up with papier-mâché.

OTHER NEWS

We have still not found time to completely fill the winter garden bed so I have re-potted the seedlings in individual pots top keep them coping. I think I have worked out the easiest possible plan to relocate chooks and make a secure pen for young stock. I am now trying to sell the idea of having a working B as a substitute for birthday gifts etc to my off spring so that I can put my plan in action.

Our income has somewhat dwindled now neither of us is working, so once again we are having to eat our own produce for basic rations. Last weekend I swapped milk for freshly rolled oats from Heather so I have used them to make chocolate snacks. We have plenty of goat’s cheese but one can get sick of too much cheese.

I remember when we first moved here and our children were always hungry we were not at all fussy about food. All the kids were happy to slaughter a sheep and enjoy the meat. Eggs are such a good stand by. I never get sick of eggs. I can remember once wandering around looking for something to cook for the evening meal and suddenly realising that the field mushrooms had come up. I was so thrilled. It is about time now to look for mushrooms again. We got a few last year so I know that at least some of them survived the fires.

2011-03-21T22:54:00.000-07:00

22.3.2011
BUILDING NEWS

The pace of life swung back towards average today. In fact everything stayed in a middle range. The weather was neither hot nor cold. The sun was hidden by clouds but it did not rain and everyone worked steadily. David H came up and painted oil on the window frames that were delivered yesterday and Edd even had time to fix the pipes that take the rainwater from the gutters on the dairy to the big tank.

At the house site Geoff and a helper continues to build the internal wall that backs the kitchen and eventually got it up to full height. They worked with out needing anything today but I did go and pick up the waste sacks and stuff when a storm threatened. It was awful clearing up the other week once everything got wet and covered with mud.

OTHER NEWS

The young goats have begun coming into season. I have a couple of them locked in the yard bellowing their disapproval of my chaperoning. The bucks have been making themselves suitably smelly for two weeks now and are not going to be at all fussy if the only female that fights through the fence is their own daughter! We really need to put up a better fence or move the bucks but this takes time and we have not seen much of that recently.

I am still getting quite a bit of milk from the adult goats and once again today I made fetta. I made haloumi yesterday but it went wrong. I had to go out in the evening to the dentist with Wayne so I rushed one of the stages and copped the consequences. Oh well, can’t win them all.

I try and put two wheelbarrow loads of something in the new raised garden bed everyday but it is still not full. I am hoping Edd will have time to get skiddy out and fill up the ute back for me so that this process speeds up. I have started to take cuttings from the plants in the lower vegetable garden so that I can preserve my stock when I put chooks in there. I plan to have them moved at the start of April so I will have to get a move on with that too.

family life and cool tubes

2011-03-21T02:17:00.000-07:00

21.3.2011

BUILDING NEWS.

The first shipment of windows arrived today and is in Edd’s shed waiting to be treated. Very exciting! Two bricklayers working today core filling some of the internal walls and Edd is struggling to get wiring and plumbing conduits in the right places before the walls are solid. We are both thrilled with the first arched doorway that Geoff has built. It looks even better than I hoped and the uneven colour of the old bricks softens the rigidity of the concrete block work. For the first time it begins to feel like “our house”.

We are all surprised that when the sun shines and builds up heat the cool tubes let in air that feels much cooler. Considering that at present they are just plastic tubes through a wall this is amazing. It must be that behind the house in the trench between the wall and the excavation the temperature is degrees lower than at the north face.

OTHER NEWS

Alvyn, Edd and Bianca took the boys sailing this week and once again the weather was great. Beth had to work and I stayed on the farm with Arjuna and looked after the animals. Beth and dog joined us for a BBQ lunch and Bianca took the car home. Beth is going to lend Alvyn the spare van until his car woes are sorted out.

We heard some of the story of Alvyn’s terrible week, but he seems to be holding his head above water against impossible odds. He and Bianca have a relationship that has always been a rather rocky road and it seems they have hit another bump. Bianca is telling everyone they have separated but so far there is little evidence. All we can do is give them our love and support and hope something works out that allows them both happiness.

Josh has pneumonia in Perth and I worry because he is on his own over there. We talk on the phone and he sounds reasonably cheerful. My Mum also sounds a lot more at ease too. Judy has now returned to her own family in Yorkshire and mum has paid help with daily living whilst she is recovering from the fall. She has decided she needs to make her own plans for the future like my Dad did, rather than let anyone else decide for her.

Too much happening

2011-03-18T00:49:00.000-07:00

183.2011

BUILDING NEWS

I am so glad it is Friday evening. This week has been much too long and far too full of events. Edd and I are getting to the stage when we are too worn out to sleep and that’s bad. But, we have a fantastic crew of brick layers who are working at an amazing pace and despite everything our new house is rising rapidly.
The weather was pretty good this week, which was a great help. Edd levelled around the site with Skiddy late on Monday once the ground had started to dry out. I t was all levelled and compacted for Tuesday morning when once again, right on schedule, Boral delivered the next order of concrete blocks. We are so glad we brought Skiddy. It would have been impossible to do the work by hand.

The large back wall was built last week and half filled with concrete and this week the internal wall of the back passage is taking shape. The window makers came up trumps and Edd picked up two arched doorframes on Wednesday. One is now incorporated into the back wall and the old bricks are in place around it as a frame between the render and the wood. It took a few goes at the design before we all felt happy but the results are most satisfactory.

Our main problem resolves around plumbing. Charlie sent Pat round and he has helped Edd get conduit in for the wiring but we are having a problem working out where the pipes for radiators and other stuff goes through the walls. I remembered too late today that the stove would need pipes going from it to carry the water to the rest of the hydronic system. At least we have not core filled the internal wall yet so we can do some modification. We have arranged to pick up the hydronic system next week and we hope that when we can actually look at all the components it may become clearer.

The big windows should also be ready next week but we are worried about how we will deal with them. Apparently they are extremely heavy and need to be placed exactly where they are to be used. This will cause problems because they need to be in place before the concrete roof is poured so that means they will be out in the weather. We are not at all sure how we will deal with this. Maybe we need glad wrap!

OTHER NEWS

I feel so deeply for the Japanese people who are homeless in freezing weather and terrified by the dramas unfolding at the damaged nuclear plant. Self-pity for our own losses is an area we have had to avoid but one can release some of the feelings in empathy for others who are having things so much worse.

On the home front things are not going smoothly. Josh is thousands of miles away with pneumonia and Alvyn has had his bank account hacked into and his car has developed big problems. He complained when we spoke to him that he was having a horror Monday. Things have to be really bad to have one of those on Tuesday. Beth is getting cooking lessons from her chef so she can fill in for absent staff, and Wayne has flu and is not well enough to have his dental treatment this week.

I am having a better time with unexpected help arriving at opportune times. Dave P came over and put the pieces of my grow box together for me and Rosemary and a friend helped me staple waste plastic from the building site as lining for the walls. We even started to fill the box. I will need to get on with this because Dave also brought a box of beautiful winter vegetable seedlings that will be perfect for planting out once the filling is done. Perhaps we will get some nice vegies this winter after all.

we grieve for japan

2011-03-12T23:53:00.000-08:00

113.2011

We watch the news in horror. The scenes after the earthquake and tsunami in Japan are worse than most of the stuff Hollywood dreams up. Last week I was worried about the people here but this puts it into perspective. We are told that now 90 percent of Queensland has been given disaster area status and there are many farmers in Victoria who have to wait weeks or months to get back to work on their land but I realise it will be much worse in areas of Japan.

It was pointless to sit in front of the news channel on TV waiting to see if Japan’s nuclear power plants melt down and the morning weather was perfect so we headed up to Sugar loaf dam for sailing. The conditions there were the best we have had so far and for the first time Edd and I got our access dingy to go where we wanted it to go. It even went quite fast! Beth came up with her kids and we all had water fun followed by lunch at her place.

Back home we had time to get the washing in and clean up the building site before the rain struck again. It took about ten minutes to hydrate the ground around the house site and turn it back to a sticky, slimy, hazard. Edd is in despair because he did not have time to clear a site for the next block delivery. I find it hard to get upset about our minor problems when I see on TV how much worse it is for others.

Last week was exhausting with the builders starting early and needing so much done and sorted. We have reduced our evening workload by weaning the little goats and only milking in the mornings. It is much easier just to bring the goats in for a feed at night and the little goats are also getting used to this routine. They all jump up on the bale by them selves but I need to be fairly firm or have dog support to get them back into the yard.

Getting the mass of milk in the mornings means that this is the time to preserve it as cheese. Today I made feta and tomorrow I have a starter ready to do cherve. (Or is it Chevre?). Mostly I can make cheese in between other jobs as it takes all day.
I am more worried about winter vegetables. The rabbits are making life impossible. Yesterday Edd and I fetched some planks from Yarra Glen to try and defeat them by making a raised bed. The planks are treated pine but I have black plastic left from covering up building stuff and I can staple it on to the planks to stop any chemicals leaching from them into the soil.

eagles watch our build

2011-03-10T19:15:00.000-08:00

113.2011

BUILDING NEWS

The sun is back, the skies are blue and three eagles soar in the air currents over our building site. Down below Edd and the six members of the brick laying team are flying along and have almost completed the back wall. Edd has inserted pipes for the cool air tubes and is dealing with other smaller conduits.

Already the wall shelters us from all else in Steels Creek and encloses everyone so that only the view of the dam and surrounding hills make up our world. With music playing and things going to plan there is a relaxed almost festive feeling as work proceeds.

I am back on paying bills and answering phone calls. Edd has persuaded the window people to make us two last minute arched doorframes and they are asking about the required rebate. I wish we still worked in inches! Hopefully the next delivery of blocks is now ordered and we can start on the internal walls next week.

My friends Lucy and Ron from Hong Kong helped sort out possible good bricks from the badly heat damaged ones so the builders have a stack of bricks to start with. Damaged bricks seemed to predominate but this is not altogether bad because I now have a stack of them that I can use on the garden walls with out feeling guilty.

Yesterday we found that heavy rain over night had reduced the building site to mud so the man in charge called work off for the day. Edd and I were rather grateful because things had been going so fast that unresolved issues had begun to accumulate. We were able to use the day to buy things we needed, look at the ceiling in a hall Alvyn wanted us to visit and then call in on the office to discuss the remaining issues.

Alvyn had a beautiful sample of marble that he has recommended for my kitchen bench top. It had an old fashioned silky feel which I thought was fantastic and I liked the pale grey colour. We have looked at various ceiling types and personally I still prefer plain white plaster. Barry thinks we may be able to deal with noise and have this effect.

OTHER NEWS

How lucky am I to have friends who are prepared to put up with difficult conditions and visit us. I have so enjoyed the days that Lucy and Ron have spent here. Lucy told me such interesting things about life in Hong Kong that I now wish that she had a blog and I could find out what happened next. She has a great sense of humour so many of her stories were very funny. Edd enjoyed talking to Ron and so when they left we could swap accounts and enjoy it all again.

We took them up into the forest and were so relieved at how much things are recovering. We even went down to the track at the cascades where the granite rocks were vibrating with the force of the falls. Lucy helped me with the animals and we picked blackberries but mostly the men concentrated on building. With meals out and all this activity time went too fast.

2011-03-08T03:20:00.000-08:00

8.3.2011 YES. INTERNET BACK WORKING AT LAST

BUILDING NEWS

The brick laying crew are going flat strap and the back wall is growing faster than the weeds. Today the lower half of the back wall was filled with concrete slurry and the next lot of iron bars secured into position. Various conduits for electricity and water pipes had to be put in at that stage which was challenging. I avoided the building site and gave the men a free go at expressing the necessary emotions and made cheese with my friend Lucy from Hong Kong.

5.3.20011 BUILDING NEWS

The bricklayers arrived yesterday at the usual unmentionable hour and started building walls! Edd worked with them to put in the special water proofing material and keep the slab edge clean. By the end of the day quite a large section of the back retaining wall was in place, Edd and I wrapped the top of the bricks with polythene to try and keep rain off the water proofing material. We had some help from Ollie who fetched clothes pegs to hold the plastic in place.

The drains behind the slab are taking a lot of work because they got filled with rain and we realised that the levels did not work too well. We have just about got them right now and just need to do some fine adjustment before the drains go in. We are totally exhausted.

OTHER NEWS

Today the sun has returned. The grey skies we have been having are so depressing it is a treat to be back with a normal autumn day. It was really cold when I left to go to market but now the sun is up and everything looks so much better.
The little goats have found a way to get out of their new paddock the dogs were a help getting them back in. I am surprised at Flynn who has shown an unexpected aptitude for stock work. Edd is now cleaning the fence line with a whipper snipper in the hope that once free of weeds the electricity will deter the kids from escaping.

In the garden I have been cutting out plants that have died and cleaning up the edges. Everything needs a big sort out now the weather is cooler. We have been too busy in the trenches to tackle the fence issue. This is a shame because we are not getting the winter vegetables planted, as we should be doing.

I have found some dead rabbits and suspect that myxo is around again. Our neighbour Andrew says the wet summer has encouraged mosquitoes and that has helped spread the disease. It sounds a good theory, lets hope he is right as we certainly need more rabbit control. The council helps, but not unless a group of neighbours all agree to work together and a whole section can be treated. Everyone is just swamped with other issues up our way so I do not want to add to their burdon.

3.3.2011 BUILDING NEWS.

The bricklayers did come today but only to check things out and leave equipment for an early start tomorrow. (Well, maybe). Edd was actually OK about this because he still has work to do on the drains. Today he is digging away the earth to the concrete slab and then knocking off the edge to the slit that John cut so that the slab has a perfect smooth edge to fix waterproofing onto.

We are waiting for Martin, a water proofing man who is due to look at things this afternoon. He knows about the use of the sealing materials and it would be really good to talk to him before we start the block work. The Internet has been off now over24 hours, which makes everything harder. We had a power surge yesterday morning and it has not worked since then.

OTHER NEWS

There were not enough tools or space to allow me to work with Edd in the trenches so I have been at work in the garden. The first pumpkins are ready to harvest and the agapanthas need deadheading. The biggest job was tackling the weeds. I had to cut back blackberries and thistles that have started on the bank with hand tools. I have the blisters to prove it!
At least we still have lots of food coming in. The cucumbers are fantastic on the bank and the basil seems to thrive in the wicking bed.

2.3.2011 BUILDING NEWS

No builders today. Edd and I worked in the trenches again. We dug them deeper at the end and gradually the muddy water drained out. At least we know now that they really do go down hill! Edd did an awful lot of digging to achieve this. I got totally covered in mud trying to clean out behind Edd until the water flowed. How could we manage with out gumboots?

Once the drainage trenches were fixed Edd got on Skiddy, (the mini digger) and relocated piles of earth and gravel so that the truck could dump the sand we had delivered up close to the slab. In theory the brick layers come and start work tomorrow, so none of this could wait.
As the sun went down we were both back in the trenches with a water jet borrowed from neighbours cleaning off the ledge the blocks are to be built on. It was caked with mud and other debris but it cleaned off reasonably easily.

OTHER NEWS

Whilst Edd worked on Skiddy I got on the ride on mower (known as the yellow peril) and got the grass under control. It is worth doing this because it limits the area where blackberries, thistles and other weeds can take over. Unfortunately we left some of the fire debris in piles and wherever we did this we have nightmare thickets springing up that are impossible to manage.

It is not even possible to let the goats in and get some help from them because the relevant fences are still not replaced. This year we with the continuous rain there is more grass than our stock can eat. I have not even had time to walk through our bush areas and see what is happening there. The saplings are over two meters high already so there will be lots of changes.

With the sudden drop in temperature and all the wet weather the milk yield has taken a dive. It is a good thing the kids will come off milk at the end of the month. Time is going so fast, the hour will change soon too and we will be back into dark evenings. Beth and family chose a good week to be away. They arrived home yesterday having had a sunny beach holiday in Byron bay. They did ask if I wanted to go with them but I don’t want to leave Edd alone with all this work.

As dark was falling we arrived back at the sheds to discover that the young goats had managed to pull down a large number of hay bales into their bedroom. In fact they were very lucky not to be trapped under the pile. There was no way Edd or I had any energy left to restack the hay so the little goats had top be moved into the front area with their mothers. They get a separate room there but they have forced us into starting their entry into the herd sooner than we hoped.

2011-02-28T17:46:00.000-08:00

1.3.2011

BUILDING NEWS

Edd spent Monday in the trenches trying to repair the damage done by the weekend floods. He needs to get the back trench cleaned out and the drainage pipe laid before the walls start to go up. The heavy rain is making this almost impossible but at least we can check the levels easily.

The builders arrived early this morning and are doing their best to ignore the mud and drizzle. Today’s job is to wire vertical rods onto the steel sticking up from the foundations. Edd is trying to keep working on the drainage and the plan this week is to start building the blocks on Thursday. We have noticed that the local weather forecast on the Internet changes every time we look and is not a good guide to what we can do when.

OTHER NEWS

Indigo came to stay this weekend and picked lots of beautiful black berries. She also unpacked the new apple-coring machine I had brought and got it into action. As a result of this marvellous effort we dined on delicious black berry and apple crumble and are eating the rest of the cooked fruit with our muesli for breakfast ever day. Come again Indigo.

No news from the UK, so I am just hoping that no news means good news. It was lovely on Friday night to hear the cheerful voice of my cousin, Judy, announcing the she and Mum were going to have fun during her visit. Now that I no longer have an excuse to phone each night I rather miss the communication with my family. Chatting with my mother every evening is something of a luxury with us living at the opposite end of the earth. I wish she had Skype.

I have been trying to get our accounts up to date and that means sorting out piles of messy bits of paper. Not my favourite job. I am enjoying the cheese making better and am gradually getting to know my new equipment. Today I am back on cream cheese and yesterday it was Chevre. I have not attempted a hard cheese since the fires.

I have opened the gate so that the sheep can graze with the horses but I had to put up a slip rail so that the horses could not get to the big dam and the sheep have not spotted the new opportunity yet. The goats would have worked it out in a few minutes but most sheep are not like that. It is really hard to keep up with all the animal and garden work as well as the building. If I had more accommodation I would get in Wwoofers but we will have to wait for that.

Next week I have another old friend staying who has lived most of her adult life in Hong Kong. We stayed with Lucy and Ronald years ago when we dropped off at Hong Kong on the way to the UK. I just wish the weather was better. The forecast says it will be next week but do I trust the prediction?

Edd does drainage

2011-02-25T17:53:00.000-08:00

25.2.2011

BUILDING NEWS

Reprieve! The bricklayers are not starting on Monday because they have not completed the last job. This gives us the extra time we need to work on land drains and preparing the edge of the slab for waterproofing. Alvyn has found some one who knows about cool tubes who we can contact, and I have found an Australian company that do spray on cellulose acoustic insulation. Gradually we are digging up the information we need as well as keeping the building process moving.

OTHER NEWS

I went to bed last night telling myself that when I woke up my cousin, Judy would be with my mother. All being well she has now flown down from Yorkshire and has been picked up at the airport by my sister. Today has to be a better day. Wayne is now able to talk again, Edd does not have to panic over his drains, and I have had good sales at Healesville and Steel Creek market. We, and our family of animals, will eat well this week.