I wish she had skype

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

India 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 India.

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

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. Al 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.

back in the trenches

25.2.2011

BUILDING NEWS

Once again Edd spent most of the day with a shovel cleaning out trenches. This time it is the trenches for the land drains that Mike dug yesterday. Somehow we have to get the drains in and covered by Monday. Edd and Al have decided to use the sealing product we saw in town last week underneath the blocks. Luckily David Hillman turned up and volunteered to drive into Melbourne to fetch it for us. I had to take the ute to the bargain centre to pick up an out door table I saw going cheap there last week.

The good thing is how well the site lay out is working. The large delivery trucks can swing in through out double gates, drive right round to the new house site and then have room to turn round when they leave. Meanwhile the dogs and our living area are shut away behind a fence so the dogs can watch with out getting in the way and we are not bothered by dust and endless building traffic. I am extremely glad that Al came up with such a good lay out plan.

OTHER NEWS

We had a wonderful night out with friends in Yarra Glen yesterday but I had to get to Lilydale early this morning to meet Wayne at the dentist. It was the most awful day because he had to have multiple extractions and eventually emerged feeling pretty bad. He did say the infection had been more painful with his broken teeth but I thought he was being very brave. How I wish that I could save my children from this sort of thing.

At least my mother sounded better last night when I rang the UK. She is now taking control by fixing problems herself. She did not like anyone else’s solutions so this is probably the best thing she could do. Once again I feel really bad that I am so far away. I wish I could persuade her to come and live in Australia but she does not like what she has heard of our climate.

At present the weather is very unpredictable. The daffodils must be as confused as I am because they are sprouting already.
The plums are now history but we are still getting buckets full of apples, and zucchinis. The extra rain has been very good for the herbs and the lettuce grow almost too quickly. Still no ripe tomatoes but they are starting to colour up. The cooler nights have helped the runner beans who are setting fruit again.

We are starting to wean the kids and I am getting more milk for cheese making. All I need now is more time to spend in the dairy. This house-building project is really taking hours and hours of work.

blocks and the garbage warrior

24.2.2011

BUILDING NEWS

After months of little progress things seem to be occurring at an increasingly frenzied pace. Early this morning a monster truck and trailer arrived with the first load of blocks. Apparently we have two more loads coming today. Mike also arrived and he has started to dig out the trench to put land drains behind the slab. Luckily he dug out exactly the right size space before, so his digger fits between the slab and the earth bank exactly.

Yesterday we picked up sleeved drain piping from Healesville and the chippings were delivered so once the trench is complete we can put the drains straight in. The difficult bit will be the ends, especially on the East retaining wall. Mike does not seem worried but it looks impossible to me. They tell me that they will take the drain out to the flat area and put in a collection pit before putting in a pipe going out to the dam.

We had a lucky break last night because Michael Reynolds, the garbage warrior, is back on another lecture tour in Australia. Much of the inspiration for our house is based on his concept of an earth ship. This is a building that sustains those who live in it by producing it’s own power, water, food and temperature control. He has been over to Haiti and helped people who are still homeless after the earthy quake to recycle their garbage as building material.

Here we do not have much garbage, but I am doing my best to recycle every salvageable bit from our old house. Edd helped me fetch the old veranda railings up and conveniently there are just enough sections to make my garden fence. I have now taken three tractor loads of the better bricks down to the house site and they are stacked neatly on a pallet. There are plenty more to go I am afraid.

Another interesting bit of news was that yesterday Michael gathered a team of people like engineers and surveyors and actually got provisional consent to put up an earth ship just north of Yea. If that sort of construction was allowed we might be able to rebuild our host farm accommodation at a price we could afford! Wow, this is all very exciting.
It is still possible that the brick laying might start on Monday! Edd is still collecting information about water proofing methods. Once we are back into reasonable living conditions we will be in a much better position to evaluate our situation and decide what to do next.

OTHER NEWS

My mother found someone to rescue her from the safe, care home my sister had found and get back into her own home. The trouble is that she thinks she injured her foot in the fall and cannot stand on it. Nearly two weeks later no one has really looked at it. My sister has been on holiday this week but she should be home soon and my cousin, Judy, is coming down from Yorkshire to help. This is an enormous relief to me because living at the opposite side of the world I am not much help in emergencies.

we have so much to learn

21.2.2011

BUILDING NEWS

More research today. Edd and I drove into Melbourne to talk to the people in a shop that we found years ago when we had to repair a concrete water tank. They stock lots of waterproofing products and last time we took their advice it really worked. They also stock a funny sausage of material we are told can go in the joint between the concrete blocks and the slab and stop damp rising. Once again it is not cheap.

Our meeting last week with Al was fairly intense. So much to discuss and so little time. Edd wanted to talk about issues like the drainage and waterproofing and I was keen to clarify internal design. Edd had asked a local expect to look at our site and gives us his opinion about the drainage needs. He suggested putting at least two flexible drainage pipes covered with sleeves behind the block work to take any seepage water away and down the paddock on either side of the house.
Al had samples of the plastic mesh cladding that the waterproofing company who quoted for us use. They said that they could use the same material to make the drainage channels behind the house but once again we all thought that this was the most expensive option.

We need to finalise the chimney design so that we can put the order in for the flue lining that goes with the wood heater. Al explained that the height of the built in sofa beds determines the height we put the hearth in for the fire to sit on. The governing factor here seems to be the height that one wants to sit at. The design of the fire depends on knowing this because the mantelpiece needs to end up at a reachable height. I would ideally have a curved brick arch for the fire but Al thinks that it all might end up too high. We came away from the meeting with long lists of things we had to find out.

I did the sofa research on Friday and discovered that the average height of the top of a sofa seat was about 40 cm. I am not very tall so 38 cm is better for me. This depends also on how squashy the seats are so the next trip was to the futon factory. I was lucky there to meet a very helpful person called Bill. He showed me all the natural materials he could use and suggested five layers giving a firm seat with an initial depth of 7 inches that would settle to 5.

This week we have put the first order in for the larger H –blocks needed to build the back spine wall. The bricklayer plans to start next Monday and gave us lots of photos of similar work he has done. Looking at these was very encouraging. The slab looked much like ours with plastic drainpipes sticking up in odd places. Then the block walls started to rise and a three dimensional shape emerged. This stage will be really exciting.

On the way back from town we called in at a rock supplier and examined huge piles of stones of every colour and shape imaginable. There was every thing from brilliant white gleaming granite to dark black to ochre rock from Castella. We liked a yellow sand stone and a pinkish metamorphic, but un-named stone from Bairnsdale best and brought home samples. None of the rock looked exactly easy to build with.

OTHER NEWS

Whilst we were in town trip we picked up our order from Plasdene Glass. Simon buys his beer bottles and I brought the little jars we used when we made jam for our host farm guests from them. This time I only need the larger jars that are used for market produce and the milk bottles.

Family has also needed time this week. My mother, in the UK has had a fall and I have spent most evenings on the phone trying to help that situation. Wayne has also needed some help to start off the process of sorting out the teeth he damaged playing football this year. He has managed to get the insurance company to meet most of the charges but they will only re-in burse him after he has had the treatment. He could not have the treatment with out paying huge bills and in the mean time he was getting the injury infected so something had to be done.

For relaxation Al, Bo all the kids and Edd and I went up to the sailing club on Sunday. The kids all had their squad class and then Bo took Sylkie home to organise food for everyone and the rest of us got into boats and set off across the reservoir. We were just offshore when the weather changed dramatically. The wind went up and became choppy, icy drizzle poured down and increasingly large waves dictated our direction of progress what ever we tried.

Edd and I had to be towed back to the jetty by the rescue boat but we got soaked and had a good lesson on how minimal our sailing skills were. Al and family took longer to rescue as they were blown right into the edge and had to take down their sails and get onto the rescue boats. I think we are all very glad we decided to learn somewhere so helpful.

snakes and curing conrete

16.2.2011

BUILDING NEWS

It is homework time and we are studying and preparing for the next stage of the build. The weather and Edd have kept the slab damp as it cures and I have started to sort out some of the less damaged bricks from the old house and stack them with the ones we brought. The second brick that I picked up had a small but poisonous red bellied black snake underneath it! This is a challenging year. I was expecting red back spiders so I had gloves on and I was more on guard than the snake. No worries.

A meeting has been planned at Al’s office on Thursday to discuss the details. We have to finalise a chimney plan so that we can order a flue kit for the wood heater and the exact shape of doorways etc need work. I have been searching Internet images so that Edd and I can work out what we want together.

We now have an exact number for the concrete blocks so we need to get them ordered too. They cannot be delivered yet as the bricklayer wants them on the slab and it is not strong enough yet. We have been advised that even when it is cured it is best the are unloaded over the beams.

OTHER NEWS

The days are already shorter and the long hot evenings are a bit easier to endure. Today I am making plum jam and feta cheese. The stove is in the donga and the cheese is in the milk room so I am in orbit between the two locations. This may, or may not work, but at least it is only one day I am sacrificing to cooking.

There are far more apples than I can deal with this year. Bo and I have already stacked up our fridges, the only cool enough places at this time. The basil in the wicking bed is really happy and I still have baskets of zucchinis for the restaurant. Josh had a good idea, and suggested putting chooks in the big polyhouse this winter. They would clear up all the grass and weeds that have grown in there and keep relatively warm over winter.

The orchards where the chooks are living now have been over grazed and I have not been able to rest them since the fires. There are foxes close around our buildings even in daytime and the pens are too close to the gullies for the chooks to be let out in safety. In contrast the polyhouse is in the central circle and the dogs live between there and the gulley so it would be a lot safer.

Australia has had so many natural disasters that keeping my food supply going in winter is something I am taking seriously. Luckily Edd has had some time to help me with the garden fence so we might get that area productive too. I could then move the perennial plants and let the older chooks into the vegetable garden. This sounds good but everything is so much work and takes much longer to do than talk about.

Time to think

12.2.2011

BUILDING NEWS

For once we are thrilled that nothing is happening. Nothing much that is. Yesterday Edd borrowed a truck and fetched the second hand bricks. By luck he found that double donga Dave was back from a holiday and was willing to unload the bricks from the truck with his big machine.

He arrived here with a large bucket attachment on the digger and whilst I was wondering how he was going to move the pallets with it, he flipped the bucket over and exposed two long prongs perfect for the job! After that everything went perfectly and we did not have to lift a single brick by hand. That task is for next week when I have to start sorting through the stacks of our old bricks.

Edd is looking into all the aspects of stage two. Waterproofing seems the largest issue and definitely the most expensive. A quote has come in that fits into the shock and horror category. But we kind of expected that we had been a bit optimistic about how much that would cost.

Now that I can walk onto the slab I am beginning to plan the interior fittings. P showed me some amazing glasswork he had done today and I had a glimpse of how architectural art could turn what is basically an underground car park into a home of character and beauty.

We know a young man in Yarra Glen who does the most fantastic work with metal. How I would love some of his work in the house. I would love him to do the door over the fire and a metal gate for the back passage entrance. The only issue is getting past the cost factor. We are not really in the habit of treating ourselves to luxuries.

OTHER NEWS

Yesterday I spent some time in my private jungle in the small poly house. My rubber plant and some of the other plants needed larger pots. The bananas are huge and the coffee bushes are thriving in this environment. I should have tried the tea bushes in there as even with my rabbit guard the one remaining plant is struggling outdoors.

Josh sorted out the lemon grass and lotuses but I need a bigger pond for the water chestnuts. This year I have put the chilli plants outside but I think they actually did better under cover. The snag was that they kept getting bugs that spread to other plants. The yams grew fine but were all dug up and eaten by rats or possibly mice. They must be very palatable because they even got eaten when I put them on a table that I thought was safe.

I have a lot to learn about jungle maintenance.