Tackling odd jobs

                                              Tiles on the splash back waiting for grout.

                                                                Lovely sun shine

I may have maligned Ben’s friends last week.  Ben was away on the week end and knew nothing about anyone coming for wood.  We have asked around friends who we allow to collect timber and it was not any of them so until we speak to them Ben’s friends are still suspects.  We are now keeping a close eye on who drives up the road and uses chainsaws.

The week started OK but got progressively wetter.  The area that is being paved became a quagmire and had to be abandoned but Andrew and mates did concrete the bit of floor in the big shed where we store animal feed. Now we will be able to sweep up any spilt grain.  This will help with keeping down mouse numbers. The new cat has refused to do any farm work and just hangs around the house waiting to be fed. Very disappointing.

Andrew also used his machine to dig holes for the fence posts of the new chook run to go into.  Edd has been putting poles in and clearing up dead timber from the area.  It was so nice and sunny that I stopped work on the kitchen splash back and went out to help Edd.

The chooks have eaten all the grass in their present run, so I have been feeding them greens from the vegetable garden.  I hope we will get the pen ready so that the students on the September camp can move them.

The goats are starting to show that they are pregnant, and some are bagging up. There is a lot of new spring growth and already the milk yield is going up.  The nectarine trees are covered with flowers and buds are bursting everywhere. Yarra Glen is looking very festive with a show of pink flowering cherries.  I have been giving away bunches of coriander and we are enjoying eating our snow peas. It looks as if the year is turning fast.

The house grows a tail

Today we had 22 permaculture design course students for a site visit.  This event spurred me to do a very thorough house cleaning and cooking session on Friday.  I was very glad I did the cooking bit.  I made a large cinnamon and pear cake and a big cheese cake and prepared several cream cheeses and other nibbles for morning tea.  Edd met the students who were dispensed across ten cars and did a talk about the ecology of the valley before escorting them up here for morning tea and a house and farm tour.

I had been warned that there were vegans, vegetarians, glucose intolerant people and every other dietary problem in this group but the food disappeared with such speed that no one would have noticed!   It had been a cold wet night but just before everyone arrived the sun came out and the house was flooded with sunlight and winter warmth so (much to my relief it looked great.  Eventually everyone had finished eating and we took them on a tour of the house and surrounding out buildings.

After everyone left the sky darkened and we had a heavy rain shower.  It is so good when the weather is on our side.  Actually, we have been lucky for most of the week. Andrew and his mates have had mostly fine weather and the new west wall is up. It curves round and down so the house now has a tail end which is a big improvement.  The blokes are now using pavers left over from the house build to landscape the enclosed area.  They are really doing a very good job.

Whilst this work has been going on outside I have started working inside on the splash back in our kitchen.  Over the last few months I have been collecting tiles of the various colours I need and Edd has fixed the stainless-steel edging above the granite for me to tile up to. Starting this work was a bit daunting, but I am now underway and enjoying myself.  So far, Edd likes what I have done which is a good start.

We have also got the tire treads back on skiddy.  I tried to help Edd and ended up cutting my knuckle on a chisel that was in use to try and lift the heavy rubber tread over its wheels. Luckily Andrew was able to help Edd complete the job and there were no further injuries. Edd was planning to use skiddy to move a heavy blackwood tree trunk that he wanted to use for timber. Sadly, some friends of Ben came up last weekend and took the tree in question along with the timber for fire wood.  We did not even know they were on our property so Edd is not happy.

We have let friends get the fallen timber for their fires, but they usually come to us first to ask what to take.  We need the timber moved and have enough fire wood for ourselves, so we are OK about this bit, but we wanted to keep the black wood as it was too good to burn.

Eggs again

My first attempt at goats’ milk soap is now being cured.  I hate it when you have to wait weeks or months (in the case of cheese) to test out how a product has turned out.  At least the soap looks and feels like soap even if it is not very elegant! I have now learnt the importance of keeping detailed notes so that good experiments can be repeated, and faults corrected.  The actual process of making soap was less complicated than I remembered.  The last time I made soap I did not know that American ounces were different to the UK ones which caused some confusion.  This time I have stuck to recipes in grams.

Spring is marching onward and deciduous trees are breaking bud. The mulberries and quinces are ahead of the rest with green leaves already showing.  The chooks have increased the number of eggs they are laying so that we have gone from 6 eggs a day to over 2 dozen.  This week we weeded and mulched the vegetable gardens and planted out the last of the broccoli and cabbage seedlings, as well as more snow peas and bok choi. 

Edd is struggling with Skiddy, our mini digger. The caterpillar treads had to be replaced but this is easier to say than do.  Ben helped Edd get on the first tread but the other one is proving even harder.  I am far too weak to be much help here and even Edd is complaining of a sore back.   We have done better with the next building stage.  My friend’s son, Andrew. has started to work at the west end of our house.  A wall goes from the end of the house out into the paddock to retain the soil over the roof, but the wall just ends before the earth does so that it looks very messy. Even on the first day things started to look better when Andrew cut back the bank into a straight edge. The next stage is to build a retaining wall the curves round and gradually decreases in height until it reaches the ground. The footings for the wall were poured yesterday when l it was dry and sunny. Today we have had showers and hail, so we were lucky to get it done.

 Al is helping us by preparing plans for a car port at the east end of the house. It would be good to have the cars nearby and sheltered. When we were first here we kept them with the goats and hay in the big shed.  There were problems with this because the rats in the shed got into the cars and ate through tubes and other vital bits. One even died in the ute air conditioning system, which could not be used again for years because the car stank awfully if you put the fan on!

Our next move was to park the cars on the drive outside the house.  The snag with this is that they are out in the hot sun and other destructive weathers.  The plastic strip down the sides of my car broke away at the edges and curled up. Edd stuck them back with glue and gaffer tape, but this was going a bit far for me and I threatened to buy a new car, so he took the strips off completely, which looks much better.  A car port would help a lot but to get one to fit in with the house will be bordering on the too expensive mark, which is a worry.

We do not see much of Al since he has moved to the coast.  I really miss his family, but luckily, we see a lot of Bo’s kids which helps fill the gap. I drive the boys to and from school several days a week when Bo has to leave home early to get into the city.  She is nearly at the end of her music therapy training and people are already offering her work.  The course sound absolutely fascinating.  She uses her music abilities, her research skills, and is learning more about a broad range of medical practices, from disease to mental issues.

Early spring

The frozen milk cheese worked out well.  My next venture is to try soap recipes and work out one that suits what we have.  I am actually rather challenged by the idea of starting a new project.  It took me years to work out a good method for hard cheese, I just hope soap is easier. I have the goats milk, and Indi has a good supply of olive oil, so we have the main ingredients to mix with the caustic soda.

I have not had time to start this project yet because this week I have had to drive and pick my grandsons up from school on several days.  Yesterday I had to drive further so that I could get Grandsons, Grandson’s girl-friend and grand-sons girl-friend’s dog.  Apparently, dogs are not allowed on buses.  As a complication Ollie was missing and his phone had died. Eventually this was all sorted and everyone was OK, but it is all such a waste of my time. Grandsons OK but girls and dogs will have to fit in.  

Spring is here, and the wattle and daffodils are in bloom and everything is very yellow. The Lucerne trees are starting to shine with their white flowers and the native wisteria has purple beginning to show.  We have eaten the first planting of broccoli and are working our way through the cauliflowers and swedes.   The snow peas have finally begun to produce edible pods too, but kale and spinach and rocket are still our most used greens. We have lettuce, but it is not quite lettuce weather yet, though we did have a very warm day last week.

Edd spent one day fetching concrete blocks and second-hand bricks to make the west end wall and is now trying to fix the metal at the base of the kitchen splash back.  He refuses to let me start with the tiling until this is done. I would have just left it loose but Edd likes things to be right.  I am now waiting for other people to do their bit before I can continue with my projects which is a bit frustrating.

I was lucky enough to find a tall glass fronted cabinet in the recycle yard and on Monday Lyn helped me clean up the relics from the fire and arrange them for view. The school students dug up all these relics and they have been stored in an alcove opposite the camp toilet, which is not ideal.    They are an interesting collection because they demonstrate that when glass melted, and heavy brass pans collapsed, cheap ceramic balls survived unscathed.

Indi came in early to borrow the trailer, so she could fetch a water tank.  It did rain yesterday but overall it has been very dry, and she needs more water storage capacity.  The drought in Queensland and NSW has continued to worsen.  The news shows pictures of bare earth paddocks and distressed farmers.  The price of animal feed has started to rise, and we could be in for a very difficult year. We have not had a bad year for drought or fire since 2009 but it could all start again any time.  In the last drought I squandered dam water by using a sprinkler for the garden but now I only water with a hand-held hose.  Just in case.