Stuff

Sorry for the long time between posts people. I've started a new job (so now I have 2) so suddenly I'm a lot busier - particularly as the new one is out of the home. I've also been having trouble with my migraine so I try to keep computer time for when I really need it (for work).

Anyhooooooo...today Jerry and I did some bubbleglazing in the bedroom and the bathroom to try and keep out some of the cold that seeps through our very thin single-glazed windows. We also discovered bubble-wrap is quite handy for filling in the drafty gaps between timber and mud-brick!

As you can see we haven't bubble-glazed the top sections for the windows as we're quite partial to sitting in bed with a cuppa on weekend mornings and admiring the view. This will reduce the effectiveness, of course, but we think we can live with it. We will see how it is after a few days. As I've said before, the great thing about the bubbleglazing is it's a LOT cheaper than replacing windows, and it still lets in loads of light compared to having the curtains drawn all day.

In the garden, I harvested the giant russian sunflower - I saved some seed for next year and the rest went to the chickens. I also saved a lovely batch of scarlet runner bean seeds - they are purple and brown - very pretty. The first batch of  broccoli / collards/ kale I planted are doing well too. We're still picking raspberries and a couple of the Tommy Toe tomatoes are hanging in there and still producing. I have seen a few mighty fine looking turnips which I will pick for braising later in the week.

To round off the day I spent some time making lotions and potions:

• another batch of liquid castile body wash - this time with lemon essential oil (I bought the liquid castile)
• replenished my supply of lip balm - this time it's beeswax, jojoba, cocoa butter and calendula oil with vanilla essential oil and a dash of honey (local chestnut honey).
• made a new batch of facial cleanser (90ml liquid castille, 10ml apricot kernel oil, 6 drops rose otto and 6 drops lavender essential oil)
• attempted to make an oat body cream but once again my emulsion didn't set. VERY ANNOYING. I think James Wong's emulsion liquid levels are just dodgy as I always have trouble with his cream recipes. Although I love love love the shows and the books and have no problems with a range of other things I've made from them. In fact I also picked some wormwood, sage and rosemary today to dry and use to make moth repellent (from book 2)

A nice long oat bath (cup of porridge oats in fine cheesecloth in the bath - give it a few good squeezes to release the oaty goodness) with a glass of white and a good book (Heal your Headache, which has provided a lot of food for thought) restored my humour!

Tonight's dinner will be pork spare ribs (thanks E!) Chinese style with rice and peas and Dr Who. Sadly the Matt Smith Dr Who not the David Tennant Dr Who (or even the Chris Eccleston Dr Who). Even the guiding hand and scripts of Stephen Moffat (the genius that wrote Blink, the Library and that devil episode) can't make up for the fact that (IMHO) Matt Smith was the wrong choice. He's just not working for me as the Doctor - although I do like Amy Pond as a companion. Oh well, at least I have the others all on DVD (thanks Mumma Jerry!!)

I hope you all had or are having (depending on your timezones) a fabulous weekend!

The sun's out - no time to rest

An unexpectedly sunny day, and a garden free of scratching chickens meant it was time to get on with some new garden plans.

Plant up some lobelias, and got started on the herb and medicinal flower garden (spearmint in the tub, pyrethrum and prostrate thyme at the front).

Planted out some mustard leaf, and admired the asparagus..

Jerry wasn't being idle either - this morning he helped our mate Dave take out the bathtub. Water had been getting behind the shower end and the frame had rotten, causing the bath to sink further, causing more water to leak....you get the idea

We even found the base of the old shower ... quick call Time Team for the excavation  LOL

Then after lunch he continued making up new garden beds

After all that work there was just time to pick a few bits for tonight's roast - including one of 3 parsnips I managed to grow from a whole packet of seeds!!!

Now I just have to clean all the floors and tidy the kitchen. By then I'm SURE it will be wine o'clock  :) Have a good week everyone

It's finished!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yep, unbelievably (and more importantly before the 12 month aniversary) we've finished the new coop and chickn run!

Here's the new "Palais et jardin d'oeufs"  :)

Le Palais: New entrance, and the new perches and nest boxes...but same old chickens!

 

 

Le Jardin:

 

 

All those tyres will have sunflowers and other pretty delights come summer. We will also be gradually working on making covered beds in the actual run to grow thigs for the chooks to nibble on.

I can't tell you how good it feels to wake up on a weekend morning with a new world of possibilties now that coop building isn't on the agenda :)

Laundry mini-renovation

It was finally time to move things around a bit in the laundry (turn the sink, move the washing machine to another wall, build some shelves). Lucky we have a handy friend Dave to help with this kid of project!

First was turning the sink, ripping down the old 'splashback', relocating the taps for the washing machine, and making a new ply splashback (which will have 3 or 4 coats of marine varnish for waterproofing)

And voila! A couple of days later and here's the new shelving system. I've now been able to move the cheese fridge (wine fridge bough at a garage sale for $25!) out of the guest bathroom :). I have loads more shelf space to play with, and it's a much better use of the space. We're hoping the new splashback will also seal off some of the more drafty areas of mud brick too.

New coop - the work continues

Now that Jerry is fully recovered, it was time to get back to work on the chicken coop. Friends lent us a powered post hole digger to speed up the process of digging the holes for the support poles.

Unfortunately either the soil was too clay-hard, or we didn't have the technique quire right, as we ended up resorting to the manual auger for most holes ...

On Sunday, it was time to start stringing the wire that will hold the chicken and aviary wire.

The chickens will have some of the best views!

Jerry's latest creation

Out in the blogosphere recently I came across a nifty item someone had made - a stand to dry your plastic bags after washing them. It was such a great idea, so I showed a picture to Jerry and asked him to make me one.

Here it is - pretty nifty eh? It's certainly easier than trying to prop them over cutlery or plates.

Time to shade out the sun

It's that time of year again - temps in the 30s, and the sun heating up the black slate porch and reflecting heat into the house. The old wooden blinds that mum was using have fallen apart 1 by 1, so it was time for some new ones.

We looked around for ready-made options, but the costs were outrageous to do the space we needed, so we decided to try some home-made shade cloth blinds. For less than the price of one lot of readymades we bought enough shadecloth to do blinds for one whole side of the house.

We chose a 70% shadecloth in an attractive blue colour. Armed with measuring tape, an iron, and an eyelet maker we set to work!


The new blinds look better, don't you think (photo on the left has old and new)? As you can see from the picture they are very effective in blocking the bulk of the sun form hitting the tiles, and from shining into the house - but you still get a reasonable view through them. The added bonus is the blue tone helps you imagine that it is a bit cooler than it really is!

We've opted for blinds that will stay in place for the next few months (secured with hooks on top, and pegged to the ground with tent pegs)......mostly because that was the easiest option!! At the end of summer we can take them down and roll them and store them in the shed.


We will be making the rest of the blinds next weekend, and over the next few days these ones will get a good workout with temperatures in the high 30s...UGH!!!

Building a new chook shed Part 1

We (well, Jerry mostly) are building a new main chicken coop, with more undercover space for feeding and dustbathing when the weather isn't so good.





Last weekend we 'rescued' 2 sides and half a roof of a shed from the tip, and the rest of the corrugated iron and colourbond was also 'rescued'. It won't be the prettiest, but it ticks the recycling box, and the only things we've had to buy are the pine support posts. Even the hardwood cross beams were 'rescued"!

Mud brick repairs - my kinda DIY!

Today it was time for some DIY repairs to the mud brick. There were a lot of cracks in places, but with the prolonged dry spell bits of the wall had started falling out, so it was time to replace them.

It's easy, and no special tools are required!

1) pick out all the bits of the wall that are about to fall out



2) spray with a bit of water to moisten area that you will be refilling

3) make mud - pound up some leftover mud bricks with a log - add water until nice and "muddy" - but not too wet. If you have kids I'm sure they would LOVE to help with this bit


4) put mud in a bucket and pick up trowel

5) slap (yes, that IS a technical DIY term) the mud into the holes and cracks until filled in - smoothing is optional, depending on how "rustic" your walls are. Ours are VERY rustic. This hole actually took a cereal bowl full of mud to fill!


6) admire your handiwork!!


In a few days when this mud is dry I will go over with another thinner layer with some boncrete added for extra durability.