Author: Lisa

Well… the building inspector was on the job – so we took advantage of a gorgeous sunny day among the miserable ones and got back to our chook run

We decided that some extra bracing in here so the shade cloth had more support wasn’t a bad thing

We pre cut the shade cloth for the remaining panels (like my ruler?)

But the main aim of the day was the roof
We had just enough of the long beams to put up over the entire structure

Jeff hard at work (I was the official ladder relocating person)

We were a bit unsure about how to do this! All a bit awkward. Luckily Jeff has a long reach so he could get up on the extension ladder and reach across to screw in the panels.

We got more efficient as we sorted out what we were doing.
We started then decided the slope on the roof wasn’t enough so we unscrewed the top side and added another layer of timber – we hoped rain wouldn’t end up pooling on top.

It has since rained and the water slid off exactly as we wanted it too and no runback leaking out where the overlap is… so… yay!

While I was up the ladder at one point, I had some cherry plum branches poking into my ear and it occurred to me that we might want to do a bit of lopping. While branches were unlikely to fall on the new roof… I’d seen possums doing death defying leaps to and from them to the old roof…
Last thing our roof needs is a fat possum dive bombing the top! (We are going to also add some more bracing for the roof so the polycarb sheets have some more rigidity)

Extend extension ladder a lot and up I go

That went well. I didn’t fall down (yay) and didn’t drop any branches on Jeff’s head (double yay)

Weather turned ugly again but today had a short window of nice (Bit windy but manageable)
So we grabbed the pre cut shade cloth and got that part of the job done and now its really looking like something!

We have plans to tidy up the edges with the tin, flashing and timber facing at the top.

We’ll have to do a bit of mucking about on this side to cut those beams back flush – we didn’t think it would matter but now with what we want to do… it will! Ahhh well.

I am not too worried about the extra roof overhang… if the water is coming off further from the structure, I am happy with that

Can’t wait to get the new tin!
Jeff wanted to replace this clear polycarbonate on the coop but… seems it washes of well so I’ll add that to my ‘to do’ list

The coop itself will clean up nicely too by the look of it (adds to list) so probably no need for a repaint here

All in all we are pretty chuffed with progress… the end is in sight and we aren’t even officially in winter yet!
Its already making a difference in the run area – of course not much rain is getting in there now so the girls feed is not filling with water and the ground isn’t mucky like usual at this time of year!

Time to relax? In the evenings anyway!
Cheers!

(Seriously… I don’t think Pip could look happier and more relaxed if he tried!!)

The days remain grey and mostly raining off and on. So outside progress is slow. Plus its a bit unmotivating!!
Lets soap update first!

The butterfly ones ended up turning out rather cute!

I finally got to cutting the slab mould soaps too

I made a loaf with activated charcoal yesterday – with luck the cut will reveal veins of gold. (Fingers crossed)

My friend Nardia (the lady who I have done a bit of hiking with) owns a local shop. She’s asked if I can do just plain goats milk soaps as she’s had requests. So I started on making a supply. Easy to make a double batch of the unscented and uncoloured soap – not sure how much I’d need in reserve but we’ll work that out as we go along

So… back to the chook run!
I was excited that we snagged a bit of non raining day to put up some shade cloth!

I’d been itching to do this bit!

We just popped one of the old bits of tin up against it to get an idea of looks

Jeff reckons that with all the effort we should get new tin and I agree.
It would probably be cheaper too than painting the old stuff – can always find another use for the old stuff

I miscalculated the size of the roll so we’ll need to grab another roll of shadecloth

I think we’ve worked out how we are going to go about the roof – just need a nice day to get in and get on with it.

Update… I’ve found where we got the tin from for the garden fence and they can cut to size too ($1 extra per sheet! Sold!)
Just have to go and get some precise measurements and email it through… then we can go and collect.
Things are moving along!

Hope everyone’s week has started fabulously!
Cheers!

(Cold weather comfort food… banana muffins of course!)

We got the fire a bit warm and even Pips towel was too hot for him

Twist and turn

What I was actually trying to do here was photograph my finished basket … until Mr Poser was showing off looking all cute

I decided if I went taller it would look silly.

The fresh colours at the top will fade quickly

I am a bit chuffed with it… love how the whole thing is made purely with the flax and no string or other man made materials.

So I started a new one…

I am using a needle this time and making the stitching much tighter .
Not sure what shape I will aim for… these things always seem to just do their own thing!

I’ve kept up with a bit more soaping.

I love it how this blobby kinda mess ends up looking so cool

I’ve been lazy about removing the blocks today and doing the final cut… maybe tomorrow? (This is the Lavender and Peppermint mix)

Today I made some ‘raspberry jam’ fragranced soap

I think tomorrow it will look better. The yellow parts have lightened up. Will try another snap when I unmould them
Thought it was about time I started using the butterfly embeds since I have a million of them

I was going to do a late night batch but the power has been flickering so… didn’t want to get caught half way through making something

The weather has been cold and mostly raining a lot. So we’ve not gotten out all the gear to work on the chook run the last few days. Killing me. I just want it done now!
I did get Jeff to come out and be on ladder holding duty while I went up and mopped off the solar panels.
Ugh… that guttering needs fixing but… its in a dodgy high spot (uneven ground) so we’ve not tried ourselves and we’ve not wanted to spend the $$
One day…
Anyways, solar panels! I didn’t fall down so that was good. But you can see where my reach isn’t enough. Roof is a bit slippery so I didn’t get right up there… just what I could reach at top of ladder with the mop. I suppose getting 3/4 of them cleaned off will be helpful.

Yay for self seeded tomato plants!

Sunflower seeds!

Dahlias…

Poor Flossie is moulting again!! She looks dreadful! Stupid time of year to do it in this weather!
She seems happy enough and still totally greedy about her food

Protea

Our tiny little Japanese Maple is now bright red!
Just a burst of colour in the corner of the yard!

And lastly… one more of the posing pussycat!
Hope you’re all having a wonderful weekend!

Cheers

Hi! Just thought you might like to see the cut soap from yesterday!
Love the pretty rose-geranium result… the fine gold line is hard to see but its there and rather elegant!

The lemongrass/exotic lime colours turned out a bit more subtle than expected but I like it a lot

Leftover mixtures into my bee moulds!!

Today we were out chipping away at that chook run!

Jeff did most of the construction although I was able to be useful finding timber, measuring out and cutting stuff to length

I pulled apart the timber pile to get to the size we needed as it was all stacked as it came off the mill.

We’ve put it all back in better order so finding what we need will be quicker. Should have done that at the beginning haha…
Never mind. We’ve put the intact long ones on top of the pile which we will be needing for the roof

So… here we are. We’re about ready for the next stages – door, shade cloth, tin and roof!
Oh and paint.
I will need to drive back over to the hardware shop tomorrow.
I’d like to pick up the laserlite for the roof, as well as more screws and paint.
Hmmmm and bird wire…
I better measure stuff and write a list hey?
Hope your day was great too!
Cheers!

I had a market stall at the Rhododendron Gardens on the weekend – was a gorgeous day out for visitors… sold a decent amount of soap, hung out with my Market Buddy Maureen and had a really good day.
Came home all enthused to dive in to restocking

First photo above is a nice subtle colour and fragrance ‘baby powder’

Today I did a double batch of cedar and saffron… always good to be stocked up on that!

Next was a loaf of the rose-geranium essential oil

This has sprinkles inside…

and lastly a Taiwan Swirl using the Lemongrass and Exotic Lime fragrance

I finished my big rustic basket…

Like some crazy birds nest!

I made up a hamper for the market stall but no-one really noticed it.
I think it would look great filled with veggies tho…

Yesterday was a superb day so we got out into the Sisters Hills for a hike

No wind either so the perfect hiking day!

We just kept on going until the time said we needed to double back so we weren’t hiking in the dark

Stopped for a picnic… nothing too gourmet

And an apple…

Always good to get out!

Hope everyone had a great weekend and a good start to the new week!
Take a leaf out of Pips Book and RELAX 🙂

Cheers!

Hi.. Just attacking a few more spots in the garden.
I think I am about done with the wedding photos – Bride and Groom are meant to be popping over for dinner tomorrow
In between I am going to have to go back to the dentist… developed quite the ache that aint getting better. I am a bit bummed because it seemed to behave so nicely to start with.

The blueberry patch sprouted some tomato plants! Finally thought I might tie them up and tidy things… not sure how many decent warm days for ripening we’ll have from now!

Its a 3D tomato jigsaw… or pickup sticks or something!

The fungi are cute

The tomato plants have done well without any help from me!

A bit more sensible

I picked the pumpkins and pulled out their vines…

This has had its day…

Brought Flossie in to ‘help’

Just one chook in the garden at a time is enough

Then I start hearing lots of other ‘chook noises’ behind me!! I was SURE I shut the gate!

All of them! Teleported in somehow!! (and ate the red tomatoes!!!)(They went the long way around through a gate I had left open then marched into the garden from the other side, hence me not seeing them!)

I think the garden below is a ‘destroy and start again’ scenario

I started digging up the twitch, then decided I didn’t want to be doing that until Christmas so gave up. (its awful)
Will think about what to do…

One of the blueberries is looking pretty!

Time for bed I think!
Have a great day everyone!
Cheers!

Hello!
First up – sprinkle soap cut! Very cute
Yesterday I spent the afternoon up a ladder cleaning out gutters.
In the last light I started weaving another basket just for the fun of it!

Looks a bit spider-webby

Today we did a short hike then came back to do more work on the chook run

I dug a hole… (Wondering A. How much dirt the adorable little chickens have kicked back into it and B. Since its raining heavily, if its filling with water right now!)

I picked up a sheet of garden lattice which I was hoping we could use as a door.

We’ve added some timber down the sides to make it a bit less flimsy (Not that its bad really)
The main thing is, I wanted a door to not only fit a wheelbarrow through, but to get it through without skinning my knuckles.

Its all taking shape

I am super excited to get in and start whacking the shadecloth and tin up.
Jeff is more sensible and is aiming to get the whole bones of the structure up first.
Sigh. (Curbing my impatience)

The slight off and on again rain became a steady downpour so we had to pack up the tools and quit for the evening.

Happy Easter everyone (Who celebrates) Hope your Easter weekend has been lovely so far
Cheers!

It was raining, dark and miserable all day. Pip sat around in conspicuous places hunched up and looking woebegone.
This is his way of hinting that life would be better with a fire and a warm towel
Eventually he curled up on his chair sans towel (I did light the fire later and dutifully wrapped him up and he was so much happier)(Spoiled much?)

I went to the dentist yesterday. I knew I had a cracked tooth and just couldn’t put it off longer… oooo ow ow when I used it (Shockwaves up the jaw kind of ow)
Happily my dentist that one of my cousins recommended is a treasure… so patient even when I am trying to throw up the XRay plate out of my mouth!
He is really gentle. The crack was quite severe… went down below gum line and he had a bit of patching to do.
I’ve been gingerly eating on it today and its not bad. Funnily enough even after all the mucking about, once the anesthetic wore off I had minimal pain.
Yay!

As a present to myself for being brave, I bought myself some broccoli seedlings
And in a fit of anti-procrastination I planted them.
Decided not to fight with weather and just bunged them in the hothouse.
Hope to get some nice fresh broccoli over winter.

Since today was so miserable, I woosed out of a long hike with Jeff (the madman returned home SATURATED) and made soap instead

A double batch to stock up on just the plain unscented soaps (Nice and quick and easy… and less to clean up!)

Spiced Provincial Pear. Its a nice fragrance!

And some more Australian Lavender… some gold swirls on top and underneath there are sprinkles… we’ll see how the cut goes tomorrow!

Have a lovely Easter Weekend everyone
Cheers!

Well… Tentacular took over the hothouse along with his new pal, the Tromboncino… And neither of them put much effort into producing food (I got about 3 passionfruits)

Just wild how they grew!
(BTW never be silly like me and get a grafted passionfruit. The suckers are going to be with us until we die)

The tromboncino did start to produce but the fruit never really seemed to go far along the development stage. Plus it had lots of white fly and bugs so instead of saving it – out it came

Everything just needed a good tidy up and a severe hacking

(Don’t you love the parsley growing happily between the slats? I have NO IDEA how that happened.)

I even planned to sort the outside bushes that shade the hothouse. Again I was silly in my choices of plants here (note Tentacular trying to escape)

So… hack hack hack…

Poor Tentacular. His life hangs in the balance while I decide what to do

Not bad hey? Even mulched… something I should have done at the START of the season!

Outside got its trim too.

So much light now!

I spy some little eggplant fruit in there…

I’ve left some tomatoes. There are some small plants that have self seeded… dunno about leaving them
Would like to put some broccoli in here – just because 🙂

The strawberry patch still has lots of lovely tomatoes just ripening daily

A decent days work really!
Hope you’ve had a great day too!
Cheers!

Hi!
Jeff is on some nightshifts and it wasn’t a bad day out there
I couldn’t decide what I wanted to do so I thought I’d get into the garden

My zucchini patch – I intended to pull the whole thing up.
I got a few zucchinis and a heap of potatoes!! (What is it about potatoes? They just grow everywhere!)

A couple of plants still were trying to produce zucchinis so I left a couple in

I tidied everything else up, cut off the manky leaves and bedded one half down with straw

Then a quick hoe over the old potato patch

Lots of little weeds appearing. It will need covering too

Ugh… and my failed tomato patch

This is going to take forever!
I admit being quite disgruntled with it, so I ended up just ignoring it since no tomato plants wanted to take off at all

I just started yanking out weeds and then started digging up that infernal twitch

Doesn’t look like I got far does it??

I did keep digging up more potatoes tho –

The nasturtiums have taken over the compost

I had a dig about in this one!
Chokka-block full of worms!
So pleasing

I grabbed my newly made basket and did the rounds of the self seeded tomatoes.
Very cute

And yesterday’s soaps:

My oatmeal coloured aloe vera soap

Candy pink rose soap (Leftover mix round soaps with the Japanese Honeysuckle)

And the first cut of the loaves of Japanese Honeysuckle soaps

Have a great week everyone
Cheers 🙂