And the Other project is ...

I am so glad our Garden looked a treat in January for DS#2s Engagement afternoon.

Today you would not recognise it!
A chance comment to a Tradesman at the Home Show gave us hope that a 50 year old problem could be solved.

From the day we moved in we have not been able to put anything on the floor of our Garage without it causing the underground water to leach up, drawing the Lime out of the concrete with it.
It is a mess.


To fix it, they can treat the concrete floor with special paint to reverse the process - but of course in order to do that they actually have to have access to the floor!

It is only a little garage, which I park my car in.  But it also has 38 years of Stuff plus DH#2s Fiance's excess bulky items stored in the back of it.

Time to empty it all out - onto the back deck and waterproof it for the next 6 weeks while the restoration is completed. (The actual job will only take a week - give or take the weather) but they tell me IF anything is going to go wrong it will happen in the first 6 weeks, so we are not keen to repack too soon.

Keeping everything dry on a 'Fair Weather Only' back deck involved pulling out a recollection and tracking down the store that sold "Rare Earth Magnets" which were perfect to attach some black polythene to our Steel Posts.

This Polythene is Industrial strength and I defy any raindrops to get through it!

So all we have to do now is wait - and watch a perfectly dry/sunny week pass us by.


While we waited we cleaned up, and repaired the rusted parts of the garage walls.
It is amazing just how much we found around the place to do the job -
We actually used some of that "One day it will be useful" stuff you don't throw out.

We patched the Corrugated Iron with leftover steel that came with our verandah roof.
Laid pavers, that were here when we moved in, on their side to protect the Steel.

And found stepping pavers that were the right size to go between the fence and garage to keep the weeds down.

In the process of cleaning and levelling the small area between the Garage and the Fence we uncovered  FOUR KILOS (8 lb 13 oz) of broken Glass.

And many, many Rocks, Bricks, Stones, broken crock.... and assorted bits of rubbish

We always hope to find something interesting but usually it is just glass and rubble.

This time we found an Essence bottle, several pens, a ring pull from a drink can, a couple of Spark plugs an old bone and a tin of Gloss Paint.

It was one of those jobs that we were 'always going to do' 

but never made it to the To Do List....

The tradesmen finally turned up yesterday - and so did the rain! 

What is STILL happening here...

Well, the fencing contractor is MIA and we have a whopping hole in the backyard where the old Paling Fence used to be.

With the removal of the Large Prunus tree next door and the onset of Autumn we have been able to have a good look at our Japanese Maples.
Sadly we feel that they are going to have to be removed as well - They are so damaged from years of struggling for light and nutrient as well as infestation by Borers.

It looks like I will be working with a "Blank Canvas".  

Time to sharpen my pencil and get the graph paper out!

DH always worries when I do that - but this time it is 'just' the garden.

It is the perfect time of year to be working on a project like this.

I think - maybe some more Native Grevilleas to bring in the birds. And perhaps we will finally get that Jacaranda we have always wanted.

What is happening here ..

As I said to someone recently - "Photos of a back fence that isn't there - isn't very interesting"

We have several projects on the go at the moment - all of which seem to be relying on each one being finished before you can start on the next one.  Eventually it will become the "Roundabout Scenario" - Someone has to break the rules before anyone can move!

The Tree on the other side of our rear fence was planted by a Bird well over 20 years ago and unfortunately the neighbours - who are NOT gardeners left it there until it became so big that it was overshadowing half of our garden.

Some 'Tree People' came and generously removed what was overhanging our backyard before disappearing through the hole in the fence muttering about how much they hated this kind of tree.

Fast forward a year and successful divorce (neighbour not me) later and the tree is once again under discussion. 
This time a 'proper' Arborist is called in and his verdict is "It is Bifurcated, so not a matter of IF it will fall but WHEN!"

So - with a huge amount of "Love/Hate" discussion it was decided that in the interest of safety, the Tree must go.

We gave the Arborists all the help we could by removing the fence and garden (yes, my new back garden!) so they could have good clear space to work in.

And that new term we learnt? 
The Bifurcated part? 

One meter from the ground the trunk split into FOUR large branches, complete with bark - growing so close together they ALMOST fused.

It was down in less time than it took me to make them a batch of my "Burnt Butter Biscuits".

(They still got their Cookies -
Hot from the oven to go!)

The team did a great job and as a Thank you for our part in making their life a lot easier they left us with a lovely stack of firewood for next year.

Happy Bee Day

To the

"Forgotten Heroes 

of our Food Chain: 

Beneficial Insects everywhere"

Without these wonderful creatures we would not survive very long.

You don't have to keep a Hive.  

You can enjoy having Bees around by being aware of what is best for them.  

Your choice of plants at the nursery can become a magnet to lure Pollinators into your Garden.

There is something wonderfully relaxing. 

Sitting in the garden on a Summer's Day hearing the Buzz of a tree full of bees going about their business, while you do absolutely nothing!

They don't deliberately go out of their way to Sting you as long as you leave them be...

One day, when I was weeding the front Garden - 

I had someone helpfully warn me,  that 

"There are BEES in that plant...."

Oh Yes! That is what it is there for - and someone somewhere is going to have beautiful Lavender scented Honey.

I don't think she was quite ready for THAT response!

Books like this one that I received for Mother's Day and websites like HoneyFlow.com  are a mine of information about how you can do your bit to help.

DH particularly liked the bit about 'letting the garden get messy'.

As long as those weeds don't set seed I am happy to let them stay too!

Together let's Bee Inspired to Change The World.

Happy Bee Day!

Yet another Sewing Room makeover

It all started with a simple text message from DS#1...
"Hey Mum.  Did you have a use for my old table I made in High School?

I don't want to see it go but have no use for it."

Oh bother! I didn't want to "see it go" either - So many memories Good and Bad are tied up in that beautiful Timber and Metal table.

Considering He'd also recently returned 'Nemesis' - my Desktop Computer - and DS#2 has once again, updated for me.

(I am not sure how much of the original build is still left!)

It seemed fitting that I put the two together and at last give myself a computer area.

The only problem with that was - it didn't fit in the Sewing Room.

Or rather - it didn't fit the way things were!

Time to get rid of the "Make Do"
I have had for the past 5 years or more and make something permanent!

First Stop - Officeworks, to get a table.

Hmmm, the Top was perfect but the (optional - choose your own) legs made the whole table so unstable they had to go back!

Then to Ikea.
Which is nowhere near where I live!

Their Desk tops were Hollow-core so no good for what I wanted to do - which was, of course....

Cut a whopping big hole in the top of it!

Which wasn't as easy as it looks.
But we got there.

Then it was some more aerobics to fit a shelf underneath the hole (with the aid of some curtain track brackets form Ikea).

The table top is now secure, sitting on 2 Ikea drawer units (which are way more useful than wobbly legs any day) and fixed to my Cutting/Work table with a set of these nifty "attach table to bookcase" brackets.

So here it is ... the latest incarnation in the quest to find the perfect spot to sew.

It is NOT going anywhere any time soon and I defy it to wobble!


Now, Where did I leave my Quilt binding?

Well, Hello There . . .

I would like to introduce you to Bessie.

She is my new ride
She came with a LOT of Whistles and Bells for me to learn


And a Big Red Ribbon!

She came with just 16 km
on the clock

I plan to change that!

She has her own new Log Book - ready to record all those adventures DH and I plan to have in his Retirement.

With her Built in talking Street Directory, Access to Google Maps via my phone AND Old faithful Myrtle as a back up we shouldn't get too lost!

"Live Now; 

Make Now the most Precious Time.

Now will Never Come Again." *

                             

Jean-Luc Picard - StarTrek Next Generation

Twenty-two Years of Adventures..

Where have you been?
        "There and Back Again"

Why?
        "... to see how far it is"

How long did it take?
       22 Years.

It was July 25th 1997 when I drove my first ever brand new car Home for the Very First time.

And looking through the Albums for that First Photograph of my new car has definitely been a Trip down Memory Lane!

She has faithfully and Safely taken us to Adelaide and Yarra Glen.

From Limestone Caves at Buchan to Pelicans at Streaky Bay.

And the most Southerly part of Mainland Australia at Wilsons Prom to Deniliquin in NSW!

We have driven along the Coast and through Majestic Trees of the National Forests.

Down many "Rabbit-holes" seeing what is around that corner or where the road will take us.

On Bitumen and Dirt and sometimes Sand.

With Three at once on Learner Plates.  Now THAT was an Adventure!

Each time we climbed aboard we trusted her to bring us home safely.

And sometimes - just sometimes we were reassured that we would be kept Safe.

Only ONCE in 22 years did she ever leave us "High and Dry" but even then we were but a few Kilometres from where she was built and Help was at hand.

10 years later that Muffler repair was still going strong!

22 years of Hey Mum can you....

Pick me up at the Train
Come get me I have the 'Barry Sax'
I need a Freezer - can you help
We just bought two 12 foot trees.......

22 years of Recording
Every trip to the Petrol Station
Every Odometer reading
Every Price per Litre for every fill

All - 850 times
34,529 Litres
260,648 km
How much? - I could but I didn't!

Today with more than a few tears
I said Goodbye to my Old Girl.
As she "Sailed off into the Sunset" without Us.
Our journeys together are now over and She has been donated to
"Kids Under Cover"

Perhaps she will find someone to take her on more adventures.

I will miss her greatly.