27th July 2014
Now that we are back in Geraldton we are able to make a
start on ridding the back garden of the amazing amount of weeds that emerged
whilst we were away. Amazing what a bit
of rain can do. We have started to lift
some of our potatoes which have done really well, unlike the cabbages and
cauliflowers. The broccoli gave us some
joy by providing several meals but they weren’t helped by the Aphids. However, we have several capsicums to enjoy
soon and heaps of Roma tomatoes that are just starting to ripen, the bushes are
absolutely laden with them.
29th July 2014
We planted eleven new rose bushes along the front of the
house where the rosemary bushes had been.
They didn’t do much appearance wise and had been allowed to grow so high
that they have worn holes in the fly wire screen. Removing them has also allowed a lot more
light into the lounge and front bedrooms.
We purchased a pre-moulded fish pond to replace our original pond that
is smaller but will last much longer and will be easier to install than making
a concrete one as previously planned.
The overall cost would not be much different and avoids a lot of cement
mixing which would need to be completed in one day. Barry will start on the installation in a few
days time as a few other jobs have preference.
30th July 2014
Barry dug over the veggie patch that had the cabbage and
cauliflower that have been removed and added cow manure and soil conditioner
and has now planted new ‘all year’ cauliflower and Brussel sprouts. We then pruned the old rose bushes to give
them a well earned rest and weeded in between them. In the late afternoon Barry removed the
makeshift doorstep outside the family room door (a layer of bricks covered with
a layer of pavers) which was put there by a tenant as there is quite a
significant step down without them. He
is now about to build a proper stable step in its place. He will do the same at the back door from the
laundry but with a slightly different design to give Foxy the required height
for using her doggy door.
31st July 2014
The family room door step has now been completed in its
wider format and fully cemented to hold the bricks and pavers in place making
it safer and better looking. Barry then
spent some of the afternoon reshaping the hole for the fish pond which included
chiselling away some of the original rock surround to allow the pond to sit
neatly under the original waterfall.
1st August 2014
We visited the post office and renewed our passports in
anticipation that we may visit Garon and Sue in Singapore sometime in the
future. This prevented much else of
significance happening.
2nd August 2014
Barry built the
double step outside the laundry door designed to make it safer for humans and
easier for Foxy to exit/enter via her doggy door. He now has to buy some more cement powder
prior to building a step at the garage/patio door to complete the ‘steps
project’ that was one of the tasks on our list of things to do when we returned
to Geraldton.
4th August 2014
We had new tyres put on the car which we had ordered last
week. The old ones that were fitted
about four years ago in Port Augusta lasted for nearly 80000km and still have
some life left in them so two of them are now our spares. They are Hercules Terra Trac tyres which are
made by Cooper and have almost the same tread pattern and 11mm tread depth, but
cost much less than Coopers at only $299 each. In the afternoon Barry prepared
the area where the step up into the garage from the back patio is required.
5th August 2014
Barry built the step into the backdoor of the garage and we
now have a good number of spare pavers to add to the path from the side gate to
the driveway.
6th August 2014
We installed wire fencing along the back of the tomatoes and
tied the plants up to raise the multitude of tomatoes off the ground and allow
the sun in to help ripen them. Barry
also repaired some of the reticulation in the front garden which makes watering
all of the new plants/roses a lot easier, and put some of the surplus pavers
into place on the front path. Just to add
to his list of ‘things to do’ he has found the way into the workings of Merry’s
double keyboard electronic organ’s power supply which he didn’t discover whilst
we were in Karratha, and is hopeful that he can repair the damage to the
pre-transformer circuit board. It appears to have blown a capacitor but he
hasn’t removed the board yet to check out the printed circuit side. It effectively died when the smoke escaped
when we were in Karratha, and it has been in storage (our sea container) ever
since until we arrived back in Geraldton.
We noticed a screw in each end of the organ near the top and found that
removing them allowed the top to open up and give access to three layers of
circuit boards for the keys, voices and rhythm sections. The keyboards can then be swivelled upwards
to give access to the power board and the board with the offending
capacitors. It dates back to about
1983/4 so the chances of acquiring a new board are remote but we do have a
Yamaha agent trying to track on down.
Meanwhile Barry will attempt to replace the capacitor if the circuitry
is okay. All of the circuit boards need
a good brushing and vacuuming to rid them of dust, which may have been the
original cause of the problem.
7th August 2014
Barry has acquired the appropriate two capacitors and has
replaced them and low and behold the organ works again at least power wise and
as far as some features, but not to Merry’ total satisfaction. In the afternoon Barry made a few repairs to
the reticulation hoses in the back garden but we have to buy a new control unit
at some time as a tenant chose to remove the power supply unit from the
original.
8th August 2014
Barry prepared a small area of the garden for Merry to plant
some Asparagus seeds, and then refilled the sand around the fish pond after
checking the levels.
10th August 2014
We prepared an area and planted some rhubarb in the hope
that many pies/crumbles will follow in the not too distant future. Barry re-installed the LED reversing light on
the right hand wheel carrier as he has removed the left hand one to reduce
unnecessary weight from the vehicle.
14th August 2014
When Richard and his kids were here they delighted in
demolishing our old brick BBQ at the end of the garden. The BBQ itself had already been removed by a
tenant but we didn’t care as re have one that we brought from Karratha and
Weber Q that we used in the last year of our travels that can be used in the
patio which is the proper place for a BBQ.
However, having had the pleasure of demolishing it they left us to
remove all the old broken bricks, which took three trips to the tip plus a
fourth trip to get rid of the rosemary bushes that we replaced with roses.
16th August 2014
Barry dug four appropriate size holes at the side of the
steps behind the fish pond up to the higher level garden in readiness for pole
that will be the uprights of a pointed arch over the steps. We already have two climbing roses to plant
on each side once the lattice place after making the top works. We have a huge crop of Roma tomatoes which
Merry is turning into Puree as well as giving them to neighbours and the plants
are still laden. We have also had
several meals using our own carrots, potatoes, beans and peas. The lettuces are beginning to go to seed now
because we couldn’t keep up with them.
17th August 2014
Barry marked the required heights on the poles, removed and
cut them to length and then replaced them, levelled the tops and then cemented
them in place and ensured they were upright.
18th August 2014
We thought things would be put on hold for a while as Barry
has to turn up for Jury duty at the Geraldton courthouse and we don’t know how
long that will take. This will be the
fourth time he has been dragged in for this, three times in Karratha and now
Geraldton. However, he wasn’t selected
from the masses so only wasted the morning.
20th August 2014
Barry continued building the archway over the steps. He has built the top section in the patio
prior to attaching it to the top of the uprights and cross beams, which will
happen tomorrow if it doesn’t, as promised, so we probably will be able to
carry on with the original plan.
21st August 2014
They actually got the weather forecast right and producing the
first significant rain that Geraldton has received in quite a long time. Fortunately it cleared by 10.00am so the arch
(which is actually an angled top works) that Barry prepared yesterday is now in
place and securely anchored, plus plastic lattice work up both sides and across
the top.
22nd August 2014
The climbing roses, one pink and one orange, are now planted
beside the lattice on each side of the arch.
We then continued digging out the grass that had grown over the rock
paving that we put down years ago but was partially removed when the deep
sewage was installed. We now have to
decide whether to remove it all, or if we do what do we replace it with as we
don’t want grass.
25th August 2014
Merry visited a specialist to find out the results of a blood
test and was immediately referred for a CT scan as the tests indicated that her
liver functions were not as they should be.
We are now waiting to be contacted in regards to the results of the
scan.
27th
August 2014
We are still waiting for the scan results. Meanwhile we have collected 6 bucket loads of
Roma tomatoes from our plants and have processed numerous of containers of
puree which are now in our small freezer for future use. The rest of the veggie garden is now being
revitalised ready to plant our next crops to add to the Brussel spouts and
cauliflower that we planted a little while ago.
The peas are just about finished after providing four meals and will be
replaced on a larger scale along with some sweet corn, more lettuces, broccoli,
capsicum and radishes. We have already
planted some non-Roma tomato plants and two rows of runner beans.
28th August 2014
We have planted a fresh, longer row of peas, and another of
carrots.
30th August 2014
We visited the new Geraldton museum which was a pleasant
surprise as it includes an old Bristol biplane that was used for the Geraldton to
Derby postal run plus numerous artefacts from the numerous sailing ships that
came to grieve off the Geraldton coast along with their history and includes a
tribute to the HMAS Sydney. We actually
went there to buy some packets of ‘everlasting’ wild flowers but took in the
tour whilst there.
31st August 2014
Barry has started to replace the lattice that forms the roof
over our bedroom courtyard and currently has anchored three sheets on
place. These are the sheets of lattice
that we originally used to screen off the sea container beside the house, which
was not supposed to be there according to council regulations. However, we got away with it for six years
and the screening is now being put to more effective use as the 15+ years old
wooden lattice was falling apart. The
shade cloth that goes over the top will be replaced as well.
1st September 2014
Merry visited her doctor for the results of her CT scan
which apparently showed nothing of concern, so all is well in that area. Barry then spent the rest of the putting more
of the lattice over the bedroom courtyard and removing the old shade cloth. Merry planted some cucumber and pumpkin seeds
to add to our collection of veggies and prepared the area of the front garden
for the ‘Everlastings’.
2nd September 2014
Barry finished off the lattice over the bedroom courtyard
and it is now ready for the replacement shade cloth to go on tomorrow if the
weather allows as it is forecast for a bit of rain, but what they forecast isn’t
necessarily what we get in Geraldton. The shade cloth was also originally used to
disguise the sea container and keep its temperature of the container down on
hot days and is many years younger than the original courtyard shade
cloth. It is also a higher shade
protection rating as well as being much better condition. It was always our intention to recycle the
lattice and shade cloth to the new position but it happened several years later
than originally intended. Similarly, the
pine poles used for the archway in the back garden were originally supporting
the lattice around the sea container.
The remaining surplus poles are being used to support the wire fencing
for the new planting of beans and peas to grow up.
