3rd September 2014
The shade cloth is now over the top of the lattice
and battened down, much to the relief of Barry’s knees which had to crawl
around on the boards that he used to spread the load over the beams. Barry manufactured the battens by cutting
strips off the surplus plastic lattice with holes drilled about 15cm apart for
the nails to go through. Unlike wooden
battens they will not rot and have about 120 nails anchoring them and the shade
cloth down. Because the shade cloth and
lattice are recycled from the sea container screening, the new cover over the
bedroom courtyard has only cost a $5 box of nails.
4th September 2014
We borrowed Nigel and Mary’s trailer again and
delivered another load of rubbish consisting of the old wooden lattice, etc, to
the tip and brought back a trailer load of mulch. They don’t mind us borrowing their trailer
and are always happy to receive fresh veggies in return when we have some
surplus. They have had lettuce,
radishes, broccoli, potatoes, carrots, tomatoes and tomato puree
5th September 2014
We took the trailer out Merry’s ex-boss (when she
worked in Geraldton) to collect a load of horse manure as she has several
horses.
6th September 2014
The horse manure has been dug into our number one and the
back half of number two veggie patch and the rest piled behind our garden shed.
The number two veggie patch has been
cleared of the remnants of the current pea crop so we have dug in the manure up
to the side of where we planted the sweet corn, which is just coming through. In the late afternoon we actually received
some of the rain that was supposed to have been happening for the last four
days. Merry spent some of the afternoon
in the patio preparing and sowing several seed trays with various crops.
11th September 2014
We drove down to Perth once again to stay with Ann and
Ashley so that Barry can attend Armadale Hospital for yet another prostate
biopsy.
12th September 2014
Barry fasted as required for morning and most of the
afternoon as his procedure was not until 3.15pm but was admitted at 1200
noon. He came out soon after 5.00pm and
was driven home by Merry and then had dinner.
However after dinner he felt nauseas and went from hot and sweaty o cold
and shivering so Ann and Merry took him back to Armadale Hospital and was there
for some considerable time, mainly waiting, but was eventually attended to at
about the time he felt better, but was still checked over before being allowed
to go home. We now have to wait several
weeks for the results, which will be by Telehealth (video conference) at my
local GP’s clinic, rather than travel to Perth again.
13th September 2014
Barry is much better now but is not to lift anything
heavier than a glass of wine (although he is allowed to lift it as often as
required) for three days so we spent the day lazing around watching the
builders performing on the two story units that are being built behind Ann and
Ashley’s place, about three metres from the edge of their patio. When the units are finished they will only
have a brick wall to look at when using the patio.
14th September 2014
We went to the John Cole nursery and purchased some
Camellia plants and Azaleas before continuing up to Colleen and Craig’s place
for lunch and check out Emma’s progress on the guitar which was very
satisfying. We also spotted a place
selling bagged chook manure so bought three bags to bring back with us, on the
roof rack. In the evening we met Ann and
Ashley plus Ray - one of the friends they have that share their liking for
chamber music, at a Chinese restaurant for a very pleasant diner.
15th September 2014
We drove home to Geraldton with the usual stop at Jurien
Bay for our picnic lunch.
16th September 2014
One bag of chook manure has now been spread and dug into
number one veggie patch where the horse manure was dug in so the bed now has
plenty of get up and go for the next crops.
18th September 2014
Barry has modified the lattice peak over the archway
which improves its appearance somewhat from trying to get away with one length
of lattice. It now has two lengths and
the surplus has been used on a wall in the patio for a creeper plant, that
Ashley gave us, to climb up.
19th September 2014
We have finally removed all of the moss rock that we
require to be removed between the veranda and the pool which had been covered
when the main sewage was connected in place of the old septic tank. We now intend to remove the remainder of the
grass which we have already killed off, level it and place 400mm square slabs
in its place to join the moss rock.
There will be some squares left out in which will be planted herbs, as
it was with the original moss rock. When
finished, with the slabs and the veggie patches, the grassed area will be about
a third of its original area and effectively only a quarter of the total back
garden area because of the raised garden behind the pond. The small area between the rear of the pond
and the raised garden wall will once again be filled with whitish stone clips
with a bird bath to replace the one stolen by one of our tenants. This one has a solar light built in to light
up at night.
20th September 2014
Barry has now finished several projects since returning
home and has now started laying the moss rocks, a bit like doing a jig-saw
puzzle, around the new smaller pond. The
moss rock surround that was around the original much larger pond, about four
times bigger, now forms a garden at each end.
It was planned to plant roses in these gardens but about 20 roses in the
front garden we have changed our minds and will be using the Camellias. He has also started to re-instate the auto
reticulation by digging out around the solenoid valves which had also been
buried and can now run fresh cabling to the new control unit. The old unit is still there but without its
24v power unit which was also removed by a tenant. We have yet to buy the cable as Barry wants
to get multi-core cable rather than run numerous individual cables.
23rd September 2014
Nothing much happened for a couple of days due to rainy
weather which produced 20mm of rain on Sunday and a little more on Monday,
which for Geraldton and the surrounding wheat belt country was much needed. We have acquired the multi-core cable and
Barry has temporarily got the back reticulation working off the old user
friendly unit but using the new unit’s 24v power supply. He has also cemented about three quarters of
the moss rock into place around the pond and hopes to finish it tomorrow after
his aching back has had a rest, and if we have sufficient sand left, or after
we have got some more sand. If we can
finish the pool surround this week we should be able to clean the pond out and
fill it from our water tanks so that the fish, when we get them, will not have
to suffer chlorine, etc, and with luck will top up the water tanks next weekend
if the predictions come to fruition. We
may also have the birdbath and stone chips back in place behind the pond to
finish of that area, possibly with the Camellias in place as well.
24th September 2014
The cementing of the moss rock pool surround is now
finished, although Barry wants to make a cement edge around the inner edges of
the garden beds and around the overall outer edge in the not too distant
future. This will require the use of
Nigel’s trailer again to get more sand which will also allow us to take another
trip to the tip to get rid of the pieces of old broken cement from when we dug
up the moss rock that had been covered.
The reticulation worked perfectly this morning so it will be tidied soon
when the original conduit is extended to its original length and the solenoid
valves re-enclosed.
26th September 2014
The area between the moss rock and the veranda has now
had all of the previously killed off grass dug out so we now have to compact it
and level it. The original plan to have
400mm slabs over this area has now been changed as it was going to cost in
excess of $500 and consequently bought 780 bricks from Ron across the road for
$200. These bricks are the surplus bricks
from the new general hospital when it was built, and Ron, who works there was
quick latch onto about 3000 of them.
They are kiln fired with one glazed, coloured end and side, and where
brought over from Queensland at $7.50 each, apparently. We will lay them on edge as pavers with many
showing the blank side with coloured lines through them in either a random
pattern or symmetrical pattern, subject to which of us wins that battle.
28th September 2014
This morning was spent loading bricks into the back of
Ron’s ute who then drove out into the road to turn round and reverse into our
garage which allowed us to unload straight through into the patio. This exercise involved three loads. We also set up the on the inside of the larger pond garden using
stacks to hold it in place along with soil ready to pour concrete into to form
the inner edge of the garden.
30th September 2014
In the morning Barry mixed three loads of concrete and
poured into the garden edging and smoothed the top off. In the afternoon we checked the front garden
irrigation system to get it operative again.
Whilst we were travelling, one of our pathetic tenants contacted us for
permission to have reticulation installed in the front garden at a cost of
$3000. We said ‘no’ as we knew that
there was already reticulation in place.
Now that we are back and check out the original system we find all
stations are operative manually at the solenoid valves which we have been using
ourselves up until now. The solenoid
coils are perfectly okay and the control unit powers up but doesn’t have a
manual and is not easy to work out without it.
We swapped it for the new one that we bought a short will ago and
programmed it relatively easily and it all works well. Obviously the tenants couldn’t work it out
and didn’t get a manual off the Internet, like we have just done for future
reference, so they wanted the whole arrangement replaced. They could have got any kid off the street to
program it for them, and if they had someone call round to give them a quote,
they could have done it but preferred the possible sale.
1st October 2014
Now that the inner edge of the garden is finished we have
planted two Camellias with the appropriate soil, etc.
2nd October 2014
We laid weed mat in the area behind the pond and then
replaced the quartz chips in and around the new bird bath which is also a
flower pot with a solar lantern at the top.
A little bit like a flowery, bird bath, lighthouse.
3rd October 2014
We hired a compactor in order to compact the area between
the veranda and the moss rock surround of the pond in readiness to lay numerous
bricks on edge rather than pavers and will have a coloured pattern, all being
well.
4th October 2014
We have used the compactor over the area but have had to
remove quite a lot in order to get the area something like level, which isn’t a
problem as we have an area that we are trying to fill. A start has been made with the bricklaying
but the original pattern has been altered already but hopefully will work out
without having to lift them again.
5th October 2014
Merry departed for Perth on the bus this morning to have
her six monthly throat check, once again, which is a bit of a pain but
necessary despite the fact that it perfectly okay, but better safe than
sorry. We would have driven down
together but Ann and Ashley are currently swanning around overseas so we can’t
stay at their place. Merry is booked in
at Crawford Lodge alongside the hospital and is covered by the PAT scheme, as is
the bus fare, so the journey and accommodation is cost free, but Barry can’t
stay with Merry because Foxy is not allowed.
He will stay at home with Foxy and theoretically continue with the
bricklaying exercise, however, the weather was too wet and windy so that didn’t
happen.
6th October 2014
The weather has improved so work continued in short
spells. Merry phoned to say that she had
seen the specialist and her throat is A1 to the point of not being able to see
that there ever was a problem.
7th October 2014
More bricklaying happened but was interrupted with the
need to collect Merry from the bus station in the middle of the afternoon and
very little happened after that.
8th October 2014
Barry continued with the bricklaying and is now slightly
over the half way stage. It will be
wider than we expected but according to our calculations we have enough bricks
to finish.
10th October 2014
We are now at the three quarter stage of the bricklaying
exercise so we should have it finished this weekend, or soon after. We can then start planting herbs etc in the
spaces that have been left clear of bricks.
11th October 2014
We elected to have a break from brickwork today and took
it easy fitting a new air through-the-wall conditioner in our office/bedroom as
the old one (about 20 years old) is only acting as a fan. The various tenants probably never used it,
or not much, which is not good for A/Cs which should be run for short periods
occasionally to preserve the seals and stir things up to help keep them in good
condition. We managed to find one that
is the same height as the old one and slightly narrower so the hole in the wall
didn’t need altering. We also drilled a
suitable hole through the wall in the bedroom that Richard uses on his breaks,
to accept a hose from the portable A/C to let the condensate out though the
wall.
12th October 2014
Barry made up some new surrounds to go round the A/C in
the office bedroom to cover the over long hole which took longer than expected,
and also spent some time and energy to removing some grass in the back lawn to
make way for the wider than expected brickwork, so rather than being finished
on the weekend, it will be soon after, hopefully by Wednesday.
13th October 2014
We didn’t do any brickwork today but mounted the A/C
surround in readiness for a final coat of paint. We also re-initiated an addition to the
reticulation in the back garden to provide a better coverage of the veggies.
16th October 2014
The anticipated finish of the bricklaying exercise didn’t
happen on Wednesday due to other smaller indoor tasks being tackled as a result
in a sudden increase in temperature that was not suited to grovelling around in
dirt laying bricks. However, it cooled
down considerable today and the job is now complete, which will no doubt be
appreciated by Barry’s back, knees and hands.
Although it is not perfectly level from side to side, or front to back,
it is close enough, and once the herbs are planted in the vacant spaces it will
be very hard to tell. Barry also found
the time to mow the front and back lawns which is only the second time they
have been mown since we arrived back (in 10 months). That wouldn’t be possible in the Eastern states
or UK where considerably more rain falls.
17th October 2014
The brickwork/pavers now have 9 plants rather than herbs
within the vacant spaces and looking good, but not as originally planned as we already
have a sizable herb garden along one side of the brickwork.
19th October 2014
We bought and installed a new pump for the fishpond which
is currently only being used as a mushroom shaped fountain to circulate the
water which now has ten Gold fish and several plants in it.
21st October 2014
Barry demolished the original mini pool at the rear and
above the fish pond which collected the water pumped from the fish pond and
supplied the waterfall. He has modified
the pipe work so that it ends with a Tee branch overhanging the top of the
waterfall. The Tee branch has 26 holes
drilled in it so that the water drops onto the top level of the waterfall and
in the near future will have rocks across in front of it and over the top so
that the water simply appears to come out of the rocks. The reasoning behind all of this is to reduce
the area of evaporation in the summer but it also creates a more interesting
visual display. The area behind the
waterfall has now been decked out with six Kangaroo Paw and Cat Paw plants of
varying colours.
22nd October 2014
Barry concreted the inner side of the smaller garden that
used to be part of the original big fishpond and will be ready for some sort of
planting tomorrow, as it already has a reticulation water supply to it. Merry modified the end of the first veggie
garden to allow better access to the area that was in front of the brick BBQ
that the grand children enjoyed demolishing.
This area has now been filled with surplus dirt from other areas and
will soon have steps built to give access to the new upper garden area. We are now at the point where we can claim to
have got the garden back to better then its original glory before we left it in
the hands of unappreciative tenants. It
has only taken ten months. Consequently,
Barry celebrated this achievement with a couple of glasses of wine as the sun
went down.
23rd October 2014
At long last Barry has had the Healthcare video
conference with the Perth Specialist for the results of the biopsy he had about
six weeks ago, and once again all is well despite the high PSA reading. We had assumed that all was well or he would
have made contact with us through Barry’s doctor some time ago, but having
confirmed is good.
26th October 2014
All of the concreting around the fish pond and brickwork is
now finished with only the third, triangular shaped, flower bed requiring
planting, which will happen either later today or tomorrow. Strange how the latest concrete work has some paw prints in it. Barry
also replaced three outside taps as they needed it, especially the one by the
laundry door as the copper pipe started leaking just below the tap, which gave
Barry a bit extra to attend to. Once the last of the plants are in place the
flower side of the garden will be totally completed in time for Richard to
arrive on another of his breaks on Monday.
He went to Brisbane on his last break so it will be about 12 weeks since
he was last here with his kids so he will see some significant changes.
