1st March 2015
Richard returned from Perth. Just for a change the weather forecasters got
it right with respect to Geraldton receiving rain, we got 43mm in a very short
spell which filled our water tanks to overflowing, so we will be right water
wise for quite a long time.
2nd March 2015
We have planted tomato seed, sweet corn seed, radish
seed, lettuce seed, cucumber seed and water melon seed to see how they go at
this time of year.
4th March 2015
Barry had his return visit to the doctor for the
results of his X-rays and MRI scan has been referred to a specialist on the 1st
April.
9th May 2015
Barry changed some of the light switches that had
dimmers in them as they are not suitable for energy saving fluorescent lights,
to the extent that the bedroom light often flickers as it is obviously close to
its ‘on or off’ threshold. Some of the
seeds we planted are coming through but there are many that are either taking
more time or not going to make the effort.
Maybe there life in an opened packet since it last use hasn’t helped.
10th March 2015
For some reason, as yet unknown, our fish pond has
sunk slightly at one end so is now being emptied in order to raise it and
resolve the problem. We believe that
water that has overflowed on a couple of occasions has washed the surrounding
sand away into the old unused leach drain.
11th March 2015
We have now transferred the fish to our other pond
in the bedroom courtyard which now has it own new pump. The fish will probably remain there and a
fresh load of fish purchased to go into the backyard pond when it is
reinstalled.
13th March 2015
Barry had his long awaited visit to an eye
specialist to check the small growth on his eyelid, the result of that is it
will be removed in about 10 days time.
We spent the afternoon clearing up the patio and garden to ensure there
was no loose objects to thrown around by the cyclone that is heading this way
if it continues on its predicted path.
14th March 2015
The cyclone must have changed to a slightly more
easterly direction from its predicted south-east path as we only gained about
12mm of rain with no wind at all, but the back yard looks tidy. When rose in the morning we were convinced
that the cyclone was no longer a threat to Geraldton despite the TV warnings as
there was no wind at all, which is unusual for Geraldton, but could have been
the lull before the storm. However, more
convincing was the presence of birds. We
noticed in our 16 years of living in the cyclone prone Pilbara that when a
cyclone was a genuine threat the birds where nowhere to be seen, presumably
heading inland out of its path.
Meanwhile the Banana plantations in Carnarvon have been wiped out and
probably all of the other fruits that are grown there. Last week the farmers in Carnarvon where
overjoyed by the Gascoyne River flowing for the first time in a long time allowing
them to water their crops more adequately.
Now there are no crops to water.
15th March 2015
As a result of us overfilling the fish pond on a
couple of occasions plus rain causing it to overflow on one occasion, the pond
has developed a tilt where the surrounding sand has been washed away. We have removed the fish to the small pond in
the bedroom courtyard and emptied the pond.
Barry has also removed some of the surrounding moss rocks to allow him
to remove the pool from the ground.
16th March 2015
Barry removed the pool this morning and discovered a
huge void below the end that had sunk where the overflow water had washed the
sand away down the old disused leach drain.
We didn’t know it was there, plus when one of the tenants filled the
hole that was once the original large fish pond they acquired sand at our expense
to fill the leach drain. This obviously
was only at the end where we will have to fill again. We will completely fill the hole that housed
the pond with decent soil and it will become another garden bed. The pond will
be re-installed on the back veranda, as putting it back in the same place will
have the same outcome again if it overflows.
It will also be in a shady area that will reduce the evaporation rate
and also the algae growth due to the excess sunlight. In the afternoon we collected Richard from
the bus station.
18th March 2015
Richard and Barry partially filled the old fishpond
hole using unwanted rocks and soil. The
remaining 30mm to 40mm will be filled later with decent soil that will be
bought in. In the afternoon Barry lifted
numerous pavers in the new area designated for the fish pond and Richard dug
the hole.
19th March 2015
The new fish pond hole was titivated into the
perfect shape and half the pond depth plus plastic sheeting glued to the house
wall that the back edge of the pond butts against. Any water overflow (if it should happen) will
not affect the wall. The pavers that
were removed will be replaced on end which perfectly fits between the ground
and the lip of the pond with soil replaced between the pond wall and the pavers
to support the sides.
23nd March 2015
Barry and Richard had a very early rising (4.00am)
to get Richard to the Shell Garage in the Wonthella suburb for 4.45am to catch
a bus heading for Mt Magnet where the 8 man crew will change to a series of
trucks to continue for another 4 hours to Mt Agnes mine site to perform a 2 day
shutdown. Just unfortunate that it
involves a 7 hour journey to get there but they are paid travelling time. Barry
then continued with the installation of the fish pond in its new position with
filling dirt behind the pavers on end, some of which had to be cut to reduce
the length slightly. The angle grinder
with a diamond tipped blade made light of that job, and was also used to shape
other pavers to fill the gaps on the ground around the base of the pond
24th March 2015
Barry continued cutting pavers to fill the final
gaps and also mixed some cement to fill between the horizontal and vertical
pavers plus the slight gaps between the vertical pavers, and now looks really
good as the pond surround blends into the ground pavers.
25th March 2015
Barry has painted the woodwork with decking oil in
readiness for making the fence around the smaller of the two kidney shape
ends This will then have a deck across
the pond to the wall that will cover approximately half of the small to give
the fish somewhere to hide and support the waterfall. This is a two story tub arrangement with an
old fashioned hand pump handle that will let the water cascade from the top of
the pump into each tub in turn, and then into the pond.
26th March 2015
Barry made a good start building the wooden support
wall for the platform that will house the waterfall, however, he had to leave
it at lunch time and get ready to collect Richard from the shell garage, plus
the Aus/India semi final world cup cricket match is in progress and needs his
attention.
27th March 2015
All of the decking wood for the upright platform
support is now cut and fitted around the small end of the pool and the wood
that forms the platform is also cut to butt up to the house wall ready to be
screwed down and cut to length. It has
already had three coats of decking oil applied and the waterfall tubs are ready
to be piped up.
28th March 2015
The waterfall is now operative on the platform but
requires a slight modification to the lower tub. The platform still has to be screwed down but
is still safe for the tubs to on there.
In the afternoon we went into town to a restaurant called Toppo’s for
lunch to celebrate our wedding anniversary.
The meal was good as was the weather for the outside table, but
unfortunately was lacking a ocean view, but not every restaurant can have that.
29th March 2015
Richard has made the alteration that was required to
satisfy our needs with the Waterfall that is now going well. Meanwhile Foxy is fascinated by the fish and
spends a lot of time with her front paws up on the pond rim including one
session of tightrope walking along the rim.
She hates water so will not be happy when it all goes wrong for her.
1st April 2015
For the last 6 weeks, or thereabouts, Merry has been
walking with Richard when he is here, or me sometimes when he isn’t available,
to improve her fitness and is now walking 8kms a day. She is now a lot more fit and does a lot more
in the garden than she was doing. We
have a small shopping centre in Mt Tarcoola about a six minute walk away but
she now walks to a bigger shopping centre (Rigter’s IGA shop) 3kms away just to
get a bottle of milk.
4th April 2015
Colleen, Craig, Emma and Abby arrived from Perth
this afternoon for a short visit which gave Barry time to teach Emma some more
‘stuff’ on the guitar that she is now playing extremely well with a pick and
more impressively with her fingers in classical style.
5th April 2015
Emma gets a
lot of attention from Barry because of the guitar connection which bothers both
of us that Abby seems to be dipping out.
Merry took the opportunity to introduce Abby to her electronic organ
with a short lesson as she has mentioned in the past that she would like to
learn to play the piano, so it went down really well. She played for quite some
time and had to be virtually dragged away from it.
6th April 2014
The short visit ended with the departure of the
family members returning to Perth due to work commitments but we ordered a
Casio Keyboard and stand online to be delivered to their house as a surprise
for Abby. This is a touch sensitive unit
so it can be played as a piano or as an organ, with a multitude of rhythms and
voices available for either type of playing.
8th April 2015
Much to everyone’s surprise the keyboard has arrived
already and had been giving it a severe workout for 2 hours before her mother
could drag her to the phone to let us know and thank us.
11th April 2015
Merry and Richard walked to the Woolworth store
today to do our shopping for the next week which is a 3.9km walk. Barry drove down later after the bread he was
making finished baking and met them at the shop to bring the groceries, and
them, back.
12th April 2015
Richard caught the bus to Perth once again as he has
renew a couple of his work tickets that have just expired which will allow him
the possibility to do a couple of shutdowns in the near future. Whilst in Perth, and between the two training
courses, he will attend an interview for a possible five week job at the Perth
Mint. He already has his police
clearance certificate to allow him to work in gold mine sites and therefore the
Mint. When he arrives back on Thursday
he has a couple of days break before doing the first (4 day) shutdown at the
inland St Barbara mine and the following week will have to return to Perth to
fly to Hedland for a 6 day shutdown, if the applications are successful. Even if they’re not, he still needs the
tickets for other opportunities.
14th April 2015
Richard achieved the first of his required tickets
yesterday and more importantly attended the arranged interview at the Perth
Mint and was successful in acquiring a five to eight week job which has the
possibility of becoming a permanent position.
That would suit him beautifully but we will have to wait and see what
eventuates. The second work related
ticket that Rick requires is being undertaken today. Meanwhile Barry has applied numerous coats of
paint to the new beams for the back veranda extension and the sheeting has been
ordered. Merry has shown interest in the
local senior citizens club at the community centre and has so far turned up for
several of their activities with interest in several more.
15th April 2015
Richard completed his second training course and is
now ready for whatever shutdowns or mining jobs come his way. Meanwhile has the Mint job to keep him busy, starting
next Monday.
16th April 2015
We attended the senior citizens’ gardening club at
the Palms nursery that we didn’t know existed.
It was more an excuse to take along a plate each, wander around the
nursery and pick out anything you fancied and then wasted an hour, or so,
yapping over a cuppa and whatever was brought along. We’ll not be bothering again. We picked up Richard from the bus station in
the afternoon.
17th April 2015
We bought more timber for the veranda extension and
the Colourbond sheeting.
18th April 2015
We removed the shade cloth and beams from the back
veranda which required the bolts through the support brackets being cut off
with Barry’s grinder. Having removed
them we discovered that the uprights were extremely rotted, so we removed them
with the front support beam and ditched the lot. We no longer have a back veranda but will
purchase more timber and start from new everything which will allow us to move
the uprights further out from the house.
Unfortunately, Richard leaves for Perth tomorrow so Barry will be
progressing with Just Merry’s assistance.
We will be taking Richard to Perth along with our caravan to park at
Colleen and Craig’s place for the duration of his job. If it does becomes a permanent job we will
then work something out from there, such as a caravan park until he finds suitable
accommodation. Once Richard is installed
at Colleen’s we will go and stay with Ann and Ashley for the night.
19th April 2015
We took the caravan and Richard down to Perth and
set them up at the front of Colleen and Craig’s place and then moved down to
spend the evening and night with Ann and Ashley.
20th April 2015
We returned home with our usual break for lunch at
Jurien Bay.
21st April 2015
We went to Bunning’s (our second home) and now have
all new uprights and crossbeams ready to build the new veranda. The uprights are heavier duty than the
originals so should last longer especially as we are mounting then on stirrups
rather than directly into the ground to avoid rotting like the last ones,
although it has taken more than 15 years and don’t appear to have been painted.
Barry has already started painting the new ones.
22nd April 2015
Barry continued painting the new woodwork. Merry had a dentist appointment which she is
not too happy about, as she has lost an old filling needs replacing. That wasn’t too bad except the price, but it
seems she needs a few more filling in the near future.
23rd April 2015
Barry is continuing with the wood work painting and
has also removed the final upright post from the old veranda. This one was not as rotted as the others and
clung to its concrete base which stopped us pulling it out of the ground. He removed a few pavers from around the post
and then drilled 12mm holes through it below ground level and was then able to
easily snap it off. He then replaced the
pavers and will fill the remaining hole with concrete when he mixes some up to
put around the new posts in their new position.
25th April 2015
We attended the morning Anzac ceremony (not the dawn
one) as it was a special anniversary and a first for us. It was rather drawn out with it lasting about
one and three quarters of an hour s on a fairly warm day and we gained slightly
rosy faces. However, we did learn that
WA supplied more men per capita to the war effort than any of the other
states. In the afternoon Barry stared to
re-lay the moss rocks around the original pool hole to provide a pathway around
each end, especially across in front of the original waterfall that is and now
a stairway. This includes concrete
kerbing on the interior of the hole which is now an additional garden bed,
probably to be a bed of succulents to provide a variation from the other beds.
26th April 2015
Barry continued with the rock paths and kerbing as
we can’t progress with the veranda yet as we are waiting for the appropriate
pole stirrups to arrive at Bunning’s.
30th April 2015
We took Foxy to the wet once again with another
outbreak of some weird rash that she had about six weeks ago and appeared to
have cleared up, but we were wrong. Hopefully the antibiotics will do the job
this time, especially as it is for a longer period. In the afternoon we collected the stirrups
that we ordered for the back veranda so will be able to start the process of
erecting the woodwork tomorrow as we also bought the required roofing screws,
cement, etc.
1st May 2015
Barry had his consultation with the orthopaedic
doctor and the outcome is pretty much as expected, a knee reconstruction is
required as it is now 22 years past its ‘best before date’. It operated for 59 years without the benefit
of a cartilage with very little inconvenience, so there is no complaint. The operation could take place in next month which
would allow time for healing prior to our trip to Singapore but has to be after
driving down to Perth to bring our caravan back to Geraldton, on the assumption
that Richard doesn’t require it for a longer period. If his stay in Perth is extended the
operation will be after returning from Singapore as Barry is not prepared to
jeopardise the Singapore but also is not prepared to have someone else bring
the caravan back to Geraldton.
2nd May 2015
Meanwhile, Barry has now concreted three of the four
stirrups for the veranda posts into place and will do the other one tomorrow.
3rd May 2014
Barry concreted the fourth stirrup into place and
then spent time cleaning, sanding and painting the facia of the eves and the
brackets from the house beams that support the cross beams. They are now the same light cream as the
posts and cross beams.
4th May 2015
Barry started to apply a second coat of paint but
the weather decided that it was not a great idea so it has been put on hold
until it brightens up, probably this afternoon or tomorrow morning. Tomorrow afternoon is not available for
veranda progress as Barry has to attend hospital to have a small growth removed
from his left lower eyelid, caused by a blocked sweat gland apparently. It is about a fifteen minute operation and
should only result in very thin scar to add to his collection.
5th May 2015
Barry attended the hospital in the afternoon and the
‘thing’ on his eye lid has now vanished into a bin somewhere. The only not-so-nice bit was the local
anaesthetic injections in a very tender spot and is the only time he has ever
complained about an injection. The upright posts are now in place and the
shoulders cut to support the front main beam, albeit with some juggling as it became
apparent that when you purchase timber from Bunning’s it is necessary to not
only check for bowing and warping it is necessary to carry a tape measure. What is printed on the front of the racks is
not necessarily what you get. After
going through the complete rack of 120mm x 35mm x 3.6 treated pine, about 40
pieces, to acquire three length that where just considered okay or go without,
it turns out that not all of them are 120mm wide. We unknowingly gained one that is only 110mm
wide, which doesn’t help when you have cut the shoulders to 120mm and has had
to be packed up accordingly. We would
have taken it back but it was already painted.
We also found one upright was only 85mm square rather than the expected
90mm square.
8th May 2015
The front beams are now fitted with appropriate
packing and all cross beams from the house brackets fitted with a 50mm down
slope for our occasional rain to run off.
10th May 2015
Barry has made some 45 degree angle braces to fit
between the uprights and the main front beam which has made the whole structure
extremely stable and should be pretty much cyclone proof, not that we expect to
get them here although some have tracked down near here.
11th May 2015
The batons are now in place on the cross beams ready
for the Colourbond sheeting to go on.
This may have to wait until Richard returns from Perth to assist as it
may be too difficult for an old fellow even with female assistance, but we will
know tomorrow.
12th May 2015
In the morning Barry gave the whole of the woodwork
another coat of paint as some of it was bearing scuff marks and the bolt heads
and nuts needed covering. He also
painted three angle braces that still have to be fitted but we don’t have any
more suitable screws. We will get them
when we get one more length of baton as we are one shot due to a change from
our original plan. In the afternoon,
with Merry’s help, we got four Colourbond sheets onto the top of the frame work
and screwed down. Being four sheets to
the wind is better than three sheets to the wind, and it’s been a while since
that last happened. All being well it
should be finished tomorrow if the predicted winds are not as strong as stated.
13th May 2015
The wind turned up as predicted so no more sheets of
Colourbond were waved around in it, but the remaining angle braces have been
fitted.
14th May 2005
The wind is much calmer today so we took a chance
and put another sheet of Colourbond up on the top and placed a few bricks, on
towels, on top of it to make sure it stayed there. We repeated this four times, with screwing
down, which took us up to lunch time.
After lunch the bricks weren’t necessary as the wind had dropped right off,
which then left it a little bit on the warm side. However, it is now completed, or will be after a
few paint touch ups tomorrow. Admittedly
it is our only opinion and we are biased, but it looks pretty good considering it
was an old timer doing the job, and any mistakes are minor and forgivable, if
you can even manage to spot them. Despite it not being the weekend, Barry is celebrating the end of a big project with a few glasses of wine. Richard is still in Perth working at the Royal Mint which he claims is not the most inspiring job he has had but it is a job which are not easy to come by at the moment, plus he is working on building a business of his own. It is not confirmed yet but Barry's knee reconstruction may be this month which will allow plenty of time to recover before our trip to Garon and Sue's in Singapore in September. Other wise it will be in June and will need a quicker recovery.
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