1st March 2015 to 14th May 2015

1^st 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.

2^nd 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.

4^th 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 1^st April.

9^th 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.

10^th 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. 

11^th 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.

13^th 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.

14^th 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. 

15^th 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.

16^th 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.

18^th 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.

19^th 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.

 

23^nd 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

24^th 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.

25^th 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.

26^th 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.

27^th 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.

28^th 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.

29^th 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.

1^st 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.

4^th 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.

5^th 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.

6^th 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.

8^th 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.

11^th 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.

 

12^th 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.

 

14^th 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.

15^th 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.

16^th 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.

17^th April 2015

We bought more timber for the veranda extension and the Colourbond sheeting.

18^th 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.

19^th 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.

20^th April 2015

We returned home with our usual break for lunch at Jurien Bay.

21^st 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.

22^nd 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.

23^rd 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.

25^th 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.

26^th 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.

30^th 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.

1^st 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.

2^nd 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.

3^rd 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.

4^th 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.

5^th 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.

8^th 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.

10^th 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.

11^th 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. 

12^th 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.

13^th 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.

14^th 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.

14th January to 26th February 2015

 

14^th January 2015

Christmas new year period

Richard arrived on R&R from Gove and spent Christmas with us at Ron and Pamela’s place across the road, just like last year, which makes for a cheerful and entertaining day and evening.  We also spent the evening of New Years Eve there playing cards until well into the New Year.

  Jack and Rory arrived on the 4^th January to spend some time with Richard.  There isn’t a great deal for youngsters to do in Geraldton but Richard managed to keep them occupied on the beach, cinema and video games/films.  He drove almost to Dongara (half hour drive) with them to do some archery but found he had left his wallet behind so that didn’t happen.

Colleen, Craig, Emma and Abby drove up from Perth for a couple of days which was good for the kids and gave us the opportunity to hear Emma’s progress with her guitar playing.  There is was very significant improvement in her playing and Barry was able to teach her to play ‘Chariots of Fire’ which she learnt almost immediately and gave us all a note perfect recital the next day.  She had a new guitar bought for her recent birthday which she also wanted to show us.

Rory has also started to learn the guitar which involved Richard and us adding birthday/Christmas money to her savings and bought one from the Geraldton music shop.  There is no music shop in Katherine where she is living which would mean a 4 hour drive each way to Darwin to buy one up there in the Northern Territory.

Colleen and Co returned to Perth last Friday so that Craig could play cricket on the weekend and Richard, Jack and Rory departed today (Wednesday) for Perth and will stay with Colleen and Co until departing for Darwin on Saturday.   That gives them time to go Paintballing and Archery to pass the time before leaving Perth as Richard has some free entry passes from their last visit.

17^th January 2015

Despite the general daytime temperatures being 32 degrees C plus,  and the rest of the family returned their normal living areas,  Barr y has returned to work in the garden to finish off a couple of the unfinished projects,  All of which involves mixing cement and brick or stone work.

21^st January 2015

The cement work is progressing but rather slowly due to the high temperatures but mostly due to the fact that there is a lot of cricket on the TV that needs our attention with the tri- nation series and the Big Bash league.  We will be in Perth for Merry’s throat check up just as the Tri-nations series final is played at the WACA and we just happen to have tickets for it.  When that has finished we will have the world cup to contend with, plus currently there is also The Aussie Open tennis tournament.

31^st January 2015

We drove down to Ann and Ashley’s in Perth and settled in for a long weekend, which included putting our dog fences up around their gates to stop Foxy escaping and as a result of ten units having been built on the block next door the them which originally had a house and separate garage on it, Barry had to put bricks into various places along the dividing fence line as gaps under the fence have now appeared and are still waiting for the builder to sort out. 

1^st February 2015

Merry’s Birthday which meant a bus trip into Perth to the WACA to watch the final of the tri-nation series in which the Aussies decimated the Poms.  This was followed by Meal in Jamie Oliver’s restaurant, courtesy of Richard for his mothers’ Birthday.  He had just arrived in Perth on his exit from the job he had in Gove as the contract has just ended.  The restaurant meal despite its name was not worth the time or money, and Jamie can count us out for future reference.

2^nd February 2015

Richard travelled up to Geraldton to our place whilst Barry took merry to Charlie Gairdner Hospital for her three monthly throat check.  Unfortunately Richard was unable to cancel his bus ticket to come back with us plus he had a lot more baggage than usual, but we would have managed if he could have cancelled.  He arrived in Perth too late to contact the office and it didn’t open on the Sunday.  Merry’s throat is in such good condition that the specialist had to consult her notes to determine exactly where and what to look at as there is no physical evidence of there ever having been a problem.  She now only has to have six monthly checks instead of three monthly checks.

3^rd February 2015

We drove back to Geraldton and discovered that the rain we encountered the day before in Perth had also applied to Geraldton which was the first rain in 50 odd days in Perth, and about a month longer in Geraldton

4^th February 2015

Now that Richards contract in Gove has expired he has enrolled with the one of the local employment agencies in the hope of scoring some work.  It appears that this agency deals more with shutdown work rather finding long term appointments so he will probably doing the odd week long job in various local mines for the time being, and that is after renewing various work related training certificates, such as ‘Working at heights’ and ‘Police Clearance’ as many of the mines in the Geraldton/Midwest region are gold mines.  He is hoping eventually to score a permanent maintenance type appointment in the Perth area though the other on-line and Perth based agencies that he deals with.

5^th February 2015

Dropped Richard off for his ‘Working at Heights’ training in the morning and collected him in the afternoon.

6^th February 2015

Barry made some more progress with the steps up to the new raised garden.

8^th February 2015

Barry woke up this morning with his right knee not wanting to do anything other than stay straight making it difficult to walk, and ache.  This happens a few times a year for no apparent reason other than sleeping with it in an unknown awkward position.

9^th February 2015

Richard departed for Perth by bus and will have a few interviews and medicals whilst there and departs (flies) to the Gold Coast on Wednesday for a seminar.  He returns in about a week subject to what happens with any jobs has applied for that may require his attention on returning to Perth, before he comes back to Geraldton.  Barry finished the steps to the raised garden so that we can now level the soil and add any compost/manure etc in readiness for planting whatever takes our fancy.  Barry also made an appointment with his doctor despite his knee now behaving itself as this is the knee that had the cartilage removed when he was thirteen and told he would need a plastic replacement knee cap when he reach the fifty year old mark.  They have invented Teflon since then which is much better.  However, fifty came and went 22 years ago so he now having it checked to see what it all looks like.

10^th February 2015

Barry is now mixing mortar and ‘pointing’ some of the brickwork on the front of the house where tenants have allowed sprinklers to play on the wall and erode some of the mortar from between the bricks.  He has used a diamond tipped disc on his angle grinder to remove the remnants of old mortar to the depth of the disc, and then refilling with the mortar mix.  As soon as one job is completed we manage to find another.

11^th February 2015

Barry saw his Doctor and is now having X-rays and MRI scans done soon to check out the state of the inside of the knee.  He may then be required to see a specialist to determine if a reconstruction is warranted.

17^th February

The steps to the new section of raised garden are now finished, along with the joining of the original walls from both sides of where the brick BBQ used to be.  This area is full of soil so the new section of wall is only two rocks deep to give the impression of a complete circular wall.   Richard arrived home at 2.30pm but will only be here for the rest of today and tomorrow and will return to Perth for a conference and a training course with a view to a shutdown job that is available to him.  They contacted him about the training course/job whilst he was on the bus half way to Geraldton, or he would have stayed in Perth.  Once the course is done on Monday he will fly out to the job (where ever that is for however long), prior to returning to Geraldton unless something else raises its head.  The contract job he had in Gove has ended so he is now in the job hunting process at a not-so-good job-hunting-time. 

20^th February 2015

Merry planted some grape vines along the side fence of the back garden and unfortunately managed to get her shoulders rather sun burnt.

21^st February 2015

Richard produced five appropriate sized holes along the fence line at the side of the house and then erected five poles with cross beams (with Barry’s assistance) in readiness for concreting tomorrow and wire fencing to be attached the day after to grow a Mexican Rose on it.  The shutdown job that Richard was interviewed for became a real pain as the agency wanted him to keep doing courses in a hurry, and sending in paperwork in a hurry, which he could have done whilst in Perth if they had got their act together, so that is one that he eventually rejected.

22^nd February 2015

Barry mixed to barrow loads of cement and half filled the holes, after bracing them into position, before anybody else ventured out of their beds, and after taking Foxy for her morning walk.  The top of the holes will be re-filled with dirt and watered in tomorrow and the pavers replaced where possible with some being cut with Barry’s angle grinder with diamond tipped blade to fit around the poles.

23^rd February 2015

Barry had his X-ray and MRI scan today.  The X-ray took 10minutes and the MRI took about 20 minutes but the whole adventure took about 2 hours.  He now has to wait to see his doctor next week for the verdict.  The pavers have been replaced where possible but some will need shaping.

24^th February 2015

Richard and Barry fitted the wire fencing to the pole framework and the Mexican Rose lifted and introduced to the fencing so that it can start spreading.  Barry continued with some more of the re-pointing of the front house wall where sprinklers have damaged the mortar.

26^th February 2015

Barry took Richard to the bus station, yet again, for him to return to Perth for a Seminar that is of interest to him.  Barry then continued with some of the pointing again when he got home.  It is slow back aching process as most of the problem area is down low.

3rd September 2014 to 26th October 2014

3^rd 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.

4^th 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

5^th 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.

6^th 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.

11^th 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.

12^th 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.

13^th 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.

14^th 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.

15^th September 2014

We drove home to Geraldton with the usual stop at Jurien Bay for our picnic lunch.

16^th 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.

18^th 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.

19^th 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.

20^th 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.

23^rd 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.

24^th 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.  

26^th 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.

28^th 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.

30^th 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.

1^st October 2014

Now that the inner edge of the garden is finished we have planted two Camellias with the appropriate soil, etc.

2^nd 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.

3^rd 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.

4^th 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.

5^th 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.

6^th 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.

7^th 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.

8^th 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.

10^th 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.

11^th 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.

12^th 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.

13^th 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.

16^th 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.

17^th 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.

19^th 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.

21^st 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.

22^nd 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.

23^rd 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.

26^th 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.