A New Verandah to Welcome 2022

 Hands up those who are glad 2021 has gone? What an amazing year of lock downs and staying at home. Not that I minded, always, always plenty of things to do here. We actually accomplished a lot, between John and I, being self sufficient and DIY'ers, and having a house we built 40 years old now, but a new year means a new clean slate.

I have started my new planner, downloaded a daily declutter monthly pages, I have been doing for years. Put what little Christmas decorations away, and said farewell to all the family, washed all the sheets and towels, and now resting, before I do any major physical work. I am tired and both RA and my knees hurt, which just shows, I have done too much lately. 

27th.Dec was our usual birthday party of our youngest son, down at the creek. Adults played darts and the children shuttlecock and swimming of course. This celebration covers all of our birthdays, and an annual event.

The most important thing was our 3 boys plus our eldest daughter and two DIL's all helped renew the back verandah flooring. Even the children pulled screws out of the old floor boards. 

The lovely men in my family

The verandah is 17 metres long roughly and each grey board is 5.4 metres and very heavy

Everyone joined in. I cooked, morning teas, lunch, dinner on first day 16 mouths to feed, and this was after the cocktail party and Christmas Day.

Pulling old screws out of wood boards was difficult in some places.

Next day only the adults arrived minus one who looked after all the children at home.

Cutting up old wood to take to the dump

Couldn't use any of the boards for fire wood as too much paint on them. From memory at least 3 colours. Some of it was kept to replace a few dodgy boards on the side and front. These two areas don't get too much rain like the back did.

Day 3 everyone left for Sydney and the rest of us had a much needed rest day. On Day 4 the eldest came over and finished off the last bit. Very fiddly and the hardest part. Both were exhausted by the end of the day, it was hot and sunny, and a lot of work for only two of them. 

The red band is the side verandah, this and the front will be painted dark grey to match.

It has been a long journey, painting the roof first years ago, putting in the wire next, repainting the poles and hand rail, and finally these massive eko boards.

I took the last two today, and it has been raining. Nice to know I will not have to paint them and the rain will not rot them either. Looks so clean, until you see the side verandah.

I have mentioned before that there is always something to do here. Haven't I???

                                    Happy New Year Everyone

 

Till Next Time.

 

 

 

 

 

There is Always More Work.

 I remember the Weather Bureau forecasting that Spring in Australia would be wet. Well it certainly has happened in this part of the world. Rained all week, again, and today a bit of a dry spell so I dashed out this morning to do a bit of weeding around the pumpkin patch, where I discovered two Butternuts growing and the strawberry patch to pull out all the mint that had taken over, and yes green strawberries growing. This week I will have to try and put hay under them and cover from the birds. 

4 of these piles. 5.4metres long.

 

In the meantime,this week our new recycled boards were delivered. Heavy things too. Our son came over twice after work and helped John cart them from the nature strip to the back, one at a time as so long and heavy. I was looking up what we did this time last year and the wire on the posts at the other end, was being put through then. Slow and Steady should be our motto I think.

While I was there took the water views from our verandah, in the mist.

I have been doing more painting, some crocheting at night, of which I am addicted to at the moment with a new afghan pattern. Embroidery, Quilting and a CWA meeting took up my time last week, and will be the same this week with a Card making class at the CWA hall I am helping with.  Out 3 days a week though is too much, with all I have to do, next week being the same with a CWA Christmas Market.

Now a  quick tour of the garden as with all of this rain, it is flourishing, weeds mostly, but plenty of flowers.Hedge needs cutting also.

Memory for my favorite Aunty Bett, Dad's sister, these came from her garden.

Queen Elizabeth Rose

We helped dig up an old garden for the Community Garden and found these bulbs. Kept a few but the garden has many as well.

I have 3 weeks to finish off the T & G painting before Christmas, with our youngest son and eldest daughter arriving then. The scaffolding trolley needs to move into the main hall as I have finished the bathroom entrance area. More photos when that is  all done. 

 

Never a dull moment

Till Next Time

Verandah Painting Continues

 As I write this today, our area, along with many others, has opened up again, so it will be back to embroidery, which I will go to  as residential friend thing, and quilting which I won't as it is wearing a mask all day.  Also back to the worry of it all as well. This was in the news this week.

A 22-year-old Sydney woman and her three children, plus 17 other passengers and six crew, are in quarantine after police stopped a train mid-journey on Thursday night.

Mid North Coast Police District officers received reports that the woman had failed to isolate after a positive COVID-19 test, and was travelling from Strathfield to Coffs Harbour, on the NSW Mid-North Coast, with her three children.

Unbelievable, and what a nightmare for everyone including no staff on the train. 

Well Miss P came over yesterday much to her relief that she could, was so pleased to have a change of venue. She has also been complaining of headaches probably due to the constant computer homework for school so it was good for her to be outside up a ladder lol, doing something else. She painted 3 more poles and the last of them. Now to clean up some more junk there. At least the scaffolding has been pulled down and I hope John will sell it now that we can have visitors. Along with quite a few camping things, like the portable fridge freezer.

Due to the change of weather and getting warmer it has affected my left side, especially my arm socket and wrist, so I wasn't able to help her much and plodded in the kitchen. Then I got out the clock and hanger to paint. In the end kept the hanger as is which is covered in non rust paint stuff and decided the colour was ok.. This will hang outside the kitchen door for hats, gloves etc.

The clock I had already started so will keep going. After two coats I will put on a crackle finish, to split the paint, hope the stuff is still viable. This clock will go back into the gazebo.

The garden is coming along, planted, capsicum, eggplant, cosmos, cucumber, rocket, bush beans, one more bush tomato in the gap, and beetroot. These have all come from my little seed starting tubs. The rest haven't germinated so threw them out. Either too old or maybe some things just need soil to start.

 2nd bed of carrots is now doing well also. I also have some Statice flower seedling plants to dig up and plant out, just threw the seeds in a bunch and hoped for the best. Always the way, beautiful seedlings ready to go elsewhere.  

 Other than that I have been decluttering still,  cleaning a window a week and a flat suface, my new discipline on keeping stuff under control, and clean. It is supposed to get to 30C today, that will be a bit of a shock, considering we are still having chilly mornings.

Stay safe everyone

 

Till Next Time.

 

 

 

 

Repotting Succulents, and EkoDeck Samples

 My grandaughter came over yesterday so I decided it was time to fix up the pot plants on the fence. They have been growing well and I think it has been two years, so looking a bit tired, overgrown and the soil was in  need of replacing. 

So we tipped all the pots out and replaced with new soil and smaller version of the different succulents. Plus I had some kalanchoe flowering from cuttings so planted them as well. They are very pretty for a succulent.

The pots look much neater and well watered as we soaked them. Amazing how dry the soil was, despite watering regularly, as so pot bound it was just dripping through without soaking.

  It is a nice view outside my kitchen window. 

 The samples for the new replacement of the floorboards for the verandah arrived. Not a lot of choice Brown, Terracotta, of Dark Grey. There were two types but John has heard that the thin layer on the more expensive one can scratch right through to the base so we are going with the one that is all one layer. Neither are cheap unfortunately but will stop having to replace the boards regularly due to the weather, this area gets.

The one on the left is the solid floorboard and slightly cheaper.

In comparison it is two boards wide approx. 137mm and 5400 mm long and we need about 75 of them, just for the back alone, which is why we are only doing that. The boards are approx. $80 each.

Now we know the colour, the sample is in the sun, as it is likely to fade, so once the caravan is here, and paid for  I will get some paint to match and paint the floorboards in the front and down the side verandah. 

This week was the anniversary of my mother passing, and a yellow rose bloomed for the first time this winter, as well. Such a nice way to remember her. 

It looks like we won't be going to Brisbane for our Specialist appointments.  The only exception is to fly in, be accounted for and sent to our specified place. We would have to fly from Sydney as only available flights and expensive. Doesn't make any sense to go to a Super Hot Spot to fly out, Qld has now locked it's borders as Covid is escaping for them as well. John is disappointed as this was his first appointment to see if he had RA, his Dr. wasn't sure. This is where hands on is better for feeling joints etc. back to Telehealth again, this will be my 3rd. this month.

Take Care,

Till Next Time.

Verandah Posts are Gone & Replaced with Wire.

 John has been working hard on getting rid of all the posts on the verandah and changing over to wire. The painting done by me was getting to much to do every few years, plus some of the posts were rotting and they are hard to get as well.The choice therefore was either glass...too expensive ... or wire. Miss P and I did some rail and post painting, last week refreshing everything, with John doing one  tall pole and a bit of finishing off.

Front are with the wood uprights, which I would still like to keep if possible.

The back corner of the verandah would be about 2.4m or 8 feet  off the ground, which is quite scary without any railing at all, which is was for a few weeks. Now with the wire, still scary as you can see right through, so will be a case of getting used to it. I know some mothers with young children don't like it at all due to the fact that some kids could put there head between, even though this is done to the standard measurements recommended by law. As all our little ones are now grown up not a problem for us.

Holes ready for wire after painting. Tall Posts to be painted white.

John adding the clips, that hold the wires.

So with all the painting of the rails finished, this week was stringing it all together. Underneath the hand rails is also some square metal in the space there, to support all the tension required so they don't go flying off with the  pressure. 

The last of the clips being fitted yesterday, wires joining the pole.

The next step now is to replace the floorboards. Once the caravan is sorted out and we still are waiting  on the insurance, I think this is now week 6, we shall get the plastic floorboards, a section at a time.

Wires are in, floorboards next step

I was video chatting to our youngest daughter in California yesterday as it was her birthday, and was showing her the new railing, but she  was looking through the wire, trying to find it, which is why it is also hard to photograph.

I took the above photo to show you the wire and it's openness but also that Miss P and I started the back yesterday. Two gardens weeded and covered in black builders plastic. I hope it kills everything and does the trick, so I can ignore it for as long as I want. 

In the front garden the snow peas, and carrots planted with other veg. two weeks ago, have just started to come through. John went to Bunnings also so I got him to get some brocolli and cabbage. Pretty disgusted with the seedlings though very leggy and the cabbage must have at least 20 in the punnet which is such a waste. I wouldn't have purchased them but will plant them in deeper and hope they don't rot. Apparently a long line of cars waiting to get in due to the Easter weekend.

The wheely bin is full again, so many weeds as usual, and the Japanese windflowers are all out, looking pretty. 

If Miss P hadn't come yesterday, I wouldn't have bothered doing any of it, the morning was cold and I am always feeling tired, so it is just as well. After morning tea we also did my linen press again and picked up where we left off weeks and weeks ago. Looking so much more organized as well with the labels she did. The black cloth boxes are from Kmart two for $5, and hold a lot. Slowly getting it all done.

Today I am finishing off the last of the linen press that was loaded up in the hall way, and have planted the broccoli and cabbage x 8 each and sent the rest off with John to the Community Garden this morning so they can plant them. 

Daylight hours were finished last night and now we are keeping time with Queensland and the rest of the world. 

Happy Easter 2021 everyone.

Till Next Time.

New Verandah Railing & Bank Garden Continued

 Yesterday the 7 year old twins and Miss P came over to help me in the garden, to finish off the Bank. John bought the mulch before he had his hand done for carpal tunnel.

I picked them up at at 8am so we could beat the heat, and between us all and some more weeding managed to finish the job, before the twins had had enough. Bribing  them with chocolate biscuits for morning tea did the trick. Didn't do my back any good though, been stiff and sore since. Could hardly move in the afternoon, so lots of heat bags and panadol.

 

One of the problems I have  here, is the couch grass and nut grass that grows between the cracks. Will resort to painting it with roundup. Hate doing that, but it is the only way.

Pretty pleased with the result and just have a few succulents to plant and to broom over the path and rocks, kids aren't that neat. We picked some more sweet potatoes and cut back some of the vine, still plenty more in the ground when I need them.

Snail Vine looking a treat at the moment.

The verandah has reached a point of do I keep painting all the different rails, and floor boards or pay someone an enormous amount of money to do it every 5 years or so and we came to the conclusion to get rid of the spindles all together and replace with wire. As a starter project on it John did the corner nearest the Kitchen.

I feel it will work, now that I have got used to it and will certainly save a lot of mucking around painting everything. 

The next thing will be putting the floor boards down and John is looking at the plastic version. He will start down at the other end, doing a panel at a time with wire and the floorboards for that section only. 

  

John painted the poles white as it is the easiest to do, and matches the roof. 5 more of these to go down the backside.

 We had another cooking lesson for Miss P while the twins watched a movie and taught her to make lemon butter, 3 jars, and a boiled fruit cake. Lots of eggs to crack open so Little Miss V had a go as well. Just love watching them trying to do it. Lemon butter went to the Community Gardens for our Sunday Market one sold, so other two in fridge for next week.The fruit cake was delicious used up all my dried fruit plus a tiny pineapple that I picked. Cranberries, dates, sultanas,cherries,dried apricots, all went into it. 

My health is slowly improving, neurophils are creeping up still low though, another blood test this week, and had an Echocardiogram  and Holter monitor on for  21 hours. I feel things will be ok there as have improved quite a bit in the last month. 2021 is my goal to feel well though.

 Stay safe everyone. 

 

Till Next Time.

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