Dishin' the dirt!

Nick was paid a bonus over the weekend, which was well-deserved - and much appreciated. We've been putting some of the funds to good use.

The dump shop yielded excellent materials for our raised bed vegie garden (and fence) but we needed some new supplies from Bunnings also - so purchased those yesterday. Nick started construction when we got home.
We laid some mesh along the bottom of the bed and put a rough layer of rubble over that for drainage.

We had two cubic metres of dirt delivered this afternoon.  Actually it's not just dirt - it's "four-way mix", full of compost and various other good stuff.  It's sposed to be good for growing vegies, so hopefully it lives up to our expectations!

We left the chookies locked up till after the truck had left. Once released from their fort, they quickly came over to investigate our dirty deeds - but at least they didn't hinder our efforts too much!

There is more work to be done tomorrow, if the current rain clears. 

Once the bed is done, we can start building a fence around it - to protect our harvest from being prematurely harvested by chookies (or rabbits)!

Lucky Find!

Although jade plants are a symbol of good fortune, I doubt the one at Hamby Home(in)stead had been feeling very lucky.  The ugly concrete pot that housed it was substantially cracked down one side - and the plant was looking decidedly cramped.

I've been pondering a low-cost solution for several months.  A replacement "pot" became available today during another of our dump-shop trips.  (We haven't been for a while and were greeted extra warmly on arrival)!

I was already eyeing off this plastic barrel, when Nick suggested it for the jade plant.  Done deal!  We brought home a lovely swag of loot - all for $25!  (The barrel was probably $5.00 of the total cost, if that).  I like the dump shop!

Bunnings had cheap potting mix, so we grabbed three bags, which was just enough to re-home the jade plant.  I've given it a big drink and am hoping it settles well into it's more generous accommodation! 

Movie-ing along ...

Prior to our relocation a regular school holiday activity was visiting the Heddon Greta Drive-in.  Although prices are charged per vehicle very few patrons actually sit in their car. 

We suffered a little from culture shock on our first visit. There were many people (including adults) roaming around in PJs and slippers. Bean bags were commonly used as outdoor seating. Some families lounged on mattresses.  We felt quite staid sitting in our car - in our normal clothes!

In time we got into the groove with the best of them - converting Elmer's rear into a snug lounge area.  Our thermal cooker held fried rice and chicken drumsticks or other easily eaten fare.  We brought popcorn, lollybags - and our thermoses for hot beverages.

The drive-in pricing was very budget-friendly - $50 for two movies, $70 for three and $90 for four.  I don't recall ever seeing four movies in a row but we would see three on occasion. 

My loose budget for my Hamby Home(in)stead cinema under the stars project is around the cost of a night at the drive-in. So far we're tracking OK. 

The seats were $30 and this week we scored a second-hand video projector for $52 - with 1300+ hours of lamp-life. It (and various gadgetry) comes in a wheeled hard-case and retailed at around $5K a bit over ten years ago.

We have speakers and an amp that may only require a low-cost repair. With luck our camping gazebo walls will do for a screen - stay tuned!


Just for the record, I didn't ever wear my PJs to the drive-in (and neither did anyone else in our family)!

Mr Muscle ...

The hunka-chunka bull is providing lots of entertainment - particularly when he bellows to the cows in other paddocks (at different points of the day and night)!

Today Vaughan went over to the fence for a closer look at the "awesome" bull's muscles.  Of course, no-one is particularly keen to get too close - and that's probably definitely a good thing!

The bull is a Black Angus.  I used to wonder why the prefix "black" was necessary however there is also a red variety of the breed, not surprisingly known as Red Angus!

Things that go bump ...

There was a fair bit of noise last night at one point.  I wasn't sure what it was, so very bravely took our giant spotlight with me when I went outside to investigate.

I'm don't know what I expected to see but it certainly wasn't a brushtail possum.  I don't think he/she expected to see me either!

Vaughan was soundly asleep.  I called Erin though and we offered our neighbour some apple.  He/she was not impressed by our offering and quickly scuttled over the outdoor covered area to places unknown. 

I did hear more scrambling on our roof much later, so assumed our friend was heading to bed.  I wonder if we'll see him/her again tonight?

(Sucking) On the Fence!

Nick tried something new when feeding Tea this evening.  Usually we enter the enclosure with her and sit on an upturned crate to hold her milk bucket. 

Tonight Nick stayed outside the enclosure and provided only minimal support to the bucket. 

The new approach worked well and Tea enjoyed the hands-free approach, cos it meant less interference when she wanted to slurp the last drips from the bottom of the bucket!

As usual, there was a bit of a wrestle to remove the bucket at the end of the feed. 

Our little cow wasn't very impressed by the confiscation and sucked vigorously on the fence to let us know.

Within moments though she had her head in the larger feed bin and was nosing through her hay, eating calf pellets.

Our landlady called round during the week and is happy with Tea's progress, estimating her weight at 200kg. 

Superb!

Just before our December relocation to Victoria, a lovely friend and I enjoyed a "ladies day" outing. 

While poking around an op-shop I purchased a new pewter key-ring, which featured a superb fairy wren.

In funny co-incidence, one of the first things we noticed about Hamby Home(in)stead was the resident population of fairy wrens. 


When we arrived the male wren didn't look all that different to the females but for his bluish tail.  In the past couple of weeks though, the male has acquired his breeding plumage - and is now looking quite superb! 

He and his ladies check for insects in the sheltered area adjacent to our front door each morning.  They visit often through the day also.  We enjoy hearing their pretty song and if you click on the link (in the second paragraph), you can hear it too!

He's a hunk!

I mentioned that one of our landlady's bulls is spending some time at Hamby Home(in)stead - eating down the grass in our side paddock.

We've been admiring him - and he's been checking us out, too. He was supervising Nick's archery efforts just now.

We don't know what he thought of Nick's "form: but everyone agrees  the bull is impressively hunka-chunka!

Cue the freebies!

As I was preparing for bed last night, I recalled the location of another packet of seeds.

I checked this morning and the seeds were as I remembered.

Even better, cucumbers are on my reference list so I potted three small newspaper pots.

(The larger pots sitting behind them hold the gigantic garlic cloves).


The cucumber and tomato seeds were free, given to Erin when she volunteered at the Hunter Wetlands Centre.  There should be other packets but which box they are in is anyone's guess!

Moth playing chicken(s)?!

From time to time the chookies will tap on the glass of the front sliding door, or the window behind my usual seat at the computer. Today they tapped so firmly and persistently that I got up to investigate.

There were three of them, jostling for space and pecking at a small moth. Where was the moth? On my side of the glass. Did the chookies give up. No. Not till I chased them off.

The moth is the white speck you can see in the smaller photo - and is fluttering just below the beak of the middle chook in the larger pic.

Bigger is better?!

As you can imagine we were super-impressed by the gigantic "Russian Garlic" at a recent farmers' market. We had to have one - and true to form, Vaughan selected the biggest available to bring home!

I've used some of the cloves since but wanted to try growing a couple.  The two pictured are smaller - that is only about 4-5cm wide and 6-7cm long!  I told you they were impressive!

So far all my pots have been made using a half-sheet of newspaper.  That size didn't give the garlic much room and I pondered what else I could use.  It took a while for inspiration to hit.  I was a bit frustrated with myself for not seeing the obvious solution earlier.  By folding a full newspaper sheet, I made a pot that was sized just right.  (Goldilocks would be pleased)!

Mind your Ps and ?s

I'm quite chuffed with my efforts today. I made over two dozen little newspaper pots and planted 42 in total - as well as six toilet rolls! The peas are in the toilet rolls. It seemed (in)appropriate!

What else did I plant?  Well, there were the P1, P2 and P3 pumpkins.  I saved the seeds a while back but neglected to label them, hence the Play School style numbering!

I planted tomatoes, zucchini, two varieties of sweet corn, some purple carrots and possibly two types of capsicum.  I say possibly because I also saved capsicum seeds earlier in the year.  Or praps they were chilli seeds.  Yep another mystery, hence the question mark!

The potting mix was in the storage container and the seeds were either saved or left-over from previous gardening attempts.  The seedling trays were another find at the dump shop yesterday.  They were not costed separately but rather included as a bonus, given our other purchases.  I do like the dump shop!  (I also found some plastic pot saucers that should work as compost bin lids).

For beginner gardeners such as myself, Gardenate is a fabulous resource.  The site provides planting guidance for various climate zones - in Australia and around the world.  I've been signed up to their email reminder service for longer than I'll admit to - but am finally acting on the site's advice!

Musical chairs!

I'm one step - or eight seats - closer to my plan of having an outdoor movie setup at Hamby Home(in)stead! 

I spotted these seats at the dump shop last week.  There were four rows then but only two left today. 

Obviously she who hesitates is lost - or loses out on movie seats.  As we already had the trailer in tow (collecting garden fencing), I enquired about the "movie seats". Special price for me - $30 for the two sets. Bargain! These days you'd be lucky to get two tickets to the movies for thirty bucks! All right - my eight seats aren't perfect but are much more comfortable than they look and will work out very well for my cinema under the stars scheme! 

While at the dump shop today I also spotted some heavy vinyl banners that I thought might be adapted as a screen for the storage container.  My technical adviser wasn't convinced though, citing the fact that I don't yet have a projector for my movies - and that item may well influence the type of screen required.  More action required!

Recycling the news(papers) ...

We don't get much junk mail.  Nick sometimes picks up discarded newpapers from work, which are used for fire-lighting (and lining the bottom of Keegan's cage).

I was lucky to find a few sheets of paper to try these origami seedling pots.  Vaughan and I followed some YouTube instructions and soon had completed several pots each, grinning at our success!


I made quite a few more pots while watching a David Attenborough documentary, before my modest newspaper supply ran out.  Our local library generously donated more newspaper to the cause last night - that is, the librarian was happy for us to rat through the recycling bin and take what we wanted! 

I found quite a few seed packets when sorting through some boxes this week - and discovered some potting mix in the storage container too.  My plan is to use items on hand and start off some seeds (from packets or saved from other vegetables), while waiting for the garden fence (and garden) to be constructed.

Capsicum security?!

I've been thinking more seriously of starting a vegie garden. In the past, I've successfully grown cherry tomatoes and various herbs in pots.

Although I've made a few attempts to grow proper vegetables, my efforts haven't been greatly productive. However, in the spirit of "if at first you don't succeed ...", I'm going to give the idea another go.

Given the chookies scratched out my raspberry canes yesterday, Nick and I decided a fenced garden would be necessary. We headed up to the dump shop today to source building materials (having already picked over the backyard for anything useful). We were super-impressed with our trailer-load of stuff - which included a few long pieces of timber, strapped to Elmer's roof. $55.00 for a garden fence. That's gotta be a bargain!

Garden hen-dering!

Our chookies are very lucky. Not just because they live here. Lucky that I like them as much as I do. Particularly after today's efforts.

Three of my raspberry canes have been scratched out. I am not at all impressed.

I'll replant my raspberries tomorrow - and plant some chicken netting, to discourage further hen-vestigations!

The grass IS greener!

What a difference (almost) six months makes!  The  paddocks were super-dry when we arrived.  There were deep cracks in the ground too. 

Many people said the grass would grow when the rains came.  It is fair to say we were ... sceptical!  It did happen though.  Eventually. 

The rains took longer than the oft-quoted three months but now we have green grass.  Far too much of it!
 


Nick has been mowing sections with our hand mower and today borrowed our land-lady's ride-on.  The house paddock is looking much tidier as a result of his efforts.

Tea is steadily munching in the front paddock - and today one of our land lady's bulls came to spend some time in our larger side paddock.   I'll have to take some photos of him.  He's not as large as Tea's Dad but he's still a very impressive fellow! 

Spring-ing into action!

Spring is here! It arrived on Sunday. Of course, Sunday was the first official day of Spring but even better, the weather was absolutely glorious and has stayed that way since. Hooray!

I sat in the sunshine on Sunday afternoon and was warm for the first time in months. Clear skies. No wind. Sun! Three days in a row! It's been wonderful. Today was 20 degrees. I'm liking it. A lot.

Nick tells me another cold spell is on it's way, so I'm definitely making the most of the sun while it lasts. He and I have both been doing some work around the yard.

I moved my black compost bin yesterday, which involved re-shovelling all the contents. It seems to be rotting along nicely! The blue part-barrel improvised bin is almost full and I've been pondering what to use next. As luck would have it, someone has dumped a rubbish bin along the road in front of the property. We'll have a closer look tomorrow. It might just be what we've been looking for. You know what they say, one man's trash ... is another woman's compost bin!