More Courtyard

Today we didn't fence........today we courtyarded.... great progress and soooooo happy with the work we have done! Last thing yesterday evening we concreted in the two posts to make the wall.( Note the wine Richard....)

So this morning they were strong and ready to work on. These old timbers we are using are from the original bridge that crosses the Rivulet to get to our property. Now sadly the bridge is an ugly but safe concrete one, but luckily the old timbers got left behind and now have been given a new lease of life in this wall! They are gnarly , old and grey but still strong. And so much nicer than using treated pine ones!

The stud wall for the cement sheet. It took us a while to do this as each post is a little bit warped or twisted so there was a lot of measuring and double measuring going on!

Treek was site manager.........

Window framework in place and sheeting going up!

Almost finished! (l think the ducks approve!) This side gets its own cement sheeting which we will do tomorrow .

Lintel above the door went up and window grate in. The second window is an old bed end!!! Not quite as beautiful as the one on the right but once it has all the paling framing around it it should look great! Recycle recycle recycle!!!

Looking just fabulous! We are very happy and proud of ourselves!!

Time to bring the animals in and an early night for us tonight l think! This holiday stuff is hard work!!!

 

 

 

 

Happy Holidays!

Geoff and l now have a week off together. Great! ........ Unfortunately we wont be lounging around like old Toggles here..................

Daydreaming the days away like Treeka..............

Snoozing all day like Lilli

(or sunbathing)

 No lazy days lying about in the garden!

And definitely no frolicking around in a pool like Bruce!! 

We have three paddocks to make out of one...

Through a lot of rock...............A LOT of rock!!!!! It will be worth it though as this paddock is a big one and fairly hilly, rocky and wild. Once divided into three smaller ones we can rotate them and concentrate the animals to graze down the areas they DONT like so much as opposed to over grazing the bits they like the most!

And here folks is proof that l actually DO work as well, not just take all the photos!!!! 

Unlike Geoff here who seems to always do ALL the work as l take the pictures!!

Mind you, l definitely don't do the chain sawing bit.

So that's pretty much our time off mapped out! Posts , posts, concreting, wire, steel droppers, posts and more posts!! Happy holidays!!!

 

 

Progress!

A quarter of one wall of our courtyard is up! Well and truly on its way!!! Well, the door is only propped  up in this picture. In fact if you look close enough you can see Geoff's fingers at the very top of the door holding it up!!! AND its actually back to front but that's a minor matter!!

But the window is finished and l am very proud of myself for doing it indeedly l must say!!

We used an old gate l bought ages ago and some recycled palings from an old fence that was pulled down at work.

Just love it!

And Geoff's brilliant idea of using old horse shoe nails to tack them on rather than ugly screws.

Very exciting!

 

Strange Choices!

We have a shed in the corner of the garden...............The door is never closed and it doesn't have much in it except the lawn mower and a few tools and fuel cans.........

And shelves with some spray packs and odds and ends on them,........

And a bird nest!!!! An enormous palace built on an old piece of coiled up rope!!!

And a little bird hoping we can't see her.......even though she is terribly exposed!!

l could have thought of a hundred better places to build a nest .....like a tree for instance! 

Or maybe a hedge??

Good luck little girl!! We shall be keeping an eye on you! 

 

First Pour!!

The first post is concreted! Very exciting! A few days to fully set and l can get some cement sheet to fill in the first bit of wall. l also need to find some old wrought iron window grills to put in so we still get the light in the garden.

l have a little collection of photos for ideas once it's all done and finished.  One day our Wisteria might be this big!!

And we definitely need a fireplace!

Gorgeous! But l doubt the goats would ever let a rose bush get this big! (they will be living on the other side of the wall!)

Errrrrrrrrrrrr maybe not but l still love it!

And l can but dream!!!

Fire Ready

Today l spent a few moments putting together a fire kit for Geoff and l. It's hard to be fire prepared and fire ready on a place with so many animals. It's inconceivable for me to think l could leave the place and just say "goodbye kids.....good luck" If it came to it l wouldn't care at all about the house. We could always rebuild. But l would find it hard to live with myself if l never at least TRIED to save the beasties. So our Fire Kits are pretty simple really. Protective clothing for us. Boots, jackets, goggles and thick gloves.. A pair of bolt cutters in each bag to cut fences if necessary. A long length of rope and a knife to cut and make into halters if needed. A small plastic bucket with wheat in it to be able to rattle a tin and get the animals to a particular bare paddock OR a paddock to be able to cut the fence to let them go.

We can't always expect to be at home if it happened. We might both be at work and maybe not even have access to the place via our own road. At least dual access from two roads gives us more scope and the possibility of being able to reach a boundary fence . The bags are now in the cars. Ready to go. Ready to use. Hopefully NEVER to use....

 

 

The Ghastly and the Garish!

Don't laugh!!! l know it's ghastly but isn't it also great!!! It is an Op Shop $3 lamp that probably no longer worked. It might have done but the electrical cord and switch was so archaic l wasn't game to turn it on! So l ripped out the electric bits and put potting mix in instead! It has a Forget Me Not in there at the moment but l will get some Lobelia seedling punnets and put a few in so they cascade down the side.. It is weird but l like it!

Just think! It's a whole new world l can get into! Pot plants in old lamps! The possibilities are endless!

Oh and my very first Rhododendron is slowly slowly starting to flower! What an amazing (rather garish) pink it is too!

Bit exciting here also is the very first post went in for our soon (sort of) to be courtyard! It's been a long time coming! We concocted the idea probably two years ago but it always has been put on the back burner. No More! l dug the hole (twice..........as the first one was wrong!) and l dragged the post across and plonked it in the ground. STARTED!!!. It's now braced to the side of the house waiting for the concrete pour to happen! It was MEANT to have  been this afternoon but it has been soooooooo horribly windy we decided it probably wasn't a really good idea! It's an old hardwood sleeper from the original bridge over the Rivulet at the bottom of the drive. It is big and chunky and perfect for the door frame . Hopefully soon l will dig the OTHER hole! The ground is a bit hard though!!! But at least it is STARTED!!

And on a saner note l planted another three Silver Birches today. Well l actually planted five but two were replacements for a couple that either Bruce the Goose or an over zealous Bandicoot chomped off as l hadn't put a guard around them. The other three are out in the home paddock so they will have to be encased in Fort Knox style protection from Wallabies for the next three years or so!

(sigh!)