November 02

Progress is slowing - or getting less interesting anyway. The house is, save for one top coat in the spare room (still), painted on the inside. It hasn't been finished yet because we've taken advantage of the good weather to do outside stuff, and also to lift the lino. WHich has taken a lot longer then the afternoon I expected (partly because it stirs up dust & T's been painting windows & doors - hey, it's a great excuse.). But first wet weekend & the spare room will be done & we'll be able to have people round to stay!

So... the lino... this is a real mission. We've nearly got it all down to the original tiles. And we figure they're original, because underneath them, the floorboards are distincltly crappier than what was underneath the carpet. SO the latest plan is to sand & varnish the cool wide floorboards in the lounge, hall & bedrooms. And re-lay new black & white squared lino in the dining, kitchen & bathroom areas. Or so my in-house interior decorating consultant tells me.

Handy Sandy's (yes, that's his name) already been round to scope the sanding, which we hope to have done by Christmas. Hopefully he's better at the actual sanding & varnishing than he is at getting a quotation to us. He failed miserably to fax a copy to me, managing only to direct his fax at my work phone for a day & a half. then rang me on that number to say I'd given him the wrong number. Then failed with the fax number again, gave up & purportedly mailed it to us. I didn't like to ask to which address.... hopefully the one that has a letterbox.

So that's that. It's a dead sprint now to lift the remaining lino, remove, or bash in the millions of nails. Then we'll have to move all the furniture out to the sleepout while Handy does his stuff. And move it all back in again. What fun.

Outside it's been all go. Lopping branches in the forest... Was reading an article in the Growing Today magazine (as you do) asking why everyone (who is anyone in the small farming world) is growing more or less worthless pinus radiata in their woodlots (small farming jargon for personal forest). And it suggested we (who are anyone in the small farming world) should be growing trees that are actually worth something to sell. Like some sort of cherry whose name I can't remember, which commands something like $9000 (US) per cubic foot. Sounds worth investigating replacing any pine trees I cut down with cherry to me! We shall see.

I wandered my rustic world one weekend & unearthed (OK, T did while weeding behind a shed, while I wandered aimlessly around), six very fine fenceposts, I did get to do my Pinetree Meads (my personal hero) impression by hoisting them over my shoulder & relocating them to the shed. I already found two very large coils of wire. And so I decided last weekend to spend an hour planting a big magnolia tree we have (it will be big one day) in a suitable spot, and fence it against the return of the neighbour's horses, who would either eat, or trample it. This took a day & a half it turns out. And the retired farmer & his wife from next door popped down to admire my fencing skills (they politely sniggered, and offered advice that I have neither the equipment, nor the ability to follow). I bashed in 3 posts around the valued sapling, then strung the top wire around them & secured them to an existing fencepost nearby. SO it juts out like a diamond from an existing fenceline. Got it real tight. Very pleased.

Strung the next wire round & did the same & at this point, the top wire went slacker than Richard Worth's attendance rate at El Alamein memorial services. And so on until I had a real tight wire at the bottom, and the rest looked really sad (this is when Mr Ex-Farmer turned up of course). But not to be beaten, I went & got a couple of big quarter rounds from the supply in the shed, dug really big holes (back breaking), and bashed them in at a slight angle (which is actually the recommended way to keep horses at bay in this sort of arrangement, according to my book) so everything is reasonably tight again. Then I fled the scene before something else went wrong. And went back the next day to pick up all the tools I'd forgotten to bring in with me. I daresay it won't keep a determined horse out, but it should be good enough for a sheep, if it comes to that.

And Mr Ex-Farmer (Tim, to his neighbours) actually asked if I'd considered getting sheep to keep the grass down. And kindly offered to keep an eye on them if we did. He must miss them I guess. We are considering this... various people have suggested they're too much trouble, or that we get donkeys or goats (goats mean too much fencing - they're clever & can climb & jump). But I'm not sure we have enough land for a horse or donkey. Although M has rather optimistically read & memorised the chapter on care & maintenance of horses... I can tell you though that it isn't her she pictures out there maintaining & shoeing the beasts.

But if these neighbour's horses don't return, we're going to need something. I don't fancy being out there all weekend even on a ride-on mower. I do fancy a quad bike (me & Tim actually) though... with a trailer for transporting firewood back from the woodlot etc.... and riverstones from the local river for building outdoor fireplaces & stuff...

I managed to get some irrigation into our nursery-garden area, so that's coming along nicely. Just have to turn the tap on from 30 metres away... I've been cleaning that patch up & have uncovered two large concrete pads which once were buildings (honestly, it looks like there was once a small town out there), and many more items of discarded rubbish - fishing nets, metal buckets full of castors... windshield wipers (which were tangled in the fencing wire & for some weeks I fancied they were clever wire tightening devices..... until I needed a wire tightening device & examined them closer...), spanish galleon bells, Greek amphoras & viking helmets (well... maybe...). I plan to plant more trees once this area is relatively clear, basically to hide the shed from view. Starting with what looks like a small plum tree which probably grew from a pit tossed off the balcony about a metre from the house. You never know yer luck....

This coming weekend, I'll be removing unsightly chicken wire attached to the top of the small fence that is around the house. This fence is pretty much superfluous to needs anyway, and it is possible that it may be relocated in sections & used to fix up the one area of the property that isn't adequately fenced (many thanks to neighbours on most of one side who probably got sick of horses, chickens & cows that have previously grazed the land wandering onto their properties & who erected a series of diverse & very fine fences & walls that could probably keep rampant elephants out.) There's just one lazy bastard whose property doesn't have a sturdy fence between his & mine. I should hit him up for half the cost :-)

I tell ya - I love this, it may sound like (and it IS) hard work, but it's great fun, and so far hasn't involved too much expense (I dare say that may change when we decide what we're actually going to do with the paddocks & have to have it ploughed & buy trees & the like), just a few tradesmen here & there fixing things up. The rest has just been our labour & (heh) expertise. And there're enough little (and larger) projects to keep us busy for years. And bonus, it's getting me fitter....

And in about 60 years time or so, when that magnolia is about 15 feet high... it'll all have seemed worth it....

Oh.. and taking suggestions on what we can do with a disused septic tank :-)