11 years
We’ve celebrated our anniversary with a dinner out last night with one of our children (Georgia had a sleepover at a friend’s house). We went to the local: the Kermandie. It was excellent. Matthew was (is) the perfect child: sitting quietly, eating quietly and generally being overly obedient and pleasant. He had a pirate cheeseburger with chips. Monte had a parmi and I had a seafood basket, which was served on a plate the size of a small table! The food was brilliant and the chef came to talk to us when we had eaten – we had told the waitress to tell the chef that the mango cheesecake was brilliant!
Anyway, to continue the celebrations with a drive and a picnic at Cygnet. It was a nice day and we had a relaxing time. We drove to Snug Falls – we didn’t do the walk because I was wearing heels (clever), but we might do that another day. It’s a beautiful place we’re living in! We ate Tassie salmon and Tassie dips and cheese and bread on our little outing.
Matthew, having just seen a real (bright green) Ben10 car! What joy!
Seagulls at Port Cygnet
Port Cygnet - very pretty
11 years of marriage, and many more adventures to come!
an attempt at a family photo - my biggest 'smile' moment of the day
me with my children
The view from a road to nowhere, just past Snug Falls, near Snug
365 reasons to smile
I am going to partake in a photo project, based on an article I read in a magazine last year. A mother of two, melancholy like me, decided that taking a photo of something that made her smile each day would help her focus on the happy, positive things in her life. I am going to do the project for the same reasons, except I am not a photographer and I do not have a whizz-bang camera. I do, however, reckon that I will have some excellent subjects for my pictures.
I am going to try to find things other than my children to photograph. It’d be easy to take a photo of them each day because they always make me smile. I am also going to avoid taking photos of things. Eg my new car makes me smile, but it doesn’t add anything special to my life (it just goes up the driveway so excellently!). Therefore, I will avoid taking photos of materialistic things.
Rules:
1. Try to take photos of different things (don’t be repetitive in subject matter).
2. Avoid taking photos of objects because things don’t really make us happy (well, you know what I mean)
3. I’m allowed to take more than one photo each day if I am having a particularly good day.
4. If nothing makes me smile, I can resort to subject matter for which I am grateful.
5. I *have* to take a photo every day, even on my phone if I have to.
6. I can change the rules at any time.
Perhaps some soul-searching will happen for me this year.
You can see my daily photos on the page with the same title – click on link on top right corner of the screen. Or go to: http://ecove.on-rev.com/fangornfarm.com/?page_id=666
Filed under Reflections | Comment (0)Shhhhhnake!
For all our pleasure at not noticing even one snake on our property this summer, I was rudely surprised when I saw one in our bathroom, of all places! A young, foot-long tiger snake, no thicker than my finger, was slithering behind the bath yesterday. At first I thought it was a skink, as several have been in the house – we have at least one resident skink and the children think it’s hilarious to chase them under the washing machine. But this was a bit bigger than a skink, and as it slowly slithered under the dog’s bedding it occured to me that it could be a snake. Trembling, with adrenalin pumping in fear of my little girl’s safety (and mine), I rang Monte, who raced down the hill to sort out the issue. I’m wondering why I turned to Monte instead of dealing with it myself. I suppose I didn’t really know what to do, and I’m not very brave (for example, a wallaby jumping out of the bushes when I watered the plants this morning nearly gave me a heart attack).
With the help of a torch, Monte found the young snake under the bath. It was too young to have fangs, and it writhed and twisted amongst itself as Monte held it at arm’s length.It had the clear tiger-stripes that tiger snakes have. Older tiger snakes do not have such clear markings, unless they are not stretched out much. Instead, they appear mostly black. My word they are disgusting, harmful – looking creatures. d’Artagnan’s ears went back and she crept away along the outside wall when Monte took it outside. I was glad that she feared it! Must be instinct.
Of course, snakes are protected animals, so Monte did not destroy the snake. He just moved right away from the cabin and let it loose somewhere. Apparently cats eat baby snakes; they are immune to their venom. Maybe this is why our cat Naigee is so very very fat at present; perhaps she will find the little snake and gobble it up for dinner.
As for the hole through which the little venomous monster entered our dwelling, Monte (under extreme fear) climbed under our house and patched it up with silicone.
Filed under Animals | Comment (0)Pleasant Frustrations
Err… things are slightly frustrating. The house is *so* close to being finished, yet so far from it too. It’s the little finishing touches that are taking time. Lots of people ask us when we’ll move in. Each person gets a different response, albeit with the same minor roll of the eyes and sharp blink. “Less than a month;” “A few weeks;” “Who knows;” or my favourite response – all the above.
Architraves are adding a more decorative appearance to the doors. Some doors are even in now; they are very glossy and I love them. No door handles. In fact, once the children looked themselves in the ensuite. There was no doorknob and they pulled the door too far and it got stuck! Thanks to my brute strength (perhaps only available when my creations are in danger) they were freed.
The bath is being installed, with a frame having been made for it, and the wiring and plumbing for the spa part being pretty much complete. I cannot wait to soak in the spa. We do have a bath here, but it’s not as big and it doesn’t have jets all over it. Plus, we are using gas hot water at present, and in the house it will be solar hot water, boosted by the wood stove. Practically free hot water. Especially if we can catch and store enough water for our needs, which should be the case, although we will be getting another tank so we can also water the garden.
Monte and I have been limewashing a lot lately. Limewash is a watery mixture of water and lime. It’s quite sploshy. It washes of windows and floors easily. The limewash brushes are large and heavy. It is easy to paint the limewash on. It goes on quite transparent, and dries into a very white chalky colour quite quickly. It also looks quite thick, despite seemingly going onto the wall quite thinly. We have to spray the walls with water first, so the walls don’t suck all the water out of the limewash. Georgia is the chief pumper and sprayer. Monte and I paint the walls and we can get a lot done in a day. Already the west end of the house is limewashed. The living room/kitchen and bathroom need one more coat, and the three bedrooms at the other end need two more coats. It should take a couple of days to finish limewashing.
The indoor rendering is complete! Celebrations!
Filed under House | Comment (0)Four additions
It’s great having power at the house now. We can listen to music and plug in lights, not to mention all the power tools that can be powered up without the noisy generator hogging the airspace!
We are delighted with the return of our goats, Anna and Giddy, who have been holidaying at Craige and Kristina’s property across the hill for the past year. Georgia and Matthew were particularly excited when the girls came home last Thursday. The girls’ first jobs are to eat up the weeds behind the cabin and then eat the weeds/grass in the ‘vege garden’ and surrounding paddock. We are thinking about where and how to build the fences for this purpose. We have a solar-powered electric fence kit that will suit the goats just fine. It’s just a matter of working out where the fences will go, and which fences will be taken down as well.
Georgia and Matty excited to have the goats back home!
Anna and Giddy eating Willow back at home
In addition to our additions, we have two new rabbits: Fluffy and SuperBunny. We bought the children some bunnies in an effort to blur the grieving process since Lucy died. Georgia is much happier now, with Fluffy to look after. Fluffy is very white and very tame. SuperBunny, named by and belonging to Matthew, is grey and gorgeous. Two girls, they should live happily together without breeding (I have heard that some girl bunnies end up being boys – we’ll see!).
Fluffy and SuperBunny in their new home
Georgia and Fluffy
The house is progressing rapidly and we are feeling very excited – we’re aching to move in! It’s so close now – the hard part is waiting until everything is ready for this family to live happily in the house.
Tiling is almost completed now, which makes the house feel very complete. Architraves and skirtings are going to be done soon. The spa bath is being plumbed in today, and tomorrow the wood stove will be fitted in, ie it will be plumbed in and the flue will be fitted. Exciting! We need to organise our hot water system. We also need to (smartly) organise our wardrobe fit-outs. We think we will go with Rubbermaid or Hills systems rather than build our own made of melamine. We are still waiting on the kitchen and we are also discussing our appliances requirements – this time we’re discussing not having an electric oven, cooktop and range. We are debating whether we can get by with just using the wood stove 75% of the time, and then using a microwave, portable induction cooktop, slow cooker and toaster oven instead. We need to make the decision, as it will have an impact on the cupboards we need in the kitchen.
My mother came to stay last week and we had a lovely time. We went to the Moscow Circus and it was marvellous. Most of the acts were either hilarious or scarily thrilling – or both. I am really glad we took the children. They were in awe; watching each performer attentively. The lights, music, colour, costumes and choreography were excellent. My favourite act was the trapeze because the performer was obviously having so much fun! I think the ponies were Georgia’s favourite and the 4 motorbikes riding in the dome was Matthew’s favourite. Monte’s favourite was the contortionist because she was so strong and flexible, climbing up the silk curtains.
outside the circus!
Georgia with the ringmaster at the Circus
Matthew has returned to childcare for the year and he is very excited about it. He has been asking to go to childcare for weeks, so he can play with his friends! Things are happy in this household. The fact that there are still 2 weeks of summer holidays is especially good!
Matty's return to childcare. Exciting!
R.I.P Lucy
Georgia and Lucy win pet parade at Middleton, Feb 2008
Lucy helps measure house site, Nov 2008
Unfortunately I am reporting that our little Lucy has passed away, at the young age of two.
Lucy loved chasing cars and we always knew she’d go that way, but that does not soften the blow of her passing. Listening to my daughter cry all night was heartbreaking. Our lovely 10-year-old kelpie, d’Artagnan, is also upset, and she whined and paced about yesterday morning when Lucy died.
One of the things I loved about Lucy was that she was the friendliest dog I’d ever known. She would stay close by our sides and the way she jumped about and got excited when we returned home made coming home to our little cabin a bit more pleasant each day. She would always be near me and she was eager to please. I liked her sweet little face, the way she looked up, wagging her tail, eager to get a pat. She would cuddle in, if allowed, like a little cat. She just wanted to be part of the family.
Telling your six-year-old that pets don’t live for ever, that you need to remember the fun times, does not make it easier for her. Georgia is very upset; it is the first time she has had to deal with loss (other than chickens, of course). Pets are a great part of our family. We might get Georgia a rabbit to look after. In the meantime, the return of our goats, Anna and Giddy, is keeping her fairly occupied.
“We love Lucy so much,” says a sad Georgia.
Filed under Animals | Comment (0)Power among other treasures…
Indeedy-do – we now have power at the house. Just before Christmas, we had power connected at the cabin. Mick, the electrician, is also a farmer, so was busy cutting hay and butchering cattle, until he came over today and connected the house to the mains! Yay! Monte was listening to the radio whilst doing some work on the windows. No noisy generator to be heard. It was wonderful.’
Most people would take that (power, radio etc) for granted. We will *never* take that for granted. Not for quite a while, anyway!
Probably the most exciting event this week was finishing the rendering inside the house! All the rooms are now rendered inside. There are three coats of limewash to do on the rendered walls now. The limewash hardens the walls even more and becomes very white. The paint that we chose goes quite well with the limewash.
More tiling is happening on the house. We are very excited because each room is looking more and more beautiful as it is completed. We feel very lucky, but it all comes at the cost of the sacrifices we have made over the last two years. It has been a very hard slog, going without power, space and nice surrounds. The hardest part for me was going without a washing machine. It is very luxurious now having a fridge. Luckily for us, the children have managed very well, but now Georgia is talking more and more about wanting more space of her own. An eye-opener of sorts; there are many people in the world doing it a lot tougher than we did. Our friend Philz was telling us that an apartment the same size as our little cabin (6×6m) would be a luxurious, expensive home in Japan. Perspective…
Unfortunately, perhaps, we will not be moving into the house before the beginning of the school term. We have decided to wait until the house is complete – just a matter of weeks. This is instead of moving into a select number of rooms and then finishing the others off when we are in the house. We have, however, decided to move furniture into each room as it is completed. That way the move will not be a huge effort – rather a smaller effort over more time. Equally exhausting, no doubt, but progress nonetheless.
We have found somebody to install the flue for the Esse stove, which will bring us closer to the official completion of the build. We need to organise, and perhaps engineer, retaining walls for the same reason. We are *still* waiting on the bath and the kitchen. This week we will choose the architraves and skirtings, probably a ‘lamb’s tongue’ kind of molding. Everything is going very smoothly.
I’ve been accepted into uni again, for a sponsored place in a Grad Cert in Education, which would lead into Masters. I am seriously considering it for this year. My inlaws are my greatest encouragers in this regard, motivating me to write a book and do a PhD. Of course, having a desk and a study in our new house will mean I won’t have any more excuses!
Filed under Family, Farm, House, Uncategorized | Comment (0)The stove!
PJ and Monte moving the stove
Monte discovers his new toy
The exciting new development in our build is finally moving our new stove into the kitchen! Our neighbour, Simon, drove the stove up to our house with his tractor. Our friends, PJ and Miranda came over after than, with their heavy-duty dolly, and they moved the stove into position. Weighing 350kg, it was a big effort, but Miranda and PJ’s dolly worked a treat. Thanks, guys!
It’s a beaut stove, all glossy and beautiful, with its own cast iron baking dishes (woohoo!). I am really looking forward to using the beast, but we need to find a certified installer for compliance and insurance purposes. The stove is also a necessity for our solar hot water system. It will be a backup, which I suppose will be important during winter. Once the stove is in we can get the tiling finished in that area. The pressure is on! Exciting as it is!
Matthew and Granma having cuddles on the verandah
At present we have Monte’s parents visiting. It is wonderful having them here. Yesterday Maxine, Monte’s mum, and I drew sketches to plan the furniture layout in the house. It was great fun and I got very excited! Monte and Gordon worked on some limewashing. Today I was able to work at the house all day whilst the children played with Granma! I loved being at the house. Monte and I worked on the rendering of Matthew’s bedroom (only one more room to render, and that will happen tomorrow! With Gordon working on the house as well, there were five of us and lots got done: tiling and rendering being the biggest jobs on the agenda. It’s all happening!
Matthew and Georgia painting the WIR
It’s a family effort, with everybody, including the children, helping out. Painting walls with the children was particularly fun, although messy. We used a 3-in-1 for the first coat: sealer, primer and undercoat. Lots of tiling is being done as well, and we are very grateful for the work of Derek and Sean. With Monte running a business, it is helpful to release some of the pressure of getting the house done.
Tiling in the kitchen
The small box in the wall next to the kitchen window is the “truth window” and I am very excited about lifting the plastic coating to reveal a window that shows the straw in the wall!
Tiling in the living area
Tiling and whitewash in the main bedroom
Monte has been whitewashing the rendered walls. The mixture consists of lime and water, and it is applied to the walls with a limewash brush. The walls don’t take too long – similar to common painting – which is a relief because each rendered wall needs about three coats. The whitewash whitens very quickly and I like the chalky look. We have opted not to use a coloured oxide in the mix this time; perhaps in a few years, when the walls need to be done again, we will put a colour in the wall. For now, we have opted for a specific colour scheme (black, white, wood). The whitewash has its own texture, so with the rendered walls and the round window surrounds, the whitewash adds to the rich texture. Beautiful!
Georgia and Matthew
Beautiful Georgia
Monte and kids at Botanic Gardens
Blowing bubbles on NYE
"I think it's a lizard" - Monte with a blue tongue on New Years Day
Well, I think 2010 promises to be one of our most exciting years yet! Woohoo!
Filed under Cooking, Family, Friends, House, Uncategorized | Comment (0)Tiles
Yes, that’s right. Painting is almost complete and now the tiles are being laid! Things are moving very quickly. Sometimes Monte and I get a bit anxious that soon we will be moving into the house! Can it really be happening?
Sean tiling in the living area (yay)
In just 2-3 hours, over 12 square metres of tiles were laid. I think the tiling will happen soon. We’re using charcoal tiles and we’re laying them on the diagonal.
I am really happy, mostly because of the progress on the house, and because we can now run a fridge and a washing machine. Life is so much easier (and normal). Who would’ve thought?
We need to finalise the purchase of appliances. We’re currently debating whether it is worth spending an extra $1000 to get 5-star appliances. We could buy a 5-star fridge, which would be over $1000 more than the 4-star fridge – and then only be $300 cheaper to run over 10 years. I suppose more factors (eg environment) need to be considered. If we didn’t limit ourselves to 5-star energy/water ratings, we’d save thousands. But what would be the greater impact?
We only have 2 days of rendering left: Matty’s bedroom and the main bathroom. Monte is waiting for cooler weather to do that. Currently we are enjoying warm temperatures of mid-high 20s. The guestroom needs to be rendered too, but that is presently a store room, and we do not think we need to hurry to finish the guest room. We are going to have parents visiting this month, but I don’t know of any other visitors until May, so we have plenty of time. The outside rendering will be finished in Autumn, when the weather is cooler. It is not good for the lime render to be exposed to too cold or too hot temperatures. Hot days will make it dry too quickly and then crack (however, cracks can be scrubbed over with a damp scourer – hey presto!). Cold days can cause ice crystals in the render, which would jeopardise the render’s integrity.
We’re looking forward to getting the power connected at the house. Our contractor is also a farmer, and, being hay season, he is very busy. Often working 30-hour shifts, he finds finding the time difficult. However, it should not be too long until we are connected to the mains. Derek is looking forward to having power; working in the pantry, in particular, is tricky because it’s so dark!
Life is good.
Filed under Family, House, Uncategorized | Comment (0)Great news!
We’re very excited at present, as much is happening at our house! The ceilings are in! We are rendering the walls and they are looking splendid, with rounded curves around the windows. We render the final coat by hand, painstakingly smoothing over the surface to create a beautiful texture. We also have electricity now, and I am very much enjoying using a fridge and a washing machine! It makes such a difference; life is much easier! We have now got a toaster, and Georgia particularly loves being on toast patrol! We find it a bit strange using an electric kettle, and sometimes we use our gas stove to boil a kettle of water for the morning cuppa. Probably the most exciting thing for me, however, was being able to put lights on the christmas tree. Possibly not a big deal for some, but for me, the lights glowing on the tree of an evening is an essential Christmas ingredient.
Plumbing is happening. The pipes for the wood stove have been installed and we are looking forward to manouvring the big item into the kitchen! How it will be done, we are yet to decide… More plumbing means that we have a toilet in the house now.
Soon the plastering will be complete. I am looking forward to painting! The tiles are sitting, waiting to be laid. The kitchen and laundry is on order; it will be exciting to put that in.
When do we move in? Well, the answer varies. We’ll be moving in before the beginning of the school year, which coincides with our 11th wedding anniversary. Sometimes we think it will be best to move in only when everything is complete, but most of the time we think we will complete half the house and live in that whilst we complete the rest at a more leisurely pace.
Ensuite window
The main bedroom window
The children singing at church on Christmas eve
Matty is a king, Georgia is Mary on Christmas Eve
The Children on Christmas day
We had a lovely Christmas day here in Geeveston. We spent our first night in the new house. I was awake a lot of the night, as I listened to the creaks and other new sounds that the house makes. It was great to wake up in the house. It will be wonderful to live there; the space is beautiful and the children run about happily – it’s great having lots of space!
Father Christmas visited us during the night and the children were excited to receive the gifts they had asked for. We had delicious food for the day, and too many presents. We had just the right amount of wine though, and we were very delighted to pack things up and return to the cabin for an afternoon flop at 4pm.
Would we have Christmas at home again? Yes, definately. It was great doing our own thing! Although we missed the family and friends we left behind in Adelaide, spending time as a family was brilliant. We gave the children a totem tennis kit, and playing that, as well as singstar and various DS games, made the day entertaining (particularly entertaining when mummy played totem tennis with daddy, who thought it a great idea to aim for mummy’s head when he hit the ball…).
A wonderful Christmas, and we’re looking forward to an excellent new year (to be honest, I can’t wait for 2009 to be over!).
Happy new year!
Our view on Christmas morning... reminding us why we live where we do!
My strawberry blonde in the strawberry patch