Recycled Greenhouse

I was reminded last week of how long it has been since I posted here. I must admit I have missed sharing our adventure. There is always so many things to do that sometimes things fall by the wayside.

So today I would like to share our recycled green house.

Some may know that most of our greenhouse didn’t get delivered after the truck business, however all the plastic panels have been put to good use.

Building the Chook House

AKA - The Big House

The first week in October 2016 we started building the chook shed. 

Anyone who has milled their own timber knows it takes a lot longer than just going to the timber yard and coming home will all you need for your job.

Washing Part #2

When i was a little girl we lived on our grandparents farm and ever since then, i have wanted a post and rail clothes line.

Its funny the things you remember from your childhood 

5 years old and helping mum and nanna hang out the clothes, handing them the pegs and watching as the pole went up and lifted the line.  

Dresses, jeans, shirts and sheets flapping merrily in the wind.

All my adult life i have enjoyed doing the washing, seeing a line full of clothes drying in the fresh air and flapping in the breeze brings a sense of accomplishment, pride in a job well done.

So at the age of 45 i can finally look out at the washing flapping in the breeze on my own post and rail clothes line. This makes me very happy.

Out Door Loo

Dunny, Thunder Box, Shitter, Crapper, Bog, Out House, Shit house what ever you like to call it, it all means the same.
From using a bucket in the paddock to something with 3 and a bit walls, its the ultimate luxury in the Aussie Bush.

Solar set up part #2

So the time had come it was the new year and time to get the free sun power hooked up.
Oh not to have to make the decision, food or drinks.... you know, one or the other when you only have a small camp fridge and the weather is in the high 30's. Eat something out of the fridge so we can put in some water. Oh how we miss cold drinks.......

Well it all seems to good to be true, unpacked all the solar gear, go through the stuff, look on line and go through all the stuff again and well you guessed it half the order was missing, who are these people who pack orders for shipping, it's ridiculous. Now Andrew's calling the company and trying to work out what's missing as there is no sheet listing what items were sent there isn't even a guide as to how it all goes together. Well there is quite a lot missing and you guessed it too big of a package to go to the PO Box so another trip to Sydney when the missing items are sent.
Back home again and we think we are all set but no, still missing some of the battery connectors and still no instructions.
We feel like this is a bad joke.....

Solar Set up Part #1

We ordered our solar set up on line and it was a toss up between two companies, one was a bit cheaper and you had to wire the board yourself and the other came with a pre-wired board and was more expensive. 

We decided to go with the pre-wired and had 2 double power points added to the board.

4 x solar panels and 8 x Giant premium heavy duty sealed deep cycle batteries. 

Water Tanks

Rollin Rollin Rollin 

We had 2 x 5000 litre water tanks delivered from tank world, they were $750 each.

They sat in the paddock for a couple of months until we dug one of the pads, we are on a slight slope so needed a relative level spot for the tank.

It was a night mare the ground was so wet and muddy. 

We opted for putting them straight on the ground, we were going to add sand to the bottom but just didn't get around to it.

We did add an old carpet to the bottom, then just rolled the tank over to it, too easy.

All the plumbing was either already here or we had brought back from Sydney.

Now all the wonderful rain we have been getting is slowly fill up our tank.

When its full we will pump it up to the other tank further up the hill and that will in turn go to feed the Cook House.

At the moment we have been pumping the water up to the shower cube as we have not added the gutter to the shower house yet.

When i get some time i will be adding a stone wall at the top of the slop with some drainage pipe, i would hate to have our tank slide down the hill over winter when its so wet.

Happy Adventures Nicole, Andrew & Sally Girl

Linked here
Sundays Down Under # 21

New Shower

Good Bye Old Shower, Hello New Shower House........

This is what our Shower set up looked like a week ago.

We came home from trip to the beach and it was pouring rain and it had been hailing. The top of our shower was shredded, it wasn't just the hail these type of tents are not meant to be permanent structures. All the sun had made it very brittle and it had lots of vent holes in it. 

It had done its job for over nearly 8 months so we cant complain.

Wow 8 months the time has flown by....

Pulled it down and now it was time for something a little more weather proof.

These 4 posts Andrew put up a few weeks ago to use as loo walls and now they will be turned into the shower corner posts. First up the pallet was set level for the shower base to sit on.

We had purchased a few fittings for the shower the last time we were in Sydney.

There was a small stack of roofing iron up the back and they were dragged down to cover the roof and walls.

As always Sally Girl supervising all the work. 

At the end of day one and time to try it out.

This back opening will have a lift up shutter so you can close it when the weather gets cold again.

Someone has to test it out, as the back wall is a little low for shower photos of me, Andrew was the one to have first go.

The shower curtain is a tarp, its a bit of a pain in the ass.

Day 2 we went into town to pick up our new shower from the post office. 

The last shower had an accident with some frost and has now been retired. Above is the new gas hot water shower attached to the water cube Joshua got us.

Day 3 we decided to build a more stable floor for the shower base, thank goodness we have some timber already cut so it was just a matter of going down to get it.

This whole thing was built using the chain saw, socket set, bit and brace and hammer. 

Don't ya just love hand tools, it might take longer but i think it is more satisfying.

The foreman is always sunning her self.

The base was put on the joists and the timber flooring was cut and laid around it.

It turned out awesome i am so proud of Andrew he did an excellent job.

I always say we but Andrew does most of the work, im just the gopher and ideas man.

All water goes into this bucket and eventually it will be filtered through a sand and charcoal system but that's for another day.

This is a small trug bucket, it holds about 15 litres, it is filled after we both have a shower.

I think 15 litres is pretty good for 2 showers.

The gas bottle is sat on pieces of slate. The pump and battery will be put on a shelf around the front side out of the weather.

We moved the water cube to the back of the shower and next week we will add a piece of gutter to the roof and catch all the water to fill the cube.

The water drains well and the floor looks great.

Added a shower curtain and a basket to hold all the shampoos and soap.

This is not our permanent shower, we will be building a Wash House with windows and doors. This is just to tide us over till then.

I think when you live on a farm you end up with lots of buildings that are used for temporary solutions till you get to the ones you really want.

I am finding that i really like it here, but i can tell ya i really miss my kitchen and oven. I can't wait till i have a cook house.

Happy Adventures Nicole, Andrew & Sally Girl

Linked here

Sundays Down Under #18

From the Farm Hop

Simply Natural Saturdays

Simple Homestead Hop # 21

Front Porch Friday

Workshop part 2

Today i am posting from our local library in Bombala, free limited internet. It is only open 3 days a week and i usually miss the times as they are all random, its crazy.

 That's small town life for ya.

Here is what we were up to last week when the sun was shining unlike the last few days where we have had snow, sleet, fog, wind, a little sun and buckets of rain.

Part 2 of the workshop

This is another branch from the tree in the front paddock.

First Andrew has to cut off all of the side branches before he can cut the log from the trunk of the tree.

The above cut is the limb Andrew and Joshua milled last time.

This little guy was hanging out on the other side of the tree and stayed there all afternoon, i think his mum must have left him behind.

The final end cut before chain sawing the log from the tree. 

There are no pictures of us moving the log as it was just the two of us this time.

Before cutting the log from the tree we put smaller limbs under it so we could roll it with the log dogs to where we wanted it.

Having is sit on the limbs makes it easier and you can cut more from the log.

We had people popping in and out most of the day so the mill wasn't set up till the afternoon.

Andrew milled the top so we had a flat surface, then we covered it for the night and went back up to the cabin.

We started early the next morning and here are the first bearers for the work shop. 

There was a bit of rot at one end but these can easily be trimmed up when we use them.

Next came the joists and as you can see the log is getting pretty small.

This is all that is left, the last joist came away before Andrew could finish the cut.

The mill was packed up and all the timber stacked and all before lunch.

We got 9 Bearers, and 9 Joists plus numerous off cuts.

It may not look like a lot but its enough to build our shed.

And as you can see from above the stack of framing Andrew and Joshua cut last time.

After lunch we put in 4 more stumps these are put in at 1500mm apart from centre to centre.

Closer than normal because it will be full of tools.

We will be adding another 4 stumps as we are going to have a veranda on it.

As you can see from the picture the stumps are getting shorter at the front, it is following the slop.

By the time we do the last 4 stumps the ramp to it will be pretty low.

Happy Adventures Nicole, Andrew & Sally Girl


Linked here
From the Farm hop #26
Our simple Homestead hop #18
Sundays Down Under hop #16
a-little-r-r-wednesdays- hop #121

New Steps

On our last trip to Sydney we brought back a set of steps and today is the day they will be installed.

There was timber and a large rock step and we added the iron, but it was time to go as it is a good place for a snake to hang out and im not a fan of snakes as most of you know, and spring is here and so is the warn weather.

Away went the rock and the iron, with a few Red Backs on the underside.

Next the old timber was prised up.

All raked up and ready.

First Andrew add a piece of timber under the edge of the floor.

Using a Bit and Brace, drilled holes in the floor and screwed it together.

Added a second piece of timber in front. The timber is Yellow Box that Andrew milled.

Again drilled and using hex screws to attach.

Next drilled holes in the top to hold the stairs in place, sorry didn't take a picture of that bit.

Levelled the dirt and attached the stairs, added a couple of paver's at the bottom.

We may add some gravel as its a bit muddy.

Happy Adventures Nicole, Andrew & Sally Girl

Linked here

natasha in oz sunday linky