A work in progress

Wayne's been working flat out on the stable for the last few days. I think I'll take you for a small stroll through the history of the stable thus far.

This is what it looked like when we first saw the farm. It was an old shed, housing a tractor and many bits and pieces of rusty engine parts, broken plowing implements, trucks, boat bits, drums of oil and a truck parked next to it. The roof was being held in place by spit and a collection of old tractor wheel hubs and besser blocks.

Before we moved in the previous owner took away everything he wanted to keep. Most of the truck parts, boats and tractors went. All that was left was a falling down shed and a whole lot of rubbish. Really. A ton of rubbish that we are still coming to terms with.

So Wayne started looking at it, considering how to go about converting it into a stable for 2 horses. We only had Wally at the time but were planning to get a horse for me. He found that the roof needed replacing entirely, that the low ceiling on one end of the shed was too low for horses, and that one post wasn't holding up the wall let alone the roof. It wasn't even in the ground.

 

Slowly, over the next few months, Wayne started to rip the old shed apart. He dug holes and put in posts to hold up a new roof for the 'extension'... only to find the irrigation pipes. Twice. Seems like every single hole that Wayne dug for a few weeks had a pipe going through it. I think we spent more on mending pipes than on anything else during that period.

One weekend our friend Chris came up and together the guys put the first half of the roof on. By then we'd already had Ben join our family so the two bays were perfect for the two boys. Of course, now we also have Dancer which means that the work is far from finished. We need another bay, so Wayne is considering a 'lean-to' bay added to the side of the current structure.

I suggest he builds another, similar structure at a right angle to the one we have now - another 2 bays.... Cause you never know when you may need another stable... :)

 

 

 

 z

Before and after

This is the before photo of the vegie patch. Not before-before. When it was 4 beds of weeds. About halfway through the weeding process, 2.5 beds done, 1.5 to go.

This is the vegie patch a couple of weeks ago, overgrown with growing things that we actually planted on purpose. Well, minus a few that were either eaten by bugs or threw the towel in on their own. The corn is currently almost as tall as I am and the runner beans have grown up the trellis and are sporting red flowers. Who knew.

 

I've just been feeling so lazy lately... I have a ton of things I need to or want to get done over the holidays, but I just can't motivate myself to do anything at all. Maybe I just need a rest for a few days, then I'll get back into it.

...That's what I'm telling myself.

Wayne's daughter Caitlin is visiting us and its nice to get to know her. So far Wayne's taught her how to drive the 4x4 up on the hill, we plan to put her on Ben for his first time being ridden and I think he's planning to get her to chop down a tree after that, then stock us up with firewood for winter.

Ok. Only joking. Caitlin can't ride, and though we'd love to get someone onto Ben who's lighter than us (Wayne suggested I buy a clydesdale!) I don't think it'd be fair to use Caitlin as a guinea pig. As for the chainsaw, I don't think anyone can prize that baby out of Wayne's hands...

I'm actually really looking forward to getting back to working with the horses today. It's been weeks. And I have a new saddle to play with. We bought a hybrid - that's a confused saddle, not quite Australian stock, not quite western. Its a Wintec so its as light as a feather (compared to Wayne's western). I'm hoping Ben will like it. I believe my butt will like it fine.

I really can't wait to start riding Ben. And Wally sure needs the exercise. All the horses are round as a whole number thanks to the shortage of grass around here. A visitor thought Wally was pregnant! Besides the grass and the hard feed they all get (cut down to one meal a day now), Wally scoffs the best bits out of his feed bin, then runs up and eats the chook feed too. Its a miracle he isn't laying eggs with the amount of layer pellets he's eating!

We could use the eggs.

So, they could use the exercise. As could we... Seems like lately we mark time between one meal and the next. Right now I have scones in the oven... with strawberry jam and that double thick cream you can stand a knife up in. YUM.

And tonight is pizza and movie night. I'm making pizza and we got dvds in New Norfolk. Wayne got 3 movies about centurions, romans, swords and heads being chopped off. I got Red Dog and Water for Elephants. You know which I'll be angling to watch tonight.

Let's hope the scone are edible. First time I ever made scones they were hard as rocks. This time I'm making them using a Country Women's packet. Just add water it said. Easy as pie. We'll see.

Better go check the oven.

z

Boots and all

Its been a busy few days. Firstly there was the crazy build-up to Christmas, then somehow instead of collapsing in a heap, we found ourselves doing MORE.

Christmas was fantastic. We had 3 friends come up from Cygnet to stay, and another two good friends who came up for the day with their gorgeous dog, Harvey. Montana and Harvey have the kind of relationship where there's nothing they wouldn't do for each other - so they spend their time together doing nothing for each other.

First time they met was at a park near my house in Fentonbury. I thought it was wiser to introduce them on neutral turf given he was visiting us for the first time. They met, sniffed and basically ignored eachother in perfect harmony. Then we all drove to my place and soon as we arrived Montana turned into Ms Protector. She rushed up to Harvey as he bounced out of his car. Harvey turned on her and gave her as good as he got. Montana turned around and jumped back into our car and stayed there till 'that nasty Harvey character' had gone home. Ever since then, every time Harvey comes over I just open the back of the car and Montana spends his visit in there.

That's where Montana spent Christmas day.

She kept an eye on things from afar, making sure 'that Harvey' didn't get up to anything.

Romeo on the other hand kept a closer eye on Harvey. He never let him out of his sight. When the rain started and we went inside Romeo was there, watching, while Montana stayed in the car in the carport.

At one stage Romeo just couldn't contain himself any longer. He snuck up behind Harvey and tried to nip him on the butt. Harvey (who is wise to Romeo's butt-nipping tactics) whirled around like a flash causing Romeo to virtually spring over the coffee table backwards, narrowly missing the coffee cups.

Yes, I did mention rain. Rain is too mild a word for the downpour. Firstly, let me mention that I've been in Tasmania for 8 Christmases now. And not a single one of them has been good weather. Once it even snowed. And before you ask, yes, its summer here. 

This Christmas was almost an exception. The day was hot and still. I'd put up the gazebo but made the executive decision to eat inside cause it was actually cooler in there with fans on. Lucky too. I was outside picking fresh raspberries for dessert when the wind picked up and the rain started. I tried to brazen it out a while, but the raindrops started coming down hard and I had to make a run for it. I got everyone galvanised to help take down the gazebo cover before it became airborne, take in the chairs, rescue one umbrella as it sailed off down the road. 

We sat inside and watched the rain come down in sheets and turn to hail. Then we watched in horror as the footpath turned into a mini tsunami that washed down the steps and into the casita, through the laundry and the workshop area, then down a crack in the floor, at which point it disappeared from sight. (I sure am glad Wayne isn't a great carpenter and that he left a small gap between the old floor and the new!)

Wayne and I both waded out to make sure tools and other stuff was safe from the path of the water. It was coming in through the walls in some places.

In all the excitement we forgot that all the windows in the house were opened (it HAD been hot!). All the bedrooms are on the back side of the house - and the rain was coming down from that direction... straight into the bedrooms, soaking the single bed in the tiny room, the carpet in the main bedroom and guest room, and the office desk. ugh.

Anyway, no real harm done. Things have dried, things have been washed, and all seems ok.

So Christmas was exciting.

When everyone had gone the next day and 575 dishes washed, Wayne and I looked at the garden. The new deck will be going up soon and a couple of shrubs needed to be moved. A salvia and a hebe, both flowering gorgeously till we attacked them.

See, they were right in the path of the new deck. They had to go. So, going by what I'd been told, I cut  them right back and Wayne dug them up. I figured they were going to die anyway, we could at least try to transplant them... nothing to lose right?

Well, turns out the salvia wasn't too hard to get out, though it came out in 2 pieces. I potted one up for a friend and planted the other. The hebe though wasn't going to go peacefully.

Wayne dug and prodded and heaved with the crow bar. Nothing doing. So he got out a chain, wrapped one end around the bush and hooked the other end to the towbar on the ute. I watched as he accelerated slowly, carefully... and obliterated the bush, breaking it off at the base.

So much for transplanting the hebe!

I took cuttings from both bushes. Maybe I'll get lucky and a couple of them will take.

We never claimed to be great gardeners. In fact we have a vegie patch which is growing in leaps and bounds and we have no idea what to do with the stuff in it! We don't know when things are ready to pick or how to cook some of the stuff in there (the packet said 'asian greens' and it seemed like a good idea at the time! Now I have a patch of overgrown asian greens I have no idea what to do with!).

I put in about 15 silverbeet plants. Not my fault. That's how many the punnet had in it! Wayne watched me plant them all. Then our neighbour gave us another 3 plants. When they were ready to pick Wayne told me he hates silverbeet. What on earth am I going to do with half an acre of silverbeet? sigh.

Luckily for me 1/3 of the stuff I put in died, or we'd be totally sunk. I think I may have to be more sensible next year. Put in less of some plants. Like the lettuce for instance. You can't cook or freeze lettuce. What on earth am I to do with 613 lettuces? 

I need rabbits...

So. Once we'd pulled out the bushes, we had to put them in somewhere right? We'd prepared an area above the driveway, a bit of a slope. I'd bought some topsoil in anticipation of putting in a garden bed in that area. My idea was to create 'steppes' out of some cement blocks we inherited with the property. 

This is what the area looked like originally - the tarps were my way of passively killing the weeds. It didn't work, they were still alive, but they did have a bit of a headache.

Wayne dug holes, we shovelled dirt, mixed in some horse poop and finally we were able to put the plants in. I put in 2 different daisies, a lavender, some seeds and a plant called Cherry Pie... Fingers crossed they grow. The dirt in that area is poor and I'm not sure we had enough topsoil. My theory is that if I feed them regularly they'll be ok. If I'm wrong I'll know soon enough.

It was hot too, though overcast. Wayne worked topless, and though he was all for me immitating him, I opted for the midriff look - tucking my T-shirt up into my bra at the sleeves and above my waist. We're both sunburned. Wayne is lobster red all over his back. Me, I look like a belted galloway in negative.

What's a belted galloway?

Meanwhile, Wayne saw his first snake the other day. He was walking through the bottom paddock, which looks like this:

He's let the horses into the bottom paddock now so he had to set up water for them. While out there Barney apparently warned him about the snake he was about to step on. Damn lucky too, cause all he had on his was a hanky to beat it to death with.

So, life has been exciting here at Wind Dancer.

z

What goes around

They say that if you do good things, good things will happen to you. I've always been amazed by how this works... All my life I've had good things happen to me in the most unexpected ways. Then again, I do good things for others too.

Its never a quid pro quo arrangement. I don't do something good for someone who's done something good for me. For instance, I give things away to people who need them, I rarely sell things I no longer need. Then, when I need something, someone else will give me something to help me out.

Its really quite cool how that works.

Many years ago, I lived in Melbourne and used to dance rock'n'roll about 4-5 times a week, going to pubs to follow bands. One of the most popular places to go on a Sunday afternoon to watch a band and dance had changed hands and was no longer doing rockabilly on Sundays. I missed it. So, when I bumped into an old classmate from art school who he told me his family had bought the pub, I instantly asked him to consider bringing back rockabilly. I gave him the phone numbers of the bands I knew, I recommended good bands which would draw a crowd and gave him advice on how to run it.

A few weeks later, rockabilly was back on the menu on Sunday afternoons.

It never occured to me to ask for anything in return. I gave my advice cause I wanted somewhere to dance again on a Sunday (selfish!), but also to help out a friend who said that their Sundays were quiet. He was happy, I was happy. I went there every Sunday and paid a cover charge just like everyone else. Until another friend of mine pointed out to the owner that he owed the Sunday success to me. From that point on I got in for free (a saving of $5), but I already had what I wanted. I felt good.

I asked a friend of mine at the time if she could give me the phone number of another band she knew well, so I could pass that on and they could be booked to play on the occasional Sunday. She wanted to know what was in it for her. Getting the band a gig and having somewhere to go to enjoy their music wasn't enough for her. She wanted a spotters fee.

I never understood that mentality. When you do something for someone, you do it cause you want to, otherwise don't do it at all. A friend will help you paint a room or move house cause that's what friends do. Sure, I've offered to pay friends to do jobs for me, but in most cases its cause I wanted more help than they were able to give me on their own terms. When I was getting my house in Melbourne ready to sell, a good friend helped me repaint it. We didn't get enough done on the weekend so I paid her to stay a couple of extra days. She was a student and needed the earnings from her job to make ends meet. I couldn't ask her to miss work for nothing in return.

When I broke my ankle a few years ago and was laid up in my house, in a new state and knew only one neighbour, I got the most unexpected gift. Someone I'd only ever heard of from a discussion group called the local store and sent them some money for my groceries. I'm amazed that someone would do that for a stranger.

People can be so surprising. Especially when you don't expect it.

On the other hand, I'm also a great believer in asking. I figure there's no point in being shy or afraid to ask. The worst that can happen is you get a no. My ego can take that.

Yesterday when I went to pick up the work van I noticed a trailer load of rough timber boxes on the back of a trailer behind the business next door to work. There was a man working in the garden. I asked if the boxes were going to be thrown out, and if so, could I have them. He asked if I wanted them as planter boxes cause that's what he'd thought of using them for, offered me some of them, then said I may as well take them all (9) and save him carting them around. I now have a stack of boxes in my drive waiting for a new home and plants!

Wayne was like 'What's that? More stuff!' and this morning he was 'I like those boxes, I may steal some...'

But the best was a phone call I received yesterday afternoon. On Sunday, when I picked up Merrill to take her to the airport, she pointed out a stack of underlay and carpet in the neighbour's carport. The house has recently sold and they're obviously rennovating and the old carpet is in the carport, most likely to go to the tip. She suggested I take it for the casita. I said I couldn't go into someone's yard without permission to take something which may or may not be destined for the tip. Different if its on the nature strip. Then its first come best dressed. For all I knew the guy had another use for it. So I went in and left a note on the stuff.

Yesterday afternoon I got a call from a man who was so thrilled that I left a note. He said he thought it was nice of me and cool to find the note, and that I'm welcome to take as much of it as I want. He was planning to take it to the tip on Saturday. He also asked me to stop by and introduce myself if he's there next time I see someone in the house.

I made his day and that makes me feel nice. Plus I get new (old) carpet and underlay for the studio area of the casita and the grooming room! :) Win win.

Well, the pre Christmas stuff won't get done by me sitting here writing blogs. Better get off my butt and get started.

z