Wrecked!

Before...

Day One:  Deck gone, 

and concrete jack-hammered into a pile!

I can re-use the wood, but the concrete is a bit of a puzzle.

It is all odd thicknesses, and so not good for crazy paving.

An earlier inhabitant of the house dumped some in the creek to make a bit of a dam.  The creek is very shallow and wide as it goes past this property.  The depth, or lack there of, makes placing the foot valve for the creek pump difficult.  Some extra depth would be useful.  Mmmm! Effective, but not very asthetic.  

Any ideas?

By the way, any ideas you have that involve me smashing the concrete with a sledge hammer...well, just don't suggest it!

Purpose AND pleasure

A path serves a purpose - to get people from A to B.  Practicality, most often dictates a straight, or slightly curvy path.  This path in the front garden was one of the latter - a bit curvy and linking the drive with the other side of the house. It was narrow, tree-roots had moved the bricks, making them trip-hazards, and the weeds were colonising it.

Here it is after I convinced the Cook to take up the bricks.  You can see from this shot that it leads to the outdoor kitchen and soon to be outdoor living area.
I also wanted to screen this area from the drive.

I fantasized about a path that would invite you to explore.  

'Come on down here. Can you see what's at the end? 

Can you guess what is around the corner?' 

So last spring I began to dig...and that is about as far as I got!

Now I finally have a lovely new garden path, which curves gently around the weeping cherry to the seat you can just see (above), then curves back upon itself, before straightening again to lead to the outdoor living area.  

There will be a seat at the far end, where it turns to the left....
a reason to venture down the path in the first place.



It looks a bit silly because you can see both ends of it at the same time and the curve seems ridiculous and unnecessary.  But a bit of judicial planting will soon fix that.
The pic below is looking back the other way.
There will be a garden between the path and those pine logs.

  I am so pleased and excited by my new bit of landscaping and it has only taken me 14 months to get this far!

The new garden beds have created a circular space around the silver birch.  You can sort of see it in the last photo.   I am going to put a sneak path through the garden bed from the new path to the circle. I would like to remove the grass and plant something that can be walked on, occasionally, preferably with a nice smell. 

Any ideas? 

Do you think I could also plant daffodils and other bulbs in this circle to become naturalised as well?

Sprung - and a project

This is the third spring I have spent in this garden and the number and variety of blooms have blown me over each time.  It is such an embarrassment of floral opulence. If it was wallpaper, they would call it 'overblown'!

Heralding in the end of spring, the five crab apple trees down the drive, have had their 10 days of glory.  So much effort and for such a short period of time!

 

Monet would have gone ga-ga over the tones of pink and purple in this shrubbery.  It doesn't even belong to me but grows through and over the fence from next door.

On the other side of the house...the herb potager, with the outdoor kitchen in the background.  Both of these projects were more than worth the work put into them.  They continue to delight me.

The latest project is to create a link between the potager, outdoor kitchen and the house, in the form of an outdoor living area.

Behind that camellia to the left of the air-conditioner (which is being removed) is a chimney.  The chimney doesn't draw and the open fire-place is a waste.

 So...out with the chimney, and the wall, and in with another window and door set, similar to the one you can see.  Nothing fancy, but it will make a huge difference to our main living area, making it lighter and creating a view. I'm hoping it will create a natural flow between inside and out.  

A narrow deck along the house with an open pergola to carry a grape-vine, will give summer shade to the north facing windows, but let light in in the winter.  The area between the deck and the outdoor kitchen will be paved.  

Wait till you see the table and chairs we picked up for this area...very rustic.

So these are some of the 'before' pictures.  Stay tuned for the work to begin!

In the jungle, the mighty jungle...

Have you been reading this blog long enough 

to remember the birth of the herb potager?

It has been a year since the beginning of this project.

The herbs weathered the winter well 

and have gone so spring crazy, 

it is difficult to make out the structure!

Scarlet beans will be running up the arch soon.

What is that dog looking at?

Hope it isn't a Joe Blake, this close to the house.

 Arrrgh!  It is a giant, moth eaten, wild Araucana chick!

What are the best herbs for 

putting in stuffing for roast chicken?

Sage - check

Parsley -check

Chives - check

Thyme - check

Oregano - check

Mmmm!

"Whaddya mean? Roasted, self infused, herbed rooster?

I thought you'd gone vegetarian!"

Don't worry, little chickie, I couldn't put an axe to you!

Way, too cute!

Test Results

Well you all did very well in the Creativity Test.

I was very impressed with your ideas

and wish I had several old worm farms

so I could put some of them into practice.

However, this particular worm farm is now a cupboard.

...with a shelf.

I think it will do a handsome job of hiding the ugly
but necessary  items such as the detergent bottle and matches.

Also on the topic of cupboards.

Look what I found today!

A metal corner medicine cupboard.

It has a mirror on the front and the cutest little knob.

I am sure to be able to find a spot for it in the new kitchen.

I also found a sink which I can flush mount

under the bench to conceal as much

stainless steel as possible.

I may even make a lid for the hole so that it is hidden

when not in use.

I bought the sink at a second hand place. 

I wonder why he didn't charge me for this

wonderful rusty darling.

The Cook and I also went back to those old properties today

and collected some wood for trims for the outdoor kitchen.

Do you get the idea that

I am enjoying this project?

Don't forget that tomorrow is 

WINTER WEDNESDAY

Just write a post

about the joys of Winter

and then link with me.

Anyone can join in

even if you haven't before.

But do come and play...

there are only a couple

of Wednesdays left!

ODK - progress report

From this....

to this....

The outdoor kitchen 

is coming along!

Check out this 'cupboard' which is sporting

the old toilet door from the family home.

It stood guard over the dunny for sixty-three years

Now it is hiding something else.....

These same bent nails have held the snib in place

all that time, so I didn't feel the need to 'screw' it up now.

I couldn't resist trialling some 'interior design' ideas.

I will be 'ageing' these pine boards.

We especially chose this plank with the knot holes.

In fact we hit a couple of knots out.

The front part will be a pergola for grapes.

The wood fired pizza oven, which is on the drawing board, will go to the right of the kitchen and a little back...where those poles and the stack of bricks are. The whole area in front of the kitchen will be leveled off and graveled to accommodate the table and chairs.

My dear Great Nephew has moved on 

with his tools and fabulous reaching capacities (he is very tall) 

and the rest is up to us.  

Whadayareckon?

Scary

These.photo.may.not.look.that.scary.to.you.

In.fact.they.may.excite.you.

After.all....it.IS.more.material.for.the.project.

Three.metre.cyprus.pine.posts.

Twenty-two.bags.of.rapid.set.

Plus.not.photographed,some.scrounged.wood.

for.the.floor.of.the.goat.shed.

It.all.added.up.to.a.very.heavily.laden.trailer.....

that.started.to.sway.dangerously.from.side.to.side.

making.the.car.move.about.too.

But

that.wasn't.the.scariest.bit.

The.most.spine.chilling.part.

was.me.'hearing'.my.ex-husband's.

(like.30.years.ex)

voice

saying.'don't.brake,.accelerate.out.of.it'.

I.am.still.shaking!

I.solved.the.problem.by.moving.

more.of.the.load.to.the.front.of.the.trailer

and.over.the.axles.

On my mind - recycling

My regular readers will know,

 from these photos, 

what I was up to yesterday 

and what is exercising my grey matter today. 

 If you don't know then click here.

Thank you Rhonda for the this is on my mind concept creating our community of sharing what's on our minds. 

Mernda Saleyards

In search of more inspiration for the outdoor kitchen,

I stopped off at the Mernda Saleyards the other day.

These ceased trading as a 'proper' sale yard in 2005.

From that time till June 2009 it was still operating

as a small animal market each Monday.

Following complaints about animal cruelty 

there were inspections by the RSPCA.

New laws that required more paper work to prevent

and/or track livestock and disease made the market unviable.

The market attracted buyers from a wide range
of cultural backgrounds.

Many of the animals were bought for home butchering

and transported in the boots and back seats of cars.

It saleyards been trading for over 120 years.

You can tell I am coveting some of that timber, can't you?

Isn't the Internet wonderful?

I just found the minutes from a Council Meeting last year

that say the market has a heritage overlay.

 Parts of it will be preserved, with some of the later

parts demolished and used as a local market/farmer's market.

I did have my eye on those little doors, but I will

be a good girl and leave them where they are

for future generations to enjoy.

:-)