Out with the old!

Hi, as i mentioned in previous post i would show some pics of the kitchen makeover. This is how it used to look.....nice country kitchen?...no!  These cabinets been in for at least 70 odd years! One was signed on the back..A.Clark 1944!  They were not in the best condition, so, time to update! I purchased a flat pack kitchen from the local hardware store...would have built my own if i had the right equipment. Anyway...out it came.

The new cabinets had to be assembled, this was a breeze, soon it was beginning to take shape.Installing was also a breeze, just being sure everything was level. A Real problem with the old kitchen was the sink location....wrong sink, for the wrong cupboard and jammed away in the the corner...not very user friendly! So i repositioned the sink to a more central location...bought some flexible pipe extentions and moved the waste pipe. Also in this upgrade was the replacement of the gas stove with an electric under bench oven with gas cooktop and also a slide out rangehood .time to get the plumber! The stove was disconnected and removed so i could install remaining cabinets. Once the plumber reconnected the gas, and oven was installed it was time for the tiling.Cement sheets were attached to the wall, and i set about cutting and fitting tiles. Had a few tricky power points, but with a hand cutter that fits into a hacksaw, everything went to plan. Once tiles were up they were grouted and silicon used on the expansion gaps (corners etc)  To finish off i used aluminium angle in the corners and under the overhead cabinets, just for something a little different. Handles were used from the old kitchen and gave the modern a little country feel. Happy days :)

Going up the Country....

Hi all, well its time for a whole bunch of new projects as we have sold our house and made the big move to the bush. Although we bought an older style house, it has had a lot of work done already. Got a heap more land space, so its going to be a great challenge. So far i have installed a water tank and replaced the kitchen (photos will be up soon) Really looking forward to creating another fish pond and fernery, but this one will be bigger and better! when i start i will post stage by stage photos. This time i will be using a pond liner rather than a pre formed pond....got all the gear...just a matter of starting on it now..happy days :)

How does your garden grow

Hi, just thought i would share some new pics of my garden.....really coming together now.Below the front yard, which is coming along

Backyard and fishpond

Hello all, thought i would let you know what i have been up to. The garden going well, especially the ferns which look fantastic. Since i last posted, i have put laser lite on the pergola roof, set up the guttering and downpipe (PVC) so when its rains the water from the pergola roof is sent to the pond. This is working very well, the pond gets a good flush out with natural rainwater, the pond cannot overflow as i have an outlet which when reached flows excess water to the stormwater pipe. The water tank is all hooked up and plumbed ready for use on the garden and to top up the pond in the warm months ahead. To my surprise the fish have spawned twice recently, a good indication they are pretty happy.I must say it is now the one thing i look forward to most after a day at work, just to sit out on the pergola amongst nature and relax...till next time, stay happy :) P.S. I composed, performed and recorded the music on this clip with my MR8 recording studio :)

The Final Frontier!

Hello, now that the tank is in and hooked up, time to do something about the front yard. Although only small, i wanted lots of curves in my garden beds. Firstly i needed a good solid border, i decided on treated pine sleepers. Just dig a trench, levelling all the way,back fill, then joining with gang nails ( lucky the ground was nice and soft) :)  Next i wanted something i could shape into curves for the internal garden edging, after a lot of searching, i found what i wanted at the local hardware store. Galanised steel edging with a  ripple effect was perfect for what i had in mind. Installation was easy, dig a trench , level with a rubber mallet, then backfill, no pegs needed!  They came in 6 metre lengths, and about 150 mm high, the top and bottom edges  are folded so nothing sharp to catch on. Joining was easy, overlap by about 100mm, then a few pop rivets to hold together.     Off to the local nursery for some plants!  To top off the beds i wanted woodchips, a red colour was chosen, i have these in the rear garden as well, and they do a great job and look good too. I mulched a depth of roughly 75mm. No weed mats or plastic was placed down before mulching, i just dont like it, and the mulch can break down naturally and do all that organic stuff to the soil! I dont mind weeding anyway :)     Will post more when i get some pics of the completed project..till then...stay happy :)          

Tanks a lot

Hi everyone, well finally got my water tank, a 2030 litre, colour matches my house trim, also an ALKO water pump for around $1000 AU...(all up)   Can't wait to get it hooked up and start storing some H20 for summer. Primary use of this tank will be to keep the fish pond topped up during the hot summer months, and also to give the garden a water too....Preparation of the install site was done a little differently than the norm...firstly i excavated the depth to about 250mm...layed a 100mm thick  layer of crushed rock and compacted well, then carefully levelled the area for the bricks i used to bring it to ground level...i  have a heap of these bricks to use up, so i thought why not?  Time will tell if it was a bad decision or not, but i think it will be ok...will put up further posts when i get to the fun bit...playing with pipes, cheers

Weather

Hi, been awhile since i have posted anything, but cant do much if the winter weather isnt kind...so, here i was thinking about the weather and decided to get a wireless weather station so i can get an idea what would be in store.I purchased one on ebay for around $115 AU and when it arrived, eagerly set about installing it. A few things i had to consider before installation, some height was needed, it only comes with a 700mm pole so it was either on the pagola roof or another pole in the ground. But i decided to incorporate it into my existing wishing well, the height was ok, plenty of open space for the rain gauge, the only problem was the temperature gauge which is recommended to be shielded or in shade for correct temp reading. Well i had the shade under the roof of the well, so thats where i fitted the temp and air pressure gauge.The information unit which is inside the house, displays all the information needed for any would be weather buff. It really is an amazing little set up...wind speed, wind direction, rainfall, air pressure, inside temp, outside temp, inside and outside humidity, weather tendency feature looks ahead on all gathered info and displays the weather tendency for the next 24 hours or so. The unit is also capable for computer connection to store and compare weather stats collected and also has the time and date! 4 AA batteries ( 2 in outside unit  2 inside) run the wireless side of things....no worries about running wires everywhere, just a few simple connections on the outdoor unit on setup and thats it. The inside unit is touch screen for easy setup, of which most are already set.