Changes!

The seasons are changing and on the record Spring is tomorrow but things have been changing for a while and yesterday I seen a frilled neck lizard on the track. Let me tell you I am not looking forward to the snake season. The fruit trees are budding and flowering and the bulbs that have been dormant are starting to appear.

This trench that Sarabie is inspecting is through my veggie patch and the cable is power for Dave in the shed. We had an electrician out the other day to connect the power to my new stove, which reminds me I haven't got a photo of it yet, how silly! Anyway he did a few other jobs while he was there like a power point and light above vanity in the bathroom, down lights for the kitchen and more power to the shed yay!

This is an ornamental plum near the back of our house and it is flowering beautifully. A couple of seasons ago we have a lot of fruit on it, they were the size of cherries and tasted yummy.

I have no idea what plant this is all I can say is it some kind of daisy!

The chooks have had a change in pens recently and have done a really good job in scratching and picking at the ground. Their old pen I am going to plant pumpkins, zucchinis and squashes. There was an old tree stump in that pen and Dave lit it and it burned for about 3 or 4 days and when I had a look at it the whole stump, roots and all was gone. Amazing! It would have been a few days work getting it out of the ground if it was green.

This is Sarabie and she does not like change. Here she has gone to the sanctuary of my bed because at the moment we are plastering and setting the walls in the kitchen and pulling up the old carpet and tiles. She doesn't like all the banging and loud noises, plus we have moved the lounges and other furniture out so the place looks like it has been turned upside down. poor thing, mind you the other two dogs and cat have crept in to keep her company :)

My daughter enjoyed spending time with her brother and riding in his truck

My son had a busy day removing rubble, making a retention pit and cleaning up the building site of the old house that was demolished.

My son loved playing with his trucks when he was little, I knew when he grew up he would have a job driving or operating this sort of machinery :)

All done! for now that is. There is so much work that goes into building a commercial building which I didn't realise but am finding out now. My cousin was the Architect for the church design and considering being on a tight budget the design is really appealing and different. There are so many concepts in the design I will have to show you later as it all unfolds. For the construction you need the expertise of many consultants such as engineers, surveyors, plumbers, fire and safety consultants, consultants for the road works, sewer works etc and the list goes on. By the time this church is built I will have a good grip on how and what goes on with building a church or anything else. My little job in the scheme of things so far is mainly ringing people, emailing, faxing or posting plans relaying information etc and once the church has its meeting and agrees on the final plans and quotes and the budget is fine tuned then the green light will be given and then the church will be started yippee!

The New Driveway!

My son came up on the weekend because he was going to do some excavating work on the site for the new church so while he was here he cut out our new drive way that we have been wanting and waiting for a long time to do. We had the fencing and the gate there but the drive way needed to be cut in and tided up. My son bucketed off the top soil and put it to one side so that I can use it for my garden and then cut the new drive way in and I must say it looks fantastic. I will be able to put a garden out the front and down the sides. I didn't get a before shot because my batteries were flat again but I did manage to find an old photo of the drive way.

The new drive way behind the timber post before the machine did its stuff.

This is the new drive way entry, on the left where my truck is parked is the old drive way. The gate on the old drive way has to stay there so that the energy company can access the power pole for maintance but we can make it look like part of the fence but still be a gate.

It was a big machine and didn't take my son that long to do. Dave and my son went and got three truck loads of gravel from one of our neighbours to put down on the drive way for nothing, how good is that!

It started to get dark and start to rain but my son got the job done.



Wouldn't you like to have one of these handy for those pesky jobs that you want done but can't do for yourself :)

Demolishing the old house!

I just love the Australian bush ! This block of 10 acres I was walking over yesterday was just beautiful, I noticed quiet a few wattle trees around that are really pretty with their yellow flowers. This block of land is where the Church is going to be built and we are at present demolishing an old house that needs to be pulled down for the church to be built.

As we demolish this old house some of the material such as the roof iron will be given away to an old couple that need to repair their roof and the rest will be used for another shed that will be built, the timber frame work will be cut off in sections and loaded onto the truck and used later for the frame work for another shed, the roof timber will be use for frame work for something or another, the sand stock bricks that can be salvaged from the house will be given to a gentleman who will use them for his own purpose, a lot of the steel, copper and other metals that can be salvaged will be sold as scrap and the monies will go into the church kitty. The water tanks will do really nicely in my veggie patch as raised beds.

I suppose it will take a little longer to demolish this house but it will be organized and most of the materials will be recycled and re-used which is a win win situation. Once the house is dismantled as much as possible my son will be in with his machine to pull down the rest and remove the rubble that will be used as fill. I will have pictures of his handy work on Tuesday.

It is going to exciting seeing our new Church built and for us to have a major part in its construction. I will have photos of its progress over the next few months and of its final completion and the Grand Opening! :)

I'm Coming Back!

I feel like I have abandoned my blog...:(.... but not for long because I am back and I am going to have my little site pumping with so much activity that you won't know what day of the week it is, well I probably won't. I have recharged the batteries in my camera, sharpened my pencil ( for my to-do list), looked over my veggie patch plans, got my first load of broken down beautiful sheep manure, waiting for my new stove to be fitted into the kitchen, getting ready to start setting the gyprock in family room, preparing old chicken pen site for new veggie bed, waiting for the three old water tanks to be cut and prepared for my raised bed section, getting ready for the start of the new church build (last few quotes to come in), machine is coming up on Sunday to start grading our new drive way and other various jobs :), lambs are popping out everywhere, we are still pumping out furniture and I think that might do at the moment I'm feeling a little bit nauseated just writing this stuff.

Anyway I'm hoping to share all this on here and hopefully a few clips on the workshop, the business/shop, and of course my crazy animals that are just a bundle of laughs every minute. They have their own distinct personality with quirks, some are rejects that have some how landed with us but they are so loving and just add to the craziness of our lives.

Oh so Busy!

I've dropped by my blog today and I didn't have any pictures or any thing in particular to write but I found this picture on the web and thought it captures how things are at the moment. We have been really busy with so much going on in the business and with family. The business is changing directions for the better and is getting quiet busy. I guess with this picture you can't quiet see what is out in front of you but the light is streaming in to give you warmth and direction. We are having a few problems within family, I won't go into detail but we are praying with time and love we will all be stronger,wiser and have a closer bond with one another.

We had another heavy frost this morning, everything was covered in a blanket of whiteness. A nice hot bowl of porridge for breakfast this morning was needed to get everyone moving. Even the dogs were a little hesitant in getting out of bed this morning, brrrrrr!

I had my birthday on Thursday and my daughter decided I needed to stay home and not open the business, so I did! Jess and I had a lovely day together and she did spoil me with her pampering all my needs. Plus she made me a lovely sponge cake with strawberries and cream, yum!

My veggie patch is dormant at the moment with not much happening. I scored a bale of hay that was lying on the side of the road this morning, I say it must have fallen off the back of a truck. I will use it as mulch around my frozen cauliflowers and broccoli's.

Well my time is up now and I want to check out my favourite blogs and leave some comments so it is bye for now, I think I might do a video of my shop or even of our work shop were we are pumping out beautiful furniture next time:)

I Miss Blogland

We have just had our first heavy frost and the temperatures have been below zero Brrrrr
Apart from getting out of a warm cosy bed the mornings have been pretty with the ground covered in frost and icy puddles that look like broken glass when you drive over them. My days have been busy with so much going on and my blog has suffered greatly and not to mention I have not had time to look at and comment on my favourite blogs. So to my blogging buddies I am sorry you have not seen or heard from me for quiet a while. We haven't had the Internet on at home for a long time because we live so far out from town and what usage we get for the price is outrageous. But not for long because we have just found out a good deal with the government and we will soon be back on at home. YAY!

My lovely husband and daughter gave me these beautiful flowers recently and they were gorgeous. Our business has been busy and we have had so many orders to fill that we have had to drag in family and friends to give us a hand. So my house has been a whirl wind of people coming and going. I must say it is quiet nice having a different person at our dinner table to share a meal and good conversation with every week.

This is a single/double bunk bed we made for a customer, it is looking pretty good. They have a really small room and the lady was worried about changing the sheets on the bottom double bed so we put a hinge on the ladder so she could swing the ladder to the right and be able to get in there and change the sheets and when she puts the ladder back she can bolt it so that it won't swing when the kids climb up. Clever hey!

Other things going on in our life at the moment is that the DA (Development Application) has been approved for the construction of our new church and probably next week we will be busily running around getting quotes and contracts for its construction.

Our own renovations are not going very well at the moment as we have been too busy and the veggie patch has only the basics such as cauliflower, broccoli, broad beans, spinach, celery, carrots and onions.

We still have that kitten that wondered into my shop and it has made its self at home playing with the dogs and curling up in front of the fire. Oh! I also discovered that she is not a she but a he, so we have changed his name from Ruby to Scoobie Doo. I know I didn't look properly :) The little dogs have been feeling the cold lately so I will have to look into making them some coats for inside and outside.

You know life is big and beautiful and there are many things we should be thankful for and enjoy whether big or small. So get out there and live your life :)