Hi Monty or is it Kaa?

The wildlife is out on the prowl! (or slither!)

Unfortunately with the new chicks that have just hatched and the possibility of a few more soon, our local Carpet Python (is it Monty?) has turned up.

The ducks are probably a little too big for him, but those cute little fluffy chicks would make a delicious entree. Charles took these photos while I was at the office. The python over 2 metres long.

After taking a few close up photos the python flicked it's tongue and hissed at Charles before slithering off down the bank and luckily away from the gardens and Chook-house.

We have seen the odd grass snake this season but this is the first time we have seen the python since just after we moved in. Oh! there is always the resident black snake that lives in the shed but he moves away from us very quickly if he sees us or we surprise one another!

No red bellied black snakes this year so far though and luckily we have not come across any of those nasty brown snakes at all!!! Touch wood!

Well, You live in the bush you've got to expect the wildlife!!!

More and more work to do (and done)

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I love a bargain on Ebay... every now and then I find a great one.

14 square metres of paving stones for a song and the seller was happy to deliver them and help stack them. Thanks!

I cleared the old crushed quartz from the area outside the guest room (putting it all on the ground in the bush house). Spread out cracker dust over the area and laid them all out over a few evenings after work... you gotta love daylight saving too!

The result is a wonderful patio that will no doubt be a fantastic place to sit and read a book, glass of wine or to even a quiet moment or two, especially when the grape vines grows over the top.

Just walking under the small coverage that exists now is to experience a drop in temperature and a subtle 'mood' change. It was certainly hot, sweaty work and gave me a few blisters before I remembered to wear gloves.

It is an absolute joy to slowly day by day see the changes around the place and to know that everything happens because of our own blood, sweat and tears! I do look forward so much to the day we start on the house... just the extra dollars all at once! That day will come!!!

Meanwhile Charles is happy... there are a couple of Thistles growing in the paddock. Reminds him of the land of his birth!

Just a Few Pictures From Wanungara

The orchard is delivering us some beautifully tasty fruit at the moment and the best is the two apple trees we bought from Daleys Nursery. We relocated the electric fence to entwine the fruit trees and allow the cows access to the long grass that was covering the bank and spreading into the lawn area. the cows have now eaten all the grass and the orchard is benefiting from the manure.

we have also been planting lots of flowering plants where we can so that the bees are invited into the garden to help with pollination and also to add some colour around the place... there's a lot of 'green' around here and a splash of colour makes a big difference.

we have also used up some of the lattice that we were given when we bought the long poles (used up by the shed to add a bush house and outside the guest room for the grape vines) on the west-side of the cottage to add a bit of shade, protection and aesthetics to the BBQ/pizza oven patio area.

and after all this... every now and then... we can sit back and enjoy a nice cold homebrew!!! (even me when I don't have the camera in my hand.)

The Mystery Continues...

Charles adds more form work to the structure... we have been asked if it's a plunge pool, cellar, water feature or a breeding place for the famous Bufo Marinus.

A few rocks placed carefully here and there and 'hey presto' we have walls... a bit of hard work and a pathway appears.

Its getting too hot to work outside during most of the day so things have slowed a little but with the cooler weather we are having now we should (hopefully) have a bit more done soon.

In the meantime we have just added a few extra touches .

Meet the Ducks, Disco and Shuggie

A local woman who sells chickens (and also supplied us with some of our hens) found out that we had Plymouth Rock hens and asked us if we would sell them to her but we kept them ourselves, however, after two have passed away due to old age and the last one not getting any younger she offered to take her in exchange for two pullets.

We ended up with two young ducklings (she knew I had a duck before and love the taste of duck eggs), Shuggie and Disco.

Poor Shuggie was gravely ill after a week of being here and we thought we would lose him/her (lost control of the legs and wasn't eating a lot) but after 2 weeks... what a change. still shaky on the legs but every day was a big improvement.

It's amazing just how quickly they grow. they now live in the opposite veggie garden to the chooks and have plenty of shade and protection from the numerous hawks and from the many pigeons that are now hanging around after the chook food that doesn't get eaten due to the bird netting we have installed over the gardens.

I spent Saturday designing and building a Duck House that can be moved from garden to garden as required. Cutting the wheels of the bottom of the old BBQ allowed me to create the perfect mobile Duck Home...

Ah! It's all coming together... Slowly!!!

The Extra soil being removed is being used around the bananas and also the lemon tree to not only bring the ground level but also to add soil where it sure needs it (there is approx 2-5 cms of top soil where the previous owners had the land 'cut n' filled'...

Rocks are laid... boards in place! just need more man (woman) power now!

Is it making any sense yet! It will involve cement, bricks, rocks and hard labour!

Is it a Sauna? Tool shed? Duck pond? or just a Folly (perhaps even bespoke!)

Still wondering what we're up to?

The grass needs to be removed and we are using the sods to grass ares that could benefit from the extra soil and grass plants.

Next on the list of things to do was to remove the top soil and place that soil in areas that need it... not that the whole place could benefit from extra soil... this soil is destined for the banana trees and the citrus.

A trip to the locally privately owned quarry... and you think we get stoned in other ways. tsk tsk tsk!

The bus brings home the booty (albeit in first gear at times!) watch this space for more clues soon! Ciao!!!

Watch This Space/Hole

Guess what this hole is for and win a weekend for two at Wanungara! No clues but the photos and as we progress with the work little teaser pics will be added... put your thinking caps on!!!

Never a dull moment, we just keep on working and devising new things to get our creative juices flowing!

Wood Fired Pizza Oven [stage 4]

So it's finally time to fire up the oven and see if it works! That is to see if it will hold it's heat, cook pizza and some bread in the stored heat afterwards.

Mmmmmm! Pizzas cooking away nicely... The recipe for the base came from a great bread book called 'The Bread Baker's Apprentice' which has some fantastic incites in to bread and it's making plus some of the best recipes I have tried (not that I have tried a lot before the oven was made!)

Charles is certainly happy at the helm of the oven... handles a peel like a pro! and just like Charles... they're big and they're cheesy!!!

So the final conclusion... a great success! There will be many pizzas cooked in this little beauty and a few parties too I would say! interestingly the oven is still toasty warm 48 hours later!

There are a couple of things we would do differently next time. it was a learning curve and we did make mistakes, but hey! it works and that's all that really matters when you have a mouthful of good pizza!!!

Wood Fired Pizza Oven [stage 3]

More hard work, a weekend with a bricksaw (luckily it was sunny so the solar panels helped reduce the energy use. The saw was required to cut the angles on the bricks so that the dome took shape without too much refractory mortar required.

Then layer by layer, brick by brick, the dome takes shape!

With the brickwork finished and the chimney in place... Hmmm! can almost smell those pizzas already!

Charles made a fairly solid door for the front out of some of the hard wood we had left over from the Guest room build. lined inside with a sheet of thin steel to keep the heat in and to protect the door.

The insulation layer of vermiculite is then spread over the brickwork, this in retrospect, should have been replaced by a fibreglass insulation blanket which would have allowed for the expansion of the chamber more than the vermiculite does.

Then a render coat over the top and the oven is ready for a small fire to test the brickwork and then a raging fire to get some food cooked!!! looking forward to it!

Wood Fired Pizza Oven [stage 2]

Cleaning up after pouring the Vermiculite! (see I told you I did some work too!)

Bricks are then laid out to get the angles and amount of bricks needed for the bottom layers.

A few bricks were laid out to get the doorway and chimney area worked out before everything is set in place.

We used firebricks on the floor of the oven, but in retrospect we should have used the same solid fired clay bricks that we used on the rest of the oven... better thermal mass!

The oven is taking shape! more tomorrow!

Wood Fired Pizza Oven [stage 1]

One of those things that I have always wanted... A wood fired pizza oven (and big enough to cook a meal not just pizzas as well as a few loaves of bread in.)

So, we have decided to build a BBQ and Pizza Oven in the new outdoor area we built over Xmas and here is the story of that build!

Started with a good solid foundation to support the weight of a lot of bricks, concrete and of course pizza dough! We laid out the bricks and worked out the best arrangement for both the oven and the BBQ (a later project) before mortaring all the walls permanently.

we then poured a solid slab of concrete over the top which is to become the base for the entire oven (this was seriously reinforced and just to make sure we added an extra column of bricks in the middle) 'Belts and Braces' as Charles likes to call it.

Next step is the vermiculite layer which will act as an insulation layer to prevent heat loss through the oven floor.

More photos and the rest of the story to follow!

The Rooster is dead, Long live the Rooster!!!

Sad news as a f##king fox has taken poor Russell (our handsome Rooster) and B1 (our best layer). We have seen a fox about early in the morning up the road, but the one night Charles forgets to lock the gate and Russell decides to go for a walk past the shed and an opportune fox grabs him and at about 5 Kgs I hope he put up a good fight... Charles found a pile of feathers a few days later, so we know it was a fox and not him just running away from home chasing more hens!

Then a couple of days later B1 goes missing in the middle of the afternoon, so we have penned them up for awhile (no free ranging) till we think the fox has gone elsewhere before we let them roam again during the day.

Good news tho' as it appears that one of the new chicks is a rooster, so son of Russell will live on! we know this to be true because he's constantly humping B2 and one of his sisters.

The rooster is dead, long live the Rooster!

Name to be decided... any suggestions?

MORE CHOOKS TO THE CLAN

Our little feral chicken (Cheryl) that arrived and made the hen house home had recently turned broody, so Charles decided to stick a few eggs under her to incubate. The eggs are probably from the 2 Australorps rather than the 2 older Plymouth Rock hens.

The result has been 3 Cicks that are now bigger than she is... she has been the perfect mother and even though they spent the first few weeks inside with us (getting attached to Charles and cheeping away most of the night!) they still bonded with her as soon as we returned them to the pen.

They are now a lot bigger and are starting to stand up for themselves and joining the pecking order but theyare still feeling their way as the older birds attack them when food is about (they have speed on their side for now!)

Russell attacks them too, he hasn't taken any other interest in them yet. and we are not sure yet if any of them are little roosters... but worse case scenario is a Sunday roast!!!

Mmmm! Tastes like chicken!