Photo #4

Mar. 2nd, 2011 09:47 pm
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Every since I've moved to Rainbow Haven, I've had wind chimes and whirligigs here. However the pups last year destroyed the thin metal pole I had the last whilygig on, and it's only been now I got around to replacing that.

I bought this at ALDI for when I would put one up. Happened to go into Bunnings today (to buy an indoor/outdoor thermometer) and bought a bundle of bamboo sticks for $3.50 - just right for putting a whirligig on! When it cam to putting the thing together it seemed obvious that either something was missing (I thought I'd bough a Beetle one instead) or I really didn't understand the design at all. Didn't matter because when I tried to adjust it it broke. Undeterred, I got a plastic covered metal spike from some garden thing I had and twisted it into shape.

It works, but with the winds out here I'll wait and see how long it lasts.

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Just spent over two hours trying to shift a shed from next door's to my backyard. Daryl and his wife helped me, but in the end it was more productive to dismantle the shed and use the panels as replacement fencing!

I am very hot and sweaty and the chips shop has just closed so it's a few noodles I guess and a good shower.




No sign of Kevin & Michelle, but that was sorta expected.

laura_seabrook: (cartoon)
What?! Strong winds in the Newcastle area have brought down a section of my fence. A post has snapped and one part has fallen in, while the other part has fallen out. There's nothing safe I can do on a windy night with a new moon, so I shall have to wait until tomorrow to assay the damage. Also, a corner of the shed may be blowing off - same again for that too.

Now the timing on this is interesting. A section of fence fell out the other year, but the bushes and treeson the other side held it up until I could do some repairs. The new neighbour next door cleared all that in preparation for laying a colorbond fence. That will probably be a necessity now. Sigh. Still, nothing can be done until tomorrow. I may be missing NOWSA tomorrow.
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Just pulled down half the old duck pen, which was threatening to collapse.

Steve built this with me back in 2000 out of bits of scrap we found on the bush trails. It was his idea to keep duck and make money by selling the eggs. Maybe I should have given them away when he left but I'm a bit of a softie and kept Muscovies for several years to come. The last of them I gave away at the end of 2005. In any case I didn't do much with the pen. I removed the chicken wire covering it to get in and out easier, and added catwalks (by strapping planks to the outside top) for Gabby and Xena. The first thing I did with the space was shovel all the duck poo and soil from the other pen into it. That was a mistake because it leached out and killed the mandarin bush next to it  (ironic, because the drakes all loved slices of mandarin).

After that it became a dumping ground for stuff I just wanted to forget, like old tyres, chewed foam cushions and the like. Lately half of it's been very wobbly indeed and rather than wait until it fell down (possibly on me or one of the pets) I removed the dodgy bits. There's still about half of it left, and I added new catwalks to make up for the ones removed, and added a catwalk to the side fence.

Very tempted to clean the garden up a bit. I was always going to get around to it, but tended to end up on the sofa out there with Peggy. I think at least it's time I got rid of the thirteen rolladoors in my backyard, but that's another story.

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I'm off to get a Mandarin Bush today from Wallsend Nurseries. They have them in stock ($30) and they take FPos. :) Need to catch the next bus out.
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Kevin bought some cheap "Ox Livers" for the dogs.

It sat at the bottom of the fridge for a week. Yesterday I took them out the back to give to the dogs as a treat. It was rather odd - I came back in to talk with Kevin and when I went out they were gone - I though the dogs must have had a good appetite. Then I found both parts further up the backyard, untouched.

It seems that Hallie had run of with them and dumped them there. Whenever Bobbie would go up that way Hallie would cut him off and sit near them them. She'd also run up there if I said "Pussy's going to get Hallie's food!" This morning Kevin and Hallie were woken up early by a delivery, and the first thing she did was go up and inspect/guard the livers (not eat them, mind you).

Photos under cut )

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Gasp. Well that was 2 hours of fumbling around with tech screws and drills, but I've fixed the hole(s) in the fence. The bottom panel which was made out of a door was rotten through. The top panel, which was a section of of corrugated metal had a couple of surprises for me.

The first was that it was actually two sections of corrugated metal  that were pressed together - no wonder it'd been so heavy when I first put it up. The second surprise was that between the two panels was a white-ant nest! I separated the two and killed the nest, then put them back up. It seemed the best thing to do because I knew that both would fit and that they already had holes in them from I could mount them.

I'm not that good with practical stuff, but persistence seems to win through (sometimes).

Fences

Jun. 22nd, 2008 05:12 pm
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I fixed two out three holes in my fences today. Well, when I say "fixed", both are temporary measures which might become permanent.

Hallie just walked thru the trellis next to the front gate! This happened while I was in Second Life attending a ritual, and Kevin went after her. That was fixed with some wire mesh attached with wire over the gap.

However there was also a gap on the side fence caused by the removal of stuff that had been lying next to it since before I moved in (1997)! It seems that the people next door have separated and they are selling the house. Paul is still living there and cleaning it up. He was not very happy and pointed out potential problems that I may or may not have after it's either sold or leased. Wonderful. I fixed that gap by inserting plastic cladding along it. It'll keep Bobby in at least.

The last gap was on the other fence where a door I used in constructing it has rotted through. Luckily I have a spare post and will attempt to fix it tomorrow.

Paul was rather gloomy, saying that termites were endemic at the back of the block which is probably true. Other predictions of Paul's were development of the horse paddocks behind my place into a state housing farm, and development of the other set of paddocks next to it into an industrial estate. Oh joy, any way you look at it I have a whole set of decisions to make.

Not today though.

 

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I've been working on web comics today, and have scripted the next six pages, and done the panel outlines for them (and I will get at least one page done tonight). Anyway, I didn't just want to do comics all day, so after I fed the pets I decided to refurbish a few whirligigs and chimes that were in need of repair. This proved easier done than said!

Photo essay under cut )

 

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I had occasion to find some photographs of a brick circle I made in my backyard.

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

I made it in 2001, just after Steve (a boarder) left and I'd fixed up the back fence and gate. I've done maybe a handful of rituals using it. However, now it's 2006 and it's mostly grown over...

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

...how time flies (though Pegasus still manages to get in most photos of the backyard).

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Yesterday I found a 30 cm long stick insect resting on the radio antenna in the garden shed. I was surprised but not frightened to find it. This is "bush country" out at Barnsley - this morning I saw a Kangaroo jump away less than 50 metres from my backyard.

I didn't kill it. Instead I got the plastic rake and transferred it to the tree outside. It was there until this morning, but was gone when I came back from the pictures this afternoon.

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I had a couple of falling limbs today - not my own, I hasten to add -- those from the Norfolk Pine in my backyard.

One had broken off over two years ago. It got caught in other healthy branches and was too high for me to dislodge. However, after the strong winds of last week, it must have worked its way down, so that it was just within reach. I used a fallen branch from the White Gum next to it - just at a convenient length to retrieve balls from next door as well -- and used the fork on the end of it to catch the limb.

It was a relief to get them down as I had visions of them falling on either my head or on one of the pets!

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