Then there were floods......

Yeah yeah, I know, haven't posted for over a month. Well, take me out the backyard and kick me up the bum! Well, actually truth of it is that I had The Flu. (It deserves capital letters.) It was horrid and nasty and a month on I STILL haven't shaken it off! Not to worry! 
   Plus we had floods! Straight after the earthquake in June. PLUS we had another minor earthquake last Friday night. Only a 4.5. Piffling really. I felt it though. Not many did. What's next? Plague of locusts?
   David has managed to put up some shelves in my kitchen. Changed the old overhead fan to a light. Pics of those will come soon. 
 In the meantime here are some flood pics and the rear of the house.

This is a small open drain normally dry. The water is all across the parkland. Originally the Watts River would tend to flood regularly, then they built the dam, now water only floods when the dam is overfull and the surrounding joining creeks empty into it.  July 2 2012

 

This is the old caravan park which is now used once a month for a market. Reason it is no longer a caravan park is pretty obvious! It floods! I take my dog for a walk way beyond the trees at the back which is along the Watts River. In normal times it is a lovely bushland walk with birds twittering and cheeping. Not today! You'd need a kayak! July 2 2012

Ok this is in late 2009 but not alot has changed. David was replacing the leaky old gutter with a good 2nd hand one he had lying around his old house. We only have gutters in front and back. The tarps are gone and now have a roller door in the middle section. Sadly the underneath is still full of David's crap stuff. I had hoped to park my car under there out of the weather but alas! all these years later STILL waiting! Gah!

     Ok, well, off to get a cuppa and try to get back to kicking David's butt! LOL!
 Cheers!
Maria

EARTHQUAKE!!!!!

We had an earthquake! 
Few days ago now on June 19 at 8.53 pm actually. My brother's birthday actually. Pity he missed it. He lives in Perth, Western Australia. Anyway, I digress. It was COOL! 5.3 on the Richter scale and 9.9 kms deep. First one that big in 109 years. We had a minor one last year at 4.4. I was in bed that time, and felt it. My friend who was standing up didn't feel a thing. This time just about everyone on the eastern side of the state of Victoria felt it. Only very minor damage occurred and only a few bottles of soft drink gave their lives valiantly to save the breakfast cereals on the shelves.
   It sounded like my son bringing the wheelie rubbish bin down the hill back to its hidy space near the house. Then I thought son was pushing the house in anger (we'd had stern words that day.) Till my brain clicked; He ain't THAT strong! It did a few more pushy type things then BANG! Up and down and round and round for 40 seconds. I LOVED it! Then again, I'm a bit of a nerdy girl and love that kind of thing! 


The picture below shows you the approximate area where it was felt. If you see the last e in Melbourne and go diagnally up to the 7 in the green box then a tad more right, that's where I live. So, we felt it good and proper!

via Geoscience Australia

 Now all this was rather exciting and I did wonder if there was much damage to the property. I live on a split level on a rather steep hill and this house is not really ready for rockin' and rollin' at this point in time. Amazingly enough, due to that very fact of being a rickety old place, it stood the tremor well. Only minor cracks between plaster/fibro and architraves....Oh, wait! They were already there! Damn reno is too slow! Ha ha!
  The last year's quake however did move the ground a fair bit to the point our septic tank's baffle moved causing a rather nasty surprise one month later. The baffle having moved would not allow, ahem, solids to pass through and hence, they became stuck and backed up. Delightful.
 I haven't been able to have a look see if the septic has moved even more. Two reasons. One; it hasn't stopped raining since the quake and Two; the person I make ask nicely to go under like some bandicoot to looksee is away with work over in Adelaide. (That's in South Australia) He gets back next week for a few days so will have to drag out a snorkel I fear!

   Now as you may know I own two lovely animals. Did these darlings have any strange behaviours prior to the tremor? Did they become edgy and bark and meow in unison to be let out and run free at the slightest provocation? Did they become scared and slink under beds and hide in cupboards? The answer.....a big fat NO!
 I grew up always fascinated by stories like the Alaskan earthquake in 1964 where witnesses say birds and animals went a bit nuts days before. It was something of a marvel to me that animals just KNEW or felt in the earth the vibrational forces which then scared them. What a big fat cop out THAT turned out to be! Seems my Oscar WAS a bit fidgety and 'bitey' the two days following, but I also know that my female hormones at certain phase of the month makes him that way. Oscar, the King of Siamese cats, slept in his cat tree basket through the whole shake. Tess, my old girl of a dog, was snorting and snuffling her way through her dinner. Like they CARED the house was about to fall down? Nah, Oscar turned, yawned and stretched and promptly went back to sleep. GAH!

 I suspect my animals are used to the house wobbling about. My dear friend David is not the best mini excavator driver and when he was digging out and drilling holes for the new footings on one side of the house, would bash into the corner and the house would rattle for a few moments. Practice for the animals I guess!
  I have started a new blog called The Medical Oddity on blogspot. I really haven't done much around the place due to now having been diagnosed with a heart condition. Never rains but pours on me!
I am trying to do some small crafts and hope to put them up here for you to see (and buy!)
In the meantime, Be happy and enjoy life.

 

MY KITCHEN OR HOW TO GO INSANE IN ONE EASY STEP.

My kitchen is a nightmare. Yes, it is. Most people say that about their kitchens on blogs I look at. But MINE really is a nightmare! I have a laundry in mine. I have no storage in mine. Mine faces West so you only get scorching hot sun in Summer and bugger all sun in Winter. The other window faces South so not much good light there to help chop up your vegies either. You think I am kidding? Take a look at the picture and tell me you aren't reaching for the Scotch and Valium as we speak!

The disaster of a kitchen!

 

 

   I am NOT an untidy person but this always makes me feel I ought to lock the front door and keep everyone away for fear they think I should be one of those shows,  My House is a Pig Sty, or Save my Soul, redo my house! The main problem is lack of storage and work area. I recently moved all the saucepans closer to the stove as I was getting tired of climbing a ladder to reach for them. It just makes that bench look like a jumble sale! Clothes dryer, dishwasher and washing machine take up valuable floor space. There is a laundry trough right next to the ridiculously small floor oven so you have no where to put your hot pans if you need to mash up some spuddies.
  The colours? You don't like them? The lilac is called Moon Flower and was EVERYWHERE in this house. More like 'Puke, at Grandma's house' colour. We tried the yellow when it was in fashion, then I hated it. Last neutral colour is really the colour I would prefer but the manufacturer no longer makes that colour and of course, SOMEBODY who shall remain nameless...(DAVID!) lost the card which had the name of it! 
 I HATE HATE HATE working in here. Especially since if you were to turn around in the kitchen my 'office' space is right there. We are forever playing the Tetris game of shoving stuff from one flat surface to another to only have it all fall down. My pantry is only 23cms deep with all the shelves being 29cms tall from each other. (I'm not doing the Imperial measurements, about time you Americans caught up with Metric!) Sounds good but seriously how can you put a box of cereal in there let alone large jars or cans? Pfffffft!!!!!
 The thing I hate most is the kitty litter box! No where else in this house to put it and to me it is totally unhygenic.
 I really would love a Magic Fairy to come in and go POOOOOF! with the wand and give me something like this....

via Pinterest

     Or maybe even this..........

via Biedermeir Berlin

Or perchance this little lovely.......

via Pinterest

Aaaaaaaah.....One day......one day...........
 What's YOUR kitchen looking like today? Sleek and tidy? Like a bomb went off? Or just plain functional?
Maria

IS THERE A CURSE ON US OR WHAT?

I just can't believe it. My dear friend David has slashed his ring finger on his right  hand to the bone and had surgery a week ago today. His ability to work is now 10%. He's also right handed! What else? The great timing of being worse than ever with a gastro type illness and my thyroid woes, and I can barely lift a finger let alone drive him here, there and everywhere, and make him cups of tea! So our reno has been put on hold.....sigh.........

 GOOD news though! We managed to find some interesting things in the hard rubbish collection!  A sliding aluminum window perfect for the front end of the side storage/deck area! I found a sweet little chest of drawers needing some magic, and a lovely old wardrobe which I will paint and put in my bedroom. No pics of those sadly, as we stashed them into the storage containers then realised later, "Oh, NO! We forgot photos!" We weren't up to pulling out all the crap stuff all over again. Took us hours to do the Tetris game of adjusting to get them in in the first place!
  Here are some pics to keep you entertained till next time!

David looking quite jaded. Oscar hoping for some tuna from David's baked potato.

 

Unusually wet summer we have had creates some interesting cloud cover. Mt St Leonard's looking from the side of my house.

Cheerio for now!
Maria

GETTING ON......Slowly......

Well, been a while since I last put something noteworthy on this blog. Unfortunately my thyroid issues have flared up again and I crashed..big time....Sleeping most of the days away is not a fun thing when you are a type A personality like me! I have Hashimoto's (an autoimmune disease) and my thyroid medication which works fine for fifty mazillion other people doesn't work for me. So, there I was going ok for a few months, then Ker-PLUNK! Just ran out of gas and konked out in the middle of the freeway of life....No fun at all!

 SO anyhooooooos......my friend David decided to try to finish the sideway storage area and deck so we can move the tools and machinery and equipment out of my under the house work area. This, you have to understand would give me enourmous pleasure at being able to walk from Rolladoor to craft/work room without losing a limb or any  important organs.  Been a big contentious issue. Me screeching, MOVE THE FREAKING STUFF! With David humbly saying, I can't, there's no where to put it! So, to give him his (ahem) meagre credit, he tried to work and bash and drill and saw and grind and weld in between my snores. He'd come in at lunchtime and say, 'You ready for a snooze?' I'd say, 'I'm fading and will pass out in around 10 minutes.' You have never seen anyone work so fast to achieve so much in 10 minutes. You see, my bedhead is directly where he is working. Well, he's outside and I am inside but you get the point. 

Hopefully my new upped dose from 125mcgs to 150mcgs will kick in soon. It takes roughly 6 weeks for thyroxine (that's the thyroid hormone) to do its thing. In my case and knowing my luck it won't be enough and I will be in Slumberville a tad longer than I want to be.  
        Unfortunately none of the timber or steel or roofing steel is recycled/or reused. We did get offered tons of free building materials but sadly it was not treated timber. In a high termite infested area you MUST have treated timber. The previous owner did a shoddy job on structural timbers and we ended up with a McDonald's drivethrough for termites in the lower part of the house! We couldn't find any roofing material that had not rusted or full of holes or was not expensive. So all new it was, just for this project!                  Here are some pics of the latest installment of the Reno on a shoestring!

Oscar in his run keeping an eye on David, making sure he does the  job right.

 

The over engineered welded steels to support both the lower and upper structures. David learned to weld so that saved us heaps of money!

 

 

Partially covered roof! Woohoo! There will be a gutter attached soon. The open window is where my bed is.

Opposite end view. You get a better perspective of the storage area.The dodgy louvred window area is my craft/work room. The acrow prop is holding up the back end of the house! Eventually there will be a large window and a little decking out the front of that area.

Wherever you are, I hope your day is full of love and happiness and a few good belly laughs!
Cheers!
Maria

Some plans.

Well, still recovering from surgery and the weather yet again has been too lousy to really do much. So I shall show you the plans I have for the east side of the house.

The super cheap 2nd hand aluminum large sliding window will replace the old rotting and broken window which is my teen son's room. It will allow lots of light and more importantly, some decent cross ventilation in the warmer months.The sink, which is from the old caravan, will be used under the tap to wash hands, or soak pot plants or let a few stray birds take a bath.

Lots going on here! We will move the outdoor power point toward the front of the house, near my son's room. The old steel pool fencing is going to be my cat's fixed but temporary outdoor chill out room. You can see we have started the actual run from the deck. The paint at the moment is left over from my friend's house. I can't afford to clad the house yet so covering up that vile fibro is a great way to reuse the paint and protect the house from the weather. Wasn't sure I liked the War Ship Grey but it has grown on me and it changes colour from deep blue to light grey depending on the time of day.You can just make out the steel metal hangars for the deck on the far end. There will be a covered lockable area where the tractor is sitting, for storage of our machines, and then above that a deck/walkway. Right now there is no escape route out the back. I figure a deck would be a sensible thing to have and also utilises an otherwise dead space below.

 

Misseewer Oscaaaaar!This darling chap is driving me nuts! He wants to go outside all the time but unfortunately he would put an Olympic high jumper to shame with his prowess at leaping. He leaps to kill birds and where I live there are many beautiful native parrots, and teeny tiny blue fairy wrens. I have designed a cat run for him, and as you can see we are making a start on it. He is not impressed at having to be on a lead when I take him outside for his daily nibble on the long grass. His look is typical Sylvester the cat's, "Sufferin' succotash, what's a cat to do? I know! I'll pee on her bed, THAT'LL learn her!" ....and so he does, if he hasn't been outside for a while. Hence forth the cat run shall be made! Ok, for now at least some place he can lick his bits in private. 

 

 

  Well, that's all for now! 
Enjoy your week!
Maria

Missing in Action

Hello all!   
  Again I have been missing in action! This time due to some medical issues which have been going on for some time. I had surgery 3 days ago and feel crud. Had urgent ultrasounds and doctor appointments these past few weeks. There was a scare with Ovarian Cancer but so far so good. Had some bits taken out and soon I shall be rocking and rolling again!   Stick with me and I will be back real soon with more excitement on the home front. This time it will be Reno stuff not medical stuff. (I ought to start a blog about my health issues!)  
Cheers!  
Maria

Love and other bruises.

 Hi Happy Renovators!
I have not posted for a few weeks now. There is a good reason. I got injured and couldn't do much for a week or so. Then I got the great news that what I thought was a badly sprained wrist is actually Oesteoarthritis and severe Tendonitis. Great, just great! So a whole week of resting the hand and the bruised leg and no work made me cranky!
  Leg got bruised when I was helping David to carry up the driveway some 150mm 8 metre length storm water pipe to lay in the trench he has started. With all the heavy rains lately the drive is a mess. He, unfortunately, dropped his end causing it to bounce and jar my grip and hurt my sore wrist even more and all in the space of a nano-second my leg which was in mid back stride got dumped with a 40 kg weight with a sharp rounded edge. I said a few choice words and the pain was intense. I thought I had cut it open and dreaded to look to see if I had a flap of muscle and skin torn away. Luckily for me, it was a cool day, so I had worn thick socks and thick track suit pants. I think those saved me from further damage. 
 Pretty horrible, hey! At least nothing is broken.

Day 6 bruising. 

 

 

 
I also had some fun with my new wrist brace. I really find it difficult to wear and can barely do anything while I am wearing it. Has really slowed me down doing much.  I did however manage to assemble my new toy! The new wooden work bench. 

My newest fashion accessory. 

 

 

 

 I think the highlight of the past 2 weeks has been discovering all the old landfill used from the 1930's right through to the late 1970's. With all the rains the top soil has washed away exposing lots of broken crockery and bottles just waiting to slash a tyre up the driveway! Some interesting pieces in the booty I got the other day. Old Marmite milk-glass jar in the top left. This is from the 1930's Pity it wasn't intact, could have sold it for a fortune then got the damn driveway fixed! 

 Oh well, time to get back to work, sore wrist or not!
Cheers!

Trick or Treat!

Seems I can't miss a trick lately. Old Aussie saying. However, it is true. I am really very despondent today. Let me explain;
 My friend David, (who has been working in Adelaide, South Australia) flew back in the early hours of Saturday morning with the intent of fixing the driveway which was washed away a week ago from the heavy deluge of flooding rains. So much for that idea! Here is the cause of that not happening! 

 

 
 Yep a ruddy great tree on my neighbour's boundary decided to drop in to say, "Hello!"
  Whilst it may look easy peasy to get rid of, it is actually about 2 feet in width in the trunk. David got rid of the canopy and tossed it over the neighbour's property. (It is the law, you are allowed.) We had no working chainsaw so............

The SES (State Emergency Service) came to the rescue! It seems lots of trees are falling down and causing havoc due to the high winds and unseasonal rains. They have their work cut out for them! Ha ha!
 You can see me on my deck looking down at the activity.

 I hate Halloween, yet it seems we are having our own spooky adventures right now. I just want a treat! Nice spa, massage, glass of champagne.......aaaaaaaahhhhh.......

WHEN IT RAINS IT POURS!

Well, golly me! Two days ago we had really lovely hot 32 celsius (near 80F) then around 6.30pm the thunder rolled in, then the lightning and then..BAM!!!! All hell broke loose with 35mm (1 and half inches) of rain in less than 14 minutes! I live on a very steep hill and the gravel brought down the pathway backed up, and created a levee, and then a diversion for the water to come to my front door! So, it was battle stations to hurriedly sweep and shovel away the water whilst dodging the lightning strikes.

 The next day we saw the damage. The poor old pathway now devoid of helpful gravel; Gone. The long driveway which we had just put two truck loads of gravel on last week; Gone. Gouged out creeks are now part of my landscape. Today the rains still continued albeit lightly, but the damaged sections are allowing the new channels of water run off to continue scouring the ground. This is not good. 

 Whilst I could look at it as being a terrible event and cry and carry on about the work now involved with redoing the path and drive, I can only marvel at how Mother Nature is intent on doing what she does best. As my 18 year old son said as we hoisted loads of gravel away in frenzied madness all the while getting drenched to the skin; "Wow, you can see how rivers get created!" Yes, indeed, Mother Nature doesn't care if we are in her way or not. That is why I respect her and love her dearly.
Cheerio for now whilst I dry off and pour a glass of wine. Tonight the heater is back on and coziness abounds!
Here are some photos of the damage.

There is a drain under those concrete blocks but it couldn't cope with the deluge coming from the top of the pathway. I am standing right near the front door. This is after we got rid of most of the gravel from the night before.

Side pathway with all the gravel from the top of the property. Things fell over or got washed down the hill. Sigh.......

The exposed 1950's fill on the driveway which had lots of broken glass and broken crockery in it. Lost all the topsoil and gravel.

My poor old dog Tess halfway down our driveway. Photo looking at the rear of the house. We started painting it in a nice blue grey. The house not the drive! LOL!

Finally coming together

   Last evening I felt very happy and content after a long hard days slog. I went out to sit on the deck with my magazine and glass of wine. I had forgotten we had changed the railing. The joy I felt at putting the items down safely was something akin to looking at your newborn baby. Such a simple thing for most, but for me I almost cried. I could not stop smiling at how wonderful it all seems to be coming together ; Finally!

A light bulb moment!

I often sit out on my deck with a glass of wine at the end of a hard days renovation/gardening. I have a little old chair I use as a table. It's a bit wonky but does the job. As I swing on the patio deck chair I love to look out at the sunset over the mountain and relax. Just one problem! The top rail of the deck surround is right at eye level. I've been wanting to change it for ages but was wracking my brain on how to make it without spending a fortune. I intend to put marine grade cable across there instead of the wooden rails, but wanted to put perhaps a tube of steel along the top as a safety rail. Well, to cut a long story short, I figured out if I just cut the top rail at the position of the poles, the middle pole is flat, just turn it and TA-DA! Instant safety rail, which is flat enough to allow a view AND will hold my glass of wine, plate of sandwiches or a cup of tea! The only cost has been 7 new brackets with scrolls on them. 2 on each end, one in the middle on the far side as the plank is wider than the pole and needs support on the overhang, and two in the middle to add extra strength. (Plus they look pretty) I intend to do the whole deck which is in effect, 3 sections. 21 brackets, and a new coat of paint.  Easy peasy lemon squeezy!

David my friend, attaching the brackets.

View toward the east side of the house. You can see Oscar's cat enclosure on my deck, which also doubles as the drying washing space.

 

  Here are some photos of some pretty flowers and my kitty kat, just because.

$3 roses! Supermarket end of week special. Isn't that orange just gorgeous! Reminds me of the sunset!

$2 lillies in the op shop vase I recently purchased.

Oscar the Siamese looking innocent. (Yeah, right!)

  Hope all in your life is going well!
Maria

Sun's out, Smoke's in

Today is a nice sunny day, (sort of) Friend helping to lay the 2 tonnes of crushed rock for our long driveway. Me digging out agapanthus and replacing with azaleas. Neighbour starting burn off....Uh oh! 
 Why, oh why, do people still need to burn off in this day and age of composting and council green waste pick up? I have severe asthma, these neighbours NEVER let me know they are about to burn off, ( I have asked nicely and given them my phone number in case they are too lazy to walk to the house) and besides, who likes their house, clothes and furniture stinking of wet grass smoke? 
 So no more work today outdoors! Mutter, mutter, mutter.........

The smoke coming up the hill into my house. Taken on the back deck of my place. Below neighbour's property starts just behind the caravan. Cough cough splutter choke.....

Below neighbour burning off. Taken through my cat's enclosure on my back deck.

 Off now to get away from the smoke to go bargain shopping for some bits I can do up and sell! Woohoo!

Raining again! Gah!

Hey! What gives with this crazy Aussie weather? I mean, come ON already! Yesterday I was pottering around and trying to get the garden ready for Phase 2,978 of the plan, thinking, 'Oooooh, I CAN have my gorgeous roses and fruit trees, too!' and daydreamed of sitting under an apricot tree with the scent of roses wafting past my nostrils:.....Aaaaaaaaah. Heaven! Then today, TODAY! The thunder boomed loudly, the dog scurried under my desk, the rain started like as if we had moved to the Tropics. I then put back my gardening gloves and hat, sat down and thought, "Well, I DO live in Melbourne; the city of 4 seasons in one day....but this is ridiculous!" Record rainfall and it had to be the year I feel able to do all these renovations in one hit! Oh well...........

  So instead of getting much done outdoors in preparation of the hot summer we are due to have, I decided to fiddle with the banner on my blog. I reckon it looks ok, but I am only learning, so give me a kind-hearted break. 
 Then after having a nice hot cup of tea and thinking of what else I can do that doesn't involve me getting drenched, I got to thinking of all the gorgeous sunsets we get here in Healesville. I am of the mind set that I will never miss a sunset! No matter what is going on, I will stop and watch and admire nature's farewell of the day. I'd like to share some of my photos I have taken over the years of some gorgeous sunsets with you.  I hope you like them!

  Cheerio for now!

Time to show you my 'projects'

Ok the moment you have all been waiting for! Ok, maybe not. It's just that it's been cold, miserable, raining, thunder, lightning, very very frightening all week. Supposed to be Spring! So I haven't been very enthused about laying the vinyl tiles in the bathroom. With little light in there and so cold, I just couldn't be bothered. So now I shall bore you or excite you with some items I am doing up. Some will be for sale and some to stay in the hovel, I mean, home. Tee hee hee.
 Some before and after shots of my handiwork!

The 'op shop' special. There are two identical.

 

 

In her new 'outfit'!The pics really don't do the piece justice. I wish I had somewhere nice where I could show these off to take photos. 

 

I even added some 'dings' to where it would be likely someone used their thumb to open the drawer.

Please ignore the mess! The old Wertheim sewing table I bought on ebay. The dog was not part of the purchase! Had her for nearly 7 years and she follows me everywhere!

Looking much prettier with a fresh coat of paint and black wax. The base is a dark green but will be sprayed black once the weather is nice again.

Detail of the top. Lovely aged look. It already had some great wear on such a new pine top. The black wax brings it out beautifully I think!

  I do have some more projects I am doing and will endeavour to show you soon. The light is really poor this week to show them off nicely. Plus, I am still getting used to my new camera, too!
  
Someone gave me a huge bag of red chillies and I am making Sweet Chilli Sauce, so I'd best get it off the boil before it turns into sweet sticky stove top! 

Till next time!
Maria