Lesson learned ... always check the contents of your purchased project PRIOR to throwing out receipts.
The aforementioned clothes line that should have been in use by now ... is sitting lonely and unusable at the moment.
John worked out that some bits were missing ... I'd thrown out the receipt (der to me I guess) ... and our old friends at Bunnings wouldn't do anything without a receipt.
anyway ... after a bit of a sob story to the girl at Bunnings that his wife was going to nag him beyond recognition, she felt sorry for him and said we could take the bits out of another clothesline and they would deal with the manufacturer. God love them :-))
Monday, September 24, 2007
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Andy's brown thumb
I may have a brown thumb, but if enthusiasm is an indicator, it far outweighs the fact that I have no idea what I'm doing in the garden!!
The weekend was a very successful one in terms of work around the house.
Now .. are you sitting down? I hope so because what I'm about to tell you will shock you. May even render you speechless for a moment.
John didn't go sailing on Saturday, and instead put up the clothesline and installed the doggy door in the laundry.
.........................................................................
Just giving you a minute to digest that piece of information. As unbelievable as it sounds, yes it did happen.
My darling husband did an excellent job installing the doggy door and while Zach and Roxy took a bit of time working out what it was for, they are now enjoying the warmth of the laundry whenever they feel the need to get out of the weather.
The posts of the clothesline are in, giving it the week to cure properly, and then we will put the rest of it up so I can stop using the dryer!! A lower electricity bill will be more than welcome.
While hubby was out the back, I got stuck into the garden bed down the left side of the house. I've decided that nurseries are my favourite places (the plant kind, not the baby kind) and I spent quite a long time choosing what are hopefully unkillable plants. I hear the Nandina's laughing at me now ... from their dirty grave.
Although the plants are quite small now, I'm hoping that they grow up well and the garden bed looks OK. Looks good at the moment anyway .. well, better than the mounds of dirt.
I planted some Kangaroo Paws (which i love) but am hoping that I did enough preparation of the soil as they need good drainage. There are also some other natives in there (the names escapes me right now) but they are pretty cool looking plants.
Photos will follow once the mulch is down this weekend.
The weekend was a very successful one in terms of work around the house.
Now .. are you sitting down? I hope so because what I'm about to tell you will shock you. May even render you speechless for a moment.
John didn't go sailing on Saturday, and instead put up the clothesline and installed the doggy door in the laundry.
.........................................................................
Just giving you a minute to digest that piece of information. As unbelievable as it sounds, yes it did happen.
My darling husband did an excellent job installing the doggy door and while Zach and Roxy took a bit of time working out what it was for, they are now enjoying the warmth of the laundry whenever they feel the need to get out of the weather.
The posts of the clothesline are in, giving it the week to cure properly, and then we will put the rest of it up so I can stop using the dryer!! A lower electricity bill will be more than welcome.
While hubby was out the back, I got stuck into the garden bed down the left side of the house. I've decided that nurseries are my favourite places (the plant kind, not the baby kind) and I spent quite a long time choosing what are hopefully unkillable plants. I hear the Nandina's laughing at me now ... from their dirty grave.
Although the plants are quite small now, I'm hoping that they grow up well and the garden bed looks OK. Looks good at the moment anyway .. well, better than the mounds of dirt.
I planted some Kangaroo Paws (which i love) but am hoping that I did enough preparation of the soil as they need good drainage. There are also some other natives in there (the names escapes me right now) but they are pretty cool looking plants.
Photos will follow once the mulch is down this weekend.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Green thumb?? I think not
OK .. so let's pretend that gardening is all about trial and error. Having said that, I have made an error :-))
My lovely Nandina's that were planted under the front windows have died and slow, and possibly agonising death.
While a few plants dying is certainly not a huge concern, the fact that those plants are supposed to be 'unkillable' is my major concern right now. If I can't even keep a bamboo plant alive, how the heck am I supposed to keep anything else alive??!!!!
On a more positive note however, my wobbly hedge is looking great and growing very well and the roses seem to have a bit of growth on them so ... maybe it's the Nandina's fault??
Will be planting another species in their place over the weekend ... probably a dwarf Hebe. Will posts pics on the weekend.
This blog dedicated to the Nandina lying in the compost mound.
My lovely Nandina's that were planted under the front windows have died and slow, and possibly agonising death.
While a few plants dying is certainly not a huge concern, the fact that those plants are supposed to be 'unkillable' is my major concern right now. If I can't even keep a bamboo plant alive, how the heck am I supposed to keep anything else alive??!!!!
On a more positive note however, my wobbly hedge is looking great and growing very well and the roses seem to have a bit of growth on them so ... maybe it's the Nandina's fault??
Will be planting another species in their place over the weekend ... probably a dwarf Hebe. Will posts pics on the weekend.
This blog dedicated to the Nandina lying in the compost mound.
Monday, September 10, 2007
The clay .. that is now rock
Well, it feels like rock anyway!!
Because the weather was so sensational on the weekend, we decided to spend a day in the front garden. The plan was to level all of the mounds of dirt, and start to get the garden bed on the far side of the house ready for planting.
In accordance with the instruction from my newest friend on TV Peter Cundall, we bought some blood and bone, cow and chicken manure so that we could dig it through the garden bed.
I don't know if you have ever dug clay .. but it's a royal pain in the butt. Of course we appear to have had no rain over the last 3-4 weeks, and when we started to dig, it's as hard as a bloody rock so all it does now is break into smaller rock-like pieces.
Grrrrrrr.
So even though we levelled the dirt (sorry, levelled the rock-like pieces) and put the poo through, I'm struggling to believe that it is going to break down the dirt and make it lovely for the plants.
Not sure if I'm supposed to be watering the dirt/rock/compost/poo or if I just leave it to do whatever it is that it is supposed to do.
Double grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
What a frustrating process. Why oh why can't I win tattslotto and hire Jamie Durie to come and do my landscaping.
Sigh
Because the weather was so sensational on the weekend, we decided to spend a day in the front garden. The plan was to level all of the mounds of dirt, and start to get the garden bed on the far side of the house ready for planting.
In accordance with the instruction from my newest friend on TV Peter Cundall, we bought some blood and bone, cow and chicken manure so that we could dig it through the garden bed.
I don't know if you have ever dug clay .. but it's a royal pain in the butt. Of course we appear to have had no rain over the last 3-4 weeks, and when we started to dig, it's as hard as a bloody rock so all it does now is break into smaller rock-like pieces.
Grrrrrrr.
So even though we levelled the dirt (sorry, levelled the rock-like pieces) and put the poo through, I'm struggling to believe that it is going to break down the dirt and make it lovely for the plants.
Not sure if I'm supposed to be watering the dirt/rock/compost/poo or if I just leave it to do whatever it is that it is supposed to do.
Double grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
What a frustrating process. Why oh why can't I win tattslotto and hire Jamie Durie to come and do my landscaping.
Sigh
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
3 month inspection ... and the road base .....
Well blow me down with a feather, we had our 3 month inspection by PD yesterday. It was actually overdue (on account of us enjoying a leisurely sail around the Whitsundays) and I just can't believe that we have been in the house for that amount of time. I still get excited every time I walk through the door!!
More scary is the fact that there are only 4 more pay checks before christmas!!!!!!! aaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Anyway, we only had a couple of minor things we wanted them to fix, but by the end of the inspection, we had 13 things on the list!!! So glad that the guy knew what he was looking for. Most of it was external stuff (on the brick work) but there was also a couple of things in the tiling that he noticed. Thank you PD man!!!
Now ... on a far more exciting note. Remember the road base that has been sitting in the driveway (that I'm too embarassed to even look at a date to see when it was delivered) .... well ..... it's now down the side of the house!!! I spent all yesterday afternoon moving it (one dam wheelbarrow at a time) and have spread it down the side. Still need some more to get to the end of the house but it's starting to look like a path now. Will go looking at pavers on the weekend and will start calculating costs for getting this side done. Not going to do anything more than a path with some pebbles and will do some potted plants but it should look nicer than an uneven length of clay soil!
This weekend I am going to get back onto the front yard and start getting the soil ready for the garden bed down the side.
My little hedge plants are growing at a great rate of knots .... the Nandina plants however aren't doing so well .. poor little things. Might give them all some fertilizer on the weekend and give it a couple of weeks to see if they perk up. Otherwise .. I think it's off to Nandina heaven for them and I'll find something that I can't kill!!
Oh .. and I'll stop writing wedding stuff on here and update the wedding page. Will gradually update over the next couple of weeks with photos etc and the eventful day!!
More scary is the fact that there are only 4 more pay checks before christmas!!!!!!! aaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Anyway, we only had a couple of minor things we wanted them to fix, but by the end of the inspection, we had 13 things on the list!!! So glad that the guy knew what he was looking for. Most of it was external stuff (on the brick work) but there was also a couple of things in the tiling that he noticed. Thank you PD man!!!
Now ... on a far more exciting note. Remember the road base that has been sitting in the driveway (that I'm too embarassed to even look at a date to see when it was delivered) .... well ..... it's now down the side of the house!!! I spent all yesterday afternoon moving it (one dam wheelbarrow at a time) and have spread it down the side. Still need some more to get to the end of the house but it's starting to look like a path now. Will go looking at pavers on the weekend and will start calculating costs for getting this side done. Not going to do anything more than a path with some pebbles and will do some potted plants but it should look nicer than an uneven length of clay soil!
This weekend I am going to get back onto the front yard and start getting the soil ready for the garden bed down the side.
My little hedge plants are growing at a great rate of knots .... the Nandina plants however aren't doing so well .. poor little things. Might give them all some fertilizer on the weekend and give it a couple of weeks to see if they perk up. Otherwise .. I think it's off to Nandina heaven for them and I'll find something that I can't kill!!
Oh .. and I'll stop writing wedding stuff on here and update the wedding page. Will gradually update over the next couple of weeks with photos etc and the eventful day!!
Monday, September 03, 2007
The Deed of Power has been signed
Well it's done. I am now officially an old married woman :-)
I must say that it doesn't feel that different except when you have to remember what your new name is!!!
The wedding and honeymoon went brilliantly. Will bore you all with more detail over the next few days (change of venue, weather conditions etc) but we are so happy with how it all went. John is a huge spunk and looked gorgeous (as he always does) and both Min and Sarah looked fantastic. There were a few other weddings at Daydream Island on the day and we got lots of comments about how great the colour of the dresses were.
The guests had a great time and we had a lot of laughs throughout the day. Fortunately not many tears were shed .. just enough to make their speech sound sincere :-))
Looking forward to seeing the professional pics but I have put some on here that we got from one of the guests.
And as much as we enjoyed being away, it was lovely to come home to our beautiful house ... with everything still where we left it!!!!
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