Month: February 2019

Every woman needs a She-Shed

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A couple of months ago we started a project on the Rock Farm to make a Potting Shed, to store Jo’s gardening bits and pieces.  In order to build Jo’s She-Shed, Jo had been collecting second hand iron, fence palings, doors and windows for a while.  With the other shed getting cluttered, the timely visit of Jo’s parents and my brother made the time was right to turn her plan into reality.

Whilst the shed was to be clad and finished with recycled (upcycled?) materials,  for ease of construction I requested new material be used to build the frame.  Jo was keen to get stuck in and do most of the construction herself, which was fantastic.  Although I must admit she did seem a little too comfortable with the nail gun!

The frames were fabricated in sections on the floor of the shed, and brought down on the back of Myrtle, the big red truck.  Jo’s dad, a retired engineer, ensured that everything was braced and square.  As more and more bracing was added, I felt confident that the whole structure was extremely solid.

We wrapped the frame in some excess sarking we found in the shed.  This should reduce the drafts.  We haven’t insulated the she-shed, but we did later line the shed with plywood sheeting.

We sourced the windows from the local recycling yard for $20 each.  Our original design was modified as the windows we initially chose didn’t fit in the horse float.  These old timber windows were extremely heavy, and I appreciated my brother’s help to lift them into position.

The cladding was a combination of old Lysaght Corrugated Iron, and old hardwood timber palings.  The timber was rather easy to split, but mostly held up to to being attached with galvanised nails.

We found a couple of old posts for the front lean to in a paddock.  Unfortunately they were too short to reach the ground, so we improvised with a couple of old 44 gallon drums filled with old broken bricks.  The end result is an extremely solid structure I am confident won’t go anywhere for a long time.

The doors were out of an old office block.  Again, they are extremely heavy solid timber doors that cost a pittance at auction.  We bought some new door furniture as none of the original mechanisms worked.

We have since put some flashing on the roof and installed a gutter.  The last job is to pave the front area and build a step into the shed.

The internal fit out was left to Jo.  We found an old table lying in the paddock under an Elm tree.  The timbers of this ancient table were protected somewhat by a galvanised sheet placed over the top.  After removing the resident Huntsman and Redback spiders, we brought the table into the shed.

I am glad we saved this table from the elements.  I often wonder with old pieces such as this what their history was.  It is a little wobbly, but we were able to prop it up and make it reasonably flat.

It didn’t take long though and the she-shed was rearranged.  Old bookshelves and dressers that had been cluttering up my shed were relocated and set up in the newly lined she-shed.  Jo has since slowly set it up with a place for everything, and I am happy that I have space back in my shed too.  It has been a great little project that we both have enjoyed working on.

Which means that now I’ll have to start work on the next project… the carport.

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Doing nothing often leads to the very best of something

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The Summer Holidays are a magical time for most kids (big and little).  The pace of life slows and you can enjoy lazy days without the guilt that normally comes with an afternoon of idleness.

As Winnie the Pooh said “Doing nothing often leads to the very best of something”.

The run of fiercely hot 40 degree days over January, often led to us doing nothing.  Well not quite nothing.  We enjoyed a few afternoons inside the air-conditioning watching family movies or the Cricket.  And it was time well spent – well except for the Cricket perhaps…

In between the hot days, we got the occasional summer storms. These kept the grass (and the weeds) growing.  I took the opportunity to spend a couple of hours slashing thistles with the trusty mower.  This paddock was all thistles 12 months ago when we moved in.  I slashed the paddock twice last summer, before the majority of the heads had gone to seed (https://rockfarming.com/2018/01/04/managing-thistles-on-the-new-farm/).  This year there was a remarkable reduction in thistles, and I am hoping to continue the downward trend on thistle numbers. A special thanks also to my old man who sweltered through a few hours chipping out thistles in the next paddock. I fear this will be a continuing challenge on the Rock Farm.

The sheep and the cattle continue to turn grass into manure.  Before Christmas, we put some of the larger lambs in the freezer.   The combination of no stress for the animal and good grass made for some delicious dinners.  We slow roasted a couple of legs in a camp oven over some hot coals and shared the meal with friends – a most enjoyable way to appreciate some of the harvest from the Rock Farm.

Lucie the Tractor has been hard at work over the summer – but finally something had to give.  The steering arm bolts finally stripped the tread from the casing on the left front pivot.  Pulling the front axle apart revealed the extent of the damage.  Some new thread repair inserts have been ordered, and I hope will make a permanent repair.

The summer storms have caused a welcome distraction.  Providing relief from the scorching summer, they have also come often enough to keep the grass alive and growing.  The creek has risen a couple of times, necessitating repair to our electric fence ‘floodgate’, but that has been part of the adventure.  The boys love testing the depth of the creek against the height of their gum-boots, and the dogs love just being part of the fun.

In between, there is plenty of time to get on with the most important part of the holidays.  Having fun. 

The boys have tinkered in the shed, turned petrol into noise on their motorbikes, and relaxed in our hillbilly pool. One day they disappeared and made the most amazing tree house / fort in a dry creek bed. Good job they get hungry, so they return home for meals!

 

A couple of the storms even had the creek flowing, after being dry for almost 12 months. We took time to teach the dogs a variant of Pooh Sticks. I think they love splashing in the creek as much as the kids do!

We even managed to escape for a couple of nights camping at Blowering Reservoir.  It is hard to find an excuse to leave the Rock Farm, however sometimes it is nice to get away where you can’t be looking at jobs you need to do, or projects to start.  It was fantastic to set up camp and have nothing to do. We were able to read, play board games and simply hang out, which was just wonderful.

Three glorious nights swimming and kayaking in the reservoir, just a few hours from home was what we needed to complete the school holidays and bring our focus onto 2019.  This year marks the beginning of high school for the youngest helper – and it was lovely to celebrate the commencement of this phase in his (and our) lives with some time away with just the four of us.

As enjoyable as it was to go away, it was even better to come back home and sit back and watch the sun set over the Rock Farm.  We have some exciting changes planned for the Rock Farm this year and we look forward to sharing them with you.