Bees anyone???

Can you see them??? There are heaps :)

Couple of weeks ago we noticed all of the sudden that we had allot more bees coming and visiting our block... We had no idea where they were coming from but knew that they were thirsty as they attacked any bit of water we had lying around for our poultry...

We then found a wallaby carcass and wanted to give it to a neighbour as he uses them in his traps. It was there that I discovered that he was the one with the hive. Must have brought one over from his other block from across the highway. Anyway we were happy to know where they belonged and happy to have them around :) Half the hive left the other day though in a big swarm. I had heard about swarms but never experienced them. Boy were they loud with their buzzing. Shame there was not tree on our land for them to go to... I wonder where they ended up. They were on their way to another neighbour but who knows where they eventually landed...

Cheers Damaris

What to do???

Joshua having fun in the sun :)

So what does a young boy do when it is really hot and the bucket under the tank overflow is full???

Get in it off course. :)

Cheers Damaris

Oops, now what???

Hose ends ready for the joiner...

This bits don't help. Will have to buy a joiner on Thursday...

I mowed about last week and had to change the chooks water this morning. Well that was not happening today. We are currently giving them water from the bore tank... I mowed over the hose and didn't even realise... I got the hose about five metres from the bore attachment so at the moment have about 85 metres of useless hose sitting in my yard... How silly am I.

Today I was supposed to also Gerni the outside of the house and wash the outside windows. Another job that has to wait till the end of the week as on Thursday I go into town and will have to get a joiner for the hose then. I am rather annoyed with myself I must admit for doing something so foolish... Well one learns I guess...

Was the perfect overcast weather today too to be doing it. Never mind there is always Friday :)

On a brighter note, am off to Craft group this morning... Have not been for four weeks due to appointments and two weeks school holidays. Can't wait to get there. :)

Cheers Damaris

Dishwasher back from the dead...

Loving my dishwasher, at the moment anyway...

I have had my dishwasher for 2.5 years now and only really been using it for about six months. Other than that it has been either getting fixed or just sitting there. By getting fixed I mean that it needed a new motor. Anyway, even when we got it back it still didn't wash the dishes properly on the top shelf. I ended up giving up.

So two weekends ago I begged Russell to please either get it fixed once and for all or get me another one. I had had enough. It was sitting there doing nothing. I still have 2 1/4 years left on my warranty too which is good at least.

Russell thought that he would just load it up and see what happens. Well wouldn't you know it, it worked just fine. :) It has been working really well ever since. At the end of each week I do make sure that I totally clean out all the filters in the bottom of the dishwasher but other than that all is well. I just hope it keeps working like this. It only uses 13.5 litres of water and very economical. A saver for me after meals. Another battle I don't need or want. Helps keep my sink even more shiny now. :)

Cheers Damaris

Such a shame...

Thank you Lord, our tanks are full...

Since late last week we have had ongoing showers here. During the night and during the day. Night time seems to be when they are heavier. Left overs from the Cyclone up north apparently. We are loving the wet all the same.

The only problem is when my two house tanks are full, they start to overflow and the water just runs away. I have been trying to wash as much as I can and have another two loads to go but then am all out... We even flush after each visit to the toilets at the moment. Normally we have that rural rule: If it is yellow let it mellow, if it is brown then please flush it down...

The garden is loving this and so are the ducks. They come out of their enclosure of a morning and just go to the nearest puddle and then just go from one to the next just about all day. Love watching that. :)

So am thinking seriously about another tank. That way the overflow would go into the third tank and when the other two are low I can flick the tank and have the water flow back into them. That way I avoid having to get another pump and plumbing in the tank. I don't want to upset the applecart so to speak. All is working just fine at the moment...

Will get some prices this week I think...

Cheers Damaris

Square Foot Gardening update...

Zucchini plants taking over...
Corn not tall but already forming small cobs...

It has been a while since I have mentioned the garden bed so thought I would take that opportunity today... Went out there yesterday and took a couple of photos as we have had constant on and off rain here for the last three weeks.

I have not had to do any watering at all during that time... The rain has been doing that for me. It was not growing too crash hot at first off course as we were rather late in the season to be starting and the heat was right on us. There is off course also no shade at all as we have not bushes or trees as yet. So they were suffering a little.

Now, the zucchini has taken off, all three plants are huge and the veggies are coming on as well... The cherry tomatoes are starting to form after a huge load of flowers came and went. The corn has bolted and the plant is tiny but is already producing corn. I will not be planting this again. Too much water is needed for corn and the early heat in its life cycle stunted its growth. The carrots didn't survive as I mentioned before. The flowers I put in didn't fair well either. The rosemary was moved as it was in way too much shade from the zucchini plants. The rockmelon is still there and tentacles are coming so hopefully it will keep growing up and over the edge and spill over that way.

Lessons learnt: Well I will not be putting in three zucchini again... One maybe two and only one in each four squares. They need allot of room and being in that beautiful growing medium means that they are even bigger growers... I am in the process of emptying my freezers at the moment as I will be making allot of zucchini slice, meatballs with zucchini etc in a very short period of time. I was tempted to get the first one yesterday but left it as it could do with another day or two on the plant. In future I will plant a rosemary but not in the garden bed but rather near it so it has a chance to grow and attract the bees that are so needed for pollination. Corn will also not be grown. I am thinking about maze though as it freezes really well also for future use.

Russell and I are sitting down together so see which seeds of ours are still viable and what we need to order from Green Harvest to ensure that we have a great rate of germination in the new greenhouse too. Will be interesting how that all goes.

OK, so this is my last post until next Sunday. I am off to Straddie and will not have access to the Internet at all. I am going on respite with my two sisters which has been planned for over a year now so am really looking forward to it. So off I go and pack Brad (my car)... :)

Cheers Damaris

My Bathroom...

My two-way Bathroom

In my last house we had an ensuite in our house. This was not to be in this one as I didn't want to have to clean two bathrooms. What we did instead was have the main toilet on its own. Then next to that we put the bathroom which as a shower in with the bath. Saves alot of room that way, and plumbing.

I still wanted my own toilet as the boys are getting bigger and have their friends over and frankly I didn't want to share with them... How picky is that.

Well I ended up with a toilet in the bathroom. There is plenty of room for all and the bathroom vanity has enough room for all the usual on top and underneath. There is even room for a couple of plants.

When choosing the tiles Russell had a go. He has never done it before and really wanted to choose the Toilet and Bathroom tiles. I was a little dubious I must admit but in the end he did a really great job. It is a cool blue and the tiles around the bath and shower area are classic white.

One other thing that was different from building this house to the other two was that this house had ceramic toilet seats, bowls and lids. How great was that. I always hated the plastic and these ones are sooo much easier to keep clean.

I just spent the last two days and one night away in Brisbane with a friend at another friend's place and it is amazing how different the plumbing makeup of that house is. It was built in the 70's. Lovely and big, but the water wastage is horrifying. The flush just keeps gushing water. The shower was not water saving either and the pressure was amazing. Water gushing into the sink. My friend is renting and had previously asked to have these all changed but the owners won't. What a shame. They could save so much water.

It is not just us rural folk that have to watch out about water usage. Yes we are on tank water but the city water doesn't have an endless supply either. Just because you can't see the water doesn't mean that it is always going to be there.

I really love our bathroom setup and really believe what they say. 'You need to build three times before you get it right.' How true...

Cheers Damaris