Smothered in style?!

Since moving into Hamby Home(in)stead I've been pondering a solution for the large front "garden". 

Actually, it's not so much a garden as a ring of rocks around a number of grevillea and rosemary bushes - and one nectarine tree.  You would think the rocks might prevent the grass and weeds from over-running the "garden". 

Nope.  No such luck.

Our landlady visited recently and used round-up on the grass inside the rocks.  It has died off  but some particularly hardy weeds remain.  We were talking to a fellow today who referred to it as marshmallow weed.  I can assure you there is nothing soft and fluffy about it!

Encouraged by yesterday's rain, Erin and I started to clear a section of the front garden today.  We only managed to reclaim a small area but it's a start.  Later in the afternoon, Vaughan dug two holes and helped plant my chosen ground cover, suggested by a Bunnings staff member who assured me it would "smother" the grass and weeds.  Bring on the suffocation, I say! 

Growing walls (and vegies) ...

Not much has happened to our vegie garden since my last report. Nick suggested raising the walls by adding another row of sleepers but was working night-shift, so had limited time for such missions.

He and I made a trip to Bunnings today and purchased the extra wood.  I also bought various vegie seedlings as only a few of my seeds have sprouted. 

Once home, Erin helped me plant many of the new seedlings.

We had to fudge the recommended spacing a little, in order to fit them all in!

We saved some for Vaughan to plant after school.  He was happy to assist in the digging - and wielding the watering can.  So now we wait.  (And keep watering).  Fingers crossed!

El Toro!

Nick's bonus has enabled various equipment purchases this past week. 

High on the wish-list was a serious lawnmower. 

On arrival at Hamby Home(in)stead the cracked ground was bare, so cutting grass wasn't given much thought.  We do have a mower but it's more of your ordinary, garden-variety (hah) style! 

Nick's been pondering a solution.  Of course, while he mulled over the options the grass grew higher - and higher.  He's been tackling sections with the push mower and reclaimed some of the house paddock but really needed a larger, more robust machine.

When funds became available, the eBay watchlist grew (almost as fast as the grass).  Three machines were particularly favoured and the first of those was won at auction by us on Sunday afternoon - hooray! 

Nick and I drove out to collect El Toro today.  Our landlady's cows are currently in the paddocks adjacent to our house.  Negotiating the driveway (and the cows with their calves) necessitates opening and closing three gates at present.  As we drove out this morning with trailer in tow, the herd crowded along the fenceline and eyed off the trailer hopefully.  They moo-ed loudly, obviously hoping we were bringing some food for them! 

It was the same deal this afternoon, even with the "new" mower fully visible and taking up most of the space within the trailer.  We drove into our house paddock and turned around to see the herd had followed us up.  They stood at the gate - calling loudly and then stayed to supervise Nick putting the self-propelled mower through it's paces.  Maybe they liked the look of our new "bull"?!

Dishin' the dirt!

Nick was paid a bonus over the weekend, which was well-deserved - and much appreciated. We've been putting some of the funds to good use.

The dump shop yielded excellent materials for our raised bed vegie garden (and fence) but we needed some new supplies from Bunnings also - so purchased those yesterday. Nick started construction when we got home.
We laid some mesh along the bottom of the bed and put a rough layer of rubble over that for drainage.

We had two cubic metres of dirt delivered this afternoon.  Actually it's not just dirt - it's "four-way mix", full of compost and various other good stuff.  It's sposed to be good for growing vegies, so hopefully it lives up to our expectations!

We left the chookies locked up till after the truck had left. Once released from their fort, they quickly came over to investigate our dirty deeds - but at least they didn't hinder our efforts too much!

There is more work to be done tomorrow, if the current rain clears. 

Once the bed is done, we can start building a fence around it - to protect our harvest from being prematurely harvested by chookies (or rabbits)!

Lucky Find!

Although jade plants are a symbol of good fortune, I doubt the one at Hamby Home(in)stead had been feeling very lucky.  The ugly concrete pot that housed it was substantially cracked down one side - and the plant was looking decidedly cramped.

I've been pondering a low-cost solution for several months.  A replacement "pot" became available today during another of our dump-shop trips.  (We haven't been for a while and were greeted extra warmly on arrival)!

I was already eyeing off this plastic barrel, when Nick suggested it for the jade plant.  Done deal!  We brought home a lovely swag of loot - all for $25!  (The barrel was probably $5.00 of the total cost, if that).  I like the dump shop!

Bunnings had cheap potting mix, so we grabbed three bags, which was just enough to re-home the jade plant.  I've given it a big drink and am hoping it settles well into it's more generous accommodation! 

Movie-ing along ...

Prior to our relocation a regular school holiday activity was visiting the Heddon Greta Drive-in.  Although prices are charged per vehicle very few patrons actually sit in their car. 

We suffered a little from culture shock on our first visit. There were many people (including adults) roaming around in PJs and slippers. Bean bags were commonly used as outdoor seating. Some families lounged on mattresses.  We felt quite staid sitting in our car - in our normal clothes!

In time we got into the groove with the best of them - converting Elmer's rear into a snug lounge area.  Our thermal cooker held fried rice and chicken drumsticks or other easily eaten fare.  We brought popcorn, lollybags - and our thermoses for hot beverages.

The drive-in pricing was very budget-friendly - $50 for two movies, $70 for three and $90 for four.  I don't recall ever seeing four movies in a row but we would see three on occasion. 

My loose budget for my Hamby Home(in)stead cinema under the stars project is around the cost of a night at the drive-in. So far we're tracking OK. 

The seats were $30 and this week we scored a second-hand video projector for $52 - with 1300+ hours of lamp-life. It (and various gadgetry) comes in a wheeled hard-case and retailed at around $5K a bit over ten years ago.

We have speakers and an amp that may only require a low-cost repair. With luck our camping gazebo walls will do for a screen - stay tuned!


Just for the record, I didn't ever wear my PJs to the drive-in (and neither did anyone else in our family)!

Mr Muscle ...

The hunka-chunka bull is providing lots of entertainment - particularly when he bellows to the cows in other paddocks (at different points of the day and night)!

Today Vaughan went over to the fence for a closer look at the "awesome" bull's muscles.  Of course, no-one is particularly keen to get too close - and that's probably definitely a good thing!

The bull is a Black Angus.  I used to wonder why the prefix "black" was necessary however there is also a red variety of the breed, not surprisingly known as Red Angus!