THE DESK!!!!

For a clean fiver the other day I bought a secondhand desk, it was a bit untidy but very stable, so here is its transformation.........

Plain white paint, from drab to fab in a few steps

Select a few glmorous fabrics

mmmm rosie posie

Semi lay-out before

Lay-out complete, glued in place...

Glass to top it off and looking good, plus a few little trims for the edges and there you go.

A fiver tuned into a keepsake and all ZI had to buy was the sandpaper and the glass, thanks to a healthy fabric stash!!

Photos Phinally!!!

This was a very big gum tree, we removed it because several branches had already fallen off and it had been weakened a few years before by a big flock of pink galahs. Now it is a feature and will be a good spot to do some planting and potting.

The $5 desk I bought from the tip/salvage shop, it was a wooden laminate stuff, just sanded it down and painted it white, today I am picking fabric out of my stash to cover the top also we are dropping the specs around to the glazier to get a piece of glass to top it with. To really finish it, I have some daisy tacks and frills to go around the tatty edges, that should keep Matt away from it X;oD

Awesome brick floor in the garden shed!!!

Work site, for the things I am repairing, this is a set of drawers for the kitchen.

To be a veggie patch and herb garden, using the boxes from the move to keep the soil moist, I will hack them up with the shovel in a few weeks.

To be the compost bin, it is an old cot.

Garden sink, for those dirty jobs.

Put the chooks in and ready to go!!

So there is the pictorial update, hope you enjoyed it and will be putting the fabrics, selected for the desk, up later. See you then X:oD

Victory!!!!

Finally I have found a charger, and yup it is charging the camera right now. Stay tuned for Pics today!!!!

Junk!!!

Or if you may, the trash look, IS OUT!!!! Today as you may know the shed was lined with Bricks. YAY And now all the "shed" things are put away, so this means more yard to garden, and like I said,"a tidy home means a tidy mind" and now the whole thing is comming together well. I am shouting the virtues of doing for yourself, it really makes me feel good!!
Well goodnight for today and more tomorrow XXXOOO

Bricks

Well today my Dad and cousin came over and brought the bricks we bought from the tip shop/salvage shop. The majority were handmade, and probably over 100 years old. They are form a demolished old building of Bourke, I feel really honored to have them. They now line the dirt floor of our garden shed, and look very smashing too (still can not find the camera charger ARGH) hummm ok well lets see how I go with the phone.........nup BIG FAIL, what do I have to do to get some pics on here ARGGHHH, ok well looks like I am off to turn this place on it end.......wish me luck X;oD

Here is a cute little pic of when Archie turned 1, lovely little chubba bubba XXXXOOOO

Wi-Fi

Yes most of you already have your iphones and watchamys, but finally I have set my LapTop up for Wi-Fi, yes still doing the big computer thing, this means I can get some pics, by using the web cam, but nooooo too bright outside to operate my inferior product. So this is what you get instead!!! My ridiculous mugg, I just can not help myself with self-portraits, just how it is.
So anyway, back to the garden, have salvaged some things out of the shed, cot sides and bottom, will do for now to start composting, just twitch them together to make a square and the fourth side is the old chook pen, where hummm that reminds me, still have to give it a onceover to get it set for chooks, will order them today. I have planted some things around the big stump out the front, and now just need to finish laying some bricks around it, just to reduce the weeds, they can be pulled up later and moved along to their next site. Tomorrow we are off to pick up the bricks for the floor of the shed, gosh that reminds me, have a lot of dirt to move before the bricks go in, and a hell of a lot of red dirt out the front that needs moving too, well better get back to work then, have a great day, might see you in the garden X:oD

Photos

So ok I know you're all waiting for pics, I have turned the house upside down looking for the camera charger and/or the other camera!!! Nup not found it yet, damn........Here are some pics of my old garden instead :oD

This is what the back of the house yard looked like when we moved there 3 and a half years ago

And again the back, notice, no lawn, no gardens.

Matt hard at work getting the ground soft enough to take water and plant grass

Front of the yard before the grass was planted

The front!! 3 years later

overgrown after a month of being away and about 15inches of rain

Chook pen, Henry and Scruffy(RIP)

One of our giant successes

The back 3 years later

This was completly barron

When we left it was beautiful, if I go back I will be getting some pictures, so long as the water is kept up to it and mulch is laid twice a year, it should be pretty low maintenance......have a great day X:oD

Bricks

Getting some recycled bricks, salvaged at the tip, going to line the garden shed with them and some red sand(free from the shire). When we eventually get a better shed they can be relaid somewhere else.
Bought some more plants yesterday and also some herbs to start putting in here and there. We love to walk around the yard and have a "smell fest", stopping off at little special spots and picking some smelly things, even better too they try it and sometimes like it. "they" are my 2 little boys.
So back to the bricks, the garden shed has a dirt floor, I am going to dig it out and level it up with some loam/red sand. The bricks will just be paved over that with the edges of the shed holding it all together. I think it will do the trick just fine. With the left over dregs of paint I have left, it may even get a coat of that too.

Oh and it is raining today, it is just lovely, and good saoking rain too. I know the season is a bit odd at the moment but it is a great replenisher for the outback, wildflowers are going to be blooming gorgeous this year, come and see for yourself ;oD

Blank page.

This is the start of a long blogg, there is a lot to do and thankfully it is almost a blank page!

Little thought first.....

So like everything I do, some things take time, and thought, and things like plants. I think the "guy" that has the plants here is going to have a stall tomorrow, so down I will go and barter with him and maybe hagglle a little. Also I think a trip out to the farm for some rocks might be in order too mmmmm any suggestions on the type of paths, I am thinking some herbs planted in the gaps would be good, ok I am brain storming right going to draw up a plan!!! BRB

Ok, so all of the fence is painted now, time to get back to work inside, it is a fair bit warm here today. Good day for more cupboard building, Flat pac furniture is good, though there is a fair bit of work to get them together. If you do a good job at it you get a long life out of them, the mieser in me is everywhere :o/

Tidy home, tidy mind!

8am: So yesterday evening I went beserk and did my darndest to sort out the mess that is suposed to be our sleepout, knee high in boxes and bags and things we just put there after the big move. Now it is a splendid playroom and spare room, and don't I feel better for it :oD
11.40am: So now I am resting after I have finish painting the fence aaaahhhhhh, oops the undercoat of the front is finished ;oP I will put some pics up soon. Stay Tuned......

Topsoil

Most local councils will drop topsoil on the nature strip for little to no fee, just move it before they come and pick it back up, lol they will if you leave it too long as it is a pedestrian hazzard. I am going to look into getting some manure, either from the showground or a farm with a shearing shed, bit of work to get it though it wont cost you a cent. :oD
And I was given some remanents of white paint, I put it all in the one tin and got it tinted, free paint and $3 for tint, I really am a meiser :o/

Welcome :oD

Over the next 12 months I am going to be transforming my bare lawn into a bird haven, veggie patch and chook pen, there will be a bit of lawn left, the boys have to play somewhere.
I am driven by the need to save money, doing so has made me realise that saving money helps save the planet. Growing your own veggies cuts transport carbon and cooling costs, filling in your lawn with native plants attracts native birds and lizzards, also less mowing and less fuel, so it seems to make sense to do both, save money and the planet.
So to start with we have scraped up all the bindies and burrs, mown the wild grass and getting some native plants in-
Emu bush, wytringer and a grevillia.
I will get their full names so you too can find them, they are only 1.5 meter bushes as we don't want huge trees sapping too much moisture from the soil and planted too close to the house, large trees can cause costly damage.
We have been delivered 2 loads of topsoil and spread it over to add needed sand to the clay soil mix, also to fill in the many holes left by 5 years of tenants dogs. Very happy to be looking after it ourselves now :oD
This blog will also contain little of what we are doing in the way of renovations, big changes here at 4 Sturt St.
Hope to help with any info I can.......chat soon ;oD