stairs finished

Ok, finally completed the stairs. They feel good, solid and not really wobbly. I can't imagine a better set give the contraints. No hand rail yet, kind of does not seem necessary.

I've kind of made provision for a hand rail, but that involved more design and effort.

Stairs - half way there

Stairs with a few steps

As you can see, three and half steps added. They feel good. Nice and solid F27 hardwood.

beginings of stair construction

Finally, the stairs are going up :)...

stair design

stair design using google $ketch

Triceratops for Louka

Rescued Native

I put this native out the front for a year and it did nothing except slowly die. I move it out the back and it instantly flowered and I have now been rewared with a cherry. It got badly sun burnt one day, but it will recover. I forgot what sort of native it is, but it does produce sweet edible fruit. Hopefully the possums and birds don't find out too soon.

A few large harmless spiders have been busy making webs. Hopefully they will kill a few mossies.

Ferry to Work

I've been planing on catching the ferry to work since day 1. I finally pumped up my bike's tyres and did it. Add about 15 minute to my trip, but worth it, so much more relaxing.

Gum blossom

Graham's mum gave each of us a plant as a house-warming gift. Mine, a lovely Eremophila nivea, died at the beginning of summer. Graham's, a eucalypt, has had buds for what seems like months, growing fatter and fatter. The biggest ones have finally opened. There are still plenty more.

Brewing Myths

I think I have brewed enough good beer to come up with some wisdom about brewing.

1) Use coopers plastic bottles to package your beer. It is impossible for them to explode. They probably will fail around the 10 bar mark (atmospheres) and yeast will stop fermenting way before that - not too sure exactly what pressure the yeast will stop working, but they do recommend you limit your commercial brew tanks to 15m (1.5bar). hmmm I feel this is right for an experiment. I've read that Co2 will freely go between disolved and bubble state at around 6 atmospheres.

2) Never rack your beer. The beer really needs to hang around after primary fermentation stops for the the yeast cells to absorb nasty bad tasting chemicals (diacetyl). Let it sit for about three days before bottling.

3) Don't boil your wort if you are using kit cans. Another waste of time - you will remove the volitiles in the hops.

stepping stones

I finally got around to putting in the stepping stones in the front garden. They were pretty heavy and made me exhausted fairly quickly... They are partially buried ~ %50 so you can get an idea of their size.



It was all too much for the trolley and one of the wheels fell apart on the first stone and that was not even the heaviest. It just kind of popped apart. I'll probably repair it somehow. I ended up using my wheel barrow for the rest - the only problem was I had to lift them, carry them a metre or so and gently plonk them in. I mostly lift with my knees so my knees feel like they are falling apart at the moment - and I have massive knees. My hands are a bit tender as well.

under siege kookaburra

Liz noticed three kookaburras hanging out the back. Maybe the are looking for juicy mice.

It was still there after it got a little darker - maybe it thinks it is an owl.

bird netting for figs

I made up a couple of frames to throw bird netting over to protect the figs from birds. I hope they work as we have some nice figs on the trees. I got the bird netting from www.pestawayaust.com.au Very quick service - arrived in a couple of days.

Bunnings could not help me :( I find them funny - despite their huge store, a few times they have look at me and made polite noises as if I was silly to think they would stock _that_ item. And these sorts of big stores complain that people are buying stuff over the internet.

davidson plum

On the south side of our house - the bit that gets very little sun, I planted a davidson plum. If you look closely at its trunk you can see the tiny plums. Suprisingly, it is growing well here. Hopefully it will be able to dodge the roof as it gets higher.

Close up of a ripe plum - the size of large grape.

I put up some shelves in the Laundry - I think it makes the room look bigger. Liz does not.

Insect that make you jump

This one landed right next to me when I was closing the garage door - it made me jump ;)




Yep around 25cm long and it flies.




My 5 minute google search makes me think it is a male Ctenomorpha Chronus that is probably lost.

front office almost finished

Finally I've just got around to putting this up. Work took 4 days, but it is done (almost - need to hide some power cables).



As you can see I used the Ikea kitchen system - you are looking at just over 4000 dollars worth of kit. I really like their soft close draws.

Obviously the standard bench height of 900mm would be no good, so I used some spare timber flooring to construct a plinth. That reduced it to 760mm. The floor was not exactly flat and level, so I used plastic packers (plastic shims) to pack out a level height. I screwed the cabinets to the plinth so it (plinth) didn't move. Pretty ugly at photo level, but you just don't see it unless you want to make like a mouse.



I've got a bit of tiding up here to do, but you can see how the cables run. The power cables go up through the wall cavity to the power points which are 8cm above the table bench. I put timber flooring right where my feet would hit just so I don't mark the wall with my black soled shoes.



Here you can see I first mounted a strip of timber below the wall cabinets before I installed them. It gives them a nice level and strong stop to rest onto. Below, you can see I put some timber skirting where the wall meets the bench. I sealed them with silicone in case there were any spills. The advantage of the power points at bench level is that we can turn them off at the point to save power.



Walls are never perfect enough to accommodate long lengths of cupboards, so to allow for my convex wall, I put in a timber spacer. You can just see that it is narrower at one end then the other. It is also great for running cables. It allowed me to mount yet another power point for the printer.



Liz helped me put together and install the doors and draws - a long tedious process that is made heaps easier with an battery powered drill used as a screw driver.

Activity Room Fit Out

I've bitten the bullet and started on the activity room. It should be good. I've mounted plywood on the walls for cupboards to hang from and power points to hang through. Liz and Spooky get the desk below the window and I get the corner.

OMG they changed the owner builder rules!

Ok it use to be that to qualify to become an owner builder, you did a 1 hour online course and assesment - I did while eating my evening meal one night - it did cost around $100.

Now, it is like an 8 day full time course ... lifted from fair trading NSW....

The Course comprises units of competency in five sections as follows:

•Preparing to be an owner-builder (OBPERNSW001 Prepare to be an owner-builder)
•Occupational Health and Safety (CPCCOHS2001A Apply OHS, requirements, policies and procedures in the construction industry)
•Drawing, Estimating and Cash Flow (CPCCCM2001A Read and interpret plans and specification; CPCCCM1001A Undertake basic estimation and costing)
•Managing contracts (OBPERNSW002 Administer contracts)
•Managing the work (CPCCCM1003A Plan and organise work; CPCCCM1004A Conduct workplace communication)
A WorkCover Construction Induction Card is a prerequisite for the Course. More information can be obtained from the training providers below, or from WorkCover.

Like I said OMG! I guess too many owner builders making a complete mess of things.

www.maternitysale.com.au

My cousin just lauched this site: www.maternitysale.com.au It is really good and has absolutely nothing to do with building a beach house. On the otherhand, suprisingly there is a link between building and maternitywear.