A real mixture of news

On the water front

I think I may have mentioned before just how laid back and trusting people are here, even so we are both still quite surprised some three months after the plumbers have fixed up the house and there is still no sign of a bill!  Not complaining mind just saying.  However not all is rosy on the water front and it has been a wee bit of a learning curve working out what works best with the system. We are very lucky to have a hot water system which has been programmed to deliver different temperature water to the ablution areas and the domestic areas. In the laundry and kitchen the water is set to reach 70c and the bathrooms it gets to 50c..... excellent no chance of scalding yourself in the shower then. And we can read what the temperature of the water is in the hot water service.... fantastic and very handy as it turns out. Cloudy days mean the roof mounted solar water heater is not heating the water so we have to turn on the hot water tank heater... or suffer a cold shower!

Since the second water tank was installed and connected to the gutters the pump looses power and has to be primed. It's no joke if you are all soaped up in the middle of a shower, the neighbours have been treated more than once to Rick dashing out in my dressing gown (a very fetching lilac and because he couldn't find his own) to prime the pump! Many discussions with the plumbers and a few sleepless nights the thought is this will improve once the second water tank fills up.

Unfortunately it seems very reluctant to fill up even though we have had rain, even one day of non stop rain!! Rick has tried all sorts of things and yesterday flushed the pipes through and hopefully flushed out any blockage which may have been there. Fingers crossed, we now need a decent down pour to test it out. 

The back door saga

You may well remember the months we waited in excited anticipation of the external doors arriving. Which they eventually did only for us to discover the wrong back door had been supplied. Finally the correct door arrived, was duly fitted and coated with special UV resistant sealant. A month or so later Rick fitted new seals to the frames (these were originally supplied to short), it was only then I realised I could still see daylight around the door. Hmmm... correct me if I'm wrong but surely a fire door should actually fit the frame.....

On a closer inspection I realised the door had taken on a banana shape, oh dear. I rang the company who supplied the door and then the local hardware store we got it from and eventually a meeting was agreed for the company rep to pay a visit and inspect the offending door. Which they did yesterday and it seems we are allowed a 3 mm gap but the gap around our door was 7 mm. 15 minutes of discussion later and they have agreed to supply a new one free of charge.

Mice!

We have been warned there may well be a plague of mice this year, something to do with the very long dry season. We know they had taken up lodgings in the shed but I was still very surprised to find evidence of the wee furry critters in the kitchen. 

They had been feasting on our cherry tomatoes and nibbled on a clove of our home grown garlic, obviously on a Mediterranean diet! And left evidence of their wanderings on our cooker... as much as I don't mind them... in the garden... I do object to living with them under the same roof.  This was war and they needed to be evicted... fast.  

I trundled, slightly sleepy, into the kitchen the other morning to find a couple of them partying, they really made me jump, they move so fast! Heading for their nearest exit which happened to be the gap between the window frame and inside wall.... you know where the sill will eventually be.  Without further ado, at Ricks request, I headed into town, sample in hand to find 2 two meter lengths of Meranti sill.

YEAY Mouse escape route headed off and we have the first of many smart new sills

Meranti wood comes in many different colours and by chance this piece (the only sill in stock) just happens to match the cupboard doors. How lucky is that!

The Laundry

Rick has now installed the sink and cupboard in the laundry. We have now two working sinks, which is looking very smart and is definitely worth a celebration.

The view from the loo!

The local carpenter who slabbed our Hill Gum supplied this very smart, and very heavy, block of beautiful Red Gum for the sink for our guest loo. Unfortunately you can't see from the photo the beautiful grain of this wood. I have yet to seal it which will hopefully enhance the amazing colour of this wood. 

A wonderful bonus is the lump of wood cut for the sink to be fitted, which I have now got to feed with Tung Oil ready for using as a... well not sure what yet. Maybe just a thing of beauty to be admired.

In between all these wonderful happenings I've been busy with the spinning wheel. One of the joys of a really rainy day is you can't really work outside. I know being from the Northern Hemisphere I am quite used to working outside in all sorts of inclement weather but here things are different. It's such a great excuse to do some crafty things like spinning. The wheel was obviously in shock from this sudden activity and threw off a nut and bolt which was holding the spool in place! 

And just before the rains arrived we (I use the term loosely here) fitted the all the metal we have to the shed walls and roof. Deb's timing was perfect arriving as Rick started work on the shed and the family building skills once again came to the fore, what a team... I quietly went to put the kettle on for them.