Fence cleanup and wheelbarrow

The fences along the sides of my property are in pretty poor shape, and one of my neighbors has finally decided to get quotes for replacing the fence between my property and hers. When I read the quotes they made it clear that the fence line needed to be clear of obstructions (which is fair enough). So my wonderful parents came to my rescue, and on the ANZAC day public holiday, they came over and helped me move a large pile of compost (badly overgrown with Kikuyu), and a falling apart barbecue. After about an hour of pulling grass off the compost heap, dad decided that we needed a mattock, so we went to the Bunnings Notting Hill hardware store in search of one. Dad had also seen wheelbarrows at a different Bunnings for a good price, but they didn't have them at the Notting Hill store. So we swung by the South Oakleigh store, which did, and picked up a $40 wheelbarrow. I now realise that the South Oakleigh Bunnings is much larger and has a better range than the Notting Hill store, so I think I will be going straight to South Oakleigh from now on.

It turned out that the wheelbarrow came in parts and needed to be assembled. There were no instructions, so that made for a pretty interesting afternoon! With a bit of help from dad, I got it put together in the end. It is pretty light weight, but for moving around piles of compost, weeds and mulch (which is pretty much all I need it for), it is perfect.

Here are some before and after shots of the fence line:

Before

After

Bathroom wall painted

Last weekend I painted my bathroom wall. The wall only took 2 coats of paint, probably because I was using a much stronger color than for the ceiling.

I didn't do a very good job of the "cutting in" (where the wall color meets the ceiling color),

and when I took the masking tape off the power point it pulled some of the paint off the wall,

so I still have some touching up to do.

However, it was my first time painting an interior wall, so I am pretty happy with the overall result.

I had a go at using a roller for part of the first coat, but I wasn't getting very good coverage, and the area I was covering was fairly small, so I used a brush for the whole of the second coat.

Bathroom Ceiling

I painted my bathroom ceiling last weekend. It turned out to be a lot easier than I was expecting. Painting inside is SO much easier than painting the outside of the house!

I have a problem with paint fumes making me sick, so I used one of the new low VOC paints. I was very happy with the results, the fume levels were so low that with a bit of airing out I have had no problems.

The bathroom ceiling needed to be painted, as the paint had flaked off in a few spots, leaving bare plaster. Plus, I am just so sick of BEIGE.

Step 1: Remove all loose items from room, including curtains.
Step 2: Remove cover over hole in ceiling where old fan used to be, and remove cover from "bathroom buddy" heater/fan unit. My god, what a lot of dust I discovered! I'm glad I was wearing a dust mask.
Step 3: Scrub ceiling with scrubbing brush and sugar soap solution.
Step 4: Lightly sand ceiling to break surface on existing gloss paint (so that new paint will adhere). (Tools used: sanding block, sand paper, dust mask).
Step 5: Put down drop sheets kindly lent to me by mum. Two old worn out sheets, and a worn out heavy weight quilted theatre curtain.
Step 6: Apply first coat of paint. Allow 2 hours to dry.
Step 7: Apply second coat of paint. It is now getting dark, so wait until next morning to review job.

Step 8: Now that I can tell which cracks haven't been covered over by paint, use "builder's bog" to fill cracks. Allow to dry for 30 minutes, then sand.
Step 9: Paint still looks patchy in daylight, so apply third coat of paint. Wait 2 hours.

Step 10: Apply second coat over areas filled with "builder's bog". Looks good now! Wait 48 hours before using room again.
Step 11: (48 hours later). Put cover back over hole where old fan used to be. Replace cover over "Bathroom buddy". Replace loose items. Job Done!

Next task: paint walls.

Before (and yes, the spots are stains on the ceiling):

After:

Tasmania 4

So, back to the Tassie trip.

The drive to Strahan was long, winding and very very steep in places. On one hill, I had to pull over near the bottom, because the brakes on the hire car were smoking! By the time I got to Strahan, it was dark and raining.

I was staying with my parents and their friends in the cottage they had booked. We all had the same list of things we wanted to see in Strahan, so it worked out well.

The next day (first day in Strahan), we were booked onto a Gordon river cruise. We were a bit concerned that the cruise might not run, as the weather was very wet and windy, but apparently that is not unusual for Strahan (annual rainfall of approx 3 meters!). The cruise took us down the Gordon river to Sarah Island. Sarah Island was a convict settlement for "re-offenders", or convicts who committed further crimes after arriving in Australia. The island is very small, and fairly bleak. There is not much of the settlement left, just the foundations. The tour guide told us about the history of the settlement, including the mutiny. The settlement was eventually closed down and a new settlement opened up at Port Arthur. It was pouring rain while we were there (I was very glad of my rain coat and umbrella) so I didn't take any photos.

The next stop was Heritage landing. This is a loop track/boardwalk, through native rain forest, including stands of Huon pines. Apparently Huon pine is very prized by shipbuilders and other wood workers for it's natural ability to repel pests. As a consequence, after massive amounts of logging, there is not a lot of Huon pine left, and logging of Huon pine is now illegal, except for removal of deadfall. At Heritage landing the rain eased off a bit, so here are some photos.

Boardwalk

A section of a Huon Pine

A stand of Huon Pine

Views from the Boardwalk

Here are some views of the Gordon River. The wake from the boat looks very brown because of tannin which seeps into the water from native plants.

I get fairly sea sick, and the water was fairly rough, due the weather. I had taken some seasickness tablets, but by the end of the trip I was starting to feel pretty exhausted. Once we got back to the cabin, I lay down and was asleep for the rest of the day.

Mirror mirror on the dresser

To make up for the gloom of my last post, I thought I would post about a successful DIY project.

The task, remove the mirror from the old and falling apart dresser I was replacing, and attach it to the new chest of drawers I had purchased.

Step 1. Remove mirror from backing (easy, just take the clips off and lift the mirror off).
Step 2. Remove the backing board from the dresser. A bit harder as the backing board was attached to the dresser with two pieces of wood and nails.
Old Dresser

Step 3. Remove the two lengths of wood from the backing board without breaking the backing board (tool employed, claw hammer).
Step 4. Purchase two new, longer, lengths of wood. The length to allow the backing board to sit on top of the chest of drawers, while the pieces of wood were touching the ground (to provide good support).
Step 5. Nail the two new pieces of wood to the backing board.
Step 6. Attach the backing board (and pieces of wood) to the back of the chest of drawers. The method I used was to purchase some metal strips, designed to be bent into brackets, and then bend them into brackets. I carefully measured where I wanted the backing board to sit on the chest of drawers. I used gaffer tape to hold the backing board and lengths of wood in place temporarily. I drilled holes for screws in the sold wood at the top and base of the chest of drawers, then used self tapping screws to attach the brackets (and the strips of wood), to the back of the chest of drawers.

Step 7. Put the mirror back onto the backing. Job done!

Sewage outflow - in my backyard!

Woke up on Good Friday, still with a nasty head cold, and climbed into the shower. My parents, who had very sweetly decided to drop round to give me an Easter egg (but hadn't warned me they were coming, with the result that I was in the shower when they arrived), were unable to attract my attention by ringing the doorbell, so they went around the back to try knocking on the back door. At this point they noticed sewage running over the edge of the gulley trap. Once I got out of the shower and let them in, they informed me of this rather revolting fact :(.

They were able to reassure me that this was a not uncommon problem, and was often caused by tree roots growing into the sewage pipe. Given the recent drought, the local trees may well have been targeting any possible water source, with great energy, so tree roots could well be the cause.

Fortunately the sewage was not completely blocked, s0 I was still able to use small amounts of water, such as washing my hands, or flushing the toilet, without causing an overflow. Given the difficulty, not to mention expense, of getting a plumber out on a public holiday, I decided to put up with the problem until the following Tuesday. I did have motivation for very, VERY short showers tho! Given the water restrictions and drought this was probably not a bad thing :)

Well, the plumber came out on Wednesday morning and cleared the blockage. He wasn't sure if there was also a problem in the water company's main, so he told me to keep an eye on it.

My first experience with something like this. A definite downside to home owning :(.