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 :(.

Tasmania 3

The next day, my brother and Aunt were flying back home, and my parents and their friends were driving to Strahan. I was also driving to Strahan, but in a separate car.

I headed off mid-morning, and on my way to Deloraine, I stopped off in Westbury to have a look at the Westbury Maze.

I can't say I was very impressed. The maze corridors were very narrow, which was claustrophobic, and I picked up a few scratches on my arms from constantly brushing against the walls of the maze. It only took about 10 minutes to find my way to the center, and 5 minutes back, so it was a pretty easy maze.

After Westbury, I headed on for Deloraine. I randomly ran into my parents and their friends there, (we hadn't planned to meet up) so we had lunch together, and I went to see the Yarns (artwork in silk) exhibition with Mum and M. Dad and H went off to find a coffee shop while they waited. The Yarns exhibition is four large panels of Embroider and silk painting, representing images from around the area. As a (very amateur) embroiderer, it was fascinating to see the various styles used, from cross stitch, to tapestry, to ribbon embroidery and more. For anyone interested in needle crafts it is well worth a visit.

After Deloraine, my parents headed off directly to Strahan, while I decided to stop at Mole Creek on the way. I didn't have time left to visit the Mole Creek caves, but I did have time to stop at the Trowunna Wildlife Park. Trowunna specialises in rescuing injured wildlife and nursing the animals back to health. This means that the only animals permanently resident at the park are animals which were too badly injured to survive in the wild, and animals which are being kept as part of breeding programs to try to preserve species. They have a number of enclosures, including a nocturnal enclosure. While I was there they had spotted Quols, an Echidna, a couple of Bald Eagles (apparently they had been wounded by shotguns, and had trouble flying), and a number of different types of birds.

If you look at the photo above to the right, you can see a Tasmanian Devil lying in the sun. I was fascinated by the shape of the foot, which is almost human in shape.

After wandering around the park on my own for a while I joined a tour, and was shown a number of the animals. I was given the chance to pat a wombat, a koala, and a Tasmanian Devil.

The wombat was rescued when his mother was killed by a car, and was getting close to the time when he would be leaving. The picture shows him being held by the park ranger who was leading the tour.

The fur was very coarse, which makes sense for a burrowing animal.

The Koala I was able to pat was one of a colony kept at the park as part of a breeding program. Apparently Koala's are not found native to Tasmania. This colony came from Victoria, to be kept as a reserve population, during a period when the Koala's in Victoria were being hit hard by an illness.

The fur was a bit softer than the wombat's fur, but still fairly coarse. Definitely coarser than dog fur.

The last type of animal I was able to pat was a young Tasmanian Devil. In this case, the Ranger started by feeding the Devil's in the enclosure. They were fed with whole rat carcases, which a number of the tour group found too disturbing. Tassie Devils are messy eaters! In the end, only myself and one other man were still there (both of us obviously fascinated), when the ranger picked one of them up, and took it out to us to pat.

The fur was the softest of the three types of animal (koala, Wombat, tassie Devil), and was similar to dog fur.

By this time it was getting fairly late, and I still had a long drive ahead of me to reach Strahan by that evening. Trowunna was worth it though, definitely the highlight of my trip to date.

Tasmania 2

Well, I've been a bit slack in updating my blog, but better late than never :)

So, back to the Tasmania trip, before it all fades from my memory.

The day after the wedding I, my brother, my parents and several other relatives did a bit of sight seeing around the area. First we went to Evandale, to see the market. It was actually a pretty good market, with a fair bit of variety. Some crafts, a lot of second hand books, nick nacks, jewlery etc. I bought some nice costume jewlery, and a Georgette Heyer I hadn't read before, called "Footsteps in the Dark". Not one of her best, but still an OK way to fill in time on holiday.

We had lunch in Evandale, then drove into Launceston to visit Cataract Gorge. We started from the end farthest from the basin, then walked along the cliff side path to the basin area.

On the way we saw one of the tour boats that run up the river, and some boys jumping off the cliffs into the water. They kept going for a while, jumping in, then climbing back up. I don't think I would have wanted to try it, there seemed to be quite a lot of submerged rocks nearby.





The Basin area is landscaped in a mixture of English style gardens, and bush walking tracks. The overall affect is very pretty. My parents went for a walk around the basin, and my brother and I took a ride on the chair lift. Which was fun, I find that chairlifts are like a kind of horizontal ferris wheel :) I took a few pictures of the basin from the chairlift.



I had been to Cataract gorge a few years ago, and I was struck by how much lower the water level is. Last time I was there, the basin was overflowing, to the point that the swimming pool and lawn were completely under water, and the lower level path was also under water. This time, after we got off the chairlift (we did the round trip) we did a compete circuit around over the suspension bridge, then back via the lower level path. In the gorge, I could see the water level was way below the normal water line. I know that Tasmania has been in a severe drought, as with Victoria, South Australia and New South Wales, but it is sights like this that really bring it home to me.

The place was still beautiful thoght, and everyone was glad we visited. After the gorge we headed back to Longford, for dinner and sleep.

Friend Test

I have done these on a couple of other friends blogs and I couldn't resist...



Create your own
Friend Test here

Hmm. I have had a friend report that he tried to fill in the test, but that the results didn't save. So, if you have tried to do the test and it hasn't worked, thank you for trying!

Blind Guardian Concert

Last night I went to the Blind Guardian concert at the Forum with O and P. It was a fantastic show. The crowd were in a good mood and the band were excellent. There was no fancy light show or special effects, just really good music. The band worked to get the crowd involved and the crowd was happy to respond. It was easily the best concert I have ever been to, and I will definitely go to see them again if they tour Australia again.

Tasmania 1

I recently travelled to Tasmania, to attend my sister's wedding. I then toured around for a week. Part of the time I was travelling alone, and part of the time with family.

To start with, I was staying with family at a place called Brickendon, in the "Coachmans Cottage".

The place was very picturesque. This is the bedroom I was staying in:

The cottage is one of several on the Brickendon historic farm. The original farm buildings are open to the public (for a small fee).

The primary advantage of Brickendon however is that it was close to the location of the wedding, just outside of Longford, in Tasmania's north.

The wedding went very well, and all the participants and guests seemed to have a great time. I won't be publishing any pictures of the wedding on this blog, as my sister may want to keep them a bit more private.

Window Repair Part 3 (Catch up posts)

It was actually several weeks after replacing the glass before weather and life combined to give me a chance for the next steps...

Step 12: Strip or sand paint on whole window frame.

I discovered that the top layer of paint on most of the window frame was in poor condition, and needed to be stripped back. I used a chemical paint stripper to do this, and discovered that yes, chemical burns hurt! Don't get paint stripper on your skin! If you do, wash it very thoroughly! I got a few small strips of paint stripper on my arm, and immediately got down off the ladder and went inside to wash it off. To be extra carefull, I soaked my arm in a bucket of water (moving it around to "sluce" off any remnant paint stripper) for about 20 minutes after the initial rince. This was probably overkill, but I didn't feel like taking any chances. The result was a mild burn, similar to brushing against one of the metal shelves in an oven. Fortunately I had been wearing safety goggles, a dust mask, and heavy duty gloves, so my arm was the only part of me where I got any burns.

I didn't try to strip all the layers of paint, although in theory I should have done. But the lower layers of paint seemed to be in good condition, so I decided to take a chance on them.

Alas! I discovered that the paint stripper tended to disolve the newly applied putty wherever it came in contact (fortunately only a little). The result was not disasterous, but the putty is no longer so nice and smooth. So note to self: Next time strip the paint off the frame BEFORE replacing any damaged panes of glass.

Step 13:
Once the top layers of paint were stripped, I washed the frame thoroughly with water, and then sugar soap, to make sure there was no remaining paint stripper. I then lightly sanded the frame, and then washed it down again.

Step 14:
During the paint stripping process, a small amount of metal had been exposed. So I painted over these sections with metal primer.


Step 15:
Masking: I masked the window frame with a combination of masking tape and cardboard.

Step 16:
First coat of paint. Once masking was complete, I applied the first coat of paint. I used Wattyl Solarguard, which has a good reputation. I was careful to paint over the putty onto the class a little bit. Apparently this seals in the putty and preserves it's flexibility.

Step 17:
Second coat of paint. This was actually easier than the first coat, as the coverage was better.


Step 18:
Remove the masking tape. A bit more difficult than it sounds on the glass section. The trick is to remove the tape without pulling the paint away from the glass. In the end, I used a ruller and a cutter to cut the paint next to the masking tape, before stripping away the masking.

And here is the final, painted, product! I still need to clean the glass, but I will do that after I have finished painting the wall.

Water pressure good! (catch up posts)

Late last year (after my PC started acting up), I got the rusting iron cold water pipes in my house replaced. I now have actual water pressure! And the water comes out clear when I turn the taps on, instead of brownish red! Although, the water does taste strangely bland now....

Best of all, I no longer need to worry about a pipe bursting and causing a lot of damage and wasting a lot of water.

Loooong time between posts...

Well, it has been a long time between posts, owing to the sad illness of my computer. And the very slow response of the computer shop in fixing it. I made the mistake of thinking that it would be quicker to let the computer shop find the problem, than to try to find it myself. Apparently the RAM module was flaky, and it took several weeks for the shop to find this, then several weeks for the RAM manufacturer to verify this and replace the RAM module (grrrr!).

However, today I finally picked up my fixed PC!

Now that I have re-installed the operating system, and spent several hours downloading security patches, I can read my email and blog again.

Many catch up posts will follow :)

Window Repair - Part 2

Having dealt with the bird in my fireplace (see previous post), and finished my coffee, I returned to the window repair job.

Step 8: Overcoat primer with 2 coats of outdoor paint. Unfortunately, it was raining outside, which made for less than ideal painting conditions.

Still, once the worst of the showers had cleared, I lightly sanded the metal primer, and applied a coat of outdoor paint. It was supposed to be touch dry in half an hour, and OK to paint over in 2 hours. However it wasn't touch dry for 1.5 hours (probably because of the rain and the resulting high humidity), so I wasn't able to put the second coat on until after lunch. Here is the result:

I waited until about 5 pm to let the top coat dry.

Step 9: Use Caulking gun to apply silicon sealer to window rim, then put glass in place. Press down to remove all bubble in sealer.
Step 10: Apply putty. I had done some research online, so I had some idea of what to do with the putty. It was a bit lumpy, so I kneaded it a bit until it was smooth (very much like kneading dough). I then took lumps, rolled them into strips and applied them to the window. The putty reminded me a lot of play dough to work with. Here's what it looked like:



Step 11: smooth down putty. Apparently putty is made up of calcite mixed with linseed oil, so it is recommended that the putty knife be wiped in linseed oil to stop it sticking to the putty. Apparently linseed oil is another name for flaxseed oil, which I had. So I wiped flaxseed oil onto the putty knife and got to smoothing. I think the end result was pretty OK. Probably not as good a glazier would have done, but not bad for a first try.


When the glazier sold me the glass and putty, he warned me to let the putty dry for a couple of weeks before painting over it. So it will be a couple of weeks before I can finish the job and paint the whole frame. Still, I am pretty happy with how it has turned out.