Look What We Have Done

I have been thinking about all the things we have done in the last year since we bought our five acres up the mountain. While we still have a long way to go, we have also done a lot. The big and most important things have been done (and some small things) and now we can plod along to get the rest of my many lists done in the next twenty years :)

The biggest two things was building a room for our number one and only son, and while not quite finished he can actually live in it, and putting in two more water tanks (important as we have no town water). So we now can be working on the inside of the house. Actually, I can also probably add a clothesline to the most important things we have done list.

We have worked on the old ride on mower, replacing worn out parts and keeping it going, still cheaper to do that than get a new mower, which one day we will have to, but for now we don’t. I really have thank my very handy partner in crime and life for being so smart and knowing how to do so many things :D

We have built (from a blank slate) vege gardens, planted fruit trees in orchard, bush tucker and other native plants. We built our incredibly secure chook pen, put chooks in it and haven’t accidently killed them (always a bonus). We have put irrigation through the gardens and orchard, which will make it so much easier in the dry season.

The things we have planted include:
• Bananas
• Paw paws
• Pigeon peas
• Rosellas
• Strawberries
• Tamarind trees
• Sweet potato
• Potatoes
• Snake Beans
• Wild cherry tomatoes
• Gigantic cucumbers
• Mulberry tree
• Carombola/Star Fruit tree
• Lemon/Orange/Lime trees
• Indian Guava
• Pumpkins
• Various Herbs inc Aloe Vera
• Lychee tree
• Peanut Butter tree
• Custard Apple and Black Sapote (chocolate pudding fruit)
• Various bush tucker for us to eat, and some to attract the birds
• Passionfruit

We built a small yard around the house, are currently building paths so we are not constantly dragging the mud inside, filling holes in the driveway, chopping wood so we can light our fire during our few cold weeks in the middle of the year (yes we are big girls when it comes to the cold)and trying to keep our property clean in a greenie way so the wild ducks, frogs and other wildlife will want to stay here.

There is also the outdoor shower we made looking out over the dam which is connected to bore water, the fire pit which was already here but we cleaned up to make it better.

We put some insulation on the walls inside the house, we have a bit of lino down on the floors but need stacks more, replaced all the door handles in the kitchen, moved the water pump from inside to outside (so much quieter now).

While we have done an awful lot, there is more to be done.
• Plant more fruit trees, vege gardens, bush tucker and natives
• Fence two sides of the property
• Put more floor coverings down
• Get power to our number one and only sons room and put internal walls up
• Replace kitchen sink and a couple of bench tops (this is starting to get urgent)
• Put some cupboards in the bathroom/laundry
• Another water tank off our number one and only son’s room
• Paint the shipping containers
• More paths
• Get ducks
• Put internal walls in the house
• Enclose the veranda
• Build a carport
Some of these things are obviously very long term plans, and of course it is only a short list of some of the main things.

However we are very happy with what we have done in the last twelve months, some of those things were expensive, but necessary to get done as soon as possible. We have now of course run out of money, so will just slowly do all those other things as we can, but nothing is urgent now.

I think I can safely say that the most important thing we did was the water tanks, there was only one here and having the extra two is so much more important than a lot a people can imagine, that is all our water for the house. When the wet season is over there will not really be any more rain for roughly six or seven months, maybe a little, but nothing that will make a huge difference. We will be back to very quick showers and recycling the water in a hundred different ways, these are some of the things that help to make life interesting :)

ON OTHER MATTERS

With price of fuel only going up, and of course we are all watching it at the moment with all the events going on around the world that affect it, Aspiring Millionare wrote a blog about a book on keeping our petrol bill down. We can all use some help.

I was reading this article about the Great Artesian Basin here in Australia and how it could be at risk because of coal seam gas extraction. We can't afford to lose our underground water, they are already ripping our natural resources out but water is life, we can live without many things but not water.

Don't forget that this Saturday is Earth Hour, so turn off your lights at 8.30pm and show your support for the environment, I have signed up. There are also events happening around the place, for example, if you are in Sydney, and go to First Fleet Park on the Sydney Harbour Foreshore, they have entertainment and stuff happening. Go to their site and check it out, and don't forget to turn off your lights :D