Chook’s–another hot day

Another hot day for the chook's with more to come but they cope well in the shade of what we call the cottage garden in the back corner of the yard.

Misty is currently being treated for scaly leg, let's hope it clears up.

Garden steps - part 5 continued

Got the second coat done before the sun comes come's over the house.

Shark Rotator–another play

Had another trial walkabout with the beast. It takes some effort to push/pull the thing around and it say's on the front 'clean all those hard to reach areas easily' - not sure about that. Anyway...it's main purpose is to clean and it certainly does that!

Above: The canister is easy to remove and empty.

Luna has a new sleeping buddy

Garden steps - part 5

Waited for the relative cool of the evening to give the steps the first coat of paint. To dark to bother with photos so missed the funny antics when Luna who was out for her evening stroll walked down the freshly painted steps. With ET behind trying to grab her it was all arms and legs and now we have paw prints on ET as well – LOL

Foxtel Go - working again

Don't use it much but it's always worked - until recently.

Above: Script error when I click the login button.

Garden steps - part 4

Above: We can start doing the right side.

Garden steps - part 2

Above: Using a off-cut to assist the dig out.

Garden steps - part 3

Above: Continue on with the second step which turned out to be a half step as I couldn't fit in two, a bit odd but not to worry.

Garden steps–new project

For sometime now been contemplating putting in some steps between the Lilly Pillys near the gazebo. The ground simply transitions like a ramp down to the lower level and can be quite tricky to negotiate in winter - slippery when wet.

Shark Rotator

Rotator setup, tested and ready for the next cleaning session.

Bluetooth keyboard

Pendo Bluetooth keyboard $15 - while at Target got one of these for the Wi-Fi tablets, here it's connected to the Lenovo. Later I'll check that it works with the two Pendo 7" tablets.

ET setting up her TV

Cat scratching box

Luna loves her new scratching box.

Pitfield makeover 12

Continuing on with making the spa cover I’ve reinforced the corners with paling off-cuts.

The whole thing now holds it’s shape quite well when picked up and moved around.

Pitfield makeover 11

Next job is to clean up the spa area and for me to make a new cover. I’ve already been working in that area to cut down and remove the spa pergola and the main reason for doing that job at that time was to have some more timber available to build the spa box – which was the last job.

The spa was never used, all that’s left of the cover is deteriorating Styrofoam panels.

Pitfield makeover 10

Moving on from the sides last stage with this job is the front.

Like the top it needs to be removable to access the spa equipment. I’m down to the last of the palings including a few warped ones.

Pitfield makeover 9

Having completed the spa top cover we can move onto boarding in the sides. About to add a couple of back supports for the palings to screw onto.

Not everything is square here so decided to play safe and ‘screw tack’ the palings on to get the spacing and other stuff right, then run a pencil line down each front pine support for cutting to length.

Pitfield makeover 8

After some planning and trial layouts we now have a very sturdy frame.

Cocoon Outdoor HD Wireless IP Camera

 

Purchased this last Wednesday so it’s time to unpack and have a play with it here on the balcony computer desk, setup everything and then take it out to the chook run.

Pitfield makeover 7b

Next job on the list after demolishing the spa pergola is to hide the spa equipment itself to make it more presentable for sale.




Had some thoughts about using fence lattice but we need to do better than that. Just trying to keep the costs down, what else do we have on hand?

Pitfield makeover 7c

One thing I noticed previously and nearly forgot about is that the spa air switch needs attention.



The nipples have broken off with the ends still in the plastic tubes.

Pitfield makeover 7a

We also have some K9 helpers on the job site.

Mindy

Pitfield makeover 6

In between the bigger jobs I’m also taking care of the - smaller jobs. When cleaning up the side of the house I noticed that the garage side door does not close and lock properly. That’s the door behind today’s painting team.

Pitfield makeover 5

Moving on we need to remove the spa pergola as part of the clean-up.

  

Cutting the beams with a power saw – straight forward.

Pitfield makeover 4

After cleaning up the side of the house we now move around to the back to continue the ‘demolition’ work.

   

Picking up from the clean-up along the side and turning the corner we need to remove that illegal timber gate that somehow became part of the spa fencing.

Pitfield makeover 3

Moving on from the gate repair next job is to clean up this side of the house that has beams between the house and the fence with shade mesh on top.

  

Remove all the rotten beams that sloped down from the fascia to the top of the fence along with the shade mesh and drill out the joist hangers that were pop riveted to the fascia.

Pitfield makeover 2

Painting team following up the next day after I repaired the side gate.

Pitfield property makeover 1

Big project for the next few weeks to help the older daughter prepare her property for sale. We have a job list so loaded the car last night and hopefully thought of everything I might need.

Chooks - first introduction

Decided it's time to introduce Bella, Peaches & Honey to Misty & Speckles. 

Chook annex rebuild - Part 11 Final

Ridge capping to complete

Dropped into Bunnings on the way back from Waverley Gardens to buy some ridge capping for the annex. Need a 3 metre length but the only had 2.4’s so ended up buying 2 @ $34.43 each.

Chook annex rebuild – Part 10

Wire barrier skirt - Finishing

Weather didn't look to good this morning and surprised it cleared as well as it did so back out to finish stapling the wire skirt to the base timbers so we can screw on the plinth boards. The final bit for this phase of the job is to back-fill and level the soil - all of a sudden the site looks neat and tidy.

Finished along the back, Speckles and Misty are inspecting the job.

Chook annex - Part 9B

Finishing the gate

Gate accessories fitted and final strip of cage wire on the left stapled down.

I'm using 150mm fence palings as plinth boards around the base and when I paint those I'll also do the left jamb. Before I fit the boards I'll dig out around the base some more and bury all the left over wire as a fox barrier.

Chook annex rebuild - Part 9A

Wire Barrier Skirt - Prepping

Finished painting all the plinth boards yesterday evening and today more digging so we can lay down wire mesh around the annex base. In for a break now which could be an extended one as it looks like rain is on the way.

Dug out the front and....

Chook annex rebuild - Part 8

Finishing the gate

Wire is stapled on and we are ready to hang the gate.

ALDI - Outdoor HD Wireless IP Camera

A

Off to ALDI tomorrow to get one of these for the chook run.

Ponytail Palms – self watering pots

One of  our Ponytails is not doing well so while at the Caribbean market on Sunday purchased another one from Jayson @ The Greener The Better. Jayson suggested the problem might be too much water and to e-mail some pictures to him for a better look.

Above: The one on the left is not doing well and the other could be heading the same way.

New chooks–day four

Bella (white) Peaches and Honey busy doing their thing.

New Pekins–day four

Day four and the new chooks are providing plenty of entertainment.

Holly – relaxing

I'll get moving later in the day...no hurry.

Chook annex rebuild - Part 1A

Planning to rebuild

The main chook run has a annex which is one of our previous gazebo's with wire mesh around the sides, chicken wire above and a tarp over that.

I'm going to pull all that down and rebuild the annex (same as the main run) with star pickets, poles, pine framing with gable and a poly roof - and new gate/door.

New chooks – day two

Day two and the little Pekins (Bella, Peaches & Honey) are settling in well - so entertaining!

Chook Cam - temporary setup.

Setup a wireless colour camera in the run to monitor the little girls with the receiver connected to the Soniq 32" TV in the kitchen/meals area. As posted earlier I'll get the Cocoon Outdoor HD Wireless IP Camera from ALDI next Wednesday.

Chook camera.

New Chooks 2015 – Day one

First full day at Meadowbrook Mansion for the little chooks, lots of playtime, eating & drinking, resting - repeat the cycle. Got a bit confused at bedtime by the look of it, seemed to be settling down in a corner outside their box LOL so we went and guided them in.

New chooks–first night

First night at Meadowbrook Mansion for the little Pekin bantams.

Didn't take long for the little ones to find their accommodation, been in there for a few hours now.

Buying some more bantam Pekins

Off this morning to Abundant Layers in Emerald to get three Pekins, 2 x buff and 1 x white. Spent the last couple of days building a box for them for the integration period and fencing off one end of the run. Samsung Galaxy is on charge so had to use the little Kodak M753 for the first shots.

New Pekins 2015

The chook box is done so that's accommodation out of the way, now we can move onto putting up some framing with wire mesh so they have their own area.

Preparing for new chickens

We need to provide accommodation for the new girls (looks like three) during the integration period. Previously I used a timber dog kennel rescued from hard rubbish but that was years ago and it's been lying around unused, so I put it back out (where it come from) for the last collection - not knowing it would be needed again.

No need for anything fancy as it will only be used for about a month, I'm using plywood panels that I saved from a dismantled vintage 60's wardrobe.