Getting things done

Monday was a good day. No, it was a great day. I wish every day could be like Monday, but we just have to accept what each day brings. Why was Monday so great? Well the day was so warm and enticing, we decided to move a lot of things around the yard.

We started by collecting dirt which was dumped by the side of the road. There was so much dirt from clearing all the drains after the flood, the Council ran out of places to put it all. So they've dumped tonnes of dirt in a clearing, near one of our local streets. It's got a lovely collection of weeds growing on it now, but we take a trailer load of dirt every now and then - plus rocks we find for our drystone retaining wall. While we were there recently, we also found this...

Plant in the foreground is my propagated rosemary

It's a lovely old piece of wood. Could have been a telegraph pole for all we know, but it was very big and took a lot of creative thinking to get it into the trailer, then up a slope once we got home - to it's final resting place. Dave and I enjoyed the challenge and working together as a team.

Timeless

If it's going to end up in land fill, I can't see why it shouldn't find a useful place in our yard. I love the rusted nail (the size of a large bolt) or whatever that metal thing is. And I know the lizards will love the extra hiding space it will create for them.

We unloaded the trailer, full of soil, rocks and the log, stopped for some home made yoghurt for lunch, and then found ourselves starting another project. But first we had to build a plinth.

It begins

We hunted around the yard for some old bricks. I found the perfect amount in a neat pile, gathering moss, and some snails! There's a bit of Toowoomba history in those bricks, as they have "Toowoomba" stamped on the bottom. They were given to us by a friendly Toowoomba resident, but alas, we don't know the story behind them.

A splash of sand

Then I used the old fish tank sand, which has been sitting in a bucket for around 2 years. Sarah often plays with it, but I didn't need much, so I borrowed a little.

Fills the cracks nicely

Then I swept it into the grooves between the bricks, to ensure no weeds grew up between them. So our make-shift plinth was finished. All we had to do now was move a few rocks to get to what we wanted to put on it.

Welcome home

It's been a long time coming (about 5 years here) but we finally found a proper spot for our wedding day wishing well. It was built for us by some lovely relatives, for guests to put their cards in at our wedding. The two other houses we lived in prior, we never managed to find the right spot for it - and it only took 5 years to find the perfect place here.

Our daughter was chuffed to see it close to the back door, rather than down the back. She turned the handle as she had always done in the past. We spoke about what we were going to plant around it and possibly "in" it. The possibilities...

 Needs some TLC

But all that time spent unprotected outside, has left it's mark. You can see some kind of fungus or scale has developed underneath the eaves. And below we've lost some shingles that will either need replacing or be disguised.

The well was built around an old washing machine barrel

I'm all for looking rustic, but I also want the wood to last a bit longer. I've got some clear varnish specifically used for marine applications, which I think will be good protection for this old gal!

Not me - the wishing well. ;)

 Going up!

I would also like to say, no snails were harmed during the plinth construction. Although I'm sure some would say, that's a shame. I just couldn't knock them off. The foundation of our wishing well, had to share with the little things in life too. After all, it's the little things that make the big things worthwhile.

Looking through the arch which has a 3 year old luffa vine

We can see the wishing well from the back door and it's a reminder of how far we've come. Monday was the best day we've had in a while. Not because the other days aren't good enough, we just got in touch with what's important. Family, and getting things done together. It's not always possible, but when it is, we cherish those days.