Creative destruction

Behind the chicken coop - can you see the swale?

If you remember this image, from the "Do nothing" post, I said we were in the midst of making some creative destruction, in this area too. Part of the reason it's overgrown at all, is due to poorly designed access. It was started many moons ago, when we first dug the swale, but never finished properly.

Do nothing

Nature is knocking at the door

Born out of a lack of time, too much land and aspects of weather, I don't always get outside when I need to. Some weeks, months or even years later, I return to particular  locations, and find an overgrown jungle. In the past, this frustrated me. Only because of the thought of having to pull it all out, and starting again.

Update on Compost

New structure, next to the bridge

I first introduced our new compost gully, on the other website, over a month ago. You would have seen it posted on this blog, just yesterday though. I wanted to update, how we're still tweaking the design using more sapling trunks. David installed a teepee structure, to help support the pumpkin vine. It's still growing quite well, during winter. I think the warmth from the compost breaking down, helps.

Compost gully

June 2008 - first bin

When we started composting on our land, we thought a large standing compost bin, was the way to go. The kind with multiple bays. We built three, out of recycled pallets. It was appealing, because we had the opportunity to make a large batch of compost, in one go. Unfortunately, we weren't generating enough of all the different ingredients to make a substantial batch.

Aerial view

2007 - initial front terraces, as the house was under construction

We've been living on our 5 acres of bushland, for twelve years now. Easter, was the anniversary of moving in. Our leap into large-scale gardening, happened to coincide with the cultural celebration, for new life and new beginnings. Easter. Since this cultural celebration, just passed - it was fitting to share an areal view, of what all that Natural Sequence Farming, Permaculture and Natural Succession Gardening, has achieved during that time.

Switcheroo

Hi folks. I've not been blogging, due to some big decisions, which have unexpectedly emerged in our lives. One has to do with my new website. After several months waiting on Weebly, to fix a bug in my comments box, I've still had no success. No follow-up contact, either. Now they aren't returning my inquiry emails. So I've decided to stop blogging about our property, there.

I could have changed hosting companies, like I was intending to, later. However, another big decision was going to affect that too.

~ Late May ~

time for fledgling kookaburras, to leave the nest

For now though, please bear with me, as I gradually migrate the four property related posts, back here. Where I also intend to finish the second part, of the last post - about Resilient surprises. That was left hanging for a while.

I'll try to post one-a-day, so I can be all caught up, for the next bit of news to share.

It's been crazy around here lately, with more crazy to come. So if I don't sound like my normal self, it's because I'm not really dealing with normal, at the moment, lol.

I hope you're all doing well.

Leaking money

I'm back from La-la land, where people go to be sick. Over a month, taking care of kids and then nursing myself back to health, I'm finally regaining my senses enough to tackle some challenges, head-on. Like how NOT to spend money, where I don't have to.

In the kitchen, I've had an ongoing problem for over 3 months now. Which I've been trying to find an economical solution to...

Something broke!

How much would you expect to pay, to fix a leaking dishwasher drainage hose? In our case, it was going to cost around $300. Gasp, right? It comes down to one company in the region, who only fixes Smeg dishwashers. They have a business to run and need to be profitable, but I won't spend $300 to fix a hose, without exploring alternatives first

Having already spent $120 for them to investigate, and determine the problem, it was educational watching how to dismantle parts of the machine. However, instead of paying them another $180 to finish the job, I was going to find the part myself, and see if I could install it. After all, how hard could it be to replace a piece of plastic?

A requested, ginger-kisses cake

In the interim though, there were two birthday parties to organise, and a bunch of other important stuff, I won't mention to save time. Needless to say, 3 months can pass very quickly. But in all honesty, I was really dragging my tail (intentionally) when I had gaps of spare time available.

In those 3 months, I may have located the part online, organised shipping, watched countless instructional videos, and nursed us all back to some semblance of cognitive health - but I still wouldn't tackle the dishwasher. I was stalling. Everything was ready. Why did I hesitate?

Some business to attend to

FEAR! The machine may have only been 5 months out of warranty, and just over 2 years old, but I still had a dishwasher valued near $2,000. I'll tell you why we even considered paying that much in a different post. Needless to say, I felt like a rookie in the big leagues now, and understandably anxious to make the first move!

The instructional videos I was able to watch, were only for generic brands. So not exactly confidence boosting. What I gleaned from the technician we paid to determine the problem, only showed me how to separate plastic joints, without breaking them. That gave a little more confidence, but I still had no idea what I was going to be facing, underneath. Especially since the part I was replacing, looked slightly different to the ones in the video.

Unfortunately, I couldn't avoid the stainless steel elephant in the room, any longer. Seriously. Christmas was coming! So I dragged out the tools and parts (above) which the instructional video, recommended, and put my head down to work.

The test run

Ironically, the multi-grip and hose clamps, turned out to be of no use, at all. Just a simple screwdriver was needed. Plus a lot of patience. As what I was planning for taking the machine apart, turned into dismantling, underneath the sink too. Thankfully, not the plumbing. Just everything I stored around it, blocking access to the hose clamp.

I'll spare you the details of my rookie, learning curve - but it was laughably easy to replace, in the end. Every step was less complicated, than the instructional video outlined. So I guess, Smeg still designs its machines for simplicity. It was tempting afterwards, to reprimand myself for letting fear control the schedule, almost every step of the way. But I realised there was some logic to it, as well...

Sweet victory

Those three months, gave time to watch a lot of instructional videos, get the best price for parts online, and accomplish a bunch of other stuff in my life, that really needed doing too. In the end, it forced me to be patient. And by association, I gained more confidence. What looked like "fear" calling the shots, was really building momentum into providing the solution. Rookies, just need more time to practice the moves.

Now my Smeg is back in it's little nook. Leak free. Saving just over $150, in those 3 months. Should the part ever fail again, I can confidently replace it myself. So there's potential to save even more money, in the future. It makes sense to spend $300 to replace a part, if you have mobility issues, or a bunch of kids to wrangle. Being realistic, is part of the problem solving process. But if it's doable, look for ways to empower your skill-set and save yourself some money.

Safety first though. Always unplug an electronic device, if you're going to work on it. Especially if it's in contact with water. And bring lots of towels!! Have you had to push yourself past a discomfort zone, recently (or ongoing) as the case may be? Do you still feel like a bit of a rookie?