Going conventional!

Dear old chest fridge lasted another week before giving up the ghost. It became clear that we really had to find an alternative. It's funny though. Trying to think of an alternative is what gave us the incentive to try the chest fridge in the first place!

To quote Clint who told us on a forum;

Great idea, but unless they have radicaly changed the construction materials in the 20+ years since I was a fridge mechanic, they are doomed to a relatively short lifespan.

You see, ice doesn't cause rusting, only liquid water does. So most of the chest freezers for the last 40+ years use "bundy" tubing (rolled steel), since they are always frozen.

After a few years of use, moisture from the foam and air builds up around the pipes. This is not a problem, so long as the pipes stay below 0 degrees C. But as soon as its above 0, they start corroding.

This is why turning off a chest freezer and storing it for a few months would often result in it springing gas leaks and irrepairably failing. The frost becomes water, and corrosion takes off.

..and that is exactly what we think happened.

So, we're conventional once again. I got a new little 210 litre fridge/freezer which uses 360 kWh/year.

Initially we thought that .2kWh per day (about 73 kWh per year) was pretty good, but we found that we still needed a freezer, so we've had a small chest freezer running as well. It claims to use 262 kWh per year, so that amounts to about 335 kWh per year in total.

So, if we turn off the chest freezer, our usage won't increase too much. Still, we both miss the chest fridge. It was very quiet! *sigh*

Another way we've become conventional lately is the recent purchase of a ride-on lawn mower. Our first mower! I'm mostly amazed it's taken us this long. The scythe will still be used for edging, but the bulk of the grass is getting far too thick to be enjoyable anymore. It may be a sign the chooks are adding some fertility to the back garden, since nothing but woody weeds would grow before. Now a thick covering of a running-style grass has taken over, and although it looks nice, it needs maintenance.

It's quite an old mower, somewhere between 1984 and 1986. It needed a few parts to get it working again, but now that it does, we're very happy. It's another project that we've jumped into the deep end with, learned a lot and had our hands in grease for. Lots of fun. :)

Oh, and one more thing! We've recently had professional help!

A plasterer! He's very quick, willing to work with our lime plaster, and Marty knows him from work. Brilliant! It's certainly looking more like a loungroom now. We have a few more "holes" to fill before he comes back to put down another layer, but he's very keen, so we'll have to do that this weekend.

Until next time!

Preparing for summer

Good news! We got the new scythe, and it's absolutely wonderful! I'm so impressed by it, Marty doesn't even get a chance to use it. :)

I showed a picture of the nasturtiums around the lemon tree a few weeks ago, and the surrounding area was looking a bit long. Well, here it is today after this morning's scything.



As you can see, I'm more than happy with the new scythe! :)



Of course, it's not quite as neat as a lawnmower, but it doesn't really matter. Especially since the grass dies over the summer anyway.

We also added a bit extra shade for the chooks, who are looking a bit warm as the weather is heating up. This should help a little.



Finally, we may have some squash for the three sisters after all! These are the last of the seeds, so hopefully they'll grow like mad through the corn and beans in the front garden.



As for the eggs.. it's been 7 days since they were put in, and I'm looking forward to the first candling which can be done tonight. I'll try and get some pictures if there's anything going on in those little eggies! All fingers crossed!

Lawn mowing

It's time! The grass is long, it's provided a lovely home for the little birds and lizards all spring long, but we've got a letter from the council saying it's time to cut the grass. So, without further ado, it's slashing time.



Not bad for an old scythe huh?



Although, we're excited to announce that we purchased a NEW scythe from Scythes Australia! Hopefully it'll arrive early next week and we can make a nice neat job of the nature strip and around the house.

I've put some of the hay that has dried from yesterday into the chook yard. It's lovely stuff! I hope they enjoy it!



When they come out of the chook house, that is. It's only 26°C (78.8°F) but it's very humid and they've all decided that the coolest place to be is indoors. I guess it's a good sign we made the chook house pretty well, huh? :)

More to follow..

It's all about the chook pen lately

Last weekend Marty and I worked on the interior wall of the pen, and made a table too. I'll have to show that in some detail once the interior is closer to being done. During the week while Marty was busy at his paid employment, I made progress on painting the outside of the pen and setting up a little garden bed. While the flashing still needs a lick of paint, I wanted to show off anyway!



In the garden bed I have planted a choko to (hopefully!) grow up the wall and help provide shade in the summer. There are also herbs especially for chooks; tansy, rue and wormwood. If everything germinates, it'll be a full little garden bed!

As you can see, I painted the east and north walls green.



Inbetween all that, we're keeping the spring weeds down with the scythe. The weeds were getting so tall, they were shading out some of the trees we've planted. The scythe takes them down pretty well, but it is a workout!



This weekend we're planning on doing yet MORE chook pen work, but we're determined to get it finished soon! We'd REALLY like eggs ASAP. :)

Until next time!