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Hi there!

I’m slowly working towards some simplicity within the home, but hey! It’s a lot of hard work!

I love having a go at growing my own veges and always use herbs fresh from my garden. I try to plant from seed whenever I can and have learnt to save and share my own seed for the following year. I make Award Winning preserves and pickles; and my husband brews Award Winning boutique beers as well. I love to stockpile and try to limit quick trips to the shops. I dabble in bread making and enjoy making my own stocks too.

I enjoy feeding my family good hearty meals, nothing like those tiny restaurant stacks you have to look for on the plate. My husband maintains our vehicles and machinery and we both enjoy fabricating on a small scale mostly relying on metal & timber recyclers for any materials needed.


While I don’t always have time to reply to comments, I love reading them. I hope you enjoy your stay and I hope you learn something new because I love sharing what I learn, and I'm always looking for another new skill myself.

Cheers!

Friday, July 15, 2011

On my mind...more Paving

This is a Friday photo feature that anyone with a blog can join. It opens the door to us sharing our lives through these photos and gives us all a new way to discover each other, and maybe form new friendships. Your photo should show something at home that you're thinking about TODAY. If you're in another country you should join in when you read this, even if it's still Thursday.

To take part, all you have to do is post a photo on your own blog, write a short caption explaining it, and link it back to here. Please write a new post, don't link to an older one. When your photo is published, come back and add a comment below, with a link to your blog photo so we can all find you. Please visit all the blogs that appeal to you and leave a comment. Slow down, take the time to cruise around and enjoy your cyber visits.

Behind the shed
I've been promising Mum an area for her to put her garden pots since we moved into this house over 6 years ago....I have weeded it how many times I dare not count.....I even had shelves in there for a time with a gravel base....I've tried different set ups in there...and now I have taken the plunge and began paving it.....

After paving almost the entire back yard when we first moved in....I vowed I would probably never pave again....It's hard work!...Harder now that I am 6 years older than when I last done paving...Harder now that I have health issues involving my bones.....
But it will all be worth it once it is finished.....I will have a safe, flat surface for mum to potter around in.....

Once the paving is finished...I plan on doing the following: 

Adding a potting table so she can sit and plant till her heart's content...Mum loves lending a hand when she can, although she can't walk around much...once I get her there, she can sit down and pot away.....

Adding a few garden beds for her, which I picked up at Bunnings...amazingly heavy duty 220L tubs for $59.95...I think I can fit three of these down the side along the back fence....these are heaps cheaper than the colour-bond veg gardens getting around....I can buy three tubs for the price of one...and I get heaps more garden space...so all around I win.

This tub is staying where it is....
I planted out 9 potatoes in it yesterday
as the greenery shows its head through, I will continue
to cover it slightly to produce more potato layers.
Please join in on this Friday feature....

10 comments:

  1. Narelle, I haven't thought this through but, looking at the paving and thinking of your Mum, I wonder if an office chair would be good for the area?

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  2. Dear Narelle, looks like you are doing a fantastic job, I look forward to seeing the final result. Great idea with the tubs. What a wonderful daughter you are.

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  3. Hi there,

    I am visiting you through the 'Down to Earth' link-up. Wow, paving does sound like back-breaking work and I hope you manage to get it done soon! But your photograph does reveal a stunning result.

    Good luck paving and take good care of yourself, your hands, knees and back! :)

    Blessings,
    This Good Life
    http://this-good-life.blogspot.com/2011/07/on-my-mind-baby-steps-to-urban.html

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  4. Hello, just a Q about the tubs. Are they plastic and did you just punch holes in the bottom? Are they in the gardening section of B's or just the container section? I could use something like that I think. I have a new passionfruit vine that's dying for home, hmmm, among other things I'd love to plant.

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  5. Rose: Thanks but wheels don't really work for Mum..and my paving isn't all that smooth for little wheels, but for feet it's fine...

    Chris: I'm trying to get Mum out in the garden, she sometimes comes down to sit and watch while I work...looking for company mostly ...she misses being able to garden...so I'm trying to fix this...

    TGL: I hope to get it finished over the weekend, if the weather lets me...I don't do knees anymore...I sit on the milk crate but it is still a bit high for my hip.

    Cat JB: The tubs are great..I reckon they are about 5mm thick..really heavy duty...You won't find them in the garden section...they were on the end of an aisle here...down near the tools...and timber end...a few aisles from the brooms and other tubs and storage..if that helps....Too thick to just punch holes in but my trusty drill with the largest fitting drill bit did the job...A re-chargeable drill will go flat rather quickly...so use an electric powered drill. Also put a few pavers underneath so they drain well. I filled this one with all my choko vine first then stomped it down...then added some horse stable muck...then soil, and planted the spuds...as they come up..I will cover them again....

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  6. wow.. you brave one you!
    It looks great though!

    On my mind over at urban homestead in Holland:

    http://urbanhomesteadinholland.blogspot.com/2011/07/on-my-mind_14.html

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  7. Excellent job! It looks lovely as well as longterm functional!
    Last year in an end-of-season sale at my local farmers' co-op, I bought a feed trough (a tall one, for horses or cows) at half price. It's very strong - pipe legs and a heavy plastic tub. My idea was to make a planter that I could use without bending or kneeling - something I've been thinking of building for YEARS but it's been low on the priority tasklist.
    Anyway, veg seedlings, sweet peas, and a few potatoes are growing in that trough right now :)

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  8. You never cease to amaze me! Fantastic job, Narelle! Your Mum will be so chuff to get out and plant some flowers and tend to things in her potting area. Gardening is the best medicine :) You are a wonderful daughter and a brilliant homekeeper :) I can't wait to see it finished!

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  9. Hello from the south coast, I just found your blog from Rose over at the Greening of Rose. We've recently been paving ourselves and it's backbreaking work. It looks great!

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  10. Becca: Thanks for joining in with On my mind...off to check yours out. Your canned carrots look yummy...and it will be great to have them on hand when the growing season passes...Did you use a pressurised canner to do carrots?

    Quinn: I seen something similar in Bunnings the other day...but they wanted you to take out a loan to buy them, they were so expensive....Good for thinking outside the box...Glad your veg are growing happily too.

    Little Home in the Country: Thanks Sherrie, you are very kind.....I already have some flower seeds for her too....I'm starting to get itchy feet wanting it finished....bring on some sunshine. Your right to when you say Gardening is the best medicine....

    Mistyhollows: Rose's blog is wonderful yes! She has many lovely recipes over there....With the amount of paving I have done..I don't bend now...I sit either on a cushion or on the milk crate....it's still hard work though...Thanks for reading my blog.

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