We've had regular visitors lately... Our neighbour Graham's peacocks have taken a liking to our place. They are beautiful birds. But boy, can they screech! They fly too, to the tops of the sheds and perch on the roofs.
This is one of the hens. There are two.
And this is the male. His colours are amazing.
CABIN UPDATE....
Frans is doing a great job continuing on without his helper! There is usually lots of measuring and contemplation before each step! This is the front deck being constructed. Pity some of the post holes were not quite in the right spot... they had to be made a little bigger, which meant more concrete to fill them!
The base frame is done. But how to work out these posts....?....
The biggest challenge was fixing the deck posts to the roof baton. Not sure if that's the right term.. there are words for all sorts of bits of wood... Batons, rafters, studs... to me it's all the same.
Once the frame was bolted together, we then had to lift the whole thing into position. It's heavy! A few false starts and we eventually got the frame up and squared. (A few bruises prove that it was not easy!) Then supporting 'bits' were added while the concrete set around the posts.
Ater the concrete was set, Frans could remove the supports. The next step is to put the floor down. But before he does this, he is painting the frame to keep it from future weather damage. Like the colour? It's left over paint from our Ashwood reno. I actually quite like it. Pity it is going to be under the floor. I think we'll paint the posts this colour too. The rest of the cabin's colours will work in nicely.
And yes, it's wet. So it dries darker. After this first coat was done, it then rained for 24 hours! Our record rainfall day since we've been on the farm. 31mm's. So you know what happened of course... yep, most of this paint washed off. Yesterday Frans gave it another coat. No rain since, but more promised later today. By then is should be set, but we'll put some tarps over it just in case!
AROUND THE GARDEN
Our garlic has come up beautifully. So has the grass in between. This week's job is to mulch between each row. Easier than you think. It's a four day task, but will be well worth the effort.
One of my favourite pleasures is browsing through the plant and seed catalogues that come my way. I could not resist a few offers and this week I received my new roses. They are already planted and I'm looking forward to beautiful blooms in Spring. I've got a selection of vegetable seeds to go into the ground in the next few days too. Peas, broad beans and some leafy things.
My roses were a 'lucky dip'. I was happy with the selection. Blue Moon, Freesia, Hot Chocolate and a few more.
There's not a lot of growth out in the garden at the moment. But these daffs and jonquils are starting to flower. They are lovely and bright on a dreary day!
And it's not all work and no play for us... Last Sunday we took ourselves off to a winery close to us. They have live music every Sunday. This is not a flash venue by any stretch of the imagination. But what you get is a nice drop of wine, a warm cosy fire, a comfy chair and some really cool jazz. A very pleasant way to spend a couple of wintery hours.
And I'll leave you with this very cute little face below... Only a week old. This is a cow and her baby over the fence in Graham's paddock.
Have a lovely weekend!
