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Tue 22 Oct 2024

Down to Hervey Bay to help Geri's daughter in her new rental property. We stay the night but had not originally planned to stay because our new 100-pound gas bottles will be delivered tomorrow and I really need to be there when this happens.

The trouble is that they can't say what time that will be so if we stay the night there's no way of knowing if we can get home in time. So I phone them and although they can't really say because there are so many deliveries to make, "after lunch" seems to be a safe bet, so we'll stay the night.

A couple of weeks ago we spotted a standard lamp we liked while browsing in Beacon Lighting. The trouble was that it cost just under $500 and although we don't mind spending on quality items as a general rule we prefer low cost, even second hand.

It turns out that if I join their customer mailing list I will get 20% off, so that's $400. Still a bit pricey so we didn't commit on the day, preferring to mull it over and anyway they won't be any in stock until November so there's no rush (they won't sell floor stock).

Sooo...today we're driving past the Hervey Bay Beacon store and figure that we might as well drop in and see what they can do for us. It turns out that in this store the lamp is a "deleted item", IE they will no longer stock it and are willing to sell the one on the floor.

Well that solves the delivery time issue, but what about the price.

I can let it go for $123 the salesman says.

"Pay the man" was Geri's instant reponse.

And here's the light in situ a few days later, raised (for reading) and lowered (for ambience).

Wed 23 Oct 2024

We don't leave town early as planned because as mentioned it seems that the gas bottle delivery will not occur until "after lunch". So we grab a coffee and mosey off around 9:30.

At 12 noon we pull into the garage, get some gear out of the car and put the kettle on...what's that noise? Sounds like a truck.

Yep, the gas man arrives at about 12:05, he pretty much followed us up the driveway.

No matter, we now have two 100-pound gas bottle, that should last us about a week because Geri is in full-on baking mode now that she has a nice oven.

Sat 26 Oct 2024

We had a big storm last night and there are still a few leaks, so today I was supposed to look into that problem. But as is often the case I get distracted and work on something more interesting, specifically some of the wiring.

For some reason I was having trouble deciding how to run the wires for the lights and where the switches will be. Then I just thought sod it, all switches in one place and the wires radiate from that point across the ceiling.

So I started running the wires across the ceiling to the proposed light locations a day or so back and most of them are done now, seen here protruding from the wall panel that will hold the switches.

But when I get to the light that will be over the dining table I get distracted again in that I decide to get the light out and see how it will mount.

One thing led to another and we decide on a totally different method of hanging the light and this method has the added advantage that I can do it right now with parts I have to hand.

The trouble with this light fitting is that the part that hangs from the ceiling is not long enough for my high roof and I had come up with a few complicated ideas to get around that. But Geri said why not make a new piece using that 1" poly riser out in the shed.

I resisted the idea for a while, coming up with all sorts of ways that wouldn't work, and just a quickly coming up with a solution to the problem.

It takes and couple of hours but the light is up and working.

And this brings me to the subject of my lathe and mill, you know, the ones I bought about two years ago and have yet to use, yep those ones.

"How does the mill have anything to do with hanging a light fitting?" you may ask. Well I need to cut two L-shaped slots into a poly fitting and while I guess I could whittle away with a drill and a knife to achieve this outcome a mill would be the best tool for the job eh?

Mon 28 Oct 2024

Months ago when I did the extension roof I extended the top hats a meter or so passed what was required at the time because at th etime the garage had not been built and I was not sure where exactly the roof should end to meet up with it. I lay some loose sheets on the extension, held down by rocks, and basically forgot about it.

Over time I tended to walk on this extension, forgetting that it was unsupported, and this has caused the top hats to bend downwards a bit.

Time to fix that.

I start by welding a short piece of 3x3" SHS to the end of one of the main beams.

This gives me a strong point to support a new c-purlin rafter that will support the roof extension.

Then I place a purlin under the top hats and jack it up using my toe jack.

Tue 29 Oct 2024

We have some big bugs here.

I can't remove this fellow from the carpet without hurting him, so we just treat him as a round-a-bout for the night.

Thu 31 Oct 2024

Time to sheet that section of roof I raised the other day.

Sun 03 Nov 2024

While driving up to the range I stopped near some cattle yards just off the road to photograph an old truck and the trees.

I've photographed this truck before, and to be honest the light was better last time...

...and it was raining which really brings out the colours, but I still like the new version.

The trees here are nice as well, almost like ghost gums.

I then notice some activity and realise that they are mustering cattle into the yards. It's too far away to get a nice shot though.

I then proceed along the road to the quarry I've checked out before, there are a lot of great big rocks there, some of which I would like to harvest for the new rock garden, but I'm not sure if the quarry is a council borrow pit or if it belongs to the land owner.

I figure that the vector the riders were headed on would bring them right here so I'll wait and ask them.

Sure enough within a few minutes the dogs arrive and shortly after the musterers.

They don't know as they are just contracting for the owner, he's the bloke with the red ute back down at the yards. So I go back to ask him after I get a quick shot of one of the riders and his dogs.

This is were looking the part helps, or at least not looking like an investment banker. His name is Kym and we get on right from the get go. He is an electrician and has been on the mines but has now returned to the family farm to run that. He says that I can grab any rock I'm capable of lifting, and if I want to come back sometime he'll take me up onto some nearby hills where the view is fantastic.

I think I'll take him up on that offer, not so much for the views as good views usually make pretty boring photos, but as a way of getting to know more people around the place as one contact often leads to many more. And anyway he just seemed like a nice bloke.

I comment on the nearby pile of new fence posts. Yes he cuts them all by hand with a chainsaw. Now that is hard work.

Mon 04 Nov 2024

I'm going to frame up a small window for the new bathroom and I like to use up some of my old sleepers (not railway ties as the name implies, really just 8x2" pine planks but we call them sleepers here in Oz), however many of them are quite bowed.

I can fix this by doing a 'kerf bend', which is to make several cuts (kerfs) part way through the board to weaken it.

Then when I fix the board to something solid and straight it will easily straighten as I screw it down. So in places where I won't notice the cuts I do this to reuse these old boards.

Tue 05 Nov 2024

We have many salt lamps around the house, they all use incandescent light bulbs, not LED, because the old type lights emit near IR radiation which is supposed to be good for you.

It seems that the local geckos like it as well.

Fri 08 Nov 2024

Time to go and get some sheets of ply. Unfortunately the Cruiser is no longer useful as a ute for carrying such things, and the trailer is not really that good for 2400x1200 sized sheets either.

The trailer is an 8x4-footer so in theory it will hold an 8x4-foot sheet of ply, and it probably would, but the sheet would be jammed in between the side boards and hard to get out.

So I make some bolsters for the trailer that will allow the sheets to sit nicely on top of the side boards.

These work a treat.

Thu 14 Nov 2024

Geri said "There's a snake in the wicking beds".

I go out to see and find what I think is the rear half of a brown snake poking out from under one of the beds. I get a welding glove and a tool and give it a poke, but it seems reluctant to move. On further investigation it's obvious that it has got itself tangled in the netting we use to keep the critters out of the strawberry patch.

Geri gets a pair of scissors and I carefully cut it free, then put it in a garbage bin and relocate it down to the creek a few miles away.

Don't come back little fella.

Sat 16 Nov 2024

I'm working on the waste plumbing for the new bathroom.

I hope it's all going to work because there is bugger-all fall there and it might just backup if the shower produces too much water.

Also I'm working on the bathroom wall, the tall skinny aperture framed with timber will be a louvre window. The right hand plank is the one I cut the kerfs into the other day to allow it to be pulled straight. You might just be able to see the cuts in this photo.

Then it's time to set up the storm water pipes so we can start catching water from the garage roof.

I don't like it when these pipes go aerially, by far preferring to run them underground so they can't be seen. But that's just too much work and now that I've done it I quite like the look actually.

Sun 17 Nov 2024

Back to the bathroom plumbing. I've added a few steel supports for the shower, and measured things 10 times from Sunday to try and get that waste P-trap in the right place. I do have a little wiggle room with it but it's important to as least try to get it right.

Mon 18 Nov 2024

Morning in the Zen garden.

And afternoon in the kitchen.

Also done a little more on the bathroom floor.

Tue 19 Nov 2024

The bathroom floor is nearly finished. I've used marine ply there but red tongue sheets for the hallway floor leading up to it, and there's a difference in thickness of a few millimeters. I want the lino floor covering to flow over both levels and a step where the boards join will not work. So I leave a gap of about 150mm between the two levels and use my thicknesser to make a tapered pine plank to merge the two in a gentle manner.

You can see the joining strip in the above photo.

Wed 20 Nov 2024

I thought I'd get away without a leaf catcher on this downpipe but the leaves quickly block up the dropper and then the gutter overflows. Better to let the leaves fall out, even if they then block up the catcher but at least then the water will just splash out onto the ground and not block up the gutter.

Sun 24 Nov 2024

We have friends staying and nowhere for them to sleep. Fortunately they are keen bushwalkers with a tent so they just set up in the lounge room.

Mon 25 Nov 2024

Here are a few progress shots.

Wed 27 Nov 2024

We got half a load of gravel up at the small house to spread under the house. With the other half we get the driver to spread it along the driveway. He does such a great job I only have to spend half an hour or so with a rake to get it finished.

Comments

Date  ::	14 May 2025
Name  ::	Robert
Location  ::	Sydney
Comment  ::	Thanks Rob, really enjoy your documenting daily life. Also enjoy seeing the building work changes.
Date  ::	23 May 2025
Name  ::	Rod
Location  ::	Perth
Comment  ::	Gives a whole new meaning to a hobby house ;)
Date  ::	17 Jun 2025
Name  ::	Robert
Location  ::	Sydney
Comment  ::	Hi Rob, How is the next post going??
Date  ::	19 Jun 2025
Name  ::	GRAYnomad
Comment  ::	Thanks for prompting again Robert, if it wasn't for you I'd probably forget entirely, just so much happening these days even though it might not show in the blogs. I get home from work and just couldn't be bothered doing anything much. As I always say, working on it now
Date  ::	04 Aug 2025
Name  ::	erik Huijsmans
Location  ::	Netherlands
Comment  ::	Thanks for sharing.
Date  ::	26 Sep 2025
Name  ::	robert
Location  ::	sydney
Comment  ::	missing your updates.. is everything ok??
Date  ::	26 Sep 2025
Name  ::	robert
Location  ::	sydney
Comment  ::	missing your updates.. is everything ok??
Date  ::	01 Oct 2025
Name  ::	GRAYnomad
Comment  ::	All good, just too busy doing other things. I'll post the next one in a day or two.
Date  ::	10 Nov 2025
Name  ::	GRAYnomad
Comment  ::	Ooops, did I say "a day or two" Probably tonight.

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