Turf at last Tue 13- Fri 16 May 2025

Arrived around 4.30pm or so and just before 5pm sauntered across to the Hub - as there was going to be a handover between our Town Hall Committee and the Hub committee - and also a little thank you for us 

As it was - no one had invited Kirsty and Brian which was a pity - so there was just me as Treasurer, and Enzo and Colleen (as they are on both committees) and the Hub people ie Tenar, Jill etc 

Enzo gave a speech - thanking us all - I filmed it, and emailed it to the others later

We had some nibbles and a glass of bubbles which was nice

Then back home, some dinner, some TV and a relatively early night - as I had the alarm set for 6.30am as Shane was coming at 7.30am and we were getting started on the turfing

Got myself breakfast in bed - had the heater on, did my quizzes and then to the kitchen around 7.25am to watch out for Shane 

I had volunteered to be non skilled labour to both save some money, and also because I thought it would be interesting to do

Shane had already dug the trenches the day before, so our job was to put the pipes in, attach  the joins (elbows and T bars), sprinkler heads etc

Lots of trenches and 10 or is it 12 sprinkler heads?

  

A sprinkler head

And the sprinkler head marked by a flag - so as not to lose it when the trench is filled in 

Shane attaching some pipes

And, once all of the pipes were in, I started pushing the loose dirt back into the trenches, and sometimes shovelling it in 

The dirt was surprisingly heavy - and therefore pretty tiring.  Just walking around the garden I did over 11,000 steps  

Had to watch where I walked, as the filled in trenches had softer earth in them, and you would sink down into them   

We also connected up the back corner tanks with the new tank - as otherwise those tanks were just going to tap at the back of the house  

I had a zoom meeting at 5.30pm - with Stonnington Library.  A producer from Grand Designs/Restoration Australia (not Mark) was giving a talk.  It was pretty interesting, and he mentioned Mark as his neighbour who got him into the show.

I therefore sent Mark a text who told me that the 30 days post screening day was over, and that the ABC were pretty pleased.  Combining the numbers who had watched our show live and then streaming via I-View - we had more than 990,000 views.  Wow!  I told Justin, and he wanted to know how the other episodes compared.  Mark said we were approx 30,000 ahead.  Justin is not normally so competitive

Anyway, another relatively early night - as another 6.30am alarm, and 7.30am work start on Thursday 

Shane evened out and compacted out the soil a bit more - with his little digger

While he was doing that I removed bricks from around the "heritage" orchard trees - we're going to have metal hoops around them to be consistent with the regular orchard

And moved the trough, stump and other junk from around those 2 almond trees - so it became lovely and clear

It had previously looked like this - bit of a junk pile

And I also found all sorts of treasures/stuff while raking the dirt

And then there was the prolific bloody bridal creeper  - the roots form absolute mats below the surface of the ground - and nothing can penetrate it.  Shocking stuff.

I ripped out heaps of it - before the new dirt and then turf went over that area 

And I chucked out heaps in the bin (made it pretty heavy!)

In the meantime Shane was getting more top soil, and got I think 8 truck loads

I fixed up the sawtooth bricks around the mulberries and also weeded etc

Ended up with surplus jonquil bulbs and iris corms - as these were above ground 

I replanted most of them - and also put a few jonquil bulbs in glass containers in water - as apparently they can flower like that too 

And I planted the plants that I had brought up from Melbourne - ie some succulents/bromeliads etc, and the daffodils that I'd bought from the Lions Club on our olive harvest weekend 

  

During this both Terry and Rosemary dropped in separately to say hello (so I guess I slacked off a bit)

Once all the dirt loads were delivered, Shane spread them out with his digger

You wouldn't even know that the trenches are under here

Not as physically taxing a day for me as yesterday - I still did 9,000 steps though

And all that loose dirt made me filthy - so when we finished up around 5.00pm or so, I went and had a much deserved bath - complete with a donut bath fizzer

Friday - 6.30am alarm again, and 7.30am start.  This time with another worker - Kyle

The turf was delivered nice and early just after 7.30, wrapped and stacked in piles on pallets

Three rectangles per level 

But first the guys had to place and weld the metal rings around the "heritage" orchard.  I had already removed the bricks from around these trees 

And then we started on the turf - hoorah!

Shane wasn't sure if I could carry a piece of turf, I assured him that I could 

We started over near the back veranda / almond trees 

Kyle and I took turns laying the rectangles.  It was a small achievement if it landed exactly where you wanted to place it.  Normally some small adjustments had to be made. (nudging with your foot was best/easiest, otherwise you'd have to bend down and move it with your hands)

The rectangles also had to be cut to fit the curves/odd shapes

And they were supposed to be laid in a brick type pattern, ie you didn't want joins in line with each other - as then it wouldn't knit properly

Before laying down a piece, the ground had to be finely raked some more - and any large stones, roots, etc discarded

It felt very satisfying filling in the garden with turf - and it looked fantastic.  And the turf was so soft to walk on - like carpet.  Its really transformational 

Shane had to also move the pallets of turf around  so that we could continue.  But the full pallets were too heavy for his forklift, so we had to run them down

During this time the plumber came  - as we wanted him to have a look and see why the upstairs shower sometimes ran cold.  

He ended up replacing a piece which is being held up in the below photo.  Hopefully this fixes it  

 

I also got him to get rid of that old tap - that presumably got water from the old pipes from the house roof - below is a photo of where it used to be (near the cistern)

And they agreed that we could use the existing hot water service for my proposed outside bath and shower (if we ever go ahead with this).  And to put an outside toilet on the back/Kingower wall of the house - the plumbing is all there - would just need to make a small structure around it  

Shane and I had been spitballing a bit - he had suggested using the old bricks to do some crazy paving around the vegie gardens, and then to also make a path from the back veranda  to a another paved area which would have the bath on it (and maybe a shower) It would be made private with 4 walls of REO with start jasmine climbing up it.  No need for a roof. 

Anyway, back to the turfing - and it was looking really good, and I was starting to get a bit tired - and very dirty/dusty

I got Shane to take a couple of photos of me to show that I was doing something 

And then we just had this little patch to do - woo hoo.  But it had got to 4pm, and that was the time I had to pack up and leave by (needed a quick shower) - as the Danes had kindly invited us over for dinner in  Melbourne.  So I left Shane and Kyle to it  

And checking my fitbit - I had walked over 14,000 steps today - just around the house and garden 

 

 

Annual Olive Harvest 9 - 11 May 2025

Friday, and it was Fraser's birthday, made us (me, Fraser & Rileigh) all a nice breakfast - Justin was in Brisbane for a conference

Chris M came and picked me up around 3.30pm.  It was yet another glorious day, the weather really is superb 

However the traffic was atrocious - not even a long weekend - it took us over 3 hours to get to Inglewood 

Susan and Mark had already been there for over half an hour - had rugged up and made themselves at home on the front veranda

We arrived in darkness - around 6.30pm, and joined them up there for some bubbles and cheeses - very nice.

Pauline and Peter arrived around 7.30pm, so we quickly ushered them in, and then to the pub - as the kitchen closes at 8pm

It was fine - we had a pleasant meal, saw Pauline and Jerry there - and more people who had seen us on TV 

Back to the house and we rugged up and all sat on the veranda for a bit longer.  Had a relatively early night 

Susan, Pauline and I decided that we would get up at 7am - and go looking for the elusive Bridgewater platypus - so we did - Another gorgeous morning (bit cool) - went to the water hole - nothing, along the river path -nothing, back to the water hole - still nothing - but at least we had a nice walk

Back home for a simple breakfast and then out olive picking by 9am.  I was a little concerned that the birds may have got a lot of the olives - as we didn't think there were many left on the self sown olive tree out the front when we went to the pub for dinner last night

However - our fears were unfounded - there were plenty of olives - not a bumper crop mind you (that  was last year) - but plenty so we should easily be able to get the minimum 80kg

All 6 of us were out there picking - and it was actually quite nice and collegiate.  Of course  picking the bigger olives was preferred as the baskets filled up quicker with them

At one stage Susan and I were out the front picking from the self sown olive tree.  A lot of people were walking past and talking about the TV show

One woman stopped and said she was glad to see me - as she had taken some photos of the house last October - with the Aurora Australis 

She texted me the photos and they are stunning!  I asked if she had put any filters on them, and she said no, I wondered why the house was lit up  - but Justin said that could happen with a long exposure

And here they are 

Kept picking til Justin arrived around 1.30pm (He had been at a conference in Brisbane, and was coming straight from the airport), and we had a very pleasant lunch under the tree (too many of us for the rotunda)

 More picking after lunch - the others were leaving on Sunday morning - so wanted to get as much done as possible today 

I was outside the front again and stopped by a couple of blokes who do a travel podcast - and they interviewed me - ha ha 

We also had some curtain people come from Bendigo to give us a quote on wooden venetians for the dining room and bee room etc. 

At the end of the day we weighed the 10 x olive baskets and estimated 131kg - without taking off the weight of the basket.  Thought we did pretty well

A hearty dinner in the dining room - and a not very late night again.  Pauline and Peter were leaving at 6am, as Pauline had a flight to Dubbo for work

I had experimented with the aga and put a cast iron pot of oats with some milk and water in the simmering oven overnight - as Susan had made a lovely fruit compote to go with the porridge.  Sadly it was a bit overcooked/claggy, should have put the pot in the warming oven.  Next time - plenty more opportunities to experiment   

Susan, Mark and Chris left soon after breakfast - as it was Mother's Day - and they had their mothers to see for lunch in Melbourne

I went back out to pick - wanted another 10 or 20 kg, but the pickings were slim, more hand movements for less olives = not as efficient.  Oh well, I picked maybe another 10kg over quite some hours  

I should also point out that Shane had moved the little self sown tree near the garage (forgot to take a photo), and also pulled out that big stump that we sometimes used as a chopping block - as we will be putting turf down next week - and it would look dumb if we kept the stump in the turf  

Tidied up, and left around 3 or so

Had to go home via Sutton Grange to drop off the olives for processing into oil

Got home 6-ish and Madeleine and Fraser had made me a lovely Mothers day dinner