Built in only two days, here is what it looked like after they left on the first day:

The outside looks a little bit like a temporary builder’s cabin and desperately needs softening up with a stack of plants, but that will happen over time (there are plans to re-do that horrible covered patio area and put in some beds around the shed, but for now we both need a bit of a rest after this shed project).

It’s been up for 3 weeks and since then Tim has been busy putting up 3 rows of shelving and I’ve been busy hauling box after box after box (probably 300 boxes in all) from storage and moving them into the shed and up onto the shelves.

The packing area is all set up and, although it’s a little rudimentary, it’s a nice area to work in.

Here is the recipe for the dog food.

And here is the recipe for the dog treats.

Since March, I have been feeding Smokey and Cloe homemade dog food using the above recipe.r I find it is a little bit cheaper than canned dog food and they eat it up just the same as canned dog food. I haven’t done the maths but I would estimate we’re saving at least $7 a week by making dog food at home (that’s $364 a year!) and you can make it even cheaper if you buy low grade pet meat mince (an offal mix of leftover bits and pieces from the butcher, usually about $1.50 per kilo) rather than human meat from the meat section of the supermarket (I usually wait until the mince is on special in the meat section – sometimes it’s pork mince, other times its beef or veal – it’s usually around $5 a kilo).

There is just one thing I do differently when I make this recipe, and that is that I add a whole packet of pasta, rather than just one cup of pasta (I usually make it with spirals or tubes). I make a huge batch (sometimes I make a double batch) and then when it’s cooked I let it cool and divide the batch out into freezer bags. Then each morning when I’m making my breakfast, I take a bag of frozen dog food from the freezer, put it on the sink to thaw and dish it out to the dogs in the evening (our dogs get fed once, at night and they are treated throughout the day). One batch of my homemade dog food can last the two dogs 9 or 10 meals each.

If you have a dog (or dogs), I really recommend you make a batch of this dog food and see how it goes down. It’s super easy to make, it’s inexpensive, healthy and the dogs love it. It doesn’t specify in the recipe but I cook mine in a huge stockpot in the oven at 180 degrees (celcius) for about an hour. When I first started with this recipe, I cooked it in the stockpot on the stove top, but that just made the bottom of the pot burn so it’s much better to cook it in the oven, you get an all-round cooking process going.

Here’s what my dog food looks like when it all goes into the pot:

Then when it’s cooked:

And here’s my 10 bags of dog food ready to go in the freezer:

Tim had a go at making the homemade dog treats using the recipe linked above. They turned out really well. He got 96 dog treats from the one batch of dough he made. He even bought a special little cookie cutter to make the treats for the dogs. Here’s how they turned out:

And two special little dog treats:

For two special dogs:

So I lodged an insurance claim with my insurance company, RACT, and they sent around some guys to fix the roof but the guys didn’t fix the window because there was some problem with the way that it had been installed and that RACT were still assessing that part of the claim. I mentioned to the guys that I actually didn’t want another window going in there (because next time it might fall onto someone or some dogs and rip them to shreds) and that I’d would prefer to have a slatted privacy screen going in there instead.

Well, that was weeks ago and we hadn’t heard anything more about it, we just thought that they weren’t interested in the window. But today I had a call from RACT and the nice lady said that they’ve decided not to fix the window but instead they will give us a cheque for $3,700, which is the amount that it would have cost them to fix the window (wowsers who knew we had such expensive windows!). Then I can use that money to either fix the window or build something else there (such as a slatted timber screen, even though it’s probably going to cost half of what the insurance company is going to give me!).

Just a small victory in the overall scheme of things, but right now this little surprise is huge for me, considering all the disappointment with the shed. I’ve been walking around with a smile on my dial the whole morning.

The guy from Fair Dinkum came Tuesday the 4th of May to erect the shed.  The moment he got out of his car he was complaining that the pieces of the shed were too far away from the slab (the pieces were only 15 metres away) and that it would take his three guys 4 hours to move it (needless to say, Tim and I moved the shed closer to the slab that same afternoon amd it took us just 1.5 hours); he complained that the slab was not level and was out of square and was short on one end 3cm and told me I needed to spend $1,800 on having the sides of the slab cut and having the pieces of the shed cut to size (I am so friggin’ cheesed off with my concretor. I specifically asked him if his work was square and level and he categorically told me it was. And I’m cheesed off with myself for not friggin measuring the slab before that concretor guy left. That guy stood against his car with his arms crossed and said “I’m not leaving until I’m paid”. So I stupidly gave him a cash cheque to get him to leave and off he went into the sunset [well, he naturally went to the bank first to cash the cheque then he disappeared into the sunset]).  The shed guy told me that he could build the shed using the slab as it is (out of square) but that the end result wouldn’t be pretty to look at and I wouldn’t be able to sell my house because the columns on the inside of the shed would be criss-crossed and the walls on the outside would be in the shape of a tee-pee (yes, he made a tee-pee action with his arms).  So after the doom and gloom of never ever being able to sell my house becase of an irregular shaped shed, they left pretty soon after that and I was left to look at the shed on the floor – once again.

When Tim came home that evening I told him what had happened and explained to him what the shed guys told me. To my surprise, he was confused about why they couldn’t erect the shed even if the slab wasn’t square. He looked at the plans for the shed and drew me out a few quick sketches and showed me that even though the slab was unsquare, the shed itself could still be built square, because the bolts weren’t attached to the side of the slab but were to be placed about 9cm in from the slab. It turns out all the shed guy needed to do was run a piece of string around the outside of the slab, take some key measurements, make a few calculations and then the shed can be built nice and square on the unsquare slab (sure, there might be 1 or 2cm gap between the outside wall of the shed and the end of the slab, but that can easily be filled in and it will cost a damn lot less than the $1,800 the shed guy was asking me to pay!)

After the shed guy left that day, for the next few days we took the time to speak to numerous people and some friends and family and most said that there must be a more simple and less expensive solution to what the guy told us needed to be done. After all, not every single slab in the world would be 100% square and perfect, there has to be some special tricks that are used by those in the trade to get a shed erected nicely – right? Fromwhat other people have said they’re really confused about why this guy didn’t just run the string line around the slab and just erect the shed and get it over and done with. At best, the guy was unwilling to provide a rational solution for us. At worst, he was incapable of thinking of such a solution (or perhaps he was trying to secure some work for his concrete cutting friends hmm?).

Almost 4 weeks after the installer guy came, complained and left, we’re finally at the point where the owner of the shed company has spoken to the installer guy and we’ve made a new time for the installer  guy to come and put up the shed. So the new date for the beginning of the shed is 8 June 2010 (well, we’re aiming for 2010 anyway).

I’m really upset about this delay because the owner of the shed company knows how important it is to me to have the shed up quickly. It pees me off because on their website, they have numerous testimonials from their previous customers who were all apparently so happy about how promptly they had their new shed installed. Yes, good for them. Unfortunately I haven’t had the same experience as those people.

I even went to the trouble of preparing a Visio diagram for these guys which sets out exactly what the installer needs to do and where the bolts need to be positioned.  So far, I’ve done more work on this shed than the friggin’ shed company. We’ve done what the shed guy asked (moving the shed pieces, grinding the rough, raw edge of the concrete slab off) and we’ve waited patiently for the return of phone calls which never come when promised. We’ve always had to follow these people up and press them for answers. Like yesterday afternoon, the installer guy said he was on his way home and would be in touch with us in an hour when he gets home and he can look in his diary for his next available appointment. We had to follow-up an hour and a half later, then he said “Give me half an hour and I’ll call you and let you know when I’m coming to install the shed.” We waited the rest of the night and still no friggin phone call. So 9.00am this morning we called him and the explanation was that he’d gone out to dinner with his wife! Great, how nice for you!

Argh I know this is a really long and uninspiring post but I’m so frustrated and I just had to get this off my chest. This project has now been going on since the beginning of April and going by the testimonials on the shed company’s website I would have bet that by now I’d have a shed to store my stock in and be able to get my packing room moved out of the house and into the shed. If you’re interestd, here is what the shed should look like when it’s finished:

For anyone who is reading my posts because they’re interested in moving to Tasmania, or if you are already in Tasmania and want to have work or improvements done to your house in Tasmania, please get in touch with me and I can certainly tell you those people whom I DO NOT recommend for various building works. One thing is for certain:  we are gathering plenty of experience as we proceed in our little renovation adventures here in Tasmania.

Check out the swelling and the bruising. Poor thing.

At first I thought he might have been bitten by a snake - he was in a lot of pain and was holding onto his shin. I didn’t know what was wrong because he couldnt’ really talk. Then it became apparent that he’d hurt his foot. He still can’t walk on it properly, 2 days after the event. Poor thing, I feel so sorry for him. Get well soon, Tim!

Here is what the shed looked like after day 2 of work:

Tim is back working with Australia Post here in Tasmania. After arriving in Tasmania, he was told that he would have little chance of working with them here because they have no turnover of staff. But last month there was an ad, he applied and got the job. It will be a bit different for him because he is now riding a motorcycle to deliver the mail, rather than riding a bicycle.

We just had Tim’s mum over for a visit and she flew back to Sydney today. Prior to her arrival, I ordered a bunch of bulbs, tubers, warratahs and proteas from a nursery that I discovered at Salamanca a little while ago, Vogelvry Bulbs & Flowers. While Tim’s mum was here, we paid a visit to Salamanca and I arranged to collect my order from them at the market. I ordered a whole stack of different proteas and warratahs and although I’m happy that they were reasonably priced, I’m a bit disappointed that it appears that a few of them appear to be clippings that have been set in pots.  Anyway, it’s good to finally get them in the Australian native garden bed that I built a while ago and that I’m hoping will take off next year. In this bed already are 3 different types of kangaroo paw: yellow gem, big red and an in-between colour, a mix of green, yellow and red. a multi-coloured kangaroo paw. I am thinking there is way too many plants in this bed. They are little plants now but the proteas and the warratahs will grow quite big, as big as a lemon tree, and so I will probably be transplanting them into a new bed in spring. The kangaroo paws clump to become quite large plants about a metre wide, so they may need to be divided in a couple of years.

Grevillea on the right with kangaroo paw to the left and 2 baby protea plants behind:

Yellow Gem kangaroo paw:

I had planted many seeds of broccoli, raddish, cabbage, beetroot and carrot and in the past month or so they have all really come on well and they were getting to the stage where they had to be transplanted. I germinated some lettuce seeds in the seedling trays and planted those a couple of weeks ago. Already they are strong and very healthy looking.

As there is currently a lack of space in the apple crates that we set up as raised veggie gardens, I tilled over a patch of dirt underneath the laundry window and transplanted some of the seedlings there.

The seedlings that have been planted in the apple crate veggie gardens are coming on quite well. They are the tomatoes, corn and zucchini that were planted as purchased seedlings way back in about October last year. The corns should be twice their size and there should at least be some fairly large corns growing in the cob by now. They’ve been there for close to 6 months now and there’s not much happening with those so they may have to be sacrificed to make room for other healthy seedlings that are waiting to be transplanted. In this photo, you can see the tomatoes growing on the vine (there’s one red tomato there that needs to be plucked off) and the two zucchini plants are located in the front left and the front right. Then in front of the zucchini plants in a long row are the carrots that are coming along steadily.

Then there are the radishes that I grew from seed. I pulled these radishes out of the ground last week. We have about 9 radishes that we have to find something to do with (personally, I like to eat them raw dipped in a little bit of salt, but I think we should find something better to do with them). There are 8 more tomatoes that are growing on the vines that we will also have to find something to do with. Although these tomato plants are tiny, they have done well to produce such juicy healthy tomatoes.

I have ordered direct from Laminex a long benchtop (3.6 metres wide) which I plan to use as a new desk in the study.  I’ve chosen the Laminex colour ”Anticipation”:

It will be about twice the length of my current desk (which Tim is currently sharing with me) and I plan to buy some large brackets to be fixed to the wall at the back so that it supports the benchtop underneath, kind of becoming a floating desk. This was a bit of a splurge ($692 ) and they DON’T deliver, so we have to arrange for our own delivery on top of that price, probably another $70-$100.  For anyone considering purchasing direct from Laminex, be warned:  they DON’T DELIVERY! Plus, they charge a $30.00 “logistics fee” (which from what I understand is a fee they charge for manufacturing it and then delivering it to the showroom).

I hope that the new floating desk idea is a success because as I resigned from my ‘day job’ last week, I will now be working full-time in my business and getting lots of use out of the desk. Considering that the price of one good quality large office desk is about $300-$350 at Officeworks, I think the benchtop purchase will be comparatively cost-effective as buying two large desks, plus the “Anticipation” colour I’ve chosen is a little bit different to the desks that you find in Officeworks.

As I now don’t have to give my days over to someone else’s business anymore, I might now actually start getting some things done in my business and maybe even get some  things done to this house, such as, maybe, painting some of the rooms … !

The first major project though, is the new shed. Once the shed is built then we can clear two rooms full of boxes of stuff and pieces of furniture that need to be sanded and polished and then those rooms and be decorated.

For the shed project, first, we need to cut down all the ivy that is growing on the fence on and around the existing shed.  Then there needs to be a new fence erected just behind the existing old shed (we need the fence going in so that the dogs don’t get out of the yard when the existing shed is demolished, it’s currently the only barrier between our property and next door!).  Then the existing shed has to be dismantled and thrown in a skip. Then we have to cut 30cm off of one of the long sides of the old concrete slab (because there are massive cracks running underneath the old concrete slab and need to come out so that the new concrete will be poured on a steady surface). Then the concretor needs to come in and lay new concrete over the top of the old concrete and dig footing holes for the struts of the shed to be concreted down into. Then the shed guys have to come and erect the shed. Hopefully it will all go smoothly.

The dogs certainly enjoyed the event.

Steam engines on display

Show jumping

Sweet baby farm animals

The first blue gum in the row is getting eaten by possums so I have to devise something to put around it so that the poor little tree can start growing. I am thinking about using shade cloth by stapling it to a few stakes so that the possums can’t get into it. These little trees are still so very young and very small. I’m hoping in the next few weeks they will put on a growth spurt as the weather gets warmer. We have 6 more Blue gums which we’ve purchased which are still waiting to go into the ground. Unfortunately where we bought the pottosporums from has sold out of them so we now have to wait until January to get some more pottosporums to plant in between the blue gums.

Speaking of possums, one of them decided to pay us a visit on the back patio. We managed to snap a photo of him before he ran across the roof.

A couple of weeks ago at the Sorrell market, I bought these 3 beautiful purple daisy shrubs for $10. I will plant them in the garden bed below the study window because there is already two shrubs there which have purple flowers. I thought I would make a purple themed garden bed.

We went back to the Sorrell market last Sunday and I was hoping that the same guy with the daisies would be there so that I could buy 3 more to go ino the bed nder the lounge room window, but the guy was nowhere to be seen

On a different note, I have finally found the perfect dinner set. This one is from Target and I love it. It ’s called Gingko and it contains not only a bowel, large plate, small plate and mug, but it also contains matching placemats, coasters, salt & pepper shakers and napkin holder.  

I bought two of these sets so I now have a nice dinner set for 8 people. The set goes so well with the new table that we just purchased at auction and the bowl that comes in the set is a decent size. (Is it just me or are the bowls that come with dinner sets these days just way too small?) You can actully put your cereal in these bowls! And I love the design on them, so simple and understated. It wasn’t long before the first plate was broken, though. Smokey must have jumped up at the kitchen benchtop and knocked one of the small plates onto the floor, smashing it into a hundred tiny pieces. I was so disappointed that I only had 7  of the small plates left that I went back to Target the other day and bought a third set. So now I have an overabundance of 12 dinner plates, and 11 small plates, 12 mugs, 12 place mats, 12 coasters, 3 sets of salt and pepper shakers and 3 napkin holders. At least we’ll be okay for plates if we have a lot of people come round I suppose if any of the other pieces get broken, then there are still plenty of replacements to go around. 

“Shit a brick half the shed roof just flew off and is now sitting in the back yard!”

Now, we’ve had a sheet of tin fly off the roof at the end of the shed before, so I thought that he was perhaps exaggerating and I just thought that another sheet had probably just come off. Anyway, I got home and Tim led me out the back, to this:

The rectangular formation in the grass in the foreground is going to be where we'll build the vegetable garden

This timber beam got carried away from the top of the shed with the tin sheeting and narrowly missed smashing into our laundry window

This is what the shed looks like now - without its roof

We’ve had a lot wind the last few days, but that’s crazy. I’ve never seen anything like that before. It really is half the roof that blew off and landed 30 metres away in the backyard. On it’s way to the backyard, it sliced through the clear laserlite sheeting on the patio roof, sliced off a downpipe from the gutter, sliced off some eaves from the side of the house, took with it a timber beam that barely missed our laundry window, sliced into the trunk of our lemon tree and ploughed into the area near where we had planned to plant some nut trees.

We are just so lucky that Tim wasn’t out there when it happened, because if it hit him he would not be here anymore (not 2 minutes before it happened, he was out there).  The insurance company is sending out a guy to come and repair it tomorrow.

In other news, Tim went to an interview for a job at the Tasmanian Fire Service on Monday.  He bought a new outfit for the ocassion.  Unfortunately, he didn’t get the job.