Just finished these four carvings as my thankyou gift to my hosts Cheryl & Mark. They represent the four elements, Fire, Wind, Water & Earth!
Look forward to repeating these designs in wood and maybe some lino prints in the future.
Saturday, 7 September 2013
Getting creative
Look forward to repeating these designs in wood and maybe some lino prints in the future.
Friday, 30 August 2013
Walking with goats.
After feeding the chickens and letting them out of their overnight enclosures it was time to let the goats out too. Up until now there had been only Billy & Bella but with Billy now dearly departed, Elvis was now back in the house along with another female friend Megsy to keep Bella company and hopefully get her back in the family way (and milking again!)
It wasn't quite 7.30am and after coaxing them out of their enclosure they happily walked behind me at a gentle pace, stopping as goats do to nibble each tree. Walking down past the church, to help settle the goats into their territory, in the early morning light, the dew still on the ground was a simple but beautiful pleasure!
Lost in my thoughts half way back up the hill, I was so absorbed in what a fantastic and peaceful day it was turning out to be, I suddenly remembered why I was there and turned around to find the goats still following along.
These are by far the best natured goats I have ever encountered and we completed the circuit of the property without having to hurry them or leash them to lead them around. Such a great way to start a day!
Monday, 26 August 2013
My long long time at Bells's Retreat
While we were hard at doing the container at Mischa's there were periods of time where he had work commitments down in Melbourne and rather than twiddle my thumbs on the longer gaps (and to give Mischa a break from WWOOF hosting) I shared my time with another host close to the "notable town" of Maldon. One of the first things Mischa suggested to me in the first few days with him was that if I wanted to see a great example of permaculture (1.2 on my list!)I had to meet his friend Cheryl Dingle. So at the first opportunity I headed over and with introductions made I spent 3 days on my first visit being blown away by the raw energy that Cheryl (at 61) has in working her garden, yoga classes, and her family research!
Bell's Retreat is proud home to an old weatherboard church relocated to their Maldon property and lovingly restored into a function venue and yoga studio and for my first visit, my sleeping quarters! The rest of the property includes an amazing food bowl (akin to food forest but making great use of the natural landscape for water and soil fertility)with an eclectic mix of perennial crops, fruit trees and berries as well as a range of not so common plants. My head was truly spinning as I tried to keep up with the list of amazing plant specimens that Cheryl would rattle off as we toured the garden.
On successive visits (4 in total) I proved useful helping Cheryl to scan, sort, and upload close to 4000 family photos dating back 4+ generations that had been salvaged from her mother and aunts collections as Cheryl pieced together the amazing tale of her ancestors time as rubber merchants in Malay in the early 20th Century. Just when I thought I had come WWOOFing to escape office work, "wet days" with the cold rain driving down outside were spent typing up handwritten memoires from her aunt and others. It was on one of these earlier trips that Cheryl had been invited to visit the UK to attend a family reunion and so all haste was made to complete the research and have the photos collated and up online in preparation. Needless to say I became very well acquainted with the scanner and all things computer at Bell's Retreat.
My fourth stay at Bell's Retreat came at the end of the container project and has been considerably longer (almost 8 weeks) as I was asked to stay and help keep the farm running while Cheryl and Mark went on their trip to the UK for 3 weeks. This time my accomodation was in the old converted WWOOFer bus Luckily with the photos done my tasks were more garden related and along with Max (from France) and Rachel (from UK) as well as Cheryl's twin sons Harley and Joel, we have built new garden beds, spirals, tyre retaining walls, repaired and revitalised chook sheds,, incubated eggs, propagated seedlings, built pathways, constructed stairs to the new house extension, painted signs and kept up with the string of Farmers Markets. (Amongst other things!) Not to mention the numerous "manure runs" to a sheep farmers shearing shed where the manure has been falling through the floor boards and piling up for close to 40 years. As disgusting a task it may sound to the uninitiated to climb under a shearing shed and scrap out sheep poo, pile it into the trailer as well as bagging up more to sit on top, this is the kind of hard manual work which in itself is invigorating and well rotted sheep poo actually smells quite sweet. Poo collected its home to unload onto the compost piles, build new ones with more silage hay, shredded materials etc etc and keep them aerated by turning them. The sale of this compost helps keep the farm finances going and also helps to explain the amazing growing power of Cheryl's garden and why water reaches the roots of plants here while neighbours struggle with dusty paddocks.
Bell's Retreat is proud home to an old weatherboard church relocated to their Maldon property and lovingly restored into a function venue and yoga studio and for my first visit, my sleeping quarters! The rest of the property includes an amazing food bowl (akin to food forest but making great use of the natural landscape for water and soil fertility)with an eclectic mix of perennial crops, fruit trees and berries as well as a range of not so common plants. My head was truly spinning as I tried to keep up with the list of amazing plant specimens that Cheryl would rattle off as we toured the garden.
On successive visits (4 in total) I proved useful helping Cheryl to scan, sort, and upload close to 4000 family photos dating back 4+ generations that had been salvaged from her mother and aunts collections as Cheryl pieced together the amazing tale of her ancestors time as rubber merchants in Malay in the early 20th Century. Just when I thought I had come WWOOFing to escape office work, "wet days" with the cold rain driving down outside were spent typing up handwritten memoires from her aunt and others. It was on one of these earlier trips that Cheryl had been invited to visit the UK to attend a family reunion and so all haste was made to complete the research and have the photos collated and up online in preparation. Needless to say I became very well acquainted with the scanner and all things computer at Bell's Retreat.
My fourth stay at Bell's Retreat came at the end of the container project and has been considerably longer (almost 8 weeks) as I was asked to stay and help keep the farm running while Cheryl and Mark went on their trip to the UK for 3 weeks. This time my accomodation was in the old converted WWOOFer bus Luckily with the photos done my tasks were more garden related and along with Max (from France) and Rachel (from UK) as well as Cheryl's twin sons Harley and Joel, we have built new garden beds, spirals, tyre retaining walls, repaired and revitalised chook sheds,, incubated eggs, propagated seedlings, built pathways, constructed stairs to the new house extension, painted signs and kept up with the string of Farmers Markets. (Amongst other things!) Not to mention the numerous "manure runs" to a sheep farmers shearing shed where the manure has been falling through the floor boards and piling up for close to 40 years. As disgusting a task it may sound to the uninitiated to climb under a shearing shed and scrap out sheep poo, pile it into the trailer as well as bagging up more to sit on top, this is the kind of hard manual work which in itself is invigorating and well rotted sheep poo actually smells quite sweet. Poo collected its home to unload onto the compost piles, build new ones with more silage hay, shredded materials etc etc and keep them aerated by turning them. The sale of this compost helps keep the farm finances going and also helps to explain the amazing growing power of Cheryl's garden and why water reaches the roots of plants here while neighbours struggle with dusty paddocks.
Sunday, 25 August 2013
The Container Project
After a frantic search to find a new place to WWOOF at the end of my time in Huntly, I originally went to Mischa for a few days to help boost the firewood supply but talking through some of my plans and my hosts' vision for the place we decided to undertake a renovation project of an old shipping container. One of those jobs that had been on the list but never a priority.
The container was already in place with a fantastic view out over the valley looking up at Mount Alexander in the distance but sitting idle as storage space. Fortunately it was already partially lined and insulated having had a previous life as a workshop space by another owner. This gave us the basics to start with but the design called for cutting out a panel of the long side and removing the roller door on the end. Our first few days were getting stuck in to remove and tidy up these areas and it was quite exciting to be in the creative zone bouncing ideas off one another. I loved this kind of collaborative approach and Mischa certainly proved not only a generous host but also a great teacher as I used a range of hand and power tools, ripping off linings, grinding out the door area etc.
With the door space cut wider the job of fitting a glass sliding door should have been simple but we were using a recycled door which unfortunately the frame had been badly twisted, crushed would be another description of it!, so we cut and salvaged as much of it as we could and with a bit of straightening and fiddling about we were able to attach the running channels for the doors and remarkably the glass doors slide along the tracks quite well. With the purchase of a new door lock it was a proud moment being able to "lock" a door that we first thought would end up on a garbage tip instead!
The next step involved lifting out the old roller door so that we could make this end area into the future kitchen space with a panoramic window from sink to ceiling. Again using materials from around the property a large angled piece of steel bolted on quite easily. Mischa is quite a fan of using steel to build with and it is quite an easy material when you have the right tools to drill and weld etc. With the cross beam in place, primed and painted we refitted underneath with the "scrap" taken from the door area. Above this came the huge sheet of double plated glass which had been salvaged a few years ago from an office building reno and fit into the container space without any further cutting required. The job of fitting the glass was a real adventure using industrial silicone as a glue. With two of us lifting the glass using the ute as a work space and manouvering the heavy glass into place was not without a few grunt, groans and curses. There was a tense moment as the silicon failed to stick and catching the glass as it leaned precariously back out certainly tested the reflects so we eventually fashioned some wedges down the edges and we looked proudly out through the new window at the fantastic view.
Luckily we had the majority of the container water tight before the rain really set in causing a few delays. Inside the container we switched attention wiring up 12v wires for lights, some switches etc for plans on fitting a solar panel to recharge a battery with, but that will be a future project. The aim being that along with it's own water tank the container can be self functioning from the house and WWOOFers and others can learn the important skill of monitoring their own power and water usage! We got on with the task of re-installing the lining, adding new noggins and insulation, particularly around the new kitchen end and started stripping back an old kitchen sink so that it could also be installed under the window.
We came across some industrial floor vinyl with a great pine wood flooring pattern that was being thrown into a skip. This gave us a very neat finish to the floor at no cost.
With a few coats of undercoat on ceiling and walls as the rain came down outside we soon found a few leaks in the old container and plugged them, temporarily sealing off the back window area so that we could get the beds built. We re-installed the bracing of an old shelving unit at the far end and rigged it up to the size of a single bunk bed so that if needed the container could sleep 3 or this bed area could be storage for backpacks etc. Designing, building and installing the queen bed base under this was a task that Mischa left completely in my hands and it felt great to complete this using a range of tools and of course largely recycling materials from around the storage piles on the property for it.
Then came the top coat of paint to soften the stark white undercoat look into something more homely. We wanted to reflect some of the colours of the local landscape in a neutral honey-ish tone and over the next few days I have to say I surprised myself how much I enjoy the task of painting! There is a sense of accomplishment with each coat cutting in around corners and seeing the space transform into a more livable area.
With the walls done and the kitchen unit sitting roughly in place, pipes cut through the wall etc, it was time to get the stove fitted. We changed our minds from the first stove we put in and settled on relocating the old wood fired stove from the original shack that Mischa lived in on the property. Cleaning off years of dirt and rust we hoisted it onto the ute and drove up the hill through the scrub to use a bit more aussie ingenuity to slide it back off the ute and through the door, constantly fearful of smacking into the glass or scratching the vinyl floor! We laid old paving tiles (recycled from a previous find!) as a hearth across the space we had chosen for the stove leaving space under the bench area to access the wiring and wood storage. Beside the sink unit we utilised a grand old slab of timber, sanded back and ready to be polished up. Continuing the natural timber theme above the sliding door called for another natural plank to tie in the look.
Finishing touches were added by fitting beading around the walls and architrave around the door, sanding and final touches of paint.
Energy expended it was time to wind up the project and I finished up my contribution for Mischa to put in the row of tiling, soft furnishings etc when more time and money comes along. For me this was a great project to be apart of the conception phase, the raw demolition, scavenging of materials, fitouts and the finishing fiddly bits. We found between the two of us working together that I was great at the finer detail work which balanced nicely with Mischa's passion for the bigger stuff! I enjoyed the painting, carpentry and the range of tools being given free range in Mischa's prized workshop, from grinders to drill pressers, drop saws and hammer and chisels. Each day the pieces of the puzzle came together and I hope to be invited back when it comes to transforming the outside as well!!
The view from the containers location is fantastic and the changing weather and colours in the landscape and even more rewarding is the knowledge of helping to get this project up and going in such a wonderful spot and being able to put all these skills to work. I am indebted to my hosts for the chance to "play" with this and fortunately the hard work balanced out the fantastic food Mischa created daily.....but that's another post!
Click on the video on the home page to see some of the progress shots of this project.
The container was already in place with a fantastic view out over the valley looking up at Mount Alexander in the distance but sitting idle as storage space. Fortunately it was already partially lined and insulated having had a previous life as a workshop space by another owner. This gave us the basics to start with but the design called for cutting out a panel of the long side and removing the roller door on the end. Our first few days were getting stuck in to remove and tidy up these areas and it was quite exciting to be in the creative zone bouncing ideas off one another. I loved this kind of collaborative approach and Mischa certainly proved not only a generous host but also a great teacher as I used a range of hand and power tools, ripping off linings, grinding out the door area etc.
With the door space cut wider the job of fitting a glass sliding door should have been simple but we were using a recycled door which unfortunately the frame had been badly twisted, crushed would be another description of it!, so we cut and salvaged as much of it as we could and with a bit of straightening and fiddling about we were able to attach the running channels for the doors and remarkably the glass doors slide along the tracks quite well. With the purchase of a new door lock it was a proud moment being able to "lock" a door that we first thought would end up on a garbage tip instead!
The next step involved lifting out the old roller door so that we could make this end area into the future kitchen space with a panoramic window from sink to ceiling. Again using materials from around the property a large angled piece of steel bolted on quite easily. Mischa is quite a fan of using steel to build with and it is quite an easy material when you have the right tools to drill and weld etc. With the cross beam in place, primed and painted we refitted underneath with the "scrap" taken from the door area. Above this came the huge sheet of double plated glass which had been salvaged a few years ago from an office building reno and fit into the container space without any further cutting required. The job of fitting the glass was a real adventure using industrial silicone as a glue. With two of us lifting the glass using the ute as a work space and manouvering the heavy glass into place was not without a few grunt, groans and curses. There was a tense moment as the silicon failed to stick and catching the glass as it leaned precariously back out certainly tested the reflects so we eventually fashioned some wedges down the edges and we looked proudly out through the new window at the fantastic view.
Luckily we had the majority of the container water tight before the rain really set in causing a few delays. Inside the container we switched attention wiring up 12v wires for lights, some switches etc for plans on fitting a solar panel to recharge a battery with, but that will be a future project. The aim being that along with it's own water tank the container can be self functioning from the house and WWOOFers and others can learn the important skill of monitoring their own power and water usage! We got on with the task of re-installing the lining, adding new noggins and insulation, particularly around the new kitchen end and started stripping back an old kitchen sink so that it could also be installed under the window.
We came across some industrial floor vinyl with a great pine wood flooring pattern that was being thrown into a skip. This gave us a very neat finish to the floor at no cost.
With a few coats of undercoat on ceiling and walls as the rain came down outside we soon found a few leaks in the old container and plugged them, temporarily sealing off the back window area so that we could get the beds built. We re-installed the bracing of an old shelving unit at the far end and rigged it up to the size of a single bunk bed so that if needed the container could sleep 3 or this bed area could be storage for backpacks etc. Designing, building and installing the queen bed base under this was a task that Mischa left completely in my hands and it felt great to complete this using a range of tools and of course largely recycling materials from around the storage piles on the property for it.
Then came the top coat of paint to soften the stark white undercoat look into something more homely. We wanted to reflect some of the colours of the local landscape in a neutral honey-ish tone and over the next few days I have to say I surprised myself how much I enjoy the task of painting! There is a sense of accomplishment with each coat cutting in around corners and seeing the space transform into a more livable area.
With the walls done and the kitchen unit sitting roughly in place, pipes cut through the wall etc, it was time to get the stove fitted. We changed our minds from the first stove we put in and settled on relocating the old wood fired stove from the original shack that Mischa lived in on the property. Cleaning off years of dirt and rust we hoisted it onto the ute and drove up the hill through the scrub to use a bit more aussie ingenuity to slide it back off the ute and through the door, constantly fearful of smacking into the glass or scratching the vinyl floor! We laid old paving tiles (recycled from a previous find!) as a hearth across the space we had chosen for the stove leaving space under the bench area to access the wiring and wood storage. Beside the sink unit we utilised a grand old slab of timber, sanded back and ready to be polished up. Continuing the natural timber theme above the sliding door called for another natural plank to tie in the look.
Finishing touches were added by fitting beading around the walls and architrave around the door, sanding and final touches of paint.
Energy expended it was time to wind up the project and I finished up my contribution for Mischa to put in the row of tiling, soft furnishings etc when more time and money comes along. For me this was a great project to be apart of the conception phase, the raw demolition, scavenging of materials, fitouts and the finishing fiddly bits. We found between the two of us working together that I was great at the finer detail work which balanced nicely with Mischa's passion for the bigger stuff! I enjoyed the painting, carpentry and the range of tools being given free range in Mischa's prized workshop, from grinders to drill pressers, drop saws and hammer and chisels. Each day the pieces of the puzzle came together and I hope to be invited back when it comes to transforming the outside as well!!
The view from the containers location is fantastic and the changing weather and colours in the landscape and even more rewarding is the knowledge of helping to get this project up and going in such a wonderful spot and being able to put all these skills to work. I am indebted to my hosts for the chance to "play" with this and fortunately the hard work balanced out the fantastic food Mischa created daily.....but that's another post!
Click on the video on the home page to see some of the progress shots of this project.
Tuesday, 20 August 2013
theapprenticewwoofer's photostream
Just a few pics from the travels so far...
theapprenticewwoofer's photostream on Flickr.
Friday, 16 August 2013
Catching up on posts
A few cliches that I am now much more aware of...1) "Chilled to the bone", I am sure it could be colder in Victoria but standing in a market stall with wind blowing up from the southern oceans has really let me feel what winter here in the south feels like. I have consistently had 4 layers of clothing on but somehow to these tropical bones the cold has set in deep under the skin! All part of the adventure and resisting the urge to run north. Cliche 2) "Time flies when you are having fun", the gap in blog posts reminded me that the months are skipping by really, really quickly and I had hardly noticed how an initial "few days" have turned into close to 4 months here in Castlemaine & Maldon. I have been involved in some very interesting building programs, met some awesome people and all of which need separate blog posts and am promising myself to get those done this week, all be it in retrospect.
365 Days of Kale: Friends, with benefits!
Great selection of Kale recipes to work through.
Sunday, 19 May 2013
Easy cheesemaking- Haloumi
Just a quick post to record a very simple cheese recipe from my first wwoof experience.
Haloumi
6L of fresh raw milk
3scoops (1per 2L) Junket powder
Dash of water
Salt
1- Bring milk to body temperature in a large pot
2- mix a solution of the junket and water and add to the milk, stiring for about a minute
Let sit for approx 1 hr until set firm.
3- Test the curd by cutting with sharp knife about an inch deep. The curd should split away.
4- Once set slice the curd in a grid pattern all the way to the base and across at an angle.
5- Return pot to stove and heat gently. Using your hand reach to bottom of pot turningthe curd in a gentle motion. Keep stiring until the mix is just uncomfortable totouch. The curd will have changed consistency.
6- Remove from heat and strain the curd to remove the whey (save it as the whry can be used for ricotta!)
7- Add salt to curds mixing in by hand and squeezing out any remaining whey. It sets pretty quickly so transfer to a suitable container to be the mold for your cheese.
8- Let rrst until cool then take out of mould and refrigetate.
Tastes great fried.
Haloumi
3scoops (1per 2L) Junket powder
Dash of water
Salt
1- Bring milk to body temperature in a large pot
2- mix a solution of the junket and water and add to the milk, stiring for about a minute
Let sit for approx 1 hr until set firm.
3- Test the curd by cutting with sharp knife about an inch deep. The curd should split away.
4- Once set slice the curd in a grid pattern all the way to the base and across at an angle.
5- Return pot to stove and heat gently. Using your hand reach to bottom of pot turningthe curd in a gentle motion. Keep stiring until the mix is just uncomfortable totouch. The curd will have changed consistency.
6- Remove from heat and strain the curd to remove the whey (save it as the whry can be used for ricotta!)
7- Add salt to curds mixing in by hand and squeezing out any remaining whey. It sets pretty quickly so transfer to a suitable container to be the mold for your cheese.
8- Let rrst until cool then take out of mould and refrigetate.
Tastes great fried.
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