You can probably tell that we are proud parents!

Here are a few pics of Willow and visitors to the hospital.

Click to see the whole gallery

With only about 10 weeks to go it seems like a good time to mention that the permanent population of the Journey will be increasing by one.  While Rob has been busy growing the vegies in the garden, I’ve been working on growing him a little helper.

The little bump in my belly, which initially looked like a beer belly, has been steadily growing in size and now looks like I’ve stuffed a watermelon up my shirt.  Maverick/Willow (as we currently call it - we originally named the embryo Wolfgang/Fernando) is getting more and more active as the weeks have passed making the idea of a Mini-Mader a lot more real.

We decided not to find out if it’s a boy or a girl but decided to have a surprise - and it’s not like there is a room to paint a particular colour as it will only be having a section of the shed which is the lovely unisex shade of silver.

As in most things we are pretty clueless to what we need to do or have prepared but figure we will learn as things progress like in everything else we do.  Through reading books and talking to friends and family who have had babies we have learned to expect the unexpected because no two pregnancies or babies are the same.  So thanks everyone for this support and also for all the new and second hand bits and pieces that have been given to us.

After the “Shed Raising Party”, Meg and I had had some requests for another camping weekend and had organised the October long weekend.

Again it was a cross section of family and friends from all around the place, with many seeing The Journey for the first time.

There has been a lot of change since the last weekend in July, with the wet area setup including shower, sink and washing machine, Meg’s cob oven and the vegie garden producing well.

The kids were entertained with heaps of games set up. Thanks to Caro and Rod they had volleyball, badminton, totem tennis, soccer, cricket and kites as well as the water pistols that Meg had found for each of them.

The main event on Sunday saw a good crowd for lunch, with a big barbecue and roast chicken from Meg’s oven to feed everyone.

Some afternoon arrivals were a blast from the past – the Errey’s dropped in to see the place. Peter was a year 7 teacher when I was in primary school and his daughter Cassie was in my year. 25 years later and only a little has changed! Peter and his wife Zan live around the corner on Spring Gully Road.

It was a relaxed atmosphere, chatting around the fire at night and catch up on all of the news from people that we haven’t seen for a while.

Raph and I joined in on a huge game of hide and seek with the kids on Sunday night, roaming around the vegie garden and fruit trees by torchlight. The kids found some pretty good hiding spots and we all had a good laugh.

Thanks to everyone who came along and contributed to the weekend – we’ll see you all again soon.

Rob asked me if I’d like to write a guest blog entry about the work we have been doing up in Clare. Of course I said, ‘yes’. And here it is.

Meg and Rob picked me up from Magill on Saturday afternoon, and we went to the salvage yard to pick up some materials for the projects had in mind. The salvage yard is a funny place full of all kinds of weird and wonderful stuff. While we were there one of the employees put a fake fire drill over the PA which elicited a lot of confused looks from customers – I guess the guys must get bored waiting for things to happen. So, it was lucky that Rob purchased some sheets of colour bond and paid by cash, he got a discount and a few lengths of timber thrown in for free. Who knows what might have happened if the employees got bored enough. They might have started a real fire, or something.

Next we went to Bunnings to get some more stuff. I say stuff because quite often when we go into Bunnings we don’t really have a concrete idea of what options are available for what we intend to build. So, it involves a lot of browsing and discussion and unfortunately a lot of waiting for service. In the end Rob decided to get some sheets of 3 ply, some insulation bats, a bucket of paint and some odds and ends. Meg purchased a temperature gauge for her bush oven and a spade for getting the food out. I bought an iced coffee and wandered around like lost kid.

A few hours later we arrived at ‘The Journey’ – I think it was just getting dark. Rob set the tent up for me, and Meg started getting dinner ready. Again, I wandered around like a lost kid, but this time I had a Strongbow Cider in hand. It’s nice get out of the suburbs and get some fresh air.

I had a bit of a squiz at the new pergola that Rob, David, Amy and Rob’s Pa built the other week. It’s a nice job and makes a difference to the over all feel of the shed area. I also had a look at Meg’s oven project, and I have to admit that when I first saw it I had my doubts about it. Then it was dinner and bed.

The next morning we all went over to Meg’s oven and she began pulling the filling out. There were a few moments when bits fell from the ceiling but thankfully it was only the filler sand and not part of the main structure. But, I’ll let Meg and Rob tell you about that. It’s Meg’s pet project and I don’t want to steal here thunder.

The country is aesthetically pleasing at the moment, with vivid colours in the wild flowers that cover much of the hillsides, and the grass is mostly a bright vibrant green. If I was a better painter, I’d be able to capture it. It’s the sort of thing that might come up best in photography though. Rob told me that the pretty wild flowers are all actually weeds. I don’t think it matters because they still look nice.

From that first morning on things are a bit of a blur. I know I got up early one morning and did a painting, but I don’t know which morning it was. We drank more cider, some red wine, and Meg had her Rum.

Oh, hang on a minute. Let’s rewind! SATURDAY – I almost forgot about Saturday night out in Clare. That first night there, it wasn’t simply dinner and bed, and Meg didn’t cook, but we did have some cider and we did have dinner. Meg decided that we should go out for a pub meal and see what the night life was like… that’s what happened on Saturday.

So, anyway… We all piled into the Meg mobile and drove into Clare. Meg was driving and Rob and I were drinking cider and being noisy and making jokes. Meg ran over a piece of ‘bark’ on the way, which turned out to be a rather hefty lump of gum tree – she wasn’t wearing her driving glasses. However, we made it to Clare in one piece.

The first pub we went to was packed full of families and locals having dinner while watching the footy. It was crowded and noisy so we left. Then we went to what is known as ‘The Middle Pub’, where we had dinner. They didn’t have any tables available, but the waitress told us that if we carried a table and some chairs into a vacant area in one of the dining rooms we could have a meal. Rob and I carried the table to where she said. The meal was good. I think I had a schnitter, and Meg had her regular schnitzel with pepper sauce, and Rob got a steak that was still mooing in the middle. We all had a drink… um… then what?

Ah, yes. After the meal we went to the front bar. On the way in there I saw $20 on the ground, and people were stepping on it. Even Rob and Meg walked right over it, but I picked it up. I thought the barman saw me so I went over and asked if anyone had lost twenty bucks, he said ‘if you find it on the floor, keep it’. Yay! So I did. I asked one of the local boys how much the pool table was, and he slapped me on the back and issued a friendly challenge to go and play pool. We didn’t play, but I’ve filed the moment for future reference and may return there to challenge the locals in a friendly game.

Meg wanted me to pick up. Yes, that’s right. She told me I needed to ‘get some’. Which I do agree with, but I’m not really a pub sort of guy anymore. Under the watchful eyes of Meg and Rob I accompanied them to the remaining pub where karaoke was the ‘ting’. Three of the local girls were teaming up to sing songs, they had reasonable voices, and I found myself considering my chances with any or all of them – much like the terminator defining a target. Luckily for the girls I’m no terminator, and not that motivated so I left them alone. They were having too much fun for me to bother them with my company. It turns out they are IGA girls by day, and karaoke queens by night… kind of like superheros – but not. Meg was disappointed in me I think – she wants me to get a girlfriend.

After karaoke we went back to the first pub we started at, which had morphed into some sort of night club. On the way Meg informed me that we weren’t going home until I approached a girl, so I greeted the next woman on the street with a smile and a hello – Meg said that didn’t count. Inside the club there were lots of very attractive girls, but I just stood there like a lost kid, now with beer in hand. Meg was glaring at me, trying to get me to pick up by sheer force of her will. Her use of ‘the force’ failed and I drank my beer in silence while avoiding the locals. I was happy to watch and see who was who around the club. There were a few factions, and a definite distinction between the front bar and back room. It’s not easy picking up, and I wasn’t just going to try it on some random girl that might have had a boyfriend lurking in the pub shadows. The last thing I want is a fight, my konk is bent enough already. Meg gave up on me in the end and we went back to the property. It was interesting to see what kind of nightlife Clare has, but I’m not that into it. I guess I’m getting old or something.

Most of the nights at ‘The Journey’ were similar, we had dinner, had a few drinks, watched some telly and then went to bed. The only other night we went out was to Rob’s parents’ house for his dad’s birthday. His parents are very friendly and always make me feel very welcome, which is nice. Rob’s dad pretended to play the piano, and his mum put out some nibblies. Then it was dinner. We all sat around sharing a meal and having a few wines, (except for Meg who doesn’t drink wine) and talked and joked about life and told different stories. It was a good evening, and caused me to think about family and my plans for the future. But that’s another story – I always do a lot of thinking when I visit with Meg and Rob.

So, now… onto the reason Rob asked me to write an entry – about the work we did.

Rob and I have different ways of thinking and we both like to get our own way I think, which makes our discussions interesting and often confusing. Our first project was to build Meg a shower cubicle, and we talked a lot about the design possibilities. I like to measure things and draw plans, and Rob is a bit more organic in his designs but we are each learning things from each other. For instance, I’m learning to let go a bit. I have a tendency to second guess everything, and then insist on measuring it (which I know drives Rob nuts), but Rob tends to want to get things going a bit quicker without all the fuss of measuring every piece of timber. By watching him work I can see that there is no need to measure everything – he will hold up a piece of timber and mark it in position, where as I would measure the position and transfer that measurement to the timber for cutting. I guess Rob is learning from me as well, that measuring does have its benefits, and can be done accurately and to a plan. Between the two ways of thinking we are beginning to work things out as we go along, and we are getting to work better together.

The shower project proceeded slowly at first, and in the first day we only managed to get one pole in. Rob and I did separate jobs to work towards the final product: he was putting the pole in and I was painting the timber. Meg seemed disappointed when she saw what we had done, but she said to me later that she knows that it’s not as simple as it looks. The trouble was in deciding how where to put the pole and the other supports that had to be attached to the shed.

We had only decided on half the design on the first day, so when it came to working the next day I didn’t know how we were going to proceed. More debating followed. We didn’t end up using the tape measure as much as I would have liked, but Rob pointed out the timber is bent and twisted anyway so measuring wouldn’t help a great deal. I know he is right, but I like to be the one that is right – which is also what I mean by learning to let go. It is Rob’s project after all, which I forget sometimes.

The second day proceeded quickly. Rob decided where to put the remaining two supports by lining them up by eye, while I made noises of disapproval and futilely clutched the tape measure. He got them in the right spot and we secured the rails – once again showing me different ways to thinking. I’m a bit of a stickler for measuring, which is the result of my time as a picture framer. But construction isn’t a picture frame is it.

Anyway, we decided to commit to moving the hot water system into the new shower cubicle frame. We had to decide whether or not to move it, because once we moved it we had to make it work, or Meg would be without a shower in the morning. And a Meg with no shower in the morning would not be a happy Meg, as she works as a receptionist and needs to be presentable. Moving the shower involved moving some pipes around and reconnecting things with different bits of pipe and an assortment of connectors. Rob did all of that. Plumbing isn’t something I’ve done. He made it work in a short space of time, and then we moved onto cladding the new cubicle.

Finally, I got to measure something! We decided on the height of the cladding, and worked out how many sheets went where, then we marked it out and Rob cut it with the angle grinder. Putting the sheets up went fairly quickly, as Rob and I worked out a new system using stringline. I held the stringline in place on first screw into the rail, and across the middle of the rail, and rob screwed the panels in along the stringline. The job went quickly then, and by the time Meg got home we were almost done. The final sheets were cut, and attached under lights at night. The sparks of the angle grinder looked great, like fireworks. Then before we knew it, Rob and I were shaking hands at another job done and we had some more Cider, and some goon (casked red wine).

The next morning the shower obviously worked and Meg got to work on time. I spent part of the day painting and got a bit sun burnt. The painting was alright, but it’s not finished, and I don’t think I’ll bother finishing it. As Rob would say, ‘bored now’.

In the afternoon Rob wanted to put the footings in around Meg’s oven so that we can build a shelter to protect it. We had to dig six holes, which we did in record time. Rob decided where the holes were to go by eye and we just started digging. We worked on all six holes at once by following each other around. I’d break up the clay at the bottom of the holes with the crow bar, and Rob would come along and scoop out the loose stuff while I was working on the bottom of the next hole. Then we mixed some cement and put the footings in. Rob only had a few bags of premix which didn’t go far, so we had to mix the rest ourselves. We used some brickies sand that was left over from filling Meg’s oven, and some road base mixed with cement. We mixed the last load by moonlight. It’s probably not the best cement mix ever made but it was damn solid when I had a look the next morning.

So, we did a lot of stuff in the six days I was at ‘The Journey’. For me the construction is only a small part of the adventure. I like to just get out of the suburbs and do some physical work to stop my body from withering as a result of all the time I spend on the computer now at uni. And it’s a great social time, with plenty of laughs to be had. The change of scenery helps me to keep things in perspective when I get a bit crazy with uni work, and all the oddities of life. It’s great to be a part of something too, to know that I’ve had a hand in helping Meg and Rob develop their life together in Clare. That’s probably the best thing. 

A short while after the Shed Raising weekend, David sent me an email with an interesting proposal:

“I am at a bit of a loose end at the moment. So I am available for a couple of days work if you need some unskilled labour for your next project. I work for goon and food, in that order Just email me if you would like some help.”

I jumped at the chance to get another project back on track so David and I arranged a suitable time.

My designs for the pergola had been changing over a period of time, and with a suggestion from Pa for a lean to, the final design came slowly forward. The suggestion was to bolt a horizontal support along the shed frame and then hang the pergola from that. The shed was strong enough and this eliminated the need for more posts and gave us more floor space against the shed.

My memory traced back quite a few years to Steve and Ralphie’s place and helping Steve to pre-paint the pergola that they were having done. Then it rebounded to the pergola that Raph and I had built at the old house at Para Hills, and the fact that we didn’t pre-paint the timber. I was learning from experience that painting the timber before it was awkward to reach would be a good idea.

Pa and I had a bit of the painting done when David and Amy arrived and I quickly explained some of the design and thinking behind it to David.

David also has an engineering background, but he has used the way of thinking about a project a lot more than I would have. Raph’s influence was again brought into play as David came up with the mantra:

“Measure twice, cut once.”

David also introduced the idea of using a template for measurement and double checking things – always a good idea.

We made the cut outs in the posts for the facia to sit on and then tackled the hard stuff – drilling into the shed.

Time was marching on and we didn’t have much to show for it, just some cut and painted timber. Was Meg going to believe that we’d been working hard all day?

The first support was bolted to the shed with care. Measurements were made and checked as we had only a small margin of error. The supports were bolted through the horizontal C section of the shed frame that is 25mm high. We had 10mm bolts and then washers and nuts to put inside that 25mm window of height, drilling from the side where we couldn’t see the C section.

More measurements were made as we moved along, but one of the holes was slightly high. How could this happen? We checked level, measured again and scratched our heads as the answer remained elusive.

The solution was to drill the next hole by eye – surely it would be right? Surely? Before there was too much objection, I drilled the hole straight through the frame, nicely in the middle and David came up with another quote for the project after I’d dodged it up:

“Measuring is for the am… Dodge it up in the pm!”

It was another succinct observation of the way in which I work.

We finished the day with the main support in place and plenty of work left to do.

Bottles of Goon, a nice warm fire, a nourishing camp oven chilli (complete with Jalapeno chillies, sour cream and corn chips) and a dodgy DVD later, we crashed for the night.

Day 2 dawned nicely and after a good sized breakfast of sausages, eggs and toast we were ready if not raring to go.

We all did the dishes at the sink overlooking what we have been calling the stock paddock (even though we have no stock, but that is the plan). It was a nice sunny, morning with a bit of chat and the dishes getting done – it reminded me of those cooking shows where the chef cooks outside, except we were on the wrong end of the meal.

Pa arrived and we were soon drilling the cement to dyna bolt the feet in.

Soon after that we had a post in with joists hanger in place on the supports. Some discussion later and the frame took shape quite quickly, certainly quicker than I had expected.

By mid afternoon the frame was up and the purlins were ready to be cut and screwed in. David suggested templates again and this was probably the most time saving suggestion yet.

A frenzy of alignment, cutting, clamping and screwing took place and by the time David and Amy had to leave we had completed the major structure.

Day 3 was a little more relaxed as all we had to do was slip a couple of roofing sheets on. How hard could it be?

Pa and I started after lunch and were careful to line it all up nicely on the first sheet, as any error here would compound across the roof.

I’d bought the right screws for the job, with little holesaws in them to cut an oversize hole to allow the polycarb to move as temperature changes and a good rubber seal on top. They took a while to get used to, but when I got the hang of them we were away.

Unfortunately the cordless drill didn’t keep up and we resorted to running the other two corded drills. I’d found that drilling a quick pilot hole with a pop rivet drill bit was a lot easier that just using the special screws, especially when I was at full reach on top of the pergola.

We finished a few hours later, just in time to bring the table around and crack a drink. Meg brought out some nibbles and the three of us enjoyed the first sit under the pergola.

Is there a better satisfaction that seeing your ideas come to fulfilment? The aches and pains float away as the sun went down and we watched the wind in the trees through the clear roof.

Thanks to David and Amy for all of their help. The “Work for the Goon” project is now a part of life at the Journey. I can’t wait for “Work for the Goon II”.

It has finally happened – the first event at the Journey!

We may have been here for a while, but it has been pretty hard to entertain when it is winter and you only have a caravan.

Getting the shed meant that if the rains came, at least we could be under shelter and warm. It also meant that we could move the fridge in and store the food and drinks – a handy situation when you have a crowd coming along.

Thanks to everyone that came along and caught up with us. We had neighbours, friends from Meg’s work, heaps of friends from Adelaide, Clare and around the place, family from Adelaide and Clare and more.

We even had our adopted dog, Xara for the weekend. Xara comes over from the winery when the mood hits, and having another pup from Adelaide to visit seemed just the thing. The two of them played for ages, keeping us entertained as they roared around and wore themselves out.

Lunch on Saturday turned into dinner, drinks and bonfire on Saturday night, followed by breakfast for the fifteen or so that stayed, then another lunch and afternoon snack.

It was pretty relaxed on Sunday with a wander through the property and some wildlife spotting leading to more sitting around the fire.

I was really happy with the way things went. The toilet remains intact, despite the best efforts of my mates! The barbie didn’t run out of gas. The drinks were cold (even if they weren’t in the fridge) and the weather was perfect. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and it looks like this will be the first of many casual weekends of friends enjoying our Journey.

It must have been about five in the afternoon when the last group packed up on Sunday and Meg, Raph and I retired to the shed. I think the eyes were closing in front of the box a couple of hours later when Raph headed for the tent.

Meg and I weren’t much later.