In mid-July last year, Meg and her Mum worked very hard with rock, clay and straw to build the cob oven.

It worked well and we used it to cook roasts, pizza and damper as well as baking dishes of tasty potatoes and more. But the oven was made of natural products and not sealed against the elements, so it was decided that we needed to build a shelter to protect it.

After a day of other work in October, Raph and I were inspired to dig the footings and hurriedly concrete them in fading darkness. It was a dodgy job without stringlines or measuring tape – sighted by eye and dug with teamwork. Concrete was mixed by the barrow load using our own secret mix of cement and various gravel, sand and road base variants.

Considering the huge amount of gum trees covering the property, I thought that maybe we could build something from the natural resources. (It would also be significantly cheaper!) I’d cut some lengths of gum that needed clearing and laid them near the footings, and that is where work stopped.

Three months later, the urgent jobs were out of the way and motivation came upon us with certain conditions; this was to be an entirely dodgy construction. We decided that this meant building without measuring tape, level or string line and using brute force tools such as the chainsaw, sledge hammer and axe and only materials that were already on the property.

Of course, a dodgy construction couldn’t be tacked together without an afternoon of Goon or suitable other drinks and Raph had just bought a cask of the cheapest white wine on offer!

Saturday morning started with the cutting the base of the posts to fit with the chainsaw and fitting them to the pergola feet with coach bolts. I’d started to trim the base to size with hammer and chisel, but Raph had a better idea – use the axe.

Much laughter later, we placed a cross member across the first two posts. The shelter was underway!

The next posts were soon in place and we had a square of cross members sitting on top. The solution to strengthening and bracing the structure? Why fencing wire tensioned with wire strainers, of course!

Raph had started on the goon by now, but I had to follow my own rules and only had a drink after the chainsaw was put away and there were still two posts to go.

By the time the last two posts were in, Meg appeared from over the hill with a blender full of Margaritas, some cocktail glasses as well as salsa and corn chips. It was time for a break and to reflect on our progress so far.

Late Saturday afternoon soon disintegrated as we laughed and wired joints together, hoping that the structure would stand the night.

Sunday morning started suitably late with a few other jobs to be done before we headed back over the hill to the work in progress.

First up was to decide on the method of fixing the roofing. Leftover warped and twisted permapine could be used up in this job, as it wouldn’t be used for any other project and was lying in a deteriorating pile out in the weather.

Supplies were checked and we were lacking in the right length screws to fix the roof purlins to the framework, so Raph and I headed to town. Unfortunately we were running a bit late and both hardware shops were shut.

I’d never considered buying hardware from Cheap as Chips, but they were the only place open. The upshot was that we stumbled over some wheels to suit the new woodbox that Raph had just built and bought a box of various sized screws for $5.

On our return we started with the roof, surprised at how fast it went up. There were a few designs for the roof, and I’m not sure that what ended up is what either of us was thinking, but the hills were soon echoing to the clang of hammer on roofing nails and galvanised iron sheets.

One design that had had serious consideration in the months leading up to the erection was for the external flue through the roof. This was to be the third of the three sections of the wood heater that we bought last winter; the first was used on the heater in the shed, the second was modified to reduce the diameter and forms the flue on the oven and the final section will be placed through the roof.

We considered cutting the hole in the sheet with the angle grinder, but Raph had another brainwave and headed again for the axe and soon we were bending the tin and riveting the flue in place.

Meg added a plaque that her Mum had given us about a year ago and had hung in the trees near the shed. The dodgy shelter and the oven that they created between them will be a much better place for it.

Sunday night was a bit bigger than it should have been, but we’d had a big couple of days of building. Because of this, we only started to climb the ladder and fit the remaining roofing sheets in the afternoon.

There was a nice sense of accomplishment to build something by feel, without planning too much and just taking things as they come. The shelter had taken on a nice, rustic personality. It was a perfect match for the oven and Meg loved it. The dodgy construction was complete.

Click for the complete gallery of photos.

It seems like ages ago when I first learnt about the government’s Australian Broadband Guarantee program. It must have been about April or May when visiting a client and she asked me about it and gave me some info and forms from Activ8 to explain.

Since then I’ve spent a considerable amount of time reading about it, applying for it, spreading the word amongst my clients and then chasing up my application to find out if I qualify and when they can connect me.

The letter finally came in December and we could finally rely on having internet access at home, without having to use a service like BigPond mobile broadband which would cost a fortune.

The installer had called me earlier in the week to arrange a time, but didn’t have much idea where we were, so I’d agreed to meet him at the Sevenhill pub and bring him up here.

It was an early start to the day and surprisingly crisp for a January day in Clare. It was the first time in months that I’d put a long sleeve shirt on in the morning. But the cool weather didn’t dampen my spirit – we’d have internet access at home soon, and without the cost of installing a phone line that we don’t need!

Raph and I did some jobs around the place, while Brett unpacked and installed the satellite dish.

A few hours later the moment of truth came. The satellite dish was mounted on the roof and aligned in the right spot and Brett pulled out his laptop to talk to the modem.

The modem by the way, is an IPSTAR broadband satellite modem with 4mbps download and 2mbps upload capacity, although it is set to 512kbps/256kbps for our install.

While the modem was configured, I plugged in my ASUS wireless pocket router and plugged it in.

We tested the speed and then I plugged the network cable from the modem to the router. My new laptop found the network straight away and I was immediately online.

I called Meg and let her know we were online as internet access for her has been extremely limited since we gave up the BigPond cable broadband that we had in Adelaide. Now she’ll be able to communicate with her friends by email again and get a bit more involved in the blog.

Having broadband at home will make a significant difference to my work as well. For the last ten months I have been using the broadband connection at my folks place most days and while it is great to catch up with them so often, it will be so much more convenient to check the little things from home.

The climate in South Australia tends to hot, dry summers with daytime temperatures constantly over 30 degrees. The last week has been particularly hot with New Years Eve reaching 42 degrees.

Meg and I were in Adelaide, after catching up with Dave and Cindy and were checking out some used cars with an idea of replacing Meg’s trusty little Holden Nova with a small four wheel drive.

The combination of heat, traffic and dealing with used car salesmen had tensions raised and I’d noticed a slight vibration in the Patrol as we drove between lots. After a brief stop at Tea Tree Plaza I had even visually checked all of the tyres before heading off.

The vibration increased and I coasted to try to resolve the problem as potential causes ran through my head; wheel balance suddenly out, a blocked fuel injector, fuel pump problems, air conditioner – the list was beginning to mount when BANG! The right hand rear tyre blew!

So, in stifling dry 42 degree heat, I jacked up the car and changed the tyre.

All hope of looking at cars was gone as we drove on and out of Adelaide. I was hot, soaking wet and frustrated, worried that the cause of one blowout might also be the cause of another. We cruised slowly home and discussed potential cars for Meg.

The heat had also affected the vegie garden and my grand plan of irrigating a garden from our shower, sink and washing machine runoff seems to have hit a snag. The pumpkins that had been stretching out across the ground were crispy, the zucchini turned light brown and had a crinkly sound in the breeze and all of the young fruit was shrivelled.

Some of the fruit trees were withered and the grass was crunchy underfoot.

All of this happened in one day. I had watered the previous morning, knowing that I wouldn’t return until the following night and hoping that it would be enough, but dry winds and temperatures over 40 degrees are powerful.

It got me thinking again of our fire prevention and protection plans and I looked over the paddock that the cows have now reduced to stubble, glad that we’d worked hard to reduce this fire risk.

The next few months will be stressful as the temperatures continue to soar and we wait for rain in March or April.