Metoo

Brian is special. He is a bit like a pet now. We don’t take chances with him as we realise he is still a wild animal, but, I was really happy to see he has returned. I might have to rename this thread THE LIFE OF BRIAN ha ha

Hello Everyone, I hope you are all well. just a little update on our snake story Brian cam back!!! Not seen him for a long while but he popped up on St Valentines Day, must be because he loves us lol here he is, relaxing in all his old haunts

Oh my gosh, I feel for both you and your wife. I am glad you had a fantastic time on your trip and that you could share it with your son. From your wife’s point of view, she is the person who saved up to allow you the opportunity to go. She has been witness to your absolute pleasure and delight at having been back, and knowing that what ever she did, it would never match the joy that you experienced in those weeks. In a way, it’s as if her husband has a mistress, except the mistress is a place not a person. I imagine that she feels that life with her and your family in Oz can not compare (in your eyes) with the heady excitement of being “home” What ever you decide, I hope you can be kind to each other. Nobody is to blame, it simply is what it is.

Don’t know why the video came up twice, sorry

Well these guys are not too happy about the situation. He’s still sleeping it off

I have never seen a snake kill or eat it’s prey before. I felt very sorry for the bat, it was alive for about 10 minutes. eurghhh indeed

so, we haven’t seen Brian for a few months but have been keeping an eye out, just in case. Anyway, this morning I went out to water the plants and found Brian’s cousin, having a nice bat breakfast

Yes it’s a gap, not intentional, it was a mistake in the cutting. It will be fixed when we do the next stage, can’t be bothered getting all the tools out for that little bit. We will be working on the gazebo soon and hope to get it done by Christmas. These are the monster uprights and they are very, very heavy. We have to work out how to lift them into place over the stirrups without killing ourselves. If anyone has any ideas we would be all ears.

I read on here that gas engineers can be found with experience of converting some small parts on range cookers and certifying. I dont know the details of it and the post on here didnt share them, but it appears possible to do it. I'll find the post later. Yes it can be done but oh boy it's expensive if you can actually find anyone who will touch it. While in NSW our caravan gas appliances were fine but once we moved to QLD they all had to be adapted and certified and all I can say is never again. We took our brand new, still in box Webber b b q to our local gas supplier and they told us to throw it away. They wouldn't even look at it because it didn't have an Aussie certification sticker on it. We asked them if they knew anyone who could do it and they just said 'no, don't bother'

Do not bring any gas appliances. Or gas b b q , gas fitters here won’t touch them.

If you decide to ship chest of draws, you can fill the draws with your clothes or other stuff. we brought ours, they shipped well with no damage.

We are quite a way away from the fires. We had our own bushfire licking at our boundary fence a few months ago and I can tell you it is very frightening when it comes.

Lots of fires burning today in Queensland. Stay safe everyone and look out for each other.

Thanks @Tootsie we are really pleased with how it turned out. Saving up now for some more to do the gazebo.

Mini wall is almost finished but we need to hire a stone cutter to finish off the coping stones on the top. We are waiting for a clear weekend to do it all at once.

Thanks @Tootsie A bit more accomplished The deck is made from Trex composite decking. No need for treating or any maintenance really except for mopping it now and again. Very expensive but has a 25 yrs guarantee and is easy to cut and handle, although it was very heavy.

Yes @Toots it will be so nice to think it’s all finished and we can relax. Still lots to do but we can see the end in sight now. Meanwhile, the sky is a lovely blue today

Gazebo area

So, after what seems like a very long time work has started again on the pool area (-: The frame work work for the decking is down. The supports for the gazebo are in (after much hard work) and the beginning of the retaining wall are coming along nicely.

Barry, I would not even try to give you any advice regarding your visa application, having seen your hostile replies to the wise, well meaning people on this forum. Furthermore, if I was an agent (which I am not) I wouldn’t touch you with a barge pole. Good luck in getting your Russian pen friend into Oz, you may need it.

Adelaide ^^^. Sorry, typo

Congratulations on your safe arrival in Adalade Steve and Kirsty. Wow, you have certainly hit the road running. Dont forget to get your Medicare sorted along with TFNs, also get yourselves registered with a bulk billing GP if you can. The first few weeks are exhausting but sooo exciting. Good luck, this is just the start of your journey, lots of great things to come. Very best wishes for a happy and successful future X

We brought our old cat over with us 4 yrs ago. He was 12 yrs old at the time. I worried about him as he was old and nervous. As it happened, he survived the journey very well. When we arrived to collect him after the quarantine period, the kennel maid was giving him a cuddle. We had expected to find him hiding in his kennel, but no, here he was with his new best friend lol. I am happy to say, he is still going strong and he has a new sister for company. She came to us as an 8 yrs old rescue cat and we have had her for 2 yrs. Our cats are both allowed outside during the day but kept in at night.

Picture one, the first bit of concrete we made using the mixer, picture three, ready mixed concrete along back edge. Picture two, the old fence posts still visible from before we moved the fence. All the reclaimed space will be filled with 1m of garden and 2.4m of decking.

Hi Lauren, we made a little more progress. we spent a week putting in the form work for the concrete base which will hold the mini wall. Then a trip to Bunnings to collect the first 30 bags of concrete. We soon realised this was a mistake. Lifting the bags was really heavy and you need to lift them to chest height to tip them into the concrete mixer. So, we spent a full day tipping and mixing and smoothing out. Also when you tip the mix out of the mixer it splashes everywhere so we had large sheets of cardboard protecting the fence. One day of this was enough for us and we hadn’t even done a quarter of the footings. So, we ordered ready made concrete which was delivered on Tuesday. It took about half an hour for the guy to tip it in exactly the right place, no splashing and no lifting, all we had to do was smooth it out. This is the way to go from now on lol. Meanwhile, we collected a trailer load of top soil and some bags of chicken manure and filled up the first stretch of garden bed ready for planting. Progress has been slower than we would like, this is because we are doing this on our days off and, as we both work floating rosters we have had very few days where we are both off together. Thankfully, the weather is starting to cool down a bit now so it is not quite so punishing, but it is still warm enough to jump in the pool at the end of an exhausting day. I will add some pics later