Using up the paint stockpile...

I think I'm getting obsessed by gardening.  Is it normal to check them all at least twice (often up to five) times a day to check they're not too thirsty, that the weeds are gone or whether there's been any growth?  It's scorching here right now and I'm worried for them.  I'm especially worried as I'm away in Nelson from Sat morning to Monday evening without an irrigation system.

Hmmmmn.  I've even tidied up my laundry to create a dedicated space for all the gardening things.  I love it, I'm a terrible tidier, so it's a minor victory.

Anyway, the parsnips went in the bath planter today, hurrah!  10 parsnip seeds went in, protected by another one of my excellent cobbled-together-from-free-stuff greenhouses (this one is thick plastic from my deliveries, duct taped to the back of the bath, propped up with sticks in the dirt to give it height and secured to the front by stones big enough to weight the plastic down).

It's an idea of how it looks, anyway :-)  The parsnips fill up half the bath planter.  I'm tossing up what to sow in the other half.   Broccoli?  I still have time to think about it.

There are many baby plants at the Monkey house:  radishes, more coriander, capsicums, silverbeet, more tomatoes, some beetroot, more beans, probably some others I can't quite remember :-)

The winter greens are perky.  Have I spoken too soon?

I've also recently been getting into  Centsational Girl, which I stumbled across while I was looking for some home DiY tiling hints (random tile splashback for the kitchen).  Anyway, Centsational Girl is kinda obsessed with spray painting old and tired things to transform them into new and vibrant pieces (perhaps I should get spray painted myself).   I was in a crafty kind of mood, so I decided that the time had finally come to rejuvenate the bedroom table I've had since university.  It's gloriously covered in pictures from magazines, with coverseal over the top and stapled underneath to make sure it doesn't come off.  The height of university chic.  [coughs] 

Anyway, despite my attempts to hold on to my fading youth, the time has come.  I pulled off the paper, gave her a quick wash and left her in the sun to dry.  A quick spray with white primer, then a coat of bright red paint on the top (found two whole tins at the dump 2 years ago for $10, have been waiting for the right opportunity to use them).  Finished it off with some French Vanilla ice cream coloured paint on her legs (again, half a tin from the dump for $3 from ages ago that I knew I would use one day)... and there she is.  Brand new table.  I feel so grown up.

Not grown up enough though to stop wearing converse trainers.  You can also see some of my extensive collection here.
Oh, and the bathroom plasterer was here this morning.  He may be back tomorrow.  I might not have been listening well enough.

Off to make dinner.  Chips and sausages.  I am easy to please.

where has my week gone?

Friday already!  The week has, as the title of this post suggests, flown by.  I'm not sure if it's because there's been plumbers and builders here from 9 to 5, or because I feel like I've achieved quite a few things this week, or something else completely, but I am sure it's gone already.

Hilariously, the promise that "the toilet will be in and out on Wednesday did not eventuate.  Last night I was using a bucket to flush the new one, as it had only been half plumbed.  I like to think I'm preparing myself for doing it tough when the zombie holocaust arrives.  The shower, apparently "usable by the end of the week"  still has only the liner in place and the floor waste plumbed in.  I'm no plumber but even if they move like the wind and get the door in ad hook up the shower taps etc etc... it still needs to be sealed and doesn't that take, like, 48 hours?

I will stop my grumbling now, because I have to remember that in this time in a week I will have a brand new bathroom.  I have saved for it for three years and I can therefore easily wait another week.

My biggest thrill of this morning has so far been my free lettuce:

 Mrs Possum brought round a hydroponic lettuce a few weeks back for a salady dinner, when we were done with it I noticed that it came in a little green plastic container keeping its roots safe and warm.  We'd used the lettuce pretty carefully, just pulling off the leaves, so the root structure was intact.  I thought to myself... self... can you grow this back?   I removed the plasticy bit carefully, put it in some mix and my lucky plant pot (all plants that pend time in this particular pot rejuvenate, dunno why) and sat it on my bedroom windowsill for the best sun.  And,as we learnt in third form French, tiens voila!  Free lettuce = $1.50

 This picture also serves to double as the view from my bedroom window (onto the street).  The elements in the picture are, starting to the immediate left of the lustrous lettuce:

1. baby marjoram plants.  This morning I have counted 12 that germinated out of 20 so far
2. river stones in my self built zen garden.  I dug each one out from the backyard, washed them by hand and put them out the front, after laying down some weedmat and relocating pavers to go around the outside.
3. big blue half shell planter, scored free from a friend last weekend, even had drainage holes in it for the plants!
4. lettuce seeds trying hard to germinate under their plastic coke bottle greenhouses
5. the buxus hedges growing in planters that hopefully one day will be big enough so I can plant them out for a "proper" border
6. the deck that my friend and I built a few years back (still okay-ish.  Has a board that could break soon that I'll get around to replacing.  soon. promise)
7. My black concrete planter that is exceptionally heavy and I haven't used yet because I can't work out where I'm going to commit to having it, because once I put it somewhere and fill it with potting mix, I fear I'll never be able to move it again.
8. My white window frames and sills I painted last December now I can work from home. 

And that's the tour of the view from my front window!  Not very exciting or pretty, but at least it's 24 degrees outside right now (and it's only 9.30am).

More potting mix is coming today - 6 bags of 40 litres each.  The Warehouse a doing a deal this week that gives you free delivery.  Excellent!  It mainly means that the delivery guys will have to carry it up the steps to my front door.  Which is, you know, awesome.  (plus I reckon $2.50 on petrol).  I need more because I used the last of it up planting out the mint cuttings I propagated from Mum at Xmas and the row of basil seeds I put in yesterday.

I think the mints look awesome:

I used an old wine rack as a planter - which had already been recycled from old discarded terracotta pipes, making this its third reincarnation.  [smile]  I have two spaces left - I'm seeing mum in a fortnight, so will get some more from her then to fill in the two spaces.  I'm surprised by how easy it is to propagate mint.  I'm learning new skills every day.   Mint plants are about $2.50 each, so 8 x $2.50 = $20. 

The basil seeds are less exciting, they just look like dirt right now :-)

Picture it as a heavenly smelling carpet of sweet genovase basil just begging to be turned into pesto.

men in my house and many lists

Well, right now I have many men in my house fiddling about in my bathroom.  To my untrained eye, they do not appear to be achieving much.  Apparently my shower will be usable "by the end of the week" and my toilet will be "in and out on Wednesday."  Fingers crossed.

It's funny to have them here, and to see how they interact with me.  I work from home, on my laptop which is on my knee in the lounge.  The bathroom is off the lounge, and so I'm in close proximity to them all day.  I think it disturbs them that I'm here, obviously they're used to working in empty homes where the owner's out all day!  Perhaps that's why they're attempting to look busy all the time.  Who knows.

It does mean that they get to have lots of cups of tea though, because every time I make one for me I feel guilty and offer them one.  Tea lady extraordinaire.  I make the best tea, you've got to use tealeaves or else it just isn't right.

As predicted, I spent the weekend shopping for bathroom things and shovelling dirt.  I have shovelled so much dirt that I have now decided bugger it, I'll just spread the dirt around thinly and try to grow grass on it instead of getting rid of it to cover with stones / pavers. It's cheaper, easier, and puts me in less of a grumpy monkey place.  The benefits are endless. 

So, this weekend I have:

• moved the bath planter
• dug out a whole lot of tightly packed dirt  
• got some adhesive to attach some old brushsticks to the manky back wall to disguise it's mankiness (brushsticks have been hiding in my garage for ages, also means I can declutter, excellent)
• collected a shallow planter for my winter greens out the front,
• planted heaps of lettuce seeds in said planter
• cut trellis to section off the two gardening plots in the backyard so the dogs don't sit on them.  They lurve to sit in the dirt, it is crazy. 
• worked out where I'm going to put my mint plants I propogated from Mum's cuttings at Xmas
• Dug around the lemon tree out the back and sectioned it off with some old pavers that were lying around

By next weekend I will :

• put sheep pellets around the lemon tree
• get some potting mix for the mint plants
• plant out a heap of basil seeds
• transplant peas, beans, lettuces and silverbeet in the two plots - we've germinated them from seed at Mrs Possum's house.
• attempt to glue on the brushsticks to the concrete wall.  Wish me luck and give me strength that i don't get angry and throw a tantrum because it is more difficult that I envisaged
• go to the Martinborouh Fair with Mrs Possum because it is a good monkey thing to do.
• pick up bricks from my friends on the way out to Martinborough
• use said bricks to wall in the bath planter

In other exciting news, half the sage and marjoram seeds I was given for free because the packet said "use by 2006" have started to sprout!  I have learnt a valuable lesson about the amazing power of seeds. 

So, my frugal savings since last time I posted are:

• two packets of free seeds @ $3 each = $6
• no longer getting rid of the dirt = $12 (plus an unquantifiable saving on my sanity)
• using old brushsticks on hand to make my backyard look better so I can rent it out = $70 for new ones
• free marrow from my neighbours = $1

Whoa, I just thought I'd lost this post and was about to get pissy.  I'm posting it now quickly before I lose it again!

i heart newtown

Beautiful morning when i woke up, so off to the plumbing supplier down the road to get a new vanity unit for the bathroom - the plumber will be ready for it on Monday, so I need it asap.  We'd been out looking last night, so we had a good idea of what was out there, and what would fit into the very specific space.

In the old days I would've taken the car, but hey, I'm on the economy drive, so footpower it is.  Well, it was really lovely.  I walked through Newtown, forgot how much I love it.  Only took me about 10-15 minutes, and excitingly I found not one but TWO apple trees on council land on my walk.

Free apples! I reckon they'll be good for picking in maybe 6 weeks?  Awesome.

In the old days I would've stopped for a takeaway coffee (best coffee in Newtown = People's Coffee) or even a coke but no, I'm being focused.

Got to the plumbing place - what a disappointment. They totally ignored me as I walked around, sadly I guess they didn't know I was a keen customer who knew what I wanted with a pocketful of cash ready to buy something there and then.  Finally got their attention, they grudgingly showed me a catalogue, only one unit in there (same as I saw yesterday).  I asked how much, it was more then the other one... and then they said that it would take 10 days to order it in.  WTF?  So, won't be getting it from there, will head back to the other place this afternoon with Mrs Possum.

Walked back through town the longer way and stumbled onto a new veggie market I didn't even know was there! Every Saturday in Newtown Primary School. 

Had a look round, no 99cents / kilo tomatoes, but ended up with 3 butternut pumpkins, a huge broccoli, a pound of green beans and half a pound of mushrooms for $6.  Happy Monkey.  I might make Mrs Possum mince and mushroom pie for dinner, she might like that.

This morning's savings... $4 no coffee, $3 no petrol, $4 cheaper veg.  $11 by not taking the car, with additional savings to come when the apples are ready.

buggered

I spent the first half of the day clearing up the bathroom mess and shovelling dirt from the backyard into 20kg bags, then carrying those bags 100 metres and unloading them into the skip bin.  The bin was 3/4 full when I could face no more.  It doesn't look like I've shifted much out the back, but I know I have.  I'll finish it over the next few days.

After that I went and looked at vanities for the new bathroom - finally found one that's 750 by 400.  It's exactly the right size, but I want something that looks a little less cheap and nasty.  Sigh.  I'm not usually fussy, but somehow I'm a little bit weird about this.

Mrs Possum came over for tea, I gave her the tour of the new backyard, showed her where planters and veges would go.  She wasn't as excited as I'd hoped, but she's got other stuff on her mind.  That's cool.  She's gone home... no shower :-(

I'm in bed now.  Buggered.  This weekend will involve more dirt and more shopping. 

I'm also on the lookout for bricks, to build in around the new planter...

Yes, it's my old bath that's been removed from the bathroom!  I have it earmarked for zucchinis. 

day in auckland = $61

Well, I managed to get an earlier flight, which was great.  hooray!  Ate up large at the Auckland lounge so didn't need any lunch ($10 there I reckon.  Is this getting stupid?) I also secreted some more sprite ($3) and other bits and bobs.  Excitingly, on my way home I became the proud owner of another large plastic plant pot and a huge roll of gutter guard for free ($10).  I'm planning on using the gutter guard as either trellis for Mrs Possum's peas and beans.  Perhaps I may even use it as gutter guard.  Stranger things have happened.

So, final total for today = $38 + $23 = $61 indirectly saved by my stealth frugality.

In other news, the plumber is coming at 8am tomorrow.  8am!  Two early mornings in a row, I'm such a moaner.  This does mean that bathroom things are all happening, and happening really quickly.  Yay!  That is good, as Mrs Possum is not into the no-shower action.

She's talking a day off work on Monday to help clear stuff from the backyard (while the skip is here) and turn it into a veggie garden.  I'm really excited, but still a little unsure about how the dogs will cope.  At the moment it's their loo.  Hmmmn.

I should do a post on the dogs soon.  They're a big part of my life :-)

no turning back now

The new bathroom started in earnest today, with the builder taking out just about everything, save the toilet and the handbasin.  It's kinda scary, but at least I can still brush my teeth and have a wee.  This is what it looks like right now:

The plumber and the builder are back on Friday (I'm away for work in Auckland tomorrow) and more will happen then.  Hopefully.  It's hard without a shower.  Mrs Possum is not staying until the new one is back in.  Fair enough.  I'll be washing in the kitchen sink tomorrow morning.  I might shave my legs now in the lounge in front of "Supernanny".

Having the builder in has been a learning experience.  I have learnt that when a builder is coming over, I should ask ahead of time if they have any plans to remove the rubbish left behind... because I now have this:

and this:

all up in my entrance way and front yard.  (There's also a bath that was taken out, but I have a cunning plan for that which I'll cover in another post). I'm kinda pissy because there's bits of plaster all mixed in with the woodchip path.  I think I'm going to have to pick them out by hand.  Yeah.  Awesome.  And there's dust EVERYWHERE indoors.

I should note that I'm getting this done for cheap, so I should stop my bitching now.

Anyway, the upshot is that I've got a big skipbin coming on Friday for a week.  It's $129, but I'll be able to fill it up with the bathroom rubbish and all the crap I've removed from the backyard.  Because I have the skip for a week, I'm going to make a really huge effort to get rid of all of the "Bad Dirt" in the backyard, so that I can replace it with yummy nutrient rich potting mix for the veggies, as well as getting rid of as many weeds as I can deal with.  At the moment I'm relying on Mrs Possum's benevolence to take me to the dump with bags of rubbish, but I should just do it now once and for all.

While the builder was here I spent the day with the dogs out in the backyard digging more dirt and sorting out river stones (that's another post too!).  It was productive, but I'm buggered now.  I was so busy that I forgot to have lunch.  This is not like me at all.  I'm a big girl who likes her noms.  So, I defrosted a huge container of pasta salad that Mrs Possum brought home from her work's Xmas do and has been in my freezer since. It was fantastic - pinenuts, smoked chicken, capsicum, spinach.  (I reckon at least $2.50 to make).  I washed it down with a beer.  Perfect end to the day.

And I found two more pegs.  God is providing.

new bathroom excitement

I'm getting a new bathroom put in, as my current one is in such a state that it would be hard to get good tenants in with a bathroom in that state.  I mean, I could use it for me (and Mrs Possum), but really, it needs to be done.  So, I took a deep breath and decided to JUST DO IT. 

I ordered a 900 x 900 shower (new) off TradeMe.  It arrived today.

Three boxes are sitting by the front door.  Shower doors, floor and liner.  $555 delivered right to my door.  Delivery is important as whilst I love Dolly, she is the smallest car in the world and not so practical.  I was looking at Bunnings over the weekend - they were over $850, plus delivery, which I guess at around $50.

So, in excitement, I took out the tiles surrounding the bath.  I tried to get them all out in one piece, so I could use them for something... it worked, sort of.  I have a bunch of semi-broken tiles now that I'm going to use to strengthen my home made garden border in the backyard, and maybe "crazy tile" the back door where the dogs have scraped it.  I need to think about it some more.

I also unscrewed the hand towel holder, it's still real clean and shiny and not chipped or manky, as good as when I bought it six or so years ago.  They sell new for about $15. 

I reckon that the shower mixer, elbow and head will be used again, because they're in good nick, definitely good enough for a rental.  They had basic ones at Bunnings for $90, if I remember right.

The builder is coming tomorrow morning.  I need to talk to him about a vanity and a new toilet - the current toilet is old and sometimes dodgy with blockage.  I might get them myself, could be cheaper.  I dunno.  Yeah, I need to talk with him.

The three boxes also arrived with about 3 metres of strong tape for ease of carrying.  I don't know it's proper name, but it looks like this:

I don't know what to do with it, all I can think of is keeping it to us when my plants are big enough to require tying up to stakes.  I've asked Recycle This for help, so maybe something exciting will come from cyberspace.

My total budget for the bathroom is $10k, including plans, building, design, hardware.  I've saved this much already, so I know I have this money and it's okay.  I'm steeling myself for when they get the stuff out and there's damp. 

I'll burn that bridge when I come to it :-)

warehouse glory!

Made it around the warehouse without cracking open my wallet.  Nearly spent $2.99 on pegs to use with the clothes airer, but realised I'd dug up four from my backyard the other day and that would do. 

Avoided the electronics department to not be tempted by looking at wii games, avoided the kitchen department to not be tempted by kitchen porn.  I love kitchen porn.

I did find a big two door cupboard for $99 which I'll put in the new bathroom for towel / linen / random crap storage when the renovations are complete, so that's great.  I love storage.

In the end, Mrs Possum paid for 4 x 40 litre bags of potting mix and 15 litres of seed growing nutrients.  I would've put in for it but I was elsewhere.  Truly!