It's been showering on and off today and it's lovely and mild. The boys are in and out as they work on the shed roof. After three years I can't describe how good it feels to be finally getting the shed undercover. The iron for the roof was a very generous and unexpected gift from Grant's parents when they were visiting over Christmas. We will slowly line the walls with secondhand iron as we can afford it, but to have the roof on is going to be wonderful.
Having the shed done the shed finished is going to be a big milestone for us. It will mean we can put machinery, tools and building materials undercover. It will give us a place to store all the animals medications and items that isn't the yurt loft which is where it is currently crammed in. It will be wonderful to have everything neatly stored away, safe and accessible. It will mean we can clear out the space in front of the caravan which is an utter mess, as well as move the building materials from under the yurt and clear out the loft which will give the little boys more play space for their lego. Grants tools can finally have a home and he will have a dry, spacious workshop to use when it's hot or raining. Which considering we live in the sub-tropics, is a lot of the time.
Most importantly it will allow him space to get the woodroaches up and running again properly. For those of you who are new to the blog, Grant breeds woodroaches which are a native cockroach. I know it sounds a bit weird, but think of it as farming on a micro scale. Woodroaches are a sensitive insect that naturally live among leaf litter in the bush. They like warm, humid conditions around 30-38C. They live in boxes filled with egg cartons, eat chook pellets and get their moisture from vegetables. He then boxes them up and sells them to lizard breeders and pet shops via Australia Post. When it's running well, it is a very good business. But since we have moved here we have not been well enough set up for them. They need a better insulated shed and a slow combustion wood heater to keep them warm in winter. We get very cold nights in our mountains over winter and the woodies can't cope. We are also struggling with various native animals that think Grants currently woodroach shed is an all you can eat buffet.
An insulated shed with a cement floor will mean he can run his business well again. The extra money will mean we have a little breathing space financially to slowly complete the partially finished jobs like the bathroom, laying the flooring, improving lighting in the yurt, starting the fruit orchard and building a much needed undercover deck which will increase our living space enormously. As far as the farm goes, it will mean we can build fencing and shelter which will allow us to increase our livestock numbers and get this place up and running. Until now, these jobs have been on the back burner and we have been slowly chipping away as we can find a little money here and there. We can do a lot with not a lot of money, but we still need some. And raising a family, taxes, cars and the like take pretty much all of what we earn now. It's not been an easy 3 years financially to say the least.
But, we have broken the back of this place, when we moved here it was totally bare. We now have a comfortable, perfectly functional little home and yard, solar, our first 10,000L header tank and the shed/workshop well under way. We have the beginnings of a nice looking heard of boer goats, chickens and a few steers. We have some animal shelters and portable solar electric fencing set up. We also have the excavator which allows us to clear fence lines and maintain our farm tracks. We need a post hole digger and a slasher attachment yet, but those will come in time as we can afford them.
We are not ones for new years resolutions as such, but we hope this year is a little less of a struggle for our family. That we can complete some of the big jobs we have started and focus a little more on family time and fun with the children rather than quite so much hard work. There will always be work on a farm of course, and we enjoy that. That is why we have chosen this lifestyle. But it is much easier to do jobs when you have the proper spaces set up from which to do them and when you can do them well from the outset, rather then constantly mending and making do with materials that are not really suited to the task at hand in the first place.
Well, I had best go. There is a sweet little girl demanding my attention! What are your hopes and dreams and plans for the new year? I’d love to hear them.
Much love,
Emmaxx
