Rock-hewn veggie patch

Mr Mac and I have been busy butchering the earth in the name of food production. That doesn't sound very harmonious does it... but the truth is, we don't quite feel in harmony with nature just yet, mainly due to a rampant rabbit problem on our property.

As such we have had to dig a trench around our 10m x 8m veggie patch, and no doubt will be spending every waking (non-working) hour over the next week installing a rabbit proof fence.

Nevertheless, our little plot is starting to look rather well landscaped, thanks to a glut of small rocks on our property which I, feeling very proud of my resourcefulness, decided to use to neatly demarcate each bed.

However I started to feel unsure about my ingenious idea, as I soon realised that rocks are also homes to many a small creature...and many a vicious bull-ant!

DIY worm farm

My worms seem to be settling well into their moist, three-storey polystyrene home:


Not only are they ravaging all the scraps I'm throwing them, they also seem to be reproducing at a great rate - I found loads of baby worms squiggling about this morning!

With great excitement I also collected my first helping of worm wee, which I promptly diluted in water and sprinkled over our precious seedlings:


But it's the "castings" that every gardener lusts after most - the rich dark compost that worms create when they eat and wriggle their way through decomposing organic matter. It's supposed to be miracle food for plants.

My first batch of castings is just about ready to collect - now comes the tricky part: enticing my worms out of their lovely and familiar middle tier and up into the top tier where fresh, tasty scraps await...

Panoramic thrills

Our disgustingly picturesque view from our new 3.5-metre-long window:


There is an enormous variation in scenery depending on the time of day and the season. On a frosty morning:


And on a sunny afternoon:


Equally spectacular.

As one door closes...

Before and after front door shots. So why does this deserve it's own special blog post? Well we think the improvement is pretty significant, especially given that the original door was technically intended as an internal door...

The transformation continues: painting marathon

In the space of four weeknights, Mr Mac and I painted our freshly gutted and plastered, 50sqm kitchen/pantry/dining/living area.

Pre-painting:


Post-painting:


I think we nearly killed each other, and ourselves, in the race to get it finished before the sparky came to put the lights in!

Our neighbourhood

Mr Mac and I went for a bike ride last weekend around Hanging Rock and stopped at Newham General Store for an iced chocolate (unfortunately not in that order though). As we approached the rock I had to stop and take this photo with Macedon Ranges in the background.

Just magic.

We are so lucky to live here.

Transformation, thus far....

Our intentions on keeping the blog updated have resulted in a massive FAIL - however herewith the massive post. Here are some pictures of the house as we bought it and in the midst of demolition - the fun bit!



The carpet came with its own pool cleaner, pizza boy and a woman who had no money to pay for the services!



My brother Martin in a rare state of stillness. Either side of this photo he was a whirlwind of demolition and reduced the kitchen to dust in the space of an hour.



Proof that I was there and actually useful. Although still very much in the learning phase......



The great dividing (and structurally supporting) wall.....



and like that....




it's reduced to a skeleton.




[At this point in this blog post, Mrs Mac intervenes as Mr Mac retires to the bedroom]

Next to go was the laundry - to make way for our pantry and fridge cavity (all will be revealed in a subsequent post):

Framing for new panoramic kitchen window to take in the views of Mount Macedon and Camel's Hump:

Steel reinforcements arrive, weighing 250kg+ :

After much heave-ho and head-scratching, the big steel beam miraculously slides into place:

The township of Newham holds its breath as Mr Mac prepares for his crowning moment of death-defying demolition:

And the great dividing wall is consigned to the architectural era to which it belongs: the 'Pre-Open Plan' era:

Hoe Down!

This weekend we started preparing the vegetable garden for the coming summer. While the seedlings are starting to sprout in our custom green houses, the soil needs to be dug, turned over, filled with horse poo and then repeated again.

Thanks to Adam our neighbour for lending us the rotary hoe! Saved us days of back breaking work.

3 tanks, 2 dams, 1 potential spring and a nearby aquifer

In concrete terms, we have access to 70,000 litres of rainwater - a reassuring thought when you've just turned your back on the luxury of town water in exchange for a 6 acre slice of rural heaven.

However our three overflowing tanks, though in good working order, are slightly dilapidated and will no doubt one day need replacing. Plus the water coming from one of the tanks is pretty mucky.

But we were thrilled when we jumped on top of our biggest 30,000 litre tank, removed the concrete slab and dipped an empty bottle into what appeared to be crystal clear water.

Former owners of our property also say one of the 2 dams has never run dry, and always suspected the presence of a spring.

And if things get really desperate, we could fork out $12,000 to drill down to the aquifer and install a bore water pump... but that just seems like stealing to me.

We're just chuffed by the thought of collecting our own rainwater and living off that. Sure, thousands of people already rely on rainwater, I know, but for us it's one step closer to self-sufficiency - and that's an encouraging thought for us newbie ruralites.

What's in a name?

We are toying with a few different names for our property - probably something European.

My English grandparents' farm is called Carlton Lodge - part of me wants to establish the Australian version just because they were definitely the ones who inspired me to aspire to land ownership of this scale.

On the other hand, my Dad suggested "Périgord Estate" - Périgord being the most famous truffle region in France. Given we have plans to establish a truffiere here, it may not be such a bad idea....

It's fantastic!

Yesterday we showed my Dad around our block and he exclaimed 'fantastic' multiple times, and not in a complete sentence!

I wanted to post this because it was the first unreservedly positive response we have had to our ambitious purchase...

We usually get mixed responses - often speechless and expressionless - probably because people think we are slightly mad for taking on such a wild beast of a thing as a home.

Well, onwards and upwards.

There's one less ugly 1980s interior in the world

The destruction begins as Mr and Mrs Mac throw caution to the wind and rip out the insides of their recently acquired brown and orange lino-infested 1980s dwelling.

Just look at this masterpiece: a REAL marble chopping board, built into the FAUX marble lino benchtop - pure genius!

What's this all about?

I thought I'd do a bit of a rationale for why we are indulging in what is essentially a fairly self-focused activity: blogging.

I guess I just want to set the record straight from the start that we are doing this to connect with you - whoever you are - and share and document what is going to be - what already is - a fairly rocky ride into home ownership!

Because believe me I have come across a few woefully self-aggrandizing blogs in my time and want to reassure you that this is not going to be one of them!

Mr Mac and I have made a few big decisions these past 12 months which have led us from Melbourne suburbia into the rocky terrain of the Macedon Ranges. We've got a few challenges ahead of us, as you'll soon find out.

But don't you find that it's so easy to continually look ahead in life to the next task or obstacle to overcome, instead of living in the moment and looking back with a mixture of pride, shame and amusement, at what strange, stupid and wonderful things you've done?

So welcome, reader, to our blog. I hope you will poke fun at us and put us in our place as soon as you detect the first hint of sententious or sentimental drivel that abounds out there in the blogosphere...

6 acres, a house and a rare formation of solvsbergite

6 acres of land sounds a lot bigger when you refer to it as 24,000 square metres. It would sound ridiculous in square feet! But who cares when you have a view like this from your front yard?!