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.