In Our Own Back Yard - Part 4 - The Shed Garden

As I mentioned before, getting the shed built was only the beginning......

There was no actual driveway into the side of the yard, so that had to be added.

It was amazing how pedantic Council was in relation to the slope.  They checked everything twice to make sure the section adjoining the road was at an exact angle.  Ho hum, you just have to go with it.

I forgot to share the little slab Mick poured between the shed slab and the little retaining wall he built. This was completed before the shed was built, as it would have bee rather awkward with the shed in place.

The reason for the little slab was to create a base for three slim line water tanks.  

Just a tad tricky getting them around the corner of the shed, but he managed.  They were all full in no time.  Another job on "The List" is to install a pressure pump (which is sitting, waiting in the shed), so that we can actually use the water on the garden. It will happen shortly, now that things are drying out and warming up.

All this took Mick up to the end of June.

The next job was to pour yet another little concrete slab, next to the driveway slab to store the trailer when not in use.  

He created a rather ingenious trolley he backs the trailer onto and then wheels the trailer sideways.  It works like a charm.

A small garden was created in front of the slab.  The mesh is to display some rusty bits and pieces and for a "Happy Wanderer" to grow over in time.  We got some compost from Mum's and as a result we have several hearts ease and poppies growing.  I think a little weeding will take place after the poppies have flowered.

Now, quite a bit more took place over the winter, but I forgot to take photos, so these are how things look now.

The main thing he worked on was tidying up the garden area between the shed and the fence on the street side.

Here is the recipe.

Save whatever plants he could.  Then add metal garden edges.  This was to be a functional garden.  

Add one post vice, previously his Dad's, but had been languishing in a shed at our place for many years. (Mick has a smaller one that is used all the time.)  Place it on an old sleeper and add a rusty wheel, a grinding stone and a horse shoe.

Add one anvil.  There is a story behind this too.  Mick was the losing bidder on a large anvil at an auction quite some time ago.  Later, during the auction, a fellow approached him and said he had an even bigger anvil that he would sell to Mick for less than the price of the one at the auction.  A trip to Lithgow took place, and the anvil came home.  It has also languished in the shed, never used.  When we moved into town it went to have a holiday at a mate's place.  However, his mate sold his house, so the anvil was on the move again, this time to visit my Mum's house.  Mick did all these moves himself, and believe me, that anvil weighs quite a bit.  For its final trip to our current house a mate with a little crane on his truck gave Mick a hand.  It is not going anywhere soon.

Both of these items are in constant use, which is good to see.........and several blokes walking past have a little bit of anvil envy.

Add an old mile post with a story.  This used to live 3 miles out of town on the Oberon Road.  We always knew it was there, as we drove past each day.  When some major road works were being carried out some years ago Mick happened to be driving past as the contractors were removing the old fencing along with the mile post.  A bit of quick talking ensued and the mile post came home to our place rather than being burnt with all the other old fencing.  What lucky timing.

Add some old harrows that have been kicking around for years, as has the decorative downpipe section.  Just ideal for a petunia to grow.  The old wheel used to be our hose holder, but it looks fine here.

Fill in the empty bits with plants.

It has turned out really well and will look even better as the new plants thicken up.

We didn't want the garden to go right up to the shed, but didn't want more concrete, so some cream stones were added where some water run off will go.  They just finish it all off.

Mick spends a lot of time here, tinkering away.  There seems to be a constant stream of people walking past, often with their dogs.  He is getting to be on chatting terms with quite a few now.  Funnily enough, he knows the dogs' names, but not those of their owners.  He also often chats to the girls doing track work with the horses over the road.

One positive thing has been the comments about the shed.  There have been no negative comments about its size, but quite a few positive comments.  The one he liked the best was that he was creating quite a bit of  "Shed Envy" in the neighbourhood.

More of the yard soon.

In Our Own Backyard Part 3

Continuing on with our backyard upgrade.  You can find the first installments here and here.

Eventually, towards the end of May a big truck arrived and delivered the shed kit.

A crew of three blokes turned up to erect the shed.  After the first day our back yard looked like this.  We couldn't believe how organised they were, with everything laid out in order. Yes, as you can see, there is still some grass.....and a light frost and fog on that day.

After having built our previous shed from a kit, many years ago, and then seeing a mate have a similar shed built by a shed company, it was quickly determined that the money is well spent to have the shed people build your shed, as well as provide the kit.  Mick has turned down many requests to build sheds over the years.  A mate had this particular company build his shed a few years ago, so we gave them a go.  They were great.  As we have always said, money well spent.

After the second day the frame was up.  I received a photo from Mick while I was at work with the caption "It is BIG"!  Yep, sure is!  We were hoping that the neighbours wouldn't complain.

As they worked away they were watching the weather.  Rain was forecast.  By now it was the end of May.  Mick gave them a hand to get the roof on and do the gutters and down pipes.

Oh, my goodness, it is BIG!

The last day was finishing off inside.  It started to rain on that day.  The start of one of our wettest winters ever.  It took a week to erect the shed from start to finish.  Not bad going.  

We were so blessed to have finished the shed when we did.  The neighbours started to build an outdoor entertainment area that week.  They weren't able to do anything all winter.

Fortunately, it doesn't look too overpowering from the street.  It matches next door's shed, which is a bonus, and the roof line is no higher than the house.  Being set back helps as well.

Now for the big test........Yes, the ute and trailer fit easily.

We had planned to have a breezeway where the ute parks, with no door to the front or rear.  However, that has proved to be a mistake, as being so high, too much weather blows in.  Doors are now a project that is on "The List".

This is the area in which our caravan is to fit.........hopefully.

Then the fun started.....moving all Mick's stuff in and trying to get sorted.  A little bathroom and the power had to be completed at this stage.

A family member came and connected the power.  Once again, a really professional tradesman, doing a great, neat job.

The bathroom still consists of a capped pipe out of the floor and a loo sitting in the corner (not connected). There are no walls or anything as yet.  That is another project that  remains on "The List".

You would think that having the shed finished is the end of the project.  Wrong!!!  How very wrong!!

More soon

In Our Own Backyard - Part 2

I hope you don't find this too boring, but I want to document the changes in our back yard since we moved in.

As we had over four months until the purchase of our new home settled Mick started scheming on his new shed.  He loves nothing better than sitting at the kitchen table scribbling ideas in his notebook.  After a few false starts he came up with his design. 

The shed had to be as big as possible, without taking over the yard, have a workshop, somewhere to store motorcycles, somewhere park his ute and trailer under cover and somewhere to store a future caravan.  That meant that it had to be high - like a 3.2 metre high opening. We did not want the shed to dominate the streetscape, which would be a little difficult considering it's size, so we kept it in line with the set back of the house.

There were a few limitations.  Outside the yard, on the footpath there is a street tree, a lamp post and a small telecommunications box.  Therefore, he only had a small area in which he could locate the gate.  It was moved slightly sideways from where it was originally located and widened slightly.

He had the shed ordered and the plans submitted to Council before we even owned the house, so that he could hit the ground running soon after we moved in.

If you want to refresh your memory on what the yard looked like when we purchased, have a look here.

Firstly, Mick moved the clothes line and removed the path.  Next, in early April, his mate brought in his excavator and the garden was ripped out.  We were sad to do that, but there was no alternative.  As many plants as possible were relocated and as much garden was saved in the corners as possible.  The lawn that was remaining was not allowed to be damaged.

We always joke that it doesn't take us long to trash a joint.  We certainly made short work of it this time.

After removing a few truck loads of dirt, a few loads of granite were brought in for stability and to reduce dust and mud.  A very good move, considering we had a little rain, but not too much.

It only took a couple of days to have it looking like a building site.

Then it was time to put in plumbing, storm water drainage and a little retaining wall, so that next door stays next door.

Mick is a rather handy fellow to have around the place, having done most of this himself.

The next activity was the shed slab.  A team of fellows came in and drilled the footings, before setting out the mesh.

Mick likes to have a relatively dry concrete mix, which is harder to work, so not popular with concretors, but they went with the flow.

They were fairly late starting and the weather wasn't too hot, so it was getting late in the day when they were finishing off the slab.  Mick would think that it was done and they would go over it again and again.  The final finish is really well done.  They finished up at 11 o'clock at night!!! Then they were going to another job, the other side of Orange, about 80kms away, to finish another slab.  What a day!

The next job was to cut the expansion joints, which was done by another mate.

Then Mick had to be patient, as the shed wasn't able to be delivered until early May.

More soon.

In Our Own Backyard

When we had our little brain snap just on a year ago (yes, it was that long ago) and decided not to build a new home but to see what was out there to buy, we stumbled upon this house on our first evening of looking on line.  We viewed it the next day and our offer was accepted on the next.  We didn't look at any other properties.

We had some rather stringent requirements.  Mick needed a big shed or somewhere that he could get decent rear yard access to build a big shed.  There aren't too many properties that fit the bill in the area we were looking in, so we grabbed this one before it slipped through our fingers, so to speak. Oh, and the house was rather nice too.

You see, the house is on a corner block, which is relatively flat, and had good side access to a large area with not a lot in it, other than the clothes line.

There was a nice, established easy care garden and a beautiful lawn.  We've never had a real lawn before.  Our first little cottage just had grass.  A lawn was one of those things we were going to get around to, but we sold before that happened.  When we were out of town we had paddock grass.  In the spring and if it rained it was green and Mick spent hours every week on the ride on, or it was dead or just plain dirt.  Quite often it was dirt as we didn't have a reliable water source for the garden.  The lawn here is just luxurious to walk on.

There is a nice outdoor living area as well.

Around the corner is a blank wall with all the services.

Why am I showing you all this now?

Well, since Easter, when we moved in, Mick has been a little busy and it looks just a tad different.

I thought I'd show you the "Before" pictures before you see what he has been up to.

Bathurst Open Gardens

Last weekend Bathurst Garden Club hosted its annual "Spring Spectacular".

As we have done for about the last 20 years, my friend Lisa and I had our annual day out together.  Oh, and Mick came along as chauffeur.

The gardens had really benefited from the mild, wet winter we have had.

This little bed gave Mick and I an idea.

I always like to check out the vege gardens.

The gardens were all in town or just on the outskirts this year, which saved a lot of time, with less driving.

We liked the grey plant on the right.  It had a rather neat growth habit......

The leaves are really pretty as they unfurl.  We learnt it is a "Ballota".

There were quite a few interesting succulents in some gardens.

Crab apples were also in bloom. Beautiful double blossoms.  Much later flowering than ours.

I thought this was a rather good use of an old bike.  The planters front and back were some of the best ideas I have seen on an old bike.

There is one garden where the owner is somewhat talented at creating metal objects for his garden.  Lisa and I have visited a couple of times previously, but this was Mick's first visit.  He was impressed.

Four of the gardens have't been opened before.  This lovely house was one of them.  Many years ago, Mick's dad used to do the gardening here.

The weather had been lovely, but the sky was now darkening and we hoped we could finish looking at the gardens before it rained.

The roses are just starting to bloom here, and there were some beauties.

This was one of the more unusual garden features we saw.  I think I would be a little too self conscious to make use of the bath in the garden.

There were some unusual garden features along the way......but they work.

The last garden we visited was only three years old.  Hard to believe.

This is just the footpath!!!

Rustic adornments are certainly on trend.

Now that is a cute garden shed.

And finally, as we wandered around every bug I saw sat still long enough to take a photo.  That would be a first.

Oh, and this was the weather as we headed home.  Black as, but the storms went around town, so we stayed dry.  So pleased about that.