Rally Day 1 - Dedicated to the Dolomite breakdown

What a day! And this was day 1 – can’t wait to see day 5!  The day started badly when, having figured out what was wrong with the Dolly (wrong thermostat), Stu got up at 5:30am to replace it. However, it didn’t quite go according to plan. The thermostat didn’t seat correctly and cracked the housing. Bastard! So, while everybody else was assembling at Breakfast Creek Hotel, I drove Stu to a Triumph specialist in Cleveland to get a new housing and gasket. Job done, leak fixed, away we went. And for the first time the Dolly seemed to behave itself. And it kept behaving itself until it got stuck behind a truck near Dalby. The temperature shot up, and a closer inspection revealed that there was NO water in the radiator.  Sigh. After filling up with petrol at Chinchilla, Stu and Eloise (with Eloise at the wheel) gunned it to Mitchell. There was still some excitement as there was road work between Roma and Mitchell, and the Dolly wanted to blow it’s stack. But – they made it!

No other real adventures to be told. The ‘rona ran really well., although it got a little hot towards the end of the day, but all in all  not a bad day for the old girl. Our fellow convoy members Scuderia Shitbox also had no problems – although, it IS an Alfa.

The Alfa

The dolly

The Rona

The Dolly and roos

As the Dolly continues to limp it's way to Brisvagas (currently in Coffs Harbour visiting Dr Natrad), I had an altercation with a roo on the way to the airport.

Bugger! Hope the rest if the trip is not like this.

The power of the ninja!

Dan and Sime get in touch with their inner ninja!

Of course, Dan is the kamikaze ninja!

The Dolly lives!!!!!!

Stu has managed to revive the Dolly. He did this by letting a mechanic look at it, as he sat and had a coffee in a cafe. Still, well done son. At last report there he was tracking north, 50km south of Newcastle. He may still make it before the rest of us do.
While I think of it, a special thanks to our sponsors : OPEC systems, Universal Training Services and Iron Chef Imports. Also a massive thanks to Christina for her help in organising the cake auction and golf day, and other stuff that I have forgotten. And the same to Karl, who was meant to come on the rally, but work got in the way.
Now fingers crossed we get to Darwin!

The Dolly makes it to Gundagai - and stops!

Not good news for Team America. The Dolly took 10 hrs to make it to Gundagai, as it overheated all the way. The diagnosis - either a leaking thermostat housing (hopefully!) or a head gasket. If it's the head gasket, there is some stuff that you can pour into the cooling system to plug the leaks and nurse it through. The car is being towed to Sydney tomorrow (maybe even Brisbane), and Stu has tracked down a Triumph specialist who may be able to help. Fingers crossed.

More news to come.

Taking a shitbox for a rally

Four of us from work are driving cars from Brisbane to Darwin to raise money for the Cancer Council. Called the Shitbox Rally (http://www.shitboxrally.com.au/), the cars have to be....well.....shitboxes! Costing less than $1000, we will be driving along the Savannah Way amongst other interesting places in western Queensland and the Northern Territory. There are two teams of 2.

Team one: Team America (http://www.everydayhero.com.au/team_america), piloted by Stuart and Eloise.

They decided to go against advice and buy a 1975 Triumph Dolomite, 1.8L auto. It is particularly shit! However, with some repairs, and a little dollop of love(?) from Eloise, the car has come up a treat. Check out below.

Seriously, the interior kind of looks like Austin Powers meets a porno set. Note the faux tiger skin throw rug thingo - 100% pure man made fibre guaranteed to give you one hell of a shock.

Watch out at the fancy dress do's for these two too look particularly dreadful - it's fair to say that flower power tights are never fgoing to look good.

Team 2: The Knack (http://www.everydayhero.com.au/the_knack) piloted by Dan and Simon.

Think the band The Knack (my my my Corona), and you know you think style. Well, befitting two men know for the style and substance, they have bought a machine that will compliment their suave, sophisticated, and debonaire aura nicely, like good cigars and brandy. Yep what else would they purchase but a 1971 Toyota Corona 1.5L 4 sp manual. Complete, I may add, with sheepskin seat covers and that smell that old grannies have.

After some gentle nurturing and nourishment, this polite old lady's car has been turned into a beast of burden. In the true spirit of the ninja, the car has been festooned with the Imperial rising sun flag, red rims and white walls. Inside no cent has been spared (well, actually, many have been spared) as the car has been re-apolstered in synthetic grass. The drivers will be transformed into ninja warriors (or worriers) with their custom made (made in Pakistan) ninja suits, as they take the outback by storm.

Stay tuned to this blog, as we try and post daily updates including pics and vids. It is going to be a hoot. Most importantly, we are still taking donations. Please click on the links above to donate. Currently we have raised $9500 between us, and we would love to see it over $10000. So please, get cracking.

And fianlly, we have rally T-shirts. Check out these bad boys.

T-Shirt - front

T-shirt - back

Drivers and their shitboxes - aren't they crap!

Thanks all

Ella, Dan, Stu and Sime

Let it rain (apologies to Harry Angus)

Yep it rained - Bacchus Marsh had 51 mm of rain in 20 hrs. About time I say, as for the previous three weeks we had 2.2 mm and an extremely hot run of weather. Especially hot for November. So, now the tanks are full, and the garden has had a damn good drink. I should just about be right to get through the summer in the veggie patch without having to use mains water. Happy days.

All veggie beds have been stripped of winter crops, had manure, compost, blood and bone and dynamic lifter added, and have been planted out.

Bed1: Companion plants this year. Corn, zucchini, pumpkin "trombone butternut", and varieties of cucumber.

Bed 2: Acid loving plants. I'm hoping the extra nitrogen from the green manure crop over winter really gives them a good kick along. Three varieties of tomatoes (sweetie, gross lessie and beef steak), eggplants and capsicum. I have also planted a couple of sun flowers to give the birds something to chew on.

Bed 3: Legumes this season - and in particular beans. Climbing beans Purple King and Blue Lake, as well as dwarf beans bush beauty and Cherokee Wax.

Bed 4 and 5: Root veggies. I have planted leeks, beetroot, onions and potatoes. Yum!

The herb garden is also growing very well, and makes the front garden look both good, and productive.

Finally I have also added some pictures of various Eucalyptus trees growing around my back year. I love these particular species in particular.

E. macrandra

E. forrestiana

E. cinera

E. burdettiana - This is my favourite.

Recent event in the patch - and new chicken digs.

It has been a while since I updated the blog, so I guess there is a bit to catch up on.

 

Like most people in Melbourne I suspect, February 7 killed the patch. Things were going beautifully up to that point. I lost 60% of my tomatoes, along with the climbing beans. Most distressing was the sweetcorn, which was looking so good, and was then unceremoniously cremated that day. On the plus side we got some pumpkins and zucchini. I have no photos of this as I want to forget it.

 

By the end of March the remaining tomatoes were picked, and everything ready to come out. Bed preparation consisted of adding some compost, handfuls of blood and bone, and three bags of manure (chicken, cow and sheep) to each bed. The tomato bed (Bed 3) also had some dolomite lime added to it to sweeten the acidic soil.

 

Bed 1 got dug up, weeds and grasses removed, and another root crop of onions and leeks were planted, as well as turnips (which are magnificent). Also in this bed is silverbeet, pak choy and spinach.

Bed 2 has a green crop, including mustard greens. The mustard green contain isothiocyanates apparently, which killed root not neamotode. These will be dug in, followed by planting of acid lovers for summer.

 

Bed 3 has legumes. Two types of peas, "Massey Gem" and "Telegraph Pole" climbing, as well as snow peas and broad beans.

 

Bed 4 and 5 have the Brassicas planted. Mostly broccoli, but also cabbage and cauliflower. These are growing so well at the moment, with the broccoli only a handful of weeks away from being picked.

 

All beds have had a helping of liquid fertilizer (fish emulsion in this case), and are due for another dose this weekend.

 

We have also moved the herb garden out the front. I have a bed culinary herbs, and one for medicinal. The medicinal herb bed will have echinacea, evening primrose, chamomile, and feverfew. I'll also add some pyrethrum as it is a nice flower, and perhaps some salvia and comfrey. Culinary herbs will include thyme, rosemary, sage, lemon balm, oregano, tarragon, marjoram, chillies, sweet basil, Genovese basil, Thai basil, and whatever else springs to mind. I will also plant some sunflowers somewhere. The chooks will love these.

 

We have also built a new chicken enclosure. I have planted some rosemary in the coop as it is meant to help them, and I also plant some lavender for the same reason. From what I have read they keep away parasites. If nothing else it will make a little more pleasant looking.

 

Some other additions include an 8000 L water tank, and corresponding water pump. This should keep the veggies well watered over the summer months, and hopefully drought protect me somewhat. We have also ordered some photovoltaic cells for the roof to generate solar power. I can't wait for these babies to arrive!

And finally, I have noticed two new birds in the garden, a white naped honey eater and a silver eye. I found the silvereye after it knocked itself out on a window on the garage. A very small but pretty bird.

 

 

January veggie garden update

It has been an absolute bonanza recently in the garden. So far I have picked around 4kg of beans, with the "Blue Lake" climbing beans yet to produce anything. The "French Dwarf" and "Purple King" have been astonishing with their yields to date. And what's more they are delicious. What has been disappointing have been the butter beans. They seem to grow well and flower, but yield no beans, then wither and die. I won't be growing these again. Photo's of the beds taken on January 2 are below.

Bed 1

Bed 2

Bed 3

Bed 4

Bed 5

I have also picked 8 zucchinis, a pile of rocket and lettuce, 6 beetroot, 15 or so carrots, 6 leeks and a miserable amount of potatoes. The tomatoes have heaps of fruit on them, as well as the capsicums and egg plants. The corn plants are over 6 feet tall, and all have at least three cobs on them. I must remember to keep the food up to them (heap compost around the base) as well as the water. The pumpkins have flowers on them (male and female), so these should not be to far away from fruiting. Hopefully be next month I'll have tomatoes, corn, egg plant and capsicums picked, with pumpkins fruiting and growing nicely.

And finally, the chooks have started to lay. We have had two eggs this week. It won't be long before we have more eggs than we know what to do with.

Tim with our first egg

Our new "Tree chook's"

Recent bed photo's

Here are some photo's of the veggie bed taken last weekend. It is amazing how much growth you can get in just one month. And if anybody can tell me how to keep black birds out of my beds please let me know. They are infuriating.

Bed 1 - root crop: carrots, onions, beetroot, leeks, potatoes

Bed 2 - companion plants: sweet corn & cucumbers, sunflowers, pumpkin, zucchini

Bed 3 - Acid loving plants: egg plant, capsicums, tomatoes

Bed 4 - Beans: butter, purple king climbing, bush beauty and French dwarf, blue lake climbing

Bed 5 - The mixture: lettuce and rocket, butter beans and snow peas.

The chickens have also arrived. We have three named Poppy (white), Henny Penny (red) and Chook chook (black). They seem to have settled in ok and we will allow some "free ranging" over the coming weeks.

The chooks adjusting to their new abode. They seem to be admiring my rather crappy woodworking skills.

Hopefully be the next post we will be eating more than just lettuce from the veggie garden, and feasting on fresh eggs. Yum!

Cheers