Everything else we have been up to.

There are great things about living in an off grid home, but there are also a few drawbacks.
Our solar hot water service does not have a back up , the old one used to pass through the kitchen wood stove, but when we did away with that, our backup  supply came to an end.
We decided to create a back up shower, gas operated  up in the back shed bathroom where we already have an existing toilet and vanity basin.
It was an old tool shed and Brian  swapped the outside door around to create a new shower room.

After lining the walls  with the wet area lining, we then decided to create a rustic effect by over lining with galvanized metal sheets.

We used a pre made modular shower base on the floor.

Timber slats  made a great fill in around the base  for a safe step out area to dry off.

The drainage was  dug, the water from the shower will drain out and water  a part of the lawn.
We are really happy with the nearly finished shower room.We still have to  lacquer the timber slats.

This will be  wonderful for those days when the sun doesn't shine for a few days in a row or when we have  a pile of visitors that all need showers in a hurry.
As long as we have gas, we have hot water.
We have continued with our volunteer  work in at our Rail Barracks Accommodation,
We recently had new carpet laid in the accommodation section and it looks wonderful, so fresh and now uniform right through.

We are regularly booked out and get together  to clean and turn the rooms over ready for our next guests.

We recently purchased a new linen trolley as our laundry is separate from the accommodation.
Brian did a bit of gardening while we cleaned,

I cleaned the BBQ

and when all was done a cuppa and a chat  was just what we all needed.
We love the group of people we work with, makes the jobs so much easier to have friends along side.

We also took a photo of a few of our members at our last meeting for the year. Sadly many members were unable to attend that meeting due to various reasons.

We have just been successful in obtaining a grant to erect an outdoor open air museum to display some of our larger rail equipment that we have stored.
Brian's brother and his fiancee came to visit and while he was here they got together  with the BIL next door and did some sheep work.

They drenched the sheep, rounded up Rusty the alpaca and also drenched him and clipped  his nails.
I love it when the boys work together, they all get along so well and are a lot of fun.

We had a get together one night also  inviting the neighbours up the road .

The BIL next door had an appointment in Dubbo one day so we tagged along and took  a tour through the Old Dubbo Jail.

I found a great old stove in the kitchen.

We enjoyed the tour, I had been many years ago but Brian had never been and loved it.
It  has still been very dry with only a few   showers here and there, We have been pruning a few trees and feeding the sheep with the cuttings.

The first lamb of the season was born, we now have three, thank goodness we made the decision to keep the number of ewes joined to the ram at a minimum.

There has also been  some baby guinea fowls hatched, 6 under a clucky black chicken hen and  13 under the guinea hen.

They are successfully raising their babies jointly in an enclosure.
The turkey hen decided to sit in this old tractor tyre, also successfully hatching out 5  babies.

Out the back of the house we noticed a small wet patch on the concrete  behind where the vanity basin is in the bathroom. It started to increase over the next week or so. We had no option but to dig it up and found a tiny pin prick hole in the copper pipe that supplies the bathroom cold water.

After a couple of trips to a nearby town for fittings and bits we got it repaired and now all is good.
One day while we were at a service station fueling  up a man we know  slightly approached me and asked if I would like some Fowlers Vacola preserving jars to add to my collection. I gratefully accepted and picked them up a few days later. I was very fortunate to be gifted so many jars, they just need a good wash.

And finally the rain did come, sort of !!!
We had a few hard sharp storms,  totaling  45 mm  over a week, but it fell so hard we sadly didn't harvest as much of it  as we  should have. Our gutters could barely catch it and then the down pipe filter system  overloaded as well. We will be  removing that filter system soon as it has been nothing but trouble.

It gave a very short reprieve , but the horrible wind, dust and heat since has  put an end to any growth there was. We are in the middle of a week of very hot  days, and hopefully there will be some more rain soon.
This blog  has just about  caught up  with all the goings on here at the farm, there have been lots of things not included but  hopefully I will try and keep up a bit better now....that is the plan !!!! now let's see how I go.
Take care until we  catch up again down the track,
Cheers,
Jane and Brian.