Instant 12 seater table!

Had a BBQ for Martin V from Slovakia over the weekend, and since we had 12 people coming I thought we'd try extending our table.

At first, we were just going to push our old and new dining tables together, but then I thought i'd grab some "spare" 2400x1200 8mm MDF boards I had lying around for table tops.

That worked a treat, they are thick enough not to bend, despite hanging over the edge of the tables underneath by quite a bit.

Second sleep wall ... phew

We've not been able to get back to do the second sleeper wall for ages, as the second lot of sleepers were very warped when the arrived, and we decided to go and pick the next lot out ourselves.

We did that yesterday and then got to work on Sunday and finalised almost all the base level for the second sleeper wall.

We still need to put the second row of sleepers on, level it up a bit and fill all the holes in, but those bits are all easy.

Sleeper wall done

We ordered 70 sleepers, have had 52 delivered, and used 48 of them.

Still need to put the pavers into the step areas, and get a bobcat to level things out, but the actual wall is basically finished.

Phew!

Sleeper retaining wall progress

After the large amounts of rain this year, our new pavers were left covered with a layer of dirt, and we definitely needed to get some drainage and rearrange the soil.

We started by digging and levelling out where the wall needs to go.

Next, built the corner section, which is the anchor/starting point so that everything has somewhere to be level with.

Then aded all the posts and filled and levelled them.

Placed the second row of sleepers on top, ready for screwing in-place later today

We've generated 4991kwh of Solar energy and 1695kwh of Wind in 2 years

We installed our solar System just over 2 years ago now, and the Wind Turbine was installed about 18 months ago.

Interestingly, the Solar system is stretching ahead with total kwh generated, despite the turbine spinning almost all the time.

However, adding the Turbine has made a huge difference, meaning we rarely need to run the generator at all.

In fact, the biggest problem with the Generator now isn't keeping it fueled, its keeping the starter battery charged as we don't use it often enough!

Paving done

We finally got the paving done around our house.

This will make the outside much more usable for BBQ's etc this year.

W00t.

Now just have to put back all the fences and start working on landscaping.

Moved in!

Probably not the most fun long weekend i've had, but we are now moved into our new house. Have a couple of kitchen fixes going on today/tomorrow, then we move in the fridge/freezer and can call it totally moved, but we're sleeping in new bedrooms.

Wooho.