birds, cabinets, and goodbyes

I am in Sydney now. Newtown, to be more precise, which is an urban suburb of Sydney. I am staying in a hostel and working on a small construction project, which is currently in its demolition phase. I'll report back to you on that, for now I want to post some pictures I accumulated while I was in Victoria. My internet connection was not cooperating, so I couldn't post from there. So, here we go.

This is a king parrot, which is a common bird in Victoria. This little lady flew into the window at Shaun and Nobuko's while I was there. It survived, but it was stunned enough to sit still for at least 3 hours.
Now on to the domesticated birds. Here are some pictures of the chooks in their new home. They weren't too sure about it at first, but after one rainy windy night, they didn't want to leave. The first picture shows the automatic watering device that Shaun built.

So, that was the conclusion of my visit with the Murphys. It was a hard goodbye. I hope to go back and visit some day, or maybe change roles and host them in Virginia. Shaun and Nobuko, you're always welcome at my home, wherever it may be (but you might want to wait a little while if you don't want to stay in a caravan).

Back up the hill at Simon's, work on the cabinets continued. Simon and Cate went to Sydney for a week, while I stayed to be nanny. I did some carpentry too, while the kids were at school. By the time the parents returned, the cabinets were getting close to finished. But not quite...

Here are a couple pictures of the King Valley wine region, which I took on my way into town to refuel the old land cruiser.

And of course, the family. Another goodbye. Another hard goodbye.

Back to the Murphy's and their Chook Palace

Well, here I am back with Shaun and Nobuko for a few more days. I helped Shaun pull the formwork down from the concrete roof we were working on when I was here last month. The results are quite nice... maybe little too nice for chickens. This is a chook pen that will be here for many generations. Shaun had done some welding and carpentry while I was gone, you can see the door for the two story nesting box on the right.
After we removed all the formwork (including quite a few wheelbarrows of gravel we had used to shape the dome), we cut and fastened the wire mesh to the steel frame. The building envelope is now complete. All that remains to do is plaster the outside wall and put a few finishing touches inside-- a perch or two, an automatic watering device, etc.

Yesterday was a beautiful sunny Spring day, so I decided to do a little bushwalking. I set out for a rock outcropping up near the ridgeline that I could see from the veranda here, thinking I might be able to get a good view of the valley. I set out on a compass bearing (45 degrees), but had trouble keeping on the line because the terrain was pretty rough. The hill is scattered with boulders of varying sizes, and some areas are thick with briers. But I picked my way through, and saw some interesting things along the way.

I saw a number of kangaroos and a couple different lizards. This was the only one who waited around long enough for me to get my camera out.

As I climbed higher, I was beginning to think that I had missed my mark... but then I felt the presence of something big. I looked up and there it was. It doesn't come through in these tiny photos... but this rock is HUGE! At least 4 or 5 stories high, enough to break through the canopy.

I thought it was hopeless that I would be able to climb it, until I went around the back and saw this tree growing right up against the side of it. So I shimmied up to the top, and was exposed to the entire valley and the bright blue sky...

I had a clear view of the farm where I am staying now... if you follow the driveway too the end, Shaun and Nobuko's house is on the left. And if you look to the left of the house, you can even see the Chook pen we've been building.

Needless to say, I sat and soaked it in for a good long time...

Last night was so clear, I wanted to try and capture the glowing house and spectacular sky. I couldn't upload at full resolution, but the second picture demonstrates just how bright the milky way is here in the Southern Hemisphere. It really is spectacular.

a walk in the wood

Well I just came in from enjoying a misty moonlit evening outside... this picture makes it look like something out of a horror film, but I assure you, it was quite nice.
It was a bit wet today, but I took a lovely walk anyway... a wander through the woods and around the neighborhood. I started off walking by the vineyard accross the street. All the vines have been neatly pruned and are ready for the coming season.

The forest here was damaged during the bushfires of 2007, which did extensive damage to the whole region. Here you can see the charred remains of a couple trees that didn't make it.

And here is one that did... Eucalypts have evolved to deal with cyclical bushfires. After they burn (if they are still alive inside), they put out hundreds of new shoots directly from the trunk. Most of the shoots will die off after a few years, but I guess they help to regenerate the outer layers of the tree.

Now to the joinery... Here is Simon cutting the mortises in the cabinet baseplate to recieve the tenons on the posts shown in the following picture.

Here is my fancy joint for the week. I'm not sure what you would call this one... a pinned mitred double lap joint?