We've now spent three months living and working at Whistlestop, and the other day I had time to look around and take stock of how things are going. In short- Fantastic!! Living here, and doing the things that I do each day, is every bit as satisfying and fulfilling as I could ever have hoped for.
Despite the slow and erratic progress on our Cottage, I am absolutely thrilled that it is coming together very well now. It will, no doubt, be a truly superb place to live. Now that the rendering is finished there will be steady progress until it's ready for us to move into, hopefully mid-October. The verandahs are going on this week, which will improve it's appearance somewhat. I'm really happy with the style of it too, exactly what I'd hoped for. The views in every direction are outstanding!
I'm really enjoying the mowing that I'm doing in the vicinity of the cottage. Now that a fair amount of it has been done- which was very hard work- I have now developed a system of doing bite-size bits of mowing, with each section improving the overall look without being an arduous task. Each bit I do leads to another obvious 'next' bit to do. Very satisfying to see it all looking so good. I'm looking forward as well to the day when I can start planting new trees and creating some gardens in our rocky areas, too. We're extremely lucky to have such a fantastic 'yard'.
Preparation of the Trainbarn site was put on hold while I've concentrated on the mowing up top, but I'm really looking forward to completing that preparation soon. And then, of course, the construction proper can start, which will be very exciting! The Trainbarn garden is looking really good, and will be well established by the time the Trainbarn is open. I'm enjoying the gardening very much.
I've pegged out the miniature railway alignment in the vicinity of the Trainbarn, and very much looking forward to laying the track in that area. I'm as excited as ever about building and operating this railway!!
I've mentioned the potential of producing honey on Whistlestop, from our wild Jellybush tea-tree bushland, and we'll be placing some hives in a really suitable position very shortly, hoping for our first harvest of honey late this year. I'm looking forward to learning more about this process, and sampling the results!
I'm also very pleased to be living in the Granite Belt area generally, there is a lot going on and it's just a beaut place to live!!
The future at Whistlestop looks very good indeed!!
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Spring has sprung
A truly beautiful day today, the warmest we've had for ages. It almost makes up for the disgusting windy weather earlier in the week!
Now that the mowing is semi under control, I've decided to finish off a few other things. I've already mentioned installing 12 volt garden lighting in the Trainbarn garden- anticipating night visits to the Trainbarn- but I needed to install three more lights to finish off the job. This wasn't easy with some of the existing plants already well established. Anyway, it's now finished!!
I really like these HPM Garden Lights! They're not the solar powered units that are often seen (or not seen!) these days, but 12 volt Halogen lights powered by a transformer. Ultimately though, they will be solar powered, as the whole Trainbarn will be solely powered by solar panels. Because there's quite a distance between the furthest light and the transformer, to avoid excessive voltage drop I've powered the three most distant lights on one circuit, and the five closer ones on another, powered by the same transformer. I've also used the heaviest gauge wire that's available.
The only 'trick' to installing these is regarding the connector from the light to the cable. Mostly these work well, but don't bury them before you test them out!! Sometimes they need a little help to work properly.
There's also progress on the cottage, with the renderers returning to finish off the inside. So hopefully, we'll see steady progress now until completion. We've even set an approximate date in our minds for moving in!!
Everything looks so much better on a sunny day!!
Now that the mowing is semi under control, I've decided to finish off a few other things. I've already mentioned installing 12 volt garden lighting in the Trainbarn garden- anticipating night visits to the Trainbarn- but I needed to install three more lights to finish off the job. This wasn't easy with some of the existing plants already well established. Anyway, it's now finished!!
I really like these HPM Garden Lights! They're not the solar powered units that are often seen (or not seen!) these days, but 12 volt Halogen lights powered by a transformer. Ultimately though, they will be solar powered, as the whole Trainbarn will be solely powered by solar panels. Because there's quite a distance between the furthest light and the transformer, to avoid excessive voltage drop I've powered the three most distant lights on one circuit, and the five closer ones on another, powered by the same transformer. I've also used the heaviest gauge wire that's available.
The only 'trick' to installing these is regarding the connector from the light to the cable. Mostly these work well, but don't bury them before you test them out!! Sometimes they need a little help to work properly.
There's also progress on the cottage, with the renderers returning to finish off the inside. So hopefully, we'll see steady progress now until completion. We've even set an approximate date in our minds for moving in!!
Everything looks so much better on a sunny day!!
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Cottage progress
Excellent progress on the cottage at the moment, with the renderers doing a really good job, in every way. The outside render is a self-coloured product, although it will be painted, and looks fantastic!
Now, it's starting to look like a cottage!! This picture is remarkably similar to a very old picture that I have of my Nanna's first home, in Ireland. I'll dig it out to compare.
I've been trying to catch up with the mowing around the cottage area while the grass is dormant, and I'm making steady progress. I'm also mowing some areas here that have never been mown, ever, and they're pretty tough going.
Another small thing that I've been doing, although it certainly isn't necessary at the moment- is continuing to survey the route of the miniature railway line that I'll be building sometime in the future. For years I've been 'visualising' the various curves etc, but now I can see it very clearly, and identify the actual radius of the curve. All trains have an absolute minimum radius of curve that they can negotiate without threatening to derail, and it's important to make sure that the planned track is nowhere near this minimum. Mine isn't. Another important result of this survey is to get nice, even curves of constant radius. I'm certainly not a trained surveyor, but I invented a simple system to get the job done. It is prone to various inaccuracies, but it's good enough. It's based on Pythagoras- you know- the square on the hippopotamus..............
If you measure the deflection at the mid-point of a curve from the straight line connecting the two ends, you can work out the radius using a simple calculator. (square root function). Here I'm doing the reverse- actually setting the furthest peg, which is 10' away from the middle peg, so that it is the correct radius. I've clamped a ruler onto the mid peg at the correct deflection, so that when my string line touches the end of the ruler, I know that the peg is in the correct place for the desired radius.
The white pegs will define the centreline of the track. At this stage this helps me to know what further clearing or earthworks are required to be done before I actually lay the track. In any case it's fun, and a tiny step closer to construction of the miniature railway at Whistlestop.
Now, it's starting to look like a cottage!! This picture is remarkably similar to a very old picture that I have of my Nanna's first home, in Ireland. I'll dig it out to compare.
I've been trying to catch up with the mowing around the cottage area while the grass is dormant, and I'm making steady progress. I'm also mowing some areas here that have never been mown, ever, and they're pretty tough going.
Another small thing that I've been doing, although it certainly isn't necessary at the moment- is continuing to survey the route of the miniature railway line that I'll be building sometime in the future. For years I've been 'visualising' the various curves etc, but now I can see it very clearly, and identify the actual radius of the curve. All trains have an absolute minimum radius of curve that they can negotiate without threatening to derail, and it's important to make sure that the planned track is nowhere near this minimum. Mine isn't. Another important result of this survey is to get nice, even curves of constant radius. I'm certainly not a trained surveyor, but I invented a simple system to get the job done. It is prone to various inaccuracies, but it's good enough. It's based on Pythagoras- you know- the square on the hippopotamus..............
If you measure the deflection at the mid-point of a curve from the straight line connecting the two ends, you can work out the radius using a simple calculator. (square root function). Here I'm doing the reverse- actually setting the furthest peg, which is 10' away from the middle peg, so that it is the correct radius. I've clamped a ruler onto the mid peg at the correct deflection, so that when my string line touches the end of the ruler, I know that the peg is in the correct place for the desired radius.
The white pegs will define the centreline of the track. At this stage this helps me to know what further clearing or earthworks are required to be done before I actually lay the track. In any case it's fun, and a tiny step closer to construction of the miniature railway at Whistlestop.
Friday, August 12, 2011
Rendered alive!
After little or no progress on our cottage for nearly a month, the Renderers have arrived and are getting stuck into the job. Nothing further can be done until this process is completed, so it's really great to see them hard at it. They showed me what the finished result would be like, and I'm very happy- exactly what I had hoped for. It's slightly rougher on the outside than in, and will be painted once dry. The verandahs come next!!
Speaking of which, we bought two Adirondack chairs and a table for the front verandah. They were Jenni's (belated) birthday present, and are a really nice product. We bought them whilst down in Melbourne from a company called The Porch, and I thoroughly recommend them. The chairs went together well, and I was very impressed by their general quality. Here's Jenni testing one out.
The armrests are great for placing a cup of tea on!!
I'm concentrating on mowing the grass in the general area of the cottage at the moment, both for looks and fire safety. The grass is the longest and thickest I've ever seen it, and some of it was mown not too long ago. I'm also mowing areas that have never been mown before, ever. (Boldly going where no mower has gone before) That's hard yacka, but the result is certainly worth it.
In Australia we have lots of 'Big' tourist attractions- the Big Pineapple, Big Banana, Big Mower, Big Prawn............. you get the idea. Well, I'm thinking of opening the Big Grasspile!! Because the grass is so long and thick I have to rake it up, and put it on one of several piles. They have become Huge, and there's still lots of mowing to do. Maybe the Big Mower and I should join forces!! In time (a millenium or so) it will decompose and perhaps make good compost.
On census night (August 9th) we spent the night at the shed and it reminded us how beaut it is living at our own place. Ok, it was REALLY cold!! But beaut nonetheless!! Can't wait to move into the cottage!!
Speaking of which, we bought two Adirondack chairs and a table for the front verandah. They were Jenni's (belated) birthday present, and are a really nice product. We bought them whilst down in Melbourne from a company called The Porch, and I thoroughly recommend them. The chairs went together well, and I was very impressed by their general quality. Here's Jenni testing one out.
The armrests are great for placing a cup of tea on!!
I'm concentrating on mowing the grass in the general area of the cottage at the moment, both for looks and fire safety. The grass is the longest and thickest I've ever seen it, and some of it was mown not too long ago. I'm also mowing areas that have never been mown before, ever. (Boldly going where no mower has gone before) That's hard yacka, but the result is certainly worth it.
In Australia we have lots of 'Big' tourist attractions- the Big Pineapple, Big Banana, Big Mower, Big Prawn............. you get the idea. Well, I'm thinking of opening the Big Grasspile!! Because the grass is so long and thick I have to rake it up, and put it on one of several piles. They have become Huge, and there's still lots of mowing to do. Maybe the Big Mower and I should join forces!! In time (a millenium or so) it will decompose and perhaps make good compost.
On census night (August 9th) we spent the night at the shed and it reminded us how beaut it is living at our own place. Ok, it was REALLY cold!! But beaut nonetheless!! Can't wait to move into the cottage!!
Saturday, August 6, 2011
The Winelander
A really beaut day today, topped off by seeing a passenger train pass Whistlestop on it's way to Wallangarra. It was the Winelander, a QR train chartered by the Australian Railway Historical Society. The Granite Belt region is well known for excellent wines, including some unusual varieties. Most people got off in Stanthorpe for the winery tours, but the train needs to continue to Wallangarra to turn around, as Stanthorpe doesn't have a turntable or turning-Y. We went down to the track just below our cottage, and I took a photo, but unfortunately my snap and shoot camera wasn't up to the task and the loco is blurred. Oh well, it was fun, anyway.
I've made a good start with mowing up the top of our block, near the cottage. Our favourite picnic area is here, under some big old trees, and it is now nicely mown. We had Christmas here in the year 2000, and plan to do the same this year with all our family. Jenni had to have a small fire today, which was also helpful with burning some of the dead sticks etc.
While I was mowing and raking this area I was amused by a couple of magpies who thought all their Christmas's had come at once, with all the insects that the mowing stirred up. They didn't seem to be frightened of me at all.
Saturday afternoon for me is traditionally 'train time', and it was very enjoyable indeed seeing the Winelander today. I hope it's not too long before we see another one!
I've made a good start with mowing up the top of our block, near the cottage. Our favourite picnic area is here, under some big old trees, and it is now nicely mown. We had Christmas here in the year 2000, and plan to do the same this year with all our family. Jenni had to have a small fire today, which was also helpful with burning some of the dead sticks etc.
While I was mowing and raking this area I was amused by a couple of magpies who thought all their Christmas's had come at once, with all the insects that the mowing stirred up. They didn't seem to be frightened of me at all.
Saturday afternoon for me is traditionally 'train time', and it was very enjoyable indeed seeing the Winelander today. I hope it's not too long before we see another one!
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Workin' on the Railroad
Somewhat appropriately, given the current activity on the 'real' railway that borders Whistlestop, a new arrival in the mail yesterday is a Work Caboose, courtesy of eBay.
This Standard Gauge caboose was issued by MTH Trains in about 2001, and I tried hard at the time to buy one, but to no avail. So I was very pleased to find this one on eBay, from a seller that I have bought from before. It's brand new, and it's never been run before.
Work cabooses were used on the rear of construction/repair trains, such as I'm seeing on our line at the moment renewing the sleepers. I bought a motorised crane some time ago, which is green and cream, and thought this caboose would be a perfect match, so I'm very pleased to finally get it! I'll need a green gondola and a searchlight car for this train, also.
In other, perhaps more important news, the Renderers are supposed to arrive tomorrow for the cottage, which will be a very big step. Once this is done there are lots of other things that can proceed, and hopefully they will happen quickly! I'm really looking forward to seeing the verandahs go on, which will really improve the look of the cottage. We bought our kitchen at Ikea last week, and I've been busy putting it together. I'm really enjoying that!! All the fun playing with Lego and Meccano as a kid is finally paying off!! It seems like a really good quality product.
I'm also concentrating on mowing up the top near the cottage at the moment. The weather has been extremely dry, and the long grass is also. Lots of people are burning off (which I hate), so I thought I better do my bit for fire prevention. The grassy top area is starting to look great!
This Standard Gauge caboose was issued by MTH Trains in about 2001, and I tried hard at the time to buy one, but to no avail. So I was very pleased to find this one on eBay, from a seller that I have bought from before. It's brand new, and it's never been run before.
Work cabooses were used on the rear of construction/repair trains, such as I'm seeing on our line at the moment renewing the sleepers. I bought a motorised crane some time ago, which is green and cream, and thought this caboose would be a perfect match, so I'm very pleased to finally get it! I'll need a green gondola and a searchlight car for this train, also.
In other, perhaps more important news, the Renderers are supposed to arrive tomorrow for the cottage, which will be a very big step. Once this is done there are lots of other things that can proceed, and hopefully they will happen quickly! I'm really looking forward to seeing the verandahs go on, which will really improve the look of the cottage. We bought our kitchen at Ikea last week, and I've been busy putting it together. I'm really enjoying that!! All the fun playing with Lego and Meccano as a kid is finally paying off!! It seems like a really good quality product.
I'm also concentrating on mowing up the top near the cottage at the moment. The weather has been extremely dry, and the long grass is also. Lots of people are burning off (which I hate), so I thought I better do my bit for fire prevention. The grassy top area is starting to look great!
Monday, August 1, 2011
Asleep no more.
Somewhat amazingly, our property- Whistlestop- is bordered on two sides by the QR railway line that runs from Stanthorpe to the border at Wallangarra. This was once part of the main line from Brisbane to Sydney, but unfortunately no regular trains now run on the line. It is, however, used by various organisations who run Heritage Railway services, such as the Southern Downs Steam Railway, Australian Railway Historical Society and Downs Steam. I think it is such a blessing that QR are willing to maintain the line to a high standard for these heritage services.
QR have just started replacing many of the worn-out wooden sleepers on the line, ensuring the line's survival for many years to come. All along the line are new sleepers ready to be installed. They're not the traditional ironbark sleepers, but probably stringybark, which is not quite as durable, but nevertheless there's some very nice timber sitting around!! I took some photos of the line immediately adjacent to Whistlestop.
I'm a member of the Southern Downs Society and look forward to one day helping run trains along this line!! Apart from that, I really want to tie my Toy Train Museum in with some of these Heritage Train Services, and am really excited that this line has a long and interesting future!! Many thanks QR!!
QR have just started replacing many of the worn-out wooden sleepers on the line, ensuring the line's survival for many years to come. All along the line are new sleepers ready to be installed. They're not the traditional ironbark sleepers, but probably stringybark, which is not quite as durable, but nevertheless there's some very nice timber sitting around!! I took some photos of the line immediately adjacent to Whistlestop.
I'm a member of the Southern Downs Society and look forward to one day helping run trains along this line!! Apart from that, I really want to tie my Toy Train Museum in with some of these Heritage Train Services, and am really excited that this line has a long and interesting future!! Many thanks QR!!
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