EvoBilly Posted May 16, 2014 Share Posted May 16, 2014 bet outdoor shower fun in winter with frost all around Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yoeddynz Posted May 16, 2014 Author Share Posted May 16, 2014 Yeah its gonna be cold this weekend as clear skies forecast. But full moon is out and it'll be sweet seeing that while showering. Looking forward to another sunny weekend!!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post yoeddynz Posted May 27, 2014 Author Popular Post Share Posted May 27, 2014 A bit of an update. This will be quite a ramble- just because its cold outside and i have lots to say. Sort of going away from the cabin slightly over last two weeks because we have just been enjoying it as a cosy place to stay after a day of gorse slaughtering and blackberry sacrificing. I love the cabin. Its so sweet to rock out there and just unload the weekends food, clothes, cat, 1/8th, beer and then just chill. Kevin thinks so too...So what have we done since last update? We have finished lining the walls out with beautiful Redwood. Its fantastic timber! Very lightweight and easy to work with and so colourful! Each piece I put up had me excited. Sad? seriously it has such deep colours that shimmer. Oooooooh I love nice wood.  Then we put up the ceiling. Oh this was all happening two weekends ago btw. Yeah the ceiling. bitch of a job. Upside down getting a sore neck and all that. Turns out, as usual, that the whole cabin is out of square. Typical. I am sure that at some point I used a tape measure and checked this. Maybe a strong breeze blew it out of pin point straightness when i wasnt looking. So this meant that each panel had to be cut slightly out of square. This is because the little bits of douglas fir we had cut before heading out would not hide the gaps that we would end up with. Im sure I find setting up mills easier than this sort of building.It all ended up OK though after only a little bit of swearing. I did do a silly cock up and drill right through some of those little bits of batten into a sheet of ceiling ply. Whoops. Luckily Hannah spotted that I could use the sheet in another way and saved my bacon.While out there that weekend we cleared more gorse from between the cabin and the bushline. Wow! such a lovely area appeared that will be awesome for planting some citrus trees. Man scrub cutting like this is so enjoyable. Its really not that big an area for us to have to clear before we get into bush. Once in the bush the gorse has just died away. We sat back with a beer in the cabin and enjoyed looking out the window not at gorse but at Kanuka trees and ferns. ahhhh.This weekend just gone was spent with more clearing and then Veranda making. But first it was spent chilling in the cabin with Kevin the cat and a mug of coffee each (not Kevin..his paws struggle with cups) as it was raining sooo hard. The ground outside was waterlogged and the cabin was dry. It was warm too as I got the little burner going. This was on sat afternoon. By late afternoon the rain had pretty much stopped so we scrub cut and just enjoyed being out there. I fella turned up with a cute wee black dog thinking it was ours. We had a good chat as we had not met him and he seemed nice. He left and we had a cosy eveing in the cabin watching a movie.Sunday I built the Veranda base while Hannah got a massive fire going and burnt heaps of piled up gorse. We also drank beer (again not Kevin..he just hopped about complaining about mud in the only way a fluffy cat can).Some of the clearing.. before.....After (photo taken late on Monday just before leaving)... Then another neighbour from up road the otherway turned up with that same dog- again she thought it was ours. We said we would take the dog and take into the spca. Hannah went up the road and asked in at another neighbours place. Not theirs but the guy was really cool and had noticed all the clearing we have done etc. Third neighbour met and all good. Its great knowing you have good folk about your pad. It was bloody cold sunday early evening and this little dog was too cute to stay outside. Luckily it was some sort of terrier mix and didnt smell so she got to stay in the cabin with us. Kevin was not amused. Quite a funny evening watching them.Monday morning and wooo it was cold. Ther was snow up on the ranges about the national park. I have never seen it that low out this way. But the sun came out and by mid morning it was shorts and tee weather! So we decided to finish the veranda and build the roof. I then decided it needed to be boxed in at one end for better shelter. You can clearly see doggy quite happily chilling in the sun. Note also that Kevin is no where to be seen. Hiding somewhere, slightly miffed that he is no longer centre of attention.Late afternoon and Hannah went for a run with the dog and on the way back the dog kept pulling towards one road so she followed it. It lead her to a cottage and hey presto the old toothless fella living there recognised the dog as his neighbours. He was a cool old bloke hannah said. Chatted away and offered hannah coffee etc. Sweet- fourth neighbour met and again all good.Back to the land, now dogless Hannah continued on with more clearing while I got stuck into cutting the bank behind the cabin back. This weekend we will make a portable shower/changing booth and set it in behind the cabin to face the bush. This is because when that cold wind picked up the night before it was not a happy place to shower under a kanuka tree- no matter how pretty the stars were. I have no doubt we will clear some more gorse too.... 21 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowlancer Posted May 27, 2014 Share Posted May 27, 2014 Fuck this is deeply rad. One thing regarding construction - are you worried about deformation/twisting on those verandah posts? What timber have you used? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yoeddynz Posted May 27, 2014 Author Share Posted May 27, 2014 Oh the roof is really lightweight. Only 8 short bits of iron plus two of plastic. Used 50x50 h4 for all the veranda framework bolted together where needed. Ended up not attaching it to the cabin so it can stand alone. Remove the roofing and four people will easily move it complete. Gonna be so choice next time it rains hard. Glad to have a place to hang wet jackets, get changed out of muddy gear etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rookie Posted May 27, 2014 Share Posted May 27, 2014 You are a machine Alex, keep up the good work! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris.QCR Posted May 27, 2014 Share Posted May 27, 2014 Yeah an absolute machine ! Love the updates ! Your doing so well making massive transformation with the land! Keep it up 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yoeddynz Posted May 28, 2014 Author Share Posted May 28, 2014 sweet cheers. sort of running out of cabin stuff to update on i guess until we fit it out with sink, cupboards etc. but happy to keep updates coming as we clear and work the land. certainly very much looking forward to putting up photos when we start building our workshop no matter how big it ends up. hopefully by summer we can have a teeny tiny os mini meet.  question time; has anyone here had a meter box relocated? If you look in the above photos you can see its currently right next to the power pole- mounted on a seperate old bit of wood. i need to check but i think the cable just runs down off the power pole and then back up into the meter box. we will need it moved at some point up the bank and onto the outside of workshop once built. Do they just extend the cables with power company spec chocolate blocks? hows its done and what costs involved? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DB8-TypeR Posted May 30, 2014 Share Posted May 30, 2014 They will either replace the cable or join the cable with crimp links/heatshrink. Dunno about costs, depends how much more cable you need and if you dig the trench or not (if you dig it ask them how deep they want it, there is a regulation for it) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yoeddynz Posted May 30, 2014 Author Share Posted May 30, 2014 Cool cheers. I was figuring they would join it. I can dig trench. I'll dig it to china. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UTERUS Posted May 30, 2014 Share Posted May 30, 2014 600 for mains trench yo, but yea give your local sparky a call and he'll know what to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yoeddynz Posted May 30, 2014 Author Share Posted May 30, 2014 Will do! And do pop over for cups o tea simon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NVMPAJ Posted May 30, 2014 Share Posted May 30, 2014 If the power board are happy with where the meter is . You can run a cable 600 mm underground from the meter to your shed. (Much cheaper to) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yoeddynz Posted May 30, 2014 Author Share Posted May 30, 2014 Oh cool. Yeah would be happy to do that. Would have to paint meter board box camo style as its bloody ugly. Going to paint the power pole sometime in future too. Just paint up high enough to help it blend in. Or sticker bomb it... hks, k&n, trust, hello kitty. All the usual shopping list stylee stuff the kids put on their hondarus these days. Max power. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post yoeddynz Posted June 16, 2014 Author Popular Post Share Posted June 16, 2014 Update time since its raining outside and cosy inside. Hmmmmm woodburners.Two weekends ago we finished building a shower cubicle because as nice as it was to shower under the stars its getting cold now and last time the wind kept blowing the pilot light out in the califont. The new cubicle is basic and was cheap. Treated decking for the floor, stainless shower tray bought local on trademe for $2.50 The walls are free pine packing stuff. Yes- over time they will rot but it might take bloody ages so for now they will do. The iron roof was left over from the cabin. I made a little decking pathway that goes from the veranda around to the shower and then fitted a $5 ceder frame window so we can look out at the Kanukas while showering. The whole thing can be liftted easily by two people with the iron roof removed.Wow- what a revelation having a cosy sheltered shower room. We made a little bench in there too and it has plenty of room to easily change in. Is this the first shower photographed for OS?...A few weekends sgo we went and chatted to our neighbour about some land works. He not only owns two diggers but also has his own quarry on his land. Very very handy. So when we turned up last weekend he had already set to work and scrapped away all the squishy mud on our second little driveway and the park area. He then filled it in with large rocks. This he has started to cover with smaller stone. He then terraced away the bank where we want to park the truck. The clay he took out has built up the area opposite and created a move smoother larger area while making the corner wider. This will get hardstanding too.  Next on the list is to sort out the two steeper bits on the main driveway and the main entrance.It was so awesomely epic for us to turn up on the friday night not having known that he had started the earthworks already and discover hardstanding. With the amount of rain recently the driveway has been too slippy for anything 2wd and was just going to get ruined. Luckily the main drive has had hardstanding down already so will mainly receive more cover without scrapeing needed.That same weekend after sorting the shower we finally moved the kitchen bench into the cabin. This stainless bench had been recovered from the bush where it was overgrown with blackberry. Its now much handier to our needs. We celebrated its fitting by placing a 4 burner LPG hob next to it- kindly given to us by VivaGT from this forum. Cheers Andre!!! Much better than using our little camp stove!I also added some Rimu rails to the bed edge has Hannah was not sleeping well constantly thinking she might fall out of the bed onto the woodburner. Sleep easy Hannah.This weekend we mainly spent scrub cutting more gorse. Sooooo very satifying seeing the gorse and blackberry go and finding natives growing up. The grass below is good and healthy so come spring we will buy some Tordon and selectively spray anything that pops up again. As I cut Hannah burned. Heaps of it. It was a big fire that kept us warm as we worked into the darkness on both Sat and Sunday night with headtorches. Then the full moon would apear and it was so lush out there. Bonfires and beer = great!We have cleared almost all the way south along the high track which runs paralell to the main drive to where the cabin will eventually reside. It's a sweet spot surrounded by bush. The previous owner had that track graded in and levelled off a great site so we quite thrilled about this.Meanwhile Kevin just chilled whenever and wherever possible...So this morning we left and headed back to Nelson. Raining. We had prefect weather out there. 25 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post yoeddynz Posted July 10, 2014 Author Popular Post Share Posted July 10, 2014 Not a lot to say about the cabin right other than it doesnt leak and is awesomely cosy at night when cold and blustery outside. We are just loving it so much out on the land every weekend! The gorse, blackberry and other nastys (Hawthorn- I HATE YOU!) are deminshing at a good rate and more usable land plus other trinkets are appearing in its place.  Last weekend we took a 190watt solar panel out and fitted it to the roof with a steel frame that Hannah welded up (good practice) We would have wired it up but the wire I had on a roll really wouldnt be up to the job so that waits till this weekend. Here is Hannah surveying the view from the cabin roof- getting an idea of what our workshop view will be like from the mezzanine floor.   When we got there on Sunday morning our neighbour mike had been busy moving plenty of clay and topsoil from the area where the back of the workshop will sit. We now have a nice big pad to build on. He also terraced an area above it and put the topsoil back. This will be where we plant fruit trees and have a vege patch. He will terrace an area above that for a 25,000 litre water tank next. We dont need a tank that size for day to day use as we have lots of springs higher up at the south end of the property feeding us. But the tank is needed for fire safety- we will be fitting a sprinkler system once the shed is up. I dont want to wait for the local volunteer firebrigade to (farmers) to wake up, put their socks on, drive their old landrovers to the station and then try to start their (possibly) Austin Gypsy or Bedford up while my Viva burns away.  Pics of dirt for thread...   On sunday afternoon we burned things. Getting good at this. Pictured here is a 40ft long Yacht mast mould burning away.   It was sitting in the bush next to the driveway. It is (was) mainly plywood and burned so well. It kept me happy through to the evening when I sat there with a beer in hand watching the stars and the moon. We also burned through a load of horrible Hawthorns...   On Monday we finished clearing the last bit of this area. We already knew and rescued one Gravely walk behind tractor from the scrub but never realised that there was more treasures in there. See this patch of blackberry...   There be treasures in there.         So this all means that in the future we will both have to buy some dungrees, straw hats and each have a gravely which to hot up and race around with I see a tiny turbo on mine....   20 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Value Buddy Posted July 10, 2014 Share Posted July 10, 2014 Everything about this is so cool. Keep up the awesome work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yoeddynz Posted July 10, 2014 Author Share Posted July 10, 2014 Oh and I need to grow a beard like yours to go with the gravelys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Value Buddy Posted July 10, 2014 Share Posted July 10, 2014 I like the Lubrication instructions. "Fill to try cock". Tehehe. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steelies Posted July 10, 2014 Share Posted July 10, 2014 wow you guys are caning this out! such envy. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.