June Newsletter
Things are heating up as the weather cools down
Despite spending nearly two weeks of May in the US, a surprising amount happened last month.
A Look Back at May
Confession: we still have dozens of plants sitting on our covered patio waiting to be planted, including the 59 native orange jasmine (murraya) tubestock we planned to have in the ground last month (though we did hedge the current hedge–that sounds wrong–in preparation for planting the new baby hedge in front of it).
Did you know that one of the benefits to buying tubestock is that they have young roots that haven’t become established yet, which means they are less likely to be rootbound and have transplant shock. Because of this, they often end up growing more quickly and overtaking more mature plants that have lived in pots longer before planting. So those tiny little 6-8 inch plants can be bigger and healthier than one planted next to it at the same time when it was 24 inches, for example. Typically it will surpass the larger plant in 1-2 years, depending on the type of plant.
Unfortunately, my tubestock is still growing away in their tiny tube pots. I am losing the advantage of those tender new roots day by day as they sit there and wait for me all while growing more roots. But on a positive note, I still only paid a fraction of the cost of buying bigger plants, so it’s still a win.
Sometimes I like to say I work better under pressure. I probably don’t. I just work under pressure as opposed to procrastinating. This is basically universally true in my life. Say, for example, just pulling this out of the air, if a partially completed closet functions like a completed closet, the pressure to finish it diminishes. Theoretically. And if there is a squeaky wheel elsewhere, that's where the money is… to mix a few metaphors.
And our money (literally) is on our garage build and landscaping the surrounding slope. Last year we hired a building designer to work up initial plans for a custom garage build. This involved paying for a land survey and title reestablishment and soil test. Then we took those plans to a builder for an estimate before moving forward and throwing more money at it. That estimate came back more than double what we were willing to budget (and we had set the budget higher than we wanted because we felt it was realistic). The estimate came back over A$220,000. For an extra deep double garage to lock up phase. Not finished inside. It did include a water tank for rainwater collection, and our site is on fill, which will require more complex cement work, but no.
So we took the advice of a builder friend and are going with a kit garage situation. It’s not my favorite idea, but we can customize things like the cladding at a later date and take advantage of the cost savings. Dramatic cost savings. So much savings that we hired a not cheap landscaper to help with the terracing and landscaping around the garage as well as an access drive down to the lower yard and will still probably be spending maybe half the original garage build quote.
Australian building rules and prices are wild.
We are, however, stoked that we might have a garage (and therefore a workshop and gym) by summer (our summer, for those of you in the Northern Hemisphere–so before December).
And last, but not least (despite only paying $20 for it on Facebook Marketplace), my $439 ($20+cost to refurbish/refinish) armoire is complete! (It’s not. But it’s Wednesday as I type this and it probably will be once I publish this on Friday, because it’s very close. Note: this is me creating pressure for myself. I will add photo evidence if it does indeed get finished in time.)
P.S - I didn’t get it finished. 😂 I have one more door to complete. To be fair, I spent an inordinate amount of time yesterday trying to wrangle this garage build situation, so I got one of the two doors finished but not the other. The reveal will have to wait on that.
A Look Ahead to June
It’s cold. Australia does this funny thing where they call the first day of June the first day of winter and the first day of September is the first day of spring and the first December is the first day of summer and the first day of March is the first day of autumn. No care what-so-ever for the equinox or solstice. Well, the weather is taking cues. It got some practice with subzero weather the second half of last month, and this week is competing–slightly higher temps, but wet and chilling to the bone.
Or maybe it just seems that way because we are on day three of our split system installation. Day two they decommissioned our one, little, old, unit that froze up and quit if it was too cold. We had such derision for that unit. Then we woke up to 0℃ (10℃/50℉ inside–7℃/44℉ downstairs!!) 🥶and lit a fire. It didn’t take us long to realize that little machine was doing more than we gave it credit for. You will find me exactly two places today: at my desk with a space heater beside me, or sitting in front of the fire.
Fingers crossed the new system (with five units!--nearly one in every room) will all be functional by the end of the day, as the temps aren’t exactly looking balmy over the next few days. I think I will be so overjoyed by being warm that I will overlook the fact that putting in a split system requires you to litter your house with large white boxes on the walls. It will be warm. And efficient. And I am sure our guests won’t mind that there is a large box covering part of my lovely wallpapered feature wall. Because it will be a large box wafting lovely warm air across them.
OOH– the sparky just showed up to connect it all.
*Note: sparky (noun) - Australian for electrician
If you are at all curious about why we put in a split system instead of ducted heating (which was what I initially voted for), it is because A. split systems are way more common here, and B. Apparently they are more efficient. Something to do with the air losing heat as it makes its way through the (hidden and discreet) ducts, which doesn’t happen with a wall-mounted split system. So even though the installation cost was similar (with split system being slightly cheaper), the cost to run a split system ends up being cheaper. Especially if you aren’t heating the whole house all the time. Plus we got a $4,000 rebate from the Victoria Government by replacing our current system with a energy efficient system.
For the rest of the month (between a trip to New Zealand to visit Kaine’s family and a beach trip with friends) we will be dismantling the carport in preparation for the new garage and landscaping project that is tentatively scheduled to start next month. Things are getting exciting! Never mind that while we were at the rock store last month to pick out landscape rocks Kaine remarked, “I used to climb volcanoes and dive with sharks. Now I shop for rocks.” Don’t let that attitude fool you though. He’s also excited about this new kind of adventure.
Other things on the to-do list that may or may not get relegated to July include:
Plant the murraya hedge🤞
Finish the closet (will most definitely get pushed back)
Plant the native grass and wildflower meadow (a girl can dream)
Order curtains (we might get this one done as we have tried once already but they were out of stock. 🤞🤞!)
In the Garden
Despite it being winter, the garden isn’t entirely dormant. We have loads of cold weather crops growing (even though we had to replant some of the boxes three times after the wildlife mistook it for a salad buffet), and I have spent several afternoons planting more bulbs, flowers, and native shrubs as well as weeding (the spring invasion of oxalis has arrived an entire season early. I’m not impressed).
We have been working our way through the potatoes we stored five months ago, but many of the remaining potatoes have started to sprout. So Kaine very cleverly came up with a creative planter idea and got a lot of them in the ground.
We do, unfortunately, need to move three of our raised beds to make way for the garage project, so we are either going to lose many of our cold weather veg or we will have to find somewhere to relocate them. TBD.
In the Kitchen
Kaine and I have been in a cooking slump, which means we have been working our way through our freezer meals. During the summer and autumn we made soups for the freezer with excess veg. We also cooked up potatoes, sweet potatoes, and chicken and froze them. Plus, I froze extra peppers, beetroot, silverbeet, and basil. So we have been relying on those for some easy dinners.
In lieu of a recipe, I will offer up this tip I learned this year: did you know you can just take basil leaves, lay them on a cookie sheet, freeze them, then toss them in a jar and keep them in the freezer for 4-6 months, using them as needed? I tried it with Thai basil (I froze some about seven weeks ago) and have had great success using it in my cooking recently. My sweet basil I simply blended up with olive oil, spread on a cookie sheet, froze, then cut into squares and stored in a sealed container in the freezer.
Media
Kaine’s
The Martian by Andy Weir
I really like this book. Lots of fun and realistic-seeming science-y stuff, some problem solving, interesting characters, and a bit of humour. Right in my wheelhouse. The book follows Mark Watney who is stranded on Mars after his crew have to evacuate and believe him to be dead.
Project Hail Mary By Any Weir
Possibly one of my favourite sci-fi books along with Murderbot and We Are Legion (We Are Bob). If you haven’t read it and you like the genre, you should. Again, fun science writing mixed with problem solving and humour.
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
I started this while working in the yard without knowing what it was. By the time I realised it was a fantasy romance, I was already invested. The main character, Violet, who is (of course) beautiful, intelligent, interesting, but inherently flawed in a way that only shows her vulnerability, overcomes struggles and adversity to win the day and the guy and the respect of her peers. It’s basically Harry Potter. Or Star Wars. Anyway, I finished it and I’ll probably read/listen to the other books because…well why not?
Jenni’s
The Next Conversation: Argue Less, Talk More by Jefferson Fisher
This book, written by a lawyer and communication expert, offers actionable strategies for how to effectively approach difficult conversations. Actually, strategies for listening and communicating better in any situation. He uses great examples to illustrate and explains why these techniques work. I found it really insightful.
Say You’ll Remember Me by Abby Jimenez
This book was a romance, but also much more. It explores the difficulty of dealing with a parent who has dementia as you try to make decisions that are best for them while also navigating your own life. In the protagonist’s case, that includes trying to maintain (and decide if one even can) a long distant relationship after moving back home to help support your family. It felt very real and honest. I appreciate that Abby Jimenez creates love stories that don’t rely on unnecessary conflict and bad communication.
Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know by Adam M. Grant
I loved this book. Grant really nails home the idea that we should all be regularly accessing our stance on things and be willing to change our mind when we have new information. He also advocates for being willing to admit when we don’t know something and to seek out critical feedback. He uses examples in business and the workforce, personal lives, and politics. He offers guidance on how we can improve our ability to rethink more often, as individuals, as parents, and within our education systems, businesses, and government.
Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry
This was the story of two writers competing to write the biography of a once famous woman, but as it unfolds the writers grow closer and it becomes apparent that there is more to the woman’s story than they could have imagined. It was a fun read with the bonus of a second story told through the memories shared about the famous woman’s past.
1,000 Words: A Writer’s Guide to Staying Creative, Focused, and Productive All Year Round by Jami Attenberg
Jami Attenberg runs a Substack community on writing called 1,000 Words of Summer where she encourages writers and runs a challenge in June each year. The challenge is to write 1,000 words every day for 14 days. It is happening now and while I committed do doing it, and have been writing, I have not written every day and often not 1,000 words. The challenge includes an encouraging letter/essay on writing each day from a different author. The book is mainly a compilation of letters/essays from past years. It includes writing from fifty authors. Plenty to inspire one.
Cheers!
Jenni & Kaine