Progress on the garden shed – Part three.

We wanted the shed to look as much like the house as possible so we used weather boards.  We looked at recycled (demolition yard) timber but it was the same price as brand new!.

It’s winter here in Australia and we lose the sun in the back garden early in the afternoon but this didn’t stop us slapping on some undercoat late on a Sunday afternoon.

Everything in the photos below  has been organised and now lives in the shed.

It is looking super organised at the moment but give it time…. We used some leftover bench top from the pantry to a workbench, some old ikea shelves for storage and LOADS of hooks and screws to hang things.

You all know what it’s like when you can’t be bothered to put things away, they tend to be just dumped somewhere but hey… this has a door and we can hide the mess!!!

The last day of Winter!

Today was the last day of Winter but felt a lot warmer. The temperature in Brisbane today (according to google was 31c (88f).  We spent the morning tidying up around the pool.  The temptation was too much for the youngest.

When the weather is cold and miserable – buy something yellow!!!

or blue…..

Possum update.

It’s been quite a while since I mentioned the possums and there have been some changes!

During January and February, we’d open the cupboard to feed mummy and baby but mummy possum was never there.  It was just baby and Big B*#ls, whom we suspect is daddy.  I would worry about her because they were lying in the cupboard, the coolest part of the roof and we could hear them fighting when she would try to reclaim her spot..

Then…..

Baby

baby possum appears to have moved out and BB only shows up occasionally.   It’s just been mummy possum sitting in the cupboard when we open it each night.  However  baby and BB are  still around as we see them occasionally in the Frangipani trees next door.

Big Ba#@s eating some flatbread in the Frangipani.

We have our suspicions that mummy maybe carrying another little possum in her pouch as a few weeks back she seemed to have a reddish/brown  dirty mark in the area where her pouch is.

Perhaps this is why she’s back in the cupboard.

Middle son and I spent  some time this afternoon making her a little padded box to keep her warm during winter.  Last year we had a towel in a corner for them and mummy and baby would curl up together on it.  Check out this year’s effort.

We made it out of an old box, some bits of an old duvet inner and an old towel.

Mummy went in for a bit of a look, noticed that it needs a little work in the corner but we think she likes it.  We’ve fixed up the droopy bit and hope that it keeps her ‘snug as a bug’ all winter long.

What’s for Dinner?

Sometimes when we can’t think of what we want to have for dinner I take a drive down to the West End and go the George’s Seafood on Boundary Street.  It’s as authentic as fish and chip shops get.

The seafood is fresh and delicious, the hand cut chips are amazing, they remind me of how they used to look and taste when I was a child.  Whenever we go, there is always a queue. One of the ladies that works there that may come across as a little gruff and unfriendly but it kind of adds to the atmosphere.  I have witnessed a softer side to her though, one Saturday afternoon last winter.  My youngest son was quite unwell but still wanted to come with me to get some dinner.  She was quite concerned about him and told him to make sure he ate ALL of his fish and to squeeze lots of lemon juice all over it.  The next time we went, she smiled when she saw him and said it was good to see him looking better.

Last week we had fish and chips and we had a few chips left over.  It was dark and I thought the possums would be out for the night.  I decided to leave them in the cupboard for their breakfast.  To my surprise ‘baby’ was still home.  He didn’t even bother to sit up when I gave him a chip.  He loved them!!!!! I hope he saved some for his mum.

The extended family members living in the kitchen!

Someone described the suburb we  were about to move to as a “Possum’s paradise”.
Knowing this should have prepared us but what sounded like a pack of dogs running on the roof scared the crap out of us on our first night in the house.

Rosebush and Possum

We have two and only two cupboards in our kitchen and we don’t use either of them. Why? because the insides are gross and had a weird smell, so we just put an old ‘meat safe’ in front to use as a pantry and pretended they weren’t there.

The top cupboard

The substitute pantry hiding the yucky bottom cupboard

I’m not sure which member of the family opened the top cupboard to investigate one day and discovered a possum sitting inside. The top cupboard has the only access to the roof.From the state of the inside of the cupboard it looks like its been a home to many generations of possums.
Now at this point in most people’s stories about possums in the roof, a trap would be borrowed and the possums evicted!

It just never happened. In fact they’ve become part of the family.
Its gone from asking the middle son “have you feed the cats?” to “Have you feed the cats and the possums?”

So one day in winter when we were opened the cupboard ( you have to climb on a chair and stand on the kitchen bench) we discovered that Possum had become a mummy. For the past six months we have all watched  ‘baby’ grow. It’s been really quite special and we’ve enjoyed being able to hand feed and stroke them.  We’ve learnt that they’re actually very clean animals and also very friendly. (they’re not idiots – they get feed).

I’m sure there will be someone reading this who thinks we are doing the wrong thing and interfering with nature and prehaps we are. It’s just been really special being able to share this with my children and its something that I know they’ll remember for a long time.

Until we know what we are doing with the house, we are happy to leave them be.  Apart from coming home every morning around 4.30am and making a bit of a racket.  (I wish we could teach them to tiptoe)  They’re not bothering us at all.