A different ‘tiny house’

I popped in to Stine Writing’s blog this morning and found this:

I love mini houses and couldn’t resist sharing the post.

You can also buy this little work of art on the writer’s Etsy shop: https://www.etsy.com/StineWriting/listing/1020425313/going-home-villa-miniature?utm_source=Copy&utm_medium=ListingManager&utm_campaign=Share&utm_term=so.lmsm&share_time=1621211511616

To see more of Stine Writing’s work go to : https://christinebialczak.com/about/

cheers
Meeks

Food #gardening in mini greenhouses

The weather here in Melbourne is bleak and blustery, but we had a few minutes of sunshine earlier on so I raced out with my trusty phone to take these:

The pictures show the mini greenhouses I bought from Bunnings. They come in a flat pack -shiver- but everything fits together quite easily for a change, including the clear plastic ‘cover’ that fits over the frame. The covers go all the way to the floor [but do not ‘seal’ completely]. Access to the inside is via heavy duty zips.

I was skeptical, at first, but I quickly noticed that the interior of the greenhouses is noticeably warmer than the outside air, and visibility is usually low due to condensation on the plastic. I’m not sure how the plants will go in summer conditions, but at the moment I’m only watering a tiny bit, once every 2 weeks or so.

Wind is a bit of a problem here, but by positioning the mini greenhouses up against the wall, and anchoring them with big, earth filled ‘tubs’ [see below], both structures have survived the north winds we get up here, so far at least.

I don’t usually do product endorsements, but I liked the first mini greenhouse so much, I went back and bought a second one. The original contains some very happy lettuce and continental parsley while the new one contains BokChoy [?] also grown from seed.

If anyone is interested in growing some winter vegetables, here are the salient facts:

Position:

North facing deck, up against the brick wall of the house for both extra warmth and protection from the wind.

Supplier:

Bunnings in Eltham

Form:

Flat pack. No issues with putting it together.

Cost:

I think each mini greenhouse was around $29, so they were very cheap.

Tubs:

I found some ordinary, plastic storage tubs, the kind you can buy at the supermarket, and drilled holes through the bottom of each one. Then I placed the tubs on top of their own lids to catch excess water and provide a ‘well’ of water to draw on.

Cost:

The tubs were on special and again, at roughly $10 per tub, they were much cheaper than an equivalent plant pot. Another important point was that they fit very neatly inside the bottom of each mini greenhouse, thereby acting as a kind of ‘anchor’ against the wind.

I know the tubs won’t last for very long because of the UV etc, but when they disintegrate, I’ll simply buy new ones. In the meantime, I have lovely, lush lettuce almost ready to harvest and some Chinese vegetables coming on. Colour me happy. 😀

cheers

Meeks

Um…remember that greenhouse?

I am so contrary.:(  As soon as I published that post about not being able to put the flat pack greenhouse together, something went click in my brain and suddenly, I couldn’t rest until I beat it.

There are some parts left over, and I don’t think it will last for long, but here it is, getting the once over from Golli:

 

 

Ooooooh……what is this thing?

…smells funny…

Could it be a new litter box?

Without resorting to four letter words again [I had a major tantrum just before dinner ] this has been the worse project I have ever attempted, and I swear I’ve learned my lesson. If I so much as  mention the word ‘flat pack’ in the future, you are all authorised to slap me until I come to my senses.

End rant and good night!

-hugs-

Meeks

 

Nanomini in June

Here in Australia, the end of June marks the end of the financial year, and the beginning of two weeks of school holidays.

A year ago I would not have cared, except perhaps to comment on how nice it was not to fight the traffic during school drop off and pickup times. This year, however, I decided to use the school holidays to stage my own mini Nanowrimo, [National Novel Writing Month].

Before I go on, I should explain that I now work as a trainer in the adult education sector. All the companies I work for are Community Centres that also happen to be RTOs [Registered Training Organizations]. The significance of this is that Community Centres are closed during the school holidays. Thus I have to take the same [unpaid] holidays as well. 

As teaching can be quite draining, even when you enjoy it, I was more than ready for these holidays. Nonetheless, after a day or two, I knew I couldn’t just veg out for the whole two weeks. Protestant/Catholic/Atheist work ethic?

Anyway, I was thinking about what a shame it was that I wouldn’t be able to do Nano this year when it suddenly hit me that I could do a Nano any damn time I wanted! From that stroke of genius it was a short step to realising I could hold a mini Nano every single school holiday. 

“Wow!” I thought. “I might even be able to finish the Innerscape WIP!

As things turned out, I spent the first week of the holidays forcing myself back into the story, and it was not until the second week that I truly began to do some good work. One of the things I’m most happy about is that I solved the thorny plot tangle right in the middle of the story. I still have a lot of writing to do, just to finish the first draft, but at least I know where I’m headed now.

In hindsight, I think there is a very good reason why the original Nanowrimo lasts for a whole month – you really need that time to get into the story, build momentum, and slap it all down in pixels. So although my Nanomini didn’t achieve everything I had hoped, I’m going to do the same thing during the September holidays,  and of course over the summer break in January. With luck, and a lot of hard work, I may have another story ready to go by this time next year. 

In a curious twist of fate, I was deep into the Innerscape WIP when I got the idea for another book. Its working title is ‘Carry-over Food [or how to eat well on $xx.xx per day]. At this point I’m still just recording what I spend on food, and what I cook with it to see what the figures show. If the numbers show that the idea has legs, this may become my first non-fiction title. If not, I’ll just chalk it up as an interesting experiment.

Oh, and another benefit of my Nanomini is that the teaching side of my brain was thoroughly refreshed. Just in time too because I now have two more paying jobs. Both are with a tutoring agency that specializes in coaching secondary school students.

This new work is both exciting, and a little scary as I haven’t taught at secondary level in a long time. Luckily the boys of my touch typing class made me remember that a little humour can go a long way towards establishing rapport with students of any age.

And this brings me to my apology; I can’t promise to post as regularly as I once did, but I will continue posting articles when I have the time and energy. I will also visit your blogs as much as I can because good friends are too precious to waste. 🙂

-hugs-

Meeks