We got rain and storms one day this week, which was marvellous for the garden and also to wash the dust off the car. The water tank is nearly a third full which should be good to keep the garden watered for a week or two. And they are predicting more storms I think on Wednesday next week which is fine by me, one day a week is just grand. The top layer of the ground was soft and damp and so it was a good time to pull out many of the weeds that had appeared overnight. Three buckets later I had removed most of them.

I’ve been working on the new stairs beside the garage this week and I even put the columns into proper footings with real concrete and everything. Not the best footings I must admit, however if they last for about two years then I will be happy with that, because I think I will have moved on by then. Tomorrow I’ll cut the treads and fit them, but I’ll have to do a bit more painting before I finally stitch it all together.

I bought Pale Eucalypt paint to use on the retaining wall. This morning I finished off the western side, which is the part that has been repaired and even after one coat it’s looking great. In a few weeks’ time I’ll get decking oil and I’ll use some on the new posts too and maybe on the older part although I might just use the Pale Eucalypt.

One pleasing thing I discovered this week is that I seem to have almost every tool, screw and attachment needed to do all these different jobs. I have finally reached a zen moment of construction…..very happy…….

One of the posts is a little bit rotten inside and rather than replace it I’m going to cut out the bad section, put in a new piece of hardwood along with Builders Bog which is a multi purpose filler that sets fairly hard and this should seal some of the damage. I was told that I should use some engine oil in the internals of the the post and this will put a little bit of moisture back into the timber and therefore give it a bit more longevity.