Veya's adventures at Milvern

I thought I'd start a thread to post some pics.
Milvern is the name of the farmhouse i bought and now living in, moved the last of my stuff in on Wednesday.

I am going to do a lot of work in the yards so thinking of taking some before and after photos. Plus there is heaps of interesting animals around.


Flock of Cockatoo


Toilet frog, cant have an old farm house with out a frog living in the second toilet


Right by my front door, these little birds have made their nest, I think they are a type of finches


A weird deer, I have seen 2 other types that look more like stereotypical deer, this guy almost looks African

Prong horn Veya?

I'd love to see the before after pictures. All the best with the move

Be nice to actually see a picture of the farmhouse.



Not sure I like Australians answer to a bidet. A frog 

Really good thread Veya. Let's see the farmhouse please.

and dont forget "the redback on the toilet seat"

nicko wrote:Prong horn Veya?

I did ask around and apparently there is weird/wild animals in smaller numbers due to some private zoos that basically closed and just let the animals free to go feral.

the other types of deer are/where semi domestic, the left over of failed farming ventures.

I will try and get a photo of the house itself but it is hard to get a good shot as it's surrounded by trees, so it either feels too close and you cant see much or too far and the trees cover most of it.

but side note, I have a dozen kilos of plums from the trees, some peaches too both are good eating.
I made Plum Jam last night but looked this morning and I don't think it set properly

there is an apricot tree but I think it may be too old to produce good fruit (they are all stone hard) but I could be conditions too

I adore plums and peaches and apricot jam is far superior to plum jam anyway. Can't help you with the setting of it as I'm not jam-savvy.

it just means I didn't cook it enough. (cooking times vary depending on water content and I am still learning the finer points of preserve making

it is currently a thick syrup, I might leave it as a syrup,
I put some on ice cream last night for dessert and it tastes good.

If you cook it too much you end up with fruit toffee
I made a really good batch of Blueberry toffee last year.

I adore blueberry-flavoured things but dislike eating the actual fruit. I love blueberry preserve.

veya_victaous wrote:it just means I didn't cook it enough. (cooking times vary depending on water content and I am still learning the finer points of preserve making

it is currently a thick syrup, I might leave it as a syrup,
I put some on ice cream last night for dessert and it tastes good.  

If you cook it too much you end up with fruit toffee  
I made a really good batch of Blueberry toffee last year.

Boil it up again, add more sugar or apple juice

My Wife makes jam every year, she said it was not boiled enough, bring to the boil again and let it "simmer" for an hour with the addition of a little more sugar. Check regulary with a small amount on a spoon, [ blow on it first]

I figured i could probably just boil it some more but after having it on ice cream last night and making myself a vodka, lemonade and plum syrup cocktail tonight I am liking the syrup.

there is still kilograms left of the fruit so I might just make some more , literally it was a half assed attempt cause there was so much ripe fruit. I threw away like 2 kilo this afternoon as it was hot today and i left it in a glass bowl and it was a bit smelly when i got home. i got a few more kilos in the fridge way more than i will eat and there is twice as much ripening fruit on the trees.

i must say the peaches (which i only got about a kilo of originally) are the best i have ever had but my mother has always said that you cant get good stone fruits in Sydney anymore (after the supermarket takeovers that pretty much wiped out your smaller green grocers and non industrialized fruit farms)

Fruit and Jam


and the pics of the house as you can see heaps of work to do in the yard, I have got he internals pretty much all good (exception being a bathroom that i will need to gut and re do) and i honest cant take too much credit as I am incredibly lucky to have a little brother that  is a professional shopfitter/cabinet maker





one of the old roses

the front garden was obvious once a much loved English style garden with Old roses and camellias that have survived for about a decades of abandonment
the house has been vacant for about 10 years before i bought it, the seller had re stumped and re roofed the house appanrent it was quite bad prior there are things that really give away the age the door frames are almost comically unsquare (fuck i am glad my brother is an ace with the plane and chisel

Lovely pics and everytime you go into your English-style garden, you can think of your pommie mates here

Lovely pics. Happy New House! x

Are those Solar Panels on the roof?

And a satellite dish, no less.

nicko wrote:Are those Solar Panels on the roof?

yes, I just need a house battery

Currently producing about 50% more than my total usage, but still need to buy power at night and they only pay like 20% of what they charge

eddie wrote:Lovely pics and everytime you go into your English-style garden, you can think of your pommie mates here

I am going to try and restore it, I figure those that have survived with out care should be easy to look after. So I just got to try not to kill them.


I was thinking of Buying some gnomes and naming them after the Posters here

veya_victaous wrote:

eddie wrote:Lovely pics and everytime you go into your English-style garden, you can think of your pommie mates here

I am going to try and restore it, I figure those that have survived with out care should be easy to look after. So I just got to try not to kill them.  


I was thinking of Buying some gnomes and naming them after the Posters here

You know...that is a fabulous idea! I really wanna see the pics if you do that.

You need a wife, veya. Replace those shades with some warm curtains and plant the beds around the house.

Great place, but a woman makes a home.

well based on my peers,
I think marriage is just a way to lose up to 70% of your stuff.



I was going to put curtains up later once I am sure I am happy with internal colours,
but this is Australia only a fool doesn't have shade blinds,
it's been over 30C all week and I don't have air-con ( I might not even bother haven't made up my mind yet) you can really feel the difference if you leave the blinds down during the day.


Flower beds will get planted eventually too. but I was planning to fix up a carport and work shed area first. I making a trip to the quarry this Saturday to order several tonnes of crushed rock and have poisoned some of the weeds/grass

most of the work outside so far has just been removing the noxious weeds and fixing fencing, removing debris etc.

veya_victaous wrote:well based on my peers,
I think marriage is just a way to lose up to 70% of your stuff.
     


I was going to put curtains up later once I am sure I am happy with internal colours,
but this is Australia only a fool doesn't have shade blinds,
it's been over 30C all week and I don't have air-con  ( I might not even bother haven't made up my mind yet) you can really feel the difference if you leave the blinds down during the day.


Flower beds will get planted eventually too. but I was planning to fix up a carport and work shed area first. I making a trip to the quarry this Saturday to order several tonnes of crushed rock and have poisoned some of the weeds/grass

most of the work outside so far has just been removing the noxious weeds and fixing fencing, removing debris etc.

You did good. Place is really nice. Cozy feel.

veya_victaous wrote:

eddie wrote:Lovely pics and everytime you go into your English-style garden, you can think of your pommie mates here

I am going to try and restore it, I figure those that have survived with out care should be easy to look after. So I just got to try not to kill them.  


I was thinking of Buying some gnomes and naming them after the Posters here

It looks like an idyllic place to live...good luck with all the renovations.

Here's a gnome to start your collection off....not sure who it could be based on though.

some more animal pics (this is the reason is moved down here) life is pretty crazy now I travel 70km each way to work (technicality interstate) along 100km/h country roads I am thinking of getting a dash cam just to get some pictures since i cant use a phone camera while driving (used to travel 38km on the train through suburbia takes about the same time) I am happier, i think, even though there has been quite a lot of stress ( i am now 230 km away from friends and family) now i am starting to get a routine. definitely a lot quieter


the biggest herd of deer i have seen around, about 6 am got out of the shower and my Maltese terrier is barking his head off out the back, they ran off after came out best shot i got.  Neighbor shot 2 from this herd about a week and half ago, this is also one of the larger herd he has seen (about 20) normally they are just 5-10 animals


A lizard i caught, he was hiding under the lawn mower, just shy of a foot i am not sure what type he is exactly, not a common blue tongue ( i breed them) it has much more defined scales


AND the birds by the front doors eggs have hatched. cute little babies

Great pics!
Isn't 70km a fucklot of km's to be travelling to work??

Umm yes thankfully most of it is over 80km/h and hour and a far chunk 100km/h , Plus no cops so speed limits are a bit of a 'suggestion'
it takes about an hour each way which is what it did previously.
But now i get to live in a rural area with all these animals and stuff.

veya_victaous wrote:Umm yes thankfully most of it is over 80km/h and hour and a far chunk 100km/h , Plus no cops so speed limits are a bit of a 'suggestion'  
it takes about an hour each way which is what it did previously.
But now i get to live in a rural area with all these animals and stuff.

So if the journey gets you down you can just look out of the window
I guess an hour driving which is simply putting your foot down is better than a short journey in horrible city traffic.
You have a PM btw

I am going to respond to your PM publicly
I am Sorry ( in know all you said is true)
I have been stressed and all out of routine, with all the changes
and reacted badly to the changes here at the same time. You bore the brunt of me being out of sorts which really had little to do with newsfix.

My apologies

veya_victaous wrote:I am going to respond to your PM publicly
I am Sorry ( in know all you said is true)
I have been stressed and all out of routine, with all the changes
and reacted badly to the changes here at the same time. You bore the brunt of me being out of sorts which really had little to do with newsfix.

My apologies

Same to you Veya and I really appreciate it x

veya_victaous wrote:Umm yes thankfully most of it is over 80km/h and hour and a far chunk 100km/h , Plus no cops so speed limits are a bit of a 'suggestion'  
it takes about an hour each way which is what it did previously.
But now i get to live in a rural area with all these animals and stuff.

I have an hour commute door to door too. I blast music to wake me up or chill me out at the end of the day. You will be surprised at how many changes during the seasons you see along the way once you get used to it. I much prefer it to being stuck underground in a tube. Aren't we lucky? X

Cass wrote:

veya_victaous wrote:Umm yes thankfully most of it is over 80km/h and hour and a far chunk 100km/h , Plus no cops so speed limits are a bit of a 'suggestion'  
it takes about an hour each way which is what it did previously.
But now i get to live in a rural area with all these animals and stuff.

I have an hour commute door to door too. I blast music to wake me up or chill me out at the end of the day. You will be surprised at how many changes during the seasons you see along the way once you get used to it. I much prefer it to being stuck underground in a tube. Aren't we lucky? X

I have found it feels quicker, but I don't mind driving as long as it's moving and compared to Sydney Canberra doesn't have traffic, Like their peak time is the same as a Sunday afternoon in Sydney

once out of Canberra it is all country roads and you see maybe half dozen cars

are the roads REALLY as bad as that veya????

I pass through a small town (which has commuters like me its about 20km closer to Canberra)
and it is the 'main' road linking the Southern Tablelands to Canberra. So you have farmers and stuff along it.

and that is half dozen cars over about 55km of driving

Completely different to Sydney, I used to drive 3km to the train station and would pass more traffic than the entire 70km journey.

The biggest danger is wildlife hitting a roo, wombat or deer along some of those stretches could be devastating. it's summer so it is still light when I am driving but in winter it will be dusk, that's why I bought a new vehicle I still have the old ute as a spare (cant exactly walk anywhere from new home) but got a Toyota Hilux 4wd with bull bars etc.

toymota hilux eh....

whan ya fitting the 50 cal and anti aircraft gun on the back then?????

veya_victaous wrote:The biggest danger is wildlife hitting a roo, wombat or deer along some of those stretches could be devastating. it's summer so it is still light when I am driving but in winter it will be dusk, that's why I bought a new vehicle I still have the old ute as a spare (cant exactly walk anywhere from new home) but got a Toyota Hilux 4wd with bull bars etc.

Yup. Mine is deer, free range cows, rabbits, field mice, assorted brands of snakes, hawks, owls, bob cats. A doe ran into me a few years ago. Minor damage but I was devastated. If it had been a buck I would not be here. I still say sorry when I pass by. even during other seasons the sun is the problem. It sits just right and blinds you.

for a change I am going to the other way, and the sun is at my back for the commute. it hasn't been too bad But I have been wearing sun glasses.

there is a lot of rabbits, foxes, lizards and snakes Plus smaller marsupials and things like echidnas too, but they are unlikely to kill the vehicle or driver, not that you want to hit anything if you can avoid it but some of the roads are a bit narrow and your going fast so swerving too much could be fatal for the driver. I swerved to miss a lizard the other day and almost lost it, but I am still getting used to the vehicle.

If a fence was down then there could be cows, sheep or alpacas. but I haven't encountered that yet and from the sounds of things it is uncommon the farmers are pretty quick to fix those things (the laws here are they are liable for an accident if their livestock is on the road)

Lord Foul wrote:toymota hilux eh....

whan ya fitting the 50 cal and anti aircraft gun on the back then?????

well you cant get 50cal here and I don't have any sort of gun license

but I do have the 'sports bars' which has spotlights and is essentially a rifle rest to aim from (although I have the hard canopy on the back at the moment, since I have the other ute which is a flat bed for larger things)
I also have awnings and roof top tent literally ALL the gear, it's second hand and the friends I bought it from (recently pregnant with first kid, so wanted something easier for baby seats etc) had bought or custom made everything you can think of, the hard canopy have been reinforced with steal frame and roof racks for the tent etc. Dual 12volt connectors in the back. it was perfect timing for me, we had joked about getting it off them when I bought the place since it has everything I need and more.

You can get .50 cal bolt action rifles, and ammo, from Winchester in Melbourne...

However, here in NSW you would likely need a special permit on top of your shooters license..


Apart from the obvious police and military uses, the likely civilian users of .50 cal would be either some professional hunters, or competition target shooters..

As for shooting deer, roos and goats --  a .223 or .270 could do the job in the hands of a good marksman or a stalker-hunter,   while something like a scoped .308 or .303 could take care of those longer range shots..      

Got really close to Catching some deer in the horse Corral.. not by plan just luck they were when i took a walk around the yard yesterday morning
I got so about 6-8 metres away But they bolted as soon as a reached the wire fence. If the fence wasn't there I might had a chance. they ran deeper in a first than balked at the walls and turned round.


Also Sunset yesterday looking out the back

Looks very tranquil Veya and the scenery is beautiful.
Better luck next time with the Deers

Why do you want to catch deer? You are not going to kill them to eat are you??

Syl wrote:Why do you want to catch deer? You are not going to kill them to eat are you??

I love venison.
Have you ever tried venison sausages Syl?

Yum

Thorin wrote:

Syl wrote:Why do you want to catch deer? You are not going to kill them to eat are you??

I love venison.
Have you ever tried venison sausages Syl?

Yum

Nope, and I never will. I seldom eat meat Thor, I can see me giving meat up completely soon.

Syl wrote:

Thorin wrote:


I love venison.
Have you ever tried venison sausages Syl?

Yum

Nope, and I never will. I seldom eat meat Thor, I can see me giving meat up completely soon.

Fair enough, each to their own I guess.
To me, I love it

Thorin wrote:

Syl wrote:
Nope, and I never will. I seldom eat meat Thor, I can see me giving meat up completely soon.

Fair enough, each to their own I guess.
To me, I love it

How come we have never seen Sly criticise Major's hunting threads, I wonder...

Deer are feral animals in Australia...

Venison is a 'top shelf' meat; and quite fine eating.