Peter – Page 6 – Rõika 15

Last week before the vacation

The birthday party was a great success, even though it was the first rainy day in weeks, but under the train roofs we had a good place to sit with a nice group of people. I had asked for rock garden plants and people sure brought them. So to keep them healthy I planted them in the side garden, so there would not be to much care for them during our vacation.

Another thing on the checklist was the annual test for the car, since the deadline would be half way our vacation I took care of it before the vacation. It turned out one of the test stations is literally at the end of the street, so when I was waiting in line I could walk home and get some stuff. When it was my turn the car was inspected and apart from a few minor problems, like a few small lights it was ok. Turned out I could fix them later and the car was good to go for another year. Way more pragmatic as in the Netherlands.

In the 17th we’ll leave for France, so the next update is after we come back. My dad will come over to help out. We are planning to work on the living room and kitchen.

From car to simple camper

Time is ticking and soon Mo will have her last day at work and the day after we can leave for a vacation to France. The plan is to turn the van in a simple camper with as much comfort as possible in a small space.
I put in the chemical toilet, a jerrycan for water, a washing bowl and a fridge. They just fit next to each other. Behind it a full mattress of 1m40 x 2m fits exactly.
Together with Jan we build the woodwork around it. From some thin triples I make replacement panels for the doors and like the the camper is almost done.
Time for a birthday party!

Spring cleaning in the garden

As I mentioned last week, I finally knew something for my birthday: a brush cutter. Both my dad and Mo’s mother sponsored this gift and it was great fun to clean out the parts of the garden with way to high weeds. I also cleaned the outside of the fence and the gutter next to it. A huge improvement.

Next to the new greenhouse was an old bathtub. It was pretty much in the way their and we figured it would be nice to move it under the corner of the garage roof to collect rain water. So some digging and than moving this heavy monster and placing it in the hole. With the help of Mattias it went pretty smooth. The dirt that came out of the hole could be used next to the green house. Meanwhile Mo cleaned up around the well and like that the garden had gotten a nice spring cleaning.

Garden

It has been a busy week, so little work on the house. We did a bit of gardening. More and more flowers are showing their beauty. During the weekend we are going to check out a tulip festival. Unfortunately, we were pretty late in the season, as a bit more south the tulips where almost done, while in the garden they are at their prime.
But on the bright sight, the place had a semi botanical garden with a lot of rock garden plants, so I could show Mo some of the plans I had for part of the front yard.
And due to a question of Mo’s mother, for the first time in years, I know something to ask for my birthday. So I order it and it should be available next week

Work on the car

During the week the 2 din Android radio from AliExpress came in, so time to put that in the car. It turned out a nice puzzle of wires to sift through, find the right connections and adapters. Since the antenna was broken I also needed to replace that, good thing there was a nice affordable replacement especially for this type of car, but at home I found out it also needed another adapter. So I had way to many trips to the car part store. Good thing it is around the corner.

After the radio was working I started measuring the drawers it had made for my Berlingo before to fit them in the back of the car. That will work out nicely. Something for next week. Also I started checking the second hand market for better tires and roof bars for the rooftop tent.

Planting gooseberries and tomatoes

This week, Jan came back from Muhu with my van filled with 3 big old gooseberry bushes I had picket up from a friend of Daan who was redoing her garden. So we decided where to plant them and put them in. The bushes need a lot of trimming, but we figured it would be good to first let the root and than trim them for the next season.

To prepare the car for the vacation trip that seems to be more and more likely to happen, I gave it a 20.000 km service. Oil and filters mainly, it was clear the filters had been skipped the at least the last time. This jumpy has a few parts very well hidden. So I’ll leave the glow plugs for sometime later.

During the weekend, we sifted through the soil in the greenhouse, added horse shit and tomato dirt and than planted them. Very excited to see the results later this summer.

Greenhouse part 3

The next weekend was nice a sunny. Perfect weather to work in the garden. Mo and Mattias worked on the vegetable garden, while I put in the ground anchors and the standing parts to make the greenhouse at least standing height.

Once this was done, I could start tacking on the greenhouse foil we got from Mo’s mother. By the end of the day the greenhouse was ready except for a window and the door.

Greenhouse part 2

On Monday night we went to Mo’s mother again. She had ordered a truck load of horse shit an we would take part of it for our garden. Unfortunately Jan had just taken the trailer for a trip to the Netherlands, so we improvised with a plastic sheet in the van.

During the weekend work on the the greenhouse continued, by now all the parts had been made to fit, so it was time to put them in the linseed oil, as it gives a nice natural finish and as a bonus it smells pretty nice as well.

In between a shaped a new handle for the old ax from my grandfather. I had gotten a slat of beech from a friend, which I glued together to be big enough to make a handle out of it. With the used of the miter saw, a grater bit on the drill and the sanding machine, it was a quick, fun job.

The next day when the linseed oil had dried, I started to put together the first parts of the greenhouse. After I got the hang of it, it went surprisingly fast. Within a few hours I had a construction I could stand on.

Start of a greenhouse

As I already mentioned earlier, I saw a great greenhouse at Nastja and Rainers place on my way back from the Netherlands. After I showed the picture to Mo, so was instantly convinced this would be a good idea for a greenhouse, way better then those straight forward, bought things.

While checking out the design I can across a very handy website that calculates the exact measurements of your dome depending on how you want to make it. With these exact measurements with double angles to saw and a lot of them, I started by making a sawing jig. After the first test cuts I could start the 130 double angled corners. For the entire project I created 3 sawing jigs.

Garden work

And then the days start getting longer again, the sun gets more power, so time to prepare the garden for the next season. On my way from the Netherlands I had gotten a lot of seeds from Nastja and Rainer (together with a great design for a greenhouse, which will sure be copied this spring), so time to sow. Mo took care of that while I ordered the border garden next to the fence on the side of the house.

The next day we went to see Mo’s mother to get some cut offs from plants and while we where doing that the neighbor lady also offered some plants, so plenty of stuff to put in the garden. Excited to see how they will grow.

Author: Peter