An Open Garden

I am pretty much settled-in by now, though there are still plenty bit and pieces around to fix.

Got to move onto the garden next. The idea is to blend in with wide open space around. Not an easy task for me with little experience.

Not one with green fingers, I do enjoy putting various ideas together. Progress was often interrupted by the weather lately. I am not complaining as change of ambience with rains is very pleasant too.

A couple more ideas cropped up along the way, adding a "Tunnel walkway" towards the house seem a pretty cool idea!











Completed the flowers bed today and wonderful sunset view from here.. err.. just no today!














With the flowers in should be charming.











This pair of Goldfishes was chosen by my daughter, quite appropriate to fix it close to the fish pond.

Weaver Bird colony @ my farm

Of late, the weaver birds colony is flourishing well too. Several new nests are in various stage of building. This part of the farm is a sanctuary to these birds and shall continue to be so. Watching them grow is pretty satisfying!

It is a hive of activities in early morning and evening hours.

The Insects Pond

When I began designing the bird house, one thought was an indoor insect breeding program. I haven't done much in that direction so far.

What I realize later is the bigger feeding potential around the bird house, i.e. the external environment, often noticed swiftlets flew over the pond below the bird house to feed. That serves as insect breeding ground too. Isn't that a bonus!













While looking out of window and saw swiftlets flying low.. I know they are feeding over the pond again... so hurried out with camera to capture a video clip this time.




The wet season has also arrived. A storm is fast approaching from the west. A few short steps back indoors again. It's nice to have a shelter at the farm.

Wireless Internet Access at the Farm

Got to be in blogging mood today!

Surely I need internet access at the farm. Good there is a wireless base station nearby.. Wi-Max technology I suppose.

Antenna installed atop bird house roof with line of sight to base station. From here a wireless hub links to the residence. The camera system would also be connected for remote surveillance via internet while away.













Can't resist taking shots of views below













& compare with scene taken a year ago just after workers vacated, an improvement eh!















Panoramic view taken with Sony Nex-5, just aim and shoot.. the camera takes care of the rest, no need for photo stitching software. A cool and nice feature with less optical distortion too.






Almost forgotten to mention the pair of geckos tracked down a month ago. They have taken residence nearby too, rather discomfort to hear them calling during evenings. Many commented these are highly sought after for medicinal values. If only I know better, would get them alive instead.

Peeks into work in progress

Taking shape slowly but surely... a bit messy at the moment













Surrounding space being tiled with an open garden to be more pleasant.













Tiling around the house is almost complete.



















The external kitchen and washing area out of view behind the house.



















View to the ornamental fish pond. The Kois are doing well in there.













What I like most is full view of the bird house from comfort of the living room.

Extending the rest house to a livable space

An event kicked me into action occurred while I was in Melbourne - received news my rented house in Thailand is to increase rent by >100%. What an opportunist? How can I swallow that! I was so adamant never to negotiate and move out asap.

The option is to move into the farm. The rest house there has a kitchen and toilet in addition to the decent size bedroom. Can't imagine to live-in without a living room. Fortunate that I had running water connected prior to dry season.













It was a hassle to start as labor is currently tight - workers were suppose to turn up but never did for all sorts of reasons. Not a big job perhaps but still many details to attend to.

Converting the out door patio into a living room - only limitation is the low head room. A 15cm layer of insulation wool in ceiling to keep heat out during the day plus ample windows to ventilate.













Back to some modeling with Google SketchUp - to visualize the garden layout. A minimalistic style is preferred. Well, this is what it will be like eventually. Enough to keep me busy in coming months.