Daily life: Australia, south NSW

I was on holiday for Christmas and snapped this picture. I realized as I looked at it from a crappy shared house room in Sydney:
Why don't I live like this ALL the time?!

I had my dick-face cat with me on holiday. She'd been having a tough time in cramped city rooms. She really liked the fresh air, so maybe it was a life choice based on a cat's needs.

I found a cheap property near this beach and snapped it up.

You get what you pay for... and the property was very rough.
It had a tin house (in AU called a shed):

The shed had been neglected for 20 years. So the first jobs were to make it liveable

This is one of many spots where white ants (termites) ate the pine frame. The rats had compacted the insulation to nothing. Then black ants (they bite like fire ants) moved in:

So I had my work cut out for me. Luckily, white ants don't eat MDF - chipboard - because of formaldehyde. Alsas, formaldehyde was classified as toxic, so you can't get good MDF anymore.

I had to reuse the old walls... which is fine because I have no budget.

This was painted with an old mop sponge and 5 colors of green waste paint. I didn't add brown because it would look like camouflage.

The other side was painted with an old rag and watered down blue paint. It has a lovely organic water feel, imho.

A bit messy...

As is the kitchen when I shot this. I used the left over paint on the walls. The yellow cubbord was a property rescue. The countertops were scrap granite.

And the countertop post was made with a chainsaw from a fallen tree on the property.

Australia has amazing wood!
This is tick bush, a white mallee.

And gum trees...

But my favorite is bloodwood.
I am saving them to make the beams of my new house. The shed won't last, but it'll last long enough for me to build my dream home.

Before the summer fires hit, I am clearing tick bush. I have been saving the wood for floorboards or banister railings or...

The kookaburras love the land clearing.

They are very bold...

The possums are a bit less bold.

After clearing, I have a new race course.

It has been so dry, Bega has had a fire burning for months. 20,000 acres... and it doesn't even make the news in Australia.
So I have done everything I can to make it rain:

I am on rain-catch water. So Icleaned the gutters and pumped 20 years of filth out of my tank. That sludge is meant to be drinking water.

So after cleaning my watertank, and getting it filled, I then washed my car but that didn't work.
So, I turned my power off to the solar hot water system.
That did the trick! NSW drough got a nice drenching... leaving me time to post this. The surf is rough today.

But here it is on a good day.

And a great day!

Even though I moved here without knowing anyone, I don't miss Sydney... unless I want to party.
I don't social network and feel happy about it. So it can be lonely...

But I consol myself with the view. ?