This is a shed
Poppy Jacks second place of residence. On the left is a fully restored 1971 Land Rover Series IIA Station Wagon and on the right is a 75% complete Model T Ford replica light car from WWI.
There’s lots of oil in there too. Sticky and black, I inspected it myself – looks good.
Poppy Jack recently finished up adding some sprinklers to our backyard to assist in watering the new lawn and the plants at the tree line. I asked him to pen some prose for Strewth on the subject.
Ladies and Gentleman…my father
(links added by me for additional definitions)
At home in Perth West Australia, the use of reticulation systems is common and many folk including us, sink a bore to tap into the water table, via a submersible pump. In our case we had to drill down around 30 metres to find good water. However once that’s done and pipes laid to every corner of the garden/lawn, the area can be watered automatically using a timing device which is programmed to switch between areas of the garden, after a set time. All aspects of the watering including days, times and duration of watering can be programmed. Look Mum, no hands !
Here though (ie in deepest Northern Virginia), finding the gubbins necessary to install a retic system, is not as easy as I thought it would be. You need:
We tried a lot of the more recognizable hardware stores in the area but, though they seemed to know of the products, none of them stocked what we needed. There was also at least one company somewhere in Fairfax which did the work, but was not a DIY store.
Finally we were directed to a Lowes store in Woodbridge, which had almost everything we needed.
Without being able to adequately measure the water pressure via some form of flow test, we had to fly blind a little in relation to the maximum number of pop up sprinklers which could be operated simultaneously. I thought that six would be fine, but when I connected them all up, it was spit and dribble time. That caused massive, though brief, DIY related depression, but the next plan proved more successful and dispelled the gloom.
We created two stations with three pop ups in each and that worked, but it meant connecting the hose to one end for a period of watering, before disconnecting that station and re-connecting to the next array of three pop ups. Tedious, but it does work and saves major time when you want a garden, but don’t always have the time to invest in hand watering.
-PJ.
Thanks Dad!
I know not everyone is blessed to have a Poppy Jack living at their house ready and willing to fix anything he can lay his hands on, so today I will offer you a brief how-to courtesy of the Aussie Poppy Jack.
We have a crap-tastic wood gate that was built by 3 year-olds during a sugar filled moment in the middle of a humid day. A week or so ago we had a nasty storm here and it bent the gate backwards in the opposite direction that the hinges were meant to go (installed backwards just in case you were wondering!). So not only did we end up with bent hinges, but the weight of the gate caused the plank of wood it was attached to, to split and pull away from the main fence.
Still following?
First thing was first…while I was at work on Saturday, the Wee-b and Poppy Jack had a look at the gate and took it apart a bit (removed the hinges and handle, and adjusted the split plank so that it was seated back in with its other friends along the fence line again. Sunday morning we took a trip to Home Depot and picked up some 6″ carriage bolts and a 3/8″ drill bit in order to drill a deep hole through several planks of wood to strengthen the area where the gate would be reattached.
Carriage bolt
So first things first, we needed to straighten the gate and reinforce it. As it currently stands, the gate is several pieces of long wood with two short pieces – one at the top and one at the bottom. What’s missing here? Ahh..thats right….a brace. Poppy Jack is on the JOB!
After dropping the gate a few times (on purpose mind you) in order to square it off again, we measured out the angle brace and chopped off both ends using the mitre saw. Using a larger drill bit to drill small (1/8″ deep almost?) sink holes, Poppy Jack then used a much smaller drill bit to pre drill some holes for the wood screws to be screwed into. Poppy Jack also pointed out that the wood we were using (simple pine from HD) was a soft wood so it was much better to drill a smaller hole that you would actually need for the screws as they would do most of the work themselves.
“You can’t make a big hole smaller, but you can always make a small hole bigger”TM
After we got that sorted it was time to head back to the gate to attempt to repair the split plank. We managed to get the first hole drilled through the top section of the wood and Poppy Jack got a 6″ carriage bolt in and tightened.
The lower section of wood, we found, actually goes through another post on our neighbors side, so it was back to Home Depot for a slightly longer 10″ carriage bolt that would go all the way through. Better in this situation as it will also offer the additional support of a pretty sturdy wood post.
So here we are for the time being. The drill ran out of juice so he was unable to finish drilling through the bottom section of wood. That may end up on todays to-do list 
Thanks Poppy Jack!
Headed out to the Freo Prison this morning with Poppy Jack. It was really interesting to go through the old jail and see some of the cells and the evidence that has been left behind over the years.
One of the first things we saw, before the tour had even started, was a matchstick model of the entrance to the prison that looks remarkably like some work that a gentleman my father knows, through his days of working at the Army museum, and who is serving a life sentence in Casuarina prison. I pointed it out to my father and although there was no ‘artist’ listed, the plaque did note that it had been done by a Casuarina inmate who was currently serving a life sentence..
We then got picked up by our tourguide, who was quite knowledgeable and very funny, who began us on our tour by asking us all to strip down so that we could don our prison greens before we went any further…noone really took him up on his offer.
Artwork painted on the walls in the Division 2 exercise yard. This has remained largely untouched since the prison was closed in 1991.
Its hard to see, but the 6th commandment actually reads “though shalt not commit murder” as opposed to “though shalt not kill” as when this was originally painted, the WA government was unable to say ‘do not kill’ as they were still putting prisoners to death in the prison system.
Used for floggings! Prisoners were strapped into this, back facing outwards, and were then flogged with a Cat-o-nine tails for as many lashings as they had been sentenced. After about 5 lashings, sat was rubbed into the wounds to prevent infections. Lovely!
Fourty-four people total were hung at the Fremantle Prison, from 1889 until the last hanging in 1964. A total of 43 men and 1 woman (who was there for asking her step children to gargle with hydrochloric acid) were hung in this time.
On the way out of the prison, Poppy Jack stopped one of the tour guides and asked about the matchstick model we had seen on the way in. She didn’t know much about it, but suggested we talk to Dave who was now a tour guide but had actually been employed at the prison in 1950 (through to 1991 i believe). He confirmed that it had definitely been done by Jim Tilbury and him and dad had a talk back and forth about his time in the jail there. Apparently his weapon of choice was a stocking leg. Urk!
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