As females we're often made to feel we can't do things around the house which are commonly the domain of men. In my generation Dads didn't generally show their daughters how to fix a leaky tap or install a shelf, it was left to Dads to show their sons how. So when we partner up, it's usually the male who is automatically given these jobs. When you find yourself single, you might for the first time in your life, needing to mow the lawn, use a whipper snipper or a chain saw. On these occasions, thank goodness for You Tube!
This is a short story about my recent experience with a drill. It's about giving things a go as a single woman living on her own and feeling that sense of empowerment and accomplishment when you do.
I have an old concrete bird bath that I retrieved from the nature strip. It’s been standing in the back corner of my garden for several years. Most would say it’s rubbish and ready for the tip, but to me it’s attractive in an old fashioned, rustic & quirky kind of way. Its ever-growing chipped blue-grey painted exterior matches the external timber woodwork on my home perfectly. As a birdbath though, it’s useless. It has a hairline crack, which I only discovered after filling it with water for the first time. I thought about restoring it to its original glory, and then decided against that idea, or rather, procrastinated so long that I came up with a much better one. Besides, did I really need another birdbath? I already have three in my garden.
A visit to a country garden nursery earlier this spring, my eye caught a beautiful arrangement of succulents at the entrance, which were spewing over the sides of several old birdbaths. This interesting assortment of birdbaths turned into mini gardens was inspirational to me.
Creating something like this was the perfect addition to my ever-evolving garden. I’d already re-purposed my daughter’s old crocs into plant holders a few years ago, and decided then and there it was time to do the same with my second hand birdbath. I bought several succulents, all different varieties, which were on sale at 4 for $10. What a bargain! I couldn’t wait to get them home and start planting, except, as was pointed out to me by the nursery assistant, succulents don’t like getting their feet wet. The crack in my birdbath I concluded wasn’t big enough to drain water quickly enough. I needed drainage holes in the bowl and this was a job requiring a power tool.
Now, any woman living on her own will admit no matter how much she enjoys her own space, having a partner who is handy around the house would sometimes be very nice. When you don’t, you just got to get on with it and either do it yourself or hire someone. Sometimes I do the latter, but this time I decided it was TIME to buy myself a drill. I’d been putting it off for years, but hiring someone on Airtasker to drill a few holes in concrete for me, well, that didn’t make much sense. First, I researched online which drill I should buy, to avoid the potential embarrassment of standing around the tool department of Bunnings feeling somewhat like a helpless female who really had no right to be there. I didn’t expect my drill would get an awful lot of use. Maybe it’s only use was going to be drilling three holes in concrete, in which case a cheap one would do. That was still going to be more cost effective than hiring someone, and at least I ended up with a drill. I also needed a set of drill bits. After all, a drill isn’t any use without these important accessories. So, armed with the knowledge of what drill I was going to purchase I walked confidently into the tool shop, pretending as though I’d done so many times before, and headed straight for the drill section. I found my drill, a box of drill bits, then headed straight to the checkout before I might be distracted and purchase something else, like more succulents.
I opened the box of my new Ozito battery operated hammer drill, but didn’t get much further that day other than reading the instructions and googling the words “torque” and “chuck”. It might take me three times longer than a someone familiar with battery charged tools to learn how to use it, but I wasn’t going to be defeated. Next, I needed to choose the correct drill bit out of the 50 or so lying so neatly in their plastic box staring back at me. Back to google again! Once battery was charged and fitted and the drill bit securely in place, I pressed the trigger to test. It whirred loud and strong. I was ready to go!
With a slight degree of trepidation, I placed the point of the drill bit onto the base of the concrete dish where I wanted my first hole. I gently pressed the trigger. The power and noise created by the drill bit piercing into the base of the concrete bowl felt good. A hole started forming. It was creating a lot of concrete dust on the circumference of the hole. This was exciting. Now I understood why men enjoy using their drills. I kept stopping to check if the hole had gone through to the other side. It took much longer than I expected. I took a photo of it. How thick was this concrete? Then the drill bit slipped through and BAM, I’d done it. I peered with one eye into the hole I'd just created and saw the soil beneath. I’d drilled by first hole using a power tool!! “WOW, I did it” I exclaimed out loud with a huge smile on my face. “YESSSSS”. I felt proud of myself and empowered. Now I couldn’t wait to start onto the next hole!!
I love this idea!!