This will be our last entry in the blog. I have been advised by my trusted GP that it is now time for me to take things easier. Well, we have heeded her advice and we have sold the house at the auction on 6 October. Deposit paid and contracts exchanged. We will be moving into our new (little) place on November 3.
The new people are be very enthusiastic about the villa, and we trust that they will compleste the restoration task.
We started packing this week.
We have enjoyed living in the house and enjoyed the work restoring her.
So, this is Gary and Elna signing out.
Sunday
Friday
16 September 2016
You will realise that not much has been going on on the house. The reason is that my health has been failing and I do not have any energy left to work.
The end result of this is that we have decided that it is time to move on. We will be selling the house on auction on 6 October, and we have already secured a spot in a retirement village in Te Kuiti. That is about 40 minutes drive to the south
We trust that the new owners will love the old house as much as we did, and complete the unfinished work
The end result of this is that we have decided that it is time to move on. We will be selling the house on auction on 6 October, and we have already secured a spot in a retirement village in Te Kuiti. That is about 40 minutes drive to the south
We trust that the new owners will love the old house as much as we did, and complete the unfinished work
Sunday
7 February 2016
Well, I am retired, am I not?
That however, is no excuse. Since the Christmas holidays, It took quite a while to build up enough steam to start working again.
The first order was to try and do the finishing touches on the bathroom we have done about 2 years ago. We added tiles around the bath. We also had to do some more work on the vanity. That is still awaiting painting.
I also removed the sliding door to finish it off. It was painted on the inside, and I have decided it should be varnished. The stripping took quite some time. The beading around the panels were badly borer eaten, and I ended up removing it all to clean and replace where necessary. Fortunately I had a spare door in the cellar for a donor.
One thing leads to another. The jumble of timber stored everywhere led me to call a halt to all work and to start tidying up. First in line was the large pile of mostly scrap timber as removed from the old decks, still lying outside by the cookhouse. That in itself took a week. Now I have my firewood storage tank overflowing. I salvaged some beams (Totara mostly) that can still be used after 100 years of exposure to the elements.
I am also spending time to advise and help friends on their projects. We have a new neighbour around the corner, and she has got lots of ideas and no labour. I tried doing the advise part, but I am getting more involved in the building part. That takes some time.
Lastly, my energy levels are steadily going down, that means fewer hours of work and less efficiency.
Well, now I have used up all my excuses
\
That however, is no excuse. Since the Christmas holidays, It took quite a while to build up enough steam to start working again.
The first order was to try and do the finishing touches on the bathroom we have done about 2 years ago. We added tiles around the bath. We also had to do some more work on the vanity. That is still awaiting painting.
I also removed the sliding door to finish it off. It was painted on the inside, and I have decided it should be varnished. The stripping took quite some time. The beading around the panels were badly borer eaten, and I ended up removing it all to clean and replace where necessary. Fortunately I had a spare door in the cellar for a donor.
One thing leads to another. The jumble of timber stored everywhere led me to call a halt to all work and to start tidying up. First in line was the large pile of mostly scrap timber as removed from the old decks, still lying outside by the cookhouse. That in itself took a week. Now I have my firewood storage tank overflowing. I salvaged some beams (Totara mostly) that can still be used after 100 years of exposure to the elements.
I am also spending time to advise and help friends on their projects. We have a new neighbour around the corner, and she has got lots of ideas and no labour. I tried doing the advise part, but I am getting more involved in the building part. That takes some time.
Lastly, my energy levels are steadily going down, that means fewer hours of work and less efficiency.
Well, now I have used up all my excuses
\
Thursday
24 December 2015
Let me use this opportunity to wish you all all the blessings of CHRISTMAS and of CHRIST during this season.
The room is finished and we have moved in. Out old room and the"office' has been converted to guest rooms, just in time to receive Mieke and her friend. We are looking forward to a time of rest and enjoying our family
The room is finished and we have moved in. Out old room and the"office' has been converted to guest rooms, just in time to receive Mieke and her friend. We are looking forward to a time of rest and enjoying our family
Sunday
13 December 2015
The fingers healed quite well, thank you, although the glass has not been replaced yet.
We have spent the last two weeks finishing off the room. The architraves around the windows are done and finished off. The curtains are up. We have painted an old cabinet (die grys kas) in the same colour as the walls, as well as the cabinet from the old kitchen that remained behind the door. The flooring is installed and is looking swell. We did find that the ramp might be a bit slippery, so we bought a piece of "novilon" and put that on top of the flooring. It works well.
The plan of action is to start moving in tomorrow, wish us luck!!
We have spent the last two weeks finishing off the room. The architraves around the windows are done and finished off. The curtains are up. We have painted an old cabinet (die grys kas) in the same colour as the walls, as well as the cabinet from the old kitchen that remained behind the door. The flooring is installed and is looking swell. We did find that the ramp might be a bit slippery, so we bought a piece of "novilon" and put that on top of the flooring. It works well.
The plan of action is to start moving in tomorrow, wish us luck!!
Saturday
28 November 2015
It seems a two weekly blog will be OK. Our progress does not warrant a weekly update.
We have fitted the "new" old window sashes, after I had to have one pane cut. The frames were puttied and painted. It works smoothly. After that we started "Gib stopping" (Polyfilla) on the walls. The second coat was put on yesterday, with the intention to finish it today.
First we went to Hamilton to look for floor covering. We took Barco along, since they had their floor done recently. We found a similar click flooring to theirs, but it was quite expensive. In the end we found an alternative click flooring at a reasonable price. We bought that and returned home. After lunch we sat down to coffee, and I got up to open the window in the dining area. When I moved the upper sash down, both the cords broke, the sash came crashing down and caught my fingers between the two frames. Luckily Barco was still here to rescue me. I ended up with nasty cuts on my fingers on one hand. That means that I have time to do the blog now, and no more work for the day.
On Monday I will have to replace the cords and a glass pane that broke in the process. Hopefully we can finish the sanding and start painting as well.
Sunday
15 November 2015
Progress at last. Seems to me I should do this on a two weekly basis.
The outside wall on the eastern side has been painted, and the window fitted. I still need to repair and fit the architraves around the window. Barco found me nice antique stays and catches for the window. I passed it to somebody who sand blasted it, and now I am awaiting the painting of it by Barco, when he next have to paint something at work.
The ceiling in the old kitchen: On Friday Jaco called and announced that he would be bringing two prisoners over on Saturday to do some work. Me must think about what we want done. Elna went into a flat spin, how to treat them, what about a warden? In the end it turned out it was Jaco and Corrie volunteering.
Saturday morning I rented a Gib lift. That is a contraption used to hoist the plasterboard sheet in position. With me "supervising" they fitted the insulation and all of the ceiling in 5 hours. What a blessing! During the last week, I managed to do the Gib stopping (Polyfilla) and I painted the ceiling under supervision of Elna.
Petrus called and volunteered his services for yesterday. We have a planted hedge that was getting out of control. I thought that would be nice to have that trimmed. When that was done, I expected Petrus to want to move on, but he wanted to know hat else? In the end we removed the old window frame on the western side that was rotten. Over time, I have repaired another old frame we have taken out when we fitted the folding doors. It is wider than the original, and we wanted to move it a little. We built the necessary stud frame and fitted the window (without the sliding sashes) Now I expected him to be in a hurry to make his getaway. In the end he replaced the damaged weatherboards as well. We closed the opening with building paper in the meantime. Thanks Petrus!
The next job will be to fit the glass to the sliding sashes, seal the gaps around the window and fit the last of the insulation and plasterboards on the walls.
The outside wall on the eastern side has been painted, and the window fitted. I still need to repair and fit the architraves around the window. Barco found me nice antique stays and catches for the window. I passed it to somebody who sand blasted it, and now I am awaiting the painting of it by Barco, when he next have to paint something at work.
The ceiling in the old kitchen: On Friday Jaco called and announced that he would be bringing two prisoners over on Saturday to do some work. Me must think about what we want done. Elna went into a flat spin, how to treat them, what about a warden? In the end it turned out it was Jaco and Corrie volunteering.
Saturday morning I rented a Gib lift. That is a contraption used to hoist the plasterboard sheet in position. With me "supervising" they fitted the insulation and all of the ceiling in 5 hours. What a blessing! During the last week, I managed to do the Gib stopping (Polyfilla) and I painted the ceiling under supervision of Elna.
Petrus called and volunteered his services for yesterday. We have a planted hedge that was getting out of control. I thought that would be nice to have that trimmed. When that was done, I expected Petrus to want to move on, but he wanted to know hat else? In the end we removed the old window frame on the western side that was rotten. Over time, I have repaired another old frame we have taken out when we fitted the folding doors. It is wider than the original, and we wanted to move it a little. We built the necessary stud frame and fitted the window (without the sliding sashes) Now I expected him to be in a hurry to make his getaway. In the end he replaced the damaged weatherboards as well. We closed the opening with building paper in the meantime. Thanks Petrus!
The next job will be to fit the glass to the sliding sashes, seal the gaps around the window and fit the last of the insulation and plasterboards on the walls.
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