16 October 2011

It is our anniversary!! We arrived in New Zealand on 15 October 2001. And we have never regretted one moment of it!!

Last week I said the beam we fitted was 50 mm wide, that was a mistake, it is 100 mm wide. This week we fitted the last Gib board and did most of the Gib stopping. Sanding will be next. We also repaired the timber backing (sarking) where we opened up the wall. That is good for Gibbing now, when we have the money to buy more Gib.

We also had a hole which was cut into the ceiling, into the board and batten. The boards are 300m wide and the batten covers the joints. The missing part was 500 mm long. I believe somebody used it to access the ceiling space in the past. We cut a piece of plywood, and stained it. It took about 8 coats of stain to get it dark enough. Looking good now. Still have to touch up other small blemishes in the ceiling. The wiring to the light in that room was still old rubber insulated, and I disconnected it. New wiring will have to be installed.

Saturday morning our son, Barry (or Barco for others) offered to come and cut our grass. The sheep are doing a fine job, but there are areas where we cannot build pens. I hate mowing grass, so I tackled two stumps from trees that were cut down under the deck, long ago. One was a Rimu. I have removed one in the past, and knew the roots would be mostly rotten away. The other is a Ponga, or fern, and is similar to a palm tree. I got both of them out, but I was so tired that I could not move them to the compost/rubbish area in our section. A job for another day. The result of the mowing is that I will be obliged to cut the grass more often now. But the improvement is immense. Thanks Barco!!

The All Blacks and Aussies are playing at the moment. Go AB's!!!