12 August 2012

We had a wonderful week, in many respects.

I am still working on the bathroom, and on Thursday had somebody take a 30 km detour to deliver me a shower head I have bought on Trademe, at no cost!. Wonderful people all around.

On Tuesday we had a visit from Willie, an SA friend who came over to visit his daughter (or was it granddaughter?) The family all took the day to visit us from Auckland. Now there is not much more a friend can do for you, is there? We had a nice chat and I could show him around. He is one of our serious Blog followers. Baie dankie Willie!!!

Remember the problem we have with the curved corrugated steel we need to reinstate the veranda? All the sheets we need are available, but at what cost!. I managed to buy 40 sheets, 3 m long (we need 2.1m) used curved iron on Trademe for $ 465. On Tuesday afternoon we went to fetch it from Matamata, about 60 km away. We loaded about half the batch because out trailer's tyres are old and perished. After we loaded, the seller noticed one wheel was low, and inflated it. We got home safely. The next morning that wheel was flat. I removed the wheel and had it stripped. There was a nail in it. But there was another problem, the wheel had a tube in it and the hole where the valve comes through on the rim was rusted out. I spent the morning considering options, as I have spare rims and hubs, but it doesn't fit the axle. In the end I cut a piece out of another rim and welded that in place. I also bought two secondhand tyres and had it fitted. Friday afternoon we collected the remainder of our purchase. It turned out that we got 50 sheets, some had slight damage. That won't bother us as we will need to cut some on the corners anyhow. We have to keep in mind that we will have to repair and seal the nail holes and paint the sheets inside and out. It will mean a lot of work but we will save lots of money. That will be a spray paint job for the summer months.

On Saturday our church group turned up and started digging the soil for the Community Garden project. They did an excellent job, but got only half way.

We also managed to do some work on the bathroom. It takes a lot of money and time. Please be patient, we will get there.