16 June 2013

We have been living in the old house for two years now. What have we achieved?

We have saved the cookhouse from falling down. It is a very temporary repair, but we can use the building as a workshop now.

Originally our target was to do one room every six months. When I set that target, I forgot to take outside work into account.

We have managed to sand down and repaint about 80% of the outside walls. That implied sanding down to bare wood. The remainder is the outside of the current kitchen.

We have also reinstated the posts and ring beam for the veranda .We haven't got the money at this stage to fit the roofing iron. The beams for the deck are in position, but no decking.

We have stripped five rooms of the original sarking (timber boards) and replaced that with Gib or plasterboard and fitted insulation. Four of these rooms are painted and in use. The fifth is the proposed new kitchen, where we are currently holding back a bit.

We have moved the bathroom that was on the northern side on the deck to a previous bedroom. We are currently working on finishing touches, like architraves on the window and door and tiling. The bathroom is already in use.

Every job we tackle tends to explode into something much bigger. Windows need to be repaired and repainted, doors and door frames need sanding and repair, damaged ceilings need repair.

I am enjoying every moment of it, and get wonderful support from Elna. My health is better than two years ago.

Now a brief report on the last week's activities.

We managed to repair our car on Monday. On Tuesday we went to Hamilton for routine medical checks. We also picked up a nice kitchen unit with four large drawers, ideally suited for pots and pans. Willie, a South African friend is visiting at this stage. He sleeps in the new kitchen (to be)and will assist in the manufacture of our Patio Door Frames.  He came over on Wednesday and most of the remainder of the week was spent catching up and preparing for the door frame. We had to move a lot of timber around to clear a proper work area. Moving stuff around seems to be the story of my life.

We are into winter now, but it is not really cold yet, only rainy. Our average day temperatures is 15 deg and the minimum night temp was 4. We can clearly feel the benefit of the insulation in the walls.