25 March 2012
We calculated that we need 23 or 25 posts for the veranda. I got all the old ones together and started cleaning them. Sanded all the old paint off, and repaired the broken ones. Seven had the tops broken off, and three more were rotted at the bottom. By the end of the week I had all repaired, but now it will need smoothing with the belt sander. Then we will need to paint them all. Also, we will need to dig the lintols, or horizontal beams from under the floor and cut and join them some will need replacing.
We also discovered another oddity. The previous builder had started work on the deck, but the heights did not match up, it is 50 mm lower than the original. It will require a serious investigation and maybe tweaking to make them meet.
Saturday I decided to add a shelf in the kitchen, but, because I am using recycled timber, it needed sanding down. Painting lies ahead.
Have a nice week!
Sunday
18 March 2012
This week we were real pensioners.
I did manage to finish the lean to on the cookhouse, but nothing much more.
I turned a new bush for my electric chainsaw. I have borrowed my son's for how long now, but at long last that is repaired now. On Wednesday we took somebody to Hamilton to introduce her to the wonders of buying from the recycle shop (asgat) Thursday it was a visit to the doctor for a renewal of my regular pills. It seems it is getting more every time. Saturday we went to Tokoroa to pick up a kitchen sink we bought through Trademe. It is a modern one that fits into the top, but it has got two run offs, which I haven't seen before. That put bust to our budget for the month, but it is worth it.
With the lean to completed, the schedule is to sand down the rails and posts for the veranda. If I am not mistaken, I started with that beginning of December, or it might even have been in November. Will keep you posted.
Till next time
This week we were real pensioners.
I did manage to finish the lean to on the cookhouse, but nothing much more.
I turned a new bush for my electric chainsaw. I have borrowed my son's for how long now, but at long last that is repaired now. On Wednesday we took somebody to Hamilton to introduce her to the wonders of buying from the recycle shop (asgat) Thursday it was a visit to the doctor for a renewal of my regular pills. It seems it is getting more every time. Saturday we went to Tokoroa to pick up a kitchen sink we bought through Trademe. It is a modern one that fits into the top, but it has got two run offs, which I haven't seen before. That put bust to our budget for the month, but it is worth it.
With the lean to completed, the schedule is to sand down the rails and posts for the veranda. If I am not mistaken, I started with that beginning of December, or it might even have been in November. Will keep you posted.
Till next time
11 March 2012
This has been a slooow week, with not much to report.
I started work on the roof of the lean to, but it is far from finished. The beam I mounted on the wall for the roof turned out to be to high up, and I could not reach in to insert screws in the roofing sheets. So I was forced to add another one to the first one to make it wider. It will work nicely now. Maybe better luck next week.
I also spent time on those little jobs that never get done, fitted a curtain rail in the living room, and some architraves that were missed out in December. I must admit it is looking much better now. Also sorted some of the bolts and nuts that has been lying around everywhere. It seems I have too little shelf space.
We had a power cut on Friday, maintenance on the lines. It is amazing how much we rely on power. Nothing works, I cannot grind anything, or drill a hole or use the power saw.
I also spent some time on our car, little niggly things that got left behind
On Saturday, we had a very pleasant surprise. The people from our Afrikaans church group came over for a "working bee". It could also be called "mucking in" A whole bunch of people turned up and wanted to know what to do. I put them on the "too hard basket" jobs, everything I knew needed doing but which I tended to avoid.
They removed the last of the plants growing on the cookhouse roof. Unfortunately the chimney stack did not make it. It just fell apart, no mortar between the bricks, just sand. We demolished it down to three courses. Eventually I will need to dismantle all of it and rebuild. I knew it was coming, but tried to ignore it. They also cleared the whole section of rubbish and plant matter, and mowed all the lawns (grass rather). For the first time since we moved in everything is tidy now. They even removed five trailer loads of rubbish. At lunchtime we had a nice barbie(braai) of boerewors and mieliepap, and as homage to our new country, also bangers and buns. We had the nicest weather and it was a very enjoyable day . Thanks to everybody involved.
This has been a slooow week, with not much to report.
I started work on the roof of the lean to, but it is far from finished. The beam I mounted on the wall for the roof turned out to be to high up, and I could not reach in to insert screws in the roofing sheets. So I was forced to add another one to the first one to make it wider. It will work nicely now. Maybe better luck next week.
I also spent time on those little jobs that never get done, fitted a curtain rail in the living room, and some architraves that were missed out in December. I must admit it is looking much better now. Also sorted some of the bolts and nuts that has been lying around everywhere. It seems I have too little shelf space.
We had a power cut on Friday, maintenance on the lines. It is amazing how much we rely on power. Nothing works, I cannot grind anything, or drill a hole or use the power saw.
I also spent some time on our car, little niggly things that got left behind
On Saturday, we had a very pleasant surprise. The people from our Afrikaans church group came over for a "working bee". It could also be called "mucking in" A whole bunch of people turned up and wanted to know what to do. I put them on the "too hard basket" jobs, everything I knew needed doing but which I tended to avoid.
They removed the last of the plants growing on the cookhouse roof. Unfortunately the chimney stack did not make it. It just fell apart, no mortar between the bricks, just sand. We demolished it down to three courses. Eventually I will need to dismantle all of it and rebuild. I knew it was coming, but tried to ignore it. They also cleared the whole section of rubbish and plant matter, and mowed all the lawns (grass rather). For the first time since we moved in everything is tidy now. They even removed five trailer loads of rubbish. At lunchtime we had a nice barbie(braai) of boerewors and mieliepap, and as homage to our new country, also bangers and buns. We had the nicest weather and it was a very enjoyable day . Thanks to everybody involved.
4 March 2012
We finished painting the wall in the back yard. We were lucky in that we had some paint and some were given to us. I also improved both doors. looks much better now. Next we will want to repair the weatherboard and paint the cookhouse. The wall was completed at no cost.
Next we started building a lean to on the cookhouse. Remember we are not allowed to dig any holes, so I used pipes as posts and hammered them 800 mm in the ground. I didn't hear any crunching from artefacts being broken, so I hope it is OK. Seems this area was used as a veggie patch anyway. I started sanding some of the lintols (horizontal beams) from the veranda, being scrap. It turned out the quality of the Rimu which is 100 years old is still at par with new pine, so I saved those for the veranda and fitted a new beam. Still a work in progress. Saturday we had severe storm warnings, but it turned out much lighter than expected.
So I took Saturday off. Right? Never! At one pm I was watching TV and Elna was washing the bathroom floor. I said:"Why now?" She responded: "It is Saturday, a working day" I also got told about the glazing of the bathroom window. It is a largish window on the Northern side, and had three panes of coloured glass, and one piece of Hardboard from when we moved in. When Ben was here, we cut one pane, but it was decided to get rid of the coloured glass as well. So a few weeks back I cut the glass, but never got around to finishing the job. And guess what I did on Saturday afternoon? Right, I took all the glass out of the frame and re puttied everything. Job done. Now Elna can clean the glass. It was one of those "Round Tuit" jobs.
See ya!
We finished painting the wall in the back yard. We were lucky in that we had some paint and some were given to us. I also improved both doors. looks much better now. Next we will want to repair the weatherboard and paint the cookhouse. The wall was completed at no cost.
Next we started building a lean to on the cookhouse. Remember we are not allowed to dig any holes, so I used pipes as posts and hammered them 800 mm in the ground. I didn't hear any crunching from artefacts being broken, so I hope it is OK. Seems this area was used as a veggie patch anyway. I started sanding some of the lintols (horizontal beams) from the veranda, being scrap. It turned out the quality of the Rimu which is 100 years old is still at par with new pine, so I saved those for the veranda and fitted a new beam. Still a work in progress. Saturday we had severe storm warnings, but it turned out much lighter than expected.
So I took Saturday off. Right? Never! At one pm I was watching TV and Elna was washing the bathroom floor. I said:"Why now?" She responded: "It is Saturday, a working day" I also got told about the glazing of the bathroom window. It is a largish window on the Northern side, and had three panes of coloured glass, and one piece of Hardboard from when we moved in. When Ben was here, we cut one pane, but it was decided to get rid of the coloured glass as well. So a few weeks back I cut the glass, but never got around to finishing the job. And guess what I did on Saturday afternoon? Right, I took all the glass out of the frame and re puttied everything. Job done. Now Elna can clean the glass. It was one of those "Round Tuit" jobs.
See ya!
26 February 2012
Not much to report this week. I spent time to move our junk behind the new wall, and have the two remaining sheep grazing there now. Billy the goat got moved back to the neighbours, he was eating too much of our grass.
We had a rainy day, and I started work on the new bathroom. That is inside work. I removed some of the sarking boards. It takes some time. I use an angle grinder to grind away the heads of the nails, and the pull the board off. Otherwise it would just split up. It does leave an ugly burn mark or groove, but when we reuse it, we use the backside. No dating evidence yet. I was hoping to find some newspaper or something inside the wall.
I also visited our local museum. They have the original map of the farmland allocated to Jackson. It was 400 acres and was awarded in 1865.
We started painting the new wall on Saturday, and got halfway before lunch. We stopped and when I went out after lunch, we had a slight drizzle. We packed up and had a lovely sunny afternoon. Just our luck.
Anneke and Matt visited today, Sunday. They were in Hamilton for the official opening of the Tudor gardens, for which Anneke made the sculptures. Anneke made us a lovely colouring and drawing of the street view of the house, as it should be. Now I have a lot to aspire to.
Not much to report this week. I spent time to move our junk behind the new wall, and have the two remaining sheep grazing there now. Billy the goat got moved back to the neighbours, he was eating too much of our grass.
We had a rainy day, and I started work on the new bathroom. That is inside work. I removed some of the sarking boards. It takes some time. I use an angle grinder to grind away the heads of the nails, and the pull the board off. Otherwise it would just split up. It does leave an ugly burn mark or groove, but when we reuse it, we use the backside. No dating evidence yet. I was hoping to find some newspaper or something inside the wall.
I also visited our local museum. They have the original map of the farmland allocated to Jackson. It was 400 acres and was awarded in 1865.
We started painting the new wall on Saturday, and got halfway before lunch. We stopped and when I went out after lunch, we had a slight drizzle. We packed up and had a lovely sunny afternoon. Just our luck.
Anneke and Matt visited today, Sunday. They were in Hamilton for the official opening of the Tudor gardens, for which Anneke made the sculptures. Anneke made us a lovely colouring and drawing of the street view of the house, as it should be. Now I have a lot to aspire to.
19 February 2012
We have had our old ewe killed on Monday. Thursday we processed it. The wood band saw does not really work on meat, the blade keeps dropping off. The meat is a bit tough, but we are tough people. We also got given a Snoek, or Barracuda in Kiwi speak. Kiwis only use it as bait fish. The Snoek pie went down very well, and was enjoyed by many friends.
We had one day with a little rain, and I decided to start work on the new dividing wall between the new to be kitchen and the new to be bathroom. It involved only moving the computer and wardrobes. Material will have to be bought.
I also spent time on the half built partition wall. I started planning the carport ans store room to go behind it. Then I realised the target was only to get the wall finished. That reduced the amount of work by about 70%.
The frames are secured now, and the iron sheets are getting there. I expect a few teething problems, but nothing that we cannot handle.
I know, it looks terrible! Keep in mind it will be secured properly and water blasted and painted. hopefully I can add a new photo next week, or the week after. There is a door lying in front of the tip up door. The other door also has a story to tell. I took a lot of pain to make the frames true vertical. Then I fitted the door, it didn't fit. Why? The top of the door is 1000 mm wide and the bottom is 1050. Now the whole door will have to be taken apart and rebuilt. All the material used so far are from the demolition of the shed in Hamilton.
We have had our old ewe killed on Monday. Thursday we processed it. The wood band saw does not really work on meat, the blade keeps dropping off. The meat is a bit tough, but we are tough people. We also got given a Snoek, or Barracuda in Kiwi speak. Kiwis only use it as bait fish. The Snoek pie went down very well, and was enjoyed by many friends.
We had one day with a little rain, and I decided to start work on the new dividing wall between the new to be kitchen and the new to be bathroom. It involved only moving the computer and wardrobes. Material will have to be bought.
I also spent time on the half built partition wall. I started planning the carport ans store room to go behind it. Then I realised the target was only to get the wall finished. That reduced the amount of work by about 70%.
The frames are secured now, and the iron sheets are getting there. I expect a few teething problems, but nothing that we cannot handle.
I know, it looks terrible! Keep in mind it will be secured properly and water blasted and painted. hopefully I can add a new photo next week, or the week after. There is a door lying in front of the tip up door. The other door also has a story to tell. I took a lot of pain to make the frames true vertical. Then I fitted the door, it didn't fit. Why? The top of the door is 1000 mm wide and the bottom is 1050. Now the whole door will have to be taken apart and rebuilt. All the material used so far are from the demolition of the shed in Hamilton.
12 February 2012
Another week. Monday we had a public holiday, no work. Ha ha, no such luck. I sanded the wall to be painted and replaced a few rotted weatherboards. Tuesday I had to go to Hamilton. I was summoned (is that right?) for jury service. That happens on a random basis. Lucky for me I did not have to go again. Tuesday I completed the sanding process. Then we started painting. First of all, an undercoat of mismatched paint, and secondly the final colour. It was quite a job and very hot, especially in the afternoons. Up on the scaffold I was on my own, but up to chest height Elna did the brush work. It saved a lot of time. You have to paint all the corners and crannies by hand (with a brush of course silly!) and then paint the remainder of the board with the roller. Well, we rushed in and finished at 2:30 pm on Friday, at the heat of the day, on most likely our warmest day. (26deg)
The Bay window and all of the wall on that side is painted now, as well as up to the gable end. That is the wall that will be covered by the veranda. Rebuilding the veranda will follow after the hiding wall is finished.
Ben sent me an email and told me to take Saturday off. I did. I only built a new pen for the sheep, mowed the lawn, tidied up the car. And yes, we had a complaint from the tenant in Cambridge and went over there as well. Easy day.
Now, there is still a half built wall in the back yard.
See ya!
Another week. Monday we had a public holiday, no work. Ha ha, no such luck. I sanded the wall to be painted and replaced a few rotted weatherboards. Tuesday I had to go to Hamilton. I was summoned (is that right?) for jury service. That happens on a random basis. Lucky for me I did not have to go again. Tuesday I completed the sanding process. Then we started painting. First of all, an undercoat of mismatched paint, and secondly the final colour. It was quite a job and very hot, especially in the afternoons. Up on the scaffold I was on my own, but up to chest height Elna did the brush work. It saved a lot of time. You have to paint all the corners and crannies by hand (with a brush of course silly!) and then paint the remainder of the board with the roller. Well, we rushed in and finished at 2:30 pm on Friday, at the heat of the day, on most likely our warmest day. (26deg)
The Bay window and all of the wall on that side is painted now, as well as up to the gable end. That is the wall that will be covered by the veranda. Rebuilding the veranda will follow after the hiding wall is finished.
Ben sent me an email and told me to take Saturday off. I did. I only built a new pen for the sheep, mowed the lawn, tidied up the car. And yes, we had a complaint from the tenant in Cambridge and went over there as well. Easy day.
Now, there is still a half built wall in the back yard.
See ya!
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