Almost There

Wherever there is...

We have almost completed the barn.

The kitchen is working well if a little small and without an oven, we have to use the BBQ for the oven stuff, it works quite well, a bit difficult to control the temperature which goes to warp speed within a few minutes, making a danger of turning a culinary delight into a black crisp if you don't keep a close watch.

The barn has turned out well, this is where we will 'rough it' for the next year.

By then we will have finished the house (stage 2) this is a 'builders promise'

Now we have only a few minor things to do, the stair banister, polyurethane the stairs and finish the dressing room (our huge walk in wardrobe)

(pics dinning area and kitchen/laundry)

On The Move

What a lot has happened in the last few weeks. Our next door neighbours are on the move, even the reclusive couple that live in the big unfinished villa are going. (pic)

They have been working on this project for over 35 years!

So what is going to happen to all the junk he has collected, old farm implements, piles of AMCO barrier that he must have picked up from the road side. the whole place has turned into a jungle of overgrown shrubs that now cover all sorts of demolition timber and stuff that he has stacked away for future use...

Also the Big house directly behind us has sold.

Maybe someone is telling us something.

Goldberg/Robinson

For those people that don't know who Rube Goldberg (American) is I have supplied a reference from Wikipedia, also included is Heath Robinson who did similar drawings (English)
Reuben Garret Lucius Goldberg (July 4, 1883 - December 7, 1970) was an American cartoonist who received a 1948 Pulitzer Prize for his political cartooning. He is best known for his series of popular cartoons depicting Rube Goldberg machines, complex devices that perform simple tasks in indirect, convoluted ways.
William Heath Robinson (May 31, 1872 – September 13, 1944) was an English cartoonist and illustrator, who signed himself W. Heath Robinson. He is best known for drawings of eccentric machines and "Heath Robinson" has entered the language as a description of any unnecessarily complex and implausible contraption

Rube Goldberg to the Rescue

We had some friends around for dinner, and as we don't have a oven, the BBQ was called into action.

The heavens opened up and the rain came down in such quantities that a lake formed around the barn, mostly caused by the fact that the downpipes have not been connected.

So with water pouring down I constructed a down pipe out of some irrigation pipe, duck tape, wood clamp and a length of clothes line, this was all done in the dark with lots of water falling on my head and at height!

The only best thing was it was not cold - it worked! still had to walk over planks to get to the BBQ.

The result, dinner was cooked and delivered on time, and it's still working...

Mushrooms Mushrooms

It's been raining down in great quantities but it has still been nice and warm, and that means field mushrooms - lots.

They taste fantastic, at least 10 times more flavour than the commercially grown variety. it only lasts a few days, so you have to eat lots...

The Worst Job!

I knew when we started this build, the two jobs that I didn't want to do was the roof, with its associated height challenges (me!) and the plastering of the drywall.

Well we resolved number 1, by getting a contractor to put the roof on but the plastering was done by ourselves - its not the actual plastering, or the cleaning up (I'm not the neatest person and tend to work in a mess) it's the preparation prior to painting.

Sanding! dusty, hot and lots of superfine dust, even though we had bought a drywall sanding machine, it gets everywhere.

After 10 minutes of sanding you end up looking like a white rat, complete with red eyes.

If you are living in the same area everything gets covered by a coating of fine dust, that takes days of cleaning to get rid of.

We have decided that we will resist the temptation in the 2nd stage to move in until it's completely finished. -

Getting Back To Normal

Life has moved from camping in a half finished shed to living in a house/barn.

The electrician has finished (well almost) the security system has a software bug that when it tries to ring my cellphone, it ignores my answer - result -very loud and lots of blue flashing lights!

The gallery lighting system is great, it now looks even better with more lights hanging off the wires.

This will be perfect when it's a dedicated gallery space, I know it's a bit off an indulgence but as I have been telling Mrs DIY it will earn us some money, one day, I hope...

Oscar

As the dog has not been getting the attention he think he deserves, Oscar (dog) has started stealing stuff that he thinks I might need.

Here he sits guarding his 'treasures' in the the hope it may prompt a 'give that back to me game'.

Panic Mode

Before the move there was a lot of building activity fueled by a little panic, the upstairs bedroom was completed to a standard that all we had to do was move in, so at least we had somewhere to sleep and shower.

Downstairs on the other hand was still in bits as you can see by the photos, no kitchen and no living area.

I had the forethought to get the sky man to install the TV dish so we could watch TV upstairs – a bad move, I sat and watched a rerun of an old Boston Legal episode the other night didn’t finish until midnight!

It’s amazing how much you can get through in 2 weeks.

Ceiling finished, kitchen working (just), floor grouted and sealed. Dry walling completed (well almost).

Now we are in the throws of stopping and plastering, what an awful job dust everywhere.

The good thing Mrs. DIY has banded me from plastering and taken over the task (I don’t do a very good job) Oh aren’t we a multi talented family…

The pics show the progress from almost to all our sitting room and office stacked in the middle of the downstairs’ room.

Moving Day

Moving house is always a drama and this one was no different except it was only next door a distance of about 30 meters.

I don't know what has been happening to our stuff but when we arrived at the original house was with a shipping container plus a small trailer.

Now we are the proud owners of 2 shipping containers!