Fri 18- Sun 20 November 2011 :- Up in the roof

Rain! Although it stopped pretty much after the Great Dividing Range

Arrived up there on Friday night after Mum kindly agreed to look after the kids for the weekend

Stopped in at the Fish & Chip shop/Bakery - and immediately saw a couple of familiar faces :- Jamie Nevins, and James the butcher.  Both told us what a good job the roofers are doing what hard workers they are etc.  In fact various other people also told us the same thing over the weekend, so when Gordon called a few days later, I told him of the good reports I had received.  Jokingly told him I had spies everywhere providing me with unprompted reports.

So got a couple of burgers for dinner and on to the house.  It was still light so had a bit of a look around.  New slate tiles on the front of the roof.  Various plants that I had carefully planted no where to be seen.  Either died or trampled etc. I was a bit put out that the special protea that I had bought from the plant show with Carolyn appeared to have been squashed by a scaffolding bottom piece.  The totem tennis which I had by the back door was also gone

But the biggest difference was all of the digging... Daniel had put in a new pipe for hot /cold water so had connected it up to the water meter, and had to dig through Justin's new path, under the central concrete path (had to up lift a panel) across to the other un-made path and then around to the south side of the house to hook up with the bathroom and the soon to be installed new hot water service. He had also pulled up all of the unsightly above ground metal water pipes and installed a brand spanking new tap at the meter in the front

Justin's slightly runined front path

water pipe under the removed concrete panel



digging for the pipes



And then there was  a massive hole at the back where he had been looking for the sewerage connection.  He'd called me earlier in the week to say that despite the Coliban Water plan there was no actual connection there. And he dug and dug and kept looking.  In the end Coliban Water agreed that there was no connection - and said they would pay for his wasted hours.  It was certainly a huge mess around there - not helped by all of the rain and mud

massive hole in the search for a sewerage connection

lots of clay

Our shoes became absolutely caked in sticky mud/clay which was rather difficult to get off.  This weekend we certainly segregated our shoes into inside and outside shoes.

We had hoped that the hot/cold water and toilet would be finished, as that had been the plan. However Daniel managed my expectations by sending me a text earlier in the week, saying it wasn't finished - due to the mucking around looking for the sewerage connection.  Oh well another weekend of public conveniences.  There was still I suppose the tank tap (or maybe it's from the well) which worked outside the kitchen, and also the new tap in the front - so we weren't completely dry.  I had also brought a large 10L? bottle of water from home which turned out to be a good thing.

where the old toilet was - and inprpeparion for the new toilet

The insurance people had also cleared away the old laundry debris, picked up all of the flooring bricks, and marked out the square for construction.  We wondered about that, and I called them later in the week asking their plans for the floor - we didn't want a dirt floor.  anyway, yes they'll replace the bricks as per the orginal.


laid out for the new laundry


And Bruce had started on the back verandah poles.  I thought he hadn't quite finished because the bottom of the poles were a good 30cm above the ground with an unsightly metal sleeve holding it up. However this wasn't an interim measure, this was it, and I wasn't happy with it. Didn't really bother Justin.  I ended up speaking to Bruce about it, and he explained that he had to cut the bottom of the poles so high because the rest was rotten.  And he said what good poles they were, we wouldn't get anything like these again etc.  However I didn't like the look of them so high, thought they looked ugly,  He said he had bought replacement poles for them anyway, so he'll put them in for us, as to me a pole is a pole, especially once it's painted.  I felt better after that as it would have niggled at me if I hadn't said anything, and been left unsatisfied

rather high sleeves for verandah poles

Had a relatively easy Saturday, as it rained on and off so doing anything outside was not a good idea. Read the papers, tidied up inside a bit.  Justin also bought some of that expander foam  to fill in the cracks in the brick work to stop the bees from coming back.  So he was scampering around the scaffolding - being relatively careful...

Super fly!

Justin hiding up near the chimney

very cool up there (actually this photo was taken on Sunday - better weather)

nice day - Sunday

Also went up into the roof  to have a look

I don't like ladders.  Or rather I've discovered that I don't really like climbing up relatively high ladders, and then having to hoist myself up through a man hole another metre or so above me...



man hole in the ceiling cavity - with orginal insulation (dirt)





Justin descending the man hole

 Well, I didn't really have to to do it, but rather thought it was something that I should do, or would like to do.  Justin was going up into the roof space and I decided to join him.  He went up first, and he didn't have a problem, and certainly didn't make a fuss, then it was my turn.  Had got our longest ladder, and had to stand on the very top and hope that the ladder wouldn't topple backwards (it didn't).  The man hole is off the hall way, between the going to be bathroom and the other small room.  So I figured even if the ladder swung backwards, it would only go back a metre or two against the linen press and still be upright.  Taking my feet off the ladder and suspending myself up 3m high, with Justin also helping me was a bit hairy.... So, got into the roof space and looked around, unfortunately no hidden or obvious) treasures.  There was a thick coating of dirt on the floor - which were floorboards.  We wondered if it was just dirt built up  over time, but Gordon the roofing guy advised that it would have been the old original insulation which would have been a mixture of clay, straw and perhaps even dung.  Looked in vain for any overlooked treasures, oh well will just have to look harder....


arch way up in the ceiling cavity





a few spider webs in the ceiling cavity - no treasure though


We also wondered about some wires and junction type boxes that we found.  Figured that they were for the servant bells as they went all around the ceiling.  Gordon reckons that they would still be good, and that we could reconnect them within the house.  Thought it could be a funny way to call the children, they didn't really see the humour in it!

junctions for servant bells



Junctions for servant bells #2

 We also saw these pipes which we figured were for the gas lights in some of the rooms.  Funny, the gas we get now is via large tanks - I wonder how these lights where the gas would have come from for these lights?


pipe for gas lighting

 Anyway, to the pub for dinner as per the norm, and we ran into Jamie and his wife,  and James and his wife again - after having seen them in the takeaway shop the night before.  We assured them all that we weren't stalking them. 

Sunday, and although it was a bit overcast to start with, the morning developed into a lovely blue sky day as per some of the previous photos of Justin on the scaffolding.  Once Justin got around to the jacaranda side he saw that the bee hive was still there (most of the bees gone though).  Thought it prudent to knock down the hive - so did so.  Pity that it's been poisoned, would have been lovely to have our own honey!

honey comb which Justin knocked down from the roof

Given that the weather improved, I went back out into the garden, more weeding out the front, and watered some of the drier looking plants.  Also harvested my 6 cherries - delicious!!

And, I found my special protea, it had been pulled out of the ground and was near one of the lemon trees, I assume that the scaffolders had pulled it out and had maybe thought about re-planting it elsewhere, but then forgot.  Anyway, proteas are supposed to be tough, and there was still some green, so I replanted it, watered it, and hoped for the best.

Decided to leave after lunch , and was departing the "comfort station" when a lady behind me asked if I'd just come from the "mansion" Somewhat embarrassed, I assented, after all why would someone with a "mansion" have to go to public toilets?  Anyway, this lady was here with her Mum who had lived in Inglewood 20+ years ago - in the Charles Napier Hotel now an antique/2nd hand shop .  She told me how the "old lady" who had lived there was quite interesting.  - as one day the Mum was walking her dog off a leash out the front of Nimmitabel, and the old lady came out with a shot gun and threatened to shoot it - because it was off the leash.  Luckily she didn't.. And this isn't the 1st shotgun dog story we've heard about her either.

So, for our next visit we will be living in the lap of luxury with a flushing toilet, town water - HOT and cold.  A non leaky roof, and perhaps even the replaced mid level windows which Ken was working on. I'm going up there this Saturday for the day with my friend Susan - so will see all then

On the basis of this I've also organised an Inglewood Christmas for us up there.  Us 4, Mum, Helen & her kids, Sarah and her kids, Becky & Elise, and Brian & Clare -  I'm really looking forward to it.  Turkey on the BBQ, decorations around the lower levels of the cypress tree etc