The new bathroom unveiled 12 & 13 January 2018

Well, we were itching to see the new bathroom, and the polished floors in person.  Sure, Ben had sent us photos - but we wanted to see them for ourselves.

So, I persuaded Justin to work from home (in this case Inglewood) on the Friday (I have Fridays off), so we drove up on Thursday night.

Got there after 10pm - and had a look.  The floors and bathroom looked great!  The boys had also put all of the furniture and fittings back, made up the beds etc  - which was also great.  As Justin said, it was starting to look like a "real house" - without all of that awful lino etc.  Now we just need to fix up the walls...

Unfortunately, the light in the downstairs green bedroom now doesn't work - the pull cord won't pull.  Justin will investigate that later - at least the lamps are ok.

Another curious thing is that the upstairs Lime Parfait room floor was not done.  We wondered if they thought it was done (when we'd taken up the lino in that room the floorboards were in pretty good nick, and had been stained, but the stain was worn, and no longer uniform.  I subsequently spoke to Ben, and he basically said that they'd run out of time/room.  ie some of the floor boards needed replacing in that room, and I think they may have used it for storage also.  No matter,  Justin said he might do it himself at a later stage.

I went to bed after the inspection and read for a little while.  Justin stayed up a bit longer.

I let Justin sleep in a little on Friday, and went out and watered the plants.  Unfortunately it didn't look as though my asparagus (either the Maile berries, or the transplanted plants) survived.  The new citrus trees were also looking very parched, but at least the trunks were still green.

So of course I went out and watered, and also found about 10 bindi eyes which I disposed of 

We then had a late breakfast on the back deck.

Given that it was a work day for Justin, he stayed and worked there.  And I pottered around, tidying/cleaning etc.  I also found a curtain for the upstairs bathroom, as Ben hadn't replaced the clear window with an etched one

I saw that the Royal was finally open (still no Liquor license though), so went there for lunch- which was pretty good.  Justin had the chicken schnitzel sanga, and I had the burger with the lot.

More tootling around in the afternoon, and also a few visits to the IGA.  Met Maile and David there, and invited them over the have a look - they thought it was all pretty good also.

And given that it was by this stage late afternoon, we rustled up some bubbles and nibbles and had them together on the back deck - very nice.

Although I had bought some ingredients for an easy dinner (tuna. tomatoes, fetta, salad mix) - we didn't end up having it - thought we'd eaten enough with the nibbles.

Watched While we're Young on Netflix on my laptop in the dining room.  The TV etc was not replugged in - and would have been a bit complicated to do.  Incidentally, neither was the washing machine and dishwasher, and the boys unfortunately put them back the wrong way  - ie the dishwasher on the right hand side.  This meant that it couldn't open, as the door banged into the scullery bench.  (We dealt with that later)

So, the movie was good, pretty funny  Naomi Watts and Ben Stiller two x 40 somethings who befriended 2 x twenty somethings.  And of course the twenty somethings had an agenda...

About 1/2 way through, we got a bit hungry, so had a sandwich each.

Given that we had started early, we started another movie - Larry David's :- Whatever Works. But we were a bit too ambitious, and started to feel tired about 1/4 of the way through, so went to bed.

Saturday, and it was a bit cold and rainy at times, so I obviously didn't have to water the garden.

Read The Age online again while I waited for Justin to get up.

Had my first shower upstairs - and washed my hair.  Was so nice to be in the brand new clean bathroom with no cracks, dust etc.  Was great, except the hot water seemed to run out and was replaced with cool, not cold water.  I wondered if the gas tank (for the hot water) had finished.  However after a little while the hot water came back, which I thought was very strange. (the same thing happened to Justin) It then did it again....I spoke to Ben about this later, and he said that Gary the plumber would investigate.

More tidying up/cleaning, and Justin attempted to reconnect the washing machine and dishwasher.  But first we had to swap their positions, which was a little challenging.

But we made it, and moved them successfully

The same could not be said for the reconnection, Justin was having a few problems, and in the end wrecked the connector piece (was very difficult to reconnect, he know what to do/not do for the next time)  - so no dishwasher or washing machine for a little while.  I went to Bunnings later in the week and bought 2 x replacements (just in case)

Damo and Nicole also dropped by to say hello, so we showed them around too.

Left for Durham Lead around 2.45 - for Chris' 50th.  Took almost 2 hours to get there - via what seemed to be a very circuitous route (lots of left and right turns). We used the GPS as opposed to Google maps on a phone.  I've just looked at Google Maps directions, and it looks a lot simpler

Ben's Progress Dec - Jan 2018

Given that the shower/bathroom wasn't finished when Justin and I were there in the week before Christmas, Ben advised that Stu and Charlie would be back on the following Monday and Tuesday to finish up the bathroom

We had to emphasise that that was all that we wanted them to do, as we were rapidly running out of money  as they were doing other things also like scraping the paint off the back outside walls etc (which we had also wanted done, but was a very low priority)

Unfortunately it took them 3 days as opposed to two, and they got the glass in, but then couldn't find the hinges - so therefore still couldn't finish it

Below are various update photos that Ben texted through in late December/early January

 

Ben eventually found the hinges - said it took him all of 4 minutes to find them

And then in the New Year, they did the massive move out in preparation for the floor sanding and polishing.

The plan was that the upstairs furniture would go on the upstairs veranda, and the down stairs furniture on the back veranda/in the hallway (as it  has the tessellated tiles).  Ben advised that Charlie would sleep there as a precautionary guard.

And then Dean and co came to sand and polish

They also found that they needed to replace some more boards in the dining room which had been under the bookshelf, under the lino

After the sanding came the filling of the nail holes

 

And then the first sand (followed by numerous others I'm assuming)

Glad to see that they're wearing masks and ear muffs

And then the polishing.  Justin had wanted it the same as we had done upstairs ie pure tung oil and citric acid

And here is a before and after photo of the kitchen.  We knew that the kitchen would be particularly demanding and challenging given all of the sticky gunk still on the floorboards

The veranda boards also had to be redone, as for some reason the top coat hadn't cured properly

And then the boys put all of the furniture back, and cleaned and tidied up in preparation for us.

Kingower Christmas Party 2017 Fri 15 - Sun 17 December 2017

Well, another Kingower Christmas party - hooray, and a promised finished bathroom, a double hooray.

Mark had asked me to bring a "flash" entree to feed 10 people, so I made my ubiquitous onion tart, in Melbourne, and then left for Inglewood around 12.30

Sent a text to Ben advising that I was coming, and wondered if he'd still be there

As it was, they were all there - Ben, Charlie, Stu and Andrew.  The top and back verandas had been tung oiled, and looked fantastic.  The new railing had also been put on the top veranda.  Ben had said that it had caused them trouble, was tricky to do

Here are some photos of the railing that Ben had sent me during the week

Once again the workmanship is very good

And then the bathroom...

Ben had also previously advised that the Bathware shop had not provided all the screws/backing mats etc.  So Stu had to go and buy more, they also didn't provide instructions, and apparently shouldn't have sold that base with the screen, as they shouldn't have gone together.  This was despite the fact that they were displayed as a unit in the showroom.

Anyway, the screen wasn't up, more tiles were, and the toilet and vanity were plumbed in.  Stu also advised that he had to make a groove in the wall in order for the screen to fit over the base etc.   This was a real hassle.  So I wasn't going to be having a shower there this weekend - which was a little disappointing.

Anyway, the boys tidied up, and I did more cooking.  Made a pate, thai fishcakes, red dip, and sweet chilli, coriander and cream cheese dip, as well as the previously mentioned onion tart.

Went up to Kingower after 6, and saw the usual people, and had a great time.  Was a lovely afternoon/evening, just the right temperature, no wind.  Justin unfortunately couldn't come, he had a previously arranged lunch which was anticipated to be, and was, rather long

Left after midnight, and had to brake sharply for an audacious kangaroo, just sitting in the middle of the road.  Once I had stopped it then casually loped off into the bush.

Slow start on Saturday, as I woke too early after my late night, and couldn't get back to sleep.

Went and picked Justin up at the Bendigo train station, around 1pm, and then we went and had lunch at the Gallery Cafe on Maile's recommendation.  Was pretty good.

Back to the house, as Justin was keen to see the progress - and yes he was impressed.

I then went and tried to have a nap, as I was tired.

Maile and David dropped in and we showed them our progress, and then we went and picked a bit more of the wild asparagus, and dug out a couple of little plants for our vegie garden.  Yes there are lots, and they wouldn't be missed.

We didn't realise what the time was, and Justin wanted to get to the IGA before closing to get some savoury shapes.  Got there with literally 3 minutes to spare.  Justin rushed in and got them.

Then we christened our back veranda with a gin and tonic.  Justin had moved the furniture from the top veranda whilst I was napping.  Moving that marble topped table by himself was quite an effort (particularly with a sore back). This back veranda will be great for Summer, as it's more protected from the sun than the top veranda.  Justin suggests that we put up some trellis, and grow something on the Kingower side, as you get the late Summer sun peeking through

We just grazed for dinner - basically my leftovers from the Kingower Christmas party ie pate, red dip, onion tart, fish cakes.  Was enough.

Watched a movie on my laptop in the dining room after dinner. A Netflix special :- Shimmer Lake - was pretty good Couldn't really go into the big upstairs room, as the shower screen glass was on the floor there.

 Sunday, and toast and coffee for breakfast on the back veranda.

Justin then put tung oil on the furniture to protect it

I watered the garden, (favoured plants) and trained up the youngberry canes on the trellis as they were going mad - all over the place

Walking around the garden I also did a double take outside the dining room, thinking I had come across a snake - belly up

But it was just a broken piece of succulent - completely harmless

My next self directed job was to clean out the back hallway, of all of the kitchen stuff that Ben and co had put there - in order to take out Alex' kitchen cabinet

Remember, this is what it looked like - crockery, food, etc

The plan is that Ben and the boys will be back around New Year to pack everything up in order for the floors to be sanded and tung oiled.  We (or rather mainly Justin) had done a couple of rooms upstairs - red room, little yellow room and the hallway, and it was a horrible job.  We had hired a sander, and he sanded, and then Alex and I helped by hand  -sanding, knocking nail heads in etc.  We definitely didn't want to do that again. (And yes, this was done, and everything is nice and safe and secure inside again)

Anyway, given that it was a bit of a nuisance coming and finding food ingredients & dishes in the back hallway, I decided to move it all back.

I put big things like the George Foreman machine and cans of food etc in the scullery wire/meat  cupboards, and I rearranged the coffee stuff in the shelves to the left of the fireplace

I reckon I did a pretty good job

And the back hall was back to looking like this

I also wanted to hang some nice curtains that I'd bought at an op shop in Ocean Grove.  I'd planned them for the Garden room above the kitchen

However Justin didn't feel like going and buying some curtain rods, nor hanging them, so we left them for another time.

While we were having lunch under the tree we noticed how huge the weeds were within the yuccas, some of them taller than me!

This prompted me to don the gloves again and pull them out.  This was tough, hot and dirty work, and I was conscious of not getting my eyes spiked by the yuccas also. Sweat was dripping off my face and head, and afterwards when we were driving home, I noticed that some of my hair was hard and stiff from the salt in my sweat, similar to if I had swum in the sea!   Justin was on wheelbarrow duty, picking up the weeds and putting them in Gordon's trailer

It was exhausting, so we had a breather and a beer, you can see how hot I was by my red face

But, it was worth it, as we got rid of them on the left side

Will have to do the right side the next time