Queens Birthday weekend and potential wallpaperer 6 - 8 June 2020

Justin and I drove the ute to inglewood on Saturday morning - laden with the new rotunda table and chairs

Uneventful drive, arrived, unpacked and positioned the furniture, looked good, had a look around the garden, at the underpinning etc,  as Justin hadn't seen it since it was done.

Also - of course pointed out my section of brickwork that I had fixed up.  These bricks actually stand out a bit now, as I had washed them down so repeatedly that they are cleaner/redder than the surrounding bricks.

Christened the rotunda with our first meal in it - a poke bowl type lunch - tuna, tomato, pickled turnip tops etc.  The day was cool, but lovely and warmish in the sun.

I had also organised for another handiman to come and have a look at fixing up the sash windows (as they had not been done properly when we had them "fixed" some years before hand).  He  told me that the wrong cord was used for the large windows, and that also you can adjust the length/tautness of the cord to ensure that they open and close properly. I also spoke to him about doing fly screens - once again properly with a rounded top.  He comes recommended and seems to know what he is talking about - pity then that he's not available til next year....

Did some gardening after this, and also filled a large hole that had been dug out under the side dining room window

You can also see my patch of clean bricks that I repointed in the below photo

Had enough around 4pm, showered/warmed up, and made up some mulled wine to take up to Kingower for the 1st Saturday of the month (which was the first one in a long time)

Justin elected to stay at home, didn't feel like braving the potential cold out on the Village Green

As it was, it was much warmer than inside the house, as Terry had a brazier going with a lovely hot fire.  And it was a lovely blue sky day - with no breeze (we have gone before when there's been a fire, and ended up with smoke all over us due to windy conditions)

The only problem was that when I turned onto the Village Green that the thermos that I'd put the mulled wine in tipped over, and spilled about 1/2 of its contents onto the passenger seat.  I was not pleased - red wine stains, and half my wine gone....

That said, the remaining mulled wine was very nice - and warming, as was the fire.  and it was lovely to see all (most of) the old gang again - Terry, Maile & David, Damo and Nicole, Anne L and various extended family members etc.  I was also offered more wine, but declined as I'd told Justin that I'd be back by 6.30pm

So, once back home, we had a warming dinner - which was a variation on what I'd had there earlier in the week ie kidney beans, salami, tomato egg - was more liquid than last time, but still pretty good with a couple of pieces of toast

And then to bed.  Justin was tired, so didn't feel like watching anything.  I started with WE, but got a bit bored with it, so just read

Sunday morning, and it was cold.....Neither of us wanted to get out of our nice warm bed, but Justin eventually did, and brought me some toast and a coffee to have in bed which was very nice of him.  I had requested instant coffee, which initially puzzled him.  The reason being was that it was hotter than than the nespresso machine coffee, and I wanted to be warmed up

Once we eventually did get up we did some tidying up/sweeping/dusting around the house, as it was quite dusty from the underpinning etc - and a bird had got in at some stage and pooped indiscriminately around the house.  Justin eventually found it - under one of the beds in the room above the kitchen.  It was an Indian Miner 

I had invited Sheryl from CWA and her painter/decorator husband John for the weekend. Reason being was that I had chatted to John a few weeks ago to ask him if he might be interested in doing some wallpapering/plastering etc.  I tried painting him a word picture, but then said it would be much better if he could see it, so asked if he and Sheryl might be interested in coming for lunch one weekend, or staying overnight.

They were, so no time like the present - they came up on the Sunday of the Queen's birthday weekend

They arrived around 1pm, and Sheryl was feeling a bit dizzy/wobbly for some reason - so needed John to help her from the car, and she then had to sit down once in the hallway.

She rallied after a few minutes, and Justin gave them the "tour" while I made up a simple lunch.  Tuna, corn, mayonnaise, red onion mixed together as a sandwich filling.

Put a bowl of this, some crusty bread, wine, plates and glasses on a tray, and we went and had lunch out on the rotunda - lovely!  and yes it was a lovely sunny blue sky day.

Sat and chatted for a while, and then I took them on a tour of the local shops - which had opened for the first time in a long time - due to Corona Virus

Back to the house 5ish, and I started organising the dinner - Inglewood pork, sweet potato mash, and some greens

Given that the kitchen was the only "public" room set up, I had suggested to Justin that we part open up the dining room - ie set up the dining table for 4, and put a couple of arm chairs in front of the fire.

So that's what we did.  Justin set up a fire, Sheryl and I sat in front of it, and we had some champagne and lovely cheese, nuts, dried fruit  and biscuits that Sheryl and John had brought

Very civilised

Dinner afterwards - unfortunately didn't think the pork was quite up to scratch - yes it's from the same producers, but Jim had said that he used to inject it with apple juice - I wonder if they are doing that still?

Anyway, dinner was not bad, and had some chocolates afterwards

Justin was first to bed around 10.30, then John, while Sheryl and I stayed up a bit longer to chat.  I had also said that we like to have a lie in on the weekend, and that we would be up at 9am for breakfast. Hoped I wasn't too prescriptive

Anyway, that's what we did , and they were up soon afterwards

Were going to have breakfast in the kitchen with the heaters on - but it was much nicer in the dining room with the sun streaming through - so did that

And once again it was a lovely day, I suggested that we go up to Melville Caves and have a look around - as they hadn't been in this area before

They loved it - it was another clear blue sky day, so the view was lovely.  Quite a few people there (for Melville Caves)

Suggested showing them the crystal mine also - which they enjoyed and we collected some fancy rocks as keepsakes.  Mine looked a bit like fools gold, and then the back roads through to Kingower

By this time it was well after 12, so lunch was out in the rotunda again with the rest of the tuna mix, cheeses, and smallgoods etc

Very leisurely until it wasn't....we had intended to leave after lunch as Justin needed to be back in Melbourne for a guitar lesson at 6pm.  However chatting and post lunch coffees put paid to that, as suddenly it was 3pm, and we still needed to tidy up and pack.

Did that in a hurry - left, and yes, Justin did get to his lesson on time despite there being a few pockets of end of long weekend traffic on the way back

Lisa the brickie Monday 1 June - Wednesday 3 June 2020

Back again so soon....

Peter, our underpinner had organised for his brickie James to come and fix up the brick work disturbed by the underpinning, on Tuesday and Wednesday, and I was keen to see how it was done, and had also organised for the plumber to come and use their cherry picker to fix up the cracked drain pipe

Drove up on a very dreary Monday afternoon - quite rainy and miserable.  However by the time I got to Marong, the weather had cleared a bit  ( I was told that it was still gloomy in Melbourne)

Still had some daylight - so went and inspected the electricans work - connecting up the rotunda to power - he did a good neat job

Unfortunately, I went into the garden with my "city" shoes, and was dismayed at how caked in sticky mud/clay they became by the time I returned to the back veranda.  Took them off, and just left them in the laundry sink to be seen to later

 

11.9 degrees in the house - but not seeing your breath yet

Dinner was 1/2 a can of chilli beans, some salami from the cellar, and an egg all put in a bowl, and then into the microwave - was actually pretty good

And then to bed to watch some Netflix under the doona

Tuesday morning - and I'd learned, better to get dressed straight away, rather than breakfast in pajamas and dressing gown and then get dressed.  So, straight into my trusty Winter coveralls and beanie

James the brickie and Lee were there around 7.30, and Peter arrived soon after with the cherry picker

And up they went

Lee also did some remedial work in the dining room - mortaring up those cracks - so that we no longer see daylight through the walls

And the finished job - now just ready for plastering

I was watching for a while, but spent most of Tuesday weeding/trimming

Got distracted by a huge clump of bridal veil creeper rhizomes  near the stump.  It's so prolific, and mats the ground so efficiently - nothing else will get through

And, despite it being the start of Winter - there were a few jonquils out which was cheering

Lunch was on across the road at the Town Hall (saw Faye when I arrived yesterday, and she reminded me, said I should come).  I told James and Lee about it so they wandered over, however by the time they got there, it was sold out, so they went to the bakery instead

That said, about 20 minutes later, Faye came over to tell them that there were still some quiches that could be warmed up if they'd like.  They had already bought an alternative lunch, so I said I'd come across a little later

I did, and also saw Colleen (the councillor), and Rosemary from WaterWheel there.  Colleen asked me if the house would be open for the Women on Farms conference in November - it had been postponed from March - because of the corona virus - I was non committal - as who knows where we'll be up to by then in the renonation process

And, because of the corona virus - there was no one sitting at the tables - eating, just the people helping out.  I had to knock on the kitchen door.  Faye asked me how many quiches I wanted - just one, and she warmed it up for me, I took it back to the house, and had it for my lunch - very nice

Back to the gardening for me,  and James and Lee back to mortaring

And as per my new habit, a good hot bath at the end of the day, followed by my chilli bean, salami and egg dinner, and netflix in bed

Wednesday, and it started out the same as Tuesday, ie early start, gardening for me, mortaring for the boys

That said the plumber(s) came early also. I saw one go up the cherry picker, and they disappeared soon after that. I hadn't really had a chance to talk to them, so was a bit annoyed, as they didn't say when they would be back.  However on closer inspection, it looked like they had pop riveted the crack, and they had also attached a plastic bag type hose to the end of the drain pipe so that if it rained it wouldn't go under the house - so that seemed ok.  I'll have to recontact them to find out when they'll be back 

But then I had a brilliant idea, I'd been watching James, and how he was mortaring  - so asked if I could do some too, as there is an approximate 2 metre square area on that back wall where the mortar has mysteriously disappeared leaving denuded loose looking bricks (they're not loose)

Anyway, James gave me a quick run down - ie must put 2 x pairs of surgical gloves on - as the lime in the mortar mix will eat away your skin. 

Then get a small bucket to put the mortar mix in (they had mixed up a big barrow full),

Lastly, you need a sponge, and a large bucket with clean water in it to dip the sponge into

Next, wet down the area that you are going to put the mortar into - and then press it in.  I was just using my fingers (no trowel), and was initially dropping more of the mix on the ground than was going into the cracks.

However, I eventually developed a reasonably productive system

And the other important thing was to keep wetting down/rinsing the wall - in order to get the mortar into the cracks properly, and also to wash the mortar off the face of the bricks - and make it all a lot neater

Below is the before shot - with the mortarless gaps between the bricks

And here is a grinning photo of me (what a surprise) - posing with my mortar bucket and sponge

   
David and Arleen also dropped in to say hello (and make a phone call to Daniel - because we have better mobile reception than Kingower)


And here is the after photo.  Some sceptics might point out that there is some mortar covering a brick in the middle - that's because that brick was part broken

Anyway, apparantly the secret was in constantly wetting it down/rinsing it off.  I was actually quite enjoying it - and must admit that I did stand back to admire my work at times

Even got more adventurous and fetched a ladder to attack some higher bits next to the window

And here's the after shot

And yes, of course James and Lee did a fine job also

At one stage I had to go and put my gum boots on - as the section in front of me had a large puddle in front of it - good to be prepared

Bought a pie from the bakery for lunch - my favourite, Butter Chicken.  Had a chat with the owner.  Despite the government allowing restaurants and cafes to open for sit down customers, she had decided to just stick with takeaways.  She said it would be too much effort/expense to adhere to the stringent cleaning /spacing regimes, and I agreed with her.  I also didn't see that either of the pubs were open for sit down diners.  In fact, the Royal has been closed for a while.  I hope that it reopens soon though.

So, I finished up my section, and was pretty pleased with myself, peeled off my gloves, and was somewhat appalled at my right hand's appearance - it wasn't just waterlogged, I wondered if some of the lime mortar had got through some nicks (even today - Friday - my right hand is quite dry, and I can rub the surface skin off my fingers....)

Empty mortar bucket

And peeled off gloves

I also whatsapped Justin, sending him amongst other photos, the before and after shots of my piece of wall

His initial response to my bit was - "is this before or after?"

Then he realised

i then asked him what he thought - which he obvioulsy regarded as a strange question - responding with "looks good to me - why?"

I then 'fessed up, saying it was me - obviously very much impressing him with my new found skill

I now plan to do around near the gas bottles on the other wall also - at another time.  James gave me his mix proportions, and also left me some sand, mortar and lime, which was very nice of him.

Some time in the mid afternoon Lee received a call from Peter - asking how it was all going.  Peter also advised that Amon the engineer was on his way, as he wanted to talk to James about how to address the big crack in the back hallway/kitchen

I was already getting ready to go, tidying up, washing dishes, buying some eggs from David etc.  Helen and the kids were coming over for dinner, and I wanted to leave by 4pm at the latest

As it was - Amon arrived around 3.15  - showed him the wall/crack again - and they took off the loose plaster

 

 Amon will write up a report, initially he had suggested putting in a steel lintel, but is now recommending a metal pole with a removable steel sheet on top (like was what used initially in the underpinning, I don't know the technical word for it) - to support the wall while it is being rebuilt.  One side would be rebuilt, and then the other side. 

He then came and had another look at the external west kitchen wall.  Peter had said last time to Justin and me that he thinks it should be underpinned - not as a big a job as the bay window, but necessary nevertheless.  We had had a engineering report done some years ago, to see if we could replace the roof before doing any underpinning.  That report had said yes, we could, and that there were "superficial cracks on the south west wall, but that we could live with it, ie no remedial work required.

Given the obvious expense of underpinning, we would prefer to believe the initial report, also because if underpinning were to go ahead, our beautiful back veranda would need to be removed....

That said, I have asked Peter for a quote, and also one for James to rebuild the wall inside

We await the quote...

 

Actual underpinning and RA Sunday 24 May - Wednesday 27 May 2020

Woo hoo, we're getting to the pointy end of the underpinning

The holes have all been dug, with much dirt excavated, the concrete half poured, many jacks and steel plates put in place, the loose mortar removed, the rooms dismantled and furniture covered in dust sheets

It's all ready....

I arrived around 5.45pm on Sunday, had an uneventful drive, some Melbourne leftovers for dinner, and then climbed into bed, and watched something on my laptop.

Monday, and once again a cold start to the morning, nice and warm in bed, but a cold bedroom and  cold kitchen.  And it takes a while for the panel heaters to arrest the chill.

Peter's crew arrived around 7.45 and were doing some more preparatory blowing away of loose mortar etc.

They were also in the dining room pulling off loose bits of plaster, in the bay window area, and where the big crack is, and getting rid of loose mortar from that side.

Mark from RA arrived quite early also - and started the miking up process, at least I knew what to do this time

Daylight became even more noticeable from inside, which made me a little nervous

 And Peter (our underpinner) was everywhere - up the ladder checking on whether there were any obstructions

  And down below to check on the position of the jacks, steel plates etc

 The other 3 guys were all very busy also - doing similar

And Mark was filming unobtrusively

I'd also called up Terry, and Steve & Denise to see if they were interested in coming and watching the process, so they dropped in to watch

There were now many more and larger cracks and cavities to be closed up, and filled in

Peter didn't like the right hand corner - thought it was bulging a bit, so had to brace it with wooden beams

And then it started - the actual jacking up

Peter was like a conductor making minute adjustments to each of the jacks, scuttling down  in the trenches from one to another - his team is terrific, but ultimately all responsibility lies with him

One of his crew - Jai was up the ladder - with his fingers inserted in one of the large cracks - feeling for the pressure /closing up

 This horrified me - I had an irrational fear that his fingers would get stuck (they didn't)

While Peter was conducting the jacks he directed "all eyes up" - even though he was only moving it up millimetres at a time new cracks could have occurred elsewhere due to the stresses of the moving jacks.  And some new cracks did occur, so he had to ease off on those jacks, and push up others.

They called it a day late afternoon, tidied up a bit and left.  I did some more weeding in the orchard - I had intended to do that most of the day, with the occasional look at the house during the most exciting lifting bits.  However, there was something strangely compelling about watching - and of course hoping that great chunks wouldn't fall down.

The electricians were also supposed to come this aftenoon and connect up the wire to the rotunda/put in a light, but I received a text saying that they had been held up, and would let me know later in the day how they "were travelling".  Well, that was the last I heard, so I decided to find another electrician. - found one in Llanelly about 20 minutes away

I also called up a plumber as the downpipe on the back wall had cracked at the join (with the lifting of the house), and would need to be fixed, and I called up another local to come and remove all of the dug up dirt and clay

Anyway, I finished up around 5pm, and then went to the IGA, as I had suggested a type of topping out ceremony to celebrate the successful end of the underpinning, and was going to buy some French champagne to have tomorrow

Saw a couple of our waitresses there - Holly and Angela who were keen for us to have another Yacht Club Ball next year

Walked back, and it was a perfect late afternoon - the light was lovely

There were some birds on the roof ridge -and they looked just perfect - like they were an ornamnetal part of the roof

 Was thinking of having a warming bath then there was a knock at the door

It was Terry, come to see how the underpinning had progressed

I showed him around,and then offered him a G&T - which we had on the upstairs veranda - very nice

I guess he left around 6pm, and it was getting cold, so I had my marvellous warming bath.  It's obviously not the best bathtub, but it does the trick

Had some leftover dinner, and then into bed to watch some Netflix on my laptop

Tuesday morning, and the boys were here early (around 7.30 again)

Spied Mark and Peter through the dining room window

seemed colder this morning, so put on my beanie from Karen

More fiddling with the jacks, and Terry and Steve came with their digger and ute to get rid of the dirt.  This was also going to make it easier for the concrete trucks to come in at 1pm

    Peter needed to put some more jacks in - all up there were around 30 under the house

And once again all eyes up - while Peter was working the jacks

Hard hats had to be worn - as larger chunks of render/bricks were expected to fall.  and one did hitting Jai on the arm, and then glancing onto Peter's foot below.  Jai would have got quite a bruise from that

They also need a horizontal support  for the battens - just in case

And then - the moment of truth - the spirit level on the window sill - the bubble perfectly centred

What a relief - and they finished an hour early - around 12 noon - as the concrete trucks were coming at 1pm

I then had  a bit of a crawl around in the trenches - to try and see how high they had lifted the house

As you can see from the below photos -  there is a quite gap between the lifting plates and the steel plates.  Peter estimated that corner of the house was raised up to (100mm) 10 cm in parts - which is huge 

Denise and Steven had come back around this time, and Denise said it was as though the house was smiling - with the curves of the arches back in place

Peter had already poured 25 cubic metres of concrete into the holes that he'd dug out, and was expecting to put in a further 17 cubic metres

There were 3 x concrete trucks waiting in Storm Lane

This time there was no mud, so the trucks could pump the concrete directly into the trenches

Once poured, the boys were agitating it to get rid of any air bubbles

And smoothing it out

They also made sure that he concrete was graded away from the house

Given that it's going to be covered up I decided to sign mine and Justin's name, as Peter had said that he always signs his jobs with Countrywide

And then after all of this excitement, I opened the envelope that he had given me yesterday - anticipating what would happen and when,  and he was pretty spot on

And then it was champagne time

I went inside and got the champagne and glasses, and popped the cork skywards

Obviously we're not going to have a topping out ceremony after each piece of work, but it was lovely to do so after such a substantial event.  Although Peter did say that our friends would ask what had been done, and we'd tell them - but they'd look and say is "that all" - as all of the work has been buried

 
Peter and his crew tidied up and left, and I went and had another warming bath

Wednesday, and the new electrician came at 10am (when he said he would) - and I showed him the job, he said he'd be back to do it on Saturday - which he did,and he also tightened up the oven powerpoint in the kitchen which was a bit loose - so good on him (we'll use him again)

And then the plumber came over ( he had been working at the Town Hall) - showed him what needed doing with cracked at the join down pipe, then also the down pipe at the front veranda - which seems to be going nowhere

I also asked him about the tap at the vegie garden - as when Troy had put it in it was a different size to the one that Justin and Mark had installed.   This meant that the automatic timer that we had wouldn't fit, so he put a manual one on instead.  We wanted this changed, but it never happened.

Anyway, Dave the new plumber had an adaptor piece in his car, put it on for me, and hey presto - we now have the original automatic water  timer back on - yay.  This made me very pleased

And, being on a roll, I also asked him about the broken olive dripper pipe, he told me that I could just pull through the pipe and reattach it to the main pipe.  After he left, I considered this, but then decided against it - as that would have made the dripper pipe substantially shorter, and I guess we wanted the length

On closer inspection - I found that the broken pipe screwed into the bigger pipe, so unscrewed it, and took that piece up to the IGA - where they sold me a packet of barb joiners, and also thread joiners - thought they would both be useful

I ended up using the thread joiner - joining the two broken pieces together.   I was rather pleased with myself

All in all a very productive weekend - the underpinning completed, the vegie garden automatic timer reinstated (after so long) and the dripper pipe fixed