Kingower Christmas Dec 18-20 2020

 Back with Justin this time - and on Friday night again.

I had toyed around with bringing some leftovers for dinner, but then we felt a bit slack, or more positively, thought we'd support the local economy and so had takeaway

I dropped Justin at GGs so I unpacked the car,  then got some plates, glasses & wine together for dinner, and waited for Justin in the rotunda

It was surprisingly quick (especially compared to last time)  I had a burger with the lot, and Justin had a schnitzel roll - and we shared some golden chips.  Was pretty good actually

And the evening itself was superb- lovely and clear blue sky, no wind, warm to begin, but got a bit cooler.  We're certainly getting our money's worth with this rotunda - sitting and eating there for breakfast, lunch and dinner (especially given that the dining room is not available)

Went in  around 8.30 -9 pm.  I thought we might watch a movie in bed on the laptop, but Justin didn't feel like anything that long, so we watched the 1st episode in the 3rd series of Restoration Australia on I-View.  A couple bought a 4 level terrace in Sydney just near to the Harbour Bridge.  It cost $4.2M and needed complete restoration/renovation, as it had been divided into public housing flats.  The couple had very extravagant tastes, and thought that the renovation should cost around $1.5M, and a further $500k for furniture.  Well, it ended up costing them close to $10M (including the purchase price!) We were horrified by the expense, and won't be spending anywhere near that amount.

And, speaking of expensive, another property that has caught my eye is the old Bluestone Mill in Kyneton.  It's for sale, with approx 13 acres of land plus another bluestone house (manager's residence)

Given that we drive past it to and from Inglewood, I was curious to see what it looked like inside (from the real estate ad on the internet), and also the price

Well, it was done up beautifully, but the asking price is $6.7M!! We were flabbergasted, and it's on the Calder (well the house is set back), so there will be a constant traffic hum. And it looks like it could do with a new roof!

I'm assuming that it will be for sale for quite a while 

Anyway, we have our hands full with our own country property, and trying to get tradespeople to do the work for us.

Saturday, and I made Justin breakfast in bed, and came back in also with a breakfast tray of my own  

So, we had a leisurely start, and then I put my overalls on, and weeded out the front right hand side of the gate.  Only took a couple of hours - was done by lunch time

I spoke with Terry, and he mentioned that he was at his place by himself (no one was there yet to help set up), so I offered my help, and went up there at 1.30

A couple of his sons were there by that stage, but I was still able to help, and we took trestle tables, chairs, crockery, cutlery, glassware etc across to the Village Green and set up

Took a few hours - normally we mostly just show up, and don't think about the set up - should offer our help a little more (I do help with the cooking though)

Came home and made my chipotle salad for the night (lettuce, tomato, coriander, avocado, kidney beans, corn, red onion, capsicum and a chilli lime etc dressing) - was rather nice

Alex and April arrived around 4.30, and Chris and Jo a little later

Jo had brought some nice cheeses and biscuits so we had them out on the rotunda before heading off to Kingower around 6.20 for the Christmas get together

Had a lovely dinner up there, and saw a lot of our friends

David and his daughter Helen performed first

The crowd was appreciative 

And then Helen's friend Diana sang and played guitar for Hallelujah, and she was great.  She also sang  a few of her own compositions which were also very good

Then it was our boy's turn - Justin, Chris and Alex - all very good

And then it was Mark, and then Dermot

And at the end it was all of them

So, a good night was had by all, good food, good company - what could be better?

We left around midnight - and saw a fox on the way back.  Haven't seen one here before

Slow start on Sunday - luckily we didn't have the RA team here this morning.  We were originally supposed to, but then Mark texted something about having G&Ts in the rotunda at 7pm....and I thought that was too late.  Also - after a big night, we probably wouldn't be in the mood to "perform" for a film crew.  Therefore, it's been postponed til later in January.  And as it was, with the Northern beaches corona virus flare up in Sydney, and flights cancelled, possible 14 day quarantines for people from NSW into VIC, we may not have been able to do it anyway!    

Anyway, a modest breakfast of coffee and toast for all in the rotunda at 9am.  Chris and Jo left before lunch, and Alex and April went looking at the collectable shops

Came back with a metal rooster as a present for my hospitality.  Very nice 

Sandwiches in the rotunda for lunch, and then April and I went to buy some more netting for the fruit trees.

Justin and Alex put them up - to protect my 2 x apple trees (and they were nice and generous with the netting, unlike me for my cherry tree)

Left for Melbourne around 4.30 - and was nearly side swiped twice.  Once by a car near the Tullamarine exit .  The driver maybe lost concentration - and came very close to colliding with me on my side of the car.

And next on the Bolte Bridge - a B double truck was in front of me in the lane to my left - but then tried changing into my lane (had the indicator on)

Luckily both times I kept my nerve - braked a bit, but didn't swerve into the next lane to get away

And when we got home Fraser had prepared a lovely schnitzel dinner with potato salad and cucumber salad to commemorate Mum's birthday 

More wallpaper stripping, plaster shovelling, Michaela, Servant Bells, Gin & dolmades Wednesday 2 December - Friday 11 December 2020

Well, it looks like I was here for a long time - but I actually went back to Melbourne on Sunday 6th, and returned to Inglewood on Monday 7th  December  

Anyway, I was on my way to Inglewood on Wednesday 2, and was speaking with Helen on the handsfree.  She asked if I could take Michaela, as she needed a bit of a break.  Although I do enjoy going up by myself, I owed it to my sister and niece to help them out, so exited at Moreland Road, and waited for them to meet me there

It unfortunately added another hour onto my trip, as I waited a while, and then there was no on ramp at Moreland Road, and there were further road works on the Calder

No matter, we got there in the end 

The blokes had moved the scaffolding, around from the bay window to the back of the house, and were fixing up a little bit of render ledging that was missing

They had also finished off plaster walls in the dining room - where  the plaster had blown, and then also around the fireplace, and under the bay window where there had been concrete (Gary had said to get rid of all of the concrete)

The new plaster is so lovely and smooth - really silk like - even better than upstairs in the music room.  In some ways it will be a pity to cover it up with wall paper, but, perhaps in 50 or 100 years, the new owners might be sick of our wallpaper choice, and go back to the bare walls.

I got into the wallpaper stripping, and Michaela helped a little bit also (given that she was missing school, I didn't want her slacking off)

Thursday, and the solar guy from Castlemaine came (Carolyn had recommended him).  Basically he advised to go all electric ie get rid of the gas hot water, get an electric stove with an induction hob etc.  He also didn't think it a good idea to use solar for heating - as you need the heating most in the early morning, or the evening when there is no sun - therefore you wouldn't get the benefit of the solar, and it would be very expensive with town electricity charges.

He advised 4 x split systems - ie kitchen, dining room, music room, and our bedroom, and a panel heater in the bathrooms

Hmm, a lot to think about, as we were veering towards the electric radiators which could be controlled via wi fi 

And David and Nick continued on the house - Nick out the front fixing the cracks 

Some of the outside render is a bit pale....I spoke to Stuart about it, and he said he could put a lime wash on it to colour it, but then it would weather differently from the rest of the house. His recommendation is to leave it and let it weather naturally.  So that's what we'll do

 

While David started on the wall in the music room upstairs

I let Michaela off for most of the day - and she read in the hammock (had borrowed Harry Potter books from the library)

Most of the "plaster" is actually mortar, - there is only a thin layer of plaster on top

Looking through a dining room window at David mixing up a batch of mortar

I had taken the wallpaper off the wall above the big bay window

However there was quite a large crack there - and the plaster had blown. I was also interested to see that there had been some remedial repairs done decades ago - ie under the hessian type wallpaper, but over the green floral wallpaper

Anyway, that whole panel had to come out 9was a bit of a waste to take off the wallpaper - oh well).  And David applied the mortar 

 He had to take out the grate

 Nice contrast between the old and new plaster in the dining room

Towards the end of the day, Michaela and I shovelled and chucked this plaster out the upstairs window, and then swept it clean - once again back breaking work.  Shovelling plaster is now my least favourite job, even worse than sanding 

Chucking plaster out the window

Finally finished - took ages again

Terry also dropped by later in the afternoon to talk about flyscreens - he said that he can make them for us - I insisted that we would of course pay for his time, and the materials.  But then he made a suggestion about expanding flyscreens for sash windows, and I found some online at Bunnings, unfortunately none at Bendigo Bunnings, so I asked Madeleine to buy me two from Oakleigh Bunnings (which she did)

Friday, and the boys continued with the rendering - David upstairs again first putting the mortar on the wall

And then back down in the dining room - putting a skim coat of plaster over the mortar 

And also plastering under the windows

Chris and Lesley arrived in the afternoon.  Chris brought a servant bell and crank to show me - as he is hoping to be able to make some of these for us, and reconnect to our system (hope so, given that the original pieces were all pinched years ago - before us)

He also brought a couple of stencil books - lots of lovely ideas there....

Stuart also raised his concern about rising damp - ie water marks on the wallpaper above the skirting, so I emailed Gary to ask about the salt vacuum gizmo that he'd told me about last time.  He called back, and said I could borrow his - very nice of him, and I arranged to go and pick it up tomorrow 

Meanwhile I stripped more wallpaper (certainly taking longer than I thought)

And Lesley helped also

And we got Michaela to do a bit of sweeping

Given that Stuart and co have pretty much finished up their budgeted 120 hours - I thought I would fix up the cornices myself - and thought I would need a curved type mould.

Stuart also left me some cornice cement

Chris elected to make the stencil for the cornices - made quite a few versions, but was ultimately happy with the final one

Had dinner out in the gazebo, after a few gin and tonics first 

Saturday, and drove into Bendigo to pick up the salt vacuum that Gary was lending me (takes the salt out the walls left behind by rising damp etc).  Got Chris to help me put it together - as there were multiple pipes etc 

Chris also took off some of the door handles and servant bell cups 

We found chains behind the cups - which was quite exciting - as presumably they're intact, and can be rejoined to a working crank

And here is the loot (along with his servant bell and crank

Chris and Lesley left on Saturday afternoon.  The weather was a bit changeable, quite windy and pouring with rain a few times.  We were supposed to be meeting up with Mailes and David for the 1st Saturday of the month at the Village Green, but I wondered if it was actually going to be on because of the weather.  So I rang Maile, and we decided to meet up at 6.30 -so that I could feed Michaela first

As it was Michaela didn't feel like coming,she said she had a stomach ache, and that she was fine to stay by herself.  When I asked her later she said that she didn't really feel like coming  - which was fine - she probably would have been bored.

So, off I went - and it was lovely to see the old crowd, most of whom I hadn't seen in over 4 months. And the weather had cleared up, in fact it was quite nice and clear - but still a bit windy

Terry brought some of the cherries from his tree (which I thought was the same as mine ie a red cherry with yellow flesh).  They were delicious!! dark, juicy,sweet, I guess mine would have been like that if I'd left them on the tree for longer and the birds hadn't got them.  In fact the net that I'd put on last time and pegged in place was hopeless....I thought the birds wouldn't be able to get in underneath, but they did, and there wasn't a single cherry left on the tree - how disappointing for me and Michaela!  So next time, i need to have the net to the ground...- oh well, live and learn

When Arleen arrived she gave me a plastic crate of shiraz grape vine leaves to pickle for dolmades 

Michaela and I started on them on Sunday morning 

First we had to snip off the stems

Then we needed to blanch them quickly

Next step was to assemble them in stacks of 10

And then roll them into cigars

And then these cigars had to be cooked in salted water, and put in sterilised jars with the saline solution on top with a splash of vinegar

I also thought it might be nice to make some actual dolmades.  So I made up a mixture of rice, onion, parsley, lemon and salt and pepper, and we made about 22 dolmades.  Then had to cook them in a tomato juice bath.  Had some for lunch, and took the  rest  home.

Whilst making the dolmades, there was a knock at the door, and it was a bloke called Ken who was writing a forward to a book about an artist called Kenneth Jack.

Kenneth Jack painted many rural scenes, and had done a painting looking down Verdon Street showing our house and the Town hall etc.

The Ken at our door was a great collector of his paintings and had the one of our house.  Unfortunately I couldn't find a picture of it on the internet - so put this one in instead 

And we also had another visitor - Greg - who told us that there was an art exhibition in Newstead - an artist called John S Turner

Scraper boards, watercolours, lithographs, photographs

John S Turner … the botanist and artist – is a retrospective exhibition showing the scraperboards, watercolours, lithographs and photographs created by John S Turner, botanist, educator and artist (1908-1991). John Turner was the Professor of Botany at Melbourne University from 1938 to the early 1970s. He was a passionate conservationist and a remarkable artist.

On retiring from Melbourne University, John moved to Castlemaine, continuing with scraperboard – his long-practised art – and became involved with Buda Historic Home and Garden, and the Castlemaine Art Gallery and Museum, among other things. His scraperboard landscapes have illustrated a range of publications. On show only for the second time. The exhibition opens on Saturday 5 December, closing on December 27.

 

Michaela and I went there after our dolmades lunch on the way back to Melbourne

Was a great exhibition, and it turns out that Professor Turner knew Justin's grandpa Brian at the University - as it was a much smaller place then.  I had asked his daughter if by chance she would have known Professor Lewis, and she did as well as Granny Hilary - small world 

So, got back to Melbourne, and Helen picked up Michaela, I stayed the night, and then turned around and drove back up to Inglewood in the ute ( as we need the portable gazebo for Christmas)  on Monday afternoon - as Stuart and David were coming back to finish up completely on Tuesday, and I wanted to be there.  I had also organised to make gin with Terry on Thursday.

So, more wallpaper stripping (yep it's taking ages), and I also tried out the new sliding flyscreen that Madeleine had bought for me at Bunnings

Worked well for the 2 smaller bay windows, and also the little yellow room upstairs, but they don't extend wide enough for the other windows.  But this is a great start, and Terry said that ebay also sells them   

Did some more salt vacuuming - in the dining room - and also got rid of some more concrete, and blown plaster

Had to take off the skirting also - as someone had put a bit of wood skirting over the mortar skirting, and then concreted over it  

Tuesday, and David and Stuart came back, did the plaster in the music room, put the outside vent in the bay window and tidied up a bit

David has now retired, but said he'd come and work a day here or there after his long deserved holiday with his wife at the start of next year.

I may well take him up on that - as the semi retired plasterer that Stuart had recommended came and had a look at the job, and declined it - said he wouldn't be able to walk the next day if he was up and down scaffolding/ladders all the time.  He then recommended someone, but that bloke wasn't interested either.   In fact, I'm making a lot of calls, and not getting many callbacks

That said, Matt from Bendigo Scaffolding came this morning to work out how to scaffold the stairway.  I liked his approach - as in yep, it can be done, and safely, so that's a relief

A Bridgewater plumber also came to have a look at the bathroom, and the potential powder room under the stairs.  He stayed a while working through various scenarios, and said he'd get back to me with a really rough costing and other ideas

Wednesday, and a call from Steve - as he had 5000 78s (records) that he was reluctantly going to take to the tip.  He wondered if Mark G would be interested in them - so I called and left a message.  I also called Maile and Rachel as I thought they might be interested also.  Rachel reluctantly said no, and Maile reluctantly said yes, as she was busy, and didn't really want to come and have a look. However the real threat of them going to the tip  hastened her decision, and she and David came and took a few boxes.  I even took a few, as I checked our record player, and it surprisingly plays 78s

Peter B also came by - to take a look at the wall in the back hall that needs rebuilding.  He also took his cyclone fencing, and said he'd be back with some hydrochloric acid to wash off the lime where James (and I) had repointed the bricks.

After all this back in the cellar salt vacuuming - took a while, as I had to remove all the bottles

Rachel and a couple of friends dropped by in late afternoon. I  downed tools and showed them around, and then suggested a G&T in the rotunda.  Only had one, and then it was back to the dining room and more wallpaper stripping til around 7pm

Thursday, and off to Terry's at 9am to make gin.

Well, he already had the alcohol in the still, and we added the aromatics - juniper berries, star of anise, lemon rind and coriander (I didn't really do anything, just watched, and took photos)

We had a few taste tests - was very strong ie 80% 

Ultimately we wanted it to be around 40% - which we tested with the funny little alcohol thermometer

Anyway, it was a very slow business - when we were outside it was just dripping out  (but when we sheltered it from the wind, the temperature increased, and it flowed out a little quicker)

We went inside to add the water - to make it approximately 40%.  Given that it was taking so long, we did 2 bottles for me, and then I went home around 1.30 or so

And back to the wallpaper 

Found a lovely pattern as a dado with the green floral wallpaper

  

This wallpaper was on the top of the outer hessian wallpaper.  I had originally thought that it was painted or stencilled on, but it's actually another wallpaper stuck on top

Also got up close and personal with the spider webs in the cornices - good thing Karen wasn't with me 

Admired the side window pelmet from up close.  All of these pelmets actually have different patterns. I'd asked Gary how best to clean them, and he just said with a damp cloth, and to dust the tassels as best we could.  Not to use any cleaning products on them.  Also suggested getting some new black material to put behind the tassels - as the old material was looking rather tattered and moth eaten  

And saw that there must have been either picture rails or tapestry/fabric rails all around the room orignally - as there were those bits of wood plugging up holes just below the cornice

I thought that my wallpaper stripping of the green wallpaper in conjunction with years of dust/dirt and water - made a marble like effect on the wall - not too bad really

 And filled up the bin with wallpaper, rubble, and other rubbish.  Obviously kept lots of good wallpaper to display in frames later

Thought I'd also take a few photos around the dining room

Mark from RA wanted me to keep the wallpaper around the doorway - for the time being 

Bit of mould on this wall next to the window.  Apparently white vinegar is the best way to get rid of it 

Was moving the servant bell thingy in the dining room, and saw that on the other side of the wire there was a chain like in our bedroom

 Friday, and had to clean up....

Took ages - tried to sweep the dining room as best I could, and then mopped, and mopped again.  This photo shows the swept floor

And here it is after having mopped it twice

I was never that happy with the tung oil job that was done a few years ago.  Thought it needed more layers - as the wood still seemed quite thirsty and dry looking.  Looks like we might need to do it again.  We'll also need to work out how to plug up the gaps between the skirting and the floor boards as grit /dust comes out from there

And then there was also the cellar to put back together.  This took a while also

And I finally finished around 2, and went home via Bendigo to drop back the salt vacuum to Gary. Quite a tiring few days.

  

  

Wallpaper stripping

Shovelling plaster

So smooth

Gin and tonics with Terry

Sliding fly screens

Chris and Lesley - locks, door handles,  servant bells

1sr Saturday village green

Ken and Kenneth jack artist

Dolmadoes and leaves

Newstead John S turner, knew Brian Lewis

Terry’s cherries, my bird eaten ones (too mean with the net)

All the wallpapers - beautiful ones underneath - frieze on top painted onto the Hessian type

David offered to work for me after his trip, also finished off today(Tuesday) did the upstairs 2all

Salt vacuuming the dining room and cellar hose leaking, stopped sucking

Peter B dropped in to pick up cyclone fencing, and look at the wall to price up (said he’d come back with acid for the wall)

Steve and Denise wanted to get rid of 5000 78 records -Mark Gilmore, Maile etc

More wallpaper stripping

Rachel and her 2 friends dropped by Sue and Paul g&t in the rotunda, then more wallpaper stripping

Finished dining room yay