Well, another post, another lockdown, not as long as the big one last year (4 months?) but long enough. It started early August, and has officially finished today ie 22 October - however we still can't go to Regional Victoria.
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The Premier announced on Sunday24 October that Victoria will become whole again on Friday 29th October - so we will be able to go to Inglewood, and masks won't need to be worn outside anymore (unless in a crowded situation)
And Melbourne has now officially become the most locked down city in the world....267 days based on the below dates (but we got out of this lockdown 6 a bit early)
- Lockdown 1: March 30 to May 12, 2020 — 43 days
- Lockdown 2: July 8 to October 27, 2020 —111 days
- Lockdown 3: February 12 - 17, 2021 —5 days
- Lockdown 4: May 27 - June 10, 2021 — 14 days
- Lockdown 5: July 15 - 27, 2021 — 12 days
- Lockdown 6: August 5 - October 26, 2021 — 82 days
That said - things have been still been happening there
I was able to organise a bee man to come and get rid of the 2 hives - in order for the electricians to put the capping on the wires for the split system
So, he did that, and the electricians were able to put the capping on and pull through the wires etc. Josh was apparently elbow deep in honey at times as the upper wall cavities between the bricks were full of it. A couple of his blokes got stung too
And, while the boom was there, Terry kindly filled in the cracks where the bees had been
Unfortunately, the bee man was not able to get to all of the bees, as there was a 3rd hive on the back wall near the bend in the down pipe. He said the down pipe would need to be removed in order to get to the bees....
And the electricians informed me that the back wall capping was blue - which obviously stood out from the existing dark grey down pipes. And they couldn't paint it grey because of the bees - all very circular (we still need to paint the white plastic downpipe)
Around the Kingower side it was red - which is ok
Anyway, it was apparently quite miserable weather - rainy, cold etc - so they went in and turned on the heaters - said they worked very well.
So, that was the heating/cooling...
I'm assuming that we won't need to use the heater part of the split system this year (but you never know) - however I'm sure that Justin (and our guests) will enjoy the air conditioning component this Summer.
While Terry was there, he also told me how overgrown everything was (disappearing paths) - and he took some pictures for me, as I was missing the garden. Spring is always so lovely there, with the fruit blossoms and other flowers
Other activities were progressing inside...
Ron, our wallpaperer, who was actually also Ron our painter (what a bonus) fixed up the rest of my cornices and painted them in very similar colours to what they had been in the dining room, and vastly superior colours in our bedroom
He sent the below photos initially to show the proposed new colours against the new wallpaper
The dining room cornice colours had been quite similar before (which we had wanted to keep in the same vein)
Anyway, we think he did a superb job, and he painted the woodwork and trims, and also sponged off the wallpaper on the ceiling in the dining room and painted it. We thought that was an impossible job, ie Stuart the plasterer thought the wallpaper was probably holding up the ceiling, but Ron said it was very sound, just a few cracks. We might actually do that in the downstairs green room also - so that we can fix the cracks
Anyway, the dining room is going to look fantastic! I just need to negotiate with Justin to maybe get rid of some of the furniture...
And given that I was not that happy with the tung oil finish inside from a few years ago, got him to do a light sand and polish in the dining room and our room with a different matte finish
He suggested that we replace a few boards in the dining room
Here it is with the oil wet and shiny
And here it is dry - with a matte finish - looking lovely
I was so pleased with his work - that I also asked him to fix up the facsia boards at the front of the house
He also asked us if he could put this up on his facebook page
And, speaking of publicity.....we were informed by a few friends a couple of weeks ago, that our house was in the opening credits of the current season of Restoration Australia....a lot of people are wondering when it will be shown. We've had to tell them not for a year or so - as there is plenty more work that needs to be done first....
Below are the opening credits - starting with a lovely house in NSW which has some similar internal features as ours
And we also received a mysterious postcard (an old photo of the house, before we had redone the roof)
It made us smile
