More oil, and you can't make omelettes without breaking some eggs Thursday 1 July - Saturday 10 July 2021

A long stay this time, over a week, primarily because Alex and April were staying for a few days over the Uni holidays, and also because I had organised some tradesmen and wanted to get some chores done.

It was also a very cold stay, with temperatures apparently as low as -4 degrees over night.  Good thing we have some electric panel heaters....

Anyway, left Melbourne later than I had wanted on the Thursday afternoon - as I went to Bunnings and bought 15L of Dulux undercoat prep paint, and then onto the wallpaper shop to pick up our fabulous wallpapers.

Came back, got my stuff together and left, but by this stage it was after 5pm - - which meant half the trip in darkness - luckily no kangaroos.

Friday - and it was busy.  I had been told that our replacement dishwasher was being delivered around 8am -so I had to be up and dressed for that.  But it was closer to 10am when they arrived.  Connected it up to water, took the old one away, all good.

Bit squeezy getting it in there - I recall George and I had manoeuvred the old one in there by ourselves some years ago

While waiting I made an egg and bacon pie for lunch to have with Cam and Kaylene - who arrived around 11 or so.

Showed them around and told Cam what we initially required of him as a builder - a tie rod for the garden room, propping up the wall under the stairs, propping up one veranda post, and restumping the kitchen floor which is a bit shaky (although when I tried to demonstrate this, it was rock solid)

Had the egg and bacon pie for lunch with some salad.  Sat in the kitchen, as the dining room is a no go zone, and it was too miserable for the rotunda

As they were leaving the next lot arrived - Pip and Rim from the architect firm to measure up the bathroom for an en suite, and under the stairs for a powder room.  They reckon that it might be a few mm too short for regulations under the stairs, but said we could probably take the ceiling lining off - and that should be fine  

Showed them around too - because they were interested

Then I thought I'd pick some olives - I was out the front - picking from the self sown tree there, pretty much got a full bucket.

Maile and David drove past - and suggested that I come and pick at their place also - so I did

Started on the jumbo kalamata, but then swapped across to the regular kalamata as we thought we'd keep the jumbo kalamata for table olives.

Anyway, it started to drizzle, and then rain, was a bit miserable.  I came in once it got pretty heavy.  My hands were freezing, had to keep them in front of the fire for quite a while to warm up.

Left around dusk - with a good basket of olives, and no kangaroos.

Had a lovely hot bath to warm up when I got home.

Saturday, and made yet another tart - this time fetta and pumpkin, as April is a vegetarian. Then started olive picking at 9.15 - through to 5.15 - no lunch.  Shane the landscaper came and went - as he saw I was so busy, and said he could come back another time.

By the way, I was picking olives in such inclement weather because the olive oil processor said he could process them on Sunday (as he was going away after that for a break), and the olives need to be less than 48 hours "old" (picked) 

It was also drizzling at times, so was somewhat miserable

Alex and April arrived around 2pm, and came and helped me after they had lunch.

I was just a machine - doing nothing but picking (thought I might dream on picking when I went to bed )- stopped when it started raining too much - and we were wondering if the 1st Saturday in Kingower would still be on because of the inclement weather

I must say that the smaller olives are much more fiddly to pick - although the olive oil bloke says they have much more oil

Once again I was pretty cold, so had another lovely warming bath, while Alex and April had dips etc in the kitchen 

It did stop raining, so Alex and I then went to the Village Green in Kingower around 6.30.  (April elected to stay behind)

It actually turned out to be a beautiful night, clear and still - and we stayed some hours -and didn't even come back smelling smoky (because there was no wind)

Had some leftover bacon and egg tart and salad for a rather late dinner when we got back - close to 10pm

Sunday - and we still needed more olives - as we need at least 80kg.  I had chatted with Maile last night, and organised to go over there around 10 this morning for more picking - this time with Alex and April.  Had to use a ladder at times.

We picked about 3 baskets worth

Note, Alex is determined to take some candid photos of me - but I generally notice, so strike a pose with a big cheesy grin.  However, because I was so busy picking, he did sneak in a few unnoticed shots 

Maile's citrus were also having a good year - and she gave us a big bag of mandarins and a blood orange each

 

 And then back to the house for a late lunch.  I asked Alex and April to get an antipasto type lunch (as we had plenty of ingredients in the fridge) together, while I picked some more olives from the last tree with medium sized olives.

Maile and  David dropped in while I was doing this - as Alex had forgotten his gloves there, and they came and delivered them back to him.  So I asked them to stay for lunch. - which they did

Ate in the kitchen - was very pleasant

A bit more picking after they left, didn't bother with the teeny wild olives from the tree near the house - as these olives were so small that they basically fell through the holes in the baskets.  

My hands were wrinkled from the rain

Ended up picking 87kg (I'd brought the luggage scales).  We filled 8 baskets again - but not as full as when I'd done the 102kg

Anyway, job well done

Drove to the oil processor around 4pm - and dropped off the olives - I wonder how many litres I'll get this time (still don't know)

We had thought about going on into Bendigo afterwards for dinner - but didn't really feel like it - so just back to the house for dinner

Had an olive oil taste test with Alex and April (before dinner)- between my olive oil and a commercial olive oil.  They liked my oil, but also the commercial one. 

By the way, this is the label I designed

After dinner played a new board game - ticket to ride. You basically need to make routes between specified destinations  - was quite fun.  We also played exploding kittens

Monday - and a bit of a sleep in - after the rush of the olives, wanted a bit of an easier time

Chris arrived around lunch time with some of the refurbished locks which he reattached.  He has done such an amazing job with these.  Taking them apart completely, and then cleaning and repairing them.  These new locks make the doors and other locks look shabby

 

They looked great

He was also suggesting that we we paint the doors and windows a sand colour, and then  paint an oak wood grain onto it - like some of the other doors.

He sanded back a small part of the dining room door, and you could see that it had been lighter originally

Tuesday - and it was a big day - with Chris's classic comment being you can't make omelettes without breaking any eggs.

Firstly he chiseled up the plaster near the chimney to find the end of the servant bell wire.  I had been a bit ambivalent as to whether we should just sacrifice this servant bell - as I was keen to have the plasterwork finalised, so that the painting and wallpapering could be done, and we could sue this room.

That's really the main reason why Chris came this time, as I didn't want to speculatively chisel up the wall looking for the end of the servant bell wire.  Thought he was much more experienced to do so.  

And he found it  - yay. However this work put him in close proximity with mantle piece.

He noticed that the shelf was a bit crooked - so suggested that we take it off.  But first had to loosen it from the plaster - and also make sure that it didn't break when we took it down

Came off ok and didn't break, so we placed it carefully on the floor

Then he said that the corbels might be a bit loose without the top holding them in place - so took them off

Then had to take the sides off, and then basically the whole thing came down - like a house of cards - but with no casualities

Even lifted up the hearth stone to see if there were any lost treasures hidden below - there weren't

Lets hope that we can get it back together properly!

But of course - with Chris being a perfectionist - we can't just put it back together now - we need to repaint it - as it is painted slate, and some of the gloss has worn away

Chris suggested a spray auto paint, and will take a small piece of the mantle home to experiment on

I thought it was interesting that the original stone mason had put his signature on the back of the pieces - DK

I must admit I was a little concerned to see what Justin's reaction to this de-evolution  might be - but he was actually pleased, as he said the crooked shelf had been annoying him.  But he did ask if we'd already put if back together again...

 

After this - he took off a couple more old locks to refurbish

And we made a list of next steps and also made a list of tools/stuff  he would need to bring to Inglewood next time .....

While he was here - he also planed down the back door a bit, as it was sticking terribly, and also the shed door.  Was a very useful and helpful visit.  And, given that we know have a properly functioning and in line lock, we can now leave the door unlocked while in the garden, and just turn the knob to come back in - brilliant!

After he left, I was inspired to do some more de-evolution - so thought  I'd get rid of  the electricity pipework in the hallway - as it was rather ugly, and we had never done anything about it

(Alex and April were out sightseeing for the day)

 Also got rid of the defunct telephone wire

I also followed the conduit into the bathroom

Was very satisfying to get rid of it all - and thought that the plumbers mate was an extremely helpful tool

Alex and April returned with a curtain rod that Chris had told them about in Castlemaine

And I had yet another bath.  this time with a long gin and tonic (so I wouldn't get dehydrated).  Made the room nice and steamy 

 

Thought we might wander across to the pub for dinner tonight.  

Even though it was only a Tuesday night - I suggested to April that we take a small board game with us, and good thing I did, as we had to wait an hour for our food.  Steve did warn us this time though - saying that there were a few large tables in front of us 
 

I thought I'd revisit the past and ordered an Outback parma - and it was pretty good

   

Played more Ticket to ride when we got back to the house

Wednesday, and I got rid of the last of the wallpaper and did some more patching, Shane came around again - and we discussed what we want ie clear the site, new paths, fix up the watering systems etc.  I also did some trimming in the garden

Finished off trimming the olives - but had to buy a new pruning saw first ( not sure what happened to the original one) 

Also noticed the birds hovering around one of the almond branches - was surprised to see a very early  blossom

Alex and April went to Bendigo and saw the Mary Quant exhibition

 I had also suggested that we have a stump fire tonight (good way to get rid of it) - and roast potatoes in it.  Terry had dropped by in the morning, so we invited him to come for dinner

I started the fire around 4 or so. took a little while to get going, but once it did, it was brilliant

Went to the IGA and bought potatoes, sour cream, spring onions, ham, cabana, sun dried tomatoes, shredded cheese etc for the filling

Turned out really well - and we got a lot of heat from the fire

 

The fire burnt within and around the stump (looked a bit like a mini volcano), and also started burning through the large external roots

As I said, it was a cold night, and when April and I ventured off to the back corner of the garden to collect some gum tree branches for roasting marshmallows, our feet were crunching in the grass.  This time not because the grass was dessicated, but because frost was forming.

In fact, April kept a close eye on the temperature on her mobile phone

Later on we saw that it went down to -1.8 degrees, and there was apparently another night while I was here that the temperature went down to -4 degrees

I must say that I was a bit cold in bed on my first night here, so I grabbed another doona for the rest of the time, and was much warmer

I was also a little nervous at leaving the fire unattended while there were still visible flames, so I stayed up later than Alex and April, and also checked up on it during the night.

Was all good though - and still smoking in the morning.  In fact, it was still smoking slightly when I left on Saturday afternoon.  I asked Steve and Denise to keep an eye on it also    

Nice frost  also

Thursday, and Alex and April headed back to Melbourne.  I was originally going to go also, but John the painter from Melbourne was coming to scope out the job on Saturday, so I was staying til then

Had a haircut and colour at 1pm - and then didn't much else for the rest of the day - wanted to stay nice and clean,  as I was going out to dinner with Maile, David and some of their friends

They came and picked me up at 6.30, and we went to the Empire

I had sweet and sour prawns this time - once again very nice, and we didn't have to wait too long

One of their friends said how pleased they were that Justin and I had bought the house - which was very nice of him to say

Friday, and I did some further chores around the house and garden

Spread out the very well composted goat or chicken  manure from David

Thought we might be able to use this old basin as a future fire pit - or maybe use some of our old slates? 

Found about 6 small self seeded olives - so replanted them out the front - for future olive oil if they survive

 

Unearthed a frog while gardening

Plastered in the pelmet hook - did a pretty good job

And also asked Stuart to plaster over the hole near the fireplace, (other side of the servant bell), and to also replace the beaten up bits of skirting near the fireplace, as we had some new left over lengths.  Hopefully he can do this soon 

 

And I got rid of the electrical conduits in our room

 

I had planned to do do the undercoat painting also - but didn't get around to it.  I had wanted a whole day at least to do so, but I had another Bendigo painter/wallpaperer coming to have a look today, and didn't want to be in the middle of it 

He came and seemed pretty good - am just waiting on a quote and timings

Saturday, and I made yet another quiche (my third for this stay) - this time olive and parsley - as John the painter from Melbourne was coming with his wife, and I thought I'd give them some lunch.

Well, he was coming until he wasn't.....he called me this morning, something wrong with his car - undriveable.....

This is what the bunya stump looked like just before I left - more a crater now

So I just packed up and went back to Melbourne - was a little bit annoyed

He was also supposed to get back to me by the end of the week as to availability - and nothing!

The first painter did come back to me, but said he probably couldn't start til Spring (would prefer to start well before this)

So my hope are pinned on the Bendigo bloke who can do both.... I texted him the other day, and he reckons he could start in 2-3 weeks, but I'm still waiting on a price.

I was also idly thinking that if no one gets back to me soon re the painting - that I'll just give it a go myself.  I know that the multiple colours on the cornices will be rather tricky - but I would google how best to do it...

I've also realised that the wallpaper on the dining room ceiling has been painted, - which means that we can just fill and sand the cracks and then repaint - which will make it look a lot better

 

And we're back in lockdown - Melbourne's 5th.  It was supposed to be for 5 days - finishing up today at 11.59pm (20/7/21), but the premier extended it by another week

I was also supposed to go back to Inglewood yesterday as Restoration Australia had organised for some dirt x ray (for want of a more technical term) blokes to scientifically establish if there was a tunnel, but that has been postponed also

And Alex and I were supposed to go to Bunninyong to see Chris and Lesley - check out the fab new shed that he designed, and to also visit a friend of  theirs - who has an extraordinary house - which I could probably take inspiration from

But, we're in limbo....