Emergency painting, a canoe and a workbench Sunday 2 - Wednesday 5 June 2024

Whew, things are getting tight (time wise), as we have now been given a date that Restoration Australia want to come back  - and that's Saturday 15 June....  

And, we were offered a great work bench and a canoe from Nick in the boat shed (he has to move out, so is downsizing), but sort of needed to come and pick them up this weekend

I had the CWA state conference on Friday and Saturday, so Fraser, Justin and I went to the boat shed on Sunday to collect the goodies.

The work bench was very heavy - 300kg?? so Nick put it on the ute with a fork lift ( we assumed we'd need a few strong guys to help us get it off the other end - we'll work out that challenge when we need to)

And then Fraser and I drove straight to Inglewood - wasn't worth going back home with it 

Arrived late afternoon - and took off the canoe, but left the work bench in situ - too hard...

Fraser got to work early the next morning - cutting in - as the back half of the upstairs hall hasn't been painted - and there's still a bluish tinge to Vic's plaster

Time out on the veranda

Meanwhile I took down these curtains

and replaced them with these - which Michelle had given us some time ago - note the colour of the walls isn't really that bright in the below photos - Juston's camera just heightened it - because the room was a bit dark.   

We also have another set of these curtains - I'd thought we could put them in the upstairs hallway - as the windows are the same height - however the existing curtain rod is placed higher in the hallway, so no go.  Maybe we'll use them in the red room ie replace the cream curtains

I was also cleaning out the green room downstairs - maybe we'll now call it the "parlour". I did take a before photo - but because it was a bit dark also - my mobile phone camera needed a few seconds to process the photo, I'd closed it too soon, so the photos wasn't kept - oh well - no before shots

Found these older before photos though - which gives some idea of the clutter (I'd put the fans and the heaters down in the cellar). and somehow we had 4 x vacuum cleaners!

Anyway, decided we needed to get rid of this chair - unfortunately no one wanted it - so ended up taking it back to Melbourne  

And I cleared out the boxes of paints & left over wallpaper from when Ron did the wallpapering and some painting ie the cornices, bedroom/dining room doors etc.  Put all these in the little shed.  

New handyman Steve also came around to take the flyscreens off the 2 downstairs front windows and fix/paint them - as we wanted them to look nice and neat.  Decided on Indian Red.  And of course - now he'll also need to paint the windows  

And then he came back, as he'd seen the big work bench on the ute, and asked if we wanted a hand taking it off.  Who was I to say no, so I quickly asked Jerry who was working up the street, and he came over too

Fraser drove the ute into the back yard

And in effect Steve and Jerry got it off by themselves.  I thought that the 4 of us would do it together - looks like Fraser and I were surplus to needs.  I also tried to make sure that we had placed it on relatively dry/compact soil, as we'll have to roll/push it into the shed once its built. And by the way, we put the canoe in Steve's shed to keep it nice and dry (it needs to be painted)

 

And then Fraser and I made it watertight - as it will be outside for a while

 

And then back to painting for Fraser

We'd also asked Terry for dinner on Monday night - we had a rather good one.  Delicious eye fillet that Fraser cooked on the BBQ with some caramelised onions, and I made some mashed potatoes - very pleasant evening.  Terry said it was the best steak he'd ever had!

Terry then came back on Tuesday morning - in his work clothes to help us out.  And yes, I had a list. 

Firstly to take the painted door knobs/push plates etc off our bedroom/ensuite doors - so that they could be stripped, and then put back 

Then cutting and placing a cement sheet in the kitchen hearth to stop crap falling down, so that we can unwrap the aga (as an interim measure)

This wasn't 100% successful, as the sheet was a bit thick, and sagged in the middle - so you could see it.  There were some further ledges in the middle that it could have rested on - but it was too thick, so couldn't

 

We had also decided that the new bird painting was going to go above the hearth, and that we'd display the old copper saucepans on a shelf above the kitchen bench

Terry had a lovely piece of blackwood (cut out from one of his son's kitchen sink benchtops) - that we used for the shelf.  He also suggested what I thought was an ingenious way to attach it to the wall.  I had thought brackets, but he suggested 3 x iron bars inset in the wood and then inset in the wall - very strong and secure.  It worked a treat!

His next job was to attach a 2 way screw to the curtain rod finial so that we could put up the rod that I'd stained the other week - he did this back at his place, and brought the finial back

Whew - did a lot 

After this, I got Fraser to help me put up the curtains in my bedroom with the new rod etc - and I must say that the curtains slide a lot better on this rod - making it easier to open and close them - so another small win

 

Meanwhile I was still clearing out the parlour - and after moving a carpet found another little rats/mice hidey hole with chewed olive pips - yuck - like under the fridge when it was in the hallway

And Terry's (and Fraser's) last job for the day was to move the old organ out of the parlour - he had his trolley so that made it easier

Ideally it would go upstairs in the music room - but it was too heavy for us, so it was placed in the middle hall area - bit big and clunky there though - I don't really want it anymore - so to my mind it's better access to the front door and out of the house - if Justin agrees (he doesn't) - so this will be an interim position until we can gather some strong people to get it upstairs

 

Meanwhile, outside, the site has been prepared for the garage (Shane organised some crushed rock to be delivered)

But there are still piles of extra dirt that need to be got rid of 

 

As part of my parlor makeover - I replaced the glass fittings in the ceiling - and I could do this because we now had room to move the bed, so we could get the large ladder in there

Once up here I realised that the wallpaper was a bit different behind the pelmet - ie more of the floral/leaf design - rather than the gold. So whether they had run out of the gold paper? who knows? 

I took off another doorknob to be stripped - this one from our bedroom door into the hall

By this stage Fraser had finished his painting upstairs (actually I subsequently realised that he hadn't - ie he had forgotten the little alcove area in front of the upstairs bathroom /now named toy room (was little yellow room).  But that didn't really matter - the plaster there was white, we can do it later.

So, rather than painting - Fraser was stripping paint - off the door knob etc.  

Next job was to flatten out the bottom of one of those copper pots - Terry suggested getting a piece of wood, putting it on the bottom of the saucepan, and then banging on that. Fraser was only too happy to oblige

Then we could display them - without one of them rocking because of a rounded bottom

And finally after some days, the parlor /green room was done - the floor just needed mopping

I must say, that it was tricky with the bed though.  Alex had given us the 2 x king singles years ago, and they had been up in the music room - as 2 x separate beds.  We previously had a queen bed in here, but gave it to Rory - the rationale being that the 2 x singles were more versatile ie they could be used as singles, or put together as a king bed

Well, they're actually bigger when combined than a king - so a king fitted sheet is too small. I had to put 2 x fitted queen sheets on them, the king flat sheet was ok as the upper sheet, but the king doona was a little small...Anyway, I think it looks good, and I padded it out with some coincidentally matched green cushions that we'd used on the jacobean suite that we'd also got rid of 

So, this room is now clear - hoorah - the wardrobe is pretty full though - ie doonas/spare pillows etc.  Will do a linen audit when I have time

Anyway, Fraser, Terry and I achieved a lot over these few days.  I had considered staying til Justin came for the long weekend, and Fraser could drive the ute home,but I decided to leave, and we went home on Wednesday afternoon

   

 

Olive harvest Thursday 23- Sunday 26 May 2024

Well, I'm very behind....it's now 10/6 - and just back from another session at Nimmitabel - cleaning and primping...(but more about that later) ( and its now 17/6, so even more has happened)

I came up on the Thursday afternoon, as a few people were coming to assist on Friday morning

First Dave - our trusty plasterer came and plastered up around hearth in the kitchen.  I had prepared the kitchen putting down dust sheets/towels etc - luckily not too much mess.  He was pretty much finished by the time the next lot arrived

And the next lot were Maria from Qasair (again) and Jerry - who were liaising re the chimney cavity, and trying to work out some sort of elegant solution to get an extractor fan in there

Jerry didn't like the idea of grinding down the arch bricks - so suggested cutting the back cast iron plate, removing some bricks to make the cavity wider, inserting the extractor fan and some sort of base plate for it to rest on/ stop crap coming down the chimney - and then putting back the cast iron back section which had been cut off.  But you can't weld cast iron - so it would need to be glued....(or something)

He was also going to build a temporary protective cover/shield for the aga - to be in place whilst doing all this work - so as not to damage it....

Anyway, they all thought it was pretty possible - until they didn't.  Jerry thought about it some more, and didn't like that idea, and neither did Justin - so back to square one.... and the aga remains draped by the old doona cover, sadly unused

Too long ago to remember what I did for the rest of the day...

Actually I do remember - I cleaned/dusted the red room (for Susan and Mark) etc , and organised a slow cooker osso buco for dinner with sweet potato mash 

Justin arrived in the later afternoon and we had olives and a drink in the dining room

Susan and Mark arrived around 6.30, and we had dinner together  - lovely

Up and at 'em by 9am on Saturday morning - as we were here for our annual olive harvest (for olive oil)   Susan and I out there first, soon followed by Mark and Justin.

Terry, Sarah and Jane also came to assist

Sarah said it was very foggy on the trip up - sunny and blue in Inglewood though

 I should also add that the shed components had also been delivered during the week

Stopped for a pleasant lunch - need to keep the workers fed and watered

Mark from RA had also dropped in to have a look at progress, told us we need to declutter /wash windows etc.  Despite saying that they are only interested in 3 rooms ie dining room, kitchen and stairway/mural, they also want to peek in/film the other areas, And at the moment the downstairs green room, and the little upstairs yellow room are full of stuff, and there's still stuff in the upstairs hallway....So more work than we thought

Anyway, more olive picking after lunch

And finally we were done, pretty much picked every accessible olive.  I'd been aiming for 150kg, and we'd got 156kg - hooray.  Susan and I were really getting into it

Had an impromptu concert before dinner

With an appreciative crowd

While dinner was slow cooking itself - in mood lighting - this time  beef stroganoff, with fettucine, and a green salad.  

Was all very pleasant

Justin and I also tried Terry's breathalsyer - I had been on bubbles and water all night - so was strangely  close to 0 - .0007 first blow, and 0 the 2nd blow. so everyone though it was faulty.  That said Justin reading seemed accurate...

 

And there was another concert after dinner

Sunday morning there was a frost

And the others left after breakfast

Justin and I pottered around - and I guess he left after lunch

I was hanging around a bit as Arlene was going to drop her olives off to me to take to Maccas - but she wasn't ready - so I just took ours

 
So, a good weekend was had by all, and we were very efficient with the olive picking - doing it all on the Saturday

A small postscript was that the new season of Restoration Australia has come out - and we are in the opening credits.  Firstly Justin and I greeting Anthony at the front door, then a shot of the very cracked bay window, and then me in the dining room - taking off some loose plaster, and giving myself a fright at how much came off

Below is a screen grab that I took from I-View