I can see Winter's backside..ha!

Uff! An update is long overdue. I've been buried in rain and mud misery lol - we've had so much rain but to be honest I'm quite pleased. Last year at this time we'd had no rain and having bought some small rain tanks for the vegetable garden all I want them to do is fill up!

I have been determined to get ahead of the hot weather when it comes this time. Last year I sat on my bum not recognising how much it's necessary to keep on top of how things grow. Given the amount of rain I was aware of the mud...wherever anyone goes it's just mud! All the neighbours are the same but at least it prompted me never to face the awful task of weeding the pathways if possible. So, porous weedmat has been laid and I've used crushed rock to cover that - I tried a small test area before Winter and the weeds are easy to identify and remove and it's so much easier to walk on.

Ordered 3 tonnes and had it delivered; seemed like a huge amount but when it was tipped I was a bit in doubt. Pretty much I'll be able to cover all four pathways plus a bit more. Haven't finished it all quite yet mostly due to me wanting to see how it looks planted - this way I don't lose interest.

This is how it was..now I look at it and it's daunting..

Finally got into my stride. Every day bit by bit is the way and as I worked I could also determine what plants to put where.

 Got a bit side-tracked on the topic of companion planting whereby plants that attract bees or plants that deter insect pests and put throughout the vegetables. Really keen on this idea as it makes the area look less 'pragmatic'. along the fence I've put Rosemary and Lavender. The idea of bees taking pollen from non-sprayed plants is great. so many countries are losing their bee populations - unbelievable really.

Spring is not so far away

It's been quite a while since I sat down and worked on this diary of mine. It's been my first Winter here even though I moved in at the start of last year's Winter. So I suppose I mean it's been my first true time of watching the endless sheets of rain. We've had a mild time with far higher rainfall and my pick is that we're headed for another long Summer. With this in mind I'm going to prepare as much as I can before the heat kicks in. The vegetable garden as ever needs the4 bulk of attention and I started clearing the weeds about a week ago. This morning I had a pile of drainage stones delivered - 2 tonnes - although the pile seems minor to be honest. We're having a few days of spring-like weather although technically spring is still a few weeks away. Seeing butterflies and bees however suggests that Nature has her own timing.

I'll be posting pictured from today and will start updating my progress...

New Washroom

Almost finished, just got diverted by the cylinder problems

 OoooK, so nice stuff (I'd forgotten): paint over wallpaper and the paint used has a granular look, like sugar crystals.

Do I remove the wallpaper? Nooo..not sure how good the walls are underneath but I'd guess they are not good. Sand the walls down? Nooo...helluva job and I'm used now the the knowledge that making this house perfect is a road to nowhere. Looking at the size of the floor (2 metres each way, so 4 sq. metres) and the height with is 2.0 metres, I might end up with a cold box, so I've got some wallpaper I bought in a sale from Laura Ashley and haven't been able to use yet, so will put that one one wall.

Terrible walls. Previous owners have painted over wallpaper and with a textured paint that gave an effect of rough concrete. Ideally I could sand the entire surface but not keen.



Have to make sure the cabinets I've got will be secure. Learned a lot when I re-vamped the laundry (yet to post pictures) so doing the same here by screwing blocks on the wall which I can then screw the cabinets to - also makes them easier to remove if necessary. the other problem is that when the door was made, it was too deep and the frame projected too far. I needed to have the doors opening so had to bring the cabinets away from the wall to cope with the door frame.

  Uff..it got trickier..this wall paper is a traditional type,so is not pre-pasted. So off I go to buy paste and lining paper. The dining table became a trellis table where I could paste the paper. Started then realised that the pattern repeat is every 65 cms, so to ensure I got the right pattern match I had to cut up to 3 metre lengths. Wet paper that long is not fun. Had tried lining paper first, which is the proper way to do and found it wasn't a good quality purchase with minimum paste - and it slid off the wall. Question: why did I start this??

At least the basin looks cool. Thanks as much to a really good plumber who always does a professional job

And pretty much finished. As soon as I started this I had already forgotten the pantry and how it looked.

I had a set (7) of Japanese prints for ages and 2 of them were ideal for the walls, being trees in blue shades. Got a bit of a shock when I went to look to see if I could buy any larger: a Japanese artist called Joichi Hoshi who did wood block prints. Prices start at $1000!!!! I know it didn't pay that and whilst expensive at the time..mind you it would be 10 years ago and more. so many times I've been advised to get rid of stuff I'm not using. Maybe when I've finished the house but not yet

A good time to show the old bathroom

Now that the new cylinder is in place it's a good time to show the bathroom and hot water cupboard set up.

 This is showing what was the old cupboard from the dining room. The layout of this house is very old-fashioned and one of my needs is to change this. Our way of living has changed greatly so having a bathroom off the dining area is no good, nor is the toilet just down the hallway which is reached by first walking through a large pantry.

 Here, you can see the bathroom to the right and on the left the start of the hall which leads to the mezzanine floor and 2 bedrooms. To the left along this narrow hall is the pantry and from the the toilet. The idea is to place a wall on the right hand side on this picture and to block off access from the dining room. On the other side of the bathroom wall (right-hand side) is my bedroom, so I'll make a door in what is now the wall...

 So, this means the cabinet with the old cylinder will be cut off and removed with the new cylinder now on the right-hand side. A new shower will be built pretty much from where this picture was taken and with removing the left-hand side of the cupboard a new wash stand or vanity will be installed.

 When I first bought this house I had ideas of replacing the old original bath - a bit silly I now think. Almost impossible to buy these now for anything less than a small fortune, so in time I'll have it re-enameled and have the feet gilded - can do that myself as I;ve got gold-leaf somewhere. and it give me the chance of maybe changing the colour of the enamel.

 So here it's easier to see where the new wall will be. The half wall on the left will be taken out and a wall built on the right. In the right-angle between the green wall and the new wall is where the shower cubicle will go - and plenty of space for a large one money permitting.

Time for a catch-up..

So, new hot water cylinder is in place. looks as ugly as any functional equipment does although knowing it is working to provide that very thing i.e function brings it's own attraction and all the components look nice and shiny lol.

The good thing is that whilst I had to replace this cylinder very quickly I was able to bring forward by 1 year my plans to do this very thing as part of creating an en-suite. Where the old cylinder is now was going to be removed (the old bathroom is to the left) to create more space.

 By good fortune and nothing else the new cylinder just fits in the tall space which was a broom cupboard (I think) so all i had to do was clear up the odds and sods of blocks of wood. Sometime in the past someone has 'had a go' and home renovations and pretty much made a mess. There were chunks of wood nailed to other chunks of wood, which served no purpose except to (now) provide firewood! I feel a bit critical of saying such things, but really! So much extra work just to remove 'untidiness' and this applies to most areas in the house; I'm doing so much extra work just to reverse what doesn't make sense and it has the effect of demotivating me if I don't control it.

 Bigger cylinder and now mains pressure - was a bit grumpy about having to do all this as it re-introduced the feeling of a money pit opening up beneath my feet, you know: money just being spent and losing track. Then I had a shower and wow! Instead of shuffling around to get wet I get nailed to the wall. Any minute I expect the mixer to explode from the wall lol.

 Following on from my criticism of an unknown previous owner, the real leak wasn't due to the cylinder but how they had connected the inlet water supply to the base of the tank. Simple plumbing tape is wound around the thread of a pipe so that when screwed it provided a water-tight seal. And they hadn't used the right tape, so it gradually disintegrated. Either way the cylinder had to come out even to gain access to the leak..so..may as well absorb the cost by bringing forward future work

All done really well, thanks to a professional and clever plumber (who happens to be a mate). a special tray is under the new cylinder with a drain to divert any leaks in the future.I was and am lucky; the timbers in this house are old as in solid and high-quality and were used at a time when they were standard. To use such wood now-a-days would be hugely expensive and not necessarily possible to renewable policies. The floors are a local wood called Rimu and the frame timbers are I think Matai - all hard woods. Even though the water has been leaking for some time, none of the wood is damaged. These days MDF is used as even pine here is expensive for what is essentially an ordinary wood

Today..I discovered the hot water cylinder has been leaking for over a year...

Oh my..well..taking it in my stride. Was about to give the final coat of paint to the washroom and the pantry..and..all the wood is soaked under the cylinder. Hurried 'phone calls working out how I can save some dosh. Called a plumber friend who will cost a new cylinder plus parts..checking to see if all the taps can handle mains pressure. Have a builder coming Saturday to structure a support for the new cylinder. Decided to bring forward by 1 year the building of an en-suite, which would involve moving the existing cylinder and making an existing bathroom far larger. Will have to bite the financial bullet and suck it up together with a glass or two of wine. Will finish the washroom next week...have some friends here for dinner over the weekend and just can't get it all done. I'll be able to put one of the fitted cupboards into the pantry and therefore clear some of the floor space in the meantime.

What a week..

Well, when I took on this place I knew it could be a challenge. As such little can be a surprise. Famous 

last words lol. I started by converting a pantry and adjacent toilet, essentially switching them around.

   So this way the toilet would be a new slimmer pantry and the old pantry a new washroom. I've blocked off the doorway.

Took quite a bit of preparation. The wood is now a different gauge; the walls had been finished with a textured paint, so it meant either sanding or covering with similar paint. Electrician. In this area all are so busy there is a lead-in time of at least 2 weeks so I had to get the elecetrician i to punch all the holes in the respective walls before I could put any of the cabinets in, pluse the plumber had been booked months ago. So, one wall looks almost finished (apart from the lights) and the other side looks rough. But still looks vastly better...

Gradually all coming together and now the wall has gone up to separate I can start to work of the pantry