Wedding n Waitara ...

Contrary to inclement Waitara weather, Shanelle & Adam uttered some lovely promises, the bride and all her attendants looked radiant, and groom and all his attendants very smart, mother of the bride took a few years off, and the guests all enjoyed the music, company and excellent food.  Very impressed with my sister making the wedding gown.  It looked lovely and floaty (if that's an appropriate word) on Shanelle.

I'll let all the pictures tell their own story.  Larger candles were lit as part of the ceremony - remembering the grandparents on both sides plus another family member that were no longer in the body.  Last pics of 'the bedjacket' and feathers. We didn't try the wedding cake until Sunday BBQ at Mabel & Georges.. it was lovely red velvet chocolate.

Reno #9

This week maybe doesn't look as much progress, but lots of roofing rafters and purlin timbers going in. 
Top photo looking at Lounge roof framing closest to driveway.
Next photo showing framing out for big roof window in Kitchen.
Picture above looking through from Kitchen to Dining/Smoke Room , and further away the door opening into Lounge.  Our hot water cylinder still having pride of place in the middle of the works - and our boy is muttering away about it on a daily basis!

 This pic shows where they've cut the lines to block for the new concrete deck at the back entrance that will be tiled.

And this one shows where the front deck is to go.  Pillars at the point where it juts in to steps down.  All the rubble is from the lounge chimney and concrete from under the coal range, now some asphalt and stone kerbing.  Stuart has a job this weekend of digging these down far enough to get some site concrete in and blockwork started early next week.

Reno #8

Last update before we go north for a few days, and it looks like we've made progress with frames going up.
Firstly Stuart had lots of fun with sledgehammer and jackhammer on the concrete base of coal range, and the chimney in the end of Lounge. He was sucking it in for the photos!

From there its finishing off the flooring and standing frames. The little square in the centre is where the coal range was, and the darker outline the old kitchen walls.

The orange line in the front denotes where the front patio and steps end, but we've marked it out tonight and it goes out a further 600mm to make slightly shallower steps and slightly longer :)  For us old people.

Our nightly Elite the Smoke Bandit does his inspections..
You will of course all note the lovely blue skies and no windy days we've been having in order to make all this progress :)

Reno #7

Just so you can see that we're making some progress down here.  Think others are possibly striking.   Could be tied to Port Auckland of course :) 

Last weekend Blondie came home for a visit, and we had our last weekend in the kitchen.   So Kate took some last pics of typical kitchen poses..  And Monday night when I got home this was the look..

And by mid week, there was just the coal range with hot water cylinder behind and a couple of frames.

 And this morning the hot water cylinder had to be moved to a more secure piece of floor to be hooked up again, so we can continue having warm showers inside, and still do some laundry and clean up.

 The local territorial authority does his nightly checking out of all nooks and crannies and piles and bearers.. and below is unearthed where the original corner pantry cupboard of the old original kitchen.

 Stuart crawled down underneath the joists to get this shot of a large wasp nest - just in a very clean pair of jeans and shirt of course!

Reno #6

So we are living in what Stuart is now calling our "pensioner flat".  The dining space has become room for the couch, a wee table and two chairs..  Blue was happy to share in the blue cod.

 

Starting Monday, the roof was denailed, and some of the ceiling sheets torn down.  There is no such thing as 'quiet' time in my morning routine now! One photo shows a very special building technique of how to fix a leaky roof.

 

 

Yesterday I arrived home to this..

 And today, this is the new open air look!

Reno #5

After our Foreman being off on compo for a few days, Stuart came home, grabbed a couple of boys and got the blocks filled.  Foreman managed to get a few bits of timber levelled on top of the blocks for the new floor joists to sit on.  Stuart knows how to accessorize his work uniform!  Actually he was just helping me cart everything from the roundabout... as that's the closest I can park to the back door now -if not on the road.

 Saturdays tasks was to clear out the Lounge of all furniture and pull the carpet up..

 The lounge feels very hollow and empty and talking now bounces around the walls.  Stacking everything in the garage.

And a set of wheels doesn't mind at all parking on Axminster!!  But underneath that pretty carpet was a couple of spots you wouldn't want to put all your weight on.The  Plaster cladding wasn't totally weatherproof..

In defiance of the cold days and the council, Stuart lit the coal range both mornings this weekend, and we didn't use one kilowatt of power to cook Sunday dinner!  Tasted good, the hot water is boiling and didn't use much more than a bucket of wood!  So why are we taking it out?