SPRINGTIME! RENEWED ENERGY

It's been a good while since I made an entry in this blog - multiple reasons - I've been busy with other things; the house is pretty comfortable, most of the pressing work done, so the pace of work has slowed; money constraints; I've been a bit lazy!

 But things have still been happening around the house and garden and I'm pretty fired up to get on with other jobs inside and out as the weather improves.

When I re-did the kitchen a few years ago, I had it in the back of my mind to refresh my pine dresser so it looked more like it belongs. In the late 70's/early 80's after we'd moved into our self-built cottage, the thing I desired most was a pine kitchen dresser. Money was pretty tight with two small children, so I had to save for a long time to get it. It served well for all those years in the Exeter house, but when I moved here, it seemed very out of place, especially after I'd painted the kitchen and dining room in light colours. The old pine dresser had yellowed over the years and definitely looked dated. It's taken me about four years to get around to doing what I've been intending to do, but finally! it's done. I painted it in a soft French Grey with blue undertones and I scraped back the edges once it was dry.

Having been on the verge of throwing it out several times, I'm now glad that I didn't do that........I love how it looks. I left the doors off because I liked the look of the open shelving much more. The final picture shows what it looked like before.....forgot to take a picture of the whole thing.

Now, onto re-doing the chairs and the base of the old deal-topped dining table.

                                          

Recording A Journey.......

As well as keeping this blog, I have been keeping a record of my home renovation journey in sketchbooks.
In them are notes and sketches outlining plans and ideas, then I record with photographs what I actually ended up doing with each project - they don't always end up as I initially planned, because things can change along the way.
I'm also keeping a record of what I spend, quotes given by contractors etc.
Now I'm into the fifth year, I have filled one book and I'm a good way into the second...….I wonder how many I'll end up filling before this project is finished?

With the change in seasons, here is the view as I'm enjoying it at the moment in all its autumn glory! If you can't afford a view of the ocean or the mountains, at least you can create your own small, private view that is every bit as wonderful!

A New Front

I finally finished repairing and repainting the big windows across the front of the house and now the scaffold has been taken down, so I can see how it looks. 
I like the colours I chose - these blues go well with the terracotta bricks, I think. Orange and blue are complementary colours (opposites on the colour wheel) so they always look good together. It replaces a nondescript, rather pustulent shade of yellow, which did nothing to enhance the appearance of the house. Probably, the windows and trim would have been originally painted white, I think, although when I was scraping and sanding, there was evidence that a bilious green had been used at one stage. 

I'm going to paint the little back porch in coming days, weather permitting, then that will be it until next Spring/Summer, when I can finish the windows at the back. There is always more re-pointing to be done, which can be done at any time of year.

As winter approaches, I'm pulling out the last of the summer vegetables and digging over the remaining beds to plant things that can grow over winter...….the plantings I've already done are growing well - indeed, I've already started using some of the Asian greens.
Goodbye summer vegetables for a few months - these zucchinis are the last!

The last of summer meets the first of winter in one dish - stir-fried ginger, soy and garlic zucchini with Asian greens. Delicious!

Repointing is FUN! Who knew?

While I was up on the scaffold in recent weeks to paint the windows and soffits on the front of the house, I noticed that some of the mortar in the brickwork at the sides of the gable was loose, cracked and falling out in places. I thought it was a good opportunity to have a go at repairing it while it was still accessible from the scaffold. It was high up and in a place that wouldn't be too noticeable if I really botched it!

So, armed with tools, mortar and new-found knowledge from Dr. Google, I launched in, expecting to find it an odious task...…...Well, surprise of surprises! I found it unbelievably satisfying to rake out the loose old mortar, clean out the debris, damp it down and re-point it with fresh mortar. It took a bit of practice to get the technique right, but I think I did an OK job of it. I kept it damp while it dried off, as recommended and this morning when I checked it is still intact and good.

Now I'm looking forward to repairing a few other places where the brickwork needs re-pointing!

A Frog Pond

During the summer, my neighbour gifted me a fibreglass pond which she'd taken out of her garden and no longer needed. I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it...…...I had a kind of weedy desert where I looked out onto the garden from my dining room window - it's a fairly shaded area, so I thought it would be a great spot to establish a fern and shade-plant garden. So with the free pond and a bit of rock shifting and digging, that's exactly what I did...…...I bought a few plants and shifted some from other parts of the garden where they'd been struggling to compete with other plants. I'm happy to report that everything is growing well and looking lush. Now the frogs just need to move in. 

On that point I heard some frogs in the garden a few nights ago for the first time ever.....I hope it's not too long before they discover the wonderful home I've created for them. I've still to buy a little solar water feature so I can have the sound of water as well.

Oh yes - I'm also planning to make some small pieces of sculpture for the pond surrounds using a cement based sculpting medium that I bought a while back.

More Recent Work

Here are a few more pictures of recent works - firstly the front deck with its new coat of paint and refurbished wrought iron balustrade (so much work restoring that - I don't think I ever want to do something like that again!) Secondly, the restored and refinished kitchen floor with the hand-painted "tumbled tiles" design.

I've also had a good start on painting the front of the house - it's a brick house, so its only the windows and soffits that need painting. I was fearful that paticularly the end window was badly damaged, but I was surprised to find that it was remarkably sound under the loose paint. Only one tiny repair in one corner where the wood had rotted a little. Because it is the two-storey part of the house, I needed to access it safely - luckily I've been able to borrow my son's portable scaffold for a few weeks while he doesn't need it. I think the grey/blues I've chosen look great with the red brick - complementary contrast and all that!

Work has continued in the garden, too. the seeds I planted last week are coming up and the seedlings are looking healthy and perky. The weather is still relatively warm so I'm getting a late flush of scarlet runners and zucchinis.

Blissfully unaware, Oliver sleeps on!

Surviving in Strange Times

In a matter of a few months, how the world has changed! As the corona virus sweeps through countries, virtually shutting them down one after the other, we find ourselves forced to stay home and with as little contact with others as possible to mitigate the possibility of spread. Social distancing. Who knew what that was just a few weeks ago?

All that notwithstanding, I have still been pressing on with my renovations - nothing like a bit of hard work to keep yourself occupied with the added bonus that it leaves little room for brooding!
Fortunately, I quite like my own company, so being at home alone is not an ordeal for me. Missing the communal music-making, though.

So what have I been up to? I converted a useless corner cupboard (you know the ones - in a corner so its almost impossible to access what's in there. They end up being repositories of forgotten jars of unspeakable things!) I opened the back of it so that it faces into the dining room, framed it and painted it and now it is far more useful as wine storage.

I've been doing quite a bit of work outside. I've put in a ferny frog pond in a shady corner that my dining room window looks out on. No residents as yet, but I'll get some tadpoles in the spring. I've also painted my front deck and hand-rails. I don't have pictures of those two projects, but I'll take some tomorrow. The vegetable garden is expanding and in recent days I've planted beds with winter vegetables......seemed like a good idea, given current circumstances.

Some digging around and clearing up unearthed this set of steps that had been completely buried - they lead up from the backyard bungalow. When the conifer is finally removed, I'll make this area into a pleasant little garden.

Unfortunately, my excavations didn't yield any treasure - just this:

In late summer last year, my friends from Switzerland stayed for a week or two - they helped with some of the jobs around the place. This is Hannes' fence - such an improvement on what was there before! that one got used as kindling to start the fire with last winter. And Ursula helped me to strip the layers of old lino and vinyl from the kitchen floor and remove the old glue (big job!) After they left, I finished it with liming white and painted a decorative tumbled tile design where the kitchen and dining room floors meet. I'll add pictures of that to my next post. 

But the biggest job in the past year was getting the fascias, barge boards and down pipes replaced. I had this professionally done - it was beyond my skills to do this kind of work properly. I'm glad I did - it looks so good and absolutely no leaks since the 50mm downpipes have been replaced with 90mm, which can cope much better with heavy downpours. The colour is Colorbond Deep Ocean - a kind of dark blue-grey, which I will also use on the garage door and the gable ends. The windows will be a lighter shade of blue-grey.

 

So that's about it for now - I sliced the tip off my finger today using one of those lethal mandolin slicers - bit distracted, I think. I'm throwing that thing away tomorrow! I don't think I'll be able to do much work in the garden tomorrow - I need to let it heal. Maybe a day reading and tea-dinking is in order!

Spare Bedroom

The extra bedroom in my house was still looking tatty and tired, despite having the nasty old asthma-inducing carpet taken up and a good clean. With my son getting married next month (second marriage for both of them, so a good excuse for a big party?) and a few interstate and international visitors expected, thought I might be called upon to put people up, so now is the time to get the room spruced up.

The room was basically OK, but someone had had a half-hearted attempt to paint parts of it in a fairly horrible shade of pink - the built-in wardrobe was the "best" example. And it was coupled with large dark brown resin knobs. It was fairly awful!

The windows had been allowed to get very wet (inside) at some stage, so the paint was flaking and there was black mildew everywhere. I was told the previous owner had had the power cut off the winter before I bought the house, so I'm not surprised there had been damage caused by dampness. I've had two winters here now and the winter of 2016 was the wettest on record, but the house has remained completely dry, thank goodness. I keep the wood-heater going pretty much 24/7 during the winter, so the house stays dry and warm. It does show, however, how moisture intruding into the fabric of a house can soon start to cause real damage, But I digress! I stripped the windows back and painted them fresh white - what a difference! Same with the built-ins - basically in good condition, but just needed a couple of coats of fresh, white paint. I bought some sweet ceramic knobs from an Indian import shop (Ishka, for the locals) - enough for all the doors and drawers......but each one a bit different, except that they are all in shades of blue and green. Looks great!

The door was badly damaged - it looked as if it had been given a thorough kicking at some stage! I thought about replacing it with a new one, but in keeping with my "designer frugal" ethic, I decided to have a go at restoring it first. I took it off its hinges a was able to glue the panelling back to the frame. Once the glue had set, I filled the badly damaged areas where bits were missing. After sanding and painting, it looks like a new door! I probably saved about $100 on the cost of a new door, and while that doesn't sound like much, it all adds up.

I've spent a lot of time and effort removing tacks from the floor and sanding off the paint drips and splodges around the edges (not my doing!) I now need to fill the holes and seal the floor. A couple of rugs around the bed and some new cushions, some pictures on the walls and this room will be done! I'd like to stay in it, if I were visiting.
But silly me! Now I have to pack everything up and clear the room so that I can finish off the floor........but I was desperate to see how it was going to look.

                              ......and now with a few more Ishka touches - a rug and a throw.
 

                                   I love these ceramic knobs - I used thirteen different ones.\
 

Hall Table

I've been on the lookout for a small narrow hall table to go in my small entrance hall......seems like they are rare as hen's teeth! I eventually found one advertised in the local online marketplace for very few dollars. Well, it's cheap furniture - poorly made from cheap materials, but is exactly the size I want and approaching the clean, simple style I'm looking for, so it will do until I find or make something better. I think I'll paint the front door this week.........it will be blue at last!

The sculpture is one I made a few years ago; it is called "Demeter"

A Bathroom is Done!

After  a reno epic, my bathroom is finally done!
When I think back to how it was, I couldn't be more pleased with this outcome - it is now a joy to be in, in contrast to the depressing, dingy hole that it was a couple of months ago. So here it is.......I'm still waiting on a fitting that goes onto the tiled wall to hold the shower hose - it should be here next week. And the silicone is still curing, so I haven't christened it yet.......but SOON!

 

Since I last posted, I had the re-finishing company in to professionally re-surface the stained and chipped bathtub - it now looks immaculate. Thanks to Dave and Scott from TasBath for a lovely job. Here are a few shots of the bath being done:

 

Yuck!

 

Scott working on the stains and acid-etching the surface..

 

Stains gone - ready for the base coat

 

Yellow elephant trunk?

 

Final coat curing under a heater

Then it was just a matter of waiting until the hand-basin unit arrived to complete the installation. I called on my friend Alan, to help with this. After a few false starts (retro-fitting new to old takes a bit of messing about!) we finally got everything successfully hooked up. And don't you just love a tradie who dresses to match the decor? I got Alan to help me lift the shower screen into place after he'd done the other work (it's heavy!) and I fixed it into position and put in the top bracket.

 

Alan matchy-matchy!

 

Here's a finishing touch: my sister, Jan, found this perfect bathmat while she was out shopping and bought it for me. I have a thoughtful sister :-)

So there you have it..........it's as good as done. Here's a little reminder of what it was like before: