Renovations Continue but looking forward to a break too

A lovely lunch with Shannon & Joan at Mapua

Can't believe how fast this year is going, unbelievably quick. We are now into November but ready for a months break up north (Covid allowing of course). In the last blog I mentioned we had been hoping to be back on the road by Christmas. Well that's not happening for two reasons. The main one being we haven't finished the renovations and the second and almost as important being we can't travel to Western Australia to join Rocky/Daniel/Em/Nick for Christmas 😟

Kitchen completed and looking fabulous 😍

  The renovations are steaming along now, with downstairs and outside still to complete. The kitchen is all finished and with the carpet/vinyl looking great. More roomy than we had expected. 

Gibbing the back wall and ceiling in the garage

With the weather warming up but plenty of spring showers, it was a good time for Bill to work away inside downstairs on the new entrance and the garage. There were no linings in the garage, so with the gib Bill has put up, the rooms are transformed. We have been pretty lucky with getting materials, not too much delay. Except for the new front door, which hopefully will arrive on our return from our break. The days Bill lined me up for painting always seemed to coincide with me being called into work at my two ex work places. Can't turn down the money Bill!😁 With our Bus currently being parked up out at one of them, I am always happy to say yes.

Remodelling the entrance way

Port Tarakohe 😍 for a little R&R

We did manage a sneaky weekend away to Golden Bay where we had 3 nights at Port Tarakohe - a lovely bit of R&R. We caught up with friends of Rocky's - Jana & Drew and their three gorgeous children who had returned to the Bay from Perth once again with lots of exciting ideas to carry out on their piece of paradise up on the hill overlooking Tata Beach. Hope it all comes to fruition.

SDT workshop repairing our little Bus

Shortly after our wee break, the Bus was due for it's COF (WOF for you car owners). I usually take it in as for some reason Bill always expects the worst - I'm happy to enjoy one of their coffee's and read my book 📚. But this year we had a little issue that required some welding. Thank goodness I have my Trucking Company Mates - thanks Brodie for allowing Pete to do the repair. I was very fortunate that it was a quite time between trucks, so had it repaired and I returned to get the COF all in the same day. We are all good again for another six months.🚍

An afternoon in Washbourne Gardens with Joan

With downstairs well under way, it was time to start on repairing and modernising the existing deck. After Bill doing a bit of research, we decided to go with the recycled plastic/wood decking Bunnings sell - a bit more expensive than timber decking but a lot less maintenance and beautiful appearance. It's been a rather big job to repair any joists that had deteriorated and replace the front perimeter board. Much of it at heights many of us would struggle to handle. Thankfully he got through it all safely, maybe not quite how OSH would have allowed!

Trevor helping once again - 
You can see the height of this section of the deck!!

Now with the metal railing and glass in front of the two sections we look through, it has really transformed the outside of the house. Still not wide enough for party's but good access to both ends of the house.

The beginning of the deck restoration.

While Bill has been working away on the decks in between my call outs to work, I have been continuing to dig drainage for the leaks and water that continually runs down the hill. We need a lot of rain now to put it all to the test! We're pretty sure no water should get into the basement any more 🤞

Bill has extended the deck to go to the end
of the house and onto the garden/patio area

With this complete, I have been able to restore the top small crib wall, which allows the lawn to be levelled off. Next project is the big crib wall once Bill restores the base of it with a concrete footing. Another big job. We had hoped to have the driveway sealed before Christmas but time has run out and with not going away at Christmas we have plenty of time early in the new year.

Green marks the blockage - so the Drain Inspector
said! yeh right!! But I got there eventually 😓

We have continued to take Joan out at the weekends when weather has permitted, which she enjoys as there are no organised activities in the Resthome like they do through the week. She has really settled into The Ernest Rutherford which has relieved a lot of stress on Bill and his brothers. 

New decking almost completed

Shannon came over for a few days recently for the Nelson Art Festival which we were looking forward to going to with the Mask Parade and some of the shows. But sadly it has been another Covid casualty. So she still came over which was lovely to see her even if she had to continue working online and have one of our children to cuddle (hope you enjoyed it too Shannon - enough cuddles for 3!)

New view from our bedroom

But next week we are hoping to head away up North - as far as Coromandel, for a month. Hoping to celebrate one of my brother's special birthday while up there. Stay away Covid!! #$@&

Ready to sit and read - maybe Christmas!

Ramp being created to give access to the 
back yard & BBQ area.

 

Seven years on the road and still itching to wander

 

Vehicle 1 -Marfells Beach 7 years ago today

Who knew how long we would be away, or where we would go or end up, seven years ago? We packed up the Bus and the Van. Emptied the house and rented it out and moved onto the Road.

It's been a great seven years, lots of laughs, lots of lovely catch ups with Family,  lots of catch ups with Friends, met lots of lovely people, lots of beautiful scenery, lots of wines and at times, some stressful moments too.

Vehicle 2 - Our Hobby in Northern Italy

And we aren't finished yet! Covid 19 has slowed down our plans, but it's been a great time to be back in Nelson renovating our Rental. Hopefully we will get back on the road in our Bus before Christmas.🤞

Vehicle 3 & 4 - Back on the road in NZ -
 Marfells Beach again

A sign of the times
NZ at Level 4

Coming out the other side of Winter

Bill's Basement - bit of chaos now it needs to be lined 

 As we are coming out of winter and the days are starting to get longer, we are also moving on with our renovations. The kitchen is almost finished (Splashback to complete). The Benchtop arrived on time and looks amazing. We weren't expecting the Guys to install it, but they weren't in a hurry to return to Christchurch, so happily installed it with all the gear to join the two seams. 😀 Bill did an excellent job of templating the bench down to the mm, which was quite critical where it fitted into the window. Perfect 👍😘.

Bill in his happy outfit 😄

The next day the Electricians came in to finish the wiring for the new kitchen appliances and various power points. Time for the borrowed gas hob to be returned and try the new Induction hob. Love it 😍

The Plumbers were in the following day to do the plumbing of the kitchen and sort the waste pipes for the new laundry.  Prior to this Bill had to find the sewer & storm water pipes which we assumed ran close to the house. Bill recruited young Tyler (Tahuna neighbour) and for a small fee had him start to dig up the drive beside the house. Lucky for Tyler he found them within the first two hours, so it wasn't too big a job. Not for a strong young lad anyway.😆. This let the Drainlayers (different to the Plumber!!) connect up the new greywater pipes to the sewer.

Bit cool for a beer today at the Local 😰

Bill had also been working away on the old kitchen being converted to a fourth bedroom or office/study. That had to be finished painting after the ranchslider was put in replacing the window. Plenty of time I said!! And then was called up for two weeks work back at Stuart Drummonds Ltd - oh oh. Looks like all the pressure was back on Bill to complete. Which he did no problem (well from my perspective he did 😉

A few bricks to reinstate

The carpet arrived on the due date - thankfully the weather played it's part and we had the house cleared and ready for their 8.00am arrival. And on the dot they were too. We left them to it as we couldn't do much else. We headed off in Bill's trusty Ute (now named the Thunderbolt) to the recycling centre to drop off the last of the carpet we had still been using in the bedrooms and a lovely rug back to Trevor (Four Corner Rugs) that he had kindly loaned us.

Kitchen looking great - missing a few doors.
(Splash Back to come too)

Mid day we headed to The Sticks down on the Waterfront to meet up with Simon for his birthday along with Nicki and the Girls. Wayne and Kate were down for the school holidays and had been helping S&N with the Girls. I think secretly Grandad had a lot of fun, hope the Girls did too. It was a beautiful afternoon, a couple of wines in the sun with a lovely meal before returning home to find the Guys all finished and gone. They had done a beautiful job and it was like the icing on the cake - finishing off the top floor of the house (inside that is).

Stormwater & Sewer found 😊

Over all this time I had continued working on the patio / garden area out the back when weather allowed (it's been such a wet winter), where Bill has taught me how to lay concrete blocks and mix concrete. We got the new clothesline concreted in (it's got a removable post for when you want to entertain without everyone looking at your underwear!). And getting a few more grasses planted.

Drainage has been a bit of an issue here with being a property on the hillside - the basement has always had water leak in through the back wall after heavy rains. Living on site we have been able to see a bit more where our issues are and sorting blocked drains. Bill's been uncovering drains that were put in at the time the home was built and finding some of the drains not connected anywhere! So hopefully by the time he finishes sorting them, the property will be so much better drained. And more importantly, no water leaking into the basement 🤞

Taking Joan out in Big Blue

We have also been visiting Joan usually over the weekends, taking her out for a drive somewhere for a change of scenery. Quite enjoyable for us too to have a fresh look around Nelson and the new sub-divisions that have been created all around Nelson with it's building boom like around the rest of the country.  

With the living part of the house now almost completed, Bill has started lining the garage and preparing space for a new laundry that will free up the existing downstairs entrance to become a more inviting entrance.

Beautiful day spent at Rabbit Island in the Bus

Upstairs there is still a little more brick work to be done, decks to replace, new balustrades, lots of drainage to sort, Crib wall to tidy up, barge boards and facia boards to paint. Etc etc. So plenty to keep us out of trouble for a while yet. But the days are getting warmer and longer. Roll on Summer.

Ex Kitchen - getting ready
for Ranchslider

Ex kitchen ready for
painting

Ready for the Carpet Layers

Beautiful 😍

Morning

Afternoon

New view - new clothesline

Trying to find leaking drainage pipes

Time to move the Kayak for now
Thanks Trevor

Easter to the Shortest Day (Mid June)

Southern Patarau Beach

 Easter 2021 was a quiet affair, with a fairly wet weekend and plenty of renovations to get on with, but sadly no Easter Eggs 🐰. Not that that was a reason to sit around and feel miserable. With having just caught up with Shannon & AC in Wellington - Easter Bunny managed to do a drop off there 😉. But with Rocky & Daniel now living three hours south of Perth, down Nick & Em's way  - Easter Bunny was running late to WA 😕. At least we all managed a good catch up through Zoom - wonderful to see everyone 😍.

Dining / Kitchen areas almost ready for painting

 Prior to the weekend Bill finally got the screw put into his implant in his gum after a four month wait to ensure he had no reaction to the titanium. All was looking healthy and is now ready for his new tooth! Another two weeks till the tooth can be fitted 🤞.
It arrived!! But didn't fit!! Another two weeks before it was finally fitted and Bill can eat normally once again.🦷

Easter also brought daylight saving to an end and the feeling summer is over with the evenings getting dark so much earlier now. The autumn tints are full on in our area - the reds are amazing.🍁🍂. 

Joan enjoying
Happy Hour

Our concerns for Joan while we were away were unfounded with her coping quite well especially with her Companion Hilary. She made such a difference. Unfortunately soon after our return she had another fall at night leaving her a lot more confused and meals becoming a challenge, it was time to move her into more care. It was a hard decision for her Boys  but choosing the Ernest Rutherford Resthome was the best decision. She accepted the change very well, letting go of most of her possessions. At least she could have all her paintings she did years ago, on the walls in her bedroom. The Carers are amazing and are wonderful with all the Residents, which you can imagine all have different needs. For now she is quite settled and getting into the activities that keep their days quite busy. 

Our renovations have been moving along with the completion of painting in the  lounge / dining and kitchen area, which has made such a difference to the place. Feels very spacious. And finishing off tiling the old fireplace which we have kept as it was installed only 10 years ago to meet the Council Clean Air Regulations. We will be so much warmer this year with the double glazing and extra insulation in ceiling and walls.

Last Winter

Old bricks removed 

The stairwell was next which is like a two story open space - Bill cleverly built a floor out from the top hallway to make a platform to work from while he replaced the old window with a new double glazed one. Finished plastering and painting. 

Don't Jump Bill!
Stairwell

I painted the lower half once the floor was removed and Bill had finished plastering. It was also at this stage we removed the last of the old carpet off the stairs which we knew was the cause of a lot of the smell in the lower half of the house. To complete this section of the house was the beautiful $5 bargain light from the recycling centre. 😄

Busy day on Totaranui Beach 😍

We managed to take a week off in the middle of May and head over to Golden Bay to join up with friends / fellow Motor Homer's Sam & Pauline down from Hahei (Coromandel) who were spending 6 weeks in the top of the South. 

It wasn't easy to find firewood at Totaranui

Apart from the gale force winds when we first went over, we had amazing autumn weather. Pauline being the younger of us, was the only one to have a swim 🏊😁. S&P hadn't been over to Golden Bay before, so it was lovely to show off the region looking it's best. Totaranui had 10 other camp sites occupied (Holds 850 campers at it's peak!) - perfect time of year to visit. We even  made it out to Patarau River Mouth - a lovely remote spot Bill & I enjoy on the west coast of Golden Bay. Fires on the beach at both these spots - the Boys were in their element.🔥

Patarau River Mouth

Lovely evening Patarau

Stunning sunset Port Tarakohe

Returning once again to the renovations, we planned the new kitchen and ordered it through Mitre10 - Bill having installed a few of their units over the years with good results, thought they were good value. We would sort the bench top through a Christchurch company AGB Stone. So a plan was made to do a quick trip to Christchurch for a couple of nights and have a day shopping for stove / induction hob / rangehood / vinyl plank flooring / benchtop and a few other smaller items. And not least of all - my new gumboots after my old ones fell to bits. It was a very productive trip plus a catch up with good friends Marg (whom we stayed with) and Helen & Ralph when we all went to Formaggio's for dinner.

Fireplace finished waiting on TV (Not by us 😏)

The kitchen units arrived in good time (we had expected delays due to the high demand of building materials since Covid began) and now there was no holding Bill back. With the flooring in the kitchen / dining area now done, we will be ready for the benchtop that is due in the next two weeks.

We've also had the house measured up for carpet through friend Karen from The Flooring Room  and that is due to be laid a fortnight after the bench top arrives. So no pressure Bill - to remove the old kitchen and finish what will be a fourth bedroom / study. 

Tea break with new kitchen being installed

And for those of you who are wondering what I have been doing while Bill is working - besides my online part time job, he does need feeding etc. And luckily for Bill my culinary skills have improved, plus a little help from Google.  I have assisted with painting too. And still working on the patio area out the end of the house. I've moved a few Ute loads of gravel and white stones. But I've also needed Bill's help with building a small block wall to help with retention of the corner of the area, so I have had to wait till he has the time to spare me. I also had a couple of days work back at Austin Transport assisting Sheryl who took over my administration role there 8 years ago - good to see the company had grown quite a bit since I started with Bryan when he only had 3 trucks - now nearly 30! During school holidays I was honoured to be asked to babysit my 6 yr old Great-niece - fun to get to see a children's movie once again. Unfortunately Daisy had already seen Peter Rabbit so we made do with Raya & the last Dragon. Which was still enjoyable 👏

Making concrete for the block wall 💪

So we are on a roll with renovations, a little bit of pressure and now that we have had the shortest day (longest night) - roll on Summer 🌞🌻

Flooring going down

Looking good
(Cooker on loan from friends V&T)