March 2015

There is a chill in the air these days but the sun still shines and that makes it easier to get on and do plenty, and to stop mid day for a lay in the sun. Garage has a new roof and door the window has gone and I have room for a display of my art, the finial had sat around the garage for a while I made the bottom part and thought it would look too big but I am now pleased with the result.
We made a decision on a hand basin and decided to not go with a pedestal, the basin was supposed to hang off the wall on 2 bolts screwed into the wall, I have seen too many of this kind of fixing fail so made a bracket of plywood that sits under the basin it is made to fit perfectly in the recess the pedestal would have sat in and goes into the wall to be held between the stud work it is also bolted to the wall there is no movement, the 2 shelves are Totara and are 50mm thick they have 2 holes drilled in them for 25mm stainless tubes the same holed are drilled into the wall so no supports are seen, the uncovered wall will one day have a sheet of white tiles covering it, I think the tile size will be 300mm wide and 150mm high, some of the flooring is down to stay some has to be removed one day when I install a new shower base, I think it will stay like this for a while now there are things going on with the walls that aren't in the photo.

We had some time in the garden, we had a very large Yakka (3 trunks) at the front and wanted to plant two Kowhai trees we have brought with us that have some meaning to us both, the Yakkas came down easy but the stump has pebbles embedded in and the chain saw didn't approve nor did I, we got one Kowhai planted it will be pleased to be out of the pot and have more room for its roots, there is a lot to do out here I think, I drilled 3 holed in the lawn and filled with rubble to assist with drainage as water puddles here when we have heavy rain the top 300mm is very hard but becomes very porous after that.
The laundry walls have a lot of woodworm, there were 2 small cupboards off the hall way that were not full height (low ceiling and 6ft door) the ceiling had come down to help with the rewiring, so now the 2 cupboards are gone and some of the woodworm, the laundry is now 2.4m X 1.7m the photo I took laying on my back and is now insulated and covered in 12mm ply pre varnished, the walls have woodworm so are to be replaced and covered in the same ply with a white waterproof sheet behind the washing machine and a new cupboard under the tub unit, I think there will be lots of shelves, a shoe shelf, coat hooks a hatch to access under the house, so what looks like a big laundry I think will be a busy place.
This week sees the start of heat pump install, I have to strip gib from 2 walls to get access to install pipes and fixing for the wall unit then a quick replace the gib and some decorating before the job is finished, we have have some chilly mornings so chilly nights are around the corner and we need heating soon.