I bought a house!

My ex is still living in “our” house and doesn’t appear to have done anything to list it with other agents since he seemed to agree to do so nearly a year ago, so I still have my name on that mortgage.

Despite this, I got a loan to buy the worst house on a good street.

Actually, I LOVE it!!!! It’s smack in the middle of town, only a couple of hundred metres from the high school and 8 minutes’ walk to work. The views, to the north, are fabulous – I can see the hills in the distance, great for the soul.

It settled on Tuesday last week. Wednesday the tradies started putting the new roof on, finished yesterday (except the bullnose on the front verandah which will arrive later this week and they’ll put it on then).

Heaps more to do. The positive spin is that it’s a “renovator’s delight” :P

I’m not bored any more :)

Yeehah said:

I bought a house!

My ex is still living in “our” house and doesn’t appear to have done anything to list it with other agents since he seemed to agree to do so nearly a year ago, so I still have my name on that mortgage.

Despite this, I got a loan to buy the worst house on a good street.

Actually, I LOVE it!!!! It’s smack in the middle of town, only a couple of hundred metres from the high school and 8 minutes’ walk to work. The views, to the north, are fabulous – I can see the hills in the distance, great for the soul.

It settled on Tuesday last week. Wednesday the tradies started putting the new roof on, finished yesterday (except the bullnose on the front verandah which will arrive later this week and they’ll put it on then).

Heaps more to do. The positive spin is that it’s a “renovator’s delight” :P

I’m not bored any more :)

Giddy Up!

painmaster said:

Yeehah said:

I bought a house!

My ex is still living in “our” house and doesn’t appear to have done anything to list it with other agents since he seemed to agree to do so nearly a year ago, so I still have my name on that mortgage.

Despite this, I got a loan to buy the worst house on a good street.

Actually, I LOVE it!!!! It’s smack in the middle of town, only a couple of hundred metres from the high school and 8 minutes’ walk to work. The views, to the north, are fabulous – I can see the hills in the distance, great for the soul.

It settled on Tuesday last week. Wednesday the tradies started putting the new roof on, finished yesterday (except the bullnose on the front verandah which will arrive later this week and they’ll put it on then).

Heaps more to do. The positive spin is that it’s a “renovator’s delight” :P

I’m not bored any more :)

Giddy Up!

I sent you an email to the only one I have for you … the one you never check :P

The block is nearly a quarter of an acre. I’m waiting for the nearest tree surgeon guy to come through the area later this week (first rang several weeks ago) to take out a big tree (20 metres+ according to the local guy who wouldn’t take it on) – think someone said it was a silky oak, but I’m not good on trees. It’s up against a fence off the north-east corner of the house so blocks the morning winter sun. Apart from that, though, it’s too big for a suburban back yard and needs to go.

Once that’s gone I can start planting out the 23 fruit trees that are sitting waiting.

No big plan as yet for the garden, some general ideas though. I just know I hate mowing so I’ll be doing my best to increase the garden:lawn ratio.

Yeehah said:

The block is nearly a quarter of an acre. I’m waiting for the nearest tree surgeon guy to come through the area later this week (first rang several weeks ago) to take out a big tree (20 metres+ according to the local guy who wouldn’t take it on) – think someone said it was a silky oak, but I’m not good on trees. It’s up against a fence off the north-east corner of the house so blocks the morning winter sun. Apart from that, though, it’s too big for a suburban back yard and needs to go.

Once that’s gone I can start planting out the 23 fruit trees that are sitting waiting.

No big plan as yet for the garden, some general ideas though. I just know I hate mowing so I’ll be doing my best to increase the garden:lawn ratio.

They can reach 30 m if it is a Grevillea robusta. Still, by the sound of it you have enough yard to drop it on. As long as there’s nothing expensive in the way.

Congrats Yeehah! Sounds like you’re going to be a very busy bee :)

roughbarked said:

Yeehah said:

The block is nearly a quarter of an acre. I’m waiting for the nearest tree surgeon guy to come through the area later this week (first rang several weeks ago) to take out a big tree (20 metres+ according to the local guy who wouldn’t take it on) – think someone said it was a silky oak, but I’m not good on trees. It’s up against a fence off the north-east corner of the house so blocks the morning winter sun. Apart from that, though, it’s too big for a suburban back yard and needs to go.

Once that’s gone I can start planting out the 23 fruit trees that are sitting waiting.

No big plan as yet for the garden, some general ideas though. I just know I hate mowing so I’ll be doing my best to increase the garden:lawn ratio.

They can reach 30 m if it is a Grevillea robusta. Still, by the sound of it you have enough yard to drop it on. As long as there’s nothing expensive in the way.

A tree like G. robusta can be felled in segments if the tree guy is good.

Yeehah said:

painmaster said:

Yeehah said:

I bought a house!

My ex is still living in “our” house and doesn’t appear to have done anything to list it with other agents since he seemed to agree to do so nearly a year ago, so I still have my name on that mortgage.

Despite this, I got a loan to buy the worst house on a good street.

Actually, I LOVE it!!!! It’s smack in the middle of town, only a couple of hundred metres from the high school and 8 minutes’ walk to work. The views, to the north, are fabulous – I can see the hills in the distance, great for the soul.

It settled on Tuesday last week. Wednesday the tradies started putting the new roof on, finished yesterday (except the bullnose on the front verandah which will arrive later this week and they’ll put it on then).

Heaps more to do. The positive spin is that it’s a “renovator’s delight” :P

I’m not bored any more :)

Giddy Up!

I sent you an email to the only one I have for you … the one you never check :P

Ooops I don’t check that one eh?… Ummm a big apology must go out to Bluegreen. I’m sorry :(

Yeehah said:

I bought a house!

My ex is still living in “our” house and doesn’t appear to have done anything to list it with other agents since he seemed to agree to do so nearly a year ago, so I still have my name on that mortgage.

Despite this, I got a loan to buy the worst house on a good street.

Actually, I LOVE it!!!! It’s smack in the middle of town, only a couple of hundred metres from the high school and 8 minutes’ walk to work. The views, to the north, are fabulous – I can see the hills in the distance, great for the soul.

It settled on Tuesday last week. Wednesday the tradies started putting the new roof on, finished yesterday (except the bullnose on the front verandah which will arrive later this week and they’ll put it on then).

Heaps more to do. The positive spin is that it’s a “renovator’s delight” :P

I’m not bored any more :)

Wonderful :) That will keep you busy.

painmaster said:

roughbarked said:

Yeehah said:

The block is nearly a quarter of an acre. I’m waiting for the nearest tree surgeon guy to come through the area later this week (first rang several weeks ago) to take out a big tree (20 metres+ according to the local guy who wouldn’t take it on) – think someone said it was a silky oak, but I’m not good on trees. It’s up against a fence off the north-east corner of the house so blocks the morning winter sun. Apart from that, though, it’s too big for a suburban back yard and needs to go.

Once that’s gone I can start planting out the 23 fruit trees that are sitting waiting.

No big plan as yet for the garden, some general ideas though. I just know I hate mowing so I’ll be doing my best to increase the garden:lawn ratio.

They can reach 30 m if it is a Grevillea robusta. Still, by the sound of it you have enough yard to drop it on. As long as there’s nothing expensive in the way.

A tree like G. robusta can be felled in segments if the tree guy is good.

Any tree can but it isn’t necessary if there is room to fell it.

roughbarked said:

painmaster said:

roughbarked said:

They can reach 30 m if it is a Grevillea robusta. Still, by the sound of it you have enough yard to drop it on. As long as there’s nothing expensive in the way.

A tree like G. robusta can be felled in segments if the tree guy is good.

Any tree can but it isn’t necessary if there is room to fell it.

Easier to feed it through the mulcher if the tree guy is dropping it in pieces.

painmaster said:

roughbarked said:

painmaster said:

A tree like G. robusta can be felled in segments if the tree guy is good.

Any tree can but it isn’t necessary if there is room to fell it.

Easier to feed it through the mulcher if the tree guy is dropping it in pieces.

Yea yeah.. It is just more complicated bringing it down in pieces if you don’t have an elevator. I learned how to judge which way a tree will fall and how to manipulate the exact place it lands with two cuts. So wherever possible, I keep two feet on the ground and cut it into pieces on the ground.

painmaster said:

Ooops I don’t check that one eh?… Ummm a big apology must go out to Bluegreen. I’m sorry :(

That’s alright :)

Congratulations. It’s great doing the planning. And the doing.

Before that tree is brought down, have a think about what you might be able to do with the trunk and bigger branches. I have always used stuff like that to edge around new garden areas. Don’t dispose of something you might be able to use.

Then again, you might be more ‘tidy’ than I am with the gardening. My garden gets edged with whatever bits of tree, rock, bricks etc I can find.

roughbarked said:

painmaster said:

roughbarked said:

Any tree can but it isn’t necessary if there is room to fell it.

Easier to feed it through the mulcher if the tree guy is dropping it in pieces.

Yea yeah.. It is just more complicated bringing it down in pieces if you don’t have an elevator. I learned how to judge which way a tree will fall and how to manipulate the exact place it lands with two cuts. So wherever possible, I keep two feet on the ground and cut it into pieces on the ground.

same here. But I have seen some super climbers in action.

bluegreen said:

painmaster said:

Ooops I don’t check that one eh?… Ummm a big apology must go out to Bluegreen. I’m sorry :(

That’s alright :)

How did the coffee go? Did you get it to the Valley?

painmaster said:

bluegreen said:

painmaster said:

Ooops I don’t check that one eh?… Ummm a big apology must go out to Bluegreen. I’m sorry :(

That’s alright :)

How did the coffee go? Did you get it to the Valley?

I got a distinction :)

painmaster said:

roughbarked said:

painmaster said:

Easier to feed it through the mulcher if the tree guy is dropping it in pieces.

Yea yeah.. It is just more complicated bringing it down in pieces if you don’t have an elevator. I learned how to judge which way a tree will fall and how to manipulate the exact place it lands with two cuts. So wherever possible, I keep two feet on the ground and cut it into pieces on the ground.

same here. But I have seen some super climbers in action.

absielers.. you mean?

bluegreen said:

painmaster said:

bluegreen said:

That’s alright :)

How did the coffee go? Did you get it to the Valley?

I got a distinction :)

Sweet. I don’t know if my advice would have improved your mark….

roughbarked said:

painmaster said:

roughbarked said:

Yea yeah.. It is just more complicated bringing it down in pieces if you don’t have an elevator. I learned how to judge which way a tree will fall and how to manipulate the exact place it lands with two cuts. So wherever possible, I keep two feet on the ground and cut it into pieces on the ground.

same here. But I have seen some super climbers in action.

absielers.. you mean?

not just down but climbers as in up. I once hired an Aboriginal chap who could climb a 40m greased pole in just under 11 seconds, unaided. Watching him bring down a Casuarina cunninghamii was a sight of skill, agility, strength and dexterity. Made it look effortless.

painmaster said:

roughbarked said:

painmaster said:

same here. But I have seen some super climbers in action.

absielers.. you mean?

not just down but climbers as in up. I once hired an Aboriginal chap who could climb a 40m greased pole in just under 11 seconds, unaided. Watching him bring down a Casuarina cunninghamii was a sight of skill, agility, strength and dexterity. Made it look effortless.

Most tree monkey these days, yes do climb up but swing by ropes to all the branches lower.

Yeehah said:

I bought a house!

My ex is still living in “our” house and doesn’t appear to have done anything to list it with other agents since he seemed to agree to do so nearly a year ago, so I still have my name on that mortgage. Despite this, I got a loan to buy the worst house on a good street.
Actually, I LOVE it!!!! It’s smack in the middle of town, only a couple of hundred metres from the high school and 8 minutes’ walk to work. The views, to the north, are fabulous – I can see the hills in the distance, great for the soul.
It settled on Tuesday last week. Wednesday the tradies started putting the new roof on, finished yesterday (except the bullnose on the front verandah which will arrive later this week and they’ll put it on then). Heaps more to do. The positive spin is that it’s a “renovator’s delight” :P
I’m not bored any more :)

sounds good – congrats

Re the tree – the chap has a team and a cherry picker and a mega-mulcher. Access shouldn’t be a problem. He covers a large area, though, and only comes through here every 6 weeks or more, so waiting is all I can do at the moment.

Yeehah said:

Re the tree – the chap has a team and a cherry picker and a mega-mulcher. Access shouldn’t be a problem. He covers a large area, though, and only comes through here every 6 weeks or more, so waiting is all I can do at the moment.

My neighbours had a large Silky Oak in their suburban backyard in Adelaide many years ago…

Ive got two 20+ metre Silky Oaks but I’ll not be utting those down just yet. It is the several 20+ m dead gum trees that I’ve got to bring down without damaging house, carport, cars or my garden full of rare things.

roughbarked said:

Ive got two 20+ metre Silky Oaks but I’ll not be utting those down just yet. It is the several 20+ m dead gum trees that I’ve got to bring down without damaging house, carport, cars or my garden full of rare things.

tricky

bluegreen said:

roughbarked said:

Ive got two 20+ metre Silky Oaks but I’ll not be cutting those down just yet. It is the several 20+ m dead gum trees that I’ve got to bring down without damaging house, carport, cars or my garden full of rare things.

tricky

I imagine that dead trees are more difficult to manage when felling.

bluegreen said:

bluegreen said:

roughbarked said:

Ive got two 20+ metre Silky Oaks but I’ll not be cutting those down just yet. It is the several 20+ m dead gum trees that I’ve got to bring down without damaging house, carport, cars or my garden full of rare things.

tricky

I imagine that dead trees are more difficult to manage when felling.

Yes.

roughbarked said:

bluegreen said:

bluegreen said:

tricky

I imagine that dead trees are more difficult to manage when felling.

Yes.

Indeed.

Today lots happened! I’ve got the week off and it’s not just a staycation it’s a do-craploads-cation (can’t see that word catching on somehow :P !)

Telstra connected the landline. I had to be home 8-12 so he rang at 8.01am and I had a dial tone by 8.06am. Efficient much – gobsmacked!

I mowed and whipper-snipped for two hours.

I had the locksmith up, he’ll get back to me with a quote for locks for front door, two sliding doors and a spare matched barrel for the new back door that I’ll put on eventually.

The pest guy came and offered to spray the house while it was still empty but I asked for a low-chemical alternative for dealing with the ants (not sure how bad the problem is) and he’ll drop off a tube of gel that’s akin to serious Antrid for me to use as needed.

In the middle of this the electrician finally got to looking at my fridge (where I’m renting) and will order a new thermostat, hopefully that will stop it freezing my vegies. I currently have my vegies in an esky, sick of having to make soup out of frozen veg.

Late this afternoon the carrier dropped off the roofing iron for the bullnose verandah, the roofing guys will be here later in the work to finish that off.

The neighbours on the top side, a young couple with a toddler, needed their lawn mown and offered to pay DS14 to do it. This afternoon DS14 had his first mowing lesson, twenty minutes long, and then I helped get him going in the neighbours’ place. I whipper-snipped for half an hour as I watched him get the hang of it then left him to it – took nearly two hours, very proud of him for sticking with it.

Then late in the afternoon I spent an hour or so doing a “walking tidy” – pick up an armload of tree trimmings to take down the back, pick up a load of crap and put it in the bin, pick up a couple of handful of bits of metal I’ve dug out of the lawn or under the lawn clipping piles and stack them on the metal pile … etc, etc.

Tree man’ll be at the house at 8am tomorrow. I gotta get up early, need to have a go at the trees out the front and drag the branches down to where the chipper will be seeing as it’ll be there anyway.

sounds like a very productive day for you :)

wow it’s all happening :)
You’ll be in your element fixing it up, and such a charactor filled house. Do you know it’s history?

Yeehah said:

Today lots happened! I’ve got the week off and it’s not just a staycation it’s a do-craploads-cation (can’t see that word catching on somehow :P !)

Telstra connected the landline. I had to be home 8-12 so he rang at 8.01am and I had a dial tone by 8.06am. Efficient much – gobsmacked!

I mowed and whipper-snipped for two hours.

I had the locksmith up, he’ll get back to me with a quote for locks for front door, two sliding doors and a spare matched barrel for the new back door that I’ll put on eventually.

The pest guy came and offered to spray the house while it was still empty but I asked for a low-chemical alternative for dealing with the ants (not sure how bad the problem is) and he’ll drop off a tube of gel that’s akin to serious Antrid for me to use as needed.

In the middle of this the electrician finally got to looking at my fridge (where I’m renting) and will order a new thermostat, hopefully that will stop it freezing my vegies. I currently have my vegies in an esky, sick of having to make soup out of frozen veg.

Late this afternoon the carrier dropped off the roofing iron for the bullnose verandah, the roofing guys will be here later in the work to finish that off.

The neighbours on the top side, a young couple with a toddler, needed their lawn mown and offered to pay DS14 to do it. This afternoon DS14 had his first mowing lesson, twenty minutes long, and then I helped get him going in the neighbours’ place. I whipper-snipped for half an hour as I watched him get the hang of it then left him to it – took nearly two hours, very proud of him for sticking with it.

Then late in the afternoon I spent an hour or so doing a “walking tidy” – pick up an armload of tree trimmings to take down the back, pick up a load of crap and put it in the bin, pick up a couple of handful of bits of metal I’ve dug out of the lawn or under the lawn clipping piles and stack them on the metal pile … etc, etc.

Tree man’ll be at the house at 8am tomorrow. I gotta get up early, need to have a go at the trees out the front and drag the branches down to where the chipper will be seeing as it’ll be there anyway.

Awesome sauce!

Sorry, haven’t the energy to read anything else but will report in.

Was at the house shortly after 6am. Worked outside in the yard for a couple of hours – dragged the cut branches down the back to make a pile for the mulcher, re-stacked piles of rubbish, recyclables, etc.

Started scraping carpet backing off the hallway floor, denailing as I went. Sodding staples, grrr!

Tree man arrived 9am, we discussed what I wanted done, he made suggestions and I added more to the list, he gave me a quote.

I did some more work at/around the house, dashed home and woke the lad (he’ll be 15yo next months btw, older son just turned 22yo), dashed to the mower man and bought a new blade for my whipper snipper, dashed downtown, entered the wrong password and stuffed up my bank account, had a quick look at one of those travelling sales setups “all stock must go” and bought enough rubber-back curtains to do most of the house for $135 (heading tape already sewn on, full drop, continuous so I just need to cut & hem – half the work’s done!!). Back home, lad had gone back to sleep, roared at him, apparently he CAN move quickly if he’s got the fear of mum in him, back to the house by 11am.

Worked with the lad clearing a bit of a rubbish pile (old carpet, boards, long grass, bricks), got him on the wheelbarrow and carting bricks from various parts of the yard to make a new, neat pile (out of the way).

Tree man arrived bit after 12noon.

Bloody hell they can make mulch outta big trees in a short time!!

They dropped the silky oak but said that there were so many nails & screws etc in the trunk that it would ruin their chainsaws let alone me trying to get someone to mill the wood – and this from a man who prides himself on saving/reusing the timber from the trees he fells. So what didn’t go through the big mulcher went to the tip dammit.

I had to duck home early arvo to get tea & coffee-making equipment to keep the team well-oiled. Just finished the arvo cuppa and the electrician turned up. Got him started on replacing power points, light fittings and switches. Had to dash out to get $ from the bank (good price for cash for tree chap). Tree chap also took the ivy off the side of the house. Didn’t think about the $dent in the budget, just saw how much the ivy has grown in the last two months, realised it will take me a month of Sundays to get to it and said yes when he offered to get rid of it for an extra few hundred $s.

It feels like I am spending money like water :P

One of the sparkie’s jobs was to remove light fitting, switch, power points, oven from kitchen and tie off the wiring so it’s ready for when I rip out the ceiling and wall linings, insulate and re-line with gyprock. My kitchen is a sink balancing on the frame of its cupboard, that’s it. Oh, sorry, and the wood stove set into the fireplace that I need to have a tradie check out to see if it’s usable/saveable.

Sparkie left just before 5, I chatted with neighbours, got home 5.30, took the lad to his mate’s place for a sleepover (movie night), got groceries, home at 5.45, nuked dinner, shower, 15 mins late for my 7pm social outing (I’m in the local arts council musical), home half an hour ago.

Buggered.

I’ll be up at 5.30am again tomorrow. Sparkie back 9-ish, needs to relocate the phone point, will involve some sub-floor work to go around a fireplace and into the loungeroom. He’s also going to order safety switches to replace old ceramic fuses on the switchboard. My budget (yeah right I had a budget, not!) is in tatters!

Solar man coming about 9 to talk hot water.

Need to get the floors scraped back tomorrow ready to be sanded back on Friday. That’s the next story!

Hurt my shoulder yesterday. Nurofen today. Hurts more now. More nurofen tomorrow. It can rest next week when all it’s got to do is typing.

GTG to bed now – stuffed AND buggered.

AND loving it :)

Yeehah said:

GTG to bed now – stuffed AND buggered.

AND loving it :)

I was worn out before I had even got half way through reading all that! I don’t know how you can do it! Great that you are loving it. I guess you can see all those results happening.

The tree must have been used as a tree house?

bluegreen said:

Yeehah said:

GTG to bed now – stuffed AND buggered.

AND loving it :)

I was worn out before I had even got half way through reading all that! I don’t know how you can do it! Great that you are loving it. I guess you can see all those results happening.

what BG said.

painmaster said:

bluegreen said:

Yeehah said:

GTG to bed now – stuffed AND buggered.

AND loving it :)

I was worn out before I had even got half way through reading all that! I don’t know how you can do it! Great that you are loving it. I guess you can see all those results happening.

what BG said.

Wot they said. I suddenly feel like going back to bed.

painmaster said:

bluegreen said:

Yeehah said:

GTG to bed now – stuffed AND buggered.

AND loving it :)

I was worn out before I had even got half way through reading all that! I don’t know how you can do it! Great that you are loving it. I guess you can see all those results happening.

what BG said.

and this is from a man who can do 600 squats a day!

bluegreen said:

and this is from a man who can do 600 squats a day!

that all?

roughbarked said:

bluegreen said:

and this is from a man who can do 600 squats a day!

that all?

Skite! lol!

I can’t even do one without help, so that is impressive enough for me! (I can get down, I just can’t get up again!)

Today lots happened! I’ve got the week off and it’s not just a staycation it’s a do-craploads-cation (can’t see that word catching on somehow :P !)

————————————————————-

good achievathon – Yeehah

bluegreen said:

painmaster said:

bluegreen said:

I was worn out before I had even got half way through reading all that! I don’t know how you can do it! Great that you are loving it. I guess you can see all those results happening.

what BG said.

and this is from a man who can do 600 squats a day!

I think you have me confused with Roughy… he’s up and down all day pruning and grafting and stuff.

GTG to bed now – stuffed AND buggered. AND loving it :)

—————————————-

at least everyone is turning up on time and working well. congrats and sleep well.

painmaster said:

bluegreen said:

painmaster said:

what BG said.

and this is from a man who can do 600 squats a day!

I think you have me confused with Roughy… he’s up and down all day pruning and grafting and stuff.

ah yes, so I have. But then again, you cycle long distances in a day which is just as impressive :)

bluegreen said:

painmaster said:

bluegreen said:

and this is from a man who can do 600 squats a day!

I think you have me confused with Roughy… he’s up and down all day pruning and grafting and stuff.

ah yes, so I have. But then again, you cycle long distances in a day which is just as impressive :)

this is true… I still was impressed with Yeehah’s energy. It currently sounds like the new purchase is a life changer. Hopefully she knows how to pace herself so she doesn’t end up burned out and jaded from all of the hard work?

bluegreen said:

painmaster said:

bluegreen said:

and this is from a man who can do 600 squats a day!

I think you have me confused with Roughy… he’s up and down all day pruning and grafting and stuff.

ah yes, so I have. But then again, you cycle long distances in a day which is just as impressive :)

I can average a hundred miles a day.

roughbarked said:

bluegreen said:

painmaster said:

I think you have me confused with Roughy… he’s up and down all day pruning and grafting and stuff.

ah yes, so I have. But then again, you cycle long distances in a day which is just as impressive :)

I can average a hundred miles a day.

How do you quantify that?

painmaster said:

roughbarked said:

bluegreen said:

ah yes, so I have. But then again, you cycle long distances in a day which is just as impressive :)

I can average a hundred miles a day.

How do you quantify that?

I rode from here to Berri. Along the way we encountered head winds and cramps and the Hay pub.. Afterwards there was a van load of hippies and baclava and hashish. Still did the 650 km in four days.

roughbarked said:

painmaster said:

roughbarked said:

I can average a hundred miles a day.

How do you quantify that?

I rode from here to Berri. Along the way we encountered head winds and cramps and the Hay pub.. Afterwards there was a van load of hippies and baclava and hashish. Still did the 650 km in four days.

Nice work.

Can’t get off the lounge. It’s Saturday morning and I think I am on the verge of a burnout actually, but I don’t have time for that till Monday!

I’ve had the week off work, looking forward to sitting in my nice comfy office chair and exercising my brain. My muscles all hurt.

Yesterday drove 67km to hire a floor sander, home with it by 8.45am.

Met up with a chap who was selling an 8ft ladder, ended up also buying an extension ladder, painter’s drop sheet, 5 sets steel shelves, two chests of drawers (one antique he says) for just over $200 and he threw in some paint roller cages on extension handles and an electric sheet sander.

Home, roared at the lad, got him out of bed and to the mowing job he’d committed to, he earned $50 sitting on a ride-on mower for a couple of hours.

To the hardware shop and spent more money. THAT will be never-ending!! On the bright side I have an account and it not only lets me pay by the end of the following month, I get a discount on some items. Why would I pay cash?!

Back at the house spent another hour prepping for the sander, did some tidying up, neighbours dropped in for yet another chat, lad was dropped off, took him home and had lunch.

FINALLY got started on the sanding at 1pm.

Gave up shortly after 7pm when another neighbour came over for a chat. Stood still long enough to realise that I needed not to be vertical so locked up the house, came home and sat on the bloody lounge for too long instead of going to bed and sleeping. Lounge is comfy and so hard to get off it!

Realistically I probably only got in about 5.5 hours of sanding, did 5 “rooms” – 3 bedrooms, hallway, kitchen. When I stopped I realised that I needed daylight to be able to assess the quality of the job so far. The kitchen floor was worst, I had to go over it about 4 times in different directions with the coarsest grit sandpaper to get it to a good baseline. The biggest bedroom was the easiest, only two passes with the sander on coarse.

So I’m sitting here procrastinating, because I just plain ache. I rang the hire place, have got the sander for another day, will take it back tomorrow morning – a second day at $95 but happy to pay the extra and have the job done properly. When I take it back I’ll hire the edging sander and that’s tomorrow’s job. Note to self: buy gel knee pads from hardware shop!!

Need to hang clothes on line and get groceries, the cupboards are nearly bare and back to school for the lad and work for me on Monday.

CYAs :)

PM: shoosh!!!

;)

I’m going now. Coffee.

I don’t know how you do it!

Are you taking before and after photos?

bluegreen said:

I don’t know how you do it!

Are you taking before and after photos?

Does she have time for taking photos?

bluegreen said:

I don’t know how you do it!

Are you taking before and after photos?

Oath. Squillions. But loading ‘em onto the ‘puter takes time!

Got in several more hours of sanding today – probably 5 or 6 when I allow for interruptions.

The floorboards are lovely, although there is occasional evidence of softwood borer damage. My reaction to the borer thing is to stick my fingers in my ears and sing la-la-la a lot. It’ll just have to do. As Kevin McCloud of Grand Designs says, it’s part of the “narrative” of the house. I’m working on the assumption that when the house was damp underneath and there were layers of lino and backing and carpet on the floor that was a perfect environment for pests. Now there’s just boards they’ll sod off and never come back. Or else.

Off for another 67km drive tomorrow morning, will give back the floor/drum sander (and pay the two days’ hire fee), hire in its place the edging sander and tomorrow’s job is to do all the edges.

While I’m over there I’ll collect a couple of big metal doors that I found listed on a local Facebook Swap & Sell page. Measured them when I was there the other day and they’ll fit perfectly on the shed at the new place. I need it to lock up, got heaps to store in there. The neighbours have warned me that because we’re just down from the showground (half a block) that all sorts of people hang around our street and things often go missing, so I’ll take care to keep things locked up I think.

I’ll put the edge sander on the local courier service on Monday to go back to the hire place as I’ll be back at work, will save nearly 2 hours’ driving and the fuel, probably only cost $10-$20.

The Lad has been doing heaps of work. I’ve got him on the payroll and geez he can go when he’s motivated!! Costing me a bomb but no complaints – would rather pay him than a stranger. He had a bit of an “oh no, is this really happening to me?” moment today when I had him potting up the bare-rooted fruit trees that have been waiting in their plastic bags for the last month. He thinks it’s hilarious that I am the mad gardener and he has ended up gardening (kinda) too. I think it’s gorgeous, but I daren’t say so.

I give him a job, explain it, do a demo, watch him for a bit, go off and do my thing and check back later. He’s a thinker and he’s practical, so it’s working well.

And we’re having some fabulous conversations.

This scenario – shared activity, common goal/s – is part of the reason I wanted a place of my own again. Feeling connected with the lad is beyond measure.

Yeehah said:

Feeling connected with the lad is beyond measure.

priceless indeed :)

I bloody ache.

Bloody edging sanders are instruments of torture. I did once round on a coarse grit sandpaper, took hours as I had to keep taking breaks to unbend and rest my back, arms, shoulders, legs.

I started the second round with the intention of using a medium grit and just gave up.

A friend lent me her belt sander, I’ll bloody sort something out with that. Or the sheet sander given to me by the bloke I bought some secondhand gear from. I’m sending the bloody edging sander back to the bloody hire company with most of the bloody sanding sheets. That thing’s an OH&S nightmare!

I spent half an hour at the hardware shop reading the back of floor finish tins a bit before lunch, I think I have decided on the product that I’ll use. Just a little problem with finishing the floors well enough to seal them.

Meantime I’ll do the last few patching-up things in the loungeroom from where the wood heater was removed. The room is so much bigger with it out! I’ll get some heating sorted before next winter, got plenty to do before that becomes an issue though.

Yeehah said:

I bloody ache.

Bloody edging sanders are instruments of torture. I did once round on a coarse grit sandpaper, took hours as I had to keep taking breaks to unbend and rest my back, arms, shoulders, legs.

I started the second round with the intention of using a medium grit and just gave up.

A friend lent me her belt sander, I’ll bloody sort something out with that. Or the sheet sander given to me by the bloke I bought some secondhand gear from. I’m sending the bloody edging sander back to the bloody hire company with most of the bloody sanding sheets. That thing’s an OH&S nightmare!

I spent half an hour at the hardware shop reading the back of floor finish tins a bit before lunch, I think I have decided on the product that I’ll use. Just a little problem with finishing the floors well enough to seal them.

Meantime I’ll do the last few patching-up things in the loungeroom from where the wood heater was removed. The room is so much bigger with it out! I’ll get some heating sorted before next winter, got plenty to do before that becomes an issue though.

Have a relaxing week at work Yeehah, you deserve it.

painmaster said:

Yeehah said:

I bloody ache.

Bloody edging sanders are instruments of torture. I did once round on a coarse grit sandpaper, took hours as I had to keep taking breaks to unbend and rest my back, arms, shoulders, legs.

I started the second round with the intention of using a medium grit and just gave up.

A friend lent me her belt sander, I’ll bloody sort something out with that. Or the sheet sander given to me by the bloke I bought some secondhand gear from. I’m sending the bloody edging sander back to the bloody hire company with most of the bloody sanding sheets. That thing’s an OH&S nightmare!

I spent half an hour at the hardware shop reading the back of floor finish tins a bit before lunch, I think I have decided on the product that I’ll use. Just a little problem with finishing the floors well enough to seal them.

Meantime I’ll do the last few patching-up things in the loungeroom from where the wood heater was removed. The room is so much bigger with it out! I’ll get some heating sorted before next winter, got plenty to do before that becomes an issue though.

Have a relaxing week at work Yeehah, you deserve it.

You doing floors? Hire a floor sander. It is exactly the same as a floor polisher. You stand up and it walks around.

roughbarked said:

You doing floors? Hire a floor sander. It is exactly the same as a floor polisher. You stand up and it walks around.

she’s done that bit, just needs to do the edges now.

bluegreen said:

roughbarked said:

You doing floors? Hire a floor sander. It is exactly the same as a floor polisher. You stand up and it walks around.

she’s done that bit, just needs to do the edges now.

Ah, the tricky bit. If the house has skirting boards, removing them will facilitate this.

Horrible week. That floor sander on Sunday truly was an instrument of torture. Had the day off work yesterday as my painful right shoulder got the better of my home pharmacy. GP gave me some anti-inflammatories that are kinda okay but really only taking the edge off the pain. Went for a massage today, she wants me back on Monday.

More than anything I’m cranky about the time that I’m losing, I have so much to do and I’m paying both mortgage and rent.

My plan was to finish the sanding then seal the floors, once that was done I’d give three weeks’ notice on the flat. I could then have that three weeks to wash walls and get the house ready enough to move into while I packed and slowly moved stuff over, with the last weekend of the three weeks for moving the big stuff.

So I’m stuck here waiting for my stupid shoulder to heal because I’m not going to risk doing anything to jinx it!

:(

The cavalry is coming!

My big lad DS22 will be arriving on Monday afternoon with either one or two uni mates to either help with the sanding or wash walls, they’re planning to put in a couple of hours, staying late if need be, then dash off home again (just over an hour’s drive away).

Tried a belt sander on the edges today, I thought if I got it going DS14 could have a whack at it. Need a coarser grit, though, so will get that from the hardware store tomorrow morning and try it out. If it seems to be able to do the job of finishing off the edges the youngster can earn some pocket money with that for a bit and then the big lads can do more on Monday.

Yeehah said:

The cavalry is coming!

My big lad DS22 will be arriving on Monday afternoon with either one or two uni mates to either help with the sanding or wash walls, they’re planning to put in a couple of hours, staying late if need be, then dash off home again (just over an hour’s drive away).

Tried a belt sander on the edges today, I thought if I got it going DS14 could have a whack at it. Need a coarser grit, though, so will get that from the hardware store tomorrow morning and try it out. If it seems to be able to do the job of finishing off the edges the youngster can earn some pocket money with that for a bit and then the big lads can do more on Monday.

great :D