My Mexican/Croatian/Polish Family Has Gone...

Wow, that time went so quickly, I can't believe it.

Almost 5 weeks and tons of jobs done, some half done and some just started.

Somethings we couldn't complete due to not knowing how to take the next step, like fixing the wine vat...others, we ran out of time, paint or whatever and one big one...we blew up a second sander machine, just when there was one panel left to complete sanding on the wardrobe door!

All in all a great time with the young ones. One is a tad younger than my 2 older grand children, one is a year or so older and their 6 year old girl is the same age as my youngest grandson.

So it was like having my own family here, in a way. It was good company to be able to speak English and I learned how to make bean paste and bean and chicken soup!

Getting close to the ceiling level on the 3 door shed renovations. It will be called the tool shed once it is completed to make things clearer for guests and volunteers.

Painting the little shed which now becomes called the wood shed...Still a bit of patching up around the door etc, but at least it's all in one piece now....and retains one front wall where the plaster finish is 100 years old almost.

Don't know what happened to the champers glasses...they are up to the red now...I gave the red a miss.

Missy having lunch...a picky eater at meal times, so I made her a face sandwich...which she ate OK.

Mileania made one similar the next day, so she liked the pattern it seemed.

Speaking of patterns...this is how the art work begins.

Then a long study online hunting for the right patterns to use on the chairs. There was only one set of chairs we found and they were the ones from Catherines' Cottages in Budapest...So it looks like they are pretty unique!

I just noticed the shading on the flowers here. She is jolly good...plus how on earth did she do the tiny legs on the birds?

Now for the rest of the chair...

Getting there...All sides, front and backs and inner legs etc are to be completed too...This pattern is nice and light and lacy where as the other is bolder and makes its own statement. I like them both and can't pick a fave...

We had a farewell bottle of bubbly with nibblies followed by a nice going away meal of beautiful turkey breast in bacon and mushroom cream sauce with peas and a should have been, cold potato and corn salad...which ended up still in the fridge the next day...oops!

The 2nd chair has been almost completed and looks awesome too, so when they all dry and I can stand them up to photograph, you'll see the finished set finally.

Very excited about the Lodge now as inside it's beginning to take shape...in my mind anyways!
Can't wait to build the big room now...One big open room, no walls, apart from the bathroom walls and stairs up to a mez floor with a west facing window so I can take sunset pics!

Up on the mez floor in the big room, I want a west facing window like this one here so I can take sunset pics without trees, caravans, dunnys, dead sticks in winter and too many trees in summer! Am hoping there is enough space up there to do it.

The guys have been working away in other cities, so I have to wait for them to have a day off or a Sunday half day to get some work done now Summer is here and also in between the blessed rain.

The 3 door shed walls are almost done this afternoon, Sunday 5th June and the rafters should go up next, then roof tiles go back on, a new door gets put in place of one of the smaller door holes and the floor gets concreted.

That will then alleviate a huge storage problem here and should only take a week at most, but if they are working elsewhere, it will be finished in June sometime.
Finally I'll be able to lock up the cement mixer and other tools and take them out of the end room, which now is going to be the lounge room and not a bedroom.
Thus begins the second  last big clean up inside finally.

And so it all begins again...the 3 door shed starting its make over mid May...then it rained on and off for 2 weeks holding up the work...

2 weeks ago...A clearish day and it's full steam ahead...

The day ended up nice and the guys worked an extra 2 hrs to get as much done as they could.

To-day...Sunday 5th June...The red bricks are 1cm smaller than the cream bricks we discovered...hence some wiggles in the rows. After a cement render job, it all gets covered up and looks great, so no probs.

Looks like I gaine a foot or so in the shed inside so that's good. They will have to add a row of timber to fill in the ceiling now...sighhh, nothing ever goes straight here!

Yeah, well...the end of the poor old shed. At least it is still ok the bit that is still there!

The gap in space that I gained inside the shed...That inner white wall you can see gets knocked out once they have secured the ceiling onto the new wall next week.

Naaah, I didn't do any cementing or laying bricks...Just posing!

The last job my volunteer family did...heading into the bathroom for a shower and then we party!

Rather sad in a way as they were here for almost 5 weeks and dog and I got used to chaos in the place with the little one....It was great having them here and helping get the child stabilised before heading off to Marias own home, which is in a group of 6 or more units on the seaside on one of the islands in Split. Am so pleased to get all the furniture almost completely repainted, stained and or sanded back and varnished etc. Still have a robe to do from scratch and a bit of sanding to do on the front panels of doors on another robe.  But that is OK as I know how to do it now,  so when I get another sander...yep, the 3rd one, I'll get it done.

Look closely and you'll see dog's playmate and the biggest wild animal over here.

So cute, it's about 5-6 inches long and a fiery little thing!

I must rescue them if I see her hunting them again...so pretty.

We only have to cut a window in the now kitchen which is becoming a real separate bathroom...and take out the poor old window in the existing bathroom, enlarge the window hole and put in a double window. That will look amazing and so will the new kitchen.

Then we remembered that behind the existing shower is a half closed off window towards the east, under the verandah, so that will be knocked out and a new window put in there too. That will allow me to be in the new kitchen and see visitors at the front door...from the kitchen. Pretty awesome for here.

Another surprise...the grandson of the original owner sent me a bunch of pictures and information on the history of the property the other day.
I'll enclose some of his message for you, plus was hoping to get a sketch plan of the layout now of what is falling into place at the moment.(Sorry Richard, will photograph the sketch next week)

"My Uncle Janos live there the longest from 1924-2010

In 1960s my Aun JOLAN and her family lived in the room left from the entrance door (5 person) and in the room at the street my grandmother, uncle and my mother."

That's 8 people in the 2 roomed house, plus the middle cooking room with 2 fire ovens.
I have more info but will fix it up next time and do an entire post on it.

The property about 10 years ago it seems. The now collapsed shed looked good here and the summer kitchen's roof line is ok...so once things begin to crumble and collapse, it's over in a year or so! Check out the thingy on the well for pumping up the well water!

See the different levels on the 3 red roof lines?
Well, at the left end of the middle one, in the gable, is where I'm hoping to put that little curved window to the west.
The big verandah on the shed, which you can see, is going to be the same...ish and will be a nice patio, plus there will be French doors opening onto the patio from inside that one massive room.
It's about 7mtrs  x 7 metres clear...ish.

OK...am all done for now.
Next blog should be great with the history of the place here and lots of pics, along with the following weeks blog, as the 3 door shed should be finished and all the tools and machinery stored safely in it.

Meaning finally, I have a real house to live in!
Bye now...
xxx
M