Week 2 With All Aussie Cast...Completed...

Well, I think the volunteer girls are rockin' it over most of the guys here!

So far, with volunteers, I've had 3 couples, some oldies, a few single young 'uns, an absolute machine of a Hungarian young man and now, two young Aussie girls...who are like energiser bunnies...they just keep on going!

We did a lot of small tasks after cleaning up the front room this past week and now we are testing the new layout before settling on a plan and finally cutting the last of 4 or 6 window holes in the 2 foot thick walls if we go with the new plan.  This window cutting out job is a marathon effort and not a task to make mistakes with.

Measure twice and cut once, the saying goes.

So moving some furniture around a bit, while it is messy for a few days, is an easier job to do to test one's theories.

What looks good on paper and in my mind doesn't always work out over here due to the 2 foot thick walls being the rather larger than life margin of error.

My mind has been trained as an Aussie builder for nigh on 50 years of renovating and then designing and building scores of homes, even an entire display village in Qld, so coming to grips with a new building code has it's learning curve.

But at least everything that is movable has been sanded, varnished, stained or painted and is now nice and clean and ready for use...even down to the metre long marshmallow toasting forks complete with an awesome stand...I found at my fave hardware store...out the back, under a pile of tiles and pipes.

Will complete painting the wooden handles different colours while we are at it I think... to make it easier for people to know which is theirs.

Oh, by the way...there is a spot in the middle of my camera lenses, so if you notice a big smudgey thing in some pics, it is not an alien space ship!

Big pink sky all over on Thursday evening...massive electrical storm with the loudest thunder ever...all night!

We have to move this pile of bricks, pack them over on the new pile and then terrace this side of the deck, this evening.

Yup, just like this...one brick at a time!

Then Zoe-Hercules lifts the barrow and magically trims her waist and perks her boobs at the same time! Talk about efficient use of time. Great exercises for the figure.

Gradually getting the pile down to ground zero...

Add caption

All done, final load...

So I went shopping on the Monday and had lunch of chocolate pancakes with peanut butter...2 massive big things for 300ft...which is under $1.50!  I have never bought a pancake and of course suffered badly from the wheat and sugar overload the next day with bloating and tummy cramps...serves me right.

Early one morning before the heat of day set in, we attacked the big deck and tried to level it out a bit more by smashing the uncrushed mud bricks...

Add caption

It only took about 30 or so mins and we were done in! But the job was done enough that I could go and level it out at 6am next morning before it rained, so that it would help compact it a bit more.

This week ahead we are completing sanding back the final 3 pieces of furniture that Eric couldn't complete before they left last month, so that will mean we finally have 3 nice clean robes to use. It should take a few days, then we'll move onto a range of smaller tasks to round off the week.

Zoe with the rogue robe...this paint/varnish is so stubborn, Eric wore out 2 sanders trying to get rid of it. We are trying the old fashioned way...by hand at first to break through all the layers of gunk so the new sander will work OK for a bit at least!

Will make a linen press out of one of the robes, by adding a stack of removable shelves so that when I finally build the other room with a sep room for linen, we can reuse the robe as a robe again. Built ins don't suit these old places, so robes it is!

Kate applying the rust proofing paint on the 3 metal pieces before painting them...along with all the marshmallow forks..

While Zoe was sanding the final robes doors, Kate (above) attacked the old metal wash stand, the toasting forks with stand and the strangely shaped pot plant holder, so all those metal things were treated with an anti rust coat and will be painted when dry...another bonus task done!

Then they got really into it with the wet brushes and did my computer chair, redid the medieval bench and chair, plus a few other chairs with a final top coat. Made such a difference too.

Then hopefully we'll have time to cut down the old fuel drums and make stools out of them, make reinforcing bottoms and paint them bright colours. We'll also try and assemble 2 wine barrels that collapsed while I moved them last year, plus another one that is still in one wonky piece outside...not game enough to move it until we are ready to fix that one!

Then for the last few days in their final week, we'll get down into the cellar and work out how to decorate it as it only requires a little cleaning of rubble that has fallen through the cracks in the cellar floor door above the steps down to the cellar.

The village has many such stork nests, all with a thriving batch of babies this year. Most stork families seem to have 3 young'uns this year.

My poor old gladdies are shifted from pillar to post in this week of jumbled rooms...

Went to town and up at our little bus stop someone had put up a pavilion with very fine water sprays in it! I jumped in for a cool off too...

This lovely tree at the bus stop was all yellow last week...today it is full of pods!

Back into the furniture removal biz again...this time in the old bedroom where the 2 beds were...Testing out size etc. Will move the couch into the end room as soon as Zoltan finishes the special marbley finish to the walls in there next week now. They rendered it all before Xmas as that is where I was going to put the bathroom...but it didn't work well in that end of the house...forever testing use patterns.

Only a few beams to complete in here now, then get someone to complete the plumbing and cement under the shower and vanity and it is done!...apart from a new window over the sink area as the old one is too far rotted to repair.

The girls have their wardrobe now, so we can begin the big clean up...and complete moving all the test furniture to new positions.

Raced outside at 8.30 pm on Friday evening to this lovely sky...again, an all over the sky colour. Amazing.

The sun was setting here, but the entire sky was pink.

Looking up the street to the east...ish...opposite direction to where the sun was setting.

Later on...it is still lovely...Of course it stormed all night again!

Forgot this one...we are wearing out gloves, fast! These are my little ones. Time for some new ones.

This lovely sky was the night before the one above...

Beautiful colour...

A massive electricalstorm came from this beautiful sky and it rained nicely for 18 hours, non stop, but lovely.

Any left over tasks will then be attacked in those last few days and hopefully that will complete the clean up and "restoration to modern day use" of the last of all the original and old things that were here when I came.
Then we'll test drive the cellar, hopefully, for a medieval farewell party before the girls head off on the rest of their journey...to Split of all places!

The girls, as with all volunteers, both will be offered a complimentary day for each fully completed week they volunteered here when the place is ready, so I'm hoping it all can be done in this month while they are here...

So with the setting sun, I'll close this blog for now...

It is Sunday afternoon and it is just beginning to clear up after 4 days of lovely cool weather when it rained most of that time!
The grass has shot ahead again...we'd just mowed it too...and I've given up on the tomato jungle.
I have to climb along the ground under the bushes to look for tomatoes...the tomato bushes all went ferrel in 4 days...amazing.

So it's bye for now and hope you are all well
Love to all from the girls and I,
M
xxx