A new look

1.7.2011

BUILDING NEWS

Yesterday the weather was fantastic. Warm sunny and very dry. All the ground has dried out and life is much pleasanter for all concerned. Geoff and Glen are back on the job and yesterday Edd helped them transport the large arched window frames down to the house site and set them up in the correct positions.

It all looks so different now. I had got used to the way it has been and feel a bit rattled by the change. Al came for a site visit in the morning and we discussed the shapes for the internal ceilings. Once again I have become used to the tall boxes and felt resistant to change. How odd that unconsciously I have already so much identity with the new house in its unfinished form.

I have let Al guide me about the ceiling shapes but I am sticking out for a plane white look that we can do with plaster board and a bit of tricky corner work. Al still feels that there might be acoustic problems but I am very much against using any material that gives off fumes when hot there is very little in the way of alternatives available in Australia.

Today the bricklayers have run out of some vital glue needed to fix the steel rods for the pillars into the slab. I am getting ready to do a transport run down to the city to get some. We have tried asking what materials will be needed so we can get everything on site in advance but it is probably our job to know so this sort of problem keeps coming up. If we were not so busy we might get time to think.

OTHER NEWS

I am fighting off a virus that started with a sore throat on Wednesday. I did a lot of sleeping yesterday afternoon and am back on my feet this morning. Al is feeling a lot happier about his situation and so there is less to worry about there. Today he heads off north on the long drive to take India and Arden up to his father in law in Townsville.

This is one of the wonderful things about Australia. If you are not enjoying the weather, you just drive somewhere else. It has been a difficult time for these Grandkids but I am sure a holiday by the sea in the sun will help a lot. Al and his X are getting legal advise but they still hope they can sort out separate lives with out a court battle, something that is not easy but we all think is for the best.

On the farm the broccoli heads are growing larger by the day and the swedes are big and juicy. The celery has been good this year but strangely the silver beet is slow. The red-hot pokers and arum lilies are flowering and the daffodils are growing taller every day. All the sun this week has brought the chooks back into lay and has increased milk production.