Pants Free ?

Well I was flat out over the weekend still working on the cottage.
 First I was cleaning up all the demolition rubbish so I can make a start.

Second, I was measuring all the windows. This is a typical example.
As you can see there are some lovely views to be had, but the windows are old and small. They are also quite literally falling to pieces from neglect.
 I managed to get to a window manufacturer to order replacements during my lunch break.
 

Finally, it is jumping the gun a bit, but I put some boards into the hole in the bathroom floor.

I needed to begin something constructive to counterbalance the destruction I have been wreaking on the place recently. Plus it will stop me falling through the hole as I contemplate things like windows!

Eagle eyed readers may have noticed a pair of blue jeans in the above photo.

As odd as I am I not in the habit of working sans pants.

They are actually an old pair I was using to push dust off the boards as I drilled them for nailing (Oz hardwood is so tough it has to be pre-drilled to avoid splitting).

The Cringe Factor

I am not sure if I said but my new job is only four days a week.
Ultimately I want to use the three day weekend for my writing and photography.
But for now it means I have extra time to work on the cottage to get it fit for habitation.

Before I say a word about that I should mention this week's WIIW.

A few good guesses but no one was on the money. Now I warn you I will give the answer at the bottom and it is likely to cause the same reaction as it does for Deb - a cringe.

Now back to the house.
Today I managed to get the last of the lining out.
This piccie is looking from what will be the lounge room through the bathroom wall and into the enclosed front veranda.

Speaking of the bathroom, when I checked the floor a large chunk of it was rotted so I have had those floorboards out.
 It looks pretty dismal at the moment doesn't it?

So now to the answer to WIIW.
This fellow is a medium sized "huntsman" spider about 4 inches across. Up in the rainforest country we see them up to about a hand-span across. Totally harmless - except to arachnophobes!

What is it Wednesday??

It feels near miraculous but we have had a dry, and sometimes sunny day down this way.
After three weeks of nearly continuous (often flooding) rain it is a real relief

Anyway it is Wednesday so I had better post a piccie.

What on Earth do you think this might be?

When the rain stops

Well the rain stopped this afternoon.
The cloud broke up long enough to give us this...

Take mountains add rain

Each work day (I am now working four days a week) it feels like a gamble that I might not get to work. Or get back

Not because I am in any danger but because it is so wet that roads here are going under, then being opened a few hours then closing again.

For example my boss was late today because she couldn't get to town her usual way; the road was under. By lunch time her husband came through; it was open again.

My piccie of the day shows what the weather continues to be like up here.

This is the view from our cottage, normally you can see mountains.
But they have disappeared into the cloud

Coming down

Well I have been busy all weekend.

I have managed to pull the lining out of what will be our bedroom


and out of the kitchen

At the moment I am just chucking the lining board out the front door.

Then (rain allowing) I load it into my trailer and run it down the paddock to where I will ultimately burn it.

Now it is late and I have to be away early to to get to work on time...

In which we make a start and Al gives an answer

Well as you know Deb and I have "gone bush" and relocated to my Mum's house as a temporary measure.
Temporary because we have to do significant work to our little cottage before we can move in.

This first piccie is of the lounge room wall and ceiling. The house has been standing empty for nearly twenty years and has been leaking so the old masonite partitions and ceilings are beyond salvaging.

Last week end, as you know it was raining (as it is again) so I made a start on pulling out the lining

I started by pulling out the walls. You can see the old weatherboards have had it, they will need to be replaced too but it is just too wet outside!

Then I pulled down the ceiling, and what a mess came down. The old insulation formed the basis for my WIIW (all of you who guessed insulation get 100%) 

What you can't see (thankfully) is 50 years of rat and mouse droppings that also came down!

I am hoping I can refinish the house to keep the buggers out in the future