Friday April 15, Tuesday April 19, Thursday May 12 More power Just before Christmas Alan the electrician had ‘livened’ up one circuit for power. Those three internal powerpoints were all we had to work with onsite for months (plus the two powerpoints in the meter box that we had before). Needless to say having more…
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Friday April 15, Thursday May 12 Process of elimination Wow! There are so many lights to choose from! Thankfully I was able to eliminate most on the basis they were either: a) hideously looking, or b) prohibitively expensive, or c) hideous and expensive. Once you cull the crap and costly the options are limited. Thankfully…
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Monday May 2, Wednesday May 4 / Thursday May 5 / Friday May 6 Reality Machining the weatherboards had been a major disappointment – we didn’t have nearly enough. The shortfall meant we only had enough boards to complete around half of the cladding. The west wall cops most of the weather, and we were…
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Friday April 29 An Early Idea It was the idea right from the start to reference local apple crates: not just for the symbolism of the local fruit growing history, or the rustic, rural aesthetic, but for practical reasons too. Several trees had to be cleared for bushfire purposes and I wanted to make use…
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Sunday April 24 Prep Talk My brother Gordon is a painter. He tells me: everyone thinks painting is easy, but it’s the preparation that takes time and skill to get right. I didn’t fill the nail holes before we whitewashed the ceiling, or sand the plywood: I didn’t see the need. My brother thought I…
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Thursday March 3, Sunday March 20 Delegate They say delegation is the sign of a good leader. That, or people get other people to do the things they don’t want to do themselves. Greg the builder wasn’t too keen to tackle the galvanized edge strip for the plaster – it was a kind of important…
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Thursday February 18, Friday February 19 Timing I had been been trying to get Trent the bricklayer back for a while. A couple of times he was available but I wasn’t – or didn’t have enough clean bricks ready for him. Other times I was organised but Trent was busy. Eventually the stars aligned and…
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Monday February 1 Keeping it in the family It’s handy having a brother as a painter. Gordon gave the cement sheet two coats of clear sealer, first cutting in the edges with a brush and then using a roller. This work was done a couple of months earlier – well before the cover strips went…
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Tuesday December 22 My Kitchen Rules Kitchens have become a centerpiece of many new homes. The advent of open-plan living has made the kitchen more visible than it historically was. Think of a separate room, tucked away behind a door, maybe even with a hatch to serve from – somewhere a housewife or servant would…
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Thursday November 19, Friday December 4 / Monday December 7, Monday January 25 Pack ’em in See the previous post about ‘Putting up the Ceiling’ for an explanation about the role that insulation plays in keeping a house warm in winter and cool in summer. For insulation to be effective it has to block all…
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