Tuesday; 9am plumber it is all go! Then Cory arrived and not longer after Laura saying she has her key. A few more loads and we get away to get some more paperwork done. It is good getting this all off our plate, we like the balls to be in other peoples courts otherwise we are the ones holding up progress! We set off to the Waitaki District Council to ask what we need to do for Till Street. Sounds like we may get away with a discretionary consent rather than a full building consent. At the St John’s op shop I found a very arty piece. Didn’t buy it, thought it would suit someone else more, haha. I honestly don’t know what we got done for the rest of the day, this week has turned into a blur. I do remember heading back to Laura’s to help her put her bed frame up. She needed our drill. Some ladies from the church and her mum came to pray and we quickly scampered with Nina so we didn’t get in the way.

Wednesday; Oh look, more paperwork!

We tried to track down Dave from Placemakers as we had a question about roofing types. We have gotten a lot of conflicting information. Looks like he won’t be around until tomorrow. We then hunt down Eugene at Mitre10 and ask the same question, he is unsure and says he will get back to us. Next we make an appointment to see Brenda our designer, she should be able to answer the question after all. We are not going to get any major answers today. Next on the firm up list is windows, no one wants to give us the hand holding we need. I think windows are a license to print money, I think they all decide this is what it costs me and I think these guys can afford this price. The lowest quotes have been around the $10k mark and the highest around $22k. Rowan fires off an email to all quotes we have received asking for a price breakdown. It is really hard to make decisions about size and design when we have no clue what makes double glazing cost x amount. Our windows need argon gas so they are low E and they also need to be thermally broken. They need a certain thermal rating, which is great. It gets cold here, there needs to be more efficient buildings. We are only 30 years behind places like the UK.

Thursday; A box covered by a black bag is sitting on our doorstep. At first I thought it was from Laura but then also thought she can’t afford to be giving thank you gifts. There is a box of beer, some chocolate and a card. It is from Alistair, Laura’s ex husband. A very long card offering payment for helping Laura and so on. Rowan and I wanted to give it all back with a card to say thank you for the gesture but it is completely unnecessary. We talked to Laura about it first to make sure we do as she wishes. She tells us to accept it but do not acknowledge it. Off to Placemakers to see if we can get the roof shape pinned down. Dave thinks our cheaper option will be hip. Which is rather annoying because when we asked this question back in December everyone said go monopitch. After a few emails we leave Leona’s office to meet Cory at the house. Cory is on sanding the weather boards. We set him up and head out to meet Brenda the designer. Brenda helps us with the roofline design, it turns out monopitch or skillion as some people call it is most costly. Then gable, then hip. Rowan and I are adamant to have a monopitch, this house is rather small and the height will make a huge difference to the feel of it. We have settled on flat ceilings in the bedrooms and bathroom, with traditional trusses. In the living/kitchen area there is an 8 degree pitch, giving us the height we desire. Before we lock it all in, let’s make sure we are not adding a huge amount of cost. We have said with each decision that we will take the most economical option. This often means the cheapest, however if it is a small extra cost to make it more liveable we will make that choice. We have given the green light for Brenda to move ahead, get this designed so we can apply for consent and get proper quotes for materials. There was an insulation check done by some company to see if our home complies. There is no room for underfloor insulation, but there is batts in the higher part of the house. Cory has finally completed the sanding.

Friday; Feeling exhausted, brain has turned into mush. It takes a lot of time and energy working out all of these small details. More paperwork, at least it feels rather good as each step we take makes it a lot closer to getting the consent done. Off to Placemakers to get an idea on what this roof design is going to cost. The cladding is a cost but not that large, of course the plaster board on the inside too, but not so bad that we are going to say no. I think our best option for cladding is Hardie cement weather boards. They are easy to install, come with a good warranty and reasonably priced. because we are going over 3 metres there is now a need for stronger walls, which costs about an extra $500 of wood. They will just double up the 2×4. There is need for special venting for the roof so moisture doesn’t get trapped and make the insulation damp. The roofing lady scares us at first with a, “oh, that is going to cost you.” Turns out it will cost us but not as much as you would think. An extra $1,500k, which is not bad. Sure if you were building a big home I can see how these costs could spiral out of control. By the time the day is complete, I am ready to switch my brain off house materials.

Saturday; Herbie day, well more of a day off. We read our books for most of the day and ignore our phones as much as possible. Cleared out the ute and put back only what we want in there. I started to go through some jewellery. I am torn between putting some effort in and selling it or just put it in a large box in the back of the container and worry about it in 10 years time. No conclusion yet! Part of me regrets getting our little place in Till Street. It is a cute cottage and I love it a lot, but it really is on the back burner which makes me feel a bit guilty. I am sure once we have the consent lodged it will get the attention it deserves.

Sunday; A hop, skip and a jump to Dunedin. A copper cistern came up on trademe for $100. Well worth it and some gorgeous lead light doors, six in fact. More than we need, but these never come up for sale. You see small amounts in doors but not a full door like these. While we are here we go to the op shops. Obviously not all of them but three are open today. We get lunch on our way out of town. Leaving at a reasonable hour and easily go to the two dump shops on the way back. We pick up a nice mid century chair for $2. Probably shouldn’t have got it as it is not something we need, but for the price who can complain. I will drop it off to an op shop if it is not useful.

Monday; New week, new start. To be clear 4am starts. Rowan suggested we go back to early mornings like we used to do. Brilliant idea, we will achieve a lot more and it will give us a much needed routine. Our first job at the pre crack of dawn is going for a walk. Not too far or long, but up the Herbert Hill to the cemetery. Or if we are somewhere else whatever we can find. Like today, we are up Mt Misery so we walk a bit further up and back. We got into leona’s office bright and early, 6.30am. I notice my first grey hair today, I have been wanting some white hairs for a long time. My sisters got them a decade or more ago and finally I join them. Is Rowan really stressing me out so much I am going grey? HAHA. Another day of paperwork, we have a bunch of responses about the breakdowns from glaziers. Only two have actually broken the quote down. The other 8 are telling me why they can’t do that. It shouldn’t be this hard but they sure don’t make it easy! Tama comes around after Cory has left for the day. We have a bunch of questions that we need to ask him. We also get an idea on what he is charging for labour $20k – $25k.