Tuesday; Today we drop off ute to get a WOF and the rear shock fixed. Rowan just leaves the keys in the sun visor, we will use Camele for the next few days. Fred and Cory are working today. Cory gets onto replacing the old roof on the garage. Fred continues with the weatherboards down the south side and the front of the house. Then onto the floor holes in the dining area. The stuffed floorboards he pulls up must be original. They have hand forged square nails, made by a blacksmith! I am so excited by them, I will definitely pull them out and keep them. I attack the garden, I pull out all the plants I want to keep that I planted a few months ago. The weeds are out of control, it is easier to start again. Sorry I cannot remember what Rowan did, I need to get better at keeping notes. We ended up seeing Jimmy and Sylvia that afternoon. They are also renovating in Ngapara, a property they plan to leave the kids. I think they will end up living up there and use Herbert as more a getaway. It has incredible views and is very quiet.

Wednesday; After our usual early wake up routine we hang around until Vanessa’s is open. We haven’t been here in years and Jimmy keeps saying they make the best scrambled eggs. We want to go to the dump shop at 9am and we have no Cory today and Fred won’t be coming until the afternoon. It was a great scrambled eggs, well priced too. Once we wore off our welcome there, we headed down to the beach, there we got some paperwork done. After the tip shop we headed back to Herbert to get organised. We are meeting Brenda at 11.30am. Last night we had a brainwave, do we add an ensuite into the house for Plamerston? After our meeting with Brenda we quickly head to Till, Fred starts at 1pm. Fred removes the wall between the kitchen and the bathroom, more accurately makes a doorway. On advice from Brenda, Rowan and I pin down Tama and ask a few questions. We run around the rest of the afternoon, trying to figure out what an extra bathroom will costs us. Rowan and I discuss, how easy it is to get out of control. I can see why building blows up and costs double. It is all the “oh it is only an extra $5k.” But you do that several times and the costs go crazy. We come back and Fred is packing up. I am not sure he did enough for his time sheet but it is hard to know. Back at Placemakers again, we pick up a heat transfer for Till for a grand total of $50. There is also two letterboxes that are on clearance. These are $300 letterboxes for $30. Yay, more than happy with those. We hang around a bit longer as Dave the plumber is coming at 5pm. We get some guidance from him then head back to Herbert.

Thursday; The usual morning start, we head straight into the office to do some paperwork. We end up at Mitre10 talking kitchens for Till. I really want a good second hand one, it is much better value for the money. No Fred today but Cory is here. The weather is a bit pants. Cory finishes pulling off the ceiling. In the kitchen area there is great boards under the crappy coverings. I am going to leave them exposed and paint them up. With that gone the place feels much bigger and lighter. Now I need to work out what the layout of the kitchen should be. There is a kitchen in Nelson that will work, but is very far away. I don’t remember what Rowan and I did for the day. I do remember going to the supermarket and heading back to Herbert after Cory was done. Danny is coming for burgers on Mt Misery. We meet at Herbert. I take the opportunity to shower at Herbert. It is bloody freezing today. A definite cold front and it makes it rather windy and cold. We go up further so we have more shelter. I packed extra blankets to keep us warm.

Friday; Feeling tired with our early morning start and late night last night. We do our mandatory walk and go back to bed. We end up dozing until 7am. Cory and Presley are on demolition this morning. I stopped faffing and said take the walls off. I got a coat of Gonville on the bath tub. It is a very pretty aqua teal colour that works with the pedestal basin. I bite the bullet and buy the kitchen in Nelson. Mmm now to go get it? Will need to be in a week or two. Rowan is the plumber today, he turns off the water and caps off the various fittings so Cory can pull off the walls. I roll on some undercoat, I want to see how far I get in an hour. Ian next door is going to finish it off for me. We will be doing two undercoats, this first one will show up bits I have missed. the second coat will double seal it all and then we will do some top coats. Presley has a meltdown about his shoes, so ends up going off the job. Cory continues and I get him up high doing no more gaps. Then he finishes off screwing down the roof of the shed. Laura finally has a fridge and washing machine. We pick that up and I set a load on for early morning. We have done two underwear washes but let everything else pile up. I must have 5 loads to do.

Saturday; We have neglected paperwork for a few days. There are emails I need to reply to. First Till to put another load of washing on. Ian is starting around 9.30am and I want to get a few loads done. I also get a second coat on the bath tub. We leave Ian to it and head off to Herbert. I do a bit of organising by removing summer clothes that I don’t want in the camper and adding warm woolies. I thought we had too much clothing but it has been very handy using it all while having no washing machine. We hang up our overalls at Herbert and really don’t achieve much for the rest of the day. Definitely looking forward to some down time.

Sunday; A week away before I go for my learners motorcycle license. I am feeling comfortable enough that I hope it won’t be too tough. We have gone on a ride most days to make it feel more natural. The best part about that is I get various weather and conditions to practice in. Today we achieve sweet fuck all. (Sorry Nan). It is really good, I am hoping to go for our building consent soon. Which is making my brain hurt with all the paperwork and work at Till. A million jobs and a million decisions to make. I am surprised my head hasn’t exploded. Plus we have WOF stuff to think about for Noodly (ute). No today is to try quiet the mind. Which does but also doesn’t work.

Monday; I want to check out a few open homes in Palmerston so we make a day of it. A lovely breakfast of scrambled eggs at Vanessa’s starts our trip off. We head off on a tiki tour and go down some roads we have t been down yet. The weather is okay but hasn’t held us back. Out the back roads of Moeraki there are some cool cribs and beaches. Looks like they are owned by the iwi and are all leased properties. In Palmerston we pick the brains of a few agents. There is a brand new house that is 3 bed 1 bath and they are asking $595k. It is a new subdivision and it will have 6 neighbours. Which makes it piggy in the middle. I was curious to see what the feedback had been so far. The agent kept his cards close and didn’t give away much. I will call in a few weeks and see how it is going. I think the price point may be a little high but it will be great news for us if they get a price like that. We got back in the afternoon and relaxed before dinner. This week is going to be busy with lots of contractors on site!