Tuesday; Calming the colours down in the studio. I am not sure exactly what to do with the main door. I haven’t decided yet. There is a little touch ups to do and I will sand the door then make a decision. We may line the roof in there but that is another days problem. Most likely when we have finished the rest of the house. Cory is putting up GIB in the dining room today. I help get the full sheet up and then leave the rest to him. I sand down the bathroom. Once the trim is in place we can paint. Fred came around to say he can help just tell him when. I said well the sooner the better. So he is coming Friday. It also means if he needs to he can finish a job off on Saturday.

Wednesday; After sneaking into Leona’s office early this morning we put her new stickers up on the exterior. The council wants traffic management and cones and all this red tape for $1k for a 5min job. So Rowan and I did it without being in anyone’s way really early. We also don’t charge that amount. We charged Leona one hug each. We got some paperwork done then headed to Mitre10 and Placemakers. At Till St I did some small jobs while waiting for Cory to finish the GIB. When he was done I taped it all up and got a coat of plaster on. Rowan and I popped out to the tip shop. On the way back we visited Fred at his latest job. Sam and Luke are doing a fully renovation to this beautiful original home on Wye St. It is a lot of work. In the 70s it had a lot of changes and they are modernising but trying to keep as many of the bits of character left in show. Can’t wait to see it done. It already looks incredible. The skylight was a bit messy looking in the kitchen with lots of different wood types. So I painted it a charcoal colour and it looks a lot nicer.

Thursday; Rowan and I head to Temuka today to pick up some gates we said we would pick up over a month ago. On the way up we stop at Bunnings for a chat with the trade team and a look around for stock comparisons. Once we have picked up the gates we op shop all the way back. We end up with a rather good haul of jewellery. We got a lot of gold off the hospice. Paying under spot price for a necklace and some cufflinks. Gold has become really valuable lately. We did a stop by in Waimate for lunch and the two small shops there before getting back to Ōamaru around 3pm. Cory worked for part of the day doing some outdoor jobs. By the time we got back to Herbert I was pretty tired. Tomorrow we have Tony coming to help. Can’t wait! I will be in for a busy weekend!

Friday; I dropped the ball. I have no real excuse I just woke up and forgot that I was supposed to be getting shit done today. By the time Rowan pointed it out it was too late. We came into town and went straight to mitre10. It took a lot longer than it should have. From there we raced home and I got the place organised for Fred. Fred arrives just as Rowan is off to get some trim for the house. Poor Rowan spent his day running around being the errand boy while attempting to get paperwork done. Our building consent is underway and he had roading forms and all sorts to fill out. I wanted to stay out of Freds way so I got onto the garden Cory made a good start on. I redid the stones while I was at it. By the time Cory arrived for work I had almost finished. Cory flattened out the top for me then cleared around the Sycamore tree. I let him decide what shape to line the bricks and we ended up with a row boat. It fits in perfectly with the port holes. Fred does a great job of all the trim in the bathroom and kitchen. A bit of no more gaps and I can paint to my heart’s content. I got the wallpaper sample on the wall to help me choose paint for the bathroom. I have booked Dave in for the following week so that gives me the week to get it all done! I did a bit of mortar to the floor before leaving for the day.

Saturday; We had an appointment in Palmerston to see a shipping container. We need storage for the building site. In my infinite wisdom I said to Rowan let’s go to Alexandra to pick up those tools. We headed off around 6.30am and had our container meeting by torch light. It is perfect for us we will take it. From there it wasn’t so dark which made riding easier, we are taking the pigroot. We had to stop a few times to warm up. No ice until we got closer to Ranfurly. Absolutely swamped in fog and I had no idea what to do. By the time Rowan came up next to me and told me to wipe my visor I had my visor half open for a while trying to see. We went quite slow as I couldn’t see more than a few metres ahead. I got to a point where I just couldn’t see and I couldn’t find a safe spot to stop. I started panicking and I slowed right down and indicated. Rowan didn’t get the message that I wanted to stop and couldn’t. Eventually I got so upset I just stopped I had no choice it was bloody dangerous. Rowan calmed me down and got me to go a 50m to a safer spot. It didn’t take me long to calm down and Rowan pointed out the visibility isn’t that bad. Well it is when your glasses and visor are totally wet! I am covered in ice that is how cold it is. Back on the bikes I make it into Ranfurly. We stop in hopes it clears up a bit before continuing. A coffee to warm up doesn’t quite do it but I just want to get there at this point. Not long out of Ranfurly and it is blue skies. We hit more fog but I can see further so it isn’t too bad. We don’t get out of the fog until we reach Alex. Man I hope we don’t have that on the way back. We pick up some tools from a guy moving to Australia and we get this neat $15 antique chair. I think people are entertained by Rowan’s load! Only one op shop it open which is disappointing. May as well race to the pub. We hit the wall of fog again and it slows me right down. Our timing is not great and we want to make it to Waipiata Pub before the kitchen closes. We refuel in Ranfurly and make it just in time. The food is fantastic I can see how this middle of nowhere pub survives. The rest of the ride is fantastic, warm and sunny until right at the end as the day is ending. A long day on the bikes. We got home around 4.30pm. We have a mattress being dropped off at 6pm. We have upgraded our sleeping quarters.

Sunday; A lazy Sunday morning. It is foggy and motivation is low. I have a case of the grumpys and I am being unreasonable no idea why. Maybe it is my period maybe it is lack of food. I perk up and try to be nice to Rowan. Which is actually quite hard when I am in one of those moods. When we get to Till Rowan leaves me to it and runs around doing errands. I get out the no more gaps and start going everywhere in the bathroom with it. For a newly lined room it has more gaps than most but as Fred says you can expect that as nothing is straight or plumb. We are there about two hours before heading back to Herbert. It is 12.30pm by the time we get back and we light the bonfire. It is now open season but we also let the fireys know that we are lighting. Perfect drizzle weather with no wind. It goes off without a hitch. We do some tidying up while keeping an eye on it. It doesn’t take long to burn down to a much smaller pile. By the time we go to bed there is only a few small flames.

Monday; A busy day! We get into town early and do some paperwork and errands. At mitre10 we get some pickets for the fence. They are on special because they have been sitting there so long. It takes me a while to get enough as I am being fussy and not taking any damaged ones or ones with large knots. At $4.30 a picket I am going to be fussy. At the house I crack on with undercoat on the bathroom. Rowan picks up more wood from Placemakers and runs errands. I get one coat on the weatherboard too. I can now see where more gaps and imperfections need to be fixed. So that is next on my list. I spend a full 6 hours painting and prepping. I get my final coat of paint on the ceiling in the kitchen. By the time 4pm rolls around I am exhausted.