Tuesday; Smashed it out today! I got two coats of enamel on the ceiling, walls around shower and skirting. I got two coats on the windows and the last coat on the weatherboards. I got one coat of Rawene on the wall for the sink. I am ready for wallpaper! Eeee. Cory unclogged the storm water pipes. Turns out one was broken from a tree root which is now all fixed. He has started the garden edging down the path. It will be tiered which will look a million times better. Rowan was on paperwork but he also did a few small jobs for me when he could.

Wednesday; Wallpaper is well underway. I was hoping to get it done in one day but realistically it is more fiddly than that. I was worried about the vintage wallpaper being hard to hang in the bathroom but it has gone relatively smoothly. I picked that up for $2 at a Swapmeet. The kitchen wallpaper is from the local dump and three rolls cost me $10. It is much thicker and very easy to hang. It is very plain, actually this will be the plainest room in the house. I am looking forward to finishing it all off tomorrow. Cory continued the side garden, I expect he will have it finished tomorrow. Rowan was in and out of the council as consents got put on hold because of location of the driveway. I am glad he is on it and I don’t have to think about any of that right now. Laura came to help out. She has introduced me to a friend Jas who can help out with whatever I need. Laura got some cleaning jobs done that I have been avoiding. She also sanded some bits for me for the kitchen and then I let her do the seal and peel removal because I promised her that I would. It is a very satisfying job! We left Ōamaru around 4pm. Starting in the dark and finishing near dark.

Thursday; Long, long day. I started with the kitchen wallpaper, I got most of it done but really wanted the bathroom finished as it is ideal to get the floor done before Monday. It was pretty complicated in the corner you can see in the first photo. I got Rowan to help with one part as it was a struggle with the two electrical points. Around 2pm we went to mitre10 for a bag of lime. I cleared the floor and then gave it a clean. Man it is disgusting. Hasn’t been cleaned in years. I should have taken Rowan’s advice to water blast it when we first got the place. When we went to Morocco 5 years ago to the famous blue Chefchaouen town I was in awe. Such an incredible finish on these concrete buildings. I found out it was lime and blue pigments mixed with water. Then I discovered how people use it as a whitewash on bricks and all sorts of applications, with lower maintenance compared to paint. I have wanted to do a lime wash project for years. Finally I get to do it! I mixed water into the hydrated lime and made a paste similar to the consistency of paint. I then slapped it on with a brush with no rhyme or reason. By the time I finished the bathroom it was getting pretty dark. I did the toilet in the dark finally finishing at 5.30pm. A trip to mitre10 for some sealer so I can seal the wash once I am happy. I may need another coat. We have a dinner date with Kathleen and John. Kathleen walks her puppy Barry past our house most days. If I see them I always stop for pats and a chat. Kathleen invited us to dinner at her place. It was a great meal and awesome company. They live in this incredible Ōamaru stone home on Wansbeck. 170m from us. The rimu details, the ceiling heights, the grandness of the home is spectacular. I really wanted to take photos, which I may ask one day but won’t share them out of respect. Funnily enough Kathleen lived in Matakatia, in Whangaparāoa for years. What a small world! A late night for us, 11.30pm finally in bed with my brain started telling me what I forgot to do at Till St. Doh.

Friday; Eeek, there is staining coming through the lime wash. Not overly surprising since it was disgusting. I used some stain blocker Zinnser to quickly patch any stains coming through. I also did a quick paint job in the toilet getting it ready for wallpaper. Then we headed to Leona’s office to do some paperwork. When we got back I did a second coat of Lime. I think that should do it. Hopefully I can seal it tomorrow. Rowan and I started putting the kitchen in place. We are curious to see what needs to move and how it will all work. The drainage will move a bit and the kitchen taps a bit over. It is doable to have it as a gully kitchen. A tight fit but it is an improvement on what it was before. We visited Fred on the way home and begged for another days work. It will be good to get him to help put in the kitchen.

Saturday; Book wallpaper. There were children books that were falling apart in the free pile at the dump. So I saved them so I can wallpaper the toilet with them. This toilet is like an outhouse, I am leaning into that and giving you something to read and look at when you use the loo! I got two layers of sealer on the floor. Rowan rejigged the living room and we now have lots of space! I am looking forward to the plumber coming on Monday. An early finish for the day. No day off this week so I went home and did 2 hours of paperwork! What fun haha

Sunday; We sold our free oven that we ended up not using. It was $1 on trademe and we had to go to Dunedin to pick it up. We sold it for $100 which sounds like a great mark up but it would have paid us back for our fuel. The guy works at Ōhau Lodge and it is going to the staff quarters. I loved our stay there on the alps to ocean. Since we had him picking up the oven it made sense to be at work. I finished wallpapering the toilet with the kids books. I will seal it so you can easily wipe it down if necessary. Rowan pointed out if someone is sick in there you need to be able to wipe the walls. Good point Rowan! I put another coat of white on the kitchen cabinet and call it a day. We get home around 4pm and Rowan builds a platform for the shower. Much nicer than being on the stainless steel.

Monday; I am working in the dark. There is much to do, I have clean up to do to prepare for Dave the plumber. Dave gets in at 8am, it is light enough I am no longer carrying a torch around. I aim to stay out of the way. My project for the day is the sideboard which was left here. It had a lot of rat nests and the dog had chewed it along with the mice. I got rid of the grossness long ago but now it is time to tidy it up for use. I sanded it down, it is all solid wood, no MDF or chipboard. I painted a few bits with charcoal grey paint and oiled the rest. It is very rustic but I feel it works. I love what Dave has done with the plumbing, it looks awesome, especially the quirky indoor plumbing. The shower is yet to be installed later in the week. Cory finished the wall off today, the weather is making it quite muddy. Doesn’t look like it will ease for a while so we will carry on. Rowan installed the kitchen in between his running around. In the afternoon we cleared out as much as we could easily do in the living room. Which is the next place to attack with wallpaper and paint!