Waiting for the builder to be available to install the kitchen we had some progress in Herbert. Got those two Kaihua jasmine climbers in the ground. Rowan has upgraded our exterior lights, we now have 4.

Rowan’s mum has her 70th Birthday this week. Happy birthday Joanne!

Installing the kitchen takes more than half of the day. There are things I feel are design flaws and to be honest the attitude I got from Shannon is unacceptable. I tried calling her and in the end I got a lot of text messages that were quite harsh. Placemakers do not have good customer service at all and they prefer to blame each other and not take responsibility for their own actions. First the sink meant we had to remove the top bracing from the cabinet. Apparently you chop it out, but the way it has been placed would mean there is really no support whatsoever. Vaughan gently removed it and turned it to make it work. There is no cabinet to the left or right to screw into for support and it needs to be solid for the benchtop.

Second issue is the gap between the corner cabinet and the sink cabinet. In the design there is a a fairly large gap, which they provided a standard 18mm spacer, we needed more like 2 and a half. Vaughan ended up having to cut it to fit and turn it, which has made it work. This kitchen was sold to us as a pre built just put it together like Lego. It is supposed to be fast and easy. Well it definitely wasn’t that. I still have the handles to put on and Rowan has to finish off fixing in the upper cabinets, screwing the benchtop down and adding in the weird corner piece.

Rowan got the frame work on the step/deck laid. Vaughan got the kickboards and vanity top done. I polyurethane the first coat onto the vanity. It is an American oak plyboard. I also did a lot of touch up plaster and no more gaps. We did a bit of damage getting the benchtop in.

In the weekend we had a picnic at a lake on Devils Bridge Road. It was very nice and peaceful, we sat under a kōwhai tree. It felt good to have a little down time, I miss the simplicity of our hike.

On Sunday we went down to Palmerston to get another layer of poly on. I also did the first coat of grey on my picture window and plastered the walls where the benchtop damaged it. Rowan got the concrete slab into place for the hot water cylinder and put the edge of the deck in.

On Monday Dave completed the second plumbing. I painted and did touch up work. Rowan focused on helping Dave and completing the front step. Rowan noticed when putting the pantry shelves in that the muppets haven’t lined the holes up. You literally cannot adjust the shelves and every shelf is like this in the pantry. It doesn’t end with this kitchen! Of course the last job Dave goes to do, putting in the toilet doesn’t go straight forward, it is leaking and it takes Rowan pointing out they manufacturer has put one of the bungs in the wrong way to work out how to fix it. It’s like that “you had one job” moment.

Rowan’s grandma Bette has a big 95th Birthday today (15th July). Rowan keeps telling her she has to make it to 100!

We popped down to Dunedin as I had a load of clothes to pick up from the Recycle Boutique. I cannot recommend them enough, if you have clothes you want to get rid of, you should definitely look into it. Super easy and if you want the unsold items back you can or you can get them to donate whatever doesn’t sell.

While in Dunedin we ran around and did a load of jobs as well as the op shops. I called into Blueskin Nursery to pick up two Kaihua climbers for the moon gate. Also known as NZ Jasmine, Parsonsia Heterophylla. They have a lovely white flower and a beautiful smell.

Waiting for this kitchen is very frustrating, we are filling in our days with upgrades to Herbert.

I was so set on my paint being wrong we headed to Palmerston on a special trip to check. It is slightly different to the swatch from Dulux but not enough for it to be a major. It said this was a nuetral white with complex pink tones and sure it looks great in bright direct light but in the southern part of the house it is throwing a lot of grey. Anyway once the carpet is in I am sure it will be absolutely fine. I am just probably being fussy as per usual!

Friday afternoon our kitchen is ready for pick up. Shannon, the kitchen lady tries to get us to pay for and buy the corner cabinet that was made for the other house. We decide to give it back to them as I am not sure I want to use them again and we may have changes after we get this one put in.

We have had more time on our hands to get ticking off jobs in Herbert. There is now a spot to hang clothes in the house truck. I got this free trampoline months ago to create a moon gate. I will get a native climber to grow along it. I did think wisteria as I love them, but natives are always better.

Thursday it is all go, Dave is here to finish the stormwater and a few other bits of plumbing. We need him back one more day to do the last few things once the kitchen is in. Graham and Vaughan worked over at Brough St, they finished the cladding and the scribers (the window edging).

Rowan spent the day making a garden edge around the house and also the driveway. I got the first coat on the trim/doors.

Power pole is here! They replaced the one on the other side of the road too. They gave us the old wooden pole and will bring us another to create a way to get across the creek on Brough.

I did a bit of painting while Rowan did a good site tidy. Removing a few loads of items onto our resource recovery field.

I freaked out a little about the colour of the paint as it doesn’t look like it matches the wall. I talked to mitre10 about it and it is not a miss tint. I am still unsure about it. I don’t want to lighten it and create a colour I cannot replicate.

Paint saga continues… I can’t shake the “it’s not right” feeling. I got a couple of paint samples to look at, now I am sure the enamel paint is not right. I will check it when we next get to Palmerston.

I decided to create some stepping stones for Herbert with beach found pottery that I got for $1 at the Hampden dump. Yes those are my old cake tins haha

On Friday arvo the kitchen arrived at Placemakers. We headed in to pick it up. Then spent Saturday painting the trim and Rowan was setting up fences.

We shave used the next two days doing some jobs around Herbert. Rowan has sorted power and lights in Bette Bedford. The new pump works well in Jo, also the solar appears to be working well. In Camele we also have a solar system too. Lots of annoying jobs now complete! Here are a few AI pictures of potential paint options for Jo!

We had the builders one day this week and they did some tidy up work for us. Finishing off little jobs and starting with the decking step to get into the house. At a bit of a loose end with the major delay from the kitchen. It won’t be here until the end of the month, there is little to do.

On Thursday we had Dave our plumber come and install the showers and vanities. He will be back next week to finish off the stormwater and do a few other pieces. Then we wait for that kitchen.

I have prepped with filling in all the nail holes and no more gaps for all the trim and now I can paint it all. I am in no hurry but I will get that done next week.

In Herbert we have been getting a few things in order. I painted under the bench seat and I want to make the back cupboard more useful. Currently it opens at the top, but I want to change it so I can put more kitchen stuff in it like the picture attached.

Rowan has been getting the water system ready, waiting on some parts to complete it. The gas hot water arrived and now we are still waiting on a pump and solar panels to arrive.

I got through the last two books of the Lucinda Riley – Seven Sisters Series. I enjoyed them but didn’t love them. I had to pretend it was more like a fantasy novel otherwise it would have done my head in. The last book is written by her son as she passed away. There was an outline of the story already made so he completed it for her. You got to get past the discrepancies to finish it.

We have been keeping up with our 5am starts and really enjoying having a fire in the morning before doing any work. Today the vinyl got put down in the house. It looks like it will be at least 3 weeks before we get the kitchen cabinet remade. Incredibly frustrating, we were so close and our plumber and electrician cannot finish the job without the kitchen in place.

I filled in all the nail and screw holes in the trim. I was able to sand towards the end of the day but I didn’t want to create dust for the vinyl.

The builders worked on the cladding for the other house.

A mid week break, no contractors on site until Friday. Rowan and I tackle the Herbert list. There are a multitude of items to tick off. Some of these jobs take a lot longer than we expected. Here is a photo of Rowan precariously on the roof putting up flashing tape and metal flashings.

On Thursday we help out Jo from Hospice Timaru with her jewellery. We end up spending most of the day there putting aside items that need to be valued by a jeweller. Rowan and I buy a bunch of gold from the cabinet that was already priced. A bit of a haul indeed!

Excuse Rowan’s hands, he used a glue yesterday and it ain’t coming off without a few days to shed it haha.

On Friday it turns out we don’t have builders. But the Skevingtons team turned up to change our swell into a culvert. Much better indeed!

We have guests with us for a few nights. James, Kate and Connor are here from Picton on holiday. Kate is pregnant so we weren’t sure if she could handle our glamping amenities. Kate lasted two nights. On the third night they booked a hotel haha. It has been extremely cold. Negative 6 degrees was the coldest. We have had hoarfrost, and frost so thick that it hasn’t disappeared through the day. We have got ourselves a new fireplace for the house truck, that was good to hang out in. We will be selling the truck later and we are making sure we make it comfortable for us now and more sellable.

The irony is the third night was rather mild with no frost. Typical! We managed to get all three of them in the bath on Tuesday night. Connor played this the rubber ducky and really enjoyed it.

It was great to see them. It was a rather busy week but we managed to be available Monday and Tuesday for them. We showed them around the place and went out for lunch in Moeraki.

Wednesday/Thursday the services are going in. It doesn’t take long at all to do all of the council side of things. It is complete except the dirt needs to be raked out nicely from the trench.

Rowan had a follow up for his finger on Thursday afternoon. It is healing really well and now he only needs a splint when working to protect the tenderness. It is not considered a wound anymore and doesn’t need to stay dry. The physio was really impressed by his movement and said he didn’t need to come back. Rowan has been regularly making his finger bend and exercising it. Well before he was asked to and it has gone in his favour.

I spent the time at Bunnings getting supplies while he went to his appointments. When we got back to Palmerston the boys had gone for the day.

Matariki, we planned to get down to Palmerston for the last coat of paint in the bathrooms. But I was too tired and Rowan has come down with a cold. Instead we sat around the fire until we were due at Waihaorunga farm to meet Jim for lunch. Gratefully he has let us but our GIB waste at his farm and has given us some black polythene pipe for our drainage. Not a bad swap for lunch!

Saturday/Sunday was a bit of a write off with Rowan being unwell. I did get a few jobs achieved like putting floor gaps into Bedford Bette to stop draughts. There is still a lot more to do to the doors and luton to really make it better. We just don’t have the time so it is far down on the list. Thankfully we have great feather blankets and sleeping bags to keep us toasty.

Back on site with Graham and Vaughan. The boys get most of the trim and skirting in. When we turn our attention to the kitchen we realise we have a few problems. One whole panel is missing and the corner cupboard has been made the wrong way around. The pantry broke in transit to Placemakers so that was already being replaced but now we have these issues too. Very annoying as we can’t put it together unit we have these two issues sorted. I am not dwelling on it as there is no point.

We had our council inspection at lunchtime and Skevingtons came back to fill in the trenches. I am missing my downpipe from the roof supplier and the next job is to get the stormwater done then it is just the internal plumbing with the hot water cylinder being external.

I don’t have much to report about Sydney. We spent most of the time in the apartment as Bette really can’t be alone for too long. We did take a quick trip to Dungog and back to see Heather, Kaity, the boys and their latest addition Pearl-Rose. it is a 3 hour drive away so we left at midday and was back at 2am. Bette was fine as she had her cleaner for three hours and then her neighbour and friend Margaret came over at dinner time to keep her company.

Margaret and Wayne took us out to La Perouse for lunch on the last day in Sydney, which was really good. Joanne got home that morning.

Most of our time was spent cooking and baking. I did get through two books and wish I had one more to read.

Back home we wait to pick up our bags and I bump into some cousins who were on our plane and live in England but want to come back to NZ to retire. It is a small world.

We pick up our camper from AA with its fresh WOF and drive down to Herbert. We find some residents in our bed, or evidence of them. Bloody mice, I put baits out before we left but it hasn’t deterred them fully. Once we had de-moused the bed it was great to be back in our comfy bed. It hasn’t deterred been a month!

A 5am start, which is 3am body clock time. I am determined to get us back into our routine. A supply trip to mitre10 then down to site shows a blank slate ready for paint. I give the place a good clean from the dust and we mask up ready for the sprayer. The weather is not good outside. We cannot paint today but at least we are ready for tomorrow.

Annoyingly our first coat didn’t quite make it to the ceiling in the living area. Running out of paint sucks, but it sucks even more when it is an hour away to get more. Nevermind we will buy some more tomorrow.

It looks like Rowan went to Columbia. Let’s hope he doesn’t get pulled over and questioned.

We got it 90% there on Monday. We have another coat to do on the ceiling tomorrow morning.

The last exterior cladding board went up. I finished painting the exterior of the house this week. The plaster board is well under way with all the ceilings are done.

I have used all the leftover insulation on the inside walls of the bathrooms to help dampen any late night toileting stop coming through to the bedrooms. Another bonus is this stops wastage and it going into landfill.

Sue (step mum) pointed out my work of art is actually a work of art!

Painted exterior. Early or late walks with Gem! The lantern worked well to be able to see her on early morning walks.

I had an epiphany and realised we forgot our anniversary. Life has been so hectic I totally forgot. It’s not the first time and I am sure it won’t be the last. We don’t need to celebrate we try to appreciate each other every day rather than once a year.

Early Sunday we hop on a plane to Australia. We are here for a couple of weeks to look after Bette.

Yay we now have our doors!

With the help of the builders we got the rest of the insulation in. Dave the plumber came for the preline inspection as the water pipes need to show they don’t leak. He put the shower trays in while he was at it.

One of the bales went for a roll into the stream haha. Luckily it stayed dry!

I got two and a bit of the exterior walls painted with the final coat.

GIB has started to be put in.

We are house sitting for a week for Chris and Ferne again.

Rowan is in a lot of pain but is sleeping most of the day. We have been taking the camper to site each day so he can stay resting.

A lot of progress this week. The cladding on the exterior is finished as it can be until we get the ranch slider.

A lot of early mornings and we are getting really worn out.

Electricians did a big day and got all of the wiring in. The house is looking a lot more finished.

Ouch!

Saturday afternoon we were chopping wood to be shorter with a drop saw to fit in our pot belly fires. The wood got caught in the blade, it forced Rowan’s left hand back toward the metal plate and it squashed the tip of his finger between the wood and the metal. Our ute has a special additive in it to fix a leak so I couldn’t drive it. I rushed over to our neighbour Silvija and Jim and I asked Silvija if I could use her truck, I am not certain I even used my manners. We got to the Oamaru hospital around 3pm and it took 2 hours to be seen by a nurse to triage him. Then a longer wait before the doctor finally saw him. The took an xray and the doctor said the bone has been smooshed. Luckily it didn’t get the knuckle just the very tip. But the nail broke through the skin and the whole nail bed detached. It looked bloody gruesome like he chopped half his finger off. The doctor couldn’t do much and gave him some iv antibiotics cleaned it and wrapped it. A little bit of laughing gas as the wrapped it but only paracetamol and ibuprofen for the pain. Rowan was told that Dunedin hospital will call tomorrow to let us know when to come in for surgery. Five hours later we left Ōamaru hospital, I got some tramadol for him. Silvija and Jim made us dinner and let us shower at their place. They also said we can use their fancy ute on Sunday. 

Bit of a side story, Kate here is not used to modern vehicles and I couldn’t work out how to get the ute into reverse. Trying as hard as I can just keep getting into 6th gear. I asked Rowan to come out and put it into reverse. I even tried googling. My sister Sarah suggested I try pull it up first, it was a great hint as this one is push down! These mod cons I am not used to at all haha.

Sunday morning we get a call at 8.30am to get our butts to Dunedin as soon as possible. Arriving there about 10am and he went into surgery by 12pm and was out by 2pm. Rowan was really worried he would loose his finger tip and was certain he would loose his nail. Well the nail came out in surgery but the surgeon reattached the nail bed. Overall it was a success. Rowan gave me his nail in a jar (how nice of him). We left the hospital just after 4pm and had to go to the pharmacy to get all his drugs before getting back to Herbert. The lovely Silvija and Jim made us dinner and gave us a shower. We are very lucky to have their support! 

With a man down, I had the lovely Laura drop everything and come down to Palmerston to help me get the insulation in. It was such a big help. We got a good amount done.