HOUSE WORK

What a weekend - with my 4 day week, I thought I'd get stuck into the house thing but Sue decided that she wanted to shop. I don't understand this thing called shopping. Sue wanted to buy new couches that she had seen in a catalogue. Most of our best purchases are on a whim. So a visit to Freedom Furniture ended in the purchase of two 2-seater couches. They should look great in the Lounge room when finished.

Two of these will go in our Lounge room after we have the floors sanded, stained and polished.

So come Saturday and I needed to start pulling down the front fence. We had a quote to rebuild the skeleton, that is the posts and rails with me attaching the existing pickets. The pickets were in reasonably good condition only now needing a quick sanding and a lick of paint. My son Andrew helped with pulling out the nails in the pickets which was an enormous help. I knew his Doctorate in Philosophy would come in handy.

The pickets needed to be removed before being sanded and repainted.
That's a job for number 2 son maybe!!!

Finally after much hard work and blisters, the pickets are removed.

Safely stored for their new life.

While Andrew and I were working outside on a very pleasant Autumn Sunday, Sue was working on her project - the sideboard that previously was a dull black. It will now add a lightness to the dining room when we finish it.

This is Sue's project - don't look at the mess in the Lounge room at this stage. We'll show the finished product in a few weeks. Hasn't she done a fantastic job?

We expect that in the next three weeks we will have the floor sanders in and we can then start living in our Lounge and Dining rooms once again. I can feel an open fire coming on soon as we drop to the depths of winter in the coming weeks. Won't it be nice sitting on the new couches, sipping a glass of port with our coffee in our completed lounge room.

Wednesdays in France

A small Chateau we stayed at Tarere last year on the way to the Loire.

The owner's grandfather established the house. The family's modest fortune was generated by the grandfather's pharmacy business. I think he may have been a bit of a snakeskin pharmacist due to the business posters that adorned the breakfast room. Cures for all sorts of ailments.

A very interesting overnight stay.

Saturday and Sunday.

September is rolling on quickly - that's the date of our impending sale of the house. We've had a few auctions recently in the area and we are feeling buoyant. Auction results are acceding our expectations.

Progress of the painting is ongoing but I expect next month we will have the floors sanded and polished. This weekend I started demolishing the front fence. I built this 25 years ago and it had since started rotting. First impressions are important so we thought the front fence needed rebuilding to invite prospective buyers to look inside.

Last weekend

This weekend

Once the floor Baltic boards reveal their honey colour, the front fence is rebuilt, my nect project is to renovate the en-suite. Having renovated the bathroom, the en-suite does not daunt me.

Once these floorboards are sanded and then sealed, they will add a rich honey colour to the room to match our 100 year old dining table made from early Australian timber.

The first section of the fence has been demolished. I'm sanding and repainting the pickets this time before attaching them to the rails. The front yard will be replanted with turf and new plants in the garden beds.

I was thinking of a lower fence height but on reflection, our high picket fence adds that little bit more privacy.

Next comes the tedious job of taking the nails out of the pickets, sanding each one and repainting but won't it add to the street appeal, come auction day? Hope so!

It's interesting to share a small conversation I had with a cycling colleague on Friday. You may remember that I have transitioned to a four day week (would you believe on a 5 day pay) and on Fridays I ride with my friends who have done the same. We had a new comer this Friday, Neil. I asked Neil who is 69, how long he has been retired and he said he wasn't. He had just been retrenched and without thinking too much I said, congratulations. He would rather keep working.
This probably said something about my state of mind lately. I have so much I want to do in retirement and currently work gets in the way. I've reached my use by date.

Friday Coffee

Melbourne is Coffee Culture - This morning I met my friends at 6.00 am for a ride on the bayside returning to our favorite bike shop cafe for a morning coffee and banana/walnut bread before meeting my other friends  for a 7.30 am ride down the bay to the peninsula. We returned to the same bike shop cafe fore my second cappuccino. Back home and into the shower and meeting my Chippy (carpenter) cycling friend to discuss rebuilding our front fence over an espresso. Sue and I went shopping after mid-day to the Prahran market for tonight's dinner. After dinner I made espressos for the family - so that's four coffees for the day!!!!
I still sleep soundly, but that might be the wine that counteracts the coffee.

Quail for dinner tonight - cute little fellas

Washed down with a 2009 White Box Yarra Valley Pinot Noir.

The weekend is only starting.

Our 3 Day Weekends

My long weekends (starting from Fridays) start with a bike ride at "our home on the bay" and it will make it difficult to leave this great area however life has many roads to follow.

It's happening - I'm starting to relax on my Fridays and Sue is noticing that I'm not logging in to my work emails or even answering the phone other than to friends.

Kyneton has a rich history of early Victoria. Bluestone was a major building material during the early gold mining days of the 1850s. Kyneton lives on tourism these days with the museums, food and wine of the local district.

Doors open and close - it depends on which you open to where life leads.

This Sunday, suggested to Sue that we should have brunch at Duck, Duck, Goose in Kyneton. Its just about 90 mins up the road. We've posted on Kyneton recently on our trips to the area in search of our future life.

Duck, Duck, Goose is in historic Piper Street, Kyneton and we were early before the tourists - most relaxing. 

Sue and our eldest son Andrew ponder on the local stores of Kyneton.

We have it mind to look at another area of Victoria soon - Beechworth. It's located at the foothills of the Victorian Alps. It is rich in wine and food produce. It's also an early gold mining region. The infamous Australian Bushranger Ned Kelly came from the area. We'll tell you more in a few weeks time.

Meanwhile it's on to the house renovations.