Well, the good news is that my panic about the transparency of the paper on the feature wall in our bedroom was needless! As the paper has dried even more over the last week, the paper has lost its transparency and the gib board (sheetrock or plasterboard to people from the northern hemisphere) is no longer showing through. The paper is looking splendid. I AM DELIGHTED! So I don't have a week's worth of additional effort of prep work and replacement which I was not looking forward to at all, given all the other redecoration that is ongoing or in the queue here.
I have painted the kitchen ceiling and put undercoat on the walls over the last two days and I am taking today off. The ceiling needs another coat even though the instructions says one is sufficient - I cleaned the ceiling with sugar soap but I am pretty sure I just moved the dirt around really. Flat paint is hard to clean and probably not the best in a kitchen. The paint has a great feature for application tho - it goes on pink and dries white. It is so good being able to see where I've already painted and where I haven't, esp when I am using the flip-top feature of my neck and head...
With the ceiling looking distinctly whiter than before and the walls quite dazzlingly white with the undercoat, we almost need sunglasses in there! It has confirmed my view that we need a softer wall colour.
The lounge/dining blinds are almost ready to be collected but won't be put up till I've redecorated; and the bedroom blinds can't be too far away. It is coming together slowly but surely!
Saturday 31 January 2015
Wednesday 28 January 2015
Redecoration and its associated disaster, but success in another quarter
Last week I had the absolute pleasure of my
sister Dee’s company assisting me in completing the bulk of the redecoration of
David’s and my bedroom. Before Dee arrived, I had cleaned all walls and
stripped the wallpaper off the feature wall and I’d done a couple of coats of
paint (with all requisite prep work) on the window frames, main door and one
coat on 2 of the four wardrobe doors.
So on her arrival, we were able to get on
to dealing to the remaining tasks before putting the topcoats on the walls and
the wallpaper on the feature wall. On Wednesday afternoon and Thursday, we:
·
Got 3 coats of white semi-gloss
on each of the wardrobe doors, main door and all window frames
·
Painted the skirting boards
with 2 coats of the same
·
Put a pigmented sealer on all
walls and cleaned up where it had gone over the edges on to the scotia and
skirting … oops
·
Painted the 3 walls with the
water-based topcoat in Sandfly Point - I don’t know why these colours are named
for places in NZ, but they are and mostly the names don’t give any clue to the
colour. As an aside, a couple of weeks ago Dee and I were in a paint store
looking at paint colours and saw one very pale colour we liked the look of on
the swatch. When we asked for a test pot we were told it was vivid white – not
what it looked like or any reflection of the name … Bizarre indeed.
So Friday was the day for sizing the
feature wall and getting the final topcoat on the other three walls - they look
amazing. Then it was time for the wallpaper. It went on pretty easily even
though it requires a careful match and part of the pattern is totally flat and other parts are textured – the flat
bits on the edges took some keeping stuck to the wall. It was a very hot day
and the paste kept drying out along the edges of the paper, so the paste brush
accompanied the smoothing out.
Making sure there was no undue pressure on the slim piece beside the window by holding the bulk of it on the wall with my knee |
Finished! |
We finished at 5.30 and had seven friends
coming for dinner at 6pm – we’d prepped the chicken for the main and prepped
the starter while waiting for our second load of paste to go off earlier in the
arvo, so all that remained to do was clear up the bedroom (Dee’s job) and prep
a salad and the potatoes (mine). Two guests were bringing the dessert – yay!
Plus of course, before they arrived we had to shower and change as we were pretty
much covered in paint and paste…
The room looked fantastic – the painted
walls contrasted gently with the white of the doors and window-frames, and the
wallpaper looked absolutely amazing. We were suitably proud of ourselves for a
job well done.
But disaster was waiting in the wings – on
Saturday David and I reconstructed the bedroom and while we were putting the
mattress back on the bed frame, I noticed that THERE WAS A BROWN MARK SHOWING THROUGH THE WALLPAPER!!!
WTH (slightly less violent than wtf …) So I looked at the
wall closely, and as the wallpaper had dried, the paper had become opaque, and therefore needed the wall behind it to be
perfectly white/pale all over with no variations in colour. Apparently,
according to the wallpaper rep it says the walls need to be even, but either I
misread/skipped the part about colour or I had interpreted it as the surface rather
than the colour. Bugger! The upshot is that, even though I painted the wall
with one coat of a pigmented sealer, I should have given it several coats until
the differences between the gib board and the plastered bits were no longer
visible. As it is, one coat was insufficient and I can see the brown patches of
the gib (23 years old and naturally discoloured, rather than pale beige) under
its only previous wallpaper - a solid vinyl - that nothing shows through
incidentally. Modern stuff is more expensive and much less substantial. As I
said: BUGGER.
So I have to strip the paper
off, wash the size and paste off the wall, (1 day’s effort) paint it
innumerable times until nothing can be seen through the paint (1 day for each
of the innumerable coats, let’s hope 2 more does it), leave it for 2 days to
properly cure (as told to me by the paper rep via the store assistant this
morning - not in the paint instructions or the wallpapering instructions, damn
their eyes). Then it needs to be sanded, dusted and sized (1 day). Then and only
then, can I put up the wallpaper again (1 day). Sounds like about a week’s
worth of time and effort somehow.
I am feeling a bit demoralized
about it and it is too hot to move all of our bedding into the sunroom again
and get started on it today, so I have cleaned off a part of the back fence
with bleach and planted 2 hydrangeas instead.
I’ve decided I am going to get
in touch with Student Job Search to get a couple of students to do the repainting of the bedroom and the lounge dining - based on the
number of coats required in the bedroom prior to papering, the lounge will need
at least three before its paper goes on and it's a very big room, so a couple of younger fitter people
can do that work instead of me. They can also paint the ceiling, and I will do
the window frames (six of them), the doors (3) and the skirting boards.
Today I was going to start on
the kitchen - the list commences with washing down the walls, filling the gap
between the scotia and the ceiling, sanding the cabinet end panels, door frames
and kitchen doors (3 - to laundry, dining and hall). I am tired already!
Aha, saved – the electrician
is here doing the preparatory work for wiring in the new induction hob which is
apparently power hungry and the under-bench stove we’re going to have fitted
when the kitchen cupboard doors and benchtop are replaced. So I cannot get
anywhere near the walls to clean them down – yay!!
Before I finish this post though
there is another success to report. On Friday I rang Gary and asked if he and
friend Dave from Taumaranui would be prepared to do a manly task for me on
their arrival in Waikanae from the city, while Bruce was still at work there.
They agreed and set about putting together the raised vegetable bed. Dee and I
had had a go the evening before but the only drill we had was our dad’s one
which was too powerful to use effectively as a screwdriver as it burred the
screw head before the screw was fully holding the two pieces of wood together.
Gary came along complete with the right equipment so all went well.
They lined
it with polythene and put in the bits of tree trunks and branches Rob had bade
me to keep. The next morning David put a woolsack of compost into it from Bruce
and Gary’s (we’d gone there for brekkie) and then he added the eight x 40 litre
bags of potting mix. Given the cost of all materials, I mustn’t buy lettuces
anymore this season and next to ensure that the ROI stacks up …
No plants in yet (Sunday morning) but the grateful designer is flanked by her skilled construction team. |
Hard to see but a number of plants are in and David has arranged the umbrella so it shades them during the heat of the day. It can be rotated when required by humans at the large outside table ... |
Saturday 24 January 2015
Caption competition – entries and results
And now the news you have been eagerly awaiting:
THE ENTRIES
Les
Biggs
·
I have asked if the camera could film my good side.
·
David, I've got her up to £2 each for the extras’ fee.
Alf said his entry was prompted by the
comments (I think my note to self re batwings may have been what he was
referring to)
·
Come fly with me (sorry 8-) )
Jack Potter (renegade Aussie friend)
·
Local commentator shows
viewers what she really thinks of Kiwi tourist
Sandy Valentine-Munn (B&B guest at Cherswud, fan of Joe the rockstar chef, all round good person)
·
Fame at last!
Julie Green (good friend and neighbour to
our other good friend Lesley from Walderslade, Chatham, Kent)
·
Walderslade residents
outraged over offensive sign language aimed at their famous & favourite
Kiwi. Marilyn McDonald wins an official apology.
Ken
Wilkinson of Hull
·
David, you can stop
blowing now, my hair is dry.
Michelle
Curnow (who has featured on my blog when she and her partner Taffy came for
lunch and to give me a haircut – valiant effort as they called in and saw us when
moored near Scholar Green on their way from Glasgow to Wales. Michelle is now coiffure to the star ...)
·
Hey, any of YEW guys
know where I can get a decent haircut?
THE
RESULTS
In third
place, we have Les Biggs for his second entry:
·
David, I've got her up to £2 each for the extras’ fee
In
second place, we have Michelle Curnow:
·
Hey, any of YEW guys
know where I can get a decent haircut?
And the
winner is the wonderful Julie Green
·
Walderslade residents
outraged over offensive sign language aimed at their famous & favourite
Kiwi. Marilyn McDonald wins an official apology.
Les, I
will make sure you get a lovely glass of NZ sauv blanc when we next catch up –
if Jaq says it’s on the approved list for special occasions, of course!
Michelle,
as much wine as you can drink next time we are together, whether that’s for my
next haircut or when you next visit us in beautifully sunny and balmy Waikanae.
Julie,
your prizes will include the best bottle of NZ sauv blanc or bubbles that I can
find when next we see you, AND I’ll donate to you one of the packets of
gingernuts that ODS won’t be wanting or needing now she is losing so much
weight!
Thank
you to all our competitors. Stay watching the blog for further opportunities to
win fabulous NZ prizes! Next time it might be something made of merino and possum fur, and Lesley can tell you how special and warm such things are!
Wednesday 14 January 2015
The redecoration project starts
I have been dithering – no other word for
it – over colours and styles. When we had our offer accepted on the house, I
was all set to go modern. The colours from nature that look so good in other
people’s houses – the pale greys, the taupes, the olives, the blues and khakis
... After much dithering, I realised that I just cannot do it. Those colours
are not me. I like to see them in others’ houses but they just aren’t to my taste.
They look really smart, but to me they don’t look warm and inviting. I know
they could look stunning with our furniture – black button-backed leather lounge
suite and wooden china cabinets, balloon backed dining chairs and long oval
table, but I realise I am not after stunning, I am not after a fashionable look.
So an about turn, a winding. It’s back to lightness, to warmth and softness for
this house. David is VERY relieved.
My sister Dee has been very helpful in this
time of dithering, and conversations with her helped me clarify my discomfort,
and when Wendy and Kevin were here for dinner on Monday, Wendy picked a paper that
Dee and I had listed as a possible for the lounge dining room from the book,
and that was the decision, as quick as that in the final analysis, but it had
taken me ages to get to that point… Doh!
By contrast, the decision about the feature
wall (OK, there is a modern touch)
for the bedroom was made about two days after we had our offer accepted on the
house – Joe and I popped in to Guthrie Bowron’s in Porirua and there it was. I
fell in love with it instantly. Material for blinds was chosen on a trip to
Palmerston North with Dee – and that was a quick decision too. On Monday we
discussed paint or paper for the remaining walls, and settled on paint – we had
found one that was the exact colour to go with the wallpaper and I’ve got
stripes of it from the testpot on the wall in the kitchen. And it’s far cheaper
than paper and possibly quicker – it’ll need 3 coats – a sealer over the
wallpaper and then two topcoats. But I don’t have to take off the paper, and
that will be a b*gger of a job* on the end wall that is having the new lovely
beautiful fabulous paper. (* Note at 7pm – my prediction was right!)
And the kitchen was another room I was
going to go modern in – the old benchtop is a cornflower blue. I know that that
looks stunning with milky coffee/taupe/mushroomy colours. But could I bring
myself to choose any of them? Not on your life. So we decided to get the
kitchen rejuvenated - the guy is coming tomorrow to measure and quote for new a
benchtop and replacement doors and handles. The kitchen is a good ergonomic shape
and very easy to work in. It’s got lots of cupboards, a number of which have
nothing in them at this point. So no need
to strip the whole thing out and start from scratch, and the rejuvenation
option is cheaper. The cupboard doors I have selected are faux t&g in white
(traditional look), I am tossing up between a wooden benchtop (the one on the
boat is lovely, hardwearing and easy to keep) or granite (I love the look, but
it could be a bit unforgiving on glasses and plates, although excellent for
pastry). It may come down to cost … The paint is most likely going to be the
same as we had at Cherswud, a lovely creamy yellow.
So, where to start? I decided to do the
bedroom first. So on Tuesday I washed down the walls, doors (5 including 4
wardrobe ones) and windowsills and frames.
The mattress is on the floor in the sunroom for a few days until the bedroom is finished and the paint aroma is gone. |
All furniture is on the bed base apart from the treadle sewing machine. Only one strip of wallpaper has been removed. |
And yesterday morning, after we moved the mattress and bedding out, I went and spent heaps
buying enough ceiling paint for the rest of the house, painting equipment (cannot
think where to start looking in the boxes stacked in the garage and lost the
will to live in contemplating doing so). The ceiling has had two coats and
needs another. David did the first one and cursed and groaned all the way
through as it was so hard for him to see where he had done/not done. He managed
to miss bits and I managed not to be able to identify them either. So I did the
next coat, and managed to miss bits too. So I will put the third coat on this
morning. When I have straightened out the kinks in my neck, I’ll score the
wallpaper on the prospective feature wall and get that off. If I have any
energy left, or any strength in my right arm, I may paint the skirting board,
architraves, sills and doors, or part thereof.
OK, up and at’em, Atom Ant. It’s 8am and
time to get started. I’ll make fruit salad for our brekkie first and then I’ll
get on to the painting.
At 7pm: I did the final ceiling paint [as David was on hold for over an hour with Vodafone trying (for
about the 6th time since just before we moved into the house) to
sort out stuff about getting the cable installed and our desired line speed for
the internet. This is a saga that has had him on hold for 20 times longer than
any actual conversations he’s managed to have with the call centre people. We
are trying to replicate the system and service we had at Cherswud – currently,
as a stopgap, we have ADSL which was fine while all workers were on holiday,
but now it’s like a 3rd world service which is slower than dialup - aaarrrggghhh!!!
Vodafone’s customer service is rubbish – once a call gets through the staff are
pleasant but getting through and getting the promised callbacks are both
proving trying in the extreme. It’s clear there aren’t enough staff to handle
the calls in a timely manner. We were TelstraClear customers, they got bought
out by Vodafone some time ago, but we are still put through to the service team
who handles former TC customers – there seems to be no understanding that in
moving and setting up in a new home our contract is with Vodafone, not TC …
Very frustrating, and far worse than any experience David had as PA B*tch in
the UK. OK, rant over, for now!]
After the ceiling was done, I got started
on stripping the wallpaper. It took me about 5 hours to strip just one wall. Thankfully
I am painting the remaining three. It’s been so hot today that each time I’ve
wet sections of the wall they have dried off in about 5 minutes. I have added my
sweat to the bucket of water – today I have not perspired or gently glowed, I
have sweated profusely. I am waiting on
a wallpaper steamer to be delivered up to Waikanae for doing the lounge/dining,
but I don’t think it would have been much use to me today. I was hot enough
just using water and vinegar – if I’d been handling a steamer I probably would
have expired. So when the wallpaper was off, I stopped for the day – a shower,
lots of water to drink and blobbing in front of Boston Legal episodes.
Tomorrow as well as the kitchen man, we’ve
got a curtain consultant coming to measure and quote for the roman blinds in
the bedroom. Things are moving along ...
Tuesday 13 January 2015
The deforestation of Waikanae continues
The place is looking a bit scrappy now as the ground is being cleared and the garden opened up. But it's important that we keep the long term picture in mind at this point.
A couple of Sundays ago, Luke and Di came with Lyall to collect cartons and packing material as they are planning to move house. They stayed for lunch and Luke used the pruning saw to reduce the height of the camellias outside the kitchen - well, I started and he couldn't bear to sit while I was doing it so he took over. I'm not silly ...
Rob was here for a day last week. We started off designing the whole garden as it will be in about a year or so, and then he worked solidly for about 5 hours clearing the wandering jew from the former forest beside our bedroom. We took 6 woolsacks of it to the transfer station (wonderful inventions woolsacks – do you have them in the UK? Old woolsacks that are no longer suitable for farm use but fabulous for collecting garden waste in. They still smell of lanolin, are very strong and able to be hauled around the garden and across concrete paths, compacted to fit in the boot and then emptied for the next time).
On Sunday Luke came up again alone but with chainsaw and equipment, plus van and trailer, and he did a magnificent day's work. I feel a bit guilty about the number of camellias we have reduced to a third of their height or chain-sawed to ground level (Luke’s favourite – you should see his face light up when I say ‘ that one can go’).
A couple of Sundays ago, Luke and Di came with Lyall to collect cartons and packing material as they are planning to move house. They stayed for lunch and Luke used the pruning saw to reduce the height of the camellias outside the kitchen - well, I started and he couldn't bear to sit while I was doing it so he took over. I'm not silly ...
The Clash of the Titans in the battle of the bubble wrap |
Luke may be taller, but David takes advantage of being short to go in low ... |
Rob was here for a day last week. We started off designing the whole garden as it will be in about a year or so, and then he worked solidly for about 5 hours clearing the wandering jew from the former forest beside our bedroom. We took 6 woolsacks of it to the transfer station (wonderful inventions woolsacks – do you have them in the UK? Old woolsacks that are no longer suitable for farm use but fabulous for collecting garden waste in. They still smell of lanolin, are very strong and able to be hauled around the garden and across concrete paths, compacted to fit in the boot and then emptied for the next time).
Woolsack #4 - some lilies made the cut as well - collateral damage .. |
Woolsack #4 is in the background and Rob is readying the contents of #5. The 3 straight trees in the background came out this weekend to make room for the clothesline. |
On Sunday Luke came up again alone but with chainsaw and equipment, plus van and trailer, and he did a magnificent day's work. I feel a bit guilty about the number of camellias we have reduced to a third of their height or chain-sawed to ground level (Luke’s favourite – you should see his face light up when I say ‘ that one can go’).
However I am learning to live with that
guilt as I see the garden opening up and the trees that remain being able to
breathe and grow on the side that was previously blocked by a 20 – 25 foot
camellia. One of the three trees he took out from beside the bedroom on Sunday (see photos above) was a bay lookalike – at least 30 feet high,
for heaven’s sake! Our friend Jane (who came to take away the detritus of Sunday’s
deforestation for their place in the sand dunes of Te Horo where she needs to
build up wind breaks so her plantings can survive the northerlies and the
scorching sun) told me that it will likely grow back even if the stump is
ground down to root level – such is the power of the survival instinct as described
in evolutionary theory! "I might be 30 foot tall reduced to nothing but a root
system, you b*stard chainsaw operator, but guess what – you haven’t beaten me:
as one of your human (well, perhaps) actors says: ‘I’ll be back’."
So two trailer loads went to Jane’s and two
more to the transfer station down the road. Luke’s trailer is a high-sided one so
fits lots more. Derek’s trailer which I went up and borrowed (it is useful that
he is still away in the US as I am allowed to borrow his car and trailer at any
time) is a low sided one. Luke said it’s a tr, I told him that was mean and it’s
more a trai. Whatever, it still fits lots of camellia trimmings, esp when Luke
tramples them down halfway through loading.
At the end of the day, David decided that
the remainder would go into the wheelibin and be put out for collection on Monday. Luke and I were all for putting these bits in a woolsack.
However David insisted they would fit in the wheelibin. When he’s in that frame
of mind there is no point in reasoning or discussing. It’s best just to say ‘go
for it’ which both Luke and I did. Getting them in the wheelibin does involve
some trampling which David enjoys doing. On to the ladder or set of steps he
gets, climbs into the bin and stomps around (he would have been so good at trampling
the grapes – a career opportunity missed: sigh ...) So in he goes, tramp,
tromp, trump. Next moment the wheelibin tips over as he’s somehow affected its
centre of gravity. Fortunately he is holding on to the guttering with one hand
and manages to swing his other arm up and grasp it. I am watching in disbelief
and with concern – will he be OK and, somewhat more importantly, will the
guttering cope with his weight hanging off it? Dear reader, you will be pleased
to know that the answer to both is in the affirmative. There are times, ladies
and germs, there are times … I did
ask if he would re-enact the event so I could photograph and video it for your
edification but for some inexplicable reason, he wasn’t obliging.
Having watered the garden ( a good drink
for the truncated camellias in particular and for my lettuces) and all of Derek’s
pots which I am caring for while he’s away, I then sat at the dining
table – I don’t have an office - and looked out at the new view. In the mornings since it is clear that we have opened up to the view and the sunlight. It's so lovely. I can hear the birds still and I can
see more of them. They have been enjoying more access to the insects made
available by the trimming and felling.
This Sunday’s work has opened up the garden and
back lawn even more – we have eaten lots of meals outside at our new table over
the last week and that number will increase with the continuing good weather
and the more open tree canopy. We wouldn't be able to do this if we were still in Johnsonville as even if it's sunny there, there is most often too much of a breeze for it to be comfortable. Here the issue is the fairly intense heat, but with far less breeze the cantilevered umbrella is a boon - it is David's new experimental toy as it twirls and tilts. He needs the occasional reminder to play nicely and not take his friends' heads off ...
And the other task that was commenced was providing internal access from the garage. More has to be done for the taller freaks among us, but it's fine for me ...
So things are progressing. I have my work cut out inside as well, but more of that later.
It has just occurred to me that we decided to leave Cherswud so we didn't have maintenance or gardens to do - what happened???
Jodrell Bank is constructed in the backyard |
Looking for a signal ... |
David acting as the ballast before we'd got the paving slabs to hold it down. The hole in front of him is where we removed an old rotting stump. The fence behind him will be replaced. |
David has removed the gib board |
So things are progressing. I have my work cut out inside as well, but more of that later.
It has just occurred to me that we decided to leave Cherswud so we didn't have maintenance or gardens to do - what happened???
Monday 5 January 2015
Caption competition
At the back end of August David and I visited
Shugburgh Hall and got co-opted into being part of a group of people holding
hands (with 161 strangers – that’s not terribly British!) around the largest
yew tree in Europe. It was being filmed for an episode of BBC1’s Glorious
Gardens from Above and screened in the UK early in October. We didn’t see it
then as we were preparing to leave for NZ. David finally tracked it down on the
VPN the other day. In his inimitable dog with a bone way, he examined it
minutely and found us. David said I am one of the few adults who featured with
my own medium close-up. See, fame does come to those who wait …
So, David has captured an image of me and
the woman who is signing the narrative.
Your mission, ladies and germs, should you
choose to accept it, is to create a caption for the photo. All entries will be
published so use asterisks freely if required. You can add your entry as a
comment below, but if that proves difficult, then email them to me at marilyn@cherswud.com
The prize will be your choice of a packet
of Griffins gingernuts (the world’s best) or a bottle of NZ sauvignon blanc
(also the world’s best).
BTW, if you want to see the episode because
you are interested in the yew tree and Shugburgh Hall, type in Staffordshire as additional info to aid
your search. It is a very big tree …
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