Architectural Archaeology

It's been fascinating to see what historical features have been uncovered by the demolition work at our house. The exposed ceiling joists and trusses have revealed the calculations made by the original builder-owner back in 1968 and the supplier's marks and labels. These have now been joined by some metric calculations on the new pink framing for the en suite bathroom - no doubt future renovators will find these in about forty years' time.



And some more of the old wallpaper has been revealed, though sadly not the "birds in hedgerow" pattern that caught my eye when we first viewed the house more than two years ago. All the outlandish wallpaper was painted over by the vendor before our second viewing so I never had the chance to photograph it for posterity but now we've had another glimpse of how lovely it was.

Live Wires and Pipe Dreams

The sparky has confirmed our suspicions - that the whole house needed re-wiring. This isn't particularly good news but it's not bad news either. I'm looking forward to logical light switches, reliable plug sockets and no more fluorescent tubes whilst J is eagerly anticipating his movie projector in the rumpus room. Another exciting feature is going to be the possibility of retro-fitting a generator (to make us self-sufficient in the event of a power cut) and photo-voltaic solar cells (to help us get a bit closer to being off grid).

The copper pipes have deteriorated over the years as well so new plumbing is being put in across the house. This should mean the potential for a higher water pressure from our tanks though we may need a new pump for that as well.

And lots of old copper piping for me to turn into some kind of art - maybe something along the lines of this installation at Kaipara Sculpture Gardens.

Scavenger Hunt

The local inorganic collection took place a few weekends ago. This is a highlight of the year for some - those who like to have a good clear out and those who like to hunt out treasures in other people's trash.

Every so often, the residents in a particular neighbourhood will be invited by the council to clear out their garages and lofts and undercrofts and put all their unwanted goods on the pavement outside their houses. The arrangement is that the official waste management contractors will gather up all the inorganic waste over the course of the following week.

In the meantime, there's a free-for-all amongst both rag and bone men and those locals with an eye for reuseable and recyclable cast-offs. These days rag and bone men travel not by horse and cart but by rusty truck and they mainly hunt out old fridges and cookers. It's not unusual to see five of them in one short street. I haven't seen them come to blows yet but I'm sure it happens.



Luckily, the things that caught my eye were not the same things that the scrap merchants were after. But I did pick up some very useful items - a picnic table that will make an excellent potting bench, some interesting blue shelves which will store all those things that might come in handy one day in the shed, a great kitchen unit with six orange cupboards for the same purpose, a pair of smart suitcases - another storage option, and a lovely glass sweet jar which I'll put on our new change table and stuff with cotton wool.



There's no really valuable treasures there that I could re-sell or display with pride on our sideboard (not yet purchased - maybe next time I'll happen across one). But I'm only an amateur skip-surfer and garage-sale-goer at the moment. So for some more inspiration, you could check out some other thrifters-turned-bloggers displaying their magpie finds - Me and My Shadow, Happy Homebird, A Thrifty Mrs and The White Approach.

Garage Sale Glories

I've now worked out that the local free paper lists the weekend's garage sales in the classified ads. We recently checked one out and came away with a range of bargains, all for less than $10.

A gorgeous, sunny yellow deckchair, a baking tin and a book of recipes whttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifhich will help me bake proper kiwi slices, and another book which is a real piece of kiwi history.


New Zealand celebrated the 30th anniversary of the metric system. Here's a glimpse inside the book that was distributed to every household.

Darling Buds

Our fruit trees, planted in March, have now lost nearly all their leaves but I was relieved to see lots of buds sprouting when I went to inspect them recently.

Ants Nest

We're not entirely sure what kind of creature built this multi-storey apartment on the building paper under the cladding but suspect that it was ants. Hopefully the builders will get rid of it before putting the weatherboard on...

Bold Boys

We have new rams on our land - and they were not at all afraid when I met them. But I'm sure if I actually went into the paddock, they'd scatter.

Feathering the nest

Our hens have conferred and decided to stop laying and start moulting, all at the same time. No more eggs until the spring equinox, we expect...

Grey on Grey

The chickens seem mercifully untroubled by all the chaos around them.

New Territory

I'm sure the builders really appreciate the chickens roosting in their equipment...

Taking Shape

The destruction phase seems to be nearly finished - we found piles of wood in the garage and the walls being re-built when we visited the site recently.



This is the granny flat bathroom and laundry being framed up. After two years of planning, I'm finally getting a feel for what it's going to be like...

Big Bath

It's a good job we're going to have so much hot water for free given the size of our family bath...

Overheads

Here's a glimpse of our gull grey Coloursteel roof that's nearly finished now. We opted for a pale colour that would keep the house cooler in summer and would blend in with the sky rather than stand out.



If you look closely, you'll see the brackets for the solar panels.

And here's the water tank in the loftspace that's going to be connected to the solar panels, supplied by What Power Crisis.



These are the specs in case there's any alternative energy geeks out there reading this post...



The first bit of roof insulation has gone in underneath the water tank. The rest of the roof space will soon be filled up with this natural wool insulation.



And I think this is the underfloor/ceiling insulation, waiting its turn in the shed...

Scheming

We were obliged to pick colours recently for part of our project - the roof and the windows. We opted for gull grey (the roof) and appliance white (the windows). Hopefully the gull grey won't show the peacock poop on the roof...

At the time that we were looking at swatches, I was interested to read this blog entry about naming colours. The survey results reported in the blog show that women come up with many more creative and more varied names for colours than men. But for some reason I think that gull grey and appliance white were probably named by men.

Bedding In

The vegetable patch that we're babysitting over winter is about four times the size of the patch that we had in London and about a quarter of the size of the plot that we're building at our lifestyle block. It's just the right size for getting some practice in. I only have to decide what to sow first, ready for spring...

Spikes and Shadows

Another glimpse at our new temporary garden...

Blooms and Bushes

The garden at our new temporary abode is a lovely mix of cottage garden and structural exotics though it's all looking a bit shabby now that winter has hit.

Clutching at straws

We've had a steady rate of about nine eggs per week from our three mature hens - not unreasonable now that the weather is cooling. We're now getting more eggs - eleven plus each week including smaller eggs like the paler one at the top right. So I'm hoping that our little hen has now come into lay a little bit sooner than expected.

Weta and Woodlice

A tree weta in the chicken coop.

Shrinkwrapped!

...and stripped bare...



The downstairs laundry and toilet knocked through...



The roof trusses upstairs with all the imperial measurements and calculations from when the house was built in 1968...



The upstairs shower still standing...

A Giant Leap...

Weedeaters

I wasn't sure what to do with the weeds that I pulled out at our new temporary abode seeing as our weed tea barrels aren't readily accessible now. But then I realised that I had two furry waste disposal units in the back garden.

Remains of the Day 2

We knew that there was a small mouse population in our house after seeing mice and trapping them in the garage, the kitchen and the living room. So we hoped that we'd find the holes where they were entering the house when the cladding was stripped off and then we could block them up. We didn't quite expect to find ancient nests inside the walls.



We know that this nest must pre-date us as we don't recognise the fabric that they've used for a carpet.



We found this little mouse graveyard in one of the kitchen walls.



The skulls are fascinating - check out the front fangs and the tiny molars.



And you can see each plate in the skull too.



No wonder mice can get through such small spaces.

Remains of the Day 1

When we were clearing out the house, we found heaps of dead spiders and even a live white-tailed spider which sent the removal men packing. But this was one of the prettier insect parts that we found.

Heaven Scent

Whilst our evergreen magnolia has produced strange fruit, our deciduous magnolia has been in bud since January. Only one flower appeared out of season so I'm hoping for a splendid display come spring.

Strange Fruit

The unusual fruit of the magnolia grandiflora, an evergreen magnolia with white flowers.

Natural Pest Control

A spider sorting out a pest on our lemon tree. Thank you!

Our First Lemon

This is our first lemon - and hopefully the start of next year's lemons. It was very useful for sharpening up a dish of chilli fish.

Reclaiming the Roost

When we moved out, we left the chickens at the bottom of the garden with their chookateria and automatic watering system keeping them happy between visits.

They soon moved into the spot previously occupied by the rabbits' hutch and gobbled up the seeds from the hay or dropped pellets.



And once the puppy (bunny) pen was removed from the entrance to the deck, they even extended their territory by stepping onto the patio for the first time. We later found them in a row pecking at the doorstep on the deck. No doubt, they'll move into the house if the builders turn their back for a minute.