Wednesday, February 19, 2020

Still work to do............

I mentioned yesterday that we had started painting the house, this was before we even knew things were going to change. We'll carry on and get as much as we can done, then come back and finish it off. So far we have painted the two prominent sides, apart from the section under the gable end, because the planks sit vertically and are different to the rest of the boards. With Michael's help those will be changed to match the rest, so there was no point wasting paint as it's so bloody expensive!
 Also painted by the front door and laundry door side, still to do the back end, which will require a cherry picker as it's so high, then we'll do the garage.

The railings are also completely finished, boy are we glad that we don't have to do that again.


We headed out the other morning and as I was waiting to close the gate while Joe drove out, I looked back at the house and thought how pretty it was looking.
The Garden is very parched, although we did have some rain today.

The deck had a good clean, Michael came to help on Sunday, he screwed down raised boards and helped with the sanding, it was really dirty and boards had twisted, the New Zealand weather can be very harsh


On Monday Joe started coating it with a deck oil, by Resene called Driftwood.
He still needs to go around the outer and inner edges and it will need another coat.
It looks so much better and with the new paintwork it looks stunning

*******************************

For the last week or so I've been packing and all the boxes are being stacked in a spare room, in the past this room has been the office and my craft room, now it's storage.
I expect it will be full by the time I'm finished

It goes without saying that we are hugely excited and looking forward to the next chapter in our lives, we're very fortunate to be able to do this sooner than planned. I believe that you have to take chances in your life, things just don't happen, if you have goals or dreams then you work towards them and grab them with both hands, if we had waited around for our lives to change we wouldn't be living in New Zealand. Joe is doing very well in his job and this place was an excellent investment, because of that we are able to do what we are doing,and so happy that between us all we can help Michael and Natasha achieve theirs too. However if they don't start with the grandchildren soon I  might renege on the whole thing!! Only kidding, but when the grandies do come, what a life they will have.

And so I don't lose track, I have a countdown on my calendar!
Three weeks tomorrow

Before I go I will leave you with a few photos of Raglan, taken recently on some of the frequent trips there over the the past three weeks.
Lorenzen Bay is just stunning and just an 8 minute walk away


A small ramp, ideal for launching the kayaks
The woman on the floor was in the shade from the sun, she wasn't dead, I checked!!

A twenty minute walk and we can be at Bow Street wharf and the centre of town.

The Pohutukawa still blooming



Life is good right now


9 comments:

  1. You are doing exactly what I did a couple of months ago... counting down! At least you don't have to get everything you own out of the house when you move! You are so lucky it can be a gradual process. I do dream of living at the beach one day.. but for now (and the next 10-15 years) we will be perfectly happy right here. I will just come and bug the shit outta you at the beach instead. *smiles*

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've even got a countdown on my phone calendar :D The beach will always be there so hold onto your dreams xx Come anytime, bring cake!

      Delete
  2. Your house is looking fabulous Sue. What a great start it will be for your son and his wife. You must be very excited. It is so lovely to pictures of NZs wonderful clear blue sky and the sea. I'll miss not coming over this year. That is the hardest thing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's not the first time we've done heaps of work on a house then moved on, not intentional but just the way it seems to happen. At least with the new house there'll be nothing like that to do there.

      Delete
    2. Yes that is the beauty of our new place too, don't have to do any work, although I will probably change some of the colour schemes eventually and freshen up with a new coat of pain in some of the rooms.

      Delete
  3. The house is looking fab Sue & I love the colour. I am not enjoying these hot dry summers any more - it makes it so hard to be a gardener when we get summers like this. Hope it all goes well for your shift Sue xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Julie, the colour's good eh? I'm over the heat and especially those bloody flies! xx

      Delete
  4. Wow, you have done so much work on getting the house looking fabulous. I think most houses with the vertical boards have them as a design feature as a deliberate contrast and colour to the main body of the wall ,it looks more stylish.
    Good luck with all the decluttering and packing. 😁

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Most houses most likely would have it as a feature and is well done, but this isn't particularly well done. We are pleased with the way it's looking, the timing could have been better hahahah, we threw a move to the beach into the scheme of things, we'll get there in the end x

      Delete

I love reading your comments and I thank you for taking the time to write them. I do my very best to reply to every one of them right here on the blog. When you leave your next comment tick the 'email follow up comments' and then you'll get any replies I leave. Thank you for reading my blog.