Arty Farty Reno

Lazy summer lunches in the garden

2012-01-21T18:54:00.000-08:00

We are enjoying our new native garden especially with some lazy Sunday lunches.

Night time views of the fernery

2012-01-06T02:50:00.002-08:00

Night time shots of the fernery area. It's coming along well. Can you see the night time stalking brolga? I just love him.I can't wait to start on the final part of the house block, the back area which is ugly, cracked concrete and sheds. All must go and I plan to continue this fern theme combined with the native garden theme from the front. Just got to keep saving!

Summer in the emerging garden

2011-12-30T14:41:00.001-08:00

The garden is now nearly 9 months old and is starting to establish itself well. We lost a few little native plants due to the high rainfall we had in spring. The banksias and acacias are doing extremely well and the correas have also grown significantly. Can you spot Neptune, our ragdoll peeking over a rock?

New Water feature: the toucan

2011-12-30T14:24:00.000-08:00

The fernery area is coming along well and the red wall looks fabulous now that Alan has given it a second coat of paint. I bought a little toucan water feature the other day just to add a bit of interest to the area. Tuna, our cat, wasn't quite sure what to make of it at first but now saunters around it confidently. This area is lovely to relax in by reading a book or having a drink with the neighbours.

Kangaroo Paws

2011-12-30T14:13:00.001-08:00

I love Kangarro Paws and these are two types I have in the garden, they are Bush Gold and Bush Inferno. I noticed a new variety up at the local nursery the other day so I might go up today and buy one. Our soil is full of clay so they don't do as well as they would in well drained soil but they are managing okay. Birds love them, so if you want to attract birds to your garden, these are a good investment.

The Native Garden out the Front - Winter 2011

2011-07-31T01:12:00.000-07:00

Well, here it is the end of July (midwinter) and there is some colour in the garden. I can't wait until spring when everything should take off. The garden was planted out at Easter time. Here there are photos of Kangaroo Paws, Correa Bells, Inca Golds and Yellow Devils. The weekend was glorious, no rain, only sunshine and two mild days. I could actually sit out in the garden and enjoy it.

Winter Garden - July 2011

2011-07-27T02:11:00.000-07:00

Okay, here we are in the midst of winter, a frosty one at that and the garden isn't doing much. Please spring be here soon. We have had five frosty mornings so far this winter, that's three more than last year. The native plants don't seem to mind though.

Mulch on and plants in.

2011-07-27T01:58:00.001-07:00

So, the mulch is on, the plants are in, along with some yellow decorative pots. Now we just have to wait for spring for some growth factor!

Plant selection and placement

2011-05-08T02:32:00.001-07:00

Planning the native garden with Michele Filtness. April 2011

In with the boluders...

2011-05-08T00:59:00.000-07:00

The boulders came from the Leslie Vale Quarry and were lifted into place. The area will be an

entertaining areas and the rocks have been selected to sit on.

Down with the gravel...

2011-05-08T00:53:00.000-07:00

Then came the gravel stage.

Dig up the lawn out the front

2011-05-08T00:42:00.001-07:00

First up with the lawn. April 2011

Inside finally complete

2011-05-08T00:04:00.000-07:00

Well, it's now May 2011 and the bathroom renovation is complete. Many thanks to our wonderful neighbours, Tina and Fred, who loaned us there buliders over the three weeks. They were getting an extensive renovation done on their house.

Kitchen...stay tuned

2009-04-17T21:02:00.000-07:00

Well we are getting there slowly. The window surround is on the main kitchen window but the big double doors are yet to be framed up. Here is a photo of one corner of the kitchen with the glass spalshback finally installed. There is a little roll down pantry which you can see up in the top photo and down in the photo above this text. Very handy for hiding breakfast clutter. After the last of the wood frames we need to polish up the floorboards with a high gloss varnish. Tuna likes to sit at the back door and check out any street action of an evening.

Getting there

2009-02-13T12:15:00.000-08:00

In with the new this week. Now I have a sink back again which is very nice after ten days without it. The splashback for behimd the sink will arrive in about a fortnight. Hopefully Alan will put some powerpoints in today. The breakfast section will be closed off like a little pantry once the splash back goes in. Today I am looking forward to putting in the cooking books in the area specifically designed for them and a small sound system so we can listen to music whilst we cook.

Out with the old...

2009-02-10T01:55:00.000-08:00

Finally, the necessary painting is done and the plaster dust is washed from the floors. Wiring all done also, a fairly busy affair. The new kitchen goes in over the next two days. The splashback above the sink might not eventuate for another two weeks though. There will be lots of cupboard space and shelves for our recipe books. Just about everything will be stored away, leaving it very easy to clean.

Yeeee I'm so excited...

2009-02-04T20:31:00.000-08:00

The kitchen is finally going in next week. The joinery has been done for a while but the granite slab was no where to be found! We have been waiting a month for it to turn up. I can't wait for the aircon unit to go back in as the weather has been very hot and humid.

Back again

2009-01-15T14:43:00.000-08:00

Okay, back after a considerable break. More news on the reno soon...

View from Fred's house

2008-01-02T16:45:00.000-08:00

The aspect from Fred's and Tina's place.

Bottlebrush Christmas

2007-12-14T15:16:00.000-08:00

The garden is the best it has ever been this year, the fernery looking healthy and there are more flowers than weeds for once. We are still plugging away getting the kitchen space ready for the new pantry and middle bench. There is still lots of plastering and painting to be done on the inside. I am currently painting the loungeroom walls, well some of them anyway.

Eight Hour Fascia Day and Ladder Gymnastics

2007-03-11T23:57:00.000-07:00

Monday, a public holiday and Alan, Travis and I spent virtually the whole day putting up the last of the long fascia sheets. Alan resecured the tarps covering the house and tomorrow hopefully we will have a new, black roof. Good to see Travis on the job again. Here are some gymnastics shots especially for you Nicola.

Please, please ...weather be kind

2007-03-10T21:21:00.001-08:00

Saturday 10th: Alan and I gave the last wall its second coat of render. Meanwhile the lately-arrived Max removed most of the old tin off the roof. Then it was time to take out all the rotten and partially rotten purlins out of the roof. I stacked up the iron and cut up the rest of the purlins for winter firewood. Alan and Max then put on two large tarpaulins and achored them down.

Sunday 11th: Alan painted the newly rendered wall red with two coats but it looks like it will need at least another two. The red and the yellow have proven quite difficult colours to work with whereas the blue and the green were a dream. Now it is blowing and gale and the tarps are hanging on for dear life. We just haven't had that much luck with the weather. Well, I guess it is Tasmania after all. Alan and I then made atrip to the tip in another attempt to clear up the yard. The rooferes will be coming on Tuesday, hopefully the traps will do their job until then.

Ladders and the LAST windows

2007-02-24T19:31:00.001-08:00

Today Sunday the 25th of February and Max and Sean were here to help us. It was a long day...from 9-00 until 6-00. As usual I was on clean-up. Alan had his trusty plans he had drawn up with care and time in front of him. Today the final three windows went in and we have a great view of the bay through them. One strip of yellow still needs to be painted green and when the power finally goes underground the top green sheet can go on and also the bottom sheet. Next major happening will be the black roof which goes on March the 14th.

New Blue

2007-02-11T01:26:00.000-08:00

This weekend we added a new blue section of Zincalume which is sandwiched between two sheets of yellow. Sean helped Alan both Saturday and Sunday. Fred also came over to help us to remove the existing window which was very heavy. We then put in the new one. I now have a fabulous view of the bay from my desk. Most of Sunday was spend breaking up the concrete to make a ditch ready to put the electricty cable underground. Once the new line of electricty goes in the black roof can go on and the final wall with three windows can go in. Breaking up cement means lots and lots of white dust! Spent half an hour talking to Heather who delivers brochures in the area; she has been watching the progress on her rounds.

Back door

2007-01-29T17:33:00.000-08:00

Today the back door went in and it was the best day we have had for building for a long time. Sean was here to help today. The last side(red) also went on the garage/study.

Gales

2007-01-28T00:55:00.000-08:00

Today, Sunday, proved a challenging day putting up the yellow on the kitchen wall zigzagging up the steps and putting up and the last gigantic sheet on one of the lougeroom walls. It seems to reach out to the sky. It was Alan, Travis and me today. We also fitted the emperor leadlight into the study door. The wind was unrelenting and our zincalume was hard to hold onto!

Rob on the Job

2007-01-28T00:31:00.000-08:00

Today we had Rob on the job. It was a rain-plagued day but nevertheless Alan and Rob managed to take out the old kitchen wondow and fit the new one. They also put one piece of yellow up. The kitchen window has been down-sized but still gives a great view of the bay.

Glass blocks

2007-01-20T20:46:00.000-08:00

Not much one in the last few days as we have been helping our daughter Nicola move into her new home in Launceston. The glass blocks are in the bathroom window and today I made some apricot jam. Batch two is on the stove cooking as I type this. Our tree has produced a bumper crop this year. At the moment it is pouring down and not a lot can be done outside.

Emperors ready to go in the door

2007-01-15T16:43:00.000-08:00

Well basically the emperors are ready to go in the door. Max wants them for his cricket club but that is not going to happen. This panel took me twice as long as I expected to piece. What I initially planned had to be changed...I will have to start looking for a door closer so the door won't slam. Maybe we will frame the leadlight behind glass on the outside wall like we did the fish series in the lounge room. I would really like to design and make a really big series to go in the hallway ceiling as a feature skylight. Probably think on this for a while!

Fred and the penguins

2007-01-14T02:34:00.000-08:00

Today, Fred, our neighbour came around and moved the hot water cylinder and rearranged the kitchen plumbing so we can get on with another wall of the house. I spent the day cutting out and piecing a leadlight depicting two emperor penguins ready for the shed door after we paint it black. It nearly drove me mad and I ended up cutting the sky pieces into five which I had ever so carefully managed to cut as two pieces (SIGH!)to make them easier to piece into the lead. I ran a copper filled leadline through the diaganol curve to support it as it is a large door window. Tomorrow I will solder it and maybe put on the putty. We'll see what else crops up.

The "Shed"

2007-01-11T23:49:00.000-08:00

Today Max, Alan and I started on the front of the "shed". Travis put in an appearance near the end to help with the fascia. Max was worried about getting a smack on the head! Great weather for building. What is white will soon be black and a emperor penguin leadlight I am working on will go in the door.

No Max!

2007-01-11T01:58:00.000-08:00

Max couldn't make it today so Alan, Travis and I did the back of the garage/art area. It was no easy task as nothing was square or level on the old existing "shed" which we have turned into an art studio and garage area. Half the day was preparation time so everything would line up and be done properly. Putting sheets over the ugly grey concrete brings a lot of satisfaction. It was a great day even though a tad hot. No wind ripping the sheets of iron from our hands though! The existing white window framing will later be painted black to match all the others in the reno.

Large slice of yellow

2007-01-09T01:04:00.000-08:00

Today it was the first pleasant day we have had for ages, not too windy, no rain and no scorching sun; just right. Max turned up early and surprised us all. We can always hear his big, black beast of a ute coming. Anyway they finished off cladding the external bathroom wall and started on another smaller wall of the house, smaller but quite high. The eaves had to come off, a window needed to be removed and then the wall framed up. They managed to get one of sheet of yellow on. I was on clean up as usual.

Bathroom window

2007-01-09T00:54:00.000-08:00

Today Max turned up so Alan and he set about framing up the external bathroom wall and putting in the new window frame; the glass blocks will go in later. For now we have a rollerdoor window! They also put on a few concrete sheets. Travis and I managed to finish cutting up the wood and did general clean up. John took some more white boards away and delivered us a load of firewood as promised.

More rain

2007-01-06T13:34:00.000-08:00

Well today was another day of heavy rain so the boys couldn't do a great deal of outside work. Travis and I will also have to remask off the front windows as all the card and tape protecting them became drenched and fell off. This wall still needs a second coat of texture coat. Sean and Alan finished removing the lino off the kitchen/dining floor and the boards in the dining area are much better condition than the ones running through the kitchen area. They also put up some plasterboard around the new black doors. The rain stopped for half an hour so one side of the laundry is finished.

The heavens opened

2007-01-04T22:31:00.001-08:00

January 5th. Today Sean was assisting with the reno again. It wasn't dry enough to put on the second layer of texture coating so the boys decided to start on the laundry/art area which is adjoined to a garage; an outbuilding. Travis and I did another trip to Mitre 10 to buy a Drill Hammer Kit to make life a bit easier. Travis had his second driving lesson. John popped in and made and offer to take away the weatherboards we had piled in the driveway. He is coming back for more on Monday. His son can apparently use the boards in his rennovation. In exchange he is bringing us a load of firewood. It sounded like a good exchange to me since I am the one cutting all the old wood up and it really doesn't burn that well anyway. The pile was getting higher and higher! Anyway when Alan and Sean were half way through putting up some blue zincalume down came the rain so they moved into the kitchen/dining area to rip up the lino as we are going to hopefully sand back the existing floorboards and polish them up to match what is already in the living room. This was underlaid with a lot of small pieces of burnieboard which was nailed to the flooring with copious amounts of nails, not making it an easy task. They have managed to remove half of it. Pud, our cat, was not very impressed with the changes when she came out looking for a meal.

Sealant and texture coating Jan 3rd and 4th

2007-01-03T20:50:00.000-08:00

The last two days have been boiling hot and not pleasant to work in considering that the area currently under renovation virtually receives full-day sun. Anyway the first coat of texture coating is on the concrete sheeting out the front. It's a wonder Alan didn't get heat stroke. Travis and I made another visit to Mitre 10 to buy some addition buckets of Dulux Full Cover Texture. We need this around the upcoming side. Travis had his first driving lesson on the way. All of the iron has been painted except for a few sheets of the red. Some of the zincalume was higher than our house. We had it propped up all over the place to dry. Rob and Jilly came for a BBQ and liked the colours.

A zillion sheets later

2007-01-01T20:29:00.000-08:00

It's January 2nd and the whole day has been filled with more washing and painting of the Zincalume. Travis and I bought four more tins of paint(yellow, blue, green and red) from our local Mitre 10 store. The guy tinting the paints said, "These are very bright colours, what are you painting?" Here are a few shots of the longer lengths and one of Alan spraying them yellow. If you are holding one upright and a gust of wind comes along you nearly become airborne or it blows down on your toes. There weren't as many flying bugs around today. We now have a huge stack of painted Zincalume ready to continue the reno with.

Zincalume happiness

2006-12-31T21:12:00.000-08:00

Hi, it's the 1st of January and we have spent most of the day painting the Zincalume...I have been washing down all the sheets and Alan has been painting them. We are also nearly out of most of the colours of paint so tomorrow means a visit to the hardware store. The trickest things with the painting are the sea breezes and sudden gusts which come from al directions and blow everything off the makeshift easels and the little insects who are particularly enchanted by the yellow. The front yard and backyard are littered with our little sheets of happiness.

A little green and around a corner

2006-12-28T22:13:00.000-08:00

Today meant a few more sheets of concrete sheeting, a small amount of green as shown on the "easels"(a bit of blue on the top...naturally later to be repainted green as we ran out of green). Finally at three o'clock it was a trip around the corner to remove more boards and some of the eaves. Trav escaped helping as he was at work.

Out with the old...in with the new

2006-12-28T15:22:00.000-08:00

Thursday 28th: Sean and Alan spent another day taking out the old windows, framing up the wall and putting in the new windows. Travis showed up for another guest appearance to help with the weighty windows. Double-glazed windows weigh a ton! One piece of concrete sheeting was put up; this will be rendered, undercoated and painted blue later along with the other sheets still to go up. The windows will be fitted with slimline venetian blinds. Jane and Vaughan came for tea and were very impressed with the progress.

Rounding the corner

2006-12-26T23:32:00.000-08:00

Wednesday 27th and we are starting on the third side of the house with the double-glazed windows, miniorb and eventually concrete sheeting. The double-glazed windows are soooo heavy. The eaves are gone!

Peering in the dining room window

2006-12-11T01:50:00.000-08:00

Waiting for the
stairs...

One hot Sunday afternoon

2006-12-09T23:02:00.001-08:00

Well, another Sunday over and a little more progress on the renno. This weekend it was mainly Alan and I working on it with a bit of help from Travis after he finished his work at the supermarket. Max has torn a ligament and is unable to work. Fred, out next door neighbour, who is also a plumber, helped out with the new tap fitting so we could get a final piece of miniorb on in the fenery area. Fred and Alan built the black fence together. The steel stairs which will allow easy access from the dining area to the fenery are yet to eventuate. We are still looking for someone who can build them as in our design. Alan has actually found someone who supplies the diamond plating but it is proving a challenge to find someone who can fabricate them out of the sheeting. Today we finished off the corrugated blue panel and a neighbouring miniorb area and then did all the poprivetting from all previous sections of iron. Alan worked his butt off and it was a sweltering afternoon. Tavis and I have tried to plant some new grass seeds in the driest areas; let's seee if they grow. The floodlight which will light up the fenery area when we have barbecues is also in position. Can you see it?

Travis lends a hand

2006-12-02T23:42:00.000-08:00

Every so often Travis puts in an appearance which we do appreciate. Here he is helping his dad put on one of the more difficult fascia plates.

Blue and two new windows

2006-12-02T17:27:00.000-08:00

Sunday again...this time it's work on another wall. Let's hope the weather holds out. We needed to rebuild the wall to accommodate two new windows. Here I am washing the iron down which was painted some time ago. This wall will be clad with these blue sheets and also mini orb. This Sunday there are three of us working on the wall, Alan, Max and me.

Higgledy-piggledy woodpile

2006-11-25T23:41:00.000-08:00

Hi Dad and Mum...remember how I used to cut the firewood with the axe...well today I used the electric bandsaw and here is my higgledy-piggledy woodpile, which used to be part of our house. This is the third woodpile I have made this year and as you can see I would never win Tassies tidiest woodpile competition. Fancy burning your own house. While Max started work on cutting off the eaves getting ready to put a new black roof on I spent five hours collecting and clearing the wood clutter as is came down...wouldn't be so bad except for the million, squillion nails that have to be banged in and avoided when sawing. So far, fingers crossed I haven't hit not one! When he was pulling one section down Max found himself almost completely covered in a seething mass of angry ants annoyed at having their home disturbed. He laughed it off and didn't even swear much to my surprise...all he said was that he would probably find ants in his pants when he finally gets to take a shower. Taking the eaves off an old house must be one of the worst jobs in the world!

More red

2006-11-12T00:08:00.000-08:00

Piet Mondrian

2006-10-26T16:40:00.000-07:00

These pics are for Tim who nearly fell off his bike when he rode along our avenue and saw our renovation in progress. He said it reminded him of a Mondrian. I wonder what he would think if an enormous Mondrian rabbit suddenly appeared in the fernery.

Little starfish happiness

2006-10-21T23:31:00.000-07:00

Here are some sections of the stained glass series embedded in one of the walls.

In go the big black doors

2006-10-21T21:49:00.000-07:00

Today in went the big black doors which will allow access to the ferney from the dining/kitchen area. The fernery is looking a little drab owing to two weeks of drying winds. Next year the ferns should look magnificent with the addition of three coloured triangles of sail shade cloth. It is great having Max around to help Alan and myself with the renno. Many of the windows are large and heavy and removing them is of the more difficult aspects of the renovation process. Travis puts in the odd appearance.

The Irises

2006-10-13T01:12:00.000-07:00

irises

A bit bigger picture

2006-10-08T01:25:00.000-07:00

I can sing a rainbow...

2006-10-08T01:11:00.000-07:00

Here are a few of the combinations of colours...the miniorb is quite a difficult material to work with.

The big, black fence

2006-10-08T00:57:00.000-07:00

First thing to go up was the big, black fence.
"Uggg!" said some of my friends.
"But just wait until the irises flower," I say.

The Architecture of Happiness

2006-10-08T00:41:00.000-07:00

As Alan Botton writes the house of one's dreams can be "a "physical and psychological sanctuary" as well as "a guardian of identity." Let the arty farty renovation begin. My ideas for a home have been influenced by my visits to el Caminito, an Italian enclave in La Boca, Argentina. Enrique, one of my best friends, spent a day showing me around the area which enchanted me with its character and unashamed use of vibrant colours. You can see our design at the top of this page. Let's hope it all goes to plan.