Forever House #43

Meet Ronnie

Monday 1st May 2017 I have the opportunity to finish the Forever House this year after thirteen years.

Regularly writing the blog really helped me stay motivated in 2013. I'm sure it will again now as I aim to have her finished, again, by the October Long Weekend 2017.

Last year, I was refinancing at home, to convert my back shed into a cottage for me so I could rent out the main house. A builder friend convinced me to include enough to pay a builder to come out and smash the remainder of the Forever House build. I borrowed extra on his reckoning. About seven months later here I am with a builder, Ronnie, here for a month to get the house to lock-up. I cannot believe my luck, to have an experienced builder come and camp and enjoy the challenge of this project. Ronnie came out a month or so ago and did a materials list. We made a plan to make a start on Monday May 1st.

Ronnie's home away from home

We shopped last Saturday for as many materials as Ronnie's ute would carry (ceiling sheets mainly, and timber to fit out the window openings), and drove out to the site. We met at Bunnings again today, and loaded up the rest. I towed the camper trailer for Ronnie's home away from home. His ute was laden with work horses and tools. We got to the farm at 1pm and have been unloading, cleaning, whipper-snipping, pitching the camper trailer, basically preparing the site ever since.

Shower

Temporary kitchen in bathroom

                     It is over three years since I made up the bed in the caravan on my Currawinya plot. How excited am I?  I've moved the kitchen from the 2nd bedroom to the bathroom with Ronnie's help. He's made a private shower under an old tank stand beside the house. He whipper-snipped tracks from house to loo to camper trailer to my caravan to shower.

We ate Thai Green Chicken Curry by the fire and are now in bed clean, tired and rpreparing to start work tomorrow. 


Tuesday 2nd May 2017
Evenin' all, two days in and one to to go for me, three to go for Ronnie. I think we're doing great. He's very organised, and after all this time away from it the building site needed bring back to something workable..We have both been organising the space to be able to get on safely and productively.

I'm cosy in my caravan, which had a few rat shits and needed a soapy bucket of hot water to give everything a once over. I threw away the sheet on the bed and the two covering the seats at the table. We set the camper trailer up for Ronnie and he's pretty happy in there. Lucky I haven't sold that yet (if anyone is interested it will be for sale sometime soon! let me know). Ronnie had planned to use his swag - which would have been fine, I'm sure, short term - but a month is long when you are working hard and a nest for all weathers is necessary I feel.

Today I rose and ventured down to the house, Ronnie was on his first coffee and fag. The kitchen is awesome. About 6.30am and he'd been up an hour. The conversation about where what when and how launched us in to action. Ronnie was walking around eating his Nutrigrain already in work mode.

We had to set up my mud-making station, whilst allowing him free reign to also work. We decided if he did a few more ceiling sheets over the verandah (following on from where Dave, Jeff, Ken and I had sheeted previously), that would give me an under cover corner for the mud mixer and my ingredients. We had to work out a track that I could push the barrow with sifted dirt and then with mud to where I need to lay mud.

before

during

after

Ronnie's work area needed some serious consideration. Putting up ceiling sheets on the verandah, the eaves of which hang out beyond the edge of the verandah floor. There is old pallet scaffolding set up outside the verandah from when we last put up ceiling sheets, but the lantana and cats claw had totally grown through it and taken over. I set about cutting away the lantana and cats claw - firstly using a saw - useless, and then changing to the long handled secateurs - almost awesome. I have bruises on the inside of my left thigh where I wedged one handle of the secateurs so that I could squeeze the other handle closed with both hands, cutting through the lantana with great effort. Ronnie refreshed the scaffolding and started putting up sheets using the sheet lifter we'd hired. The ceilings are 3m high so it would have been impossible without that lifter.

Once I got rid of the overgrowth, I readied the dirt pile to dig and sift more dirt. That entails removing 6m sheets of rusty iron off the ground which stops the grass growing over the pile in between diggings. I got a good work out - feeling it and it was only 10am. Every so often Ronnie needed me to be on the other end of what he was doing - I cannot believe my luck that he has agreed to come out here and help me get this Forever House to lock up. Between us we have cleaned up all the throughfares and I am looking around seeing the finished house in my mind's eye.

I chopped straw, gathered sand and water, swept up a barrow full of dry mud off the floor and got to mudding. I'd forgotten how much I enjoy the process. Ronnie methodically put up ceiling sheets, moving scaffolding and sheet lifter along the deck.





At 4pm after two barrow loads of mud made and laid I went to the river for a swim wash. I'd used the flash new shower room the night before but needed a river fix this arv. Breast stroked up to my little island and back - about 200m return swim.


 Ronnie kept going on the ceiling. At 5 we lit a fire in the 20ltr tin can outside and had a few drinks and chats. Quite different for me having done these pushes largely on my own previously. Veg lasagna for dinner and now bed - exhausted and happy and very excited about this push.

Saturday 6th May 2017
After spending a similar Wednesday out there working I came on home to work in Lismore Thursday and Friday. Ronnie stayed working on the ceiling. I was glad to hear he got home safe and sound on Friday eve - there is no range at the farm so out of contact when out there until coming back into Casino.

All that work took it's toll on my poor old Radial nerve it seems and I have been struggling a little with a dead right arm, and a hand that feels like it is on fire - mainly when in bed laying on my back. I've had some amazing Bowen treatments thanks to a friend who knows that magical knack and am feeling much better now. I will try to go a little less like a bull at a gate in order to survive this month.

This weekend is earmarked to write the blog and to work on stained glass highlight windows for above the big sliding doors onto the verandah. I am re working the panels of a bird light I made way back in about 1986. Ronnie needs the windows to either be finished or to have the exact measurements to work with next week.

Ronnie and I meet up on Monday morning to do it all again. Will write next weekend and report on the progress we make. Thanks for being out there in blog land reading and taking an interest in my project.