Monday 23 June 2014

Week 17 - The Living Well in Retirement Weekly Challenge



The weekly Retirement Challenge is back!

After a few weeks - when life 'got in the way' - I'm back on the blog. Valued readers, thank you so much for your patience!

Currently we are living away from home - in Coffin Bay - in rented accomodation, as we work on renovating our beach house. We are converting what has been two units into one house - with four bedrooms and two bathrooms.

Long we have dreamed of undertaking this project - so why now you might ask?

The short answer - finally we have the time, we are able to do all the project management ourselves, and we can afford the changes by doing a good deal of the work ourselves - with 'a little bit' of help and encouragement from family members.

Having never personally undertaken this type of project before there have been numerous new skills to develop! John is now a 'Mudder Extraordinaire', while I can stand on a ladder and grind, with a minigrinder, a mean spot - or two thousand - on a cement wall.

We have chiselled tough tiles off the walls of two bathrooms and two kitchens, and John has been able to work assisting the builder with tasks including demolishing a cement block wall, carrying and stashing bricks, pulling out skirtings and cornices, and gyprocking walls. Later we will tackle the painting ourselves.

The days we spend doing these things are days we don't need to pay others to these necessary, but rather tedious, tasks. This is meant to help us to stay close to our budget target! I'll let you know how that goes in another post!

This week's challenge then is ... to tackle one of those little jobs around the house that you've been putting off for ages. Fix that dripping tap, do a spot of painting, replace that loose tile, repair the squeaky door or stuck window.

Don't know how to go about it? Did you know that there's a Youtube video for that! Don't believe me - do a Youtube search - you will be truly amazed!

Do also utilise the friendly people at your local hardware store - we can attest to the fact that their advice regarding the best tools and products to use is invaluable.

My best tip - purchase the best pair of work gloves you can afford. They are a great investment and make the work so much easier.

What will you be tackling? I'd love to hear how you go! Meanwhile you can follow our progress via the weekly 'Retirement Lifestyle ... this week' posts.

Cheers!

Marian

PS: I have a little confession! Where once I was completely mesmerised by the glorious range of stationery spilling out of the shelves at Officeworks, recently I've been finding Bunnings a most thrilling and exciting place to be! Who would have thought!










Friday 20 June 2014

Retirement Lifestyle ... this week

It's Week 2 of our renovation. We are tired, our muscles are aching - but we are toasting our efforts! The first fix is completed! Here's cheers to that!


 The week started with 90ml of rain and local flooding. This is a 100 metres from our house!



The electrical first fix got under way.








John preparing to 'mud'.



Mudding! It's quite an art - but John has it under control! Even the plumber agreed he's done a great job!



The first bathroom finished.




With two bathrooms, plus electricals in every room to do, the mudding went on and on. John finished by the torchlight of my iphone!



Meanwhile I spent two days grinding spots 30cms apart over every wall. The spots are for the glue that will fix our gyprock!

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No, it's not Darth Vader - it's me!!!



My trusty diamond toothed grinder!




The living area finished! The house looks like it has a bad case of the measles!



And, yes, that would be our gyprock! It was off loaded onto the deck.



Lil, Pete the Builder's dog, enjoying the sun!



John and Pete the Builder carried every gyprock sheet into the house today!



There's lots of it! Can't wait to see it up! It will make all that grinding worthwhile - at least that's what I'm telling my protesting muscles!




We kept up our walking most evenings. I never tire of this beautiful bay!



A trio of pelicans enjoying the evening light.



Finally, I just had to include this! I saw this go-fast red gopher parked outside the Post Office today. A lady, her white fluffy dog and a very large parcel got into this! I love it! I want one!




I can't wait to share next week's work with you all! Join me then!


Some links to explore this weekend!

  • The Cummins Area School Library put these pictures of floods past on their Facebook page. My uncle's school bus was one of the featured photographs.
  • It was cold, wet and windy for much of this week - soup weather! I made a variation of this soup with a rouge butternut pumpkin that grew in the garden at home. 
  • Did you know that research has shown that the consumption of hot chocolate can be positive to one’s health? Read more here!
  • Great advice here! For your nearest and dearest, what would you add to this list?

  • Thinking about a renovation? Great advice here! Perhaps I should have taken more notice of #2 before we started!

Have a great week!

Cheers!

Marian


Friday 13 June 2014

Retirement Lifestyle ... this week

Postcards from ... our beach house at beautiful Coffin Bay - the place where, in our retirement, we will be spending much more of our time!

We are currently renovating it - converting two x two bedroom units into one four bedroom, two bathroom house.

It's been a big week!


Before - the kitchen area



Before - the living area



Just look how much was in those cupboards! Of course I underestimated and didn't buy enough of those stripey bags!



All our furnishings needed to be shifted off site for storage. Thankfully the rain held off!



The dismantling of the kitchens begins! Thanks for your help, David!



The first kitchen almost out!



The dividing wall on the way down! John is Pete the builder's right hand man ie lacky!



There were bricks, bricks and more bricks!



John - CBC or Chief Brick Carrier! And, let me assure you that every one of those bricks was HEAVY!!! Amazing job, John!



The last few bricks - and the dividing wall is almost down!



John's stack - two hundred plus bricks! Not a bad day's work!



And then there was the rubble to clean up!



Getting the tiles off the walls required the hammer drill. Those tiles were so well stuck on that they would have survived the apocalypse!



With the wall gone - guess what! There was a hole in our roof!!!



The first LVL makes it up to strengthen the roof! Even I was useful in helping to lift these!



It's been an incredibly busy week at our beach house!



 Useful items! My blue garden gloves might never recover!



Please join me for next week's update!


Some links to explore this weekend!


  • Did you know that today is both a full moon and Friday 13th - an event that will nt occur again until 2045? It's called a Strawberry Moon - more information can be found here
  • Speaking of full moons and the like - how many of these common superstitions do you follow? I admit I definitely adhere to Numbers # 5 and #11!
  • Here's a cocktail worth sipping on Friday 13th!
  • Cat lovers will appreciate these gorgeous cupcakes
  • This link is for gardeners interested in planting by the phases of the moon. My late Grandfather, an exceptional gardener, swore by this method.
  • Finally, here's a most wonderful Potato and Leek soup recipe from my blog 'Apricot Tart'. It's just perfect for these cold, cold days we are experiencing. Enjoy! 


Have a great week!

Cheers!

Marian