GETTING ON......Slowly......

Well, been a while since I last put something noteworthy on this blog. Unfortunately my thyroid issues have flared up again and I crashed..big time....Sleeping most of the days away is not a fun thing when you are a type A personality like me! I have Hashimoto's (an autoimmune disease) and my thyroid medication which works fine for fifty mazillion other people doesn't work for me. So, there I was going ok for a few months, then Ker-PLUNK! Just ran out of gas and konked out in the middle of the freeway of life....No fun at all!

 SO anyhooooooos......my friend David decided to try to finish the sideway storage area and deck so we can move the tools and machinery and equipment out of my under the house work area. This, you have to understand would give me enourmous pleasure at being able to walk from Rolladoor to craft/work room without losing a limb or any  important organs.  Been a big contentious issue. Me screeching, MOVE THE FREAKING STUFF! With David humbly saying, I can't, there's no where to put it! So, to give him his (ahem) meagre credit, he tried to work and bash and drill and saw and grind and weld in between my snores. He'd come in at lunchtime and say, 'You ready for a snooze?' I'd say, 'I'm fading and will pass out in around 10 minutes.' You have never seen anyone work so fast to achieve so much in 10 minutes. You see, my bedhead is directly where he is working. Well, he's outside and I am inside but you get the point. 

Hopefully my new upped dose from 125mcgs to 150mcgs will kick in soon. It takes roughly 6 weeks for thyroxine (that's the thyroid hormone) to do its thing. In my case and knowing my luck it won't be enough and I will be in Slumberville a tad longer than I want to be.  
        Unfortunately none of the timber or steel or roofing steel is recycled/or reused. We did get offered tons of free building materials but sadly it was not treated timber. In a high termite infested area you MUST have treated timber. The previous owner did a shoddy job on structural timbers and we ended up with a McDonald's drivethrough for termites in the lower part of the house! We couldn't find any roofing material that had not rusted or full of holes or was not expensive. So all new it was, just for this project!                  Here are some pics of the latest installment of the Reno on a shoestring!

Oscar in his run keeping an eye on David, making sure he does the  job right.

 

The over engineered welded steels to support both the lower and upper structures. David learned to weld so that saved us heaps of money!

 

 

Partially covered roof! Woohoo! There will be a gutter attached soon. The open window is where my bed is.

Opposite end view. You get a better perspective of the storage area.The dodgy louvred window area is my craft/work room. The acrow prop is holding up the back end of the house! Eventually there will be a large window and a little decking out the front of that area.

Wherever you are, I hope your day is full of love and happiness and a few good belly laughs!
Cheers!
Maria

Some plans.

Well, still recovering from surgery and the weather yet again has been too lousy to really do much. So I shall show you the plans I have for the east side of the house.

The super cheap 2nd hand aluminum large sliding window will replace the old rotting and broken window which is my teen son's room. It will allow lots of light and more importantly, some decent cross ventilation in the warmer months.The sink, which is from the old caravan, will be used under the tap to wash hands, or soak pot plants or let a few stray birds take a bath.

Lots going on here! We will move the outdoor power point toward the front of the house, near my son's room. The old steel pool fencing is going to be my cat's fixed but temporary outdoor chill out room. You can see we have started the actual run from the deck. The paint at the moment is left over from my friend's house. I can't afford to clad the house yet so covering up that vile fibro is a great way to reuse the paint and protect the house from the weather. Wasn't sure I liked the War Ship Grey but it has grown on me and it changes colour from deep blue to light grey depending on the time of day.You can just make out the steel metal hangars for the deck on the far end. There will be a covered lockable area where the tractor is sitting, for storage of our machines, and then above that a deck/walkway. Right now there is no escape route out the back. I figure a deck would be a sensible thing to have and also utilises an otherwise dead space below.

 

Misseewer Oscaaaaar!This darling chap is driving me nuts! He wants to go outside all the time but unfortunately he would put an Olympic high jumper to shame with his prowess at leaping. He leaps to kill birds and where I live there are many beautiful native parrots, and teeny tiny blue fairy wrens. I have designed a cat run for him, and as you can see we are making a start on it. He is not impressed at having to be on a lead when I take him outside for his daily nibble on the long grass. His look is typical Sylvester the cat's, "Sufferin' succotash, what's a cat to do? I know! I'll pee on her bed, THAT'LL learn her!" ....and so he does, if he hasn't been outside for a while. Hence forth the cat run shall be made! Ok, for now at least some place he can lick his bits in private. 

 

 

  Well, that's all for now! 
Enjoy your week!
Maria

Missing in Action

Hello all!   
  Again I have been missing in action! This time due to some medical issues which have been going on for some time. I had surgery 3 days ago and feel crud. Had urgent ultrasounds and doctor appointments these past few weeks. There was a scare with Ovarian Cancer but so far so good. Had some bits taken out and soon I shall be rocking and rolling again!   Stick with me and I will be back real soon with more excitement on the home front. This time it will be Reno stuff not medical stuff. (I ought to start a blog about my health issues!)  
Cheers!  
Maria

Love and other bruises.

 Hi Happy Renovators!
I have not posted for a few weeks now. There is a good reason. I got injured and couldn't do much for a week or so. Then I got the great news that what I thought was a badly sprained wrist is actually Oesteoarthritis and severe Tendonitis. Great, just great! So a whole week of resting the hand and the bruised leg and no work made me cranky!
  Leg got bruised when I was helping David to carry up the driveway some 150mm 8 metre length storm water pipe to lay in the trench he has started. With all the heavy rains lately the drive is a mess. He, unfortunately, dropped his end causing it to bounce and jar my grip and hurt my sore wrist even more and all in the space of a nano-second my leg which was in mid back stride got dumped with a 40 kg weight with a sharp rounded edge. I said a few choice words and the pain was intense. I thought I had cut it open and dreaded to look to see if I had a flap of muscle and skin torn away. Luckily for me, it was a cool day, so I had worn thick socks and thick track suit pants. I think those saved me from further damage. 
 Pretty horrible, hey! At least nothing is broken.

Day 6 bruising. 

 

 

 
I also had some fun with my new wrist brace. I really find it difficult to wear and can barely do anything while I am wearing it. Has really slowed me down doing much.  I did however manage to assemble my new toy! The new wooden work bench. 

My newest fashion accessory. 

 

 

 

 I think the highlight of the past 2 weeks has been discovering all the old landfill used from the 1930's right through to the late 1970's. With all the rains the top soil has washed away exposing lots of broken crockery and bottles just waiting to slash a tyre up the driveway! Some interesting pieces in the booty I got the other day. Old Marmite milk-glass jar in the top left. This is from the 1930's Pity it wasn't intact, could have sold it for a fortune then got the damn driveway fixed! 

 Oh well, time to get back to work, sore wrist or not!
Cheers!

Trick or Treat!

Seems I can't miss a trick lately. Old Aussie saying. However, it is true. I am really very despondent today. Let me explain;
 My friend David, (who has been working in Adelaide, South Australia) flew back in the early hours of Saturday morning with the intent of fixing the driveway which was washed away a week ago from the heavy deluge of flooding rains. So much for that idea! Here is the cause of that not happening! 

 

 
 Yep a ruddy great tree on my neighbour's boundary decided to drop in to say, "Hello!"
  Whilst it may look easy peasy to get rid of, it is actually about 2 feet in width in the trunk. David got rid of the canopy and tossed it over the neighbour's property. (It is the law, you are allowed.) We had no working chainsaw so............

The SES (State Emergency Service) came to the rescue! It seems lots of trees are falling down and causing havoc due to the high winds and unseasonal rains. They have their work cut out for them! Ha ha!
 You can see me on my deck looking down at the activity.

 I hate Halloween, yet it seems we are having our own spooky adventures right now. I just want a treat! Nice spa, massage, glass of champagne.......aaaaaaaahhhhh.......