RENOVATIONS.........need I say more. !!!

When we  made the big move to the farm we were aware that a long road of renovations lay ahead of us.
Sourcing a local builder was a big issue, as they are few and far between. We finally found a lovely older retired gent who we had both known since our childhood who had been a  builder locally for most of his life( he is nearing 80 years of age), and he has worked out brilliantly. He only works 3-4 days per week and only about 5 hours a day and is more than happy to work around our erratic schedule as we are his.
We decided to  push our lounge/dining area out onto our existing front verandah creating more  living space and bringing in more light.

we sourced our timber from a  good local sawmill and have been really happy with the quality.

It has been wonderful  and at times frustrating  to see the progress and start to see what it would become.

We finally reached lock up stage and the builder  had to take some time off as he was unwell,, this gave us an opportunity to catch up on some other things and take some time off to visit our  children and grandkids.

On his return to us, the demolishing  of the interior walls began in ernest. we had some close  friends also visiting that week and it was wonderful that they were here to  watch the goings on and share our excitment.  Sadly Ken our wonderful friend passed away only weeks after their visit  after a short aggressive battle with cancer.

The open space is just brilliant, I can't believe that we lived  with it as it was for so long, just wish we had started this process 10 years ago when we first bought the place, but maybe then i wouldn't have appreciated it as much as I do now.
Brian and the builder then got to work lining some of the interior walls and ceilings.

When it got to this point, our electrician friend and neighbour came down and did our lights and powerpoints ( we exchange lamb for his labour, a system that works well for both of us)
While all this was happening, the company that were to lay our vinyl in the 3 bedrooms contacted us to see if they could do our work earlier than originally planned and we agreed, the sooner the better even though it would mean total chaos.
Our floors which are concrete had to have a self levelling slurry  poured and spread over them( and in our case 2 layers)  which meant 3 days with drying and laying of the vinyl.We went with the vinyl option as it is easy care and just needs a few mats popped down for warmth.

We were in such a mess during these three days, i thought I would never see the end of it, but we did get there eventually.

At this point the builder left us for four weeks to go to a prior  commitment that he had agreed to do and once again we took the opportunity to sort out a few other  things around that need doing and again spend time with family.
Yesterday he has returned and we have now  moved

on to our sunroom, replacing old windows with  a new sliding one. He opted to just open one up at a time today as the weather is quite chilly and not expected to improve over the next couple of days.

This is where we are at as of today.... I will  update sooner rather than later as we now finally  have a decent internet service. hence the lack of posts   over  the last few months.
We have much to do, but it all takes time and money.

Finally a photo of our mates and us, the last time were were ever together and a sad day knowing that this was the last time our dear  friend  Ken would come to the farm for a visit.

So until we meet again down the track,
Take care everyone,
Cheers,
Jane.