STILL going...

We worked out pretty quickly that we were going to run out of pebble frieze up the top, so went back to CTM and of course... Murphy's Law... they had some but not all. How the girl originally calculated it all out and got it quite wrong we'll never know, but anyway, more is ordered, but of course that holds us up for longer, doesn't it?!

We finished two and a half walls at the top, and started filling in the bottom row - which of course had issues as we happened to start on the high wall... which fitted one tile and one frieze... but then on the low wall we have a gap of somewhere around 10mm. So we have a 10mm fall in the floor, and a 20mm wider back wall at the top than the bottom. Oh the swearing! 

Ah well, another day closer!

STILL tiling...

During the week, Drew jumped into some more tiling - by himself, without his young apprentice by his side to anticipate his every tool requirement. But he did very well, getting all walls (except the tricky bit beside the window) up to one tile and one pebble frieze from the top to go (and the tricky bath hob etc).

and some more tiling!

oh joy, so much fun! and the fun takes so long too!

Drew bought a dumpy level (yes, another power tool), and he's verified he's already got a great eye as his previous work (the first wall) is nice and straight. And we got stuck into the next wall - initially it went up very quickly (first pic) and then the small cut tiles took forever! Eventually we got through the rest of the that wall (well, the first two-thirds, like the first wall), and started into a little bit of the window wall.

Then yesterday, Drew attacked it a bit more - finding out that the tiles lined up beautifully with the top of the window trim. Yay! So, some more down, and still twice as much to go. *sigh*

 

another power tool

Would a power tool help the job get done better? Why yes! Okay then, let's go buy yet another power tool!

Maybe we should run an equipment hire shop from the garage once we move in. We've still got to buy a cement mixer for all the landscaping. Oh what the hell, huh? You can never have enough power tools, right Tim?

spacer, tile, spacer, tile, spacer, tile

Thus, come Sunday, started the laborious task of tiling. Ugh. We finished off the floor and also put up the pebble skirting board frieze - and then started on the first wall. Yeesh, it takes longer than you think. Kudos to Drew for his talents in accurately cutting tiles and keeping everything level and evenly spaces. It's a messy cow of a job, and it's going to take a few more weekends to finish off. *groan* bloody tilers / tradesman pulling out

let there be light!

Adam and Drew worked through the week and on Saturday to get us light! Yay! so the switchboard is changed over and everything is safe now (grandad Hillary's could have fried us, posthumously!). We have power and we have lights - it feels weird to plug into an outlet and we're all good to go - or it starts getting a bit dark, oh, just turn the light on. Nifty, huh? 

...but then Ethel turned up

So Joe is now Joe, but then his mate turned up and we think she's a girl, so we've christened her Ethel! She won't hand-feed (yet) and is a little more skittish.