26th July - 1st August 2010

Another very busy week with again much of the action happening on the Wednesday, which was lucky for me as that is the only weekday I am at our new section.

This week, the final two internal doors and a window frame arrived and the builders installed them and gibboard next to them. Unfortunately, the rather nice pine bifold doors for the lounge had to go back as they had the wrong hinges but eventually they returned and were fitted. They looked very nice but we were to discover they contained an awful lot of edges to be varnished.

And the gibstoppers arrived then, which was very exciting. There were three of them, an older guy who had been in the trade for twenty years, a very young guy just learning the skills who was only let loose in the cupboards, and a very tall young man with a rather handy birth defect who was just the right size to sort out all the ceilings. They commented on the good job the builders had done with the gibboard, with relatively few joins for them to fill.

We took a trip to the tip and disposed of about 800kg of gibboard scraps - we tipped them out of our trailer into the tip and a digger came and delicately lifted them on to the very top of the mountain of rubbish, it was a pity we did not have our camera there!

We also activated our latest pukeko deterrrent - an electric fence. The person in the electric fence shop had given us a discount on the power unit as he was convinced it would not keep the wretched birds out and the builders were encouraging us to get it working so they could see if it worked before they left.


And it did feel very much like the end of the school term as the builders were talking about their next job and packed up the bench saw that had been around for so long.

Their last task for now was to build the pergola outside the bedrooms. They erected the posts on Friday and have to finish that and a few minor bits and pieces next week before they move on for now. They will from now on be flitting backwards and forwards between us and their new job. Fortunately this is only a few Ks away. In fact their new site is visible from the lounge window




But for now, the house looks fine with the gibstopping going apace ...





... and plenty of doors and windows to keep us entertained during several evenings.

Another landmark was that we moved the lawnmower, aka Noddy's little car, off the bank and into the garage. And very fine accommodation it is for him.