The renos

The house is coming along nicely. The patio is up, new roof is on, the walls and roof of the on suite are done, the garage floor is in and as you can see the wall is going up. Yes, the new and old bricks don't match, they don't have to, the walls will be rendered.

My Wednesday night

humiliation - make (someone) feel ashamed and foolish by injuring their dignity and self-respect, esp. publicly.

tennis - a game in which two or four players strike a ball with rackets over a net stretched across a court. 

Guess what I did this evening? Yep. Play tennis. 

Well in the first game my actions could best be described as 'holding a racquet.' 6-1

The second game was better. My 'over the net and within the white lines' count reached double figures. 6-2

In the third game I hit my straps and we put up a good fight. 6-5 

Although the night started dismally I ended up recovering some pride. 

An en suite

The digging seems to have stopped and things are going up. The en suite has a shape. I thought about trying out the shower with a bucket in a string, but for the sake of modesty and my neighbors eyesight (possible blinding) I gave it a miss.

My recent excursion

While the excitement of the renovations continue (more photos soon), that fades away compared to the joy of spending 9 glorious days in Canada with my wonderful fiancee Rebecca. On top of getting lots of wedding planning done we enjoyed fantastic Sushi, beautiful sunsets, the stunning Butchart Gardens on Vancouver Island and the finest company of close friends and family. 

The highlight was being able to hold Rebecca and speak to her without having to dial a number. Needless to say the 2:30 am farewell at the airport was not fun, but the next time we meet it will be for good. No more good byes! Yay

I love you Rebecca.

Excited!!

The renovation is underway. Last week the boys moved in and dug the foundations for the builder to make a start. The hole on the left is where the on-suite will go, the garage will be at the street end of the sand pit and the patio will go between the garage and this end of the sand pit. 

New toy

Since being in the parish I have been a bit of a lazy bum and have not spent much time exercising. So to fix that problem I bought a bike, a Giant Upland. I realize that buying the bike does nothing to increase how much I exercise, so i walked the 20 mins down town and rode it back, and I plan to ride it regularly.  Now it has been a while since I rode a bike so the experience was interesting, but good. I am surprised how much peddling is required to keep the machine moving forward; aluminum and rubber is surprisingly heavy. Also, I am more accustom to the performance of my Yamaha WRF 400's 65 horse power and not a bicycle powered by a single ass. 

And in case you are wondering, no I don't need to loose weight for the wedding.

Changes

The renovations have begun

This view from the side of the manse shows that the carport and patio have been taken down. The wall with the glass door in it is going to be taken out and a new wall put up on the edge of the raised concrete pad. This will be the dining/family room. The brick garage will go where the car is and the new patio run from the back of the garage 11m into the yard. I have been busily moving plants I want to keep: daffodils, agapanthus, cannas, a small grape fruit tree and roses have been relocated, and so far they are all looking well. 

I have been doing some renovations of my own in the backyard to make room for a raised vege garden. No, I'm not becoming Peter Cundall but I do what a good vege garden.

Cheers, Adrian