(no subject)
First of all, Happy birthday to Helen, sorry I didn't call you first thing this morning but we were in kind of a rush to get out the door and I didn't have time. Shall remedy this first thing tomorrow. Hope you had an excellent birthday and had much cake and fun.
Today we went down to the House and met Jake's parents there. Steve showed us how to strip wallpaper and we spent the day stripping out the back room. It was incredibly satisfying! The paper makes a fantastic noise when it comes away from the wall. You have to soak it just enough to make the glue soggy and make it lose contact with the wall, then you can scrape it away, either with your fingers or with an Implement of Destruction. Steve is good at improvising such Implements, so we ended up using a couple of car scrapers (like you use for gettign rid of ice) and a random piece of plastic with serrated edges. I have no idea what it was actually for, but it did a fantastic job of removing the last tiny bits of clinging sodden paper and glue.
We managed to get most of the room done. There are the odd remaining scraps here and there but on the whole, smooth, relatively clean plaster. There are a couple of places where Steve says it's 'sprung' but on the whole, he says it's in good condition and shouldn't really need much doing to it.
He's a very handy man, is Steve. Took us around the hardware shop this arvo and showed us all the bits and pieces we'll need to prepare and paint the house ourselves. It's looking very likely that we shall do. I've learned all about PVA, different kinds of sandpaper and different kinds of caulk and polyfilla this afternoon, I feel accomplished!
Alex and Scott, if you want, Jake's looking for volunteers to come and help either keep an eye on Orlaith or peel wallpaper next Saturday - he says he will buy lunch if you can help out! (CHeeky, but hey, LUNCH! Plus, yuo know, spending time with us, in our fancy new pad.)
The more time we spend there, the more excited I get about the house and the more it feels like home. It really was fun working on it today, I felt like I did when I was a kid, painting with my Dad. The old boys who lived there were really into their DIY and the garage is full of proper tools. Steve and I went through them together, he was showing me all kinds of stuff out there and it was just like being with my own Dad, when he and I used to do wood work together.
When I was really little, my Dad bought me this carpentry kit. It had a tiny saw and hammer (which I stilll have somewhere at Mum and Dad's house. The saw went a long time ago. I was heartbroken.) It had tiny screwdrivers with jewel coloured plastic handles on it and I was so proud that I had my own kit, just like Dad's. We had a workshop under our old house in Gosford and I remember going in there with him and he helped me build things, like a bed for my dolly. It was made out of a lump of wood with two other, squarish lumps of wood nailed on the ends and painted. It was rubbish but it didn't matter, I made it with my Dad and even though I was worried my dolly would be uncomfortable in it, I remember tucking her into it with real pride, because I made it with my Dad.
It was nice spending the time with Steve today and going through all the tools and nails and screws and bits and pieces out there. But it made me miss my Dad.
Today we went down to the House and met Jake's parents there. Steve showed us how to strip wallpaper and we spent the day stripping out the back room. It was incredibly satisfying! The paper makes a fantastic noise when it comes away from the wall. You have to soak it just enough to make the glue soggy and make it lose contact with the wall, then you can scrape it away, either with your fingers or with an Implement of Destruction. Steve is good at improvising such Implements, so we ended up using a couple of car scrapers (like you use for gettign rid of ice) and a random piece of plastic with serrated edges. I have no idea what it was actually for, but it did a fantastic job of removing the last tiny bits of clinging sodden paper and glue.
We managed to get most of the room done. There are the odd remaining scraps here and there but on the whole, smooth, relatively clean plaster. There are a couple of places where Steve says it's 'sprung' but on the whole, he says it's in good condition and shouldn't really need much doing to it.
He's a very handy man, is Steve. Took us around the hardware shop this arvo and showed us all the bits and pieces we'll need to prepare and paint the house ourselves. It's looking very likely that we shall do. I've learned all about PVA, different kinds of sandpaper and different kinds of caulk and polyfilla this afternoon, I feel accomplished!
Alex and Scott, if you want, Jake's looking for volunteers to come and help either keep an eye on Orlaith or peel wallpaper next Saturday - he says he will buy lunch if you can help out! (CHeeky, but hey, LUNCH! Plus, yuo know, spending time with us, in our fancy new pad.)
The more time we spend there, the more excited I get about the house and the more it feels like home. It really was fun working on it today, I felt like I did when I was a kid, painting with my Dad. The old boys who lived there were really into their DIY and the garage is full of proper tools. Steve and I went through them together, he was showing me all kinds of stuff out there and it was just like being with my own Dad, when he and I used to do wood work together.
When I was really little, my Dad bought me this carpentry kit. It had a tiny saw and hammer (which I stilll have somewhere at Mum and Dad's house. The saw went a long time ago. I was heartbroken.) It had tiny screwdrivers with jewel coloured plastic handles on it and I was so proud that I had my own kit, just like Dad's. We had a workshop under our old house in Gosford and I remember going in there with him and he helped me build things, like a bed for my dolly. It was made out of a lump of wood with two other, squarish lumps of wood nailed on the ends and painted. It was rubbish but it didn't matter, I made it with my Dad and even though I was worried my dolly would be uncomfortable in it, I remember tucking her into it with real pride, because I made it with my Dad.
It was nice spending the time with Steve today and going through all the tools and nails and screws and bits and pieces out there. But it made me miss my Dad.