We’ve been framed, almost

We woke on Monday morning in Covid Level 2.5, the significant aspect of which for us being that we could now leave Auckland. In the hope that this would be the case we had booked four nights accomodation in Wanganui. The morning was occupied with laundry, shopping and Nicky returning items to a very busy library. Discovering last week that it could take up to four weeks to get money out of Nicky’s KiwiSaver, I downloaded the application form and Nicky filled it in, but needed a JP’s signature for some of it. She went off to our local JP, but the queue was so long already she wasn’t allowed to join it, and the JP in Avondale was closed. So she came back home and we started getting ready for dinner as we had invited Stella, Steve and Ros over with not having seen them for awhile due to lockdown. This resulted in a very pleasant, though Scrabble-free, evening.

Tuesday started mild and dull. We packed and headed off south, having an uneventful and straight forward journey. We knew that we had missed the pouring of the slab as it had been scheduled for the previous Friday, but we were very pleased to see it by twilight when we arrived in Wanganui. We could also see the frames, wrapped in plastic, ready for installation.

We walked to the section before breakfast on Wednesday morning in the gentle rain to get a better view and take some pictures, before enjoying our steaming hot porridge. The framing was scheduled to start so we walked back to the section a little after 9am, but other than the steady rain all was still. We continued down the road to take a look at the section which we didn’t buy. It has had an old wooden house put on it which sounds like it is in the process of renovation. A hot cup of tea was welcome after our walk and before going into town to see a JP. No queues here, very friendly chat, and all the paperwork done. Next stop was the Public Library, to get the forms scanned so that we could email them, and to join the library now that we are rate payers. We were served by a very nice young man (I can say that now I’m 60) called Greg, who also gave us a tour after issuing our library cards.

I discovered that we had free Netflix in our accomodation, and that The Crown series 3 was available, so we started binge watching it after lunch as the rain was persisting. We continued watching after dinner and for the next two evenings so that we got though the whole series, which as you probably know is very well done and we really enjoyed it.

We woke to a beautiful blue sky on Thursday morning, but didn’t head down to the section until after porridge. It was great to see the slab in the sunshine and start to get some idea about how the light will fall. 

It was a lovely morning for putting up frames, but nothing was happening. We had a chat with our neighbour who sold us the land, and then drove over to the other side of town to see what was happening at a development where we had considered a section for awhile. We saw that a large slab had just been poured, and as we drove back past it in the other direction saw a BuildTech sign. It turned out (we later discovered) that the same guys are building this 410 sq m house as well as our little 89 sq m one.

We did some shopping on our way back to base for lunch and to watch the 1pm Covid briefing, before meeting Bert at the site at 2.30pm. As we passed the section, we saw timber being delivered so assumed that things were not happing because all the necessaries had not yet arrived. We felt quite despondent after lunch and it started to feel like a bit of a wasted trip.

While walking back to the section we started to hear nail guns and hammers, and then as we got closer we could see a couple of ute’s parked on the verge, and Bert’s vehicle over the road, and as the section came into view could see that we had a few frames up!!! Brodie and Devon were working hard, watched and helped by Bert. Our hearts sang and we couldn’t stop smiling because it was such a relief to see the progress at last and our future home materialising, and to see the beginning of the high ridge line, which for us is the wow-factor of the house design.

The rest of the afternoon flew by as we watched work progress, took pictures, chatted to Bert, and then to Agent Felicity who had said she we come and see us while we were in town. It felt very appropriate to give her the first tiki tour of the house as Brodie and Devon packed up for the day. We walked back to the accomodation very light of foot for a pot of tea with a couple of hands of Rummy-O before The Chase, fish pie, and The Crown.

Friday night was very cold, due to the clear sky and southerly breeze. At first pot of tea time the MetService app on my phone indicated that it was 0.6ºC, but “feels like -3”. It seemed to be smiling. Departing after breakfast for a meeting with Bert over at his office in Hawera to discuss the kitchen design (and a few other issues), we said Good Morning to Brodie, Devon and now Adam as we passed the site. They had decided on Thursday afternoon that more man-power would be needed to get some of the big central frames up.

The meeting with Bert was good and productive, and followed by tea, coffee and dates scones in a café in Hawera before the drive back to base for a late lunch. More framing was up and as work came to a close we had a long chat with Paul and Naomi who sold us the land, gave them a tour of the house, and they gave us a tour of their block which goes down to the river. 

It has not all be plain sailing and Naomi had to tell the digger driver who was excavating the haha trench that he was going over the boundary line, and we were already aware that the owners of the other sections have contacted BuildTech about debris and a little damage to their sections. We hope that Bert’s consolatory response has been received in a positive way.

So on Saturday morning we said goodbye to the skeleton of our house (which is not quite complete yet) and drove back to Auckland. I spent the evening organising all the photos that we had taken, and Nicky wrote a piece about her father for this mornings Zoom Church service, as it is Father’s Day here today. This went down very well so all her hard work was worth it.

After church she went over to Stella’s for Scrabble. I had done shopping to re-stock on essentials, and spent the afternoon doing the house build newsletter and making sure that the laundry dried. A pot of tea and fresh loaf of home made fruit bread awaited Nicky on her return, and both have been enjoyed.

Take care, Rick