The Bath

When I get to site after school Ian is at work preparing the shower floors for tiling. It looks simple enough but he says the concrete will take three days to dry. Winter time. I'm not in a rush so nod. It'll take as long as it takes. It's the same with the paint. Lance is governed by drying time. Better than crying time. I'm still waiting on a number of other pieces of the puzzle...laundry, kitchen. It gives time for the paint smell to simmer down, and the smell of the decking timber. God knows what chemicals are in there. We get paint colour advice from Lance for the bedrooms. Kahu's choice is narrowed down to Cougar, mine is narrowed down to status quo. Keep things simple is Lance's advice. Stick to Half Bianca for the main bedroom walls. Let the William Morris shine. I reluctantly agree. 

Gary arrives to do the bath waste and is able to swop info with Ian. They're both doing the bathrooms so in essence they're working together. He sees the bath and the news is average. Claw feet made of iron are not that easy to fix. But he's got a neighbour who welds so he's going to ask him. I'm grateful. It's a problem I've got to solve. Soon I've got another one. The bath spout is actually a basin spout. Gary is scratching his head again. When I get home I check the plumbing boxes. Not good news. Sheryl who sold them to me is not a panicker. We'll see what we can sort tomorrow. Seems like she ordered the wrong thing. This bath business is going to the dogs.

Runaround

We open up the house and I show a woman who has come to buy one of my surplus lead lights around. I've lost perspective but she's impressed. One of the stars of the build is the lead lights. I'm so glad I persevered as getting them right was a mission.

We visit Mert and Sue, Kahu's godparents. They're earthquake refugees too. Their old house is no more; they did the smart thing and sold up to buy a new house. I understand the wisdom. We have an important mid afternoon date back across town. Meeting Tony to move the bath which has been in his lock up for nearly a year now. It looks the same but with new eyes I realise I'm going to have to have it re-enamalled. Another job and more expense. Not far down the road Tony pulls up. We didn't secure the bath and it's wobbled over and broken one of the legs. Yikes. Another job. I try not to think about it. We unload it and leave it in front of the garage covered in a tarp. I'll tackle it tomorrow. No-one is going to steal it that's for sure, it weighs a ton. 

Kahu vacuums, a request from Lance then we head home to get ready for another week.

Return to Domestics

It's a morning of meetings then the Koru lounge. I'm glad to get home in the afternoon just as Kahu turns up. We air the house for a bit then head home. At the mall we bump into Kahu's second cousin Caroline. We don't have many family in town but the ones we do live just round the corner. I unpack and head off to Rene's birthday party in Greg's shed against the Port Hills. The historic shed's walls are thick and noise proof. The usual suspects are there and we've made a few party recruits of late. 60 pluses who are party people. Epic. 

Out of Town

I'm at PPTA Executive meetings all day. Our venue, the Brentwood, Miramar, Wellington. By the time we pack up, we're exhausted. There are two contentious and emotive issues. I leave the hotel during breaks. Once to visit second hand shops down the road, and later to pop next door to a Resene shop. Handily located. Some decisions take time and paint colour is best revisited. I'm looking at Thistle for my room, to tone in with the William Morris Bird and Pomegranite, and a colour for the spare room to match the Chrysanthemum wall paper. 

Exec custom is to relax at dinner out somewhere in the evening. Tonight it's at national office down town. We're welcomed with a waiata from the PPTA office staff. The guitar is out and there's a good sing song till food is served. By this time I've had a couple of gins, bubbly, wine. And, getting into the spirit, keep going. The food is amazing: rare beef, roast pork, veges etc, etc. I eat and drink far too much and I'm not the only one. As I leave, I lift a half finished bottle of Pinot Noir from the table for a social drink back at the Brentwood but when I roll off the mini bus I'm done for the day. 

Getting Stuff Done

It's a short day at school. Seniors come in with their parents to discuss how they are tracking for the year. I don't organise an interview with Kahu. I think I know. I finish school early and meet Kirk for a next steps catch up. He marks out the outside paths and we decide where to put a washing line, something on my list but in the too hard basket. The logical spot is round the back- the neighbours' living room is over the fence. But the fence is high and they're growing small trees. There's always a drying rack on the verandah option. Not that I want to look at laundry but in winter it will work well.

I do another tile pick up and have a chat with the warehouse guy, a South African. Happy to pose for a photo. Back at Pete's corner, there's been movement of road work signs, but they're still digging holes for who knows what. Pete says the laundry is nearly ready. Yay. Just got to tee up the floor and walls, and order a sink.

Back at College Ave, workers from St Andrews are having lunch on the neighbours' berm. They're sheepish but no-one round here worries about recreational use of council land beyond the fence. I wonder about their humility, they are Philippino and their labour contributes so much globally. Here in New Zealand they are plugging gaps in all sorts of areas with many in the nursing and care sectors. Their children are a dream to teach, respectful and good natured.

Kahu arrives to unload tiles and shovel some dirt. Lance takes a break and shares advice. He's looking pleased with his painting. I hold my breath and put my head inside. Awesome. It's bringing the house together by finishing it off. Half Bianca, the main colour. A warm shade of white.

On we go to pick up Kahu's second box from Arkansas. He's excited and it turns out his graduation stuff is in here. Shame he missed it. Small change in the context of Covid but personal all the same. I do a quick turn around, throw things in a bag then head to the Koru lounge for a drink before my flight to Wellington. PPTA Executive resumes a long awaited get together. Great to see the whanau but still strange times for travelling. Wellington Airport is eerily quiet. 

Going Round In Circles

Today I get going with tiles. It's Wednesday and I finish at midday so use the time for myself. Step one, dye hair. I'm 60 and plan to hidenthe greys for a while longer. With damp hair, I call in at Interior Effects to sort the front door handle. I look at my choices and decide there's got to be a better way. The  width of the wood panel where the handle sits has been cut down so much there's minimal room to fit a handle or lock. The handles on offer remind me of the ones we've got at school. Institutional. Benita thinks for a moment then takes me to a board of more attractive specimens. She's not sure but she's going to draw it out to see. Legend. I've been going in circles for a while.

At Designastyle I order the Subway tiles Frankie gave me a quote for ages ago. There are a number of Subways around, but I've discovered the different prices are due to differing quality. I need these tiles soon so it's time to bite the bullet. I drive down the back to see Ian, the warehouse manager who moves pallets around to get to the floor and ensuite shower tiles. Since I'm taking them in the Suzuki Swift I'll need a few trips....the floor tiles are so heavy I can't lift them. There's always someone around to help. Surprisingly, today, that's Jamie. He's come back to do odd jobs, including the man hole and lining the planter boxes. I can fill them with dirt and get growing.