Sunday 30 September 2012

My Renovations Are Finished...


Well... Finally my renovations are finished.
I'm very pleased with everything that has been done.
I left Angus's house this morning and drove about 40km to the beach...
Nothing moved or fell over... Everything was safely contained...
Even my kitchen things... Teapot & tea... Coffee espresso...
Salt, pepper, french dressing... All stayed behind the up-stand.
 
Here is the top of my fridge and shelf for my stacking baskets...
Full of books, my diary, spare paper... And bits and pieces...
My laptop will fit in the bottom basket... 
Safe there, now I know nothing falls out or over...
I even have spare bench space... I'm sure something will find a home there...
But it's a bit of a novelty to have spare space...
But that means one of my goals has been achieved...
More storage...

The up-stand round the fridge... Recipe books and fruit basket...
Again nothing moved.
It is marvellous and...
Another goal achieved...
Nothing to pack up when I move and am travelling.

My dressing table... The only thing that fell over was the bigger bottle...
Even with this tiny 10mm up-stand nothing fell off...
And I wasn't dawdling along the road...
My maximum legal speed is 90kmh... So I don't drive much over that!


My new bookshelves... They are perfect... Big books and little books...
And room for a few more.
I thought the ones on the top shelf would surely fall out but they didn't.


At the end of my bed now there is only my tv that I use for watching movies...
My 'retired' lifestyle is so busy I don't get time to watch tv... And I don't want to.
The other obscure thing in the corner is my electric toothbrush...
 I can hear you throwing up  your hands in horror or amusement...
But I like that toothbrush...
I have a little 300watt inverter that it plugs into.



During the week... A comment on my renovations...
Wanted to see my wine rack and spa pool...
Well... Because wine isn't 'corked' any more it doesn't need to be racked...
But here is my cellar...
The bottom shelf is for wine... It's getting a bit empty...
But shopping day coming up soon.


In relation to everything else that is tucked into my tiny home...
This is where my cellar is located... Behind the cupboards...
So you see... There is space for most necessities in my life...
And space to spare!


And here is the biggest job that was done...
It's so wonderful and because it's under the bed...
Hidden from view.
Despite my mattress being very thick and therefore quite heavy...
I can now lift it up... Hold it up with one hand then lift up the base and support brace.
It works like a dream...
Very clever planning and building ability on Angus's part.

Here my clothes baskets are back in...
 These are summer clothes so will swap over with my winter clothes that live in my wardrobe...
As soon as the weather gets warm enough...
My shoes live in the left cubicle...
At the back are things that will go into my storage facility...
When I get to Whangarei.



This is the other side...
I have relined the floor and top of the fresh water tank with a double layer of new insulation...
In the back corner are some winter clothes that only get worn when I go south during the winter...
Also my 75litre pack... I got rid of all suitcases when I downsized...
A smaller pack for when I fly cheaply with only carry on luggage...
Spare winter bedding...
My tramping boots...
My flippers, snorkle and wet suit.
In the front corner is a plastic crate and room for one more...
These will be filled with my food overflow... Tins and stuff...
And my jars of pickled onions that are now ready to eat... Yum!
If you live in New Zealand and would like to contact Angus McCraith to help you with any renovations or building work... Help with designing and building a new house bus...
Contact him here... I highly recommend him.


And as if Angus hasn't worked hard enough and done enough for me...
And done it all so well...
This morning I was given two new chopping boards for my bench or outside...
And two new wooden spoons...
Specially made for me as a gift.
The board on the left is made from Japanese Cedar...
An imported tree that grows in New Zealand.
When oiled it brought up the colours in the grain...
The hard heart in the middle  lovely pink & yellowcolours and the sap wood round the sides black tones.
It still has the natural notches and the bark on the edges.
The other board is made from New Zealand native Towhai...
A much denser darker wood...
It also is rustic and mis-shapen and has old borer holes in it.
What a delightful gift.



And last... But not least... My spa pool!
The whole wide ocean... And even a seat to sit on...
This is Ramp Rd, Tokerau Beach, on the Karikari Peninsular...
Where I am parked for the day...
I love it here.

1 comment:

  1. This is what I love about your blog, the practical stuff. Well done it all looks great.

    ReplyDelete