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.

The Last Renovating Job... Day Five!

The last job is new shelves above the pelmets...
There is a lot of space along the main body of the bus.
I did consider putting lockers but then decided
I didn't want to loose the lovely curve of the roof.
This is a 'before' photo... The pelmet with the blind underneath...

Angus cut some of the pelmet away so the shelf could be screwed to the
 bus frame work along the side of the ceiling.
He decided to use pre-formed light-weight metal shelving...
It's stronger than ply wood...
And put a ply wood up-stand on it...
So it all blends in with the existing pelmets.

Here you can see it screwed in and beginning to take shape.
I am amazed... Angus can visualise the finished end result and how to make it happen...
I can make a cake! and visualise how that is going to be...
But I can't build things...
So I have great admiration for what Angus is doing...
Perfectly made to fit the space and look really great.

Here you might be able to see how the pelmet is cut away
 and the shelf fits in...

The ply wood  up-stand is clamped on...

Next the 1st coat of paint...

Carefully done... Rather Angus than me!

Here is the finished end result...
Blends in and looks like it's always been there.
The shelf is 200mm wide, an up-stand of 80mm...
And the shelf will hold cd's standing up and other light things.
Now for a shelf the same on the other side...

Everything is covered up... There is a huge mess...
And yesterday we had wild wind and rain all day...
Which added to the chaos.

My bus is not liveable for the time being...
So these renovations come with live-in accommodation...
Angus has a spare bedroom - so... It's better than a motel!
Everything will be finished today... So tomorrow is 'clean up' day

The Renovations Continue...

I thought I would help!
Paint and I have a love hate relationship... I hate painting... It loves me and sticks to me all over!
Anyway I decided to be helpful and give it a go.
Angus lent me his overalls...
I gave all the new shelves an undercoat then the 1st top coat.
Angus was very long suffering...  And said nothing detrimental!


 
Here is the back half of the bed...
You can see the hinges and the bit right at the back for the side of the  mattress to tip onto.
The storage in front is where the baskets will slide back in.
The new space underneath, that you can't see in this photo,  is amazing.
All sorts of things can get put under there.

Here is the whole bed base, hinged in the middle...
So that I can lift up just the front half or the whole base.
The new end board replaces the one that had holes where the radio speakers had been.

This is the whole base lifted up and supported by a wooden brace...
The wooden bearers underneath are only attached to the back half.
The front half rests on them but is not attached
so it can be lifted up separately.
They are placed to rest on the cubicle dividers underneath
when the bed base is closed.
The water tank with its new insulation...
And all the newly accessed storage space at the sides and back.
Lots of design and building ingenuity by a very clever Angus...
And it all works perfectly.
I can manage it easily... But I haven't tried it with the mattress on it yet!

These are the beginnings of two new shelves to replace the one that was at the end of the bed.
These have been carefully measured to clear the bed when it lifts up...
They are attached to the solid bathroom wall...
They are well braced to hold books.

The next stage... The shelves undercoated and attached.

The corner braces... And the up-stand fronts being fitted.
I want to eliminate having to move things when I travel...
So all the shelves are having fronts on them.
They will be lined with non-slip matting... And hey presto...
Things will stay there and not fall out.

The fronts are finished.
Each shelf is made to come off the wall in one unit...
So they were taken off to be painted...

I painted the new board at the end of the bed...

Here are the shelves... Undercoat and 1st top coat...
Hanging up to dry.


 

And here they are... Back in place, Light switch re-attached...
And all ready to go...
As soon as the paint is dry and hard.
Don't they look neat and well made... They are of course...
And when I get books in them...

This is my tiny 'dressing table'... Angus has put a little up-stand around it...
Again so I can leave things there when I am travelling.
He very cleverly used the 5mm off cuts from the lids of the cupboards at each end of the bed.
Then it's the same timber and same colour...
Lots of detail.

Here is another finished shelf... Made to measure for my filing baskets...



Or in time when I build a desk somewhere...
For anything else I want to put there.
It frees up the counter top underneath for?  Well anything really!

My Bedford... Inside Renovations...

I'm now parked at Ahipara... At a builder friend's house...
Up the sloping drive...
And propped up on big bits of wood to get reasonably level.
My yellow tri-levelers are being used as ramps...
Up onto the higher bits of wood...



It seemed a bit precarious to me...
But I'm in gear and hand brake firmly on...
And haven't rolled off yet!

This is Angus...
He's a craftsman builder...
His favourite thing is to build in native timbers...
But sadly none of that here...
Just very practical ply wood to do jobs that, when finished,
will mostly be hidden from view.
You know from previous photos that I have a big bed
down the back end of my bus.
Underneath it is a lot of space that could be utilized for storage...
But it's too hard for me to get to it...
 The mattress and base it sits on need to be lifted up.
So the major job being done this week is to re-vamp
the bed space underneath and
make the mattress lift up more easily...
My thoughts are to lift it on gas strutts...
But will see what Angus has in mind!

So... My mattress has been removed... All the bedding folded up...

All the stuff under the bed moved into the garage...
There are some cupboards with sliding baskets in front under the bed...
But a lot of unused space at the sides and back...
And living in a house bus and down sizing...
Every square inch is precious.

Here is the workbench... Skill Saw... Router...

And more tools... And  a Drop Saw...

This is underneath the back part of the bed...
The 210 litre fresh water tank sits in the middle...
 It had old fibre-glass 'pink batts' insulation over it... They have gone!
That's great as the fibre glass when old disintegrates into dust that is as dangerous to breathe as asbestos!
The wall dividing the cubicle at the right back has gone... So that opens up a much bigger space...

At the foot end of the bed was a shelf with an old radio hung
underneath it...That's gone!
You might remember, I had books piled up there!
The board at the end had speakers set into it... They have gone and the board being replaced.
The little cupboards with lids that lift up... You can't see it but they have an overhanging lip...
That is being trimmed back to sit flush...

Angus... Doing marvellous things...
Lots of detail to make everything fit perfecftly and lift up with no obstructions or hindrances...
Which is what happens now and makes it so impossibly difficult!

Here you can see the water tank at the back
has been re-insulated with  new
Polyester Fibre that is used for underfloor insulation.
A curve has been cut in the back left cubicle.
Can't take that division out entirely as in front of that the wall that holds the sliding baskets attaches.

Here you can see the much bigger space on the right...
And new frame work over the top of the water tank...
The bed base will hinge onto this so that when it lifts up
there is a space at the back for the side of the  mattress to sit on.


More photos coming as work progresses...
So watch this space...

The Weekend in Kaitaia...

This morning was a beautiful sunny day...
So brunch on the deck.
I spent the weekend in Kaitaia with my friend Carolyn.
We flatted together in Kaitaia, in my house, when I lived there...
Before I ventured into my bus and life on the  road.
We both made huge changes...
Carolyn bought her first ever property...
I sold mine and don't want to own another one!

This is Carolyn... Published here with her permission.
She cooked delicious scrambled eggs with smoked salmon...
Served on toast thickly spread with avocado then
topped with wilted spinach...
With the eggs on top.
Salad greens from her garden on the side.
I squeezed fresh grapefruit... And we had coffee... Of course!
It was all delicious... The best cafe in Kaitaia.

This is Carolyn's house... On top of the hill.
She bought it last January at a mortgagee sale...
A very brave thing to do... And it was so run down...
A real dump and dirty and overgrown...
She has done amazing things.
All round the windows where the paint was flaking have been repainted...
The broken doors and glass have been fixed...
The lawns are regularly cut...

This is where I park...
At the bottom of her drive in front of her neighbours empty section...
I just manage to get off the road.

Yesterday we did the usual Saturday Kaitaia things...
We went to the market... Lots of fresh veges...
And I bought a fresh smoked mullet (fish).
There are lots of stalls with second hand tools, clothes and books...
Bargains to be had but I wasn't in the mood for hunting.
I sought out the coffee and ordered a large one...

The only supermarket in Kaitaia... Pak'nSave...
It has everything one needs but few luxuries.
A visit there is inevitable...

We went on to Mitre 10 hardware and garden shop.
Carolyn has become well known there...
It was her regular place to buy her renovating needs.
She needed rat bait...
I needed peat for when I empty my composting toilet.
It's a great shop... Has everything...

I have to show you some before and after photos.
Those people reading this blog who know
Carolyn will be very impressed...
I am.
This was not long after moving in.
Together we had ripped up all the very smelly, dog urine impregnanted
carpet and discovered beautiful native timber floors.
The bookcase and table were work benches and the big chair covered with an old sheet...

Here is the finished end result. She has done such a good job...
It is looking so good. Books and pictures given to her by various friends for various occasions...
The little house is an interesting treasure trove of memories and things collected from her travels.
The door with the sun coming through goes through to the kitchen
 and out to the deck where we had breakfast.

Another corner of her sitting room... A lovely 1960-70's art deco couch...
And nest of tables... Flax treasures in the alcove...

Her bedroom with a very effective feature wall...

This is the deck and stone garden before the clean up...

The difference is amazing... And it's a little sun trap.

The pot plants are thriving...
The lime tree more now that she is feeding it regularly.

And salad and herbs... That we had for breakfast.
I had a lovely weekend catching up on sleeping, eating and all her news.