Kitchen treats ...

I had hoped to get you some views of the house without the external scaffolding - that will have to wait another week. All the exterior plastering is complete with a beautiful job being done by the tradesmen. It just needs the painted coating on to it before we can remove the scaffolding. Tomorrow the gutters and downpipes are installed and over the weekend the stoppers will be in the garage and laundry tidying that up ready for painting.

Early this week the kitchen was delivered from Germany and it is about halfway assembled. These pictures were taken as the benchtops were measured this morning by Ross and Reg and patterned for the granite to be cut. Andrew who is doing the kitchen installation will be back next week to complete the cupboard units. The Germans are impeccable in the quality of the kitchen but how the guys know what to do I do not know. All the labels and data is in German - no English at all. It will take about two/three weeks before the granite is ready and then it will start to look like a house. We have lights in the kitchen working off a temporary circuit and most of the top level is complete except for the floor areas and a couple of walls. Tiling should start in the upstairs bathroom by the end of next week.

Stay tuned!

Stoned on Friday ...

Yes - this week we have been deep in the schist!

Dave Tudor from Hamilton came up with his mate and over the last three days they have done the stone panel by the front door. In a couple of weeks, when the plasterers have finished, they will complete two columns under the balcony by the pool in the same material. The stone is from Central Otago and is extremely hard to work but reflects the work by stone masons of past years. It also reminds me of the good Pinot Noir from that very harsh region where Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings was shot. In fact the quarry where these stone was obtained is within just a couple of km from the very site. (We are almost famous ... by association.....)