A daunting task.

Hi there computerland.

It seems a daunting task to catch up on what appears to have been a six month lapse!
Where does one start?..

My last post was just before jumping on a plane for summer in NZ.. That was a fantastic trip. I did manage to tick off most things on the list. Diving at the Hen and Sail Rock was a highlight. Josh and I managed to catch some tasty crustaceans, and also our best snapper fishing ever off Mangawhai.

I spent some time with family friends at Christian Bay before getting a lift out to Gt Barrier with Mike Webster on Northerner. We met up with Mum and Dad in Port Fitzroy where I spent a few days before we sailed home via Bon Accord.

Since then Melinda and I got back to NZ over Easter. We met Mum and Dad in Queenstown and hired a car for 5 days. Mum, Melinda and I walked the Routeburn Track from Lake Whakatipu to The Divide near Milford. Dad enrolled in a landscape photography course and met us at the track end. It was a very special few days with some lifetime memories etched in my head. The beauty of the South Island never fails to astound me. We, as New Zealanders, are so so lucky to have such a great network of infrastructure available to us thanks to DoC.

I posted an album on Facebook but I'll endeavour to put some up (or maybe links?) on here. Unfortunately our internet contract restricts our uploads as well as downloads so towards the end of the month we run out of usage.

What else has happened...

Well, we've been busy preparing for the wedding in December. Melinda has been fantastic at getting on top of the major jobs. So to date we have booked a photographer, celebrant, band, reception venue, ceremony venue, cake person. Min has her dress, as do the two bridesmaids! The groom and groomsmen are not there just yet, but I'm sure we'll scrub up ok on the day.

We've got a menu tasting in 3 weeks to decide on meals at the reception. There's also a band viewing night coming up so we'll get to see our 6 piece in action.

Work has been steady for me which is great in the current climate. It seems the residential sector in Melbourne is relatively strong still. We are lucky to have a large project starting at the moment which will just about see me through my apprenticeship which is to be completed by christmas next year.

Melinda is enjoying her current rotation of Paediatrics. She is going to apply to the Children's Hospital for a Paeds training program next year. So the stress of deciding which direction to head in has settled after that decision was made recently. It will allow her to complete her advanced training in Australia or NZ. I expect we will try and leave Melbourne at the end of my apprenticeship. That will roughly coincide with Min finishing her basic training in Paeds. Just where we'll head is still up for debate, although I'd love to start settling in NZ by that time.

We've had friends come and go from Melbourne recently.. Both Kiwis settling and then moving, to be replaced by other Kiwis... as well as Aussies off overseas (again!) for exciting trips. So we are feeling a little static right now. We've been enjoying Melbourne- but at the same time, there are enticing opportunities all around!

I don't know if anyone will read this. But I've got to go and send some emails and get dinner ready.

Take Care out There.
xo Joff

Homecoming

Hi All!

Well, one more sleep before I get on a winged tin-can which'll deliver me to Auckland (via Sydney)!

I am really excited- and have an extraordinarily large amount of stuff going on when I'm there.
I'll be leaving Auckland as soon as I pick up Mum's car and my surfboard which is at Michelle's house. Just how far I make it is going to come out in the pudding.. but I hope to make it all the way to Whananaki North where I'm spending NY with Josh, Moz, Tom, Briar, Troy, Hannah..and probably other undisclosed friendlies.
Then, I'll be trying to pack in some diving at the Poor Knights and Hen and Chicken Islands. And some wakeboarding near Josh's place in Mangawhai Heads. All this before somehow finding my way to Mum and Dad on the boat, either at Kawau Island, Waiheke Island, Coromandel or The Barrier. Fun!

Ok. better go eat my brekkie.
Have a good one folks,

Love joff

Chelsea and North Melbourne

This is one of the two kid's bedrooms we renovated in a North Melbourne converted warehouse. We knocked through the existing roofline as shown to add the 'dormer' window allowing more ventilation, light and headroom/space.
This is the kitchen in Chelsea. New just about everything..Oh, that window is old with fresh paint. Marble kitchen benchtop took a while to install (not by us!). Cabinet doors are missing. More photos to come.

It is always nice to be in a positive frame of mind when communicating on a public forum such as a blog. I try to be upbeat, and at least a little bit interesting... Today however, I am finding it difficult to run the traditional angle.
I am feeling quite wretched. After the start of a cold last week... and then playing a two day Ultimate Frisbee tournament on the weekend, I have a full-blown, sneezy, achey, congested, coughy, sore-throated and horse voiced illness.
I don't particularly like having sick days off work. But I don't think I would have been much use.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing though.
Had I known what I now now at 6.45 this morning, I would have at least made an effort to get out of bed and move my car. BECAUSE IT WAS PARKED IN A 7AM CLEARWAY.

Now, Melinda and I have learned this lesson before. So you'd think that the $350 dollar fee and fine combo would make sure that "it would never happen again", wouldn't you? I can't even get that angry at the Council for towing me, because I was entirely in the wrong... Even though I parked in the clearway because parking in my street requires a permit which for my car ran out a couple of weeks ago.. and which is yet to be delivered. So in attempting to avoid a ticket, I cop a tow AS WELL. Oh Joy.

So, what is there to be happy for today.. Well, I have two arms and two legs. That is good.
Our job in Chelsea is almost finished. We hand over on Friday. So it is go go go trying to tidy up loose ends like toilet roll holders and mirrors, and fly screens and insulation in the roof cavity and rubbish removal etc etc.

I'll attempt to put up some pictures, although the photos don't really do the place justice. It does look completely transformed.

I hope your day is going significantly better than mine!

Ok.. so this was last week. And I like to think that the fuzz has developed steadily since.. Gee I look manly. On that note. A good friend of mine who's surname is actually Manly, and who is also a practicing Gynecologist, has a team of Movember doctors under the auspicious name of- wait for it.. Guy Mo Cology. Would love to be a fly on the wall in that clinic! ahem.

I have been asked by one lovely donor, and one lovely family member to include a photograph of my face mozaic. So here it is- patchy or otherwise, I'll do my best to update the growth soon.

On another note. The building at Chelsea has come a very long way since the last pictures were put up here. I don't have any recent pics to add but again, I will try to remember to take my camera to work on Monday.
All the framing has been plastered. The renderer has patched all areas downstairs. The plaster is all sanded and the painters have put a first coat on most surfaces. The kitchen has been placed and is currently being developed (as the door profile has been changed). The marble benchtops are being made. The hardwood staircase is nearly finished. The bathrooms are being tiled. What else... the Flooring is finished and is being sanded in about 10 days time. The skirting and arcs are very nearly finished. Repair to the old skirting downstairs is proving very time consuming with a lot of glueing and disguise techniques being utilised!
I have learnt on this job that it is actually considerably more expensive to retain old doors/fittings/jambs/skirting etc. than it would be to replace it all with new stuff. I guess that is the nature of modern consumption though.

I am really looking forward to a couple of weeks at home this January. I am looking up flights at the moment but hope to come over from about the 27th for two ish weeks.

peace,
Joff

September framing finished upstairs

A fresh start.

Hi there.

Well almost three months have passed since I last blogged. This could be seen as a bit of a winter hibernation...as the blossoms are out and daffodils are popping up just in time for the start of spring (how did they know?!?). Another reason for my hibernation could be the use of facebook. It is such an easy way to catch up with people. It is also such an easy way to spend hours on the computer and not actually achieve what you set out to do in the first place!

Anyhow, I've decided to write a quick note here in case anyone ever checks. And you probably don't anymore. In which case, this is more like a diary entry- which feels a bit strange really.

Melinda and I are engaged. That is the biggest news since the last blog. We had our engagement parties recently. One was an Egan Family event on a Sunday afternoon in Ascot Vale. The other was a close friend event on the Melburnian launch on the Yarra River.



It was a perfect night. The only fine and sunny afternoon for weeks proceeded the evening.. and even though it was a little chilly outside, there was no wind and no rain. We were very lucky. The boat held a max of 30 and we had 25 which was great. People were able to move around on deck and sit inside if they wanted to. Ruth made a quick impromptu speech which was nice of her. We organised wine, beer and bubbles as well as food that was heated and served on platters over the three hour cruise. It was fun! And thanks very much to Suze and Mary-Anne who flew down from Brisbane for the weekend.

More reno shots

A self-portrait, scraping off render with a shovel is very dusty work!

Here is part of the kitchen. Note the break in the double brick wall on the RHS. This might have been where the wood burning stove and hearth were located. This house was built some time around 1910.

All the internal walls are made of brick. In order to fix the door jambs to the walls they inserted wooden wedges into the mortar to nail into. Note also the wooden lintel above the door. No chance that would be allowed in today's standards. The bricks above the lintel are arched to provide extra strength.

This shot is of the floor in the laundry. Very poor condition. We found that the renovators circa. 1991 used lining board for flooring and fixed with tiny little fixing nails into joists that in some cases were supported by 'sky hooks' ie. nothing. We are demolishing the brick wall in the foreground and building one about a meter into the existing room once we demolish the existing staircase (spiraling to the left)

37 Chelsea Rd

Hi. As promised here are a few shots of the new project in Chelsea.
So far so good. Lots to do though! Downstairs gets done first..then we start upstairs which could be considered a whole job in itself. Check out the garden too!
Take care