The scars recede

I have always felt guilty about the scars we have caused on our land.  Scars from earth moving, creating our dam, planting our trees and, most of all, the scars caused during our building process.

Google Earth has finally updated the images they capture in our part of this planet.  Being out in the sticks (and therefore unimportant) they only do so every three years, but - it was worth waiting for :)

This is what our piece of land looked like when we purchased it back in March 2008:

Our plot of land in March 2008 when
we purchased it.
The path that crosses it is the footpath
caused by our one neighbour - a shortcut
across the field to shorten the trip to the
main road 4.5 kms away.
Also interesting is the plough line
which transgresses both our plot
and the neighbouring one.  I can tell
you that the fence that divides the two
plots is old and rusty - so the
scars of that plough have lingered...

It was completely overgrazed by the locals cows and sheep.  And full of renosterbos - all those little individual dots are visible on the Google Earth screen print. Signs of ploughing from yonks ago - and who knows when that last happened. Certainly long before 1996 when the smallholdings first started being sold off and inhabited by "newcomers" because the oldest resident has no memory of that fence not being in place.

Our plot of land with phase 1
of our build - one large room
(consisting of the lounge / dining /
kitchen) and the white shiny IBR roofed
bathroom to the right side - Aug 2010

Then, we got involved and scarred the land with our personal requirements. The driveway round the (dryer side of the) perimeter,  The dam.  The grape vine area.  The vegetable patch and the underground cellar which we never completed / built.  And the house build.

Ugly, nasty scars.

Our plot - October 2013

But, this is what our smallholding looks like from "space" in October 2013.

Our plot with markers.
You can even see the solar
panels n the garage roof :)
(Still enough space to
triple up on that if we had to
/ wanted to)

To give you some idea of what lies where, I have labelled the various area's I mention in this blog.

Our home November 2014 :)

I am strangely comforted by the latest Google Earth images (even if they are over a year old), because I finally realise that no matter how we bend our smallholding to our requirements, if we were to leave it, permanently, and no one was to occupy it ever again, all the buildings would collapse, the rubble would become overgrown, and it would revert back to what it was originally.  It would no longer be scarred by the mark of man.

In the meantime though, we are trying to treat it gently.  We are trying to be good custodians.  And we are aware of our impact - even if it is only on 2.2hA of land.

At floor level

Even though we asked the builder nicely to be careful, our existing clay tile floors took a hammering, especially in our bathroom.  This is because they had to remove the temporary IBR (corrugated iron) roof which entailed knocking down part of the walls to remove the supporting beams.  Knocking down wall means falling bricks and debris.  Falling bricks and debris on a sealed clay floor means the seal is scratched / broken.

They did make the effort of placing gunplas (builders plastic) on the floors, but basically all that did was catch the mess.  Heavy bricks laughed at the gunplas.  And chipped a number of the floor tiles too.  Nothing I can do about them, as replacing them is not an option.  The tiles are embedded in 40cms (roughly 2 inches) of cement.

Sad, sad floors that ook nothing like
they should

And, of course, the demolition / cement / rain water mess found it's way under the gunplas.  Then the constant walking on that mess during the completion of Phase 2 stripped the seal on the raw clay tiles.

My poor tiles were a mess, and I wondered if we would ever be able to get them back to their previous state.

Unfortunately my camera isn't clear enough
to properly show you the damage, but
trust me, these floors were not a pretty
sight...

8 hours later, 2 pot scrubbers, an aching back and knees, no fingers left and I had the last of the dripped cement and cretestone off the floors.  Then it was time to try and reseal the floors.

Thank goodness for pot scourers

I'm happy to say that my efforts paid off.

All better now :)

We're both happy with the finished result :)

Then - upstairs.

The builder initially talked us into laying deck board as our floor.  Not knowing any better, we agreed.  Big mistake.

So...

MKid's room / the office:
A laborious job - each plank is laid
and carefully nailed in the "join"
area - roughly 8 - 10 nails / plank.
My back is aching for them just looking
at this photo LOL

... we had to purchase tongue and groove which was laid on a membrane to prevent "knocking" and "squeaking" where the two woods met.

Front guest bedroom.  Visible is the membrane
we used to try and prevent the two woods
from squeaking / knocking

Our double glazed window order was horribly delayed, so  "hierdie boers het ʼn plan gemaak" (these farmers made a plan :) ) ...

The floor was well laid, and although we had some headaches / heart attacks when it rained, thankfully, hanging builders plastic at the windows may not have looked all that attractive, and may have crackled terribly with each tiny gust of wind, but it prevented too much damage to the wood.  

But, we got through that OK, the windows and floors are in, and all we have to do now is sand, stain and seal the wood.  However, it's Christmas shortly, we have family / guests arriving next weekend, so instead of rushing the job, we're going to let it lie as it is until we have the "space" to do it properly.

No rush.  After all, we have loose carpets, and the floor still has to be properly sanded...

Finally going up...

Warning: This is a picture heavy posting and may take some time to load...

The carpenter finally got started on the staircase to the upper two bedrooms. Exciting times - the indications were all there that the build was nearing completion.

The first stringer is positioned

The carpenter, Reuben, measured height and the the distance with one of the stringers.  Then he took that outside again and made the other stringer.

Stringer # 1 got it's tread supports

The tread distances were measured / calculated, and the supporting piece of wood was screwed in...

Stringer 1 & 2 and the treads in place

Excitement mounted as the completed structure grew before our eyes.

Securing the treads to their supports

Once that was complete, it was a case of all hands on deck as they schlepped the whole ready-made staircase inside.

Huffing and puffing - guess it was pretty heavy :)

Only when the staircase was inside and in situ did I spy a problem.

Spot the problem

Whilst I was out buying building materials, the carpenter, on RMan's instruction, had made the treads protrude over the edge of the stringers.  A word to females out there:  Don't leave interior decor decisions to your handyman husband.  Aesthetics are apparently not necessarily included their gene pool LOL 

So the staircase had to be schlepped outside again so that all the treads could be repositioned.

Finally, a staircase which has my approval

Guess the builders cursed me on a number of occasions - but I let it slide off.  I have to live in the finished product, not them :)

This picture perfectly illustrates the messy, dusty
conditions under which we lived for 4 months

The two existing beams supporting the mezzanine had been installed 1.2 mtrs apart, so that we could have a 1.2 mtr wide landing.  Well, we figured there was no way of hiding the mezzanine, so why not make a feature out of it.

A hole was cut and drilled straight through
the one outside wall in order to slot the
third beam in through it

But, being 1.2 mtrs wide, our builder advised us that it definitely required a third beam - in between the other two.  The maximum supporting distance between the two beams is not allowed to be more than 600mm.  So out came the angle grinders and the concrete drills... again!

The third supporting beam is installed

They knocked a hole through the one wall from the outside, and fed the third (middle) beam through that.

The lower layer of deck board in in
place

The lower layer of deck board was laid on top of the beams.  

We now have a mezzanine / landing to walk on

We opted for a wooden balustrade  - figuring that it was the most eco-friendly, and the lightest option.  Steel or glass would just have been too heavy (weight-wise), and would have caused twisting and distorting of the outer beam.  Not to mention a wooden balustrade is more in keeping with a farmhouse than steel or glass :)

Gunplas (builders plastic) was laid to try and
protect out clay tile floors

But, whilst the room was empty we decided that it was a good time to bring in the scaffolding, so that the ceiling could be skimmed, and the wall / ceiling joins / cornice could be finished / installed.  Get the mess inside finished in one building session of 3 days, as opposed to clearing everything out again a week or two later.

The complete staircase with the wooden
balustrade (bannisters)

Now, at last, RMan and I could climb the stairs and see the view (mess / chaos / upheaval) from the first floor LOL

View of the mess from above

It looked so ruddy high from up there - much higher than when one stands at the bottom and looks up.

But - would Scallywag make it up the stairs?  He is besotted with RMan and follows him like a shadow - literally.  Being condemned to staying downstairs could've resulted in plaintive whining - constant plaintive whining...

Hmmm - looking out here may have
great advantages... :)

As it turned out, going up took a couple of minutes to get the brain rewired and master, but the effort was worth the view from the window which was, co-incidentally, just at his height...

Help, Daddy.  I'm scared...

 ... but coming down again - hmmm, that took some thought.

Give me a moment to think about it...

He decided to take a break and think about it.  RMan and I devised a plan.  Sending RMan outside swayed the odds in favour of a reaction, and, finally mustering the courage...

Stop, RMan!  Stop!
Wait!  Wait for me.
I'm coming...

... and ignoring the open treads, Scallywag made a run for it.

Our front entrance

I reckon it's time to give you a peek of what has kept us busy over the past 4 months.  So, over the next couple of weeks I'm going to give you a tour.  Starting from the outside...

...during the building of Phase 2 our front entrance underwent a make-over - and one, which I feel, makes it an entrance fitting of a farm house :)

BEFORE :
Previously we had narrow, unfriendly steps up
to the front door / patio

The previous builder had created very narrow steps to the front patio which were a  constant source of irritation to me, as they seemed to magnify the tall, narrowness of Phase 1 of the house - giving it the appearance of a house from a horror movie.  All it needed was dark, threatening skies and wind tossed trees to complete the setting. I couldn't wait to correct them.

The size of the future steps

A quick word with the builder, and the guys climbed into the job.

Scallywag approves :)

It wasn't a quick fix - it took them two entire days - marking out, adding foundation, knocking down and building up again where necessary.

Busy, busy, busy

But, by the end of the day, the improvement was clearly visible.

Much better :)

Another day was spent on plastering the steps with a coloured high lime plaster, and, after a bit of decorative work on my part, this is the end result...

AFTER :
Wider, and a more balanced, welcoming appearance
to the front of the house.  A couple of pot plants,
a rock with a face (which we schlepped with us
from Hout Bay) a bit of planting and a world
 difference - Welcome :)

... now I'm sure you'll feel more welcome and eager to visit :)