Summer's Doorstep

 

Our house is over 100 years old. For more than a century it has had to endure a lot of weather, but nothing as hot and as extreme as last summer. With the BoM predicting a repeat this coming summer, we have been busy trying to come up with cost-effective and energy-efficient solutions to stay cool during what looks to be another extremely hot and prolonged summer season. The thought of having to run the air conditioning for weeks on end - yet again - troubles me.

 

Our house already provides us with many advantages: The original part of the house is made of stone and each wall is approximately a foot thick. Combined with high ceilings and small windows, it takes longer to heat up than its modern counterparts. On days like today, where the temperature is expected to near 40 (degrees Celsius), we shouldn't have to turn on the air conditioning. It's only when we experience successive days of extreme heat that it begins to penetrate through to every corner of the house.

 

I have been told that the trick to keeping an old stone house like ours cool during the hottest part of summer is to keep the stone on the inside of the house cool to the touch. Our biggest challenge, however, has nothing to do with stone: The back of the house (where the kitchen, laundry and bathroom are located) is a weatherboard extension with paper-thin walls and a low ceiling. A galvanised iron veranda then extends out from the back door, which bears the brunt of the sun from dawn until mid-afternoon. It gets hot under that veranda and in those back rooms very quickly during a hot spell. This heat then moves through the rest of the house making it warm and stuffy, and quickly heating the interior stone from the inside-out. It is at this point that the air conditioning is switched on in order to try and cool the house back down.

 

It got Shane and I thinking: If we can keep the heat to a minimum at the back of the house, it should be a lot easier to keep the rest of the house cool. The easiest, most cost-effective solution was for us to erect blinds around the edge of the back veranda. They do not block out the light entirely, but the light colour helps reflect the sunlight, the fabric allows for airflow, and the blinds themselves provide ample shade.

 

The seasons have been warmer than average all year; it has barely rained at all since the end of winter, humidity is low and every few days we are cursed with a burst of heat and northerly winds that have the potential to make things very uncomfortable, very quick. The blinds have been up for just over a fortnight, and already they are proving far more effective than we could have hoped. This past week we even remarked that it was quite chilly indoors.

 

But then again, it isn't summer just yet. It shall be interesting to see what difference these blinds make to the conditions on the inside of the house when summer is at her peak.

 

 

How do you combat the summer heat?

What tested and tried methods can you recommend for keeping a house cool?

The Week in Pictures...

 

 

** We finished painting the bathroom the day before Christmas Eve (what is that? Christmas Eve Eve?)...Actually, I lie: It's not finished at all. The walls and ceilings are done but the architraves and doors currently have nothing more than the undercoat and I'm not rushing to get it done. We're coming into the hottest part of the year now and it is simply too hot for paint: It'll dry on the brush and become nothing more than a sticky mess. So I shall finish the painting when the weather cools.

 

** I know it's supposed to be an enjoyable time but Christmas stresses me out! I didn't finish cooking, cleaning the house and wrapping presents until 12.30 in the morning. We were both so very, very tired and yet barely a wink of sleep was had on account of the noisy neighbours across the road. They partied in the noisiest way possible until 9am Christmas morning (and then no doubt slept all day). I'm fairly certain that isn't appropriate neighbourly behaviour.

 

** Despite being uber tired, Christmas Day was nice: BBQ breakfast with the in-laws followed by lunch with my family. I received a bunch of wonderful, useful gifts - cookery, crockery, kitchenware, framed photos, books and jewellery, plus my sister made me carrot cake cupcakes. We handmade 99% of the Christmas gifts we gave this year and although it required a lot of preparation, we didn't have to fight the Christmas shoppers to get any of it done. It felt good to give without blowing the budget too.

 

** The rest of week has passed rather slowly, much to my delight. The weather for the most part has been pleasant with temperatures in the low 30s (degrees Celsius) and cool southerly breezes in the evenings. Until last night even the neighbours had been quiet! But now we are getting ourselves ready for the first heatwave of the summer, which is looking to be a real stinker (a heatwave in South Australia is 5 or more consecutive days of 37*C and above, by the way). I plan to wile away the days with a good book or two.

 

How about you?

Bathroom Renovation: Days 13 - 16

 

 

It has been the last four days that have been the most stressful of our bathroom renovation, as now we're up to the part that matters: The stuff that everyone will see - what we will see on a daily basis.

 

This is the part where you keep an eye on everything because there's nothing worse than finding a tradie doing something different than what you've asked for, especially when it's something you're going to be forced to look at for the rest of your life. Or, at least the next 15 years. When something's not quite right it can certainly feel like a lifetime. Trust me.

 

We're at the stage where we can see how things will look once they're finished. We wanted a resort feel to our bathroom: Simple, practical, classy. We chose slate grey tiles for the floor and plain, glossy white tiles for the walls, white bath and vanity unit with a gloss finish, and high quality chrome fittings.

 

I would say that things are 90% on par with how I'd imagined them to be. I reckon that's pretty good. Not everything could be done exactly as we'd planned but when dealing with old houses and having a bathroom set over an underground water tank, we knew there would be limitations. Afterall, the bathroom design changed three times before we came up with something that would actually work with the space and location we'd been given.

 

The tradies will finish up today. The bathroom will be back in use from this evening. Tomorrow I will start painting.

 

The end is in sight!

Bathroom Renovation: Days 5 - 12

 

Just a quick update today on the progress of our bathroom reno, which has now reached day 12. There's not many photos to share as not a lot has happened in the past 8 days. In fact, for 4 of those 8 days, nothing happened at all!

 

We picked up the replacement basin, showerhead and mixer last Saturday morning after the original order was lost in transit, only to discover that the mixer was not the one we wanted. So on Monday morning we had to order the correct mixer tap and that arrived Tuesday around noon. Then we had to get the plumber in, a local who was a real champ: Dropped everything to come around and get the pipe-work done so that the tilers could come in the following day.

 

The floor tiles in the toilet have not yet been grouted but they are glued to the floor. As you can see, we currently have no loo so I've been staying at the in-laws - I can live without a functioning bathroom but the loss of a functioning (albiet barely) toilet is a whole different matter!

 

Today the floor tiles in the bathroom should be laid and, if all goes according to plan, our new toilet may be installed later this afternoon. We're still a few days off finishing but I'm hoping it'll all be complete by the end of the upcoming weekend.

 

If I was to be perfectly honest I would say that I am completely over the whole thing. Something that was supposed to take 10 days (max!) is now looking to be around 16 days before completion. That's practically a whole extra week! And the people to blame? That'd be the freight company who lost our original order of basin, showerhead and mixer-tap, which had they not "misplaced" it would have been with us a week prior to the tradespeople coming in to do the work.

 

And don't even get me started on the mess that will need cleaning up! You should see the place...No, I take that back. You shouldn't see it at all: It's embarrassing.

 

I really am going to need that long soak in a hot bath once it's all over!

The Week in Pictures...

 

** You know those weeks where not a lot happens but a lot happens at the same time? We had one of those.

 

** The bathroom reno is all-consuming. It seems that every time we make a small piece of progress a new problem pops up and we end up at a standstill again. At this stage we'll be without a functioning bathroom for another week and all because of a MIXER TAP.

 

** I simply not have the time for my Mail Art Project this week, which was probably a good thing in hindsight as I was lacking in inspiration anyhow. No doubt anything I had tried to make would have been a complete waste of time. However, I did manage to write out all our Christmas cards instead.

 

** My Ma turned 50. FIFTY. I can't even imagine it: It seems so far in the future and yet so close at the same time. She celebrated with a dinner at a local restaurant with her family and friends and we ate cake - chocolate sponge with cream and strawberries, to be exact.

 

Here's to another fifty, yeah?

Bathroom Renovation: Days 1 - 4.

[See those pipes? They represent the most convoluted and confusing rainwater/mains set-up known to humankind! We still can't figure it out.]

 

Ever gone four days without a bathroom? No doubt if you've had to undertake renovations you know the feeling! Our house is completely chaotic (and terribly messy) at the minute as the bathroom renovation continues. We're not sure how many more days we'll be without the use of it but we are hoping no more than five.

[The most interesting thing about removing walls? Seeing what's behind them! This is the original outside wall to our house, which is over 110 years old. The bathroom is an extension added who-knows-when, but the black scorch mark in this picture is where the original boiler would have been located. To a history-nerd like myself this is fascinating stuff.]

 

I'm just about to pop over to the in-laws to steal a shower: Today it is 43*C (109*F) with thunderstorms building, so not only hot but sticky to boot. The kind of day when a shower is a M-U-S-T but proves completely redundant, as by the time you've had the shower and redressed you find yourself hot and sticky again.

[If you are contemplating doing a wet-area reno and need to remove tiles then you must invest in a hammer drill if you do not already have one. Using the chisel bit these tiles were off the floor in less than 15 minutes.]

 

Warnings have been issued that that the thunderstorms may create a lot of lightning and there is the possibility of power outages. I'm hoping the power decides to stay on here because:

 

(a) Air conditioning does not work without electricity, and

(b) neither do a lot of tradie tools.

[Guess what I've discovered? You can flush a toilet with a bucket of water. No cistern required. You just take said bucket of water and pour it into the bowl and watch the toilet do its sanitary magic. MIND BLOWING.]

 

We are still waiting on a replacement basin, bath/shower mixer and showerhead to arrive. We're actually onto our third basin: The first got broken in the warehouse and the second got lost in transit. And, of course, without said basin, mixer and showerhead, the plumber cannot do what he needs to do to the pipes so the walls have had to stay off, so far for 3 days longer than originally planned. I still can't comprehend how a freight company can lose the items their supposed to be transporting, and by lost I mean "cannot locate anywhere" (their words, not mine).

  

[See that bath? I've been waiting four years for that baby. It may not be long but it is wickedly deep. I'm dreaming about the day that I can soak in it.]

 

I picked up the grout and the paint earlier in the week. I hope I've decided on the right colours. I'm terribly indecisive at the best of times (it took me six months just to decide what we were actually going to put in the bathroom and in the end it was the location of the pipes and the drains that determined where everything is to go anyhow!) but when it comes to choosing paint colours I constantly second-guess myself. Does anyone else have this problem or is it just me?

 

The Week in Pictures...

** This week started hot and ended hot. I had hoped it'd be another few weeks before we'd be subjected to the persistent heat, but clearly Summer has other ideas. When the heat reaches its peak you will find us inside. In the dark. With the air conditioning on. I always find the first string of consecutive hot days to be particularly exhausting and it can take me a few weeks to adjust, and whilst I can get used to it I simply cannot, ever, enjoy it. That's right, people: I think summer sucks the big one.

 

 ** The heat does provide the perfect opportunity to catch up on all those little inside tasks that tend to be put on the backburner whilst the weather is pleasant and days can be spent outside, in the garden. I cannot wile away the daylight hours watching television, though, as it makes me feel unproductive, so instead I've been getting in a bit of reading, which does not make me feel unproductive at all.

 

** Bailey-dog doesn't much like the hot days, either. If the mornings are cool enough I'll open the doors and windows to let the breeze flow through and Bailey will take his place at the front door, keeping a keen eye on the neighbours and any passersby.

 

** Despite the hot weather, Shane and his dad decided to get started on the bathroom renovations. For the moment the room has its bones laid bare but tomorrow will get a new skin. It's messy work, time-consuming and inconvenient. It doesn't help when the local freight company loses the last shipment of goods, either, but I'll leave that story for another day - perhaps the day when there is a happy ending.

 

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** If you are a particularly perceptive person you would have noticed that there is now a link called Shop at the top of my blog, under the banner. You see, this week I decided to open my very own Etsy store of original photography. Nothing flashy, but at present listings include landscape photographic prints and postcards. I didn't want to make a big fuss about it because it is very much a small deal, but at the same time I figure I should mention it, even if it is just in passing. Whilst I don't expect it to be the enterprise of the century, I'll be absolutely over the moon if something sells. Also, if you are an Etsy seller or buyer please feel free to add me to your Circle - I'd really appreciate it.



The Week in Pictures...

 

 

** The week started out very thunderstormy, much to our delight. We sat outside and watched the storms approach, the lightning followed by the ominous rumblings of the thunder. The first thunderstorm that hit was so loud it frightenend poor Bailey-dog, who got caught outside in it. Too frightened to move, his Mama (that'd be me) had to dodge lightning to rescue him from the backyard and bring him inside. The storms hit in a whirl of dust before the rain started falling. In the end around 15mm fell over the space of a few hours, and with it being so dry here in the past six months, we happily take whatever Mother Nature is willing to give. 

 

** The weather for the remaining of the week hovered around the high-20s and low-30s (degrees Celsius) and there was (and continues to be) not a single drop of rain in sight. Today it is supposed to reach 36*C, followed by a cool change at some point this evening. No rain on the radar.

 

** After a bit of a slump, I've rediscovered my reading mojo. I've almost finished the second book in less than a week. Book reviews should start appearing soon!

 

** Saturday morning I had to be out of bed at 5am to undertake a day-trip to Adelaide. At 5am it is still dark outside but the good thing about that was the amazingly beautiful sunrise we got to watch over the Ranges.

 

** The trip to Adelaide served a single purpose: Bathroom Renovation. We collected all the items we'd ordered, purchased the tiles and hunted down the few smaller items (like a mirror and a toilet roll holder) we needed before heading straight back home again. It was a long day but we now have everything we need to renovate the bathroom, which will begin in full ernest in about 10 days time. I am terribly excited about the prospect of finally having a bathtub after 4 years of living without one. Because, sometimes, what a girl really needs is a long soak in the tub with a good book and a mountain of bubbles.

 

 

The Week in Pictures...

* Vegetarian Delights: Salad with boccocini and quorn, drizzled with my favourite salad dressing. It's my new favourite thing to eat. I've been having it every day for lunch when at work as it helps me to pretend that it is, in fact, already spring.

* I made lemon cordial for the first time ever this week using my Nanna's recipe. It made enough for 3 bottles but barely made a dent in the mountain of lemons I have. I might make another batch this week coming and have a go at lemon butter, if I find the time...

* You see, all my spare time may well be gobbled up by Neil Oliver's The History of Scotland, which arrived in the post this week. Loving it.

* Bailey-dog finally went for his post-winter haircut.

* We had SJ's builder Uncle come around to take a look at a bit of cracking along the cornice in a couple rooms, which we'd put up less than 12 months ago. We were concerned it was a major issue, but builder Uncle could not find anything seriously wrong aside from the cornice cement coming away from the wall. Apparently a common problem with stone buildings due to the clash of old and new materials. Easy to fix, though, just a pain in the...

* I can feel the days longer now. When I finish work at the end of the day the sun is still visible over the buildings in town, as opposed to having half disappeared below the horizon already.

Architecture is sexy, not scary.

[Old & New: Dining room fire place with combustion heating]

It's Thursday and lately I've been excited by Thursdays.

You see, Restoration Man is on the Lifestyle Channel on Thursday nights, and it's my new favourite show on television. Now, I don't watch a lot of TV because I am incredibly picky about what interests me and it's not very often that a TV series comes along that I look forward to watching each and every week.

[Old & New: Antique lock on the door and new copper light switches in the dining room]

I'll tell you why I like this series so much, and it's not simply because George Clarke is eye candy. It's because this is a series about simple, everyday people taking on the momentous and humbling task of renovating and restoring old buildings - buildings that are, in some cases, more than 500 years old. Everything from churches to castle towers, barns, coach inns and windmills. 

Restoration Man is a series about saving heritage buildings from ruin by bringing them into the twenty-first century, which with all the bureaucracy that comes along with it, is no easy feat.

[Old & New: Every architrave and window frame in our house is original. Some of the windows even have the original panes of glass]

I have mentioned before that I am a firm believer that buildings need to be allowed to adapt and evolve to changing times and conditions in order for them to survive in the long term, and Restoration Man is a great example of how this is being achieved in the UK on a truly inspiring scale.

Buildings cannot be left stagnant to eventually fall into ruins. They need people who have the passion and motivation to be their custodians and ensure their survival for a further 100, 200, 500 years. Sometimes heritage listed buildings come with so many restrictive requirements that potential buyers are frightened by the prospect; heritage boards should be aiming to encourage people to purchase and maintain these properties for future generations, not make it such a daunting process that they run scared instead.

[New: Ceiling  and lights in dining room]

Our house is not heritage listed itself, however it is over 100 years old (almost ancient by South Australian standards) and lies within a local heritage zone, which comes with its own rules and regulations about frontage appearance and what can be visible from the street. We love our house. We purchased it because we wanted to be able to restore and preserve it whilst making it a livable, working home.

Most people don't buy old buildings to make them look new. There's something inherently cozy and endearing about period properties that makes them so appealing that rarely do purchasers come along with the intent to completely reinvent them. It is possible to bring an old world property into the new world with all modern amenities and comfort, yet retain the original features and period charm of the property that made is so appealing in the first place, people just have to be allowed to do it.

 

[Old & New: Original wooden ceilings and split-system reverse-cycle air con in living room]

I also thought this the perfect excuse to share some photos of our cozy little cottage, as I haven't really done so since we finished our renovation stint just before Xmas. Of course our restoration efforts are on a much smaller scale than anything you'd see on Restoration Man, but they are extending the life of our property nonetheless, and that is an incredibly rewarding achievement.