46 Years...Part 2

As I said in the previous post, I have spent a lot of time at my friends' place over the years and have lots of memories. ( P and I have been best friends since we met when I was 25, and we became cousins when I married DH who is her cousin obviously) 

Such as the Christmas gatherings...

The house was actually an old farmhouse originally, and P and G started to completely remodel  it when they moved in in the late 60s early 70s. 

I found this old photo from the mid 1970s, which shows my former husband giving G a hand with building a bathroom on the back of the house...

The house was originally weatherboard but one of the renovations covered much of those boards with shingles, as this photo taken this week shows...

The lower level of the house was bricked in with clinker style bricks at about the same time. The house is apparently going to be demolished and replaced with 2 houses. Too much of the original character had been changed to warrant keeping this Ashgrove pioneer farmhouse. Nowadays people are more aware of retaining the character of old houses. 

So...our walk through the other day...

That enclosed veranda where all those Chritmases were celebrated...boxes,boxes everywhere! 

I just had to get a photo of the little bedroom off the kitchen. This was my room when P and G gave a temporary home to my children and I when we fled from a DV situation. I remember shedding a few tears on many an evening as I snuggled down in the little four poster bed, and wondered how I would ever get our life back on track...

My girls shared a queen sized bed in this room in the next photo...it's so hard when you disrupt your children's lives, you always wonder whether you are doing the right thing...

My lovely SiL has been helping with the packing...as has my BiL but he was doing 'grandpa duty' that day...

Looking out the back door...many many times over the years, I drove over to feed the dogs while P and G were away...and I also watered the plants...

The lounge room and kitchen are almost all packed up by last Tuesday...

We sat in the folding chairs for a cuppa...

I'm so glad my friend is moving to a lovely new home...you see this house has never really been finished. It has been a WiP for all these 46 years...the DYI projects were never ending and the renos from the 1970s1980s were all ready for serious updating. So from Tuesday next week they will be in their new home, just north of Brisbane. I will miss the 10 minute drive to visit...it will now be at least a 40 minute drive up the highway.  

Infusions and updates...

Today I had an iron infusion. The last one I had was in February this year and the iron levels had started to drop in recent months. The GP and specialist both agreed that I wasn't yet anaemic but steadily heading that way and an 'iron top up' was the way to go. I've had 4 infusions before but this was the first time that I noticed a difference in energy levels straight away, so that's really pleasing.

The work on the side veranda continues with only the tiniest bit of work still to be done. Now the building work meant some trimming of trees and even the removal of a plant from the front. The crepe myrtles at the side were trimmed/lopped not once, but twice. Firstly my BIL brought his chainsaw over and he and DH cut off over-hanging branches. Then my elderly neighbour Tom was upset and cross at us for not lopping off branches on his side of the fence. So my brother brought his fancy telescopic chainsaw around and he and DH took off the other offending branches. My brother also took all the branches away and mulched them at his place. I would have loved some of that mulch but I guess Harry and Myra need it more at their place ( a huge property in the range behind Brisbane).

The trees with their new spring growth

After the second trimming

Cutting up the branches ready to go into the van

Lots of new growth

Last week I noticed that the crepe myrtle trees were covered in lots of 'shoots'...they should grow lovely and leafy over the next month or so and not look so bare. that will give us back some privacy and more importantly...some shade. Next post I'll show some more photos of the veranda. DH and i are very pleased with it! :-)

Knitting...

Yesterday I posted the squares that I knitted for the monthly challenge. I ended up completing 14 and used 2 balls of Carnival variegated 8 ply. I've been checking the forum page to see what the latest tally of squares made is. No new figures today so far, but yesterday a total of 656 had been recorded. I think there will be more as many members have indicated that they will continue to make squares until the end of the week :-). At the moment there are enough squares to make 6 full sized blankets, which is great news!

I'm working on some other projects so no more square knitting for me at the moment. Some are 'secret projects' but I'm also still sewing squares (other ones donated) into blankets as well as my 'quadrilateral' blues, mauves,pinks project. (the shape is 4 sided and looks like a kite shape)

The builder arrived Monday to start work on repairing the verandah. First day was digging holes in rock hard ground and yesterday he put in the metal stirrups encased in concrete. He's a hard worker and we've been so lucky to find him. For small jobs, many don't even turn up to give a quote. Tomorrow he will be removing some of the floorboards and getting it all level as it was built previously in a manner that could be described as 'undulating'!