Brush cutting walls

Friday was supposed to be my day off, but I had to go into work in the morning for a COAG Standing Council meeting. This meant that I spent the morning around Minister's from the Commonwealth and other States as they talked about high level Human Services policy issues. This is the first one of these meetings I have attended, and it was pretty interesting.

Then, as a complete change of tack, I changed out of my office gear and into flannie mode to go and work on the house. This has always been a job that I've been comfortable doing, as Derek says I'm not comfortable with the chainsaw, but brushcutting walls is a different story.

Of course Derek has to do the bits up high, but I can pretty much get to the sixth bale (ceiling height) without too much issue.

We're getting pretty close to finishing the bedroom walls at the moment, which is pretty exciting. Basically when this is done it is just the guest area left and then the walls will be complete (there is a little bit of cladding but that's a small issue). I'm planning on having a week off form work to help get that room done before Christmas, if that is possible.

We're getting really close to lock up now. There will still be a lot to do once we reach that stage, but it is extremely exciting.

External Cladding

Last week I had the builder help me put up some of the external cladding for our non-straw walls.  A cement sheeting product that is quite heavy but very happy with the finish.  There's a little more to do but it is getting there.

Have also finished bailing the front wall of our bedroom.  Behind the plastic is a wall 9 bales high with some render on it.  If the weather allows (no wind and no rain) then the wall will have two coats of render and will be unveiled.

Bales for the bedroom and wildlife

Made a good start on the bales for the bedroom.  Managed to get up to ceiling height pretty quickly.  Have slowed down cutting the bales to get through the ceiling joist etc.

Work did slow for a little while as I had not one but two encounters with this little guy.  Scared me the second time as he was hiding under the scaffold.  Kept Lily in the ute and hoping that it doesn't come back. One of the joys of living in the bush.

Front Door

The weather yesterday left a little to be desired, so it was primarily inside work.  This included fitting the front door.

The days before we installed the window in the clerestory, some of the external cladding and some more eaves.

We were hoping to get some more of the external cladding on, however the weather was not favourable.  Next time the builder is back we should be able to fit some of the cladding.