Late April

Where do you begin.?

To be honest I thought that everything was beyond my capabilities, lifting revolting mattresses and cleaning ovens and fridges. I had just undergone a radical hand and wrist surgery and my arm was in plaster.

On the first day of purging, five men and a wingless old gal worked through the process of dispensing four large skips of rubbish left behind by the tenants.

A shuttle of skips arrived during the day and were filled to capacity. Four huge containers filled to the brim and to be honest there is still more to be taken away.

The tenants left piles of clothes, toys and rubbish, including fourteen mattresses, the bodily functions of their animals, and we also found four police reports for various encounters.

I couldn’t even take the dogs up there it was so disgusting.

They had destroyed the rest of our children’s possessions by breaking into the locked shed and going through everything, taking $10,000 worth of private goods.

I found an antique quilt I had given Megs for the shack, wet, dirty and in holes but I washed it and I’ll repair it, it will feature as decoration in the upgrade—a stark reminder of mindless destruction and hurt they caused.

The entire house was gutted, leaving a shell to be painted and the flooring repaired, and that stage was completely done in a couple of weeks.

Then it was a month of scrubbing and cleaning each weekend to get 5 years of dirt off the windows and in sneaky paces.

Then I relaxed a little and knew we could dress it in its simplicity.

After the holes in the wall were repaired it was on with the painting. It was beyond Keith and I to paint a 3 bedroom house, so we employed a painter who stayed there for a week and slept on the floor with no heating. !! his painting job was terrible, and we had to have all the woodwork done again because he decided to use the matt ceiling paint for the skirtings and doors. !!!!! duh.

Then the flooring could go in, but it all took a couple of months and weekly treks to complete, we certainly couldn’t stay there.

During the week, I would go and stay for the day while the workmen were there, I wasn’t leaving anything to chance.

It’s a 1950’s shack so I wanted to seek out vintage furniture and accessories and the local Op Shop became my friend.

The furniture is not vintage other than the kitchen table and chairs.

I spent an entire day at Ikea, looking at beds, side tables, a settee, bedding etc. I took one set of linen home and washed it to see it it was going to work, and then I ordered every thing at once and had it delivered.

Of course it had to be assembled, but that worked OK, our daughter in law is a whizz at that.

We had to work on a budget and tomorrow I will share how I created some of the projects to dress it a little.