After hearing the weather forecasters predict torrential rain for central Victoria I considered building an ark instead of a deck.

Fortunately the predicted rais never arrived, just a few drops in the early morning.

Nevertheless I decided to have an easier day than the last two and spent most of the day finishing off the hardboard underlay in the front room, then tidying the Hawthorn Room and arranging the tools for easier access. The time spent will be saved many times over when looking for tools etc.

Shirleen did her bit for the local community today, helping Janet deliver Meals on Wheels throughout Charlton, and then finished her attack on the shrub at the side of the driveway.

With fine and mild weather predicted for tomorrow the focus returns to construction of the deck.

Day 3 was the day we started what we came up for… rebuilding the decking.

Setting out and leveling was done the day before so the day started with a clean out of the stump holes which were dug well before the torrential rain last week and so were full of mud… and Charlton mud is red and sticky! Sole plates were tamped down, stumps cut to length and placed in holes and then backfilled ready for the bearers.

After laminating the timbers for the bearers and fixing them to the stumps I was finally able to start removing the star pickets which were holding up the verandah posts and fix the posts to the bearers.

One thing became obvious today… nothing is square in a 100 year old house which has been neglected, shifted when the stumps have rotted then shifted again when restumped, although if the truth be known it probably wasnt square in the first place!

Day 2 was to be dedicated to reducing the weeds and grass from knee height to something a little more respectable and presentable.

First task was to fill the jerry can so it was off to the servo in Charlton. Driving over the bridge into town you would never know that the Avoca river had caused such widespread flooding just a day earlier. Much of the water which had inundated roads and parklands had receded and the only hint that there had been major flooding was the sandbags stacked against some of the shopfronts as a precaution against the flood waters threatening the main street.

Once the jerry can was filled the mowing started in earnest and continued throughout the day until late afternoon when Phil came over to help set out for the decking subfloor.

Meanwhile Shirleen cleared a heap of timber offcuts, brick and miscellaneous rubbish and weeds from around the yard adjoining the back verandah, revealing a path leading to the outside dunny and what once was once the old laundry. She then moved onto hacking back an overgrown shrub which was encroaching on the driveway and rubbing on the cars as we drove past.

By early evening, with both our fitbits recording record steps for the day we decided to call it a day, shower and enjoy a much deserved wine.

A productive day.

We left a cold damp Melbourne early only to arrive at a colder and damper Charlton around 10:30 ‘ish after a largely uneventful trip up the Calder, the only excitement being negotiating the floodwaters over the road at Yuengroon Creek a little way outside Charlton.

Arriving at The Hilton we became a little disheartened at the state of the yard… the weeds were approaching knee high in places and some of the thistles a few feet tall, courtesy of the recent drenching rain, the rich soil and mild daytime temperatures.

After unpacking the cars and trailer we headed off into town to inspect the state of the Avoca River and were pleased to see that the flood water had receded almost a meter since the overnight peak at 7.55m. Even so the sheer amount of water left us gobsmacked… and the worms… lots of them, all over the road.

After a ham sandwich for lunch we pottered around inspecting the extremely muddy yard then setting up an additional bed in the front room so guests can sleep a little more comfortably when they visit.

The rest of the day was spent chillaxing in preparation for some hard work in the coming days.

Worms!!

Water Water Everywhere…

Our plan to spend 2 weeks at the Charlton House during the September school holidays rebuilding the decking was thrown into doubt just a week before we were due to leave when heavy rain in the Avoca River catchment caused major flooding in the Charlton township.

Whilst our house is well above the flood level, many houses to the south of the Avoca River remain threatened with the flood level expected to peak at around 7.5 metres the day before we are scheduled to leave Melbourne.

With further heavy falls predicted in the catchment the river may indeed rise further and threaten more of the wonderful community of Charlton.

We will be there to support you Charlton… see you Sunday!

Gordon Park, Charlton Vic – September 16 2016.