Once again for Grand Final weekend we did the opposite to the majority… instead of heading into Melbourne for the Grand Final Parade on Friday and the game on Saturday we headed out of Melbourne and up the Calder to Charlton.

We were joined by Emily for the trip up on Friday and Matthew came up on the Saturday… the last chance he would get before the start of cricket season. Abbey decided to stay home and look after the cats, given she had visited the house with me only two weeks prior.

The major tasks for Friday were to repair a leak in the toilet and to mow. Any other work inside the house was restricted given it is hard to paint around the furniture and boxes stored there. There is however light at the end of the tunnel… after the necessary planning and building permits were finally granted, the garage commenced construction, with an unexpected but very welcome visit from the concreter on Saturday to set up for the slab.

After helping with the mowing, Emily did however did strip some more paint from the dado in the hallway in what is  becoming her favourite pastime when in Charlton.

Saturday’s weather was glorious… sunny although a little cool, so once Matt arrived we took a walk into town to the supermarket for supplies, followed by a visit to Mum, before having some lunch and settling on the back deck to watch the Grand Final. At the half time break we were joined by Skylar for an impromptu and amusing game of cricket in the yard. Psychopup would make a great fielder if not for her refusal to return the ball to the bowler!

After the final siren we headed off to Ross and Peggy’s for ‘fivesies’ followed by dinner at the East.

As usual Sunday came along way too quickly as we packed up for the trip home, having had a very pleasant family weekend at The Charlton House.

The focus in the next few trips will now be to relocate the boxes and furniture to the garage so we can get back to the fun of renovating.

Silly mid off

Digging the garage foundation

Ready for concrete

The months between April and August saw many trips to The Charlton House, but little progress in renovations

The quicker than expected sale of the family home in Somerville meant our time was dedicated to packing up in preparation for an early August settlement. As we were downsizing to “temporary” housing prior to our eventual move to Charlton, all the trips were to bring up furniture, tools and other less used possessions for storage and/or use in The Charlton House.

Now that we are settling in our new, albeit temporary, digs in Sandhurst we expect to start making rapid progress with the renovations, starting with a double garage in which to store those things which are cluttering the house and preventing us from painting etc.

The first post settlement trip was the start of the now regular August to October cycle of mowing the rapidly growing “grass”, courtesy of cooler temperatures and winter rain. The first of the mowing days wasn’t without drama however, as one of the blades on the ride-on snapped resulting in a trip to Donald to purchase new blades. Thanks to Andy Gillihan at Donald Motorcycles for your great service!.

With mowing complete, Sunday’s task was to move some firewood which was stacked against the fence near where the garage is to be built to another location in the yard.

Stay tuned for more regular updates as the renovations accelerate.

Firewood and bricks neatly stacked in the yard

The grass was a little longer that I thought.

After initially deciding we wouldn’t travel to Charlton this Easter in favour of staying home and working on the Somerville house, we had a change of heart and decided on Good Friday to head off to Charlton the following day.

For a change the trip was without the trailer, and having left around lunchtime on Easter Saturday we found the traffic was reasonably light arriving in Charlton around 3:45pm.

After unloading the small amount of stuff we brought with us we headed off to Philip and Janet’s to say hi, only to find they weren’t home. Discovering they were at friends Ross & Peggy’s for drinks, we gatecrashed their “early fivesies” to join them for a wine, after which we joined Ross and Peggy for dinner at the East Charlton Hotel.

At the pub we bumped into Kamahl Rosewall, the nephew of The Charlton House’s previous owner John O’Brien, and his mum Eily, both of whom we had met sometime ago. Kamahl introduced us to his cousin, John O’Brien’s son Anthony, who was also dining at the pub that night. We had a long and interesting conversation about Anthony’s time growing up in The Charlton House, giving us an insight into more of the history of our home and it’s previous occupants.

Sunday was the day we earmarked to lay the floor coverings in the entry hall. Due to the heavy traffic we’re expecting up and down the entry and hallway we decided (ironically) to use hard wearing self adhesive vinyl planks which look like old timber, rather than carpet.  After much cutting, peeling off the backing, and laying of the planks the entry hall is now complete, marking a milestone in our project as the completion of the first renovated room.

We returned home to Somerville on Monday, pleased with our progress.

Entry Hall September 2015

Entry Hall April 2018

So that we could get some quality renovating time over the Labour Day weekend, we decided that Shirleen would leave home around 3 ‘ish on Friday afternoon and pick me up at Watergardens station.

Everything went to plan until the long weekend traffic curse hit, taking Shirleen 2h 45m to get to Watergardens… a trip which would normally take around 1hr 15min. Once we passed Gisborne the traffic thinned out and we had a reasonable trip to Charlton arriving around 8:15 pm.

The aim this trip was to start preparing and painting what will be my study, so Saturday morning we set about starting the prep work. Shirleen exercised her now considerable skill at removing layers of old paint from woodwork, whilst I filled all the cracks and gouges in the plaster.

During the morning I took a break from the study to reconfigure the watering system we had set up for the fruit trees, as one of the old established orange trees was looking a bit dry and sick. Happy to report that a good soaking with the hose has seen it perk up considerably. We will, however, reserve judgement on the trees we transplanted from Somerville.

I also took some time to visit mum on Saturday morning to wish her a happy 87th birthday which was the day before.

By Saturday evening Shirleen had stripped around half the window and I had finished filling, skimming and sanding the walls, so Sunday was to be the start of the exciting bit… painting over the horrible grotty blue walls with our carefully chosen colour scheme… mushroomy walls with contrasting picture rail and cornice.

Painting started in earnest Sunday morning and by early evening we had finished cutting in the picture rails and cornice and the walls below the picture rails were  completed with their first coat.

After cleaning up both the painting equipment and ourselves we headed off to dear friends Ross and Peggy’s for our now regular 5 o’clock drinks and nibbles.

Whilst I continued painting on Monday morning Shirleen attended to some regular (and boring) housework, which always seems to get neglected for the “fun stuff”. By about 2 we had packed up our belongings and were ready to return to Somerville, happy with a productive and fun long weekend.

Roll on next trip where we will continue our weeken’s work to make the study look schmick!

The study when we bought the house.

The study now.

In what is becoming the norm, the trip up the Calder to The Charlton House on the Thursday after Christmas was with trailer and ute fully loaded with furniture, boxes and building materials.

Our goal this trip was to get the entry hall to near complete, a feat we achieved with extremely pleasing results.

Again we took separate cars, Shirleen and Skylar in the VW and me in the ute, although I had a passenger… mum was returning home to Charlton after spending Christmas with us in Somerville.

As usual the first task on arrival was to unload the trailer which contained a wardrobe, kitchen hutch and a number of replacement doors I had purchased at the bargain basement price of $40 each – $130 cheaper than RRP. They weren’t quite the right size but didn’t need much trimmed off to fit our door frames.

As we were having friends visit in the New Year we though it best we make what is going to be the master bedroom more livable for our guests, the main task being to complete the underlay on the floor, the first thing however was to apply a second coat of paint to the entry hall walls, before starting on the underlay. By Friday evening we had the bedroom feeling a lot more homely, even including air conditioning! Skylar was not impressed though, as the noise from the nail gun and compressor freaked her out, and her way of preventing further work was to sit on me when I took a break so that I couldn’t get up to start again.

Skylar preventing me from using the nail gun

Unfortunately during Friday we discovered that the fridge which we had repaired last trip was again malfunctioning. With temperatures predicted in the 30’s and only a small bar fridge as backup we had no choice but to make an emergency trip to Harvey Norman in Bendigo on Saturday morning to buy a new one. Whilst in Bendigo we visited Bunnings to buy a new light for the back verandah given the old one had gone out in sympathy with the fridge!

So it wasn’t until Saturday afternoon that we were able to continue work on the entry hall. Whilst I set up for trimming the doors down, Shirleen finished off sanding and stripping the door frame ready for the trim to be painted. Over the next couple of days we hung one of the doors including fitting a new latch, installed new door stop to the frames and finished the bulk of the paint on the trim. The end result was better than we had hoped for.

In between coats of paint we spent time mowing and other odd jobs around the place, having afternoon tea with neighbours, eating and drinking 😄, before our guests arrived around lunchtime on Tuesday. The next couple of days we relaxed around the house, spending time with our guests, including a drive out to Wooroonook Lakes and then on to Wycheproof where we had a nice lunch at the bakery there, Wednesday night culminating in a BBQ dinner and lots of wine.

Thursday morning we all packed before leaving for home, but not before loading the trailer with tools required for some maintenance at our Somerville house. Once the others had left I took advantage of the absence of dogs to spay the entire Waugh street block with Bindi spray, using my newly acquired boom sprayer on the back of the ride-on  mower, making short work of what would otherwise have been a long hot job.

Cant wait for the next trip during which the remaning doors will be hung and painted, and the floor prepped for coverings, bringing our first renovated room to completion.

Bedroom Underlay

trimming the doors

almost completed entry hall

The last 2 visits to The Charlton House have been clearly focused on progressing the renovation of the entry hall.

After applying the first coat of wall paint and clear lacquering the Baltic pine dado on the previous trip, this weekend’s tasks were to put a second coat on the walls and fit new architraves to the doorways. However, 2 things caused me to re-prioritse… firstly I forgot the bring the paint with me, and secondly, the glass I had ordered for the entry door was now available.

So, after loading up the trailer on Friday night with miscellaneous boxes, pallets, and of course the first order of Victorian architrave, Skylar and left very early on Saturday morning and headed up the Calder in the hope of getting to Charlton nice and early, in preparation for a full weekend’s work.

First task after unloading the trailer was to remove the temporary masonite panels which had replaced the entry glass a couple of trips earlier and install the nice new clear glass sidelights and the piece de resistance, a glass panel over the door etched with our house name. Apart from looking fantastic the new glass lets in considerably more light than the previous pink, yellow and white obscure glass.

It was then on to the architraves, which in an old house which is out of square can prove quite challenging, but after some fiddling I managed to get it looking pretty good.

After completing a few other odd bits and pieces it was time to start packing up for the return home. The weekend went WAY too fast but overall was productive. Cant wait till the next visit when the painting in the entry should be finished, leaving only the flooring to bring the renovation of our first room to completion.

House name etched on window. Unfortunately the old paint doesn’t do it justice.

Entry hall door frames now have architrave

In my last post I flagged that we were spending some annual leave at the Charlton House over cup week and the time simply dragged waiting for that time to arrive.

We took 2 cars this trip as I had to tow a heavy trailer with some furniture, boxes, tools etc and it was a bit beyond the VW’s towing capacity. Unfortunately both Shirleen and Skylar don’t fit in the ute so 2 cars it was.

After an uneventful trip up the Calder with the usual coffee and toilet stops we arrived early afternoon, going through the ritual of unloading cargo on arrival. For the first time in months I didn’t need to immediately start mowing – Grass just doesn’t grow in Charlton come November. The rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing before heading to neighbours Ross and Peggy’s for 5 o’clock drinks followed by a relaxing night by the TV.

Sunday was the start of an all out attack on stripping the paint from the dado in the entry hall and we worked well into the evening until we had returned the walls to their former unpainted glory.

Monday had been earmarked for Phil and I to add an additional ladder rack to the trailer so that I can carry long lengths of timber up to the house so that I can buy timber in Melbourne and transport it up rather than buy locally at hugely inflated prices over those in Melbourne.

After working inside all day Sunday I decided to spend Tuesday outside building a new front step, which kept me busy for much of the day. We were very happy with the result.

Wednesday saw Phil and I take a trip to Bunnings in Bendigo for Phil to buy some mesh and plywood for the cat cage he was building for Kristy and for me to stock up on paint stripper (given we had decided to strip the dado in the lounge room as well) and some treated pine sleepers for the rose garden. Whilst we were in Bendigo Shirleen and Janet took a trip to Wycheproof for lunch.

Thursday morning was spent in the garden – Shirleen hacking back a banksia rose next to the driveway which had gone crazy whilst I put the sleepers around the rose garden. Thursday afternoon I returned to work in the entry hall, this time removing the pink and yellow obscure glass flanking the front door so hat we could get more light into what was a very dark entry. The difference was quite amazing.

With the temperature rising and predicted to be in the mid 30’s for Friday to Sunday, Shirleen decided to return home to Somerville on Friday rather than stay in the heat given cooling in the house is limited to just 2 rooms, leaving those rooms we are currently working on tough going in the heat.

After seeing Shirleen and Skylar off on Friday morning I started patching, sanding and sealing the plaster walls in the entry in preparation for paint, a task which saw me through until Saturday evening, although I did take some time on Friday to take Shirleen’s garden clippings to the tip, and on Saturday morning to take the fridge to Wycheproof for repair. After finishing up for the day and heading to Phil’s for a drink, I stumbled across a baby brown snake slithering along the street towards the driveway. As it looked distressed, disoriented and unwell I did the right thing any animal lover would do and euthanised it.😉

Sunday was the usual packing up for the trip home, something which I never like doing.

Prepped and ready for paint

Let there be light!

Front garden taking shape

Front step

In what is becoming a  yearly tradition, we headed up the Calder to the Charlton House for Charlton Show weekend.

Leaving just before 6:00am on Saturday with a lounge suite loaded in the new trailer, roof pod filled with clothes and other miscellaneous items for the weekend and car loaded with three adults and a dog, we had a good run and arrived around 9:45am

This gave us plenty of time to unload, inspect the fruit trees we planted last trip and attend to some miscellaneous chores before heading off to the show.

As has been the case on the last few trips, I started up the ride on and mowed the grass whilst Shirleen visited Mum to reclaim the EasyKneel mum borrowed so she could comfortably tend to our now flourishing rose garden. Emily, who made the trip up with us isn’t used to early mornings and long drives so decided to put her head down for a rest before we headed off to the show. Grass mowing was quicker this trip as growth has slowed considerably with the warmer and dryer weather and it wasn’t long before mowing and brush-cutting were finished.

After a ham roll for lunch we headed off to the showgrounds where we had a lovely afternoon inspecting the various craft, photographic, food and flower displays, and visiting the animal displays, tractor pull and sheep dog trials in the main arena. I really liked the sheepdog trials but was a little disappointed that not one of them was found guilty!

Heading back home after a couple of hours, Shirleen and Emily continued stripping paint of the skirting boards and dado panels whilst I started filling holes where I had re-nailed all the trim in the study. We were initially planning on painting the dado however, Emily did such a great job of stripping the paint to reveal beautiful golden toned Baltic pine, that we decided to completely strip the boards down to raw timber and varnish rather than paint. Thanks Em!

At around 6:00pm we returned to the show for pizza and beer, but decided not to stay for the fireworks, which we watched from the verandah at home.

Sunday was earmarked to spread the pea straw which was delivered during the week around the fruit trees and roses and attend to a few more odd jobs (like fitting a draught strip to the front door) and before long it was the time we always dread… pack up and go home time.

The weekend went far too quickly and we are looking forward to annual leave over Melbourne Cup week where our 9 day stay will still be too short!

Roses Blooming

Who needs a rake when you have a dog to pick up the grass clippings

Baltic Dado

One of our beautiful roses

August at the Charlton house has been a time I have never really looked forward to in the past, courtesy of the need to regularly mow the quick growing vegetation (can’t really call it grass) as a result of winter rains and mild daytime temperatures.

This year though August was different. Not because there was any less growth but because I lashed out and used my tax return to buy a ride on mower. This cut mowing time for the 2/3 acre block from a full day to just a couple of hours, freeing up time to spend on renovations.

The trip the weekend of the 5th and 6th was the first mow with the ride-on. Shirleen Abbey and Skylar had headed up the Friday 4th and Emily and I followed early on the Saturday morning with the ride-on mower on the trailer. After unloading the mower on arrival I was looking forward to seeing how the new mower performed but I had to repair it first… the trip up the Calder had caused an ignition wire to come loose. Fortunately it was an easy repair and I was soon able to cut a swathe through the thick lush vegetation, giving the yard a bowling green look.

The rest of the weekend was spent relaxing with little more work done before heading home.

By the weekend of 19th and 20th the yard was more than due for another mow. This time it was just Skylar and I who made the trip up the Calder, and again the ride-on proved its value… mowing and trimming were done within a couple of hours, leaving me time to dig up an old concrete spoon drain in the side yard. Again the ride-on showed just how versatile it can be, this time by hooking up the yard cart to its towbar allowing me to easily cart the concrete to the rubbish pile in just a couple of trips behind the mower, rather than making several trips with a wheelbarrow.

After finishing that job I cleaned up and paid a visit to mum before joining Philip and Janet for dinner.

Sunday morning was cold and frosty, but the sun soon warmed the air allowing outside work possible without freezing the fingertips. Sunday’s job was to replace the weatherboards on the west side of the house where they had been removed to install the hot water system plumbing. After finishing I had a little time left to remove some timber which had been fixed over the outside of the front door frame to facilitate a screen door concealing the original Victorian features.

Next trip will be more mowing and planting of some fruit trees which are being transferred from the Somerville house.  Cant wait!

My little tractor

Skylar was going to sand some dado but decided to take her sandpaper to bed instead

Weatherboards reinstalled

Although I had a couple of lone visits to the Charlton House in recent weeks, it had been a while since we had both visited, and we were looking forward to this trip.

We had planned to transplant the roses from our Somerville garden to Charlton this weekend so whilst Shirleen took Matthew for a MRI on his injured ankle on Friday morning, I started digging up the roses and wrapping them on wet paper towel for the trip to Charlton later in the day.

As we had to pick up some split system compressor units on the way, we decided to take the ute rather than the Volkswagen, given the the trailer would be carrying considerable extra weight. This meant Skylar had to stay home this trip, and it was a very sad puppy dog we left behind, but an excited one we came home to.

After a detour from our usual route to load up the compressors we finally hit the Calder around 2:30pm stopping at the outbound service centre for a bite to eat and again at Ravenswood for a toilet break, as well as to check that our trailer load was secure.

Arriving at Charlton shortly before 6:00 to plummeting temperatures, we decided to unload only the essentials and complete the rest the following day (not that Saturday morning was any warmer…)

After a brisk walk into town first thing Saturday to put on my lotto tickets, the trailer was unloaded and after a walk around the grounds to inspect the citrus trees we set about preparing the front “diamond” garden for the rose plants. A few hours, several barrows of weeds and a whole lot of effort later, we had a rose garden planted complete with (temporary) automatic watering system.

After a short rest Shirleen continued on from her previous work stripping paint from the dado and skirting boards in the entrance hall whilst I started preparing the study for the same treatment, starting with the re-nailing of all the plaster strapping, picture rails and  other trim, and sanding some of the flaking paint from over the fireplace.

Around 4:30 we finished for the day, showered, and sauntered up the road to dear friends Ross and Peggy’s for five o’clock drinks followed by dinner at the East Charlton Hotel.

After a sleep-in Sunday morning we harvested citrus fruit from both our orange and Philip and Janet’s lime trees then started packing up for the trip home.

Looking forward to our next trip which will be the 2nd anniversary of our first visit as owners of The Charlton House. In that time we have done an amazing amount of work but in some ways have still only scratched the surface.

Roll on the next two years!