Anna S.

As pretty as a picture

This is a photo of a photo of Olearia nummularifolia in the Rangipo Desert all framed up by my own fair hands. I now have a much deeper understanding of the costs behind those eye-watering quotes you get to have something professionally framed.

I took my 15-year-old niece with me on the hunt for lights and curtain fabrics one day. We were discussing what artworks to put up on the walls, and trying to come up with a concept that would fit in with the ethos of keeping things simple.

I developed a love of Impressionism in my teenage years from wandering around my local art gallery and studying art history in my final year of secondary school. My sense was that I needed something more local and natural than contrived for the vestry.

My first thought was photos of indigenous alpine fauna and flora. Then I remembered that someone had given me an old calendar of photos taken in the region. Perfect, I thought.

When I dug them out I realised that the photos were different orientations and sizes, so standard frames wouldn’t work. I was reluctant to invest in professional framing for mass-produced copies. A quick online search identified a weekend picture-framing course scheduled within the next few weeks at a local art college. Fortunately they had one place left so fee paid and off I went.

The tutor was great at explaining everything and helping us with the tricky bits. Unfortunately some of the equipment was very manual. I’d chosen chunky wooden framing timber that was prone to splitting when cutting it with the special guillotine. It felt like I spent most of the weekend cutting framing timber!

Fortunately I managed to get two pictures framed which I can hang in my current bedroom until the vestry bedroom is painted. Unfortunately I lack the patience to make a meticulous job of cutting and pinning so they’re a bit wonky! I like to think it adds to their charm.

I’ve decided to use some of the photos from the White’s Aviation series for the kitchenette. I’ll print them off as A3 and frame them in standard frames to create a bit of rhythm. That just leaves the art for the shower room to do!

Next time: Good fences make good neighbours.

Happy 100th ‘anniversary’ kirk!

12 August 2019 marks the 100th anniversary of the marriage of Ivy Horne to Ivan Croad. It was the first marriage in the new church. I still don’t know when it was opened, so this date is as good as any to celebrate!

Here’s how the wedding was reported in the Manawatu Times on 21 August:

CROAD—HORNE. On Tuesday afternoon at the Presbyterian Church, Ohakune, Mr Ivan Croad, of Ballance, Pahiatua, son of Mr H. Croad, of Palmerston, was married to Miss Ivv Horne, eldest daughter of Mr and Mrs Horne, Miro Road, Ohakune. The church had been prettily decorated for the occasion by friends of the bride. The bridal gown was of cream crepe de chene, embroidered with pearls, made with a tunic and finished with a sash of cream satin. A veil caught with clusters of orange blossoms and a shower bouquet of spring flowers completed her toilet. The bride was given away by her father, and was attended by her sisters, Misses Violet and Elsie Horne, who wore pale blue fuji silk dresses, and hat to match trimmed with tiny pink roses and black velvet ribbon strings. They carried bouquets of violets. The bridegroom’s presents to the bridesmaids were a gold curb bangle and a gold wishbone brooch respectively. Mr N. Croad, of Palmerston North, supported his brother as best man. As the wedding party left the vestry, the Rev. Mr Morton presented the bride with a Bible, as this was the first wedding in the new church. Mrs Butler presided at the organ during the ceremony and played the Wedding March. Numerous presents were received, amongst the most treasured being a silver cake basket, presented to the bride by the congregation of the church. The church was packed with the many friends of the young couple, and after the ceremony the guests were entertained at the wedding breakfast at the residence of the bride’s parents. The Rev. Mr Morton proposed the health or the bride and bridegroom, and the other customary toasts were honoured. Mr and Mrs Croad left by the afternoon train for North on route for Pipiriki and Wanganui, the bride wearing a tailor-made brown costume with saxe blue hat.

Next time: As pretty as a picture.

A view from above

The photo above was taken in 1947 – if you squint hard and peer closely you may be able to make out a large white building towards the top right corner. That’s the Catholic church, and my kirk is just in front of it to the right.

The photos in this post are from the Whites Aviation series held in the NZ National Library collection. It’s a treasure-trove of aerial photographs taken over a long time. I came across the collection via a NZ History Federation post. The National Library blog post explains more about the collection.

Some of the photos I found have been scanned in reverse, which was a bit disorientating at first! It was great to see photos of the kirk before the vestibule was added in 1976. It’s also been interesting to see how the township has developed over the years. Here’s a few more photos so you can play ‘spot-the-kirk’ with me!

Next time: Happy 100th ‘anniversary’ kirk!

1951 23256507 Ohakune towards Clyde St - Kirk — 1951 view from the Junction end

1957 32051265 Ohakune from Tainui St - Kirk — 1957 view from the east

1965 23030068 Ohakune towards Raetihi - Kirk — 1965 view from the Junction end

1975 22764395 Ohakune from Goldfinch St - Kirk — 1975 view from the west

Things aren’t always what they seem….

This basin image informed the overall concept for the shower room vanity. We’ve come a long way from the original concept!

I’ve previously outlined my predilection for buying stuff online. Usually it’s something that’s secondhand, but I also buy new ‘cheap and cheerful’ stuff from online retailers. I figure if it’s just got water or waste going into it then function is just important as form.

One of the builders I met in September told me about Trade Depot who provide basic items at reasonable prices. Since I’m going for the simple look I decided to use them for some of my bathroom and kitchenette products.

First up was the basin for the shower-room vanity. My niece had in mind a nice curvy vessel basin to act as a counterpoint to the rimu tongue and groove sarking, and the lines of the vanity.

We finally settled on something that closely resembled her concept image. Then the cabinet-maker who was modifying the vanity unit alerted me to the fact that my elbows would be at ear level when I was cleaning my teeth. Not a good (or comfortable) look I thought.

We settled on an alternative that has some curves but was about 2/3 the depth. Job done I thought. I picked it up from the store during a road trip to Auckland in January, and handed it over to my stonemason along with the granite slab I purchased at the same time.

I haven’t been in a hurry to get the granite cut, polished, and the holes for the tap and waste cut out. I figured that it was a finishing element that could be done at a later stage.

However, I’m trying to choose fabric for the shower-room blind and stool, so gave the stonemason a bit of a poke last week so that I could get a small off-cut to cart around with me. (Did I mention that the granite slab needs at least two people to manoeuvre it – it’s fecking heavy.)

Unfortunately it turns out that the sink I bought five months ago isn’t suitable as a free-standing basin. One side is an unfinished ugly terracotta colour. My stonemason contacted me to let me know so that I could get a replacement before he cut the hole for the waste.

It’s been more than a month since I bought the unit, so the supplier charges a 20% ‘restock’ fee. I have to pay to have it couriered to Auckland, take a loss on my original purchase price, as well as paying full price on a replacement item.

Note to self: take stuff out of boxes and check it when your receive it.

I’m currently mulling over a few options. Plan B is to source something locally and take the hit on the original item.

The preferred third option is out of stock, so we’re now going with this number!

Next time: A view from above

The search for a builder begins

There’s been a lot of construction in Ohakune over the years. This photo taken c1910 shows some construction work underway. I wonder if the guy with the bucket is a LBP?

I met with a number of builders the first month after taking possession, but needed to get building consent approved before I could get pricing from them. The delay has coincided with an upturn in construction in the district. Good builders are very busy as I discovered when I sent my plans and requirements out for indicative pricing:

Option A doesn’t want to take on a renovation project
Option B isn’t available until April
Option C isn’t available for 18 months
Option D isn’t available until after Christmas
Option E is about to start a nine-month job
Option F hasn’t got back to me with pricing
Option G isn’t returning my messages

I need to get my first building inspection completed by early-January, otherwise I have to re-apply for building consent. I knew it wouldn’t be easy, but I didn’t think it’d be this much of a challenge!

Next time: Things aren’t always what they seem

The end of an era

This is my former home of the last sixteen years. You too could live here if you have a lazy $900k+…..

We’ve already established that I have a thing about old things. Buildings, cars, clothes, and furniture are all things that I prefer to buy / occupy in a pre-loved state. My last residence was the same – it’s polished floorboards and hand-drawn glass window panes were some of the things I loved about it. The wind whistling up through the gaps in the floorboards in winter? Not so much.

The property has an interesting history. It was originally built around 1895 according to the Quotable Value website. The historic Thomas Ward maps shows three sections making up what is now Hobson Crescent, with only one of those sections having a building on it by 1892. That building appears to have been demolished to make way for the new road.

A fire broke out in a closet under the stairs in the afternoon of 27 May 1901. Mr James Marchbanks owned the eight-roomed house which was severely damaged by smoke and water. He was the Managing Engineer of the Manawatu Railway Company. The only occupant at the time was a “servant girl”.

Mr Marchbanks must have recently purchased the property as his address for the 1900 election was given as 91A Tinakori Road. For the 1904-05 election his address is given as 2 Hobson Crescent. This difference in address from what it is known as now may be because the properties would have been re-numbered as the sections were sub-divided.

Mr Marchbanks made application for a building permit in 1901 to reinstate the fire-damaged dwelling. It’s not clear if he was still the owner of the property in 1911 when a ‘J W Marchbank’ applied for a permit to make additions to the dwelling. The 1911 census have him and his wife May Constance Marchbanks still living there.

Electoral rolls show James and his wife still living there in 1928. In 1935 the couple and their son Donald were living in Heretaunga. By 1936 it was owned by ‘J C Marchbanks’ when it was converted into three flats. The ground floor was the largest, with two smaller flats upstairs.

The Marchbanks had two sons (Donald and James) and four daughters (Mary, Olive, Katherine and Barbara) by 1908, so ‘J C Marchbanks’ may have been their youngest son James Charles Ross who was born in 1903. He’s listed as living there in 1935 and 1938 with his wife. They had moved to Lower Hutt by 1946.

A widow Edith Millie Boyes was the owner in 1946 (until 1965 approx.) when the garage was added. My former neighbours who now own the garage had to buy a car that would fit it’s narrow 1940’s proportions! It was owned by a schoolteacher Mrs Brenda Margaret Narbey between 1969-72. In April 1990 application was made to convert the three flats into two dwellings. The building was sold to the current owner for $285,000 in October 1990.

Last October I learned that the owner wanted to sell said home to diversify his property portfolio. Too many properties in one earthquake-prone (i.e. Wellington) basket you might say. Liking the property, it’s location, and not wanting to move, I decided that I would try and buy the property. Ever the eternal optimist me.

Long story short. I put in an offer, it was accepted, and I withdrew it because I couldn’t get finance. The owner was going to put the sale on hold for 12 months, but I decided that I couldn’t realistically afford to buy it and renovate the church at the same time. Reluctantly I decided to move out and put the rent towards financing the renovations.

So here we are. The property is for sale but probably not for long. Ironically, another Thorndon property I lived in is also on the market. It’s been flashed up quite a bit since I lived there 20 years ago! Now I’m staying in a 1986 spec house with my brother that is 2/3 the size of my previous residence. He’s been very accommodating of me, my stuff, and my two cats. Necessity is the mother of invention.

Next time: The search for a builder begins

Cleanliness is indeed next to godliness (John Wesley – 1791)

One of my design aesthetics is for the building to look as though it could be returned to it’s previous use without undoing all of the new elements. The vestry was the area where the minister would get into their robes (vestments) prior to a service. It was also used as an office for meetings.

For phase one of the conversion, I’m turning this area into a shower-room, kitchenette, and bedroom. The bedroom and kitchenette are relatively straight-forward. The shower-room is where most of the design and construction challenges lay.

There’s no water or sewerage connections to the church, so the nearest toilets were attached to the back of the church hall next door. (I still have the tags that were on the keys for each toilet.) The nearest available toilets are now at the park around the corner in Conway Street – a bit inconvenient. Boom tish!

The new layout will see the shower to the left of the window, vanity straight ahead, and toilet to the right of the window. I have a thing about noise so the toilet is as far away from my bedroom as possible! I’ll also be using sound-deadening plasterboard to keep the noise levels down.

One of the early layout designs I was given had the vanity squished in next to the shower so that there was wall space for a mirror above it. I’m not that vain! Nor am I an exhibitionist. As the locals have a tendency to use the grounds as a short-cut I’ll be putting a mirrored finish on the bottom half of the sash window for modesty purposes……………

I like good design but that comes at a cost. I’ve opted for bog-standard things like the hand basin, shower, and toilet which I’ll source from Trade Depot or TradeMe. The vanity cabinet is coming from BespOak NZ and the granite top is secondhand. However, I’ve struggled to find basin and shower mixers that I like.

Well, that’s not quite true. I have found a brand of mixers that I like but the prices are eye-watering! I’ve opted for an Italian brand priced between the cheap-and-cheerful Australian and well-engineered German products. No surprises there.

Yet-to-be-resolved is what type of oil finish to apply to the rimu sarking on the walls and ceiling. My choices are an interior oil that gives a milky-white finish, tung oil, and danish oil. I also need to decide whether or not to install a glass panel above the shower-room door to let more light into the kitchenette. What do you think?

Danish, Tung, & Interior oils separated by untreated wood

Next time: The end of an era

Call me (call me) on the line. Call me, call me any, anytime………….

This is my pile of insulation made out of recycled wool. It’s going under the floor and in the opened-up bathroom walls to keep everything toasty. It’s my building’s equivalent of sheepskin boots and a woollen coat.

The tyranny of distance is one of the challenges of this project. Most suppliers have their deliveries taking place during the week when I’m at work in Wellington. Fortunately the door to the vestibule has a code on it so freight companies can put their deliveries inside without me having to be there.

Fairly straight forward you would have thought. But no. Suppliers don’t always think to obtain delivery instructions when you place your order. Then you find out that the goods have been dispatched for delivery without delivery instructions. You’re reassured that the freight company have been instructed to call you prior to delivering the goods.

Should be ok you think. But no. The tracking link you’re given shows the goods were out for delivery the day prior. But you’re reassured that the freight company have been instructed to call you prior to delivering the goods. You check the tracking link which shows the goods are back out for delivery so you wait for the call. They don’t call.

So you check the tracking link again which shows that the goods were delivered and signed for by someone you’ve never heard of. So you phone the supplier who suggests you call the freight company. You call the freight company who confirm they had your contact number and promise to look into it and get back to you. They don’t call you back.

You call the freight company a few hours later and get someone more helpful. They put you through to the depot who say they didn’t have your number in their system. They try to call the driver but can’t get hold of him. They finally get hold of the driver who turns out is the person who signs as having ‘received’ the goods except they didn’t. What they did is leave the products outside the building in public view.

So you contact your helpful neighbour to see if she can check it out when she gets home from work and put the products in the vestibule. You get a text to say it’s all done. Phew.

You decide you owe your neighbour so buy her a nice bottle of Central Otago Pinot Noir as a thank you. When you give it to your neighbour you discover that the products were left outside the wrong building. Not ok. You let the supplier know what’s happened and trust they’ll sort it out with their freight company. Radio silence ensues.

This is just the beginning of the project so I’ll have a lot more deliveries over the next few months. It could end up costing me heaps in wine! “You can call me any day or night. Call me.”

Next time: Cleanliness is indeed next to godliness

Damn it, granite!

Buying stuff via online auction sites is a bit like online dating: you sees it, you wants it, but sometimes it’s just not that practical or plays hard to get………………..

This was the case with this lovely piece of granite I found. Buying it was not the problem. Finding someone who would cut it for me was. First I tried advertising on BuildersCrack – no response. Then the lovely people at BuidersCrack sent me a list of people to contact. One I contacted didn’t do that sort of work and the other two didn’t return my calls. A bit like online dating really.

Maybe it wasn’t to be. I decided to try something else. Something that was available. Something that was willing and able to be cut up and shaped how I wanted it to be. So off to a granite bench-top place I went to find something that would work. But instead of finding a tall, dark and handsome piece of granite, all I could find was some wishy washy piece of blergh. And then I got the quote to cut, shape and install the piece of blergh. It would be twice as much as the vanity, tap, and basin combined. Blergh!

I decided to try a different tack. Approach another bench-top supplier to see if they could supply me with my shower tray and cut my granite as a side job. First they wanted to know if it was Chinese. A bit racist I thought. I reassured them that it was an European import, but of an undetermined vintage. They would love to help, but a bit busy after Christmas, here’s someone else you could try, come back to us if you’re unsuccessful. I’ve heard those lines before!

Fortunately the person they referred me to was able to help. My dream of a sexy piece of granite in my shower-room will be realised!

Next time: Call me (call me) on the line. Call me, call me any, anytime……………

All you wanted to know about getting a change of use approved but were too afraid to ask………………

This photo of the eastern aspect shows the window that’s will be replaced by french doors onto a small deck. Note the concrete roof tile slacking around on the ground rather than hanging out on the roof where it belongs.

I started investigating what I’d need to do to get a change of use approved in April 2018. The ever-helpful Ruapehu District Council told me about things like having all windows double-glazed, and fully-insulating the exterior walls. They also told me about having to connect to the water and sewerage system despite my preference to collect water and recycle my own sewerage.

The Building Act specifies what work you don’t need a consent for. That’s mostly stuff that goes on within the building envelope. Anything in the building envelope requires a consent, unless it’s an existing element.

Ok, I can live with that. Until I realised that pretty much everything I wanted to do within the building envelope was dependent on doing stuff to the building envelope first. Sigh.

Then there’s a whole lot of stuff that you don’t need a consent for, but councils will still want to know about. Stuff like heating. You don’t need a building consent to install a heat-pump, but councils still want to know that you’ll have heating. Ditto ventilation like bathroom and kitchen extraction fans. You need to get those drawn in as well.

They want to know where you’re going to install your gas cylinders for your hot water system, what they’ll be mounted on, and how you’re going to stop them from being nicked. And yes they do get nicked!

They also want to know what products you’re going to use for specific applications such as shower wall water-proofing, insulation, and new door and window fittings. You have to obtain producer statements from your proposed suppliers and submit them to your council. They then get officially stamped and you have to have them on site at all times together with your approved plans. You also have go back to council to get new ones approved if you change your mind or the supplier goes out of business. Double-sigh.

Since I’m putting french doors where the east-facing window is, that needs to have safety glass and a deck installed below it. The main entry needs to comply with the slip-resistance performance of NZBC d1.3.3 (d) – whatever the hell that is! And I have to get the road access re-done to meet another standard.

Councils have 20 days to approve building consent applications. They stop the clock as soon as they have any queries. They also stop the clock for their end-of-year three-week close-down. I lodged my application on 30 November 2018. The council requested additional information on 18 December and it was supplied on 20 December. On 9 January I got the call to say it was approved. I think we can call that some kind of record!

Next time: Damn it, granite!