December 27, 2015

John, with digger

Today John and Gillian arrived with a small digger. It was time to break up and remove all the concrete around one part of The Cowshed. This area was a nightmare - uneven concrete surfaces, concrete drains.... this was a chance to rectify this, level out the area, and form what will be the wheelchair access into the building.

A large deck will be built in this area, with a ramp running along side the pump room and former tack shed.

Everyone pitched in to help remove the concrete - Diane, Emma-Leigh and Sarah, along with Gillian all helped out. What will we do with the broken concrete and large mound of topsoil. Watch this space!!!

December 4, 2015

A fairly slow week at The Cowshed this week - but the long awaited steel work finally arrived today!

The pump Room and Tack Shed walls were removed and the new framing has started to go in.....

The big steel portal was put into place, and the existing railway irons were tied to it. A view of the interior from the kitchen - timber bracing holding things in place until the roof framework and wall framing is complete.

 A view from the driveway.....

November 25, 2015

A concrete pump makes pouring the concrete floor an easier option!

An early start today. Two concrete trucks arrived just after 7am to begin pouring the  new concrete concrete  floor for The Cowshed.

A familiar face - Stu Curd - at work......



The concrete floor poured....... .... in a few days time, the floor will be ground and polished.

At last! A level floor throughout The Cowshed.

There is a step down from the concrete floor to the exiting concrete yard. In the area around the bar and leading to the doors, a deck will be built, so that access to the area will be wheelchair friendly....






A view inside the ablution area. Raising the floor means that there are less steps leading up to the shower area.

Next week, this area will be demolished and the roof raised........

New kids on the block!

White faced Hereford calves - three black and five red arrive to their new home on Waitekauri Road.

The bee hives keep expanding! Plenty of manuka in flower, red clover and flowers to keep all happy!

Demolition Time - November 16, 2015

Demolition of the main part of The Cowshed, resulted in windows, walls and roof being removed.

Builders piled up all the timber etc. Weekends spent sorting it all out - the good from the bad. Disposal of rubbish with a bonfire; good timber being put aside for use for late projects.

The Cowshed had a very uneven floor. The decision was made to level it up. Footings and boxing was prepared.

Bonfires

Burning rubbish...

November 23, 2015

A busy day on the farm today!

The sun finally emerged yesterday, and the hay was cut. Wind dried it out well and was baled this afternoon. 23 bales!!! An increase of 5 compared to last year!

Work on The Cowshed resumed today, with the polythene being laid, along with steel reinforcing mesh etc, The whole floor is being raised on an average of 200 mls, so that the whole floor area will be level - including the abulution area and new wash house area. The concrete is due to be poured on Wednesday - fingers crossed for good weather!

October 28

Rubbish pile appearing as the demolition
work proceeds....

 Work on The Cowshed is proceeding quickly, with the wall cladding disappearing in the main block today.
The new framing timber awaits.......

The whole wall has gone from the front, making way for the new exterior wall - which when complete will complete will contain three sets of stacker sliders and other windows.

The tank stand and tack shed remain relatively untouched. Boards from this area will be carefully removed and used in some upcycling projects -  master bedroom wall / bedhead????

October 26th, 2015

After a two year wait, things are beginning to happen down at The Cowshed. A small team of builders  from Adam Knight builders are set to arrive tomorrow to begin demolition  and reconstruction work. Alistair began removing some of the things wanted for upcycling projects - old doors to become shower doors, window frame - picture frame?, rimu boards.......

View of front of The Cowshed

View of The Cowshed from the driveway

The Cowshed pergola area

The Ablution area - all saved building materials, stove etc

Alistair removing the tack room window - earmarked for upcycling. 

Cowshed interior - view from future ensuite to kitchen 

Top Garden

During the Xmas - January break, spent a few days re developing the top entrance garden. After removing a very tenacious groundcover, Ali sourced several huge rocks from the bottom paddock.& we discovered another embedded in a punga tree.

A revitalised garden!