Reconnaissance and cleaning mission 1.

I have the keys!

I have just returned from the first reconnaissance and cleaning mission. And oh boy, does it need a lot of cleaning!

Got the back spouting cleaned out, in between showers of rain. Found that it leaks, as the joints were never glued together. The water pump is QUIET. yay! ALL the windows desperately need putty, (except maybe the aluminium ones in the bathroom) the windows in bedroom 1 have been growing moss because, we think, the water is getting in where the putty is supposed to be at the bottom of the glass. Not sure what's actually holding the glass in to be honest! The rooms look even more massive without furniture. The septic tank has been emptied, the new electricity meter was installed in January, and the roof does NOT seem to be leaking. (!!!) Had some heavy, though not sustained, showers of rain overnight. Couldn't hear any dripping, or iron lifting. South western side of house is in better condition than I remembered. All windows on that side should be ok with some work, and only maybe two rotten weatherboards on that side. Found that the concrete path goes all the way down the side of the house, and just needs to be uncovered (kikuyu grass has grown over it). Lemon tree, though small, has about a dozen lemons on it. :-)

Coffee break!

My wide angle lens makes the back yard look even more massive.

We got all the floors vacuumed and washed except the kitchen. Everything about the kitchen is filthy, except the fridge and the benchtop. We cleaned some drawers and the pantry, in order to put stuff away, but I'm going to have to get some sugar soap and start with the ceiling and work my way down the walls. It's that crazy '80's scrubbable vinyl, but all peeling. yuck! The floor vinyl is also super wrinkly and wrecked. Don't know exactly what I'm going to do about that in the meantime!

First dinner.

We all had a good night's sleep, despite the wind and rain, probably the peace of having no traffic noise and sirens!

Dad got the boards off of the ceiling hole in bedroom 1, to check the state of the "leak that had been fixed"

I guess it has been fixed on the outside, because it certainly wasn't leaking. However, what he found on the inside was this:

That is an almost full rubbish bag, of bird's nesting material. That must have been one serious nest! Had to make the hole quite a bit bigger to get it out.

Bedroom 2 is quite dark because of the spraypaint over the windows on one side (grrr!) Will take a glass scraper down next time!

Well, that's all the photos I got, because my fancy camera is quite old, and the batteries don't stay charged for very long anymore. I'll have to take the point-and-shoot as well next time. Quite excited about taking the furniture down there this weekend. OoOooO zen furniture arrangement!