I thought about the previous months where I had been away from her while organizing carpenters, tilers, painters, electricians and plumbers as well as all the supplies needed for the houses. Four truckloads of gravel were needed to build a road up to the house and every opportunity we spent in the neglected garden trying to salvage plants which were hidden under an array of weeds and overgrown shrubs.
A massive cactus which grew over the roof of the back house was chopped down and lightened the house immediately. Gen and Nat helped paint some of the outside fences and we had fun mixing up the masses of old paints we found in the sheds. They both tried their hand at gardening with Gen planting Irises and other bulbs successfully and Nat convincing us girls that we were capable of knocking down a walled barbecue! Before Bruce had a chance to object he was putting old bricks in a wheel barrow and stacking them for recycling later. Then exhausted we happily left for the Canungra Hotel for a large pub dinner revving up the music (and the car) all the way home on those winding country roads. Sometimes life was fun...
What were the renovations you might ask?
Well the Hut alone had the kitchen gutted (termites had eaten most of the external wall structure & left)
the former restaurant dining area was painted, carpeted and part of it partitioned off into what became the third bedroom,
