dad donates a chair and dressing table

Dad is a master at scavenging useful objects from the roadside.  His latest find is a lovely Lloyd Loom style chair (in fact it could even be Lloyd Loom -- I can't tell without seeing if it has a label).  It needs painting, of course, but that's easy, and it will be perfect to go at a dressing table.



Speaking of which, Dad has also donated a dressing table top to go in the Lakehouse.  Here's his description, and below a photo.  I think, with a little restoration and creativity regarding finding it a proper base, it'll come up well.  I like the shape and it looks perfect paired with the old washbasin.  

I bought an antique cedar dresser from the woman who sold you the panelling.  It turned out that the whole of the bottom part was totally ruined and not salvageable.  So I took that away and made another base for the top and put it onto a table top for Jenny and Paul.  But they didn't want it anymore so I got it back.  I was storing it in my garage with the prospect of using it as a vanity in my bathroom here in Ringwood, but decided it would be much better in the Lakehouse if you like it.  The carving is by hand, and the whole will come up very nice with restoration.  

foundation digging

Dave had a fleeting trip to Australia in early August and managed to get a few hectic days working with Dad up at Amherst.  It turned out to be a frustrating time because the work they were doing -- on the foundations of the old house -- was tedious and slow.  There are apparently about 60 stumps needed for the extension area and they have to be in very precise positions.  The ground was hard and if you hit a rock, well, you just had to find a way through.  The little tractor wasn't strong enough to do it on its own so they had to experiment with jerry-rigging weights to it, in order to get more downward pressure.  And even then, did a lot by hand.  Anyway, progress was made, but just nowhere near as much as they'd hoped.

Here's some photos:







Here's an extract from Dad's email about it, after a subsequent trip: 

I am focussing on the old house ...   I will be working this week on getting the stump-holes completed.  I am hopeful a new approach of using progressively larger augers until the size needed is achieved will mean I won't  have to do so much manual digging to get the holes right for the stumps.  I was able to do the holes at the front of the house with just the large auger so was surprised with all the trouble we have at the rear of the house.  The weighting basket arrangement for the auger is working well, but with one less rock than we had before.  Getting our approach right for digging holes on the block is valuable lessons learned.  Dave and I struggled with the manual digging this trip, and with a better approach to digging holes may avoid another such crisis when time is precious. 

I cannot wait until the foundations are done and Dad can get onto the proper building. But that's nothing compared to Dad, I think all this digging work is intensely hard and frustrating for him; he much prefers carpentry.