24/01/2005 - We're down in Blenheim visiting the in-laws and, today being our first wedding anniversary, we came back from our dinner to hear that my dad had been up to the house to find it all secured and missing the back walls. I guess that means the footings will be marked out and poured over the next few days.
Brian & Noa Walled off the house at the outside of the new toilet wall to close off the hallway and provide security while we're away, then set to and demolished the remainder of the back of the house. The rest of the day was spent clearing up the demo materials and adding them to the piles of stuff on the back lawn.
This should be the last of the materials coming off the house (apart from the roofing iron of course) so I'll be nibbling away at these piles to sort out what we want to keep/use and what we'll put in the Trade & Exchange or somewhere to give away as firewood. Our last resort will be to biff it all in the skip but if no one want's to reuse and recycle...

25/01/2005 - Brian & Noa setup the profiles of the back extension and ran up all the string lines.

26/01/2005 - Brian & Noa squared up the building, marked out the post holes and busted up the paths where the posts needed to go. Once the ground was cleared the drilled the holes for the posts.

27/01/2005 - Inspection day! Brian & Noa (after passing inspection by the council guy) cut and braced up all the posts, then poured the concrete. It appears there may have been more concrete than holes as it's dribbled from hole to hole and the excess has been poured on the ground in about the middle of where the dining room will be - this is perfect for the access under the house thing as it'll give a good platform on which to pile stuff which we want to keep dry.

28/01/2005 - Will have to search our collective memories for what happened... Oh - and sometime during this evening, some (*&#er dumped three large bags of garden waste into our skip. I swear if I catch them again...

29/01/2005 - Saturday - the guys were at home recovering, we were in Blenheim getting ready for Mike and Heathers wedding (note to self: buy a waterfront property in Queen Charlotte sounds somewhere up a hill a ways so we can look out over the inlet).

30/01/2005 - I'm writing this on the plane on the way back up to Auckland, after a week away we're all a bit nervous about what shape the renovations have taken. We did get a report from my folks that the lawn now resembles a 'pocket handkerchief' (in relation to remaining grassed area as opposed to being covered in boogers - at least that's what one would hope...). Dennis & Helen are dropping Kali off once we call them (after landing). It will be interesting to see who is more shocked at the changes - us, Dennis & Helen or Kali whose backyard we've so rudely built over!
It turns out we were all a bit shocked - it looks quite large in the dark. Kali was happy to be back. She didn't really seem to have missed us that much as she was having too much fun with Stella and Dennis and Helen (as well as digging up Helens garden), but she did have a very thorough sniff of the radically changed back yard. Toilet stops for her are now by invitation only as we need to walk around the front of the house to access the back lawn.