Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Longest night

Today started the same as normal: had breakfast, made my lunch and down to DOC for another day of barberry hunting. The other team members were already at work but surprised me with the news that they had a house fire yesterday - see the write-up at

Luckily it looks like they haven't lost too many possessions and hopefully the damage is limited to an exterior wall and water damage. Sorting out alternative accommodation and cleaning up was going to keep them occupied for the day so I took the day off and returned home to tackle the sealer coat in my new bathroom and office. I'm now sitting in a paintfume-filled house and hoping that it doesn't linger for the rest of the week.

I'm a newbie to painting and am certainly no expert with a roller. I used Resene's Sureseal pigmented sealer, an enamel-based paint, and was amazed how quickly it disappeared once I started rolling. Maybe if I took the splatters off my face and hands it may have gone a bit further!! The bare gib in the bathroom and office have been covered but there's no sealer left for the bare gib in the lounge. I don't need to have the lounge side completed before the carpet and vinyl get laid (July 4) so it's not a biggie. I'm so glad that I've managed to get Coat 1 of 4 finished; the undercoat goes on next followed by two coats of Resene SpaceCote Low Sheen Kitchen and Bathroom paint - white on the ceiling and Rice Cake on the walls.

There was just enough daylight left cut some gorse and barberry and then clean/rebait my rat traps. Not the day I thought I'd have when I woke up but productive nonetheless.

Just for the record:
Sunrise was at 8:33:28am
Sunset was at 5:04:32pm
Minimum temperature: 6.4 deg C at 7:25pm
Maximum temperature: 9.1 deg C at 10:37am