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The first stint of our frame building over our holiday break. We left Coalgate midday on the 23rd and headed to the bach at Bluespur, Hokitika which would be our base throughout. Christmas Eve we were up early and drove the 50 minutes to Blackball. We spent the morning unloading, setting up our worksite and getting the bottom plates set out. Al did the cutting and I measured and marked where the studs and blocking would go, and placed them in formation ready to be nailed together. We managed to get two frames up before heading back to Hoki. Stopping on the way in Greymouth for some supplies. The doggies were well behaved all day. We didn’t get back to Bluespur until 7 so it was pretty late once we had had tea. We were pretty knackered by then.

Day 2 – Again we were up early but didn’t get to Blackball until 9.30 since it was Christmas. Another fine day and we carried on with the framing after spending a couple of hours getting everything square and set. It was pretty quiet in Blackball but we saw the odd person who stopped to say hello. We knew it wouldn’t be a normal Christmas this year so it was just another day for us, although we did have a wee tipple at lunch. Again we didn’t get back until around 7 so another late one and we fell into bed.

Day 3 – A big day with some tall frames going up. Al had drawn all of the framing details and split some large frames into two so we would be able to get them up ourselves, We hit an obstacle where the frame kept sliding out as we raised it but we managed to set up a rope around a drain pipe to stop it slipping, and were got it upright. But for the second half there was no pipe we could use but fortunately our neighbor Austin was around and gave us a hand to get that one up. We managed to get back to Bluespur around 5 so had a bit more time to relax and were just in time before the rain started.

Day 4 – Today was just a half a day as we were heading home for a couple of nights. We knew rain was on the cards. We worked around it though and carried on with the last internal wall frame which will be the woodstore and where the switchboard will be. There were still some fine patches and we managed to get that frame up and the last job before heading home was to put bolts into the bottom plate to hold the frame. We finished up at 1, packed up and had a quick lunch at the Hilton before heading home. We were pleased to be greeted by Sammy, the chickees and Ben who were all well.