Shack warming!

Started a bit before 9 and didn’t finish until about the same in the evening. A relentless but satisfying day. This was the day of the shack warming party, and I needed to get things in a state that gave an illusion of being completed. Went close.

It wasn't an easy decision to invite to the party only those who helped me in construction. There were others I wanted to invite, but I felt this was the better decision, otherwise it was going to be a case of come and look at what I've made, putting me in a position I didn't really want to be in. The people who came had a stake in it, can all point to a few things and say "I was involved in that".

The day began with some lining, finished that off, including some parts which were probably optional for now, but Deidre’s high standards meant we got them done. It was a good result, it is looking good in there now.

Then things turned roofside where I did some of the worst silicone chimney flashing sealing you’ll ever see. I’m just hoping that somewhere in that mass of sealant there are no gaps. Deidre proceeded to gum up the rest of the old nail holes in the iron on the roof. She then sealed the bottles up – they had tape on them previously, but look much cooler now that they have just a nice plug.

It was a battle against the clock all day. There was heaps to do, and some that still didn’t get done. Managed to put a piece of wood over the door to seal that end up, but still the majority of the area above the bricks isn’t finished.

The rest of the time was spent tidying the site up. That took many trips, but it was looking pleasingly tidy at the end.

Deidre really has been quite the star of recent days, working tirelessly, which inspired me to work longer than I would normally.



The bonfire was a bit of a fizzer, much like the shack warming party. There’s got to be something to do, and the bike track did provide that early on, until it got dark and everyone had had enough of riding. I had volleyball in mind, but it wasn’t really on once it got dark. The fire didn’t illuminate the way I’d anticipated either. As hoped, I held the lap record at 22.93. That’s very beatable though. Sub 20 seconds will be a good time.



Deidre and Julie made a good job of getting the food ready, the foil wrapped potatoes and veges were good. Garlic butter required a second brewing.

After that there was your choice of sit around in the shack – a maximum of 25.3 was registered – or hang out by the bonfire. It was so cosy and toasty in there, I really liked it. There were many chairs around and a heap of candles lighting things up. Something smelt really good, it could have been the candles or just the smell of the wooden walls heating up.

Diesel got the fire excited for a while, that was the most fun we had out there. Aaron took some great photos, that was pretty fun too. We had some good marshmallow sticks too.

Earlier on, I’d been recalling Chubbs’ word Grangerism of the photo involving Chay Blyth: “On the day of the foundation pouring, Nigel did not yet know how to build a house” or something like that. I had a similar thought running through my head as I raced to get things ready today: “On the day of the shack warming party, I had yet to complete the shack.”