It’s been a week since our big earthquake and Roger has been home for much of it but returned to work yesterday and is working the weekend to catch up. Most of this week has been spent cleaning, firstly picking up all the broken stuff then keeping busy cleaning walls – you have no idea how grubby they are until everything is taken off them!!
Damage: Alot of broken china and glassware. I will NEVER collect old china again – the sound of it smashing all around you (as you are shaking terrified under a computer desk wondering if your whole house is coming down!) is awful. So, this is some of it waiting for insurance assessors to check it off. I had taken much of it down weeks ago with other quakes but had put some back 2 days prior to this, 5 weeks of living with stuff all around the floors seemed long enough. I did not expect a cabinet to fall on the nicer things I had left on the floor.
This box in the front holds a very large china elephant my son gave me for my birthday when he was 18, 18 years ago. I was really upset to have this broken 😦
Our hot water cylinder sprung a leak so that needed replacing, we lost power downstairs so that needed fixing and our house has developed cracks all through like this:
All in all our house did extremely well and I am grateful for that as others have lost their homes, many we know personally have not come out of this nearly as well…alot of sadness and stress in our wee community.
When we bought this house 7 years ago we bought it because it was cheap and had alot of potential. We live in two rooms of it really, most of the doors stay shut as rooms aren’t used. This week we camped in the lounge as the bedrooms are 2 stories up (too high off the ground for me in quakes) and we have felt really comfortable living in a smaller area SO, we have decided to put a small kitchen and bathroom (rooms are there just not fitted out) downstairs, live down there and rent the top out. This was our original idea when we moved here. It opens out into the garden and is pretty, has a lounge, one bedroom and another small one up a flight of steps.
Spring has arrived in the garden 🙂
Broccoli plants that were decimated by chooks and pruned off at ground level have recovered and the glasshouse is producing.
The asparagus bed is shooting up spears, tomatoes are sprouting in seed trays and potatoes are just about to go in, the berries are all getting fresh new leaves on and the herbs are all taking off again. The strawberries are all weeded for the start of the new season and hubby is trying to build a rotary hoe out of parts picked up at different times.
The seasons come and go, Mother Nature can certainly create her havoc but winter is always followed by spring! And some things always stay the same, especially when they are made from wood or stone!!
Also….we have found a market for vegetables, fruit etc that we do not need for ourselves. An Indian gentleman and his extended family /community wish to buy from us. He asked last year and we didn’t have enough but will do it this year 🙂
quarteracrelifestyle 
I can’t even imagine what you are going through. Your garden looks lovely.. a place to rest while you rest…robbie:-).
LikeLike
It is too, it’s nice to find a quiet possie in the sun just to sit for a while….often shortly lived when you spot something that needs doing 🙂
LikeLike
Whoa, i dont know how you live with the uncertainty. I’d invest in good quality metal wear or plastic (nope not eco) umm.. oh just go to op shop and make up a mismatched set. Your garden is lovely and i do like the idea of renting upstairs if you can live with the privacy issues.
LikeLike
The privacy thing is the one thing that has stopped us from doing as we originally planned, we didn’t feel we could share our space. I think we have that sorted now in our minds and the rent would go a long way towards getting our mortgage paid quicker. We have 2 entrances to our property so we could basically have our own areas.
LikeLike
wow glad you’re so positive in this difficult time. Have been thinking of you with every passing earthquake felt in Wellington. What a big but wonderful decision to rent your home out. Your garden looks wonderful so cool ou can sell of your produce! well done you Mx
LikeLike
🙂 Don’t let this calm exterior fool you….there was lots of Rescue Remedy and lemon balm and mint tea going on down here lol! Things have eased, that’s a good thing. Hopefully that’s the end of it ay?!
we are really pleased with being able to sell our veg, that will be just perfect 🙂 xx
LikeLike
So glad things are settling for the time being. Good luck with the veg 😀
LikeLike
Thanks Cathy 🙂
LikeLike
Sorry to hear that you were affected by the quake.
Your vegetables are a big hit. Well done to be able to supply more than you need.
LikeLike
Thank you 🙂 We are very excited about this, to be able to earn money from your garden, over and above what you grow for yourself, is the ideal really!
LikeLike
I can’t imagine having to live with most of my belongings boxed up trying to protect them from the next quake. Is this common to have so many quakes or something that has been happening only recently?
Can you repair your elephant? it may not be perfect but you could fill in some gaps with putty and touch up the paint. I’d had to lose something that sentimental.
What an amazing realization to come out of the past month! I’m sure you will be very happy with your new living arrangement when it is completed and the extra income never hurts.
Keeping my fingers crossed this is the end of the quakes for a long while.
LikeLike
I am hating it. The earthquakes are new here, a city 3 hours away was devastated by two major earthquakes 3 years ago but there hadn’t been major ones for donkeys years before that, now us.
I will try and resurrect the elephant but I think it’s probably past that, there are so many fragments and chips. I was so upset when I saw that 😦
We are looking forward to moving downstairs, that area really sold the house for us really. It has white plastered walls with pink wallpaper and stained wood beams – the top part is nowhere near as nice. And yes, the extra money will be very good.
Fingers crossed here too 🙂 🙂
LikeLike
I am sorry the elephant was so badly damaged. Do you have any idea what has caused your area to start having such frequent and damaging quakes?
The downstairs sounds beautiful, well minus the pink wall paper. I love exposed wood beams. My fingers are crossed for you.
LikeLike
No, I don’t know what is causing them, just a rebalancing act in our little corner of the world. I now know how ants feel though when we pick something up and shake them off!!
Yeah, not a pink girl either lol, but this will be ok. We had pink wallpaper in our lounge when we came here and that went pretty smartly.
LikeLike
What a courageous decision to rent out the top of your house. I am such a privacy person I could never imagine sharing my space like that. I am sorry to hear your elephant may be past repair but I wonder if you have a photo of it you could enlarge and mount (earthquake proof) on a wall to keep him (her) with you. Not as good as the real thing but maybe a suitable second?
Here’s hoping the quakes are finshed with for now for you (and everywhere) and you can put things back in their homes without worrying that they will all come tumbling down.
LikeLike
Yes, we are very private too, but a means to an end really. If it pays the mortgage it makes things alot easier for us. We will give it a go and see if we can live with it.
No, no photos of my elephant unfortunately. Such a shame. Most of the other stuff was bought very cheaply so wasn’t a biggy, just disappointing.
Here’s hoping 🙂 Thanks.
LikeLike
Earthquake forced simplicity, not my idea of fun :(.
LikeLike
Yeah…..nah lol, not mine neither!
LikeLike