Why have we not been on our blog?

Well, Everyone, we are up and running again!
Why, are you saying that?, you may ask!
Let us explain.

A couple of years ago, Newcastle had some very severe storms. Our house had some damage. One of the most significant issues we had, apart from a huge tree falling right down the middle our yard, our shed leaked and revealed some major structural problems.

This shed was used as an office as our house is very small, and there is no room for computers and printers etc inside.

We knew we would have to replace the shed in the near future as it was flooding, the walls were rotting and growing mould, the roofing material was not legal, and compromised to name a few problems.

Removing plaster and insulation

As you know, our ministry involves traveling, but also a lot of computer work. So we needed somewhere dry and not ready to fall to work in.

 Glenys' mother died, and left a small amount of money. We decided to use this money to pull down the old shed and build a new one.

Dennis was spending a lot of time at GRN office doing some training, so it was left to Glenys to pack up the old office, and prepare everything for the removal of the old shed.

Emptying shed

 Dennis would come home on the week end and we would work like mad on the big jobs. Then he would go back to Sydney for the week.

It was scary when we started to dismantle the shed and see how rotten it was. If we had not done the shed when we did, it would have fallen down in the next couple of years!

rotten beams

cracks in the concrete let water into the shed

We pulled down the shed in the wettest month of the year. 

The arrival of the shed

 

Jeff and Jarrod working on the roof

Cameron laying the concrete

We are grateful for the help of Jeff, and  Rhys who gave their time, and Cameron our neighbour who poured the cement for us.

Granddaughter Tueila & Wade the duck

At this time, Daniel & Shayna were having their third child. We were looking after the older 2
Tueila (Tutu) had a lot of fun playing in the puddles.
Wade was never far away either!








The new shed is larger than than the old one. The old one including the carport attached to the side of the shed was about 7m x 7m. The new shed is 9.5m x 7m

Jarrod & Jeff spying on the neighbours!

No show without Punch, Nellie home from school having a ride!

Frame being erected

Nathan, Daniel and Jarrod putting down the roof

Gruntly and Sam watching the work

'Why on earth would we want to have such a large shed?', you may ask.
There is a perfectly valid reason for the size, apart from Dennis having a 'dog house' to live in.

The office area we planned is the same as in the old shed. We have also planned for a small bedroom area, living area and bathroom to go in the shed.

When people come down from the NT to do work with us, there is room for them to stay and have some privacy. The kitchenette is there if they want to make their own meals and be independent.  This way people can be living and eating with us, or having some time out for themselves.

Starting to line the shed

We have worked hard to keep the costs down. The shed was new, and our neighbour laid the concrete cheaply for us on his day off.
The rest of the materials we used to finish off the shed were sourced through Gumtree.

We put in 2 sliding doors in the shed to bring some light into it. This meant we had spare corrugated iron left over, so we used that to line the inside walls of the shed. The insulation was from the old shed. Glenys had packed it up when the shed was being pulled down. We did run out before we finished but were able to get a couple of bags free on Gumtree.

The top of the dado wall was lined with reject ply wood. This is rough, but as it is a shed, it does not matter. The paint was a mis-tint from Bunnings.


There is a lot of work to do, but we are now able to work in the office part of the shed.

Dennis installing the desks

Office up and running

We are very grateful for the provision of the shed, even if it did nearly kill us trying to get it up and running. It is still a long way from finished but we now have some where to work that is dry and not ready to fall down around our ears. ( hopefully!)

We are also very thankful for the people who helped us with putting the shed together. Jeff and Rhys gave us a few days, Our sons also helped and Jay the electrician also were invaluable.