The great chimney battle

The proverbial 'before' shot

As I began writing this the jackhammer was taking my chimney down layer by layer. I was rather proud of my chimney, as it appeared to be not giving up without a fight! It was, as we have observed, a very well built chimney, and this is perhaps the reason it separated from the rest of the house but did not actually fall down!! 

We have—the house and I—lived through the earthquakes and aftershocks on very good terms. I, for my part, have been intensely grateful that the house remained standing! When the September 7.1 hit (the first quake which set all of this off) it was so violent I was certain may house was being destroyed, that all of the exterior block-work and stucco was being shaken off the house. When I inspected the house in daylight it still stood strong, and the only evidence of the earthquake was step cracking through the mortar, and the cracks down each side of the chimney which, at that point in time, were not too bad. She has been through a lot (I don’t know why I call it a ‘she’), and so yes, I am intensely grateful! How much more can she take? She’s like me, way too stubborn to ever give up!

Poster shot -- pity it wasn't summer....he'd have been topless!

So, today we commenced a new look, which I am assured with be the tarpaulin look. Quite sheik and mysterious, though this will only be over night. By days end tomorrow we will hopefully have the full plywood look. A fashionable trend across Christchurch these days! Plywood offers so many opportunities! Do I paint to match the house? Do I offer the blank plywood canvas to friends of my daughter’s at Design & Art College? Do I offer it as advertising space? So many possibilities…

I have begged for pink batts to be placed between the plywood and the house as, for some incredibly stupid reason, this house does not have insulation. We freeze in winter, hence my great worshiping of the heat pump – I lay flowers at its altar every freezing day!

Progressing slowly...

As I sat here writing, I wondered if the windows would stay in the house if we had a decent aftershock, or fall out*…as the chimney which stood between them is half down, and the wall above them is also gone. Guess I will find out the answer if we get an aftershock of any significant size. Frankly we barely move for anything under a 5.0—even the cats don’t move for anything under a 5.0! 

At a 5.5 I might look up from the laptop, at a 6.3 I’ll be hanging on to something. Last Monday (June 13) in the midst of the 6.3 I, for some incredibly bizarre reason, swore at the earth and told her to “cut it out and sit still!” I don’t know why I thought that might work, but I was a little pissed off, I was in the middle of making a latte (coffee)! Priorities people, priorities!!

And then the power went out so I could not froth my milk. Heartbreak!!

One of the top 5 toughest to take down! I was so proud!

Normally I am a devout tea drinker, but since my daughter’s boyfriend, Jake, brought round an espresso machine suddenly espressos/latte became a daily necessity! My daughter, Lisa, taught me how to froth the milk, and so we are immensely proud of ourselves when we get ‘a good froth!’ (yes, we are incredibly easy to please!). I limit myself to three coffees a day—I was having five or six but people tell me that’s too many!!!

Gaping wound!

I just deviated off topic, didn’t I…

Back to quakes and shakes…

Don't even think it!

When the builders left to drop off a load of ‘chimney’ and take a lunch break, I had to chase one of our cats away from the remaining chimney as the little ‘toad’ decided—having jumped up the scaffolding—that  she could actually make it into the roof cavity, while it was exposed. This was after she looked down the centre of the chimney and toyed with the idea—I could tell by the look on her face that ‘toying’ was going on—of jumping down into the chimney. That’s the last thing I need, a cat in the chimney or in the roof!!

By days end we had what seriously looked like a bandaid on the face of our house! She looked like she’s been in a fight—and I guess she had, because she fought the builders every step of the way! Round two starts 8.30 a.m. tomorrow morning! **

Down to the last layers!

In Christchurch, at this time, in my personal opinion, builders are gods!!!

The new look. Not sure it's working for me....

 

*  Note: an aftershock of 5.4 did hit at 10.30 pm and the windows did stay in the house!!! Hoorah! And…thank heavens the chimney was half down!

**  Update: The following day the rest of the chimney conceded to go quietly… Perhaps tomorrow we will have plywood…