More Monday Meanderings

....or, the never-ending toilet (ahahaaahahaaahaaa)

Seriously. It is STILL not done!! Due to delays with the snow in the first week of January, work now needs to be done during quiet times, or when we're shut. The result is rather slow progress.

But we'll get there!

Snow - yay! We think!

Well, we're getting there although all building work seems to take about 10 times longer than you ever think it's going to....

Of course our builder, Chris, travels from Portsmouth (by reused veggie oil-powered car) every day, so we're crossing fingers he doesn't get snowed in!!!! If so, we'll open Saturday anyway but the new loo may be a bit rustic still :)

The accessible fittings (loo & handrails) are arriving 'Thursday or Friday' so let's hope they don't get snowed in too!!! Ah, it could be portaloo time yet!

Day 8 - Wednesday 1st April

The kitchen wall is up..... and Tom the Builder doesn't have to go
back to jury service, so he can work for the next three days!
Whoooooooooop!

Our 'regular' builder, Chris, has headed to London today for the
Climate protests - I've been getting 'twitters' all day and it sounds
like it's going really well - sending a clear message to the G20 that
they need to take action on the Climate, not focus on ways to expand
the economy and carry on 'business as usual' whilst the world falls
into economic and climate crisis. We would love to be there, setting
up a Climate Camp in the middle of London, but figure our contribution
to the local community is part of the solution - so we're working hard
to open up again as soon as we can!

LOTS more yellow paint is going on the walls downstairs, and the
soundproofing is also coming along well. We've a new volunteer, Dave,
a teacher who is giving up some of his previous holiday to help us -
he responded to a shout out I send on the 'freeconomy' website -
www.justfortheloveofit.org - an online community connecting people who
want to build a new economy based on community, not profits :)

Tony has the day off from his normal job and is here, working away,
along with Laura and Shane, Simon and Kathryn.

The showing of 'The Age of Stupid' last night was both terrifying and
inspirational - this film shows the stark reality we are facing if we
don't sort things out in the next 92 months - see here
http://www.onehundredmonths.org/ for info on why we only have that
long (less than 8 years) to save ourselves from the 'tipping point' -
the point where we may no longer be able to do anything but watch our
planet heat up and our species (and most others) become extinct. The
film was the first I've seen in a mainstream cinema which actually
said that dramatic social change is needed to do this - global justice
and an end to the 'growth economy' which has got us into this mess.

I have faith we can do it! Humans are amazing, resourceful and
passionate creatures when we put our minds to it. In the film, Pete
Postelthwaite's character says that maybe we didn't think we were
'worth saving'. I think we are and I think we have it in us to turn
this crisis into a beautiful, just and compassionate society :)

Metamorphosis - Day 7

What a fun day!

We had LOADS of volunteers, plus Tom the Builder and the electricians and it feels like lots got done today.

The kitchen is partially built, thanks to Tom being able to come in and he should finish it tomorrow and start on the flooring :)

We all had to squash into the office for a lunch break, as there were so many of us - Peter, Jonathan, Heather, Naomi, Francois, Eva, Anthony and Jenny ..... and Tony and Daniel popped in later for a while to help when we were all feeling tired! Geoff Van Chuff and his
friend with a van cleared the last things out of 81a so we're no officially 'all here' (well, maybe not).

A few of us are off to see 'The Age of Stupid' now. Night-night x

Metamorphosis DAY 4 Saturday 28 March 2009

I've decided there is a more doom job than taking off woodchip
wallpaper. This more doom job is none other than scraping grout and
glue off floorboards. That said, I think zigz and I needed a relaxing
couple of hours scraping and singing about how doom it was, also
banging in the occasional nail which had popped up too far and will do
bad things to the sander.

Many people came and collected wood today, which means the skip is emptier (yay) and we'll be re-using some of the panelling and plasterboard ourselves.

We also found out that the biggest wall, which we had hoped to paint today, had not been primed properly by whoever decorated it before, so the emulsion just peeled off in big strips! We set about peeling away, it's actually quote therapeutic, especially when you get a particularly big bit :)

Bik spent about 2 hours in B&Q getting more panel heaters (these seem to be the best of a bad bunch where electric heaters are concerned, they're very thin and chuck out a constant low heat - about 450W), insulation made from recycled plastic bottles (I was rather excited to find this in B&Q), more lighting stuff and stuff to make the floor level. The B&Q spend is a bit big, all these small items really add up even though we are trying not too buy anything without really thinking about it first.

Stella spent most of the day scraping, either carpet foam off the floor or paint off the walls! Shane turned up very well equiped (I had toolbox envy) and pitched in with scraping, panel removal and handy advice about the floor. Nina's task continues although she assures me that she and the elves have made a sizable dent in the doom at 81a..... I haven't actually been back there since we took out the piano and the place already seems like somewhere I used to hang out a long, long time ago!

I'm going to settle down with a nice glass of wine, having decided I was too knackered to go to either of the parties I was invited to tonight (sorry Holly & Phil, sorry Deb). I have an itchy right
palm.... I think this means I am going to get some money (which would be handy) but it could also be hammer-itch from chipping grout off of floorboards!!

--

Metamorphosis DAY 3 Friday 27 March 2009

Today didn't feel so productive, probably because there was less to demolish! In fact we got loads done.

The day started bright and early with a skip delivery, followed straight away by the bamboo flooring arriving, all 31 VERY heavy boxes of it! Much lugging - this project is going to make me fitter if nothing else :)

Chris was doing lots of pulling out of dead wiring, which seems to be everywhere, and Nina and Laura took the panelling on the first floorlounge area up with a spade (I'm not kidding). Zigz has been like a little vegan cyborg since all this kicked off, packing, demolishing, carrying..... she's awesome. She did look a bit pooped today!

Spent an unhealthy amount of time at B&Q getting stuff we need, including the same colour paint as the old place... much deja vu - and of course Nina's seemingly endless task of 'bringing the doom' continued all day pretty much.

We've put a lot of the wood we've stripped out on 'freecycle' so that it doesn't go to landfill. Some of it is perfectly re-usable as a building material, and that which isn't will make lovely firewood,
innit.

We've been donated a gas cooker by the Minstead Study Centre in the New Forest, and they mentioned they had some other stuff too, so Bik and I headed off to meet Chris (fellow Shimmering Bee band member and an awesome dude) to have a look. Much rejoicing at the cooker, which is amazing.... the bad news is that it is mains gas and getting bottled gas may be complicated. We figure it's worth taking the cooker and storing it, even if we can't use it right away, as we'll definately get mains gas as soon as we can. Not only is gas cheaper, it's far more efficient than electricity - lots of electricity gets lost on it's way to the end users, which makes it pretty wasteful. There was also a professional dishwasher (JOY) and a prep table on wheels (more JOY) - all totally free (deep & abiding JOY!).

We did take a sneaky half hour to look around the study centre, which has a fantastic garden (with a banana tree and kiwi fruit! How bizarre is that in the New Forest!), a magically beautiful roundhouse, wooded eco-building for the kids to sleep in and a lovely bright classroom area in what was an old Victorian school. I reckon all schools should be like this place.

Went to sleep before 9pm so am writing this on Saturday. Whew.

Metamorphosis DAY 2 - Thursday 26 March 2009

Today Graeme, a regular poet at our Moving Voices night, who also
happens to be a plumber, came and got the water switched on (it had
been turned off at the mains when the bailiffs took all the previous
tenants kitchen stuff out - eeek). Chris the builder turned up in his
veggie-powered car and got stuck in with the demolition..... he looked
very happy!

Zigz, Kelly and Tony took hammers to the panelling in what was the
bar, which is now going to be the lounge area by the kitchen. Lovely
Bethyn came along too, she'd been away for a couple of weeks so it was
awesome to see her and she got right down to scraping up carpet foam
to get the floor ready for the bamboo flooring! Nina in the meantime
carried on like a whirling dervish with her car-elves getting stuff
from the old place and clearing a few things and she and Donna
heroically moved the smelly compost bin from Bedford Place to Holly's
garden.

We've taken down some panelling in the old kitchen - these were there
instead of walls and were pretty doom, so out they've come. The
original plan was to replace them with a stud wall, but once they came
down the window at the back let in so much light, we've decided to
make the kitchen 'part open'. Zigz was not too pleased at first with
the idea of being on show, so we're having blinds we can drop down as
a 'do not disturb' measure.

We reckoned that we're actually pretty damn proud of our food and
would like it on display! Plus the extra light saves energy, as does
the fact that the lounge area can 'borrow' heat from the kitchen -
whoop!

The other joyous thing was getting to save nearly £700 on bamboo
flooring, when we uncovered really nice floorboards in the lounge
area, which we're going to sand. An even more sustainable solution
that the bamboo, as we don't have to buy anything - we just use what's
already there! We're leaving the carpet towards the front though, for
sound and heat insulation.

The new building is as random and wonky as the first, more so in fact
as Graeme and I found a 'secret' pair of little rooms in the basement
which you can't get into!! Very strange.

Felt like a really productive day and the space feels much bigger
already - if a little messy!

--
www.myspace.com/janifranck
www.thehubbub.org.uk

"You can't live a perfect day without doing something for someone who
will never be able to repay you." -- John Wooden

Metamorphosis DAY 1 - Wednesday 25 March 2009

Ooooo it's about time I do an update on the move, although there are
some splendid youtube films of us clearing out 81a Bedford Place!

Finally, we're in!

The day started with the piano removal from 81a. Our loyal musical
friend was the last thing to leave the upstairs at our old place, and
the first thing in at our new place! Technically the piano was
squatting as it was moved at 8am and we signed the lease at 9am, but
there you go!

Nina and I headed off to the solicitors for a final read of the lease,
before signing it and nipping over the road to swear a statutory
oath... all very formal, though it felt a bit like getting married, so
I think Nina is MY WIFE NOW! :)

We couldn't really do much building work, but did clean the windows
(they were quite gribby) and then make a start on clearing out some of
the panelling... the building used to be a clothes shop and a lot of
the wooden panels were still there. Although quite nice, they're very
dark and we want a light space for showing art..... so they had to go!

Nina in the meantime had arranged many car-driving elves to start
moving stuff from the old place, where it's stored in the basement (by
some random arrangement with the previous landlady, we have the
basement until the 31st!)

Lots of phonecalls and emails to get the official wheels rolling too!
This included speaking with the Council, who:

1) Will be charging us £1200 per year to access our building from the
rear (which, as a condition of the planning permission, we have no
choice over as we're not allowed to use the front!). This is in
addition to rates, which don't include rubbish collection (that's an
extra £5.75 per week for landfill and £4.75 for recycling).

2) Have told us that recycling bottles at a bottle bank is illegal for
a business and that there may even be issues with taking our recycling
elsewhere ourselves. Not exactly helping businesses recycle, and I
shall be following this one up with my MP! To stay on the right side
of the law, we have to throw our bottles in landfill, apparently.

We often get asked whether we are council funded - actually it seems
to be the other way around, as every time we do anything we have to
pay something to the Council!

Anyway, enough ranting!

We ended the day with dressing the new window with many, many
butterflies and flowers and bling :)