G'day all,
First let me say a massive thank you for all the kindness shown to me by my worldwide steam friends over this eventful 2020.
We are starting to have our house back to normal. There was just under $250,000 worth of insurance repairs done and by next week the tradesman will be completely finished
and Jenny will be able to have her home back and put out all her nick knacks that make a home a home. The insurance company has been excellent, they even allowed for 2 of their restoration people
for 4 days to clean every engine and wipe down all the furniture and re-paint the ceiling in my steam room in the scope of works. I had to turn this down, as you can imagine I didn't want people touching
all my engines etc so they gave me a cash settlement on what it would have cost them to have it done so I can do it myself.
The majority of the houses that burnt down have now been demolished, no rebuilding has really started as yet. The bush still looks like an atom bomb has gone off, I think its going to be a decade or more for it to really start coming back. Everywhere we look there are stark reminders of what our area went through. Its been a pretty shitty year to be honest, bushfire of a magnitude that was just unbelievable, then 4 weeks later a flood and then this dreaded COVID which seems to have no end date.
I've started to clean the ash off my engines the last week and just working through one section at a time. Using vinegar solution on wooden surfaces of things like the legs of tables is taking care of the mould. My workshop is all back together and its nice to be out there that's for sure!
Once again, thanks for the support one all, I can't tell you how much it was truly appreciated.