However, there are a number of clean up tasks I have been wanting to get to for ages.

Today I finally ticked one off my list.

About two years ago I had Tony M come to site and perform the ash test on the street level timber frame.

The problem we had was that some of the timber was so well matured (60 to 70 years) - that the karri and jarrah could not be told apart by appearance - ie not the usual clues such as colour, linearily of grain or stringiness of grain.

The only test that would really give us a definite answer was the ash test.

You take a sliver of the wood and burn it. If it is jarrah - the ash is black, if it is karri - the ash is silver or white.

I am not very good at this test myself so I asked Tony M to come out on site and do it for me.

We did pretty well - the only karri he detected was the window sill in the rough opening for the kitchen window and 8 noggings near by.

I had hoped to change these over for the last two years - when ever I had a lucky day where I finished my main task early. Of course, such a day never arrived.

So today was a day I set aside specifically to complete this job.

Removing the bottom sill plate was easier than I expected. I had thought that there was a rebate I would need to create in the new piece of jarrah timber but this was not the case - making the job quite quick.

The noggings were relatively easy as well except for three places where the nails could not be inserted through the studs. For these I had to angle nail from above and below.

Being a jarrah to jarrah junction I had to predrill and nail by hand.

I used a large bolt as a centre punch to drive each nail right in to the surface of the nogging.

I finished this by 2.00 am, had an hour's break and came back and painted them with some external paint.

After this I continued brush cutting - completing the front and half of the back.

I was gathering up sticks out of the mown lawn when Jim and Sandy dropped in for a coffee.

After this a shower, dinner and back home.

I would very much like to start reconditioning the windows next week but I think I will dedicate one more Saturday to finalising the tasks that have been nagging me for a long time.