Saturday, 24 December

It is Christmas Eve and all is calm, all is quiet.  The builders finished yesterday and will have a deserved break.  I caught up with them at the Co-wyn Building Group's enjoyable Christmas party yesterday.

In the photo below looking up the corridor you can see a room in the foreground on the left, the common room on the left in the middle distance and two rooms on the right.

Structural steel gives an outline of the roof

The roof supporting triangles are beginning to walk up the corridor.

Looking through the courtyard to the corridor

The oratory is beginning to take shape as the walls rise.  In the background you can see the Hoop Pine we saved.  The brickies have been wonderful they way they have entered into the building process.  Alex Coutts, the architect, remarked: "It's a thinking man's job."  High praise for Terry and Paul and the brickies.  Terry laughed heartily when I retold this.  However he is obviously enjoying the job and proud of what he and his team are achieving.  He told me yesterday that he dreams about the job.  Its when he gets his best ideas!

Here below you can see the oratory, the community prayer space,  from the exterior of the building.

Hoop Pine outside the Oratory

Formwork for an arch and oratory windows.

The arch in the foreground of the photo above will be over the recess for the tabernacle.  The others are for the windows in the oratory. 

Looking out the front office window

The front windows have good views down to the dams.  It is always soothing to see water in the distance.  When the landscaping comes in then the whole view will be wonderful.

The windows of the front office with the veranda

Below is a view from our cemetery looking up the the veranda and library of the priory.

Priory looking over the cemetery

The builders are having a break over Christmas and New Year.  I will be away myself giving a retreat to the clergy in Toowoomba from January 1 to 6 and will then visit the Carmelite nuns in Ormiston and catch up with the Brisbane Secular Carmelites.  I shall be back in Varroville on 9 January.

The peace and love of Christ be yours this Christmas.  Every blessing for the New Year.

Sunday, 18 December

It has been a great week.  It has been cool with little or no rain.  And so it has been a week for building.  Some days there have been crowds of men swarming over the site.

The brickies have been working very diligently.  What is wonderful to see is the pride they take in their work.  They want to make sure the Timbercrete walls look the best.  I am delighted with the colour of the dry mortar and the overall honey colour effect. 

Looking into the entrance foyer

As well as the brickies the steel fabricators have been back and we can now see the corridor taking shape and the roof line of the bedrooms. 

Looking up the corridor.

In the photo below you can see the corridor from the foyer.  The library is on the left the meeting room is straight ahead and an office is to the right.

Looking towards the meeting room

When we were seeking city council approval for our building we had to submits many engineers reports.  One of the concerns was for the thermal insulation of the building.  We had to have a cavity wall with a layer of insulation between the blocks.  The R rating of our walls is R3.9.  This is impressive.

Insulation in the cavity between the blocks

This morning I was showing a retreatant over the site when I was surprised to see Gordon working away on a Sunday.  While I had said nothing Gordon was quick to explain.  It turns out he wasn't working at all.  He was doing penance.  He is a penitent.  A Lutheran penitent!

It is just four working days before Christmas.  Then there will be a break for a fortnight before work recommences.

Saturday, 10 December

It has been another cold and rainy week.  Not great for building.  Especially as our miry clay has made the site into a virtual island.  Still it was a good week.  The brickies came on site and now the walls have begun to rise.

The end of our old main electricity switchboard

As well as the new building appearing some relics of the old have been demolished. The old brick shed that housed our electricity switch board has been replaced by a completely new system and during the week the old shed was demolished.  You can see the remains in the photo above and in the photo below the new main switchboard.

Our new main electricity switchboard

 

We now have walls!

The brickies had a seminar on how to lay Timbercrete on Monday.  They picked up some important tips.  They laid two courses around most of the main entry block of the new priory.  Then these were capped with an anti-pest layer.  Finally and with care and precision they began to build up the walls of the building.  Here you can see something of the final look of the walls of the priory in the photo above.  I am very happy with how it looks.  What do you think?

On Friday I attended a hearing at Mittagong of the NSW Upper House Inquiry into Coal Seam Gas.  With Jacqui Kirkby I gave evidence on behalf of the Scenic Hills Association.  Srs Jennifer and Jocelyn from the Carmelite nuns made a separate presentation that was well received.  In fact Joc was interviewed by a reporter from ABC Radio.  This was broadcast on the AM programme this morning.  The report is entitled "David vs Goliath as nuns take on CSG industry".  Here is the link  http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2011/s3388166.htm


Rebecca Barrett from ABC TV News followed up this afternoon and interviewed Joc and Paul Maunder, our prior.  It was telecast during the main evening news.  We were very impressed by both Joc and Paul and the sensitive way in which the ABC portrayed how CSG extraction will affect the retreat centre, our life and that of the sisters.

Sunday, 4 December

When I was young there was nothing more fun than mud and playing in it.  Of course I have grown out of this.  When it rains our clay soul turns into the stickiest mud imaginable.  With each step one's boots become heavier and more clogged.  It is demoralising.  We have had our share of rain and mud recently which has slowed our build.  "Patience obtains all things" as St Teresa's bookmark tells us.

Thankfully the roofers have been working away and now we have a roof to keep out the rain and the hot summer sun when it shines.  Now you can see the shape of the building.

Looking to the entry and the clerestory

When you walk into the foyer the height of the clerestory gives a wonderful impression.  However the exterior of the building is not overwhelming.  It is really a humble building.  The roof of the chapel is much higher than the roof over the entry foyer and the cross on the tower stills commands the site. 

From the left, the roof of the oratory, the library and foyer

There are different roofs for the oratory, the library, the foyer and the meeting room.

Brother Andrew sees the new priory

We have had two Marist Brothers with us on retreat.  Brother Andrew from the Solomon Islands and Brother Marcel from Vanuatu.  I showed Andrew around the site on Friday.  My friend Gordon said hello.  He has had a more interesting life than I imagined.  He told us he was in Bougainville during the civil war as a lieutenant to the independence leader, the late Francis Ono.  Andrew said with some respect: 'He is a rebel'.  Indeed.  I think I need to treat Gordon with more respect.

The brickies will arrive this week and will start to lay the Timbercrete blocks so that we will soon have the walls for our priory.