Recycling a demolished house and cooking kangaroo

Networking and Demolishing
It's sad to see the destruction of a hundred year old house, under the heavy boot of progress. The only consolation is that parts of it can be reused and live on. Like this house in Devonport.

I went along to see if there was anything we could use and was very interested in how the house had been constructed. Hundreds of thin boards were nailed to the frame spaced slightly apart and that formed the basis for the plaster on the inside. You can see, a hundred years later they are still in excellent condition, doing the job they were designed to do.We saved a gorgeous plaster wall vent, decorated with small birds. Very fragile.

Old farts and their stories
Of course, every time I came out the door with something I was caught by passersby who were keen to tell me their stories of old houses 'just like this one' and their childhood memories. Consequently, it took a bit longer than we planned!

A fabulous find was the brick fireplace hidden behind cupboards. Couldn't take the fireplace unfortunately. The front footpath was flanked by two very old grafted cherry trees. I enquired what was to become of them, but, as many had also enquired before me, I was told, very nicely, that the owner had plans for them in his own garden. Moving very old cherry trees is dicey at the best of times and prone to failure. He has wisely decided to wait until winter to do it, when the tree will be inactive.

I was surprised at first to see that someone (a homeless person) had camped in the house the night before. And left a mess behind. Perhaps they were planning to come back? Either way it's a building site and dangerous, so the owner had left a 'note' for them. Pretty sobering to think this bloke had to resort to sleeping in a half demolished house. Unfortunately he also left a message in the disconnected toilet, making it very unpleasant for me when I was removing the shower recess. (shudder).

There was also some beautiful wooden detailing on the outside of the house, which we hope to preserve and use.

Kanga stew!
Today I have decided to give it a go and cook the kangaroo meat I bought at the supermarket the other day. I looked up recipes online and varied one slightly to fit what was in the cupboard. I'm marinating it for a few hours in olive oil, wine vinegar and brown sugar. Then it will be coated with spices and flour, then browned quickly before being cooked in the oven for a couple of hours.

I'll keep you posted on how it turns out! Kidlet is excited to try it. Hubby pulled a face.