An afternoon spent in a cupboard!!!

Speedwell Island (the house that Shaun and Tanya will live in).

Another breezy day. I spent the majority of the day painting.  This house was originally a "bunk" house.  "Bunk" houses were accommodation for the single men on the farms in the days when wool prices were high and farms employed several farm hands.  With the collapse of wool prices farms cut back on their employees drastically and houses like this became empty.  It is incredible to believe that Speedwell a farm that has only ever run in the region of 3,000 sheep in its hay day employed 8 single men and 3 or 4 families. It had it's own hall that was used for social functions, dances and as a cinema.  Getting back to this house however the fact that it was the home for single men means it is painted in dark colours.  The inside of the built in cupboard that I am painting out is in parts dark, dark green and dark, dark pink!!!  The room has been dark, dark, green, dark blue and once pale yellow.  Speedwell although now doing well financially and starting tomorrow employing its first employee will never be able to employee on the scale that it did in the 50's, 60's and 70's. It now only has  two houses as two were dismantled and taken away to one of the larger farms and unfortunately the hall burnt down many years ago.