A Christmas wrap ...

As someone trained as an economist, my understanding of the term framing was based on the seminal work of Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky which explored how the way in which information is presented can significantly influence an individuals decisions. Their research demonstrated that people often make different choices based on whether outcomes are framed as gains or losses even when the options are statistically equivalent. This work revealed the psychological principle of loss aversion, where losses are perceived as more emotionally impactful than equivalent gains. 

But behavioural economics was never really my thing and so, over the last month  I have been delighted to observe a very different type of framing in action, namely the construction of the skeleton of a building in steel and wood. The beauty of the process is that it very quickly gives you a three dimensional picture of the architects' plans and allows you walk through the spaces you previously could only imagine. The speed with which our builders and their structural steel colleague assembled the frame of our extension was exhilarating and every evening, after work for the day was completed, Cath and I could wander in a newly created space and start to imagine what living in the new areas might be like. 

The series of pictures demonstrates the evolution of the frame quite nicely.

Custom made steel posts and bearers being hoisted into position

The new floor joists in place

 

The new front gable at the front of the living room framed in steel

The exposed roof trusses in place

The builder had hoped to have the new build watertight with windows installed and roof completed by Christmas but that proved to be a bit too optimistic. Instead we got the next best thing - a beautifully wrapped construction with most of the new roof in place.

That's a wrap for Christmas 

Elsewhere on the farm we have continued our relentless battle to control the dual onslaught of grass and weeds. In the brief moment after a mammoth session of mowing or slashing the property shines, but unfortunately the glow of satisfaction is short lived. Luckily there are other areas of endeavour where the satisfaction is longer lasting.  As predicted in a previous post we have ended up with 4 lambs for the season, 3 ewes and 1 wether, so our little flock is growing nicely.

 

Lamb number 4

Just as enjoyable has been our latest big project, namely, the construction of a sheep shelter in one of our lower paddocks. To give the sheep a bit of respite from the weather and also to provide a safe place to quarantine any of the livestock needing attention, we decided to build a shelter using materials sourced from the part of the house that had been demolished in the new build. Cath found a useful YouTube video that helped us with the basic design and contained some useful tips about building in place. In all the construction took us three very big days on either side of Christmas Day and few scrapes and bruises (working with tin roof sheeting is a hazardous activity) but we are very happy with the final outcome.

The basic skeleton

The completed work minus one roofing sheet yet to be attached

Today is particularly windy so we have retreated inside to take a breath and recover as it has been a whirlwind end to the year. So, at the conclusion of my 128th post on this blog and the last one for 2024, there is nothing left to say but to wish everyone who manages to read this far a very happy holiday season and an excellent 2025!

Cheers!