Parallel projects, post-trip

We return from Europe in late August, and start on parallel projects.
We have our first booking from friends who want to stay in late September, so we need to have the house liveable by then. That's Project One.
At the same time, we want to get the renovation project underway: Project Two.
Lists are made.

Thank you IKEA

For Project One, it's an inventory of what's in the house, and what should be but isn't. Nick has left a few things that are duplicated in his new life, and there is also a collection of stuff that dates back to our time when it was our office. So there is a comfortable couch, two easy chairs that convert to beds, two office chairs, a TV table (but no TV) a kettle or two, cutlery, crockery, some cooking gear and a bar fridge. There is also a small dining table, on semi-permanent loan from one of our colleagues from the Computer Forensic Team days.
Major gaps in the inventory are filled by a couple of expeditions to IKEA, a couple to Bunnings, a couple to the Good Guys, and a lucky find on GumTree of a 37" TV (no longer available new, but just the right size for the space occupied by the TV table). After that there is much work on flat-pack assembly as we construct a bed and two bedside tables, and a set of portable shelves that will fit in the wardrobe in the bedroom.
By the time our friends arrive the house boasts a queen bed with electric blanket and bedlamps, nice linen and towels, a coffee machine, microwave, toaster, TV, CD/DVD player/recorder, hair dryer, iron and ironing board in addition to the furniture already in place. Our friends confirm that the place is now comfortable and enjoy their stay.
We feel that we've moved it from half a star to about 1.5 stars. To get it further up the scale we need to make progress on Project Two.

When not crawling round on the floor saying "Pass the allen key" to one another, we are making phone calls and sending emails to get Project Two going. Before we went away, our builders came and confirmed what we feared, that we would have to begin by straightening the side wall. It's been leaning toward the Finlay Street back garden for several decades (half a century?). We had it looked at from our side some time back, and when assured that it wasn't going to fall down, or even lean further, decided to leave it alone. However from the inside, one is aware of a significant gap between the ceiling and the top of the wall, large enough to admit rain and even a modest quantity of leaves from time to time. We get the experts back in, and make an arrangement to have a wall-straightening exercise done in October.
After much discussion between us, we reach agreement on the best place for a relocated bathroom. Deciding to move it is a no-brainer as it presently occupies prime real estate in the corner of the living area, and is as far from the bedrooms as you can get without going outside. We settle on sacrificing about half the second bedroom, leaving just enough room for a single bed or bunks, and a small desk. The question is then whether there will be any significant issues associated with moving the plumbing. The loo is currently situated on the back wall. From there the sewerage pipe goes across the back of the house to link up with an old outside dunny built on the back, which still has the original Federation pan and cistern in place, and, we think, still connected. The roof and door of this outhouse have collapsed, and it's full of earth and leaves, so we clean all this out and dump the rubbish in a convenient skip, with the permission of the friendly builders working over the road. The plumber who lives a few doors down kindly comes for a look at the present and planned future arrangements, and tells us he can see no barriers to a bathroom relocation - we can either take a pipe under the floor to the existing trap, thereby lengthening the sewer line by about 6 metres, or we can take a new line straight out under the side wall and join it to the sewer line that it shares with our house (so convenient to own both, as this will involve digging a largeish hole in our lawn).
Last but not least, we re-establish contact with the builder and architect. The builder is coming to cut through the brick wall where the side wall of the house becomes a boundary fence, a pre-requisite for the wall-straightening. The architect is coming late next week or early the following week to talk plans.
We're underway.