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Monday 26 December 2011

32. Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone.
We are thrilled to celebrate Christmas is our new home this year. 
Although it seems like it has taken such a long time, the reality is that we are in and almost settled.
(Just don't look in the storeroom or garage)


The driveway has been poured and now apart from the gardens, we are at least "sand free".
Our furniture has arrived and the house is starting to feel more like a home.
The chair collection is complete.


The reticulation is almost done (just a problem getting the required length to go around the back..hopefully they will finish this week)


Roses and hydreangeas out the front.


Our token lawn area, just a little section for the dog really. (Lily's Lawn or the Piddle Patch)


Our new gate..made by master craftsman..Ryan!   Thanks Ryan, we know how busy you are, we are very happy to be able to have our pets home at last.

 

Snowbushes and magnolia.

 



Our beautiful gingerbread house made by our clever niece Taylor and her friend Tori. (Orders taken for next Christmas :)

Well that really complete the journey of our house construction over the last twelve months. 
We would like to say a big thank you to our family and friends for all your help and support throughout this undertaking. 

Merry Christmas.


Sunday 11 December 2011

31. We Are In!

Yay..we are now sleeping in our new home..well some of us are anyway!  
We are still waiting for the container with most of our furniture to be delivered and so the kids and pets are still at Dad's. 
We were so lucky to be temporarily accomodated in luxury with Chelle and Rob but it is nice to unpack and be in our own home at last. 
We moved out of our last home in September 2009 and been in rentals since, so it has been a while.

French Champagne and delicious pizza with the Mason's for our first night.


So to update:  The floors were finished last week and the fireplace installed Monday.





I am very excited to finally have this fireplace installed.  It is a sentimental piece as it is from my grandmother's original farmhouse in Maddington.  It has travelled to Denmark with Nanna and Reg, then back to Maddington before coming to us to be finally installed in our new home. 
It is an expensive indulgence but we love it, bring on winter!


As soon as the firplace and skirting boards were finished and painted we could have our blinds, curtains and shutters installed. (Thursday was a very busy day), 
The Christmas tree is up and it is beginning to feel like home.


Our new sofa, we worked out that our previous sofa (that has gone to live with Hannah) was over 16 years old...about time we updated!


It is so nice to unpack at last.



Just when everyone is thinking we are so organised...a few snapshots to bring us all back to reality.


We are sleeping on Jake's matteress on the floor until our container arrives Friday. 
Still unpacking our clothes (this is tidier now :)


Our main TV is still in the storage container.


The front area still looks like a bomb site.  This is Craig loading up the rubble and rubbish to take out to the skip bin on the verge over the weekend.


This week the driveway will go down, then fences (to keep pets in) and then finally on Friday (the first day of  our holidays) we will have the furniture that we have had to store, delivered. 
Hope to be all sorted by  Monday (too optimistic?)
Reticulation, gardens etc will just have to wait until we have some time...I need to get organised and start baking for Christmas!


Thursday 1 December 2011

30. It Is All Coming Together

We have had a very hectic fortnight that has seen us move out of our rental property.  
Unfortunately the owners of the rental would not extend our lease for another 3 weeks and so we have had to put our furniture into storage and "Couch Surf" until the wood flooring is finished. 
This is not quite as tricky as it seems as the kids and pets are being accommodated (and spoiled) with Dad and Craig and I have taken up residence with Chelle and Rob in "the Mansion". 
 If you have to be temporarily homeless, this is a pretty good way to do it!

Since my last update we have been working on the outside while the team from Floors Of Distinction have been sanding and sealing inside.

Levelling in preparation for "The Big Pour".





Mark and his team started work early yesterday to set out the form work, another early start today and the limestone around the back and verandah has been poured.  



  
We popped over this afternoon and the guys were just finishing off the texture and putting in the cuts and expansion joints.   


Here the verandah has been freshly poured, awaiting the finishing touches.
Tomorrow the guys will clean the limestone and seal it, we will be allowed to walk on it by the weekend..so looking forward to no sand and getting started on the gar

By Monday the floors should all be done and so the skirting boards, carpet, aircon and window treatments will follow.  Another hectic week scheduled so we can finally get the driveway done and then have our sea container delivered and actually move in.
:)

Wednesday 9 November 2011

29. The Fit Out

We have keys!
Tuesday morning we went thru our list with John and took possession of the keys, very exciting!
Straight away the flooring guys got started painting on the moisture barrier so by Tuesday afternoon that was finished and we had shiny concrete floors.



By Tuesday night the wood had been delivered,  and the garage smelled beautiful!



Wednesday the guys started laying and so by the time we popped over to peek in the afternoon the halway and familyroom were almost done.



Saturday afternoon and the floors are down. 
We are very happy with the look and now we wait for the resin fill this week before the sanding and sealing starts.  
(For those interested the wood is NSW Blackbutt- feature grade)



This one is for you S and M, featuring our gorgeous housewarming gift of a beautiful cake plate.



Another busy week ahead: Electrical for garden lights, replacing drain lids in driveway (where the bobcat dented them), tiling the outdoor area, bullnose headers for the pool and prelaying retic.




Sunday 6 November 2011

28. The End Is In Sight!

After a few hiccups we think things should be on track for handover this week. 
Let's hope so anyway, as the flooring is starting on Tuesday and we are really under pressure now to move out of our rental and also to be settled before Christmas. 
So much to do but at least I have started the shopping!
It is all about priorities :)
I was talking to my SIL today about some of the things we have been doing to get ready for the new place and people have asked about my obsession with wooden chairs.  So I thought I would share a few projects that we have been working on. 
We have a beautiful old table for the kitchen that has been in our family for well over a hundred years but unfortunately we don't have matching chairs. 
This is where my obsession has come from.  Over the last two years we have steadily collected from the verge pick ups, Gumtree, Ebay, OP Shops or been given- (thanks Chantelle) a selection of wooden chairs.   All different.
The idea, (which has yet to come to fruition so the jury is still out whether it is a good idea or not) has been to collect the chairs and then paint them all the same colour (they are all different styles and types of wood) so that they look like a set, albiet a mismatched set. 
Each chair has been sanded down before painting, some have been absolutely beautiful wood and it has seemed a shame but the colours are just too different.  After painting they have been rubbed back (for a shabby finish) and varnished. 
Some have even been upholstered...some are still waiting to be upholstered.

This is a sample of one of the chairs after sanding...aaah.  I always forget to take before photos as I am too eager to get started once we make a find.


Some of the selection of chairs piled up in our lounge. 
The colours look a bit weird because of the flash perhaps.

Anyway, this has kept us busy and may prove to be a really individual feature or a big waste of time.
 If they look silly or crazy..I guess they can go back to the verge or Good Sammies.

Some more "projects"


In our last home we had a lot of pictures in wooden frames, many painted by the kids.  Being a big softy I can't bare to part with them all so I have given a few frames a work out with the spray can. 
We shall see how this looks...still a little undecided.

Today we have been madly sanding away a few pieces.


This ugly old bench seat is currently undergoing a transformation to change it from rickety blue with spiders,  to ... well we shall have to wait and see. 

Another verge find that is going to be repurposed and a new home. 


This little table was covered in thick yellow varnish when we bought it for a song at a secondhand store.  
 I conned ,  bribed,  begged,  asked Craig to sand it down for me..here it is half done
 (I always forget to take before pictures). 
He has done a fantastic job and it is looking gorgeous. 
I am hoping that this table can take up residence in our entryway.
Way back in probably January, I came across two chairs during a verge collection in Bullcreek, perfect for the verandah I thought!   Both were painted in several coats of paint with an olive green on the outer layer.  I was hoping to restore them to natural wood but after stripping them back it seems that one had been exposed to the elements more than the other so they were different colours.  Luckily I love white and so they both got that "shabby chic" treatment.

There have been a few other little bits and pieces but as I am so impatient I forget to take photos.

Two cupboards from Uncle Bill's have been given new life.  One looks like a bathroom cabinet and the other a buffet, both were out in a shed sans spider and rat poo. 
 They needed lots of work and took weeks before being finished with lavender wax to get them smelling sweet again.
Another verge find but I am not sure what to do with it... I love wooden boxes but not sure about a metal ammo box. 
I think this is destined for the garage sale.


One last pic of our little Lily who watches patiently and brings her ball for a play while we paint and sand.