Movement

The night before we moved I made sure the camera was left out so that we could catch the big move 'on film' so to speak. As it turned out, the first chance I had to pick up the camera was at the end of the day but at least I managed to capture the momentous occasion of installing the dishwasher. Nic had even "packed" the dirty dishes instead of washing them Friday night so that he would be able to wash them in the new dishwasher! So here it is...

Like a kid on Christmas morning!

My dad appreciates the importance of the moment and helps get the divine kitchen appliance into place.

At the end of the day we were all weary and had earned a rest...

Entertaining for the first time in our new lounge room.

A toast to the new house.

I think I'm pretty happy about it or something!

 Others had to make do with whatever bed they could manage. Not one to settle for second best, Gem decided to make herself comfortable on an old piece of velvet that had been used as packing/tarp...

Sunday morning the clouds were threatening & we had a bit of rain but we didn't mind. We managed to move everything in on the Saturday which was sunny and beautiful...

There's a pot of gold somewhere down near the dam.

Black clouds but sun on our trees.

Some great pics by Bronte.

 Alister got his priorities straight by making sure the dogs had cosy beds...

One of the packing boxes for shelter...

And some foam for padding.

Gem chose to sleep on the doormat instead... there's just no pleasing some dogs!

Lid was sprung cleaning windows (even though she'd said it's the one job she wouldn't do)...

...but we have the photographic evidence!

We're very happy to finally be able to call our place in Lady's Pass, "home".

Cheers!

xXx

We're IN!

Last night we spent our first night in OUR NEW STRAWBALE HOUSE and it was awesome!

We'll continue to post general house & garden stuff that's going on around here but for now we'd just like to extend an enormous THANK YOU to Rhonda, Brian, Lid, Alister, Bronte, Narelle, Diago, Bohdi, Amaia and Melinda. You guys are amazing and we really appreciate your help. Thanks also to all the other people who offered help, vans and general support not only on the moving day but also throughout this hugely drawn out building project.

Ta.
:)

Deb
(from the lounge room of our house)

The good oil, as promised...

I mentioned in the last post that I would add pictures, as soon as possible, of the floors when they were oiled. We had Robert from Anro Floorcare come all the way from Bayswater to do the job for us.

I'll try for a series of pics if I can then there'll be some sundry others at the end.

The floor in construction...

...the floor before sanding...

...the floor after sanding and...

...TADA! The finished pretty, pretty floor!

Same deal really but looking back the other way - BEFORE and

AFTER!

The stairs have been oiled as well...

BEFORE

AFTER

Here's a nifty two-in-one before and after shot of the slate in the process of being oiled.

The oiled floorboards, steps and slate

The kitchen bench has been re-sanded and re-oiled by Robert too.

The spare room.

Our room...

...with green plaster walls...

...and yellow baled walls.

The stairs (again).

The study...

...the other wall of the study.

And kitchen bits.

End of raving about floors.

    :)

A few more bits & pieces

OK, we're really getting to the pointy end of this house building project now (well, we'd better be since we move in this weekend!) so here are a few more pics of the most recent bits and pieces that are going on.

The lounge/dining/kitchen was cleared of builder's stuff in preparation for the floor sanding.

The floor has been sanded.

Another view of the sanded floor, the colours are coming up really beautifully & I can't wait to see what it looks like when it's oiled (I'll post more pics when the oiling is done.)

Here's Mick, the floor-sander dude.

The basin has been refitted (they originally fitted it hard up against the wall when it's designed to be free-standing - just another example of them buggering things up because they failed to ask what we wanted and made an assumption instead. Anyway, it was able to be moved fairly painlessly so now it's in the right place!)

The toilet is in.

The stairs are now finished - there may already be a pic of these but the top riser has only just been finished so I thought I'd include a pic of them as well. I'll add another when they've been sealed too as I'm sure they'll look pretty special.

These are the wire thingies on the study balcony (the ones they were fitting as I was leaving two posts ago.)

The gas cooktops are in & connected - they look crooked in this picture because they ARE but they're not as crooked as they look!

Stay tuned for a post about "the merits of being an owner builder versus paying somebody who's meant to know what they're doing" - this is bound to be a fairly bitchy and long post so I'll warn you if you're not interested in the negative bits. I feel we've been very patient (possibly too patient!) throughout this whole process but I can feel the need to vent coming on now that we're at the end. That aside, it's all VERY EXCITING and I can't wait for the first night in our house, the first lighting of the wood stove, the first coffee made on my crooked cooktop, the first morning reading in my window seat, the first story I write on the study balcony in the sun, the first load of dishes through the dishwasher.... well, you get the idea!

:)

The last 'few' tomatoes...

OK, house news is a little thin on the ground owing to the fact that I only posted something the other day so I thought I might regale you with a vegie garden story.

Last night we had quite a frost, so today when I was out at the house I decided it was a good time to pick the last "few" tomatoes as the frost will have done in the plants. I even brought along a little basket to put them in and grabbed some scissors that I keep in the glove box to cut them. Once I had filled the basket AND the tea towel I'd originally lined it with, I decided I might just duck back to the rental house, grab a bigger basket and my secateurs (the scissors were giving me a blister).

I ended up with 287 tomatoes of varying sized and shades weighing nearly 13kg (that's more than 28lb for mates in the USA or old folk!) The best part of the tomato story is that I didn't even plant them, all of the plants self-seeded from last year's tomatoes - manna from Mother Earth!

So, now I need you to forward any good Green Tomato recipes that you know to debwain(at)gmail.com, failing that I might have to fry them and open my own Whistle Stop Cafe.
Deb :)

PS The latest house news is that Nic is busy spraying paint around with a sprayer we've hired for the day and when I left with my booty of tomatoes, the builders were putting up the wire 'railings' (for want of a better word) on the upstairs balcony (well, two of them were and the other one was leaning on the top rail and watching...)

Closer and closer...

The last bits and pieces are coming together at the house. Here are some pics of the latest developments:

The splash-back has been tiled and the rangehood has been fitted.

The tiles continue around the curved bench.

The wood-fired stove is in place and is just waiting for the flue to be plumbed up...

... and the stove again.

Here's a closer look at the tiles.

The kitchen sink is in and so is the tap.

The shelving is nearly finished in the pantry (just the edging needs to be put on)

The laundry sink is now in.

A little tricky to see but the shower screen is in and the slate is on the floor & walls too.

The electrical work is done & is all connected.

The steps from the kitchen/dining down to the bedroom & bathroom are in.

The minirib cladding is on the external laundry wall.

And the colour is on the external strawbale walls...

... things are getting very close now.