Wednesday 24 September 2014


Wow, when I checked that last blog post, I scrolled back through a few and got right back to the beginning.  Nothing much special in that – until I noticed the date on “Day 1 of house pad”!  It was September 9th 2013…which brought me to look and see if I posted on September 9th 2014…and I did!  I posted that it was the first morning we woke up in our new home.  12 exact months from the first diggings.  J.

WOW!

Ya know, if it wasn’t for the date on this computer I wouldn’t know what day it is.
Yes we have been that busy, that exhausted and now, sickly – ah the price you pay for burning the candle at both ends…

So, we are still sleeping in the house J - I knew there would be no getting Michael back into the caravan – and no complaints from me or the kids either.
But still there is not much more furniture in here – just a couple of (empty) sets of drawers and the dining table.  Just too tired to move more in – and most of it needs painting to bring it into this ‘new home’ colour scheme – so that is another factor – we will get there…

But we are on a mission to be prepared to move much more ‘stuff’ in this coming weekend – the outlaws are on their way over to help us again J – so rain or shine – we will at least have cooking supplies, foodstuffs and clothes in I reckon – and crafty goodness J - and a head start on some furniture too probably.  Can’t wait!
There is still the bug factor too as to why we haven’t rushed to move in – I have been vacuuming every second/third day – the whole house! – and it is so much easier to vacuum empty floors than know the lil’ critters are hiding behind our lovely furniture!  This is Plan C – intimidation!  I figure if we move in, us (being about a gazillion times bigger than them) will scare them out!!  Ha, take that booklice/barklice – be ye gone!!!

We were so close to nuking them – bought the flea bombs and everything – but with the worldwide evidence always coming back to chemicals are never guaranteed, usually only work ‘so-so’ and getting the humidity down is a 100% - well, we decided to wait it out a bit longer – and do the scare tactic too.  Hey, maybe if we dress up for Halloween, that will really scare them out…worth a shot anyway – and will at least be fun to try J.
Anyway, here is why we are so tired:


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Paving has started!!  And take note of this lovely selection of colours (yes, all from the salvage yard) – it will help explain the ‘character’ of paving patterns ;-).
My honey emailed me a photo at work last Tuesday lunchtime:


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
And by Friday afternoon he had got to here:

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Wow, so good!!
My contribution has been carrying plenty of pavers across before and after work.  And the kids have carried quite a few too.  Man, they are HEAVY!!!  I can carry a max. of 5 – so I figured they must weigh at least a couple of kilos each (concrete pavers they are) – but I decided to weigh one on my kitchen scales – a quarter piece weighed approx. 1.3kg!!!!  That makes a full paver about 5kg – five point zero kilograms EACH.  Darn, darn, darn heavy in any language!!! 

Hey, just for fun, let’s do the math.  There are 25 pavers per square meter – that’s 125kg lifted, carried and placed per square meter, right?  We have 210m2 to do the verandah – so (work with me here) 125 x 210 = too bloody much = we are loco, crazy, MAD!!!

Tuesday 9 September 2014


Big storm last night.  Big, ol’ windy and rainy storm.
So - we - slept - in - the - house J.

Yay us. 

Very warm J.  And quiet J.

Saturday 6 September 2014


Time for a catch-up post.  It has been some time after all…
It’s been some hard times…

It’s been one of those times when I have had to take some time to work it all out (again!). 
It’s been a time when we have taken time to celebrate the lives of people we have loved and admired.

I have attended three memorial services in 3 weeks and another to come next week.  It has been hard, that is for sure, and I have been a bit off-kilter and I had to search hard to find my answers to get back on a bit of a more even keel. 
It was the words, “Celebrate a life well-lived” that made sense to me eventually ­last week.  The memorial services all celebrated lives well-lived, and I realised that the legacy of the wonderful people who had passed is that we can celebrate our lives by living well now, by celebrating life every day that we are given and most of all, by celebrating the things that are important to us and that help the world be a better place – family, friends, the environment - our hopes and dreams.

So, in a very low key, quiet and somewhat difficult way we are celebrating.  We are celebrating living life.  And the house passing the shire inspection.  Most of all - we are celebrating our family and friends and their contributions to our lives.
When I took a day off work to try and clear my head a bit, I loved that I could spend it working alongside Michael and have that time to work things out a bit. 

He got the skirting boards all finished – sanding them (recycled jarrah of course), coating with wood oil and then drilling and nailing them on.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
He also fixed the shelving in our linen cupboard – again recycled.


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
And he came up with the brilliant idea to use the overhead cupboards from our recycled jarrah kitchen in the pantry – don’t they look stunning?!


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(And see the chopping board he made from some off cuts of jarrah floorboards?  So, so clever and beautiful!)
He has also filled and painted plenty of doors (*all* done now).


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Outside, he has patched render and secured copper pipes.
And he has cleaned the house from top to bottom - all by himself - hours and hours of windows, moving every little and big thing out, scrubbing tiles on his hands and knees today:


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(while I have been at work, or walking to clear my head, or keeping to myself, or with my family saying goodbye or sleeping to aid healing).
So now we are taking the time to quietly celebrate.  Quietly, not raucously (I hope that will come too!) – but this adventure is worth celebrating and the people we have shared it with are certainly worth celebrating too!

Cheers!!  We have finished!!!

(Inside at least, almostly…let the adventure continue…)