More Holiday Fun

We're in the pool most days ...
The water is 27 degrees.
(Melbourne is 9!)
Brrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Leith, Zoe and baby Georgia left Bundy today. Eliza will really miss her playmate.

A Quick Update

Just a quick update on our house - from Qld - where the sun continues to shine. Yay!

New windows have been cut into the side of the house near Pina and Alfredo - who, according to James, have given them the thumbs up!
"Beautiful"
"The Best"
"Mama Mia"

(It never ceases to amaze me how positive they are about anything we do. They're pretty positive about most things, except their health - which is always "50-50".
Pina had an eye operation last week and the results are good and bad! Good because she can see so clearly now; but bad because she now sees all the dust in her house!)

But back to the house ...

A load of timber has arrived which will be used to frame up the new section of the house. Now that will be exciting!

James did tell me other things ... but to be honest .... I can't actually remember.
The holiday must be kicking in!

It's A Boy!

Ben and Tamara are excited to welcome ...
Daniel James
Born September 16 2008
8.5 pounds
Blue eyes and fair hair
Beautiful!

Fun In The Sun

The warm Qld sun makes it feel like we're on holidays ... which indeed we are!
The little girls are in the pool twice a day until they get 'granny skin'.

Holidays

Eliza and I are heading north to Bundaberg for 3 weeks of holidays ... yay!
That means 2 things:
I'm frantically trying to get everything organised to get on the plane
and secondly ..
James will be in charge of the blog
OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Waiting, waiting, waiting ...

Ben The Builders's Baby is more than a week overdue.
We're waiting for news ...
Maybe this weekend.
Good luck Tamara.

Pina and Alfredo are very excited!

All Shiny & New

The roof on the front section of the house is now complete - and it's all shiny and new.

In fact - dazzling would be a better word! James says the gleam, which I'm sure is visible from the stratosphere, will soften over time.

Out the back Ben has put the first couple of steel beams in - they are massive - and will support the floor and the uprights will support the upper floor.

The steel has been delivered on site and the material for the fire rated wall to be built right on the boundary is sitting on the slab. A job for the coming week.

Father's Day 2008

.... A lovely day by the Yarra

 picnicing 

and messing around with boats ...

Steel and Pipes

Our house feels rock solid now.

Steel beams run the length of the house to support the floor onto bored piers, so we don't have to use conventional stumps (that also saved Ben from digging into the rocklike soil). 

The house may never move again, and that's a good thing.

It's also level now - within 5 mm throughout. Amazing really .... considering how the floor used to sloped away various rooms.

Not sexy... but very necessary .... new sewer pipes have been laid. 

Next the heating ducts will go in .... then the new floor can be installed.

 

Cool in Summer and Warm in Winter

As well as the roof, some of the weatherboards on the side of the house are off - so new insulation can be inserted.

Now we'll be warm in winter and cool in summer. 

We'll also be using 'low E glass' to control heat loss and heat gain - blocking energy flow through the glass.  

Hopefully this will mean I don't have to sit naked under the fan in the lounge room when it's 40 degrees  !!!! (Anything to get cool.) 

I suspect the neighbours will be pretty relieved too, just quietly.

A Roof Over Our Heads

The new roof is a shiney galvanised beacon.
You can't miss it as you drive down the street.
The first new sheets are on ... and it makes the old, red rusting roof look like ... well ... old, red and rusting!