Curves in the sky

While the back of the house curves beautifully ...

... the view from the front, with the studio popping up doesn't give any hint of what lies beyond

SURPRISE!

Wow

I promised pictures and here they are ...
The curvy steel beams are in place and they look amazing!

Our bedroom is the room stretching across the back of the house ... high in the sky.

The house has such a lyrical feel to it. James is delighted with his creation and I'm constantly surprised at how the lines on butterpaper translate into reality.

When I saw the house this week ... it took my breath away. More beautiful than I expected.

I don't know how he did it but Ben hoisted those roof beams into place by himself. Alfredo told me "Ben work like animal this week. I give him a beer when he knock off. I give him 2 !"

Ben says the house should be at lock up stage in two weeks ...

But wait ... there's more

James and Eliza visited the house today.
They climbed the ladder and looked out over the creek. Marvellous!
What's really exciting is that the roof beams are in ... and the curvy pieces of steel have been craned into place.
Stunning!
Really soft and beautiful ... and so different from other renovated boxes .
Pics to come .... on Sunday.
Exciting.

Ben's Beautiful Salami

Well .... Ben's salami was worth the wait.
It was tasty and spicy (but not too hot) and very, very moreish!
I tossed it through pasta, with ripe tomatoes and freshly torn basil.
Heaven.
I'll slice some tonight before dinner to have with a glass of red wine.
Thanks Ben.
Great builder.
Great salami maker.

Bearing Fruit

Melbourne got a huge dump of rain yesterday. We copped everything actually - rain, a bit of hail, freezing winds and a return to winter for at least 24 hours!

The rain was very welcome! Our garden was in desperate need of a good soaking cause the summer fruit is on the way. We've got fruit salad in the making! White nectarines (above), apricots and pink lady apples below.

First Floor ...

There's more to see every time we visit our house. This week Ben has been working on the first floor - continuing to frame the upper floor rooms ie - our bedroom, bathroom, toilet and the studio.

In this picture (above) have a look at the main beam. This will be a wall of opaque glass - separating our bedroom from the en suite bathroom. Uber groovy baby!

James says it's possible the new roof over this back section will go on next week and the final upper floor structure will be installed. Bring on the stairs so I can have a look.

Neighbours ...everybody loves good neighbours ...

We dropped in to see Pina and Alfredo this morning for a quick hi and a coffee .... we left about 3 hours later after being plied with pasta (primo), chicken (secondi), vino (homemade by Alfedo - too sweet he says. Grapes very dry from the drought!) ... and yes, coffee and Italian biscuits.

We ventured into the back garden ... Don't you love every container filled with lettuce, tomatoes, herbs, chilli, celery, endive, onions ... the makings of many, many meals in summer.

Don't forget the grapes ... the vines look good and fruit plentiful. Alfredo will net this soon too keep the fruit bats and the birds away. He's gotta protect next year's vino!

On a promise

We're on a promise.
Ben has promised to give us some of his homemade salami.
The time has come!
Pino and Alfredo are all praise for the stuff ...
And this week we'll get to try some too!
Ben cures his own prosciutto too ... but there's be no promise made about that .... YET!!!

Reach for the sky

Our house is reaching for the sky...
Ben is framing up the walls for our bedroom on the first floor.

This picture shows the corridor which separates the ensuite and toilet (yes, I insisted they be separate!) and will lead to the studio space in the roof.

The walls set the template for the fall of the roof - so the roof beams can be placed accurately (James told me that bit!) So this week Ben will be working on the framing for the upper floor roof.

Going ... UP

What a thrill to see the first floor taking shape.
That's our bedroom you're looking at. I said to James .... it looks HUGE.
He says the word is spacious.
Beyond that, you can see the beginnings of the corridor which will lead into the roof space for our studio ... my dreamy private retreat, that James will be allowed to use too .... apparently.

James has climbed up on the scaffolding to the first floor and says the view is wonderful ... up the creek.
I'll have to take his word for it.
I won't be climbing on the scaffolding. You'll be hard pressed to get me up the ladder, actually.
I'll just have to wait for the stairs to see what the birds see.

And just to clarify ... the bedroom will be split into the bedroom, sitting area and dressing room ...
Looking forward to all that space!

Melbourne Cup Lunch

I couldn't resist these pics to show off these amazing roses from Janice's garden at Merricks. Check out the form guide for the Melbourne cup ... and the cuppa tea was replaced quite quickly with champers.

Each of these roses is from a different bush. The garden at Merricks is in its full spring glory.

Roses and freshly shucked oysters from Coffin Bay ... a divine combination.

Didn't help us pick a winner though!

Smokey Lamb On the Barbie

We were away for the weekend and lit the BBQ. What a delightfully retro thing to do in this age of instant 'ding' from the microwave. The flames leapt high while we downed a cold beer ... and the coals were perfect when we threw on the chops along with some fresh rosemary

The result was ... WOW! Smokey, delicious, pink and juicy. Teamed with a simple salad ... a glass of red ... an easy meal at the beach.

We loved it so much it's firmed our resolve to build a wood barbie, as well as wood fired oven in our garden. Ben says he'll help. Phew!!!

Roll on summer!

Taking Shape 2

Yep ... it's all coming together. I can easily look beyond the steel, cement and raw timber to see how our living room, dining room and kitchen will be, in reality. The space flows beautifully.

The change in the floor and ceiling height between the dining and living room will add to the spaciousness in this back area of the house.

This pic shows where the stairs will connect the dining room with the sunken living room ..

I love it ...

Reaching For The Sky

Some real excitement when we visited the house today ... the ceiling is going in over the kitchen/dining room .... and even more exciting because that means the floor is being created for the upper floor where our bedroom will be.

I haven't been "upstairs" yet ... but Ben reckons the views are awesome ! He's a lot better than scaling the scaffolding than me. I might wait for the proper stairs I think ...