Happy Australia Day

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie
Oi, oi, oi!
Two gorgeous gals who live a wonderful life in this wonderful country.
Happy Australia Day !

Coming Together

Every time I visit the house, there's something new to see. The detail of the design is emerging...and it's looking great. The butt glass windows from the dining room are going to look stunning.

This week Ben will continue to work on getting the house to lock up stage.

The external cladding has been delivered and wood stain has been applied to a couple of test pieces to see how it looks.
Thumbs up.

Rock On !

The jackhammer, the bobcat, the digger, the sweat, the heat, the work!!!

All to get these enormous rocks out of the bloody big hole in the backyard.
The job's done .... and look at the culprits. HUGE!

Three rocks were finally extracted. James and Ben plan to use them in the mini project they've slated after the house is finished.

Have I mentioned it before? A traditional BBQ and wood fired oven.

The rocks will be used for the support walls for the structure. James has also salvaged a number of other rocks from the hole and is planning a couple of dry stone walls as features in the garden.

As for the hole, a concrete retaining will will be built inside to support the tank.... then the decking will go over the top.

Kitchen Porn

I've got Kitchen Porn !
I've got kitchen Porn!
And I don't mean James doing the dishes in the nude....

My apple green kitchen aid arrived just after Christmas as a special present from my gorgeous boy (the one in the nude doing the dishes!)

It's heavenly ....

Feels cool and sleek ....

I can't wait to whip up my first pav.

Excuse me ....., but I have to watch the instructional video again, frame by frame...

HEAVEN.

The Rocks Win!

Poor Ben
He's been jack hammering bedrock in 42 degrees!
OK OK.
Enough already!
Rocks, you win!!!

Because we can't get the hole as deep as we'd like, the compromise is a 10,000 litre water tank, instead of the 15,000 litre tank we'd been planning.

And the cool change is through - dropping 12 degrees in an hour.

in less than an hour.

But that's Melbourne.
Phew!

Beer anyone??

Ahhhhh ....

that's better.

A Bloody Big Hole

There's a bloody big hole in our backyard

It looks like a meteorite hit the earth and landed right beside our house.
It's HUGE!

Ben's dug the hole for the dirty, great big water tank we're installing under our deck.

But remember all the rock when we first excavated .... those rocks look like pebbles now ... compared to this Mother!
There are a couple of huge boulders that Ben has to dig out.
They're massive! He's managed to split this one into three pieces. It's taken him days.
And there's another humongous rock facing him on Monday morning.
Good luck with that.

We've got another two mini skips outside our house for the rocks and soil.

Meanwhile ...back at the house

While we've been in Brisbane, Ben (and John) have been back on the job.
The cladding has started to go on the upper storey. Not a great pic, but it's ripple iron that you're looking at. Pina and Alfredo were wondering what will be put on top of it ...
Nothing! That's it!
Hmmmmm .... they say they like it ...

The electrician has been wiring the house ... there are wires hanging everywhere.

In the main bedroom the frame has gone up for the wall that will separate our bed from the wardrobe. Eliza has just discovered we'll have a walk in wardrobe and wants one too!

It's looking good!

Ben reckons the end of March.

Hope so! Mum and Dad are arriving in early April.

Holidays

Our holidays took us into western Victoria to visit family and friends

And up to Brisbane (OMG the heat!!!) to see family and friends ...

And now we're back home again.

(OMG - the washing!!!!)

But it's good to be back

And we're going to see the house tomorrow.

Ben's back on the job too.

Christmas 08

We've been feasting and celebrating and laughing and feasting and celebrating and laughing.

Christmas is a wonderful thing.

We've been in the country ...

(and Ben the Builder has been taking a break too)