So, thanks to the builder (and Mum), we have widened the stairs at the front of the house. We can’t believe what a difference it has made to the whole look and feel of the house the verandah. It’s a little bizarre that we didn’t do this in the first place, however, it’s done now! Go back and look at past entries to see the narrow stairs. I think you will agree that this is a really good decision!
The floor boards are now also fully in. The living room, kitchen and hallway are now complete. Obviously we need to do the finishing, however this won’t happen for some time as we have internal painting, etc to be done. We are now thinking about getting the heater installed. We have looked at the (be warned - annoying guy speaking on website) Pivot Stove and Heater range and are hoping to get this in in the next few weeks.
We took the dogs up for the day to play. It rained the whole time which had us lamenting that we don’t have the tank in. This has been exacerbated by local news suggesting drought breaking rain expected for Victoria in the coming weeks. *sigh*.
The dogs, however, loved it. They ran around in the rain for most of the visit, and both rolled in many versions of droppings (wombat, rabbit, kangaroo) and then coming up and grinning at us ways that only happy, wet, muddy, poo covered, dogs can grin
On the power front. It seems that we finally have a solution. It will cost us heaps more than we budgeted and borrowed for, but we are stuck between a rock and a hard place needing power in by Christmas to accommodate the family that are coming to stay!
We have a new BBQ for the property and Steve cooked our first real meal at the property. It’s great having a space to leave stuff. We are looking forward to the kitchen and laundry being finished so that we can start leaving stuff like crockery, cutlery and bedding. We are very close to having a fantastic weekender for several months before we live there permanently.
We were very surprised with the light in the upstairs bedrooms. They remained bright and well lit through most of the day. Very cool, and power/money saving. Emma is starting to talk about how she wants to decorate her bedroom.
It’s been a long entry this time, and the final thing to report is the planting of two trees. We have an overall strategy of only planting things on the property that can be eaten. So, in keeping with this, we planted an olive tree, and a bay leaf tree. Apparently bay leaf trees grow as high as 15 metres and are great for wind breaks and hedges. We didn’t know this. So, in the pouring rain, Steve dug holes, planted trees and put kangaroo proof barriers around them. A pivotal moment in the development of our new property!
The steps do look better. We should really get used to mum being right.