Where the bloody hell are ya? ONE YEAR ON...

Yes peeps, we are still here!

Its has been 12 months since we moved in and it seems like so long ago that we were a midst the final tortuous stages of the build.

We have not yet signed off all of the issues from our 90 day service. We are still waiting on one thing...Anyone want to hazard a guess? Its the lowering of the dreaded gas meter, which has been a pain in our proverbial since about half way through the build itself (in excess of 18 months, I'd say). Ill post more about the 90 day service soon. There have also been a few things pop up in the past few weeks that also now need attention and fall within the warranty period.

The house is a work in progress... but from the moment we moved in, it has felt very much like we always have been here; like HOME!

Here are some of the latest pics of the front landscaping. There is still a fence and gate to come and something decorative on the front deck, and a nicer letterbox, but you get the drift.

Along each side of the driveway are Liriope Muscari with purple flowers.They are hardy little plants so ideal for the driveway.

A pretty row of Little Gem Magnolias, Gardenias, Azaleas and Christmas Bushes.

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Fences have all been painted in the Colorbond match colour "Monument" to match the gutters and pipes. The backyard has also been totally painted, what a massive undertaking that was!

A gorgeous Port Wine magnolia in the centre, surrounded by 4 Gardenia Augusta low growing bushes. Cant wait for the scent of the magnolia!

A big thanks to my Dad for he;ping me with plant selection and taking me to Plantmark Wholesale Nursery (twice) to get the plants on a commercial account he has there!!!!

Hopefully there will be more posts to come soon :)

Kirst xxx

Deck the Halls...?

This post was scheduled to be completed prior to Christmas, hence the gratuitous Christmas reference in the title. But alas, life gets in the way and Cam only finished oiling the deck in early January.

Here tis'

Stumps and beams

Our nephew Patrick inspecting the stumps!

All ready for boards

Our friend Clinton, the talented chippy who together with his chippy brother Anthony built our deck.

The finished product, all oiled.
The timber is beautiful spotted gum from our local timber yard, Tait Timber and Hardware in Tooronga.

Our gorgeous front portico!

The deck was built using concealed screws called camo that are screwed in using a guide tool into the sides of each board and therefore are not visible on the boards themselves.

The edges are all picture edges to give a more polished finish.

There's some serious love here for our finished deck. It really softens the front landscaping and I am so happy that we used it!

Kirst and Cam!

RUMPUS ROOM REVEAL

Presenting the kids playroom!

Its a bit bare but given it gets covered with toys all over the floor on a daily basis... less is definitely more.

The obligatory Ikea Expedit units

Four Ikea Lack side tables being used together as a train table. The little red chairs are also Ikea.

If only it stayed like this...

Kirst xxx

Lounge Room REVEAL

Our gorgeous King Furniture Modular Lounge and ottoman.

 TV unit from Nick Scali

Bally poster from Etsy Shop (that I will not recommend... its a long story).
Yellow bamboo vase from Freedom.

Yellow side table from Freedom

Matching cushions in Dandelion Clocks from Etsy shop Charles and Oliver in UK.
Yellow square and grey round cushions from Sheridan.
Yellow pashmina throw purchased in Florence on our honeymoon nearly 6 years ago! Cant believe the colour is back in vogue!

I'm still missing a few things like a lamp and a rug... All in good time and when the budget allows of course!

Kirsten

The green, green grass of home...

One of three pallets of turf.
The variety is a soft leaf buffalo called Palmetto. We got the turf from a company called Advance Turf.

Final preparations to the soil base

Big thanks to our turf helpers, brother Cam and mate Travis (above)

Finishing off the back

                             

Watering it in...

 

                              

Putting the finishing touches of sand on.

How lush is this???

The special helper Hamish in his new sandpit...lol

Getting us some grass..man,,, PART ONE!

After many days of soil carting. rolling, levelling, more carting, more rolling and more levelling we finally got some grass down in the back and front yards.We cut it fine in terms of getting it in before summer really hit.

We decided to go ahead and excavate/prepare the soil ourselves and lay the turf ourselves too. It was backbreaking work (so I'm told as I didn't actually do any labour other than provision or food and drinks!) but the results were well worth it both aesthetically and on the budget.

It was slow going for the first 15 mins, but once Cam got the hang of it, boy did that little Bobcat move quickly! Helpers for the day include our Turf Advisor aka my brother Cam who has experience with turf from working on a golf course in horticulture and Cam's Dad Hugh who is a jack of all trades.

One excited little boy watching the digger!!!

Our extra special helper was our nephew Brant who was staying with us for the weekend. He is only 15 but his muscle was much needed! And he loved it too!

Hang on a minute.... is that Spiderman driving the Bobcat?

All the excess soil was taken from the front around the back. In addition to this Cam and Cam (Cam squared he he he) moved another twelve cubic metres of topsoil into the backyard by bobcat and wheel barrow.

All filled, levelled and rolled!

The front yard all ready for turf!

Wait for the next post to see how it all turned out!

Kirst xxx