Wednesday 19 April 2017

Easter Long Weekend Progress

Our Easter long weekend was a busy one but also fun. We entertained a few of our friends who hadn't seen our place yet and it was good to see them too. It all started on Thursday night when we took the old front steps down. We also gained an addition for the weekend - Ella the border collie. She was very well behaved and had a great time exploring our place. I didn't take a lot of photos this weekend, I was enjoying not having my phone on me all the time for a while.

On Friday OH got cracking on the front steps. I started tidying the house a bit but didn't get very far! OH needed my help. I also made my favourite Spiced Pound Cake while I was tidying up. Here is a before photo of the front steps.



And this is what they look like now:



Such a massive difference! It is great to be able to walk up all 3 steps instead of jumping over the first one. The supports for the stairs were in terrible shape, so we did it in the nick of time. The main point of doing the stairs now was to be able to get the fireplace in (which is big and heavy) and now it will be heaps easier than before. It opens the space right up and makes it feel much more grand.

OH's old boss also came for a quick visit and brought us a new CB radio for the ute, ready for our Fraser trip in a few weeks. It's getting close now!

On Saturday we went to the Yandina markets to buy a log splitter. There is a great stall there that sells high quality second hand tools. We have bought some tools there in the past and they have been good quality. It cost us $25 and in bunnings they cost $40+ and probably won't last as long. So we scored there! We took Ella and also went with OH's mum and family. So it was a nice morning out. A couple that we know came around for the day and we showed them around our place. It was really good to see them and we had lots of nice food.

Sunday was the biggest day yet. We woke up at the crack of dawn to spot a great sunrise on the way, so we quickly jumped in the car and drove to a good spot near us to have a look. Here is a photo:



And here is Ella admiring the view too:



Isn't she beautiful! We also had an Easter egg hunt at OHs mums with her two boys and OHs nephew too. It was good to have everyone there. Then we went back to our place to pick avos with the boys. They had a good time catching and sorting the avocados, we picked a total of 118!!! 8 weren't in great shape but we were happy with the outcome. We have very prolific trees!

After a bit of lunch we did our separate things for a little while. I vacuumed and mopped the whole house (much needed) and OH cleared all of our stuff out and used a leaf blower under the house. The point was to get all the dust and crap out of the high places, and it worked! Then we pressure washed all of the walls and flooring (besser blocks and concrete) and lifted up a lot of crappy paint. We have put most of our garage type stuff back the next day and OH finally has his workshop! It is massive. I will take some photos next week. I was so exhausted from sweeping all of the water out I couldn't even head back down stairs.

On Monday one of our friends came and taught a few of us a yoga class and gave us massages. We also played a great game of Catan (a really awesome board game - if you haven't heard of it check it out!!).

What a busy weekend, very fun and also very productive. Next weekend will be helping OH's boss with replacing her deck, and no plans for Anzac day yet. I think we will try to build some shelves in the back of the ute for camping - something we have been meaning to do for a while. At least we have a workshop now!!

Until next time!

Monday 10 April 2017

One month update!

So we have weathered through ex-Tropical Cyclone Debbie...and made it through the other side. Some things I learnt are:

  • We NEED bigger/more downpipes. We lose so much water in overflow.
  • The house is super sturdy. If you couldn't look out the window or hear the wind it would be impossible to tell what was going on outside.
  • Cut down all black wattles! They have a habit of falling over! We lost two. Luckily nowhere near the house. 

So I promised some more loungeroom photos and here they are:





Now featuring: furniture! The reno has slowed down a bit because we have started to put our furniture in so we aren't camping so much. I keep sitting in my lounge room just to admire it!

The bedrooms are 100% complete now, ready for guests (when we get furniture). The third bedroom was completed on the weekend by painting the doors on the wardrobe. Here is what they look like:



We have combined the antique white in the rooms with the blue from the lounge room to have a look at how they look next to each other. We are planning on painting the brick walls in two of the bedrooms with the blue so this was a good experiment (and easy to paint over). And we have heaps left! Now we just have to clean the floors, paint the little bit of cornice we had to replace and put our desks in. Our very own office!

OH has been very busy with a FABULOUS new discovery of his. The laminate plank flooring was laid extremely poorly by the previous owners, and as a result there was heaps of gaps around the skirting boards (it was too hard to take them out and replace apparently!!!!!!!!!!) and they gathered heaps of dust and hair and bugs and was generally pretty horrible. OH found a wood product called quad which covers up the gaps BEAUTIFULLY! I keep admiring it too!! Here is a comparison photo of the gap and no gap:



It just completes the house. It is perfect. It makes the floors look heaps better as well. We still have to bog and paint the nail holes but it already has made so much difference. I think the $200 to do the whole house was worth it!!

Now all that is left to paint is the hallway, bathroom and toilet. They don't have furniture so I'm not stressing about it right now. We have a lot of events coming up so I don't think there will be much progress over the next couple months. Coming up on the agenda is clearing the yard. I have been waiting so long and I can't wait to get cracking!

Have a good week!