K'Gari trip

We left on Friday morning to get to K'Gari on the low tide (Fraser island in local language, pronounced gurry like curry). There were a lot of cars waiting to get over! The event is the Fraser Island Cleanup which is when several 4wd clubs of QLD are invited to volunteer for a morning of work in exchange for a couple meals, free camping and half price ferry. All in all a great deal!

I only spent around $90 for our weekend away which I am quite happy with. I love camping! Before we left we finished off the camping drawers that we have wanted to install for ages. I didn't take any photos of K'Gari, but I did take some of my car! Haha! We were in narrow 4wd tracks or on the beach so it is hard to take photos.

Here is a photo of our whole set up on the particularly beautiful Saturday morning:

Our little tent is there which came out a bit worse for wear with the wind. Our chairs are up on the dune where we read and drunk tea before breakfast. Our new awning is there too. It did well in the intense wind on Friday. Here is a photo of our awesome new drawer/shelving system:

The back and sides of the canopy open out which is great for access. On the right is our big esky (which is going to be on a rolling tray some day). On the left is the drawer which is the full length of the ute tray. It holds cups, plates, cutlery, torches, toilet paper, washing up things, everything we need quickly. Above both of these is a solid top to put things on top of. The other bits and pieces we are trying to sort out (like where to put food) but it will come together soon. We only just figured out how to attach a proper gas bottle to our cooker so it was kind of chucked in at the end. We will put it on top of the shelf in the corner. I would like to get a tall, large water jerry as well to squeeze in the side.

We will have to go camping a lot to figure it out. What a chore! (not!). We spend Friday keeping out of the wind and rain and setting up. On Saturday we went for a drive with half of the club to the Land of the Giants, where there are some massive turpentine trees. Couldn't fit the largest tree in a photo! We then went to an old abandoned airfield where there was a tower on top of a hill with a fantastic view of a lot of the island and the mainland. Again no photos, you can't take in that much beauty in a single photo! We swung by a nice freshwater lake on the way home. On Sunday we helped with the cleanup by doing a lot of weeding. I had focused my eye on lantana (a particularly invasive viney/bushy thing) and pulled out many small plants. It was a good feeling and easy to pull out of the sandy soil.

It was a very relaxing trip for me. I find when I go camping my brain turns off. Not in a bad way, but in a way that all of the things swirling around my head stops. On the way home they started again. I forgot how nice it was for it to stop for a little while. So onto the next camping trip, perhaps after winter hehe.

Have a good week and stay warm.

Kat

The Beginning of Winter

The last two long weekends have been busy, and slow in a good way. On the Anzac long weekend (whatever we call a Tuesday off!) we helped OHs boss to lay a new decking/pathway. The previous deck was 30 yrs old and was needing replacement. I don't have a before photo, but just imagine an old deck with the classic thin wood. We replaced it with big sleepers for something a bit more sturdy. This is the result:

It looks really great and is super sturdy. That took us a day and a half to assemble. On Anzac day we went to the local dawn service, then went to OHs Dads place to build a set of shelves for the back of the ute. It is going to be custom built for camping. I haven't seen the finished product yet but here is a dramatic photo of OH and his Dad building it into the evening.

It is built out of welded tubing, and it will have a pull out tray for the esky, a very large drawer and a small cavity for our mattress roll and other items. There will be a shelf on the top to put other things on top if we need to. I will take a photo of it all loaded up with camping gear soon.

We got paid for our work on the deck so we used it to buy some camping gear for our trip to Fraser Island next weekend (and stuff we have been wanting forever!). Some of it went to the items to build the shelving, and the rest went to some items that we were planning on getting like an awning, water jerrys, a recovery point for the tow ball and a snatch strap kit. OH installed the awning which arrived yesterday, and it looks very useful and sturdy. Can't wait to pull it out on the weekend! We got a sidewall for it as well which can be put on any of the sides for extra shade.

Woo!

This past long Labour Day weekend I spent the weekend in Brisbane working on uni assignments and OH went to a shooting competition nearby. It was good to spend the weekend not doing heavy physical work!

Next week I will put up photos from the trip! The weather is looking like its going to be good, probably overcast but warmer overnight temps (happy face from this gal!). Have a great week!

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!

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!

The lounge room is complete!

We spent the weekend painting the lounge room/dining room. What a job! It is a huge room and had lots of trim to paint. Here are before and after photos:

It was a yellow/green colour beforehand and the trim had not been painted.

Now the trim is white and makes the windows look less imposing, but also more dramatic. It brings the eye towards the window and less towards the brown trim!

The colour of the after photo isn't so great because we finished quite late. The colour is a grey/green/blue colour that changes during the day. It is lovely, but as you can understand it is difficult to capture!

I will take better photos next week, hopefully with some furniture. Next week we will focus on the bedrooms and see where we go from there.

We have officially moved in!

The last weekend was a wet one, but a productive one. We didn't get as much done as I would have liked but we still did heaps. The reason for the slight delay of works was due to OH covering up the gaps in the wall sheeting that was done quite badly before. Because it was so wet outside it took a while to dry. The walls look excellent now. Despite all this we fully completed the kitchen and main bedroom. We had done most of the work when we first moved in but it still needed a few bits and pieces painted. We also managed to get the bed set up and most of our stuff in the kitchen so at least we can live there. Yay! Here are some photos of what we achieved:

Third bedroom cutting in. RIP brown skirting!

Second bedroom bogging up the gaps.
They were very bad in this room. Also did more priming.

Bogging the gaps in the lounge room.

Doing the gaps in the front door and cutting in with some primer.
Awkward spot next to the stairwell here.

Toilet cut in

Bathroom cut in

Hallway almost finished priming.

So hopefully next weekend we can finish a couple more rooms (and lets hope its less wet so things actually dry!). Have a good week!

Our first weekend in OUR home!

It is official. I have signed my life away and now own my very own home. How exciting! It is something I have wanted for as long as I can remember. And the house and land is in such a rough state, so it will be a great project for OH and myself. Enough chatting, time for photos!

Settlement occurred on Friday, so we didn't get to the house until Friday night. It was pretty clean which was a great help. On Saturday we had my parents and OHs parents and their partners. All 8 of us made short work of cleaning! We got a lot of painting done too, much more than I had anticipated. I have mentioned in previous posts that we had already painted the kitchen and main bedroom, but they will still need some touch ups. These photos are the bulk of what we did.

This is the hallway before and after:

The green made it a bit dark

Much better and brighter. This will be antique white. Bye bye blind.

This is the 2nd bedroom before and after:

Brown trim.............

Looks so much lighter with some white skirting

Third bedroom ceiling before and after:

Mmmm....mould!

Now it is brighter and smells a lot more fresh. We are missing some cornice!

And the lounge room before and after:

Dark green on the back wall made the loungeroom a bit dull

Much better

Love the big windows! Cleaning them made a big difference.

The trim will be painted white to brighten up the room. The colour on the far right is the one we are thinking for the walls!

This weekend will be spent...painting! We will be focusing on the trim so we can start putting some colour up soon. I would really like to get the main bedroom and kitchen complete so we can at least live there. The goal is saturday night!

More updates next week! Have a good one!