New Cupboards!

A few weeks ago we had new cupboards installed: wardrobes in the master bedroom and an AV cabinet in the lounge. Milord's boss paid for them in lieu of overtime or a bonus. We're very chuffed!


This was the AV cabinet when it was just built... it's a bit of a snarl at the moment while Milord sorts out cables - I'll take another shot when he's finished!


These are our bedroom cupboards - my photo stitching program is having issues, things aren't really so wonky! My bedroom is now very white!


And this is the cot ready and waiting for Zeus in the corner of our room. We'll put up with him for as long as possible before moving him into Princess' room with her... Hopefully about 3 months but who knows!? The cot blocks a set of cupboards so we have stuff in there that we don't need to get at too often. Princess seriously covets the mobile!

I've been following an enormously pregnant with twins Girls Gone Child as she prepares the nursery for her girls... I wish we had a big enough house for me to do this. As it is I've been avoiding doing much with Princess' room because not only is the spare double bed in there (guess where Granny sleeps?!), but I've always expected another child to join her. So apart from stickers on the wall that's about it.

Someday, when I grow up, I'll have a room for each of my kids and a proper guest room!

Garden

I enjoy gardening. Since arriving in Sydney I haven't had much chance to garden though, as at first we were in a rental with a low-maintenance garden, and then we've been renovating for the past 2 years and our "garden" is a building site.

Milord has had me in mind all this time though, and he built me a huge planter box down our boundary fence.












Just before Princess' birthday party I finally had a chance to plant plants in it, and they are starting to come along nicely!




4 kinds of lavender, 2 sorts of tiny white daisy, a sage bush and a rosemary bush. A climbing star jasmine, a passionfruit vine and another climber with red trumpets. An abelia bush right at the street end as a screen, and heaps of impatiens and lobelia seedlings around everything for colour. I can't wait for it all to mature and flower! We should attract butterflies, and the scent of jasmine and lavender through summer will be divine!

In the meantime Milord continues to deck along the side of the house, and someday we'll deck the backyard too. It's going to be stunning.

Milord's Birthday

Our backyard used to look a lot like this.


Then we ripped up the cement.


Put down foundations for the shed.


Moved all our tools etc onto the slab, and put a tarp down over the dirt. Sadly we ran out of time and money for decking, which is what will eventually go over this.


Milord has also made a few baby barriers - pretty good ones!


This is the first wave of guests who came by on Milord's birthday last weekend. We had about 50 people come through in all. As I didn't know who was coming when I catered as if everyone would be with us for lunch and dinner. My freezer is full and we'll be eating roast pork and jacket potatoes for some time to come!


That's the only picture that got taken. I was just too busy to think about it - I didn't sit down with my guests until about 8pm... prepping food and cleaning up (and looking after Princess's meals and bath and naps etc) ran me ragged.

I'd say it was a great success and it was nice to mark the occasion of Milord's half-century with a big bash. I must admit though that it was very hard work to organise with a baby in tow and I'm very glad all events are now over for a few months.

I've been feeling a little meh since... just a bit run down maybe.

Party Planner

All is great over here, I'm just a bit flat-out.

Milord turns 50 this weekend and has invited 50-odd friends to drop by between midday and midnight on Saturday. He was supposed to be organising the whole shindig, but with a week to go handed it over to me. On top of getting the house shipshape and looking after the Princess... grrr.

Tasks complete (since Monday):

• Roast meats ordered (14kg of lamb for around 3pm and 12kg pork around 6pm). This is trickier than it sounds because our local butcher and baker who do this service are both very Greek and their English is a bit dodgy.


• All the timber moved from the middle of the backyard onto the concrete slab.


• Crawlspace bug-bombed - I keep finding deadly redback spiders so no way was I going under there with anything alive!


• Everything moved from our laundry and back deck to under the house or onto the new concrete slab in the backyard (under a tarp). Tools, planks, drills, screws, toolboxes etc. My back is killing me!


• Planter box side scrubbed free of cement mud, dust and sawdust.


• Outside of windows scrubbed free of cement mud, dust and sawdust, including flyscreens.


• Barbeque and party coolbox scrubbed free of same.


• Laundry/outside loo scrubbed to sparkling


• Frosting film applied to outside loo windows (I can SEE you!)


• Ceiling fan blades wiped free of a summer's dust collection.

Still to do:

• Order bread rolls.


• Hire wineglasses.


• Wash the inside of the windows.


• Get tablecloths, paper plates etc.


• Buy salad, corn cobs, jacket potatoes, chips, dips, soft drink.


• Buy charcoal etc.


• Spring clean house.

Milord is going to pull a sickie tomorrow to level out our dirt backyard before covering it with a tarp to stand on, and to finish off the planter box and side decking. Oh and make us a non-lethal set of back steps!

It's still going to be a bit of a building site out back, and it's a shame I can't afford to fill the planter box with shrubbery for the occasion. Oh well.

Right, must get back to it!

House Renovation 2009 - Week 13

This was the house on Sunday, after we ran around cleaning up because a friend was coming to stay the night.

"Where's the TV" asked Mom the other day.


Kitchen with most of the stone worktop installed. The splashbacks have since been added...


Looking the other way. Milord is in the process of painting so we have items masked. New dining chairs!


Laundry - and dumping ground!


Baby's room, looking towards the cot. That white basinette will be in our room for the first few months probably. The ball is for rocking on during labour... yay.


Baby's room looking towards the window - and the spare bed.



Still fiddley bits to finish up, but all the big work is done. It feels like a home now!

House Renovation 2009 - Week 12

I keep forgetting to take photos! "I'll just clean up a bit first..."

We have the main kitchen stone benchtop in place, but they messed up the measurements for the splashbacks and high counter so we're still waiting on those. Milord is fed up with our kitchen people now and has taken on harrassment duties - which is brilliant because I'm rubbish at confrontation!

I am loving the kitchen anyway. I have a sink! And a hob! And a dishwasher! I can cook a meal and clean up without moving more than a couple of steps in any direction, while carrying on a conversation with folk in the lounge or dining areas, or while watching TV. I'm very very happy. I have been celebrating with grilled chops and roast veg, fried steaks and salad, and awesome stir-fries (so Milord is very very happy too) - I may start blogging my cooking again!

The spare loo and handbaisin in the laundry are plumbed in, and we have lights and an extractor fan in there too. We still need an exhaust vent cut for the tumble dryer so I have to direct a flexible exhaust tube out of the door when tumbling but that's not a big deal.

Milord got rid of all unnecessary materials from the backyard last week, and although there is still some stuff stacked around the edges I can at least see my garden furniture again.

I found a fantastic deal on brown leather dining chairs and replaced our manky white fabric stained chairs last week. I have hate hate haaaaated those chairs since I moved in with Milord 4 years ago, and then during our renovation they got left under a leak for a couple of months and are truly disgusting now. Bye bye nasty chairs! We would love to reupholster our lounge suite in the same leather but just don't have the cash...

Still outstanding:

• Painting of walls, ceiling and trim in the living room, and staining of fences and woodwork.


• Skirtings.


• Mozzie screens.


• Remaining kitchen stone splashbacks and high counter


• Washing line in the backyard.

Not much left to do - and Milord and I are capable of doing it.

We had our mortgage advance approved and are just waiting for the funds to clear. Then I will pay off the builder, plumber, electrician, council and credit cards - leaving us with... nothing. All I wanted was to be debt-free before the baby comes, so this is just fine!

House Renovation 2009 - Week 11

Furniture! Woohoo!




Since these photos the fridge cabinet has been enlarged and the fridge has moved into it and been plumbed in so we have cold water and ice happening. How very exciting!

We have power points connected throughout the living area and laundry, but we need to paint the ceiling before we can get the lights into their recessed chrome holders.

Plumbing has been connected in the laundry for the washing machine and the tumble dryer is hooked up so I can do laundry for the first time in 3 months. How sad is it that this is a big deal in my life?!

Our front yard looks brilliant - we have a porch, steps and big flagstones at ground level. We will plant native grasses around them eventually.

Milord is today emptying the detritus out of the backyard. We'll still have some materials hanging around but it's going to look so much better.

We have started setting up the baby's room. We assembled the cot and arranged it, the change table, toybox, chest of drawers, nursing chair and spare double bed around the room. Luckily it's a big room! We still have a lot of stuff in bags and boxes in the room, but it will slowly get packed away as I get to it.

Still outstanding:

• Lights and fan in the laundry.


• Toilet and handbasin in the laundry.


• Painting of walls, ceiling and trim, and staining of fences and woodwork.


• Skirtings.


• Mozzie screens.


• Kitchen worktop and range hood. Kitchen sink, dishwasher and hob (need the worktop in place first)


• Washing line in the backyard.

So still a few things left to do, but it's really feeling like a home now.

Things we want but need money for:

• Blinds in the living room.


• Shutters in the bedrooms.


• Built in cupboards.


• Decking at ground level in the backyard.


• Shed.


• Barbeque.


• Reupholstery of all dining chars and sofas.


• Living room rug.


• Nice timber AV cabinet under the TV.


• Art/photos on the walls.

In probable good news the bank valuer came out yesterday to value the house for our latest mortgage advance. I hope that comes through soon - it will simply pay off debt with nothing left over, but that's ok.

The valuer also told us that a house down the road, which we think was in the same the condition as ours was when we bought it, has just sold for $570K. Milord is bummed: "Our house has only appreciated by $30K in a year!" I think he's looking at it all wrong - it's a buyer's market right now, and we bought at auction so we couldn't negotiate the price. The asking price for the house down the road was $640K and they could probably have gotten that if they weren't in a hurry... Plus I never looked inside so it might have been nastier than ours although that's hard to imagine!

House Renovation 2009 - Week 10

I can haz kitchen?




Ok, most of a kitchen anyway... we are still waiting for the black granite worktop which should be another week, but isn't it gorgeous! It's bigger than we envisioned and there is tons of storage. There was a mistake with the fridge cavity which is too small, but that will be rectified in a couple of days. I can't use the sink, dishwasher or oven yet, but I have been packing the cupboards and drawers and I'm very happy.

It totally changes the living space, and now we have a good feel for the lounge/dining areas.

We brought all our furniture back from storage yesterday but we can't really arrange it yet as the walls need finishing and the electrics aren't connected up. We did eat dinner at the dining table last night for the first time in months and it was fab!

This is the laundry - the tiles are down and now we need the plumbing sorted out.


Still outstanding:

• Electrical wall sockets and light fittings. Milord has decided to get the electrician back after all. phew.


• Plumbing (gas and water) in kitchen and laundry.


• Painting of walls, ceiling and trim, and staining of fences and woodwork.


• Skirtings.


• Mozzie screens.


• Front yard prettifying. This is coming along nicely - I have a porch! And steps!


• Kitchen worktop and range hood.


• Backyard tidying - our yard is a tip. Literally.


• Baby's room. We've cleared out of this room but it is still full of boxes waiting to unload into the living room. By the weekend I should be able to start arranging things in there.

We still have no cashflow and are in debt to a number of tradesmen. Oh well. At least the place will look good when they inspect it for the mortgage advance!

House Renovation 2009 - Week 6..8

Ok, I don't know what happened to weeks 6 and 7! Lots of work has been going on but it isn't very exciting to me - fencing, waterproofing, plastering, wiring etc.

Fence (on shitty-loud-music-neighbour's side):

Stairs to the back deck:

Last week we got home from a few days away to find our stunning Tasmanian Blue Gum hardwood floors sanded and sealed. Its a glowing blonde wood - slightly pinkish to begin with but that fades after a bit. Gorgeous.



Over the last couple of days the plasterer has been finishing off inside and today I think he'll begin tiling the laundry, and Milord is going to start painting. We'd much rather Milord was in paid employment for this half of the week (his main employer has cut him to 2 days a week), but I suppose we are "saving" a little money by DIYing where we can.

Money is an issue. We spoke to the bank about another mortgage advance and they said "Uh, didn't you just have one a little while ago? You might have to wait." So we are waiting... as are the tradesmen to whom we currently owe tens of thousands of dollars. The credit cards are starting to smoke. Hmmm.

Last week all the kitchen appliances got delivered. Look at the size of our new fridge/freezer! It's ginormous and I love it! Once it gets plumbed in we'll have constant ice and chilled water. The side-by-side doors open onto a single huge fridge area, and the bottom drawer is a sort of chest freezer with a couple of sliding sections.


Our kitchen cabinets arrive today and should get installed by the end of the week. Then we have to get the stone benchtop people out to measure and install the "granite" (fake but almost the same) benchtop.

Still outstanding:
- Electical wall sockets and light fittings. Milord has decided our electrician is too expensive and he'll do this himself.
- Plumbing (gas and water). He won't be doing this!
- Painting of walls, ceiling and trim, and staining of fences and woodwork. I can help with this provided it's not at floor-level.
- Skirtings.
- Front yard prettifying. We're going to tidy up the front porch, build steps to the porch, repair the front wall, paint the front of the house, get a doorstep and lay big cement pavers with a surround of low tough native grass. While this task is hardly essential it will totally transform the feel of the house from the street!

And finally, I spent most of the weekend in this chair in a patch of sun at the back of the living room:

It's my "breastfeeding chair", strongly recommended on most of the mommy forums - an Ikea Poang armchair. Decent back support and a slight bounce, and we got this one off ebay for $200 less than the price of a new one. Perfect!

House Renovation 2009 - Week 6

I don't have any pictures for you this week... we were in a rush to get away to visit friends on the weekend, came back in the dark and then it rained. It's coming along nicely though and you're in for a treat when I get back in there with a camera!

New stuff:

• Electrics, plumbing, plastering, insulation.


• All door and windows and glazing are in.


• Our rain tanks under the new floor (4000 litres - yes, that much) are connected to the new roof runoff. We're going to use the rain water for the garden, second loo and the washing machine. There is some very clever filtration stuff in the downpipes so leaves and muck should keep out.


• Decking on the little raised deck is done.

Annoying stuff:

• The hardwood floor has been postponed to next week because the walls are too damp.


• Our neighbours are disputing our fences (we had to take the old ones down both for access and because they were unsafe). We had a surveyor come out and tell us where our boundaries are and they're 15cm to 30cm outside where the old fences were. So we took back our land - like you do. As our property is only 7m wide those extra centimetres are precious! Of course both our neighbours chucked a fit.
  
  We have decided to make nice to the Greeks we share the common wall with, and have moved that fence back 10cm onto our land. With the language barrier I doubt they even know how nice we are being! I've told Milord to write them a letter with a copy of the survey so that their english-speaking sons can hopefully get the message across. Oh well.
  
  And we have decided to fight against the shitty-loud-music bloke on the other side, especially after the attitude he brought to the table (ie. screaming obscenities in the street at 7am Monday morning). Funnily enough he seems to have come around to our way of thinking since then. We think he might have a personality disorder.

So, it's coming along.

Last weekend we went away to visit RuralChick and her family. They live an hour and a half inland and uphill, and it is cold there (5C to 10C colder than Sydney). They live on a big property with horses, chickens, ducks and a baby bull, and it's a complete change to the city. Think rustic charm and log fires and twigs in the bathwater. Milord got roped into herding cows on the neighbour's farm - luckily I wasn't expected to muck in!

Her kids are delightful and seem to really like me, although they're sad that the piggy-backs have stopped lately. Instead we read books, did drawings, built Lego... and occasionally I had a chance to talk to the grownups! Very nice. And it was lovely to have some home-cooked meals and to get out of our house for a bit.

The weekend after next we have to get out again because our floors are getting varnished. We've booked a cottage on the beach a couple of hours south of Sydney and we absolutely can't wait! It'll be my first holiday since February and my last holiday before the baby comes, and I'm looking forward to it.

House Renovation 2009 - Week 5

Hey lookit: doors and windows!




Now you can really start to get an idea of the lovely big bright room this is going to be.

I got home early on Friday and wandered out back to chat to Milord and the builders who were having an end-of-week beer. After oohing and ahing at the work I suddenly looked around and said "Hey, isn't this room quite a bit longer than it should be? And the laundry a lot smaller?"

"Oh yes" they said. "Like it?"

Well sure, except now the kitchen is going to look stupid because it isn't centered in the space, the sitting area will be pokey, the dining area too big, and the laundry is so small I'm going to have to stack the washer and dryer on top of each other! Growl.

Everything bar the laundry can be fixed as we haven't had the kitchen constructed yet. I'm off to see the designer this afternoon - I reckon I'll make the kitchen space a little bigger and move it 2 metres towards the glass doors. This will give us a balanced space, a decent sitting area and a sensible dining area.

It's lucky I noticed the change - no one tells me anything!

House Renovation 2009 - Week 3 and 4

I'm getting a bit behind with these, so here's 2 weeks in one post. We have massive changes happening at the back of my house... I only wander around there on the weekend so it's always a big surprise for me!

Looking at the back of the house, towards the street:
Week 3: half a new roof, most of back wall demolished, new side/laundry brick wall built.

Week 4: new roof complete, foundation pillars built, new floor bearers and joists.


From inside the house, looking backwards:
Week 3:

Week 4:


This week they tell me we are installing huge rain tanks under the new floor, building window, wall and door frames, and perhaps even getting the floor base, windows and doors in!

Wow, it's all go at chez Saffa! We're about to set our kitchen order in motion (should take 4 weeks to delivery), and in about a week we'll go and beg the bank for more money to finish... erk.

House Renovation 2009 - Week 2

This is a bit late, but pretend it's Monday!

The scene last weekend:

Front yard (we have ripped up the cement covering all this that made a sort of ramp for the old lady living here before us)

Back yard (laundry dungeon gone, new concrete footing for new laundry poured)

Inside the living area looking to the back (ceiling gone)

Inside the living area looking to the front (part of house we are living in boarded off)

Kitchenette, on other side of boards. No oven, stove or sink. We wash up in the bathroom.

We're surprisingly comfortable in our 2 rooms and bathroom - it's like being in a 1-bedroom flat. The front room is the lounge/study, where I play xbox "keeping Milord company" while he works from home and I'm off sick. I am now addicted to Civilization - I'm on to level 3 and am getting my butt kicked! I'm missing having a yard to sit in... I suppose I could go out back among the bricks, cement and roofing, but it doesn't appeal!

We finally got our Development Approval this week, but we had to drop the shed/storeroom from our plans. Once they've inspected our renovation we'll sneakily build it anyway, like every other house in the street (shhh)!

House Renovation 2009 - Week 1

Just over a week ago my house looked like this (old photos from past postings):

Living Room



Backyard



Spare Bedroom


Now it looks like this:

Living Room (the kitchenette against one wall is going to be blocked off from the rest of the space sometime this week, before the roof comes off...)



Backyard (diggers, argh!)



Spare Bedroom (now the temporary sitting room)


Problems so far:

• 1. Our mains water stopcock (and that of the neighbour) runs down the middle of the side passageway. Where the diggers have to come through. So we have to move them.


• 2. We started digging the foundation of the new wall to run alongside our neighbour's extension, only to discover his bit doesn't have foundations! So we're going to have to stabilise his construction and switch ours from a brick wall to a timber framed wall (because you can't dig lower than your neighbour's foundation - which isn't there).


• 3. Although we were verbally assured that our plans had been approved by council and that we could begin, they had a mixup and approved someone else's instead. While hurrying ours along after the mistake was noticed they found 4 more items on our plans to query. After we've started! Demolishing! Walls!

Of course this all costs extra too.

Oh what fun.