Tuesday, 31 July 2012

Feeling the chill...

Its been a couple of weeks since i have been on here as there hasnt been a huge amount going on.  At the moment we are waiting on the builders quotes which is a lengthy process.  Hopefully we will here from them by the end of August.

We are now over half way through the winter thankfully.  Even with the fire roaring we can only keep one room heated to a comfortable level.  

As i mentioned earlier we have had a tree chopped down recently. In order to make the most of this and have more usable sized logs to burn Andrew has just bought himself a log splitter. This is going to be very useful as we have a few other trees that need to come down because they are dead or sick or in the way of the new driveway.




Whilst he has been busy building this Caitlin and I have been busy making the most of the abundance of fruit on our lemon tree.

This week we made Lemon Tea Cake which was really delicious.



I am so pleased the house extension wont be near the lemon tree. The little orange one is in the way and we will be moving it soon.  For a little tree it has had some very tasty oranges and i really hope it copes ok with the change.


I must admit that even when its really chilly, when the sun shines our garden and paddock really do look beautiful.  I love some of our winter flowers, they really do brighten up the place.










Tuesday, 10 July 2012

Brrrrrr

Well its been a very busy week in our house. My daughter and I have been busy making cards for a couple of birthdays in the family.   My baby boy turned 18 (so i suppose its probably time i stopped calling him that).  He also passed his driving test on his birthday so we are all very proud of him.  Travelling around to work and meet his friends will be so much easier for him now and his dad can have a day that starts with a 6 rather than the 5 it had been starting with. 



Most of last weekend was spent going through some of the specifications for the renovations.  Its a big job working out how many of this and what model of that we want.  I think we sussed it although i am sure we will be needing to go through it all again for a final check.

As for the house at the moment!!!!!! Who ever thinks that a wood burner alone can heat a whole house obviously hasnt EVER been in this house.  We have had a few very very cold nights and our bedrooms have been so cold it felt like we were sleeping in the fridge.   I am not one to wish the year away but this year i really am looking forward to spring and the days and more importantly the nights being a little warmer.

When we came home yesterday the council had chopped a dead tree down on our nature strip and left the logs for us so my son and I spent and hour moving them all into the garden.  We need all the logs we can get as we seem to be getting through tons (literally).

The paddock had such a heavy dew on it and was so white my three year old was amazed.

The dog has had the best idea and has spent most of her day sleeping in front of the fire.




Wednesday, 4 July 2012

Hello

As many of our friends will verify we are seasoned renovator/builders and regularly get 'itchy feet' and move on to a new project but this is the first time we have taken on such a large task, and even i think we will be here for a long while.   We are used to the little projects of changing bathrooms choosing new kitchens putting in new windows etc but we have never had to make so many decisions and do anything on such a large scale.

This time we have bought a run down house thats on a lovely 3 acre block of land.  It feels like every week something else breaks, or falls off the house so getting started couldnt come quick enough. 

I hope you will enjoy our journey with us.