Jody and Glen's Blog

THINGS ON WALLS.

2011-07-03T19:16:00.000-07:00

Here we are again. This time we have some nice fish in the ensuite and a rock climbing training hang board.

Also, you know your in the country when there is a Cow in your front yard!

The Professional Wedding Pics

2011-04-20T19:16:00.000-07:00

I DO

2011-04-17T00:13:00.001-07:00

Here's a few pics from getting ready to the trash the dress day. There are none of the ceremony, because these are the pics from Lisa's camera and she was in the ceremony. We should be getting the proffesional pics back soon.

Lisa all curled up!

David, myself and Lisa. All grown up!

Myself and Mum

Myself and Lisa

Our wedding cake

Trash the dress day! We both had so much fun. And so did everyone that was with us I think. Not many people know the idea behind a trash teh dress shoot so here's a brief explanation for you. The rashing of the dress is to symbolise that we'll never get married or need to wear those clothes again. I know that some woman save their dresses for their daughters etc, BUT honestly i recond a VERY small portion of girls actually wear their mums dresses on their wedding day. We figured it would be fun to do and we had a blast!

My brother called - so I was busy chatting away with him while Glen was cutting my dress up!

I didn't even touch him with the scissors. Big Baby!

All the gang that were with us on our trash teh dress day!
Left to Right:
Glen, myself, Mum, Andrea (our photographer), Mitch and Michael.

Lisa took the picture so she wasn't in it!

Once i get the proffesional ones back we'll post them up as well!

We're Back.... and have a lot to catch up on!

2011-04-16T23:36:00.000-07:00

It's been ages since our last post and we have been busy. We've got lots to catch up on. The last time I wrote was all about the floods in January! Wow it's nearly the end of April now!

Instead of writting tons, I've put in some pictures. in no particular order.

Rhys is growing so fast! This was taken early March. Before our wedding.

Ethan is also getting so much bigger. He's going to kinder now and loves Buzz Lightyear!

We took our new bikes that we bought ourselves and went to the BMX park. It's been ages since either of us have ridden a bike, and we were both a bit wobbly when we started. but it's so much fun. you forget how fast they go and what a dare devil you can be when you're a kid and don;t care too much about falling off and hurting yourself.
When i was ridding i found myself braking and slowing down for bends in the road, and gowing down the slight slope of our street seemed like i was doing a 100k's - which reminds me - i'm not sure why the dogs enjoy having their heads out the car windows. I rode the bike down the hill once or twice and got a bug in my mouth - that's not fun!!

We decided on the spur of the moment after I lost my job that we should take a camping trip. We went to BCF and got a tent that was $120.00 and off we went to see all the sugarcain and flood water at bundaberg. We found a dog friendly camp site and had a great time. There was a beutifull damn nearby that we sat and let the dogs have a big run around in. We watched lots of people launching their boats and laid in the nice warm sun.

The Floods - January 11th 2011

2011-01-12T18:51:00.001-08:00

So as everyone is aware January 11th 2011 has been a nightmare for many QLD people.

We were very lucky and escaped with only a yard full of mud. We did have our own version of home made sandbags that we did up with shopping bags and soil, then we went over to try and help out the neighbours as much as we could. Once we'd done that all we could do was sit back, watch and wait and deal with whatever was thrown at us! I managed to take some pictures during the day as it was all happening.

In between each torrential downpour (not that it stopped raining normally in the middle) which would last 30-40 minutes at a time we would be outside checking on the water levels. Making sure the drains we're coping in our yard and weren't getting blocked and preparing for the next wave of torrential rain. We had no water come in the house - other than our wet, muddy clothes and we also had no leaks in the roof. We were VERY lucky compared to a lot of the state of QLD. WE feel terrible for the poor people of Toowoomba who had no warning at all. At least we knew it had been raining for 3 weeks on and off and then was raining all night when we went to bed on the 10th. I was awoken at 4am with thunder and lightening and got up and went to the loo. As i was washing my hands I looked out the en-suite door and saw a river running past the door. I remember thinking... "sh*t that's a lot of water".

So i went to the garage and have a look at the side of the house where the drainage is and where we get the most water from the block being cut out and from the hill. The water was up to the brickwork and the rain was still torrential. At this point I went in and woke up Glen and said told him he better get up and come and help me sort the drains out. We have no idea what was coming or what was to come.

Then while we were going outside we saw the neighbours making up their "sandbags" as we were heading out to do the same thing. Once we'd sandbagged and blocked up as much as we could we headed over to the neighbours to help them out. They'd pretty much done everything they could at that point, but they'd woken up to the water lapping their doors. Anyway here's the pictures we took from the day! We couldn't really get out of our area so the pictures we have are only really of our street and house.

Driving around the streets of Caboolture now and seeing all the giant potholes and debris here is amazing. I can only imagine the clean up Brisbane, Ipswich, Toowoomba, Rockhampton and so many other places are facing at the moment. It's been a crazy week so far and we've just had news that there's a cyclone forming in Cairns at the moment. It's expected to move away from land, so fingers crossed.

The rain

The view that I woke up to in the morning. Waterfalls from the cut out and a river running past the en-suite and bedroom.

More water. You can see a fence picket laying down in the water so it was deep in the morning.

Our Neighbours from yard.

Glen in clothes set 1 for the day. Up and digging the trenches and making "sandbags"

Checking the drains

While i was taking the photo's the water was getting deeper.

More water falls in the yard.

And more waterfalls

The drain working hard to clear away the water

Change of clothes two and checking on the drains again

And then his shoes broke!

We sandbagged and made barriers of what we could. The construction mesh help back a fair bit of water too. But we still had water up the bricks.

using the hose to syphone the water into the front yard to go the creek.

Our front yard and the crates we've been using. As i mentioned it's been raining almost every day for 3 weeks. So this was helping to A) stop the mud from coming in the house and B) stop clumsy me from falling ass over tit every time i left the house. Now they're forming a bridge for us!

Ours and our neighbours backyard.

in the distance you can see what is normally a creek with a slow trickle. All day we were watching it rise up and down. We saw a gum tree go floating by at one point too.

Glen heading over to the Neighbours to check how their sandbags were holding up.

then once we'd done all we could we couldn't do much more the kids in teh street came out to play.

Catching up!

2011-01-12T17:10:00.000-08:00

Ok so it's been a while since out last post. December seemed to fly past in a blur. We were both really busy with work etc and time just got away from us! But here we are now.

Pictures are in the wrong order because I always forget to the put the NEWEST pictures first! Silly me!

So early December I think it was we got all our Stuff delivered here from Melbourne! BIG YAY! We had boxes and boxes and boxes of stuff - some we still haven't gotten through yet! But We got my BIG dinning room table back and enough beds here so that when my Mum, Dad and Sister arrived - they had a place to sleep! YAY!

Then we put up the Christmas tree. This was our first ever Christmas tree (the traditional kind) that we've ever had in our 7 years together. Most other years we haven't bothered, or we had the Aussie gum tree Christmas. So this was really fun. Joan and Ron gave us loads of decorations which were all lovely, but there were more decorations than there was tree so we decided to have a silver and purple theme this year. We didn't have an angel or a star to go on top - so we used a snowman that Lisa made. He was a bit suicidal and kept falling off though!

Then the wedding invitations were printed off and collated and sent out. We had a bit of a production line going and glen and i had fun making the invitations.

The Bare Christmas Tree

With Some the decorations on it and a temporary dragon on the top.

Then the snowman made his appearance!

Putting the wedding invites together.

Waiting for the ink on them to dry before we started trimming them and collating.

Chewi helping us put the beds together when they came up from Vic.

The queen bed ready for the mattress now.

The garage full of boxes. Some have been moved and unpacked, some is still in boxes and we still don;t know what's in them.

The spare single bed

And the dinning room table! YAY

A Working Holiday and a Bargain!

2010-11-16T00:42:00.000-08:00

WARNING IT'S A LONG POST!!!

So Glen and I have found a new bargain place! The Dakabin Treasure market! It's AWESOME and why nobody told us about it when we were looking for furniture at the start of our lives in Queensland I'm not sure, but it's sure been awesome since we've moved into the big mansion we live in now!

We decided to go there over the weekend to look for a petrol can for the ride on (a 4 litre can doesn't cut it) and found that they were having a sale - not that anything there is expensive in anyway, but none the less they were having a sale so who were we to argue!

There's a giant shed that they keep all the stuff that might get ruined in the weather in, like bookcases, beds, tables, sofa and couches, piano's.... all that sort of stuff. Anyway there was a 3 piece 5 seater sofa set there that had a sign on it that it was $5.00 per seat on all couches that day.... BARGAIN. We picked up the below for a whopping $25.00... and I got a few bruises on the way... but that's pretty normal for me!

They're pretty comfy - can you tell?

A little faded in places, and i don;t like the pattern AT ALL, But i will get some throws and put them over it and DONE DONE DONE... and I get to go to my other favourite shop... SPOTLIGHT! YAY

On the way home the trailor got a flat tyre and the spare tyre was dead also... GREAT.

So we had a mad dash to find a place would sell us or replair a tyre... For anyone in the Morayfield/Caboolture area... Bob Jane are open until 4PM on Saturdays and Lindsay there is AWESOME!

So the couch ended up costing us $25.00 + $79.00 for a new tube and tyre! Still a bargain I reckon!

We moved the old Lounge into the kitchen/Meals/Family area for the moment. We've decided we don't like it facing that way and have a plan to move it around and make it face the wall, and we'll set the fish tank up there and/or a TV as well.

This is the spare room... the only spare bed we have in the moment while we wait to get our stuff shipped from Victoria. You can see we have some curtains in the house now. I need to hem them a little, but they look pretty good! We've also got all the blinds up around the house now too.

I don't know why but i'm really proud of the blind in the toilet. It was a really long blind and i managed to shorten it to the right length and I think it looks great!

I've finally hung and put away all the clothes that we own! You don;t realise how much you have until you stick it all in there and think... Man I thought that wardrobe was going to be SOOO empty...

Ensuite with the curtains. you can see their a bit long!

I've also spent a few hours in here put on grout sealer to try and protect the grout. lucky i love our shower soooo much.

And the feature tiles too!

Mum came to visit us over the weekend and we put her to work while she was here... i'm pretty sure she had fun though...

Glen picked up all the Sewerage Hoses so we could get mum mowing for us!

See the smile - she was having a great time and did really well... althought we might have forgotten to tell her how to reverse... so when she hit something... She just sat there trying to get our attention... I was a little tempted to leave her there a while longer....

... but Glen rescued her and got her going again.

Then when it was dark we got to work inside and started unpicking the curtains so we could hem them.. then I got a chuck of glass my leg from the broken window. No matter how much and how well you vaccum there always seems to be more!

Glen fixed one of mums work colleagues broken Iphones...

Then we worked some more outside to pick up the rubble and rubbish from the builders.

ahhhh.. then it was BBQ time! Glen marinated the steaks overnight and they were pretty bloody good!

the front of the house and we're starting to get grass now!

And we have a mailbox now too!

Windows and Blinds

2010-10-31T18:58:00.000-07:00

We've got blinds... and they were a BARGAIN!

Last weekend we decided to call into spotlight to check out the prices of curtains and blinds etc for the house so we could organise some blinds and see how much they were going to cost. Little did we know that they just happened to be having a clearance on some of the blinds that are no longer being made anymore and those coloured blinds just happened to be the colours we were after! YAY for us!

The finished product.

Our bargains... you can see the bright orange clearance sticker... Well most of those were further marked down. We got 210cm x 210cm blinds for $7.50.. BARGAIN. We've decked out the whole house with blinds and they only cost us about $200.00 for all the blinds. Then i found some curtains that were on sale and picked up some of those to finish the rooms off... YAY. Spotlight has become my new favourite place to shop and Orange stickers are my absolute favourite!

This blind cost us $2.00....

and this one cost us a whooping $9.00

I got all the blinds ready to be installed. Some of them needed to be trimmed down a little to fit some of the windows and I have become exceptionally good at trimming them down with the venetian blind cutter that we bought that cost us $5.00... more than some of the blinds!
While I trimmed the ones that needed trimming Glen put them up. Turns out I can't reach the tops of the windows to install them!

In the front rooms of the house we bought some chocolate blinds to offset some of the beige brickwork etc. They were also on sale. This is the one in the computer room after it's been installed. I will take some others when it's daytime but this is all I have so far.

On Thursday October 28th Glen and I went to another spotlight to go and pick up a few more blinds after work. We got home at about 8.00PM after finding more bargains and I did drag Glen around all the store to look for orange stickers to see if we could find anything else we needed that was on special...
We we got home Glen and I were bring in the curtain rods and blinds and stuff we bought when I heard Glen say - We've got a broken window... I was sure he was joking... but i went rushing in anyway.. and sure enough... we had a broken window in the lounge. Man was I not impressed... my first thoughts were... how can we have a broken window already - we've only been in the house not quite 2 months, then I was thinking... we can't even get a glazier out here to install a doggy door. How on earth are we going to get a window fixed... and then.. who did this!

The Window

The culprit! I sent Glen next door because with all my CSI skills we were able to work out that the rock looked like it had come from the neighbours yard... So Glen trudged next door to check if they'd mowed before I went and knocked on the neighbours doors to ask if they'd seen any kids throwing rocks.

Turns out the neighbours had been mowing and a rock decided it wanted to come and play in our house. YAY! We like visitors! Once we knew what had happened it was onto checking with the insurance company to see if id signed up for a window replacement on my policy or not... I hadn't and silly me i remember thinking... nah I wont get that. What are the chances I would need a new window straight away in a new house... DOH! Anyway the insurance company were really helpful and said O'Briens would come to any location nation wide...

We tapped up the window - on the box was from the bargain kitchen stools we bought! Thanks fantastic furniture!

Shards of glass make cool patterns

The visiting rock.

The mess

So I called O'Brien and they came out the next day. The guy spent a grand total of 30 minutes installing a new window in the frame and that cost $321.00.... All my money saved on curtains went to replacing a piece of window 70 x 140...

Computer Repairs Brisbane

We're selling up!

2010-10-31T18:05:00.000-07:00

We've decided to sell our block of land at Echuca. If anyone's interested please contact either Glen or myself for details.

Here's a few pics of the 7 acres after all the rain.. it looks so green and lush and it's the first time in a long time that the billabong is full.

Green Grass and lots and lots of it!

More Green Grass...

The road to the gate.

The billabong all full and Looking lovely

More Billabong

And more

Chewi checking out the sites on the drive.

Only 5 mins from the Murray which has now got some water in it.

Mr and Mrs Fairbrother 16th October 2010

2010-10-31T15:35:00.000-07:00

They did it. They got married and everyone had a fantastic day!
Here's some of the images from the day - sorry they're in backwards order. I forgot that this site puts the images in reverse loading order - SILLY ME!

David and Peta Fairbrother

David and Peta, getting ready to cut the cake.

Dad, David, Peta and Mum

David and Peta

Peta's Family photo - Sorry Ann - every photo I have of you your blurry! You move to fast!

Peta and David during the ceremony

The celebrant, Peta and David

Emma, Peta and Jess

The wedding cake

The table settings. They made all the hats themselves and they were a awesome. Well done guys!

David - Blue Steel!

ME, Glen and Lisa.

Me and Glen

Simon and Lisa

Me, David and Lisa

Congratulations David and Peta. It was a great day and I'm sure everyone had fun.

It's Been A while....

2010-10-06T16:41:00.001-07:00

It's been a while since our last post - Sorry. We've been busy. We've had a few visitors come and go and it's been lovely to see everyone... Sadly - i haven't been that great at taking photo's! OOPS!

So we've been in the house just over a month now and we love it! We've settled in really really well. We've been starting to plan how we can get all our stuff back up from Melbourne... It's been hard to get quotes to have stuff shipped when you can't actually remember what you have there... it's going to be like Christmas when we see all our stuff again.... I love presents!!!!

We also realised yesterday it was 5 months yesterday (06/10/10) that we will be getting married! The time has gone so fast. We've been so occupied with the house building and moving and all that stuff that we haven't really done too much - so now it's time to get a wriggle on and get some stuff decided!

Here's a few pictures for you to see what we have been up to in the last few weeks.

Remember when we were at frame stage and Glen laid all those cables for the internet? Well here that are now that the house is build. Glen has put the cables all together and labelled the patche panel ready to go in the cabinet.

Then on the other end of those cables were all the wall plates. We have 18 data points throughout the house with 2 of those being outside.... you just never know when you'll need to google something!

Glen putting the finishing touches on the communications cabinet. Then we neatened up the cables and put the modem in there too! All very neat and so high up that i can't get a picture of it all finished. You can't see it from the photo's but glens kneeling on the fridge to put this all up!

Then after we got all teh cables in and the wall plates in. The modem went in and it was time to test drive the computers and use the fast internet again... but then my machine died. Lucky i live with the computer tech.

So I explained to the technicians exactly what the problem was. They seemed not that interested and like they'd heard it all before.

They opened the machine up to get a better look and saw straight away what the issue was.

They explained the problem to me and told me they were going to need to call in a specialist. One with opposable thumbs for a bit of help!

The specialist was fast and efficient. He did his work under the watchful eye of my tech.

After they'd inspected his handy work it was time for the finishing touches.

I guess they're nearly finished at this point. There was alot of snorting and coughing so it must have been a little stinky in there.

Then i guess there was a part leftover. There usually is when you pull something apart and put it back together again. They assured me it would all be ok. And it's running much better now. Thanks Spike and Chewi - you're the best computer techs ever!

I also took a few pics this morning of all of our small furniture in our nice big house!

From the front door looking through to the kitchen.

All the kitchen and out bargain kitchen stool.

Out tiny dinning table in the family/meals area. Can't wait to get my 8 seater up here!

Laundry.

Master Bedroom

And that's it for the moment. We're heading down to Melbourne in the morning for my brothers wedding on the 16th of October. So I'll have lots more to update you on and more pictures when we get back.

We're in the house!

2010-09-14T17:56:00.001-07:00

OK - so it's been a while since my last post but we've been REALLY busy, but it's all been worth it. Settlement went through on September the 1st, after much stress and running around on the day! Thank god Glen kept his cool, because I was starting to get very angry with people, so he took over and made it all come together!
So on September 1st we moved into the house. That night we took the mattresses there and slept the night. No curtains or anything but it was so nice to look out the bedroom window and see the stars.... the downside was that at 5am we were wide awake and getting cooked by the sun. But oh well... it was still pretty.... and OURS and the banks!

We forgot to take pictures of the actual moving day. We hired a budget truck on the 2nd of September and moved all our stuff in 2 truck loads. Nikki and Charlie were there to help us and we are so grateful. They were fantastic! After the move we put up the back fence and then did the front fences and we've now also put chicken wire up on one side attached to the neighbours fence. They've got medium size dogs and our little dogs fit through their fence gaps so we had to fill it in.
So fencing is done for the moment and we've unpacked all the important stuff. We still have a bit in the garage and the internet is getting connected at the house tomorrow. I promise to take some pics of the inside of the house with all our little furniture in there - it's pretty funny to see all our little stuff in such a huge house. I will try and post the pics of that over the weekend for everyone.

Since we've been in we've had lots of visitors which has been lovely to see everyone. Nikki and Charlie helped us with the move and the fence work. Charlie actually helped with the fence and Nikki and i set up the kitchen and rested... it was hard work watching those boys in the sun! Then Glens parents came up and arrived after a day of nothing but rain. So Ron dug a trench for us and directed away most of the water and Joan gave us sooooo many moving in gifts. We were very spoiled and I have now started sorting out all the containers the pantry is looking neat again! THANK YOU! Ron also helped Glen with the fences at the front and of course there was LOTS of drinking to be had! That's always fun.

Glen also had his birthday while his parents were visiting. We had a yummy meal and ice cream cake and of course more drinks! I should have been a better photographer and taken more pics. Silly me!

Glens parents left on Friday 10th September in the morning and we've had a few days in the house alone. We've noticed that there's so many hiding places in the house it takes ages to find each other to have a simple conversation! We've also set up the computer room ready for the internet to be connected tomorrow. We're both REALLY excited to finally have good internet again! YAY!

Today my sister and Dad are on their way up to spend a few days with us. They're driving up and are planning on arriving tomorrow evening. I'm excited to see them and show off all of our stuff... plus the belt on the mower has stretched and I need Dad to fix it! hahaha

We're also finally starting to look and plan ways that we can get our stuff up here from Melbourne. We might be hiring a container to bring everything up and we'll pack it when we're down for my little brothers wedding in October (not long to go now Dave)!

Relaxing in the Alfresco area watching the cows and the hills. It's so peaceful and incredibly relaxing watching the cows graze all day!

Spike found a new lap!

Then we decided it was time to mow. But the mower kept making funny sounds - turns out the belt has been stretched and we need to get a new one!

Then the boys decided to put up the front fences.

Glens supervising his dad and Brian! Good job boys!

And then it rained some more. But even in the rain - it's relaxing!

Nearly Finished!

2010-08-15T20:09:00.000-07:00

So we went to check on the house on Saturday and the house is nearly fished.

There's a few bits and pieces that need to be completed. The tiler has to come back and finish the grouting. The brickie needed to put a few bricks back in place that the plumber had to remove for the pump for the spa and fix a gap that we found. I guess the painter needs to come back and touch up a few bits and pieces and then site clean and we're in! YAY!

We have some weird switch that controls the pump and turns it off and on or something. I think that might be Glens department!

The kitchen completed. We managed to get an extra power point in the dining area because one of the cables wasn't long enough so he put another double in next to it! Oh and can you see our stupid lights... they look like the bottom half of a ballerina poking out the roof! Don't worry. We'll be changing those over!

The carpeted master bedroom. Glen in the mirror in the en suite! You can also see the shelving in the robe. I asked for it lowered so i could actually reach stuff on the shelf so.

The lounge area.

Bushwalking 12/08/10

2010-08-12T22:43:00.001-07:00

On Thursday 12th of August at 4.00AM a very good Family friend of mine passed away. Fay will always be remembered to me as the Grandma I never had. I'll miss her, but I hope that she's at peace and back in the arms of Bruce and happy again!

I was upset and had the day off work as I'd been up since 4AM when i got the call that she'd passed away and Glen just happened to have the day off as it was his Day off in Lieu of the Ekka public holiday.

I decided that i needed some peace so decided to head to the D'Aguilar State Forest and go for a walk. Here's some of the pictures we took along the way. I should also mention this forest is about 15 mins from our new house!

The view just before you enter the park.

WE went for a 1 K walk to Bulls Falls. We walked down, down, down and finally got to the falls and they were tiny.... not what we were expecting at all. While I frigged around with the camera and played with the settings, glen settled in with and apple and some rice crackers and waited patiently!

The Waterfall.

More Waterfall

and some more. Like i said it was much less spectacular than we were both imagining so I had to play with settings to make it seem more grand!

Then we went back to the Gantry car park for a toilet break and saw a few Kookaburra's. More pics below...

This is the remnants of the sawmill that was in use prior to the area being closed off and made a national park. You can see just how big teh mill was as you can see Glen at the far end standing in the middle. the roof was at least 5 or 6 Glens tall!

We then went on another 1 k walk called the Piccabeen trail. It's pretty flat and very picturesque.

piccabeen palms

An amazing fallen tree that was hollowed out.

There was so much Moss everywhere. It was so pretty and so different on different trees.

Mid Week Update

2010-08-12T21:10:00.000-07:00

Laundry

Spa Step

Kitchen with cooker, and rangehood.

Bathroom. Feature tiles, glass in and mirrors on!

The Spa

Kitchen cooker.

Me in the kitchen!

WEEK 19 - Fit Off Begins!

2010-08-08T20:20:00.000-07:00

Fit Off has started. Only a few weeks to go and we'll be in our comfy new house!! YAY!

These pictures are in no particular order at all - and as we were peering through windows to take them some of them are dodgy.... like the one of the spa taps.... who knows what the hell i'm doing in that pic!

Main Bathroom - taps are in. towel rails are on, shower taps are done and so is the spa taps. Sink is in - now we just need the shower screens.

En-suite. Shower taps and sink.

Fittings in place for the gas bottles.

living side of the house. Downpipes are on now too!

Phone lines in.

In that box is the rangehood!

Main Bathroom sink and shower

I have no idea what i'm doing in that pic.. so ignore the dodgy picture of me and focus on the spa tap!

Hot water system is in!

Toilet in the en-suit!

the cooker in the kitchen. I keep telling Glen we can live there now. I don;t need carpets. We have a shower, cooker, toilets what else do I need?

Gas fitting in the alfresco areas is done.

Rainwater tap is done. We seem to like to warn people alot about rainwater... I dunno why?

My cooker. So excited to get in there and use that puppy!

WEEK 18 Bush Walking and Grout

2010-08-01T18:44:00.000-07:00

We didn't take any pictures of the house this week. Nothing much had happened other than a bit of grout - which really isn't that exciting to take pictures of! We did have a chat with the neighbours and I got eaten alive by Gnats! YAY! I like souvenirs of our visits!

Glen did get a phone call late last week from the site manager letting us know what was going on and where it's all up to. Fit off starts mid week this week and will last 2 weeks. Then the carpet goes in and TA DA we're done! He said they'll allow a week for clean up and site clean and we should be in and have the keys by the end of August! WOOHOO so excited and we're so looking forward to getting our stuff back from Vic and actually have a decent sized house we can put everything in! YAY!

On Sunday we went for a bushwalk through Bunyaville Conservation Park. I'm not sure how far we walked - All I know is we were tired and so were the dog by the end. But it was really good fun.

The Map of where we walked in RED. We had a lunch break at the northern most point and a rest after walking up a big hill. Had a sit down and a bit of an explore and then headed back down and along some of the boardwalks. Somehow i was tricked into walking in front and cleared alot of the cobwebs out of Glens way with my face - LOVELY!!!

We spent about 2 hours walking and had a really great time. By the time we were heading home Chewi (who set the pace for the walk) was knackered and had started slowing down - much to my relief. By the time we got home in the evening she was too tired to even get off the bed from her sleep to have dinner.

On the track heading home.

Chewi loving all the walking and activity - lots of new smells and people to see.

Our Lunch rest spot at the top of the hill. We found a little area where I guess they have school talks or something. there was a few benches to sit on toilets and i guess a classroom type hall as well.

Happy smiley girl.

Some of the track. So green and very pretty.

Bird box.

Super tall trees

More big tall trees.

Week 17 - Tiles, tiles, tiles - Frank Walker eat your heart out!

2010-07-25T16:55:00.000-07:00

Frank Walkers got nothing on us! We've got tiles galore and it's looking GOOD!

Other than the house update, we've not been up to much this week. We have an inspection on the rental property... GRRR. I was really hoping to get away without an inspection before we moved... oh well. So I spend Saturday while glen was at TAFE doing his course, cleaning and finding new ways to hide some of the boxes that we've packed. I ended up making a huge mess... but lunch time was the turning point when it all started coming together. All in all I was very proud of my Saturday efforts. Glen got home at 4.30pm and I gave him a lovely tour of my work and our new hiding places!

Sunday we went and saw Toy Story 3 in 3D. What a cute movie and neither of us thought it was totally predictable which was good.... although of course Woody saves the day and they all live happily ever after. But jeez Louise it's expensive to go to the cinema these days... just for the 2 of us it was $41.00 and we had no drinks, popcorn lollies or anything! How on earth can a typical family afford to take their kids to go and see a movie when it's that much!

Back of the house - looking at the alfresco area

More Alfreso... We can't wait to sit out there and watch the evening storms roll past.

HSTP update... all looking good. We walk around occasionally and move our poo pipes around to keep the grass from dying underneath them. Glens mentioned that we may need to mow is soon! Any excuse to jump on the ride on!

From bedroom 4 looking down the hall to the master bedroom.

Main bathroom. Floors all tiles and grouted, wall tiles are on, but not grouted yet. You can kinda see the feature tile from this pic.

We have a new sticker on our water tank... not sure why we need a HUGE warning sign? Do some people keep 5000 litre tanks of fire breathing dragons in their backyard?

The stuff that makes the water do stuff and you know... stuff!

Glen looking at all the stuff!

En suite. Floor tiles, but not grouted and the walls tiled and not grouted.

Master bedroom, looking through to the en suite and walk in robe.

ahhhh the kitchen. Splashback tiles done, floor tiles done.... just install the stove already and I'll move in... they can work around me!

More Kitchen

Looking from the Front door to the rumpus room!

Week 16. Tiles Down and New Shoes!

2010-07-18T18:45:00.000-07:00

This week we went and met the Tim the tiler on site early Wednesday morning to check that all the tiles to be laid were correct and going in the right places. After I was clumsy and knocked a packet of tiles over we walked around and checked that they were all good. We also got to talk to him to make sure the bathroom step into the spa was what we wanted too!

And i got to see the feature tiles we'd decided on which was cool... because up until now I'd forgotten what we'd decided on!

On Saturday we went back and visited the house - as you can see we now have perfect peeping tom skills and we're so subtle nobody would know we were there! For anyone that missed is - Glens using his super sleuth skills and peeping through the sliding door.

As you can see the tiles are laid - no grout yet, and... drum roll please..... the bench tops are on!!!

Kitchen with bench tops.

Kitchen tiles

Rumpus room

Kitchen, you can see the bench a bit better now.

View down the hall from our little rumpus room window.

Ensuite. No tiles yet, but a bench top.

Water tanks been delivered. Not installed yet.

Looking down the hall from the front window.

Now for some other really exciting news - well it is for me anyway... I bought new shoes and I'm in love with them! Although I had to buy size 9... i don't think I've ever worn size 9 in my life! My hoofers are HUGE!!!

So they look really weird i know. But they're awesome. I've been wearing them around the office today and can feel my calves working harder and i have noticed I'm standing and walking much straighter than i usually do! The shoes are meant to simulate you walking on sand so you get a better workout when you're walking...
I'll give them a try tonight when i walk the dogs, but for now - I'm in love... Oh and yes - i really did get the hot pink ones!!!

Week 15 Paint Complete

2010-07-12T17:33:00.000-07:00

Not too much to report on this past week other than the paint is complete. The tiler started today (13/07/2010) and Glen and I met him on site to check through all the tiles and make sure they're all correct. Clumsy me knocked a packet of tiles over and broke some - WHOOPS! Lucky the guy said there's usually spares!

Front of the house - look the doors not green... BUT the strip of tape down the glass on the door IS green! At least I know that'll be changing soon! PHEW!!

The door

Miss Chewi running around and having lots of fun as usual.

Glen climbed the dirt pile and got a view of the back of the house from up high.

Kitchen island cupboards.

kitchen with the correct extensions added in.

Kitchen with Glen being the fridge...that's cos he's 'cool'!

The paint colours. It's hard to get a good pic of the colours because in every room they look so different depending on the light etc.

Main bathroom.

The Laundry.

Week 14 Paint and Correct Kitchen

2010-07-04T20:31:00.001-07:00

We went to look at the house on Saturday July 3rd to go and check what had happened and the painter man was there. He said we could go in and have a look around while he was working.

He was sanding back all the frames around the windows and doors and was taping everything up in preparation of the paint being started. He said he'd be working again on Sunday and told us to come back in the afternoon so that we could see the paintwork.... And of course I asked him when the front doors going to stop being GREEN! By Wednesday (07/07/2010) he said they should be all finished with the extenal painting and the door will not be green anymore... but he did paint the inside of the front door on Saturday for me!

Ensuite

Main Bathroom

Kitchen, - You can't really tell from this pic, but they've fixed up the kitchen benches and added all the extensions in there.

Kitchen from the other angle!

Kitchen Drawer

Steve the paint man - he's painted the inside of the front door and is putting the handle back on... but he's used GREEN tape on the window!!

Drawer and cupboard handles.

Glen can't quite reach the roof.....

..... and neither can I. But if I stick my tongue out apparently it makes me a little taller!!!

Blurry photo of the non green inside of the front door.

Week 13 - Garage Door and Tiles

2010-06-27T17:19:00.001-07:00

I got some better pics of inside the house this week. Apart from the Garage Door which was done on Monday 21st June nothing much else happened this week because the tiles weren't delivered in time.
We also visited a travel agent this week and got some ideas and prices for honeymoons to Fiji! Got some good ideas about places to go and things we would like to do. So now we'll re-search and do it all cheaper by going direct and doing everything ourselves!

Front of the house with our Garage Door.

Garage door installed.

Front of the house and the front door is still Green!

My Kitchen is in - MOSTLY! Still no stove or rangehood and they've forgotten the extension on the bench.

Kitchen again. The extension that we should have will bring the island out to about half way to the fridge area.

Master bedroom looking through the en suite and walk in Robe.

En suite Cabinet and our blue shower area!

Bedroom 2

Main Bathroom

Bedroom 3

The tiles in the Garage waiting to be laid

Garage Door

Miss Chewi - happy little girl after a big run around!

Our Exchange - where our ADSL 2+ will be coming from.

More Exchange

Our Neighbours Speed test! Possibly Telstra only but I am not complaining.

WEEK 12 - LOCKED OUT

2010-06-20T17:16:00.000-07:00

So it's Week 12 of the building Schedule and we're 75% complete in the progress of the house.... and we're locked out! Because of the reflection on the windows we didn't get too many pictures inside the house this time... But my peeping tom skills are improving!

These are pics of Glen trying to break in through the garage door. (The garage roller door - goes in today 21/06/2010.)

Look through our bedroom doors, into the en suite. You can see the cupboards have been installed, and the doors have been hung. They've also lacquered the wet areas with a blue goop. The tiler man should be there this week starting the tiles and we've been told that it's going to take 8 days to lay all the tiles etc.

The view of the kitchen through the window - sorry it's not a great pic- but the kitchens in.

Since i couldn't take many other pictures i took lots of pictures of Flowers before we went and picked up our RIDE ON MOWER!!!

OH and a picture of a spider. This spider currently resides outside our laundry door. We've watched him/her grow up from a baby spider and build it's web and now it's HUGE and very pretty... as long as it's stays outside.

Our Ride on Mower. A Rover Colt 5 circa 1981

This is the Maroochy River. The bloke we bought the mower off lives at the bottom of the mountain in the background. The mountain is called Mt. Ninderry

And now the fun begins. We got the mower home and decided to have a play in the backyard so nobody could see us while we looked stupid and had a play... i don't think either of us have laughed so hard in a long time. Glen had first play and drive around for a while before putting the blades down and actually mowing.

He's not playing with the blades, he's checking the accelerator and gears!

Blades down and away he goes.

Turning circles not great!

Then it was my turn. Nearly ran over the dog!

Then i started having fun!

We ended up mowing the whole yard in a little over 30 mins.. including our play time... then when we drove around the neighborhood the next day we were looking at other peoples lawns we could mow, including the park across the road!
We did have a few mishaps. I may have accidentally driven the mower into one of the stilts of the house... Lucky there's a bumper bar on the mower... and then not long after that Glen decided to try and mow down our front fence! All in all we had loads of fun and can't wait for the lawn to grow again so we can have another play!

Bacchus Marsh Storm Damage 17th June 2010

2010-06-17T14:58:00.000-07:00

At about 10 AM yesterday morning Glen received a phone call that there's been a wind storm go through Bacchus Marsh, and our rental property manager in the area happened to be driving past and noticed damage to our rental property.

She said that the damage was to the roof of the garage and some tiles had come off. She explained she'd called the tenant and the SES were on their way. She told us she'd take some pics and send stuff through.

Below are the 2 images she took of the damage!

In the meantime Glen was sorting everything out with insurance and getting quotes for repairs because he was home from work sick.

Then the agent sent me some images that the tenant asked the SES man to take while he was up there.

At the moment everything's underway to get repairs completed, quotes sent to the insurance people etc, and nobody was hurt..... A big thanks to the SES. They are hero's and do an awesome job and they are all volunteers, There are more than 5500 committed and dedicated volunteers around the state of Victoria who provide their services 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

http://www.ses.vic.gov.au/CA256AEA002F0EC7/HomePage?OpenForm&1=Home~&2=~&3=~

Week 11 - Brickwork and Plasterwork Finished.... and Glen has a cold.

2010-06-15T15:29:00.000-07:00

Front of the house - brickwork all done. Can't wait to get rid of the green front door!

Garage.... plasterwork finished.

Study window - Front of the house has bricks above the windows. All the rest of the house has that board stuff above the windows externally.

Computer room.

Hallway

Happy Dogs and the Spa - with the leaky pipe fixed up and the plaster all replaced.

The architraves in the en-suite.

From the Kitchen looking towards the front door

Glen in the Kitchen..... just before he got poorly with the flu.

From the kitchen looking at the rumpus room and the chairs we took around for our picnic out there sitting on the alfresco area.

Week 10 - Bricks and Plaster

2010-06-06T16:47:00.001-07:00

Front of the house and most of the brickwork is done! You can also the plasterwork in the garage too

Utilities side of the house. The electric meter box is slightly recessed - which we weren't expecting.

Rubbish pile at the front of the house

Living side of the house.

HSTP Turf is still alive... Look how straight those lines are.... LOL!

Living Side of the house

Living Side of the house taken from the alfresco area

Alfresco area with plaster on the roof, looking in towards the kitchen/meals area ahead and the sliding doors on the left are to the Rumpus/media room.

Half bricked pilarw with gas pipe.

Alfreso area

We've had cows in our mud!

Utilities side of the house.

Recessed water heater unit - without the heater there yet!

Spike

Glen Shopping for parts!

First person to wee in the invisible toilet.

The plasterer's technical instructions on how to plaster the stair for the spa.

Chewi Checking out the spa and bathroom. I think she approves of the work.

Kitchen/Meals area looking at the pantry

Kitchen/Meals area looking at the Alfresco are and Rumpus/Media area

From the Front door looking down the hall to the Rumpus/Media Room window.

The Front of the house again - looks like a house now.

Week 9 - Rain and Brickwork

2010-05-30T17:32:00.000-07:00

Glen's fancy roof wiring.

Wall plates

Electric switches and Spike with his jacket on - it's cold now!

Off White Cement

Front of house - a bit of brickwork done. Rained too much in the week so hopefully more will be done this week.

Bricks

Rain rain rain

Living side of the house and brickwork done.

Pillar in the alfresco area

All teh rain has helped to keep the turf happy... Look at the amazing straight lines.

More turf and our lovely

More bricks stacked and ready to go

Wiring and hardwood plate to mount the TV on. Glens handy work.

Week 8 - Turf and Bricks

2010-05-24T15:28:00.000-07:00

Happy at the end of the day! Dirty, but glad it's over and done!

Glen and our lovely neighbour Brian ( i hope that's spelled right) fixing in the wiring for the TV in the bedroom. Brian also helped glen do all the cabling for the data points in the house.

The cables start point in the garage going. There's 17 data points in the house!

Glen neatening up the ends of the cables at the end of the day!

Still Smiling even though he was stuffed!

Data point ready to go out to the garage.

Back of the house. Alfresco area and bricks delivered

Turf in piles - my back hurts just thinking about it!

Cows and dogs loved to walk on the dirt!

TURF - in case you were wondering!

Chewi climbing the dirt pile and loving it

The HSTP area that we needed to turf.

The back of the house.

The left side of the house

Front of the house.

Garage and internal garage door.

Internal garage door.

Bricks

ahhhhh the spa.... I can't wait for the spa to be functional.

Air con!

1/3 of the turf laid and having a break for lunch.

Family photo on the new grass!

3/4 of the way done and i begged Glen to stop for the evening!

This is where we'd stopped on Saturday.
We were both knackered and sore, but it looked good. We worked on Saturday 22nd of May from 10-4ish.... then cam back on Sunday with fresh energy and sore muscles and did the last little bit in just over 2 hours.

Completed. Done and i never ever ever want to see turf again! In the picture I'm just tidying up the edges and trimming the turf up a bit to make it neater for the council inspection.

ALL DONE!

Week 8 - HSTP and Electricals

2010-05-18T15:21:00.000-07:00

Meter Box fixed to the wall and the electrical rough ins started. Front Left hand side (external garage wall)

Hot Water Service wall box mounted (not hot water service yet) Plumbing and electrical hooked up to it already. Also have the bracket mounted for the pump where the tank goes. Also on the wall corner is a water tap that's now been fixed to the wall.

Another of the utilities side of the house

HSTP in and flattened ready for turf. We'll be laying the turf ourselves this weekend.

More HSTP area

Cows have walked over our nice flat area!

Taken from the back left corner of our land overlooking the HSTP and the neighbours house.

Taken from the back left corner of our land overlooking the HSTP and the neighbours house and our house.

Alfresco area. Pole in and the gas pipe in and attached. Electrical fittings not added out here yet.

Front left side of the house - water tap attached.

Electricals in the roof.

Electrical switch near the kitchen/meals area leading to the outdoor alfresco area.

Gas pipe......

........ leading to the gas tap for the BBQ in the alfresco area.

More house pics

2010-05-16T21:23:00.000-07:00

Front of house

Ensuite Shower

formal lounge room

Study

Garage sliding door

Week 7 - Roof, Windows, Insulation and Spa!

2010-05-16T17:16:00.000-07:00

Front of the House. Tiles on, Windows in. Taken 15/05/2010

Rear Left of the house - the utilities side Taken 15/05/2010

Taken from the front left of the house. Overlooking the lounge, kitchen/meals and alfresco area

Plumbing for the island bench Taken 15/05/2010

HSTP has been filled in now

Our soil pile is dissapearing and the utilities side of the house has been evened out and looks pretty good now. Taken 15/05/2010

THE SPA'S IN! YAYAYAYAYAYAYAY

Plumbing for the spa Taken 15/05/2010

The roof. Every tile has been tied down. Taken 15/05/2010

Our front door ready to go in. Taken 15/05/2010

I couldn't help it. Had to get in the spa! Taken 15/05/2010

Week 6 - House Construction

2010-05-10T19:40:00.001-07:00

Roof Tiles have been delivered 14326 roof tiles to be exact!

Tiles being delivered

Front of the house

We have guttering - no roof - but we have guttering! YAY

As we arrived the roof tiles were being delivered

Front of the house

Front left of the house

Alfresco and some of the roof tiles

Dog Bite - 1 Week on

2010-05-10T19:20:00.001-07:00

Mouth Scar - Can't shave yet - still too sore and awkward with the stitches.

The band-aid on the ear was to help him sleep better at night.

This stitch has since fallen away and has left a nice little nick in his face. I'm pretty sure this one will heal nicely.

Dog Bite - Changing the dressings 03/05/2010

2010-05-04T15:34:00.000-07:00

Dog Bite - The day after

2010-05-01T21:02:00.000-07:00

Dog Bite

2010-05-01T20:47:00.000-07:00

Oh dear, my Bosses 40th birthday ended early for me.
Still got it!

Frankenstein eat your heart out.

Frame up!

2010-05-01T20:03:00.001-07:00

Floor plan 27 sqrs, 15m frontage x 21m deep

Land layout, block is 35 frontage 86m deep.

Jodes is in the Kitchen already! Taken from Rumpas.

Taken from Kitchen toward Rumpas and Master Bedroom.

Our first picinic in the Alfresco

Queensland sky

Front of the house.

Back of the house: ensuite, master bedroom, alfresco

Back of house, Alfresco

Front right corner, garage

Slab down

2010-04-26T02:58:00.000-07:00

Yay for us, the Slab is down
Front of house, neighbour on the left is nearly finished.

Back corner of house, the Alfresco

From back of house, can see watertank slab, ensuite and master bedroom

Front right corner, nice powered water feature!

From back of house, can see neighbour on the left of us and across the road behind our timber.

First Blog

2010-04-24T03:45:00.000-07:00

Hello World!!

Jan 2010 before construction

2010-01-28T05:08:00.000-08:00