My First Hanging

DH and I were given a beautiful limited edition Ken Duncan photograph as a wedding gift over 10 years ago. We were determined to find a place for it in our new home but we were concerned with how it would fit in with our 'new look' home.
Fast forward past a reframing I had done for it and BINGO, it now matches in with our new decor and looks lovely in the kids TV room. It is the first picture hanging on our walls. (Plenty to come)

The photo is of a picturesque spot in the Northern Territory called Maguk Falls. The colours in it are truly beautiful.

The greens in it go well with the other green decor in the room. The frame goes really well with my dark floorboards.

I have also been enjoying some beautiful flowers which friends have given me for the house and my birthday. Fresh flowers really do lift a room. Inparticular, I have been enjoying having fresh flowers in my bedroom. As I haven't added too many personal touches in there yet (not through lack of searching I tell you!) they help to bring a lovely feel to the room. Here is my latest addition...

And one more first today...I baked my first lot of cupcakes in my oven! My daughter and her friend were begging me to make some - so we did! It's always hard to get used to a new oven and how it cooks compared to your last, but they were yummy if I do say my self! Here is my daughter (the blonde one on the right) and her little friend icing and decorating them (we had to make do with what was in the pantry).

I have had a bit more luck with tradies. A builder friend asked his brickie to call around to quote for my retaining wall...AND HE ACTUALLY TURNED UP! And he can do it next week! And his quote shouldn't be ridiculous. We figured it was going to be much cheaper to organise our own tradies to do the jobs rather than pay crazy prices that landscapers seem to charge. I also phoned another fencing guy (to go on top of the brick retaining wall) and he called me back too - will see tomorrow afternoon if he turns up. I am also going to visit the 'Modular Wall' place tomorrow to see if that's an economical option for on top of the retaining wall too.

Unfortunately, even though we have had two dry days, my paving/tiling guy has still not turned up...my blood pressure is starting to rise over this issue.

Will keep you informed.

Cheers
Kylie

Long Time No See

Well hello there! Long time no see! That's due to the limited progress at the house - quite depressing really.

That said, DH and his dad have worked very hard this past week and completed a very long retaining wall.

It goes all the way along the back of the house (past where you can see here) and a little down the other side. I spent time clearing other parts of the site and levelling out some of the raised areas...talk about sore muscles!

I enjoyed buying a couple of bits of greenery this week and can't wait to start planting. Here is a glimpse of a couple of our plants I've purchased. I also still need to transport a whole heap of plants we moved to pots and kept at my grandmother's house.

To reward our hard work and inparticular, thank my father-in-law for all of his help, we enjoyed a lovely lunch at Sealevel restaurant today. A couple of seafood platters and bottles of wine later and all is good.

Our next jobs involve drainage, turf and planting. Plenty of hard work ahead, but hopefully it will be worth it.

We are still very frustrated with the response of other tradesmen. Sitting around waiting for them to turn up to quote, only for them to then not turn up at all is very annoying. We are trying not to panic but we simply have to get the side front fence completed for the pool to eventually be signed off (before it can be filled). We have one quote for the fence which also includes 2 other little jobs and the price is ridiculous. This week we will really have to reconsider all options and hope the next round of people I call for quotes actually show up when expected.

We are also waiting for a break in this horrible weather so that our coping and waterline tiles can be laid...that's right they are still NOT done! The guy was running late finishing other jobs and now we are being held up with this rainy weather. He is also tiling our outdoor area and claims to need an almost guaranteed 3 days without rain to do the job. If he turned up when originally planned he would have had 3 WEEKS of dry weather!!!! If my pool is not completed in time for the Christmas holidays we will need to factor 3 weeks in Queensland into our budget. I will not be staying at home with the kids for 5 weeks for another summer without a pool...simple.

Anyway, that's all there is to report for now. Nothing much else has happened inside. I am being very careful to leave as much money as possible that we have left for outside work. Artworks and other bits of furniture will have to wait I'm afraid.

Hope everyone else is travelling well.

Cheers
Kylie

Machinery

A few grand later and our yard is a whole lot neater and more level. I was just so pleased to see work being done! I didn't take a pic of it done but believe me it looks much better.

Tomorrow we are meeting both a landscaper for a quote and our landscape designer for a consult to help us with the work we are hoping to do ourselves. Fingers crossed, the outcome of tomorrow is help to move us forward some more.

My next post will be seeking advice on some decorating options / ideas.

Cheers

Kylie

A Whole Lot of Nothing

Pretty frustrating I must say. We have been quite caught out by how booked out people have been! Just trying to get an excavator and tree stump grinder has been near impossible - so much for a poor economy with no work for people!!

Since we last spoke nothing really has been achieved. I have sent out an SOS to friends to try to find a landscaper that's not booked out until after Christmas. DH is now off for 2 weeks and we plan to spend tomorrow on the phone trying desperately to get workers here.

We are also waiting to have the pool coping and tiles done. We were led to believe that this was going to happen last week - so hopefully this week will see someone turn up any day now. We plan to get the paving/tiling guy to quote for the rest of the areas we need doing (and do them ASAP). DH has spent ages moving thousands of dollars worth of travertine so hopefully this will be laid very soon.

We have unpacked nearly every box. I have had many shopping trips trying to get bits and pieces for the house. One thing still missing is artwork. I haven't found anything to adorn my big bare walls. DH and I plan to visit some south coast/southern highland galleries and stores in the next week or two to hopefully find something both affordable and worthy of our new home.

The lovely Jane from the blog 'Stormy's Castle' completed my daughters artwork this week. It is just gorgeous and perfect for her room - thanks again Jane! It is yet to be hung, but here is a glimpse (photos don't do it justice I'm afraid):

I have also taken a trip to ikea and started to pop some colour into my living area decor (just a little so far). I must return to ikea - you always come home missing some bits n pieces. It's always an exhausting but worthwhile trip! I got a couple more of the expedit storage pieces. The one in the study will be great once I've fitted it out properly. I also went to the recently improved Moore Park Supercentre. I got  2 bedsides and a chest of drawers at a bargain price from a store called 'Shack'. Add a pair of lamps from Freedom and we are slowly getting there...

Bedroom is coming together - just need an accent colour added



(Excuse the bed - I hadn't found, ironed and put the valance on the bed yet. Again the photos don't quite show the lovely 'feel' the room has.)



We will eventually put a tele on the wall above the drawers. Not the most 'with it' accessory but I do love watching tele in bed on a lazy day or when I'm not well.

Adding some blues and other colours to the living/kitchen area.

 

A work in progress this area above the fridge - just popping bits I find in boxes there at the moment.

Fingers crossed this week sees us have some luck engaging people to work on this place! We really want things sorted by Christmas - for personal family reasons, I want this to be a beautiful Christmas in this home!

Hope everyone else is travelling well!

Cheers

Kylie

Moved in Update

This week has been quite a busy one to say the least. Most of the stuff I brought in initially has found a home. I am just about to bring in a new round of boxes to unpack. I have spent a fair bit of time out and about so I haven't unpacked as much as I probably should have...oh well.

We did have a driveway poured, and we're quite happy with it.

Can't wait  to add greenery!

I have also enjoyed adding a couple of decorative bits n pieces here and there. We bought a new dining table and coffee table, and we're happy with how they look. Here is a glimpse...

Kids TV room

It still needs a side table and a lamp, but I like the look - calm and serene (to counter the hypo kids)

Dining table and chairs.

 I also scored some bargain stools for the kitchen bench on Thursday too. Now I need some colour in the main living area. Cushions and artwork are on my radar next. I am also still on the lookout for bedside tables and lamps for my bedroom.

We celebrated my daughter's 6th birthday here on Friday. It was an early morning! Our first birthday in the new home.

Mother and daughter at her party:)

Another week ahead. We had the travertine delivered yesterday. They may start the pool coping and waterline tiles this week. We hope to get an excavator in to do it's thing levelling off the rest of the yard the following week, in prep for turf and the rest.

Hope everyone is doing well.

Cheers
Kylie



Have I Told You Lately That I Love You...

My house that is! I have spent the first 2 days of my leave running around like a bit of a maniac. Tonight I have made up for it...no work or unpacking, just a few (hmm) wines to help me chill out! I am still on cloud nine. This house is everything I hoped it would be.

As others would agree - especially those with kids, it's difficult to relax and not stress everytime there is something 'touched' or out of place. I guess time will help me relax and go with the flow a bit more. But I do LOVE this place. All of our selections, all of our choices, all of our everything...LOVE.

I embarked on the epic journey of cleaning my floors this afternoon (not that my house is that huge, but compared to my old home...!) . I imagine it will need doing quite often for a while, but they did come up well!

In other news, driveway is underway:

Nice and big (and expensive!) Weather permitting, it will be poured tomorrow.

And I thought I'd give you a sneak peak of my kids rooms and a couple of other bits'n'pieces. My daughter's room is getting there (jane, hopefully my butterfly pic will be ready soon!), my sons still needs some thought about the walls.

 

pretty?

This is her special mirror

Ta Daa...you can store jewellery and other girly things inside. 

The bedside table I rescued off a clean up pile - good find?

Connor's room...a work in progress

Plus two kitchen items...my new kettle and lolly jar...

My long list of items is not getting any shorter...everytime I tick things off, there is more to add. Today I also shopped at adairs for my bedroom, bed,bath & table for the bathrooms, freedom for baskets for my wardrobe and Basics for a cushion and some frames. I also picked up a coffee table which was a bargain at Nick Scali and bought a new dining table there which should be delivered on Thursday.

Patience will see more decorating progress. I keep telling myself to take my time and pick things I really like rather than just choosing things that 'will do'.

Still lots of unpacking to go. I will get there - I'm not rushing.

Fingers crossed the predicted rain holds off so my driveway can be poured!! Will update again soon no doubt.

Cheers

Kylie

WE.ARE.IN

It has been one very long weekend but we are in. Tonight will be our first night in our new home. I must admit, I had underestimated just how tiring this moving in caper would be. It is quite an overwhelming prospect. The whole 'where do I start' thing has been the hardest for me. I feel like I haven't done much really but I guess I probably have. Plus seeing this home go from being bare to having 'stuff' in it has been strange.

The kids rooms are set up the most. They (the kids) have been very excited this weekend. Tonight at 20 to 7 they were asking to go to bed - you forget the impact the move has on them too. My daughter Maya was upset tonight because she misses nanny and grandad (who we've been living with). To be honest I have been a little worried about this - my two have become very close to their grandparents and I know they are going to miss them a great deal. I'm sure they will be fine but it will be an adjustment.

On that note, this is the time for me to thank very much, my in-laws for having us these past 7 months. They have been wonderfully generous in having us and spoiling us whilst we lived there. I will miss their company very much too. The emotion of today caught up with me during one of my trips in the car. I was on my own (first time all weekend) and had a big blubber - what a sook!

I haven't snapped many pics yet - trying to wait til rooms are looking their best. The pool concrete was poured on Friday - super exciting. Driveway is meant to start tomorrow. The shutters went in yesterday - they look fantastic. Promise to post pics soon, but here are just a couple to prove we are indeed in:)

This is quite a cool process to watch!

This is the kids leisure/t.v room. Needs some colour to bring it to life, - art and cushions and decos, but you get the idea. Shutters are installed here too but a bit hard to see with the sun.

My pantry getting stocked!

Back to work unpacking tomorrow. Plenty of shopping to do too!! My daughter's birthday is Friday so I have some present shopping to do too...I can feel a busy week coming on! (after my massage I have booked tomorrow!)

Thanks to all who have left nice messages. I will try my best to continue to show progress. I hope everyone elses build are going well too!

Cheers
Kylie