Finished for Fall

Here are some pictures of how I left the house for now. It felt so good to hang out in the living room with the neighbours and be able to sit on furniture. There is still a long way to go, but it's good for now. Thanksgiving weekend I'll be insulating the ceiling with the blower machine and doing whatever other work I can fit in. If anyone is interested in joining let me know!

the kitchen.

the breakfast bar (it's really tall).

the living room... with furniture!

the wall between my bedroom and the living room.

my bedroom.

Dry Wall Friends

The house now has a ceiling! Thanks to the awesome work of Kingston, Niels, Meghan and our old pal Johnny the dry wall ceiling is now up. Though the mudding and paint will be put on hold for a bit, it's really starting to look like a house.

Thanks again to the gang for coming up. I really couldn't have done it without you!

Not My First Barbecue

Of course there was a rain storm during set up.

Well it's kind of a my first BBQ, but you get it.

My 5 burner BBQ. It's serious.

 Here are a few photos to give you an idea of my landscape.

The hops, also working hard.

One of two apple trees. Cider?

Inside, the ceiling strapping is up and the drywall is being put in. Exciting stuff!

Coming up next: ceiling insulation, breakfast bar building and furniture moving!

Wonderful Wiring

After a great tree planting season with a super duper crew, I'm back to building and making my house livable. Ideally by the end of August. Now that big things like the roof and windows are done, it's incredible how quickly you can see the progress inside. It's a very exciting time on Pritchard Road.

I have lights! And wires that won't burn the house down. Yay! This means I can keep working on the house throughout the night.... though I haven't yet. Walls have gone up giving me a separate bedroom and bathroom (still no water yet though).

Still a lot to do, but it's starting to look like a home. It's comforting to be able to sleep in my house now (who cares if it's a construction zone) and have the ability to make coffee in the morning. I'm very excited and look forward to being able to welcome friends to stay in the future.... or now should anyone want to help with drywall.

Stay posted.

Progress Report

I have a bedroom! Well closer to having a bedroom. The stud walls went up this weekend thanks to the help of some incredible friends and now the bathroom and my bedroom are different rooms! Yay! The pictures don't really give it justice, but can give an idea of what the house will eventually look like. 

Bathroom.

My bedroom!

Now I'm working on getting the wiring sorted to have done over the spring as well as the well and septic to get this beautiful tub working. Ceilings can go in after wiring, I'm thinking painted plywood. I feel like ceilings will give it a more polished look...

Though the floor in the kitchen still has to be laid, I brought in my new (ReUse store) cupboards to get an idea of how the kitchen will be split up from the open concept living space. It looks awesome if I do say so myself. The free counter tops unfortunately didn't work out so I guess I'll just have to do some butcher block style counter. Fine with me!

It's really nice to see the house coming together. I hope you enjoy the pictures and all come to see it real life some day! There's still plenty to do... in August.

Kitchen... now just imagine cork floors and counters.

The pièce on the left will have a stove beside it and a breakfast bar.

Pallet Produce

The garden projects have started. During my searches of Pinterest (I'm not proud) I came across directions to make a vertical pallet garden. I have seen these before and with two pallets just hanging out in the backyard, it only made sense. I'm not sure I used the best design as since I've talked to some people at Northey Street City Farm who showed me pictures of what they made, but it's a good first attempt.

I planted lettuce in it and so far the birds haven't plucked the seedlings out yet. I don't trust those birds.

Hopefully we'll have tons of lettuce overflowing it soon for delicious salads!

I guess it's time to decide on my next project for the yard.

Partners Planting

Nothing says romance like planting bags, your partner and a waste water treatment facility.

Over the weekend, Ben and I went to Byron Bay. Instead of seeing the beautiful sights that bring tourists to the area, we spent our time planting an assortment of grasses on a waste water treatment facility. Though the smell was a bit unsavoury, at 40 cents a pod, we were happy to be there. It wasn't all straight mud, sometimes there was some debris underneath, but nothing we couldn't handle.

Here's a little video clip Ben put together.

So that's what we've been up to. I could get used to this.

A picture of the first planting job I went on here in Australia.