Happy Birthday and Easter.

Over Easter we had a milestone birthday. One of us turned 50 on Easter Monday (and it wasn't the person who normally updates this blog).

We had some people over on Sunday night, so had to try and make the place look half decent before they arrived.

We laid all the decking that we had, and stuck another blueboard sheet up.

The we painted with a primer, and put a few flooring sheets down so that the guests don't hurt themselves walking off the edge of an unfinished deck.

In between the two sheets there will be some stone, and aluminium (probably) which will form the basis of a water feature. A large black tub has already been set into the deck. The already primed sheets will be finished off in a Dulux Texture coat (a paint which looks like render). We are not giving the colour away yet... can't tell you everything!

Here's a shot of our back lawn. There's still some work to do, and the extreme heat over summer wasn't kind to some of our plants, but it still looks ok.

The patches in the lawn have been there since laid - they are gradually being grown over, but it's a problem with the turf which was supplied. The regular spacing of the dead bits is because these parts of the turf were on top of each other while on the roll, so it looks as though something affected the turf after it was cut and rolled, before delivery.

What's going on?

Ok, so it's been a long time between updates. Let's see, what's been happening?

Photos and commentary will tell the story.

Construction of the next section of decking - this was actually done in February!

The posts will form the backbone of a feature wall.

The structure is complete.

First of the blueboard sheets is up, so we can start laying the deck.

The step has been constructed, and deck lights installed

From here you can make out the black plastic tub which will form the pond for our water feature.

With a major birthday event coming up soon, the plan is to put more of the decking on. Of course when you don't want the wet weather, it always rains!

More news soon!

Update time

It's been a month! How time flies since the last update (and there's been no movement on some of the other maintenance items), so time for a few photos of the outside.

The hot weather here has really knocked the new plants around - some have managed ok, some will come back, and others will need to be replaced.

The Santa Ana couch loves the hot weather, and is thriving to the point where it needs to be mowed. Our mower died just before we moved (lasted long enough for the final mow at the rental), Apparently this grass does best with a cylinder mower, and as the power ones are very expensive, we have opted for a hand mower - let's face it, the exercise won't hurt!

Ahh! eBay - this is the mower that Choice magazine said was the best hand mower on the market. It cost us $60 all up.

A short time after it was laid.

After it's first mow. The dead circles you can see have been there ever since the turf was laid. The couch will eventually grow into the holes. Our landscaper thinks it may have been a problem with too much fertilizer just before the turf was cut.

Retaining wall is finished - a water feature will be incorporated, and the deck extended.

A hard worker. Won't be smiling when she sees this photo on the blog.....

We put many, many litres of water into the lawn to get it established.

Our side fence has been completed!

Privacy at last, although some fence extensions may be required.

Second driveway crossover laid.

Grass around the front is coming along well.

3 month maintenance

Last Tuesday we had a visit from Dean, who did our 3 month maintenance work. This guy is brilliant! He managed to fix things which we thought may not be possible. For some reason Dean wasn't told he was supposed to be at our place on Monday, and we never got a phone call advising us that we would be there the day after. Just as well someone was home!

Apparently all the trades are supposed to be coordinated to be there on the same day, however we have had no contact from sparkies, plumbers or painters.

Anyhow, a short summary of some of the work he did (not a complete list!):

• Fixed the sliding doors so they slide much easier, and actually close properly;
• Fixed the panel above one of the rear sliding doors, which rattles in the wind;
• Installed a vent into the brickwork from the rangehood - for months we have been living with a hole in the brickwork, with plastic shoved in, thanks to the people who installed the rangehood in the first place;
• Filled some of the gap at the top of the rangehood (installers buggered up the install on the inside as well!);
  
• Moved the "Cremorne switch" - the light switch in the stair area which has been purposely designed to live under the handrail of every Cremorne;
• Fixed the gap along side the stairs - the plaster between the stairs and the cupboard under the stairs wasn't long enough, leaving a gap;
• Fixed the bubbles in paint in the stair area where the join in the plaster is;
• Repaired and painted a few plaster marks;
• Filled some gaps in the we areas;
• Filled some gaps in the balcony tiles;
• Straightened the front door - an incredibly good effort;
• Installed a weather strip on the laundry door to prevent entry of water when it rains;
• Stopped the creaking on the stair landing
  

Items still outstanding include:

• Replacement of the sliding window (couldn't be fixed by Dean, as it's too far gone). This is the one which was broken during the build;
• Painters to look at resanding and fixing the stairs;
• Ceiling problems in the family room (a couple of nails, and a generally poor finish);
• Some cracked roof tiles (we had a call from a tiler last night who is coming to sort these out);
• Loose guttering (waiting on plumber)
• A leak in the garage: Water comes in when it's raining, and we have a northerly wind(waiting on plumber);
• Ceiling fan not working in Al Fresco (waiting on sparkie);
• A couple of down lights not working where globe replacement didn't fix them (waiting on sparkie);

There are probably a few other items, but you get the general idea. Hopefully these things will be fixed soon, although we will need to spend a day or two out of the house when the stairs are sorted out.

This is how Porter Davis designed the light switch on the Cremorne.

This is what it looked like after Dean moved it.

This is what the vent looks like for our range hood. Doesn't seem like a big deal, but when you've lived with a hole with plastic stuffed in it for 5 months, it is!

Yesterday the roof tiler came and replaced over 20 cracked tiles (yep, most of them you can't see as they were on the top storey), and tomorrow the plumber comes over the have a look at the leak mentioned in the list above.

It seems that PD take their maintenance very seriously!

Transformers visit our Cremorne.

Over the past couple of days we have had the biggest transformation we have seen in our new home. Before Christmas, we made the decision to go with a landscape company to do the work in our front yard. Just before they started, we also asked them to come up with something for the back yard - and the work has now been completed.

Photos below show the end result - unfortunately what this means is that it really highlights the areas around the place which still need to be done - such as extending the decking and so on.

The end result first:

The front of the house - concrete crossover still to be done on the right.
Seed planted on nature strip.

Granite path.

The back yard. Due to the slope, a small wall was used as a feature.

We would like to put a big plug in here for MGP Landscaping:


While we will take some credit for coming up with the basis of the design for the front yard, Michael really took the ideas and improved on them. A big thanks to Michael, Zac and Ben for the hard work and the end result. Punctual, reliable and friendly - we can vouch for that!

Now for some progress shots:

Rocks being placed.

Rock work requires machinery!

Loads ' a loam.

Zac smiles for the camera as the turf goes down (Santa Ana couch from Anco in case you were wondering...).

Given that there's such a dramatic change in the look of the place, perhaps Landscapers should be called Transformers?

Potty with Yukkas

Hope everyone had a great Christmas! For us it was back to doing some jobs around the place, and one which had been meaning to do for a while, was to put a big feature pot in place near the front door.

A big red pot, some Yukkas and 1/2 cubic metre of 80mm Tuscan mix (and some effort) yielded the following result:

A pot, some plants, and some stones.
Makes a huge difference to this corner.

House is starting to look better from the road.
This photo doesn't show the messy bit!

One of the other jobs which is now finished is the water tank used for the toilets. Down pipes have been painted. Much happier with that result!

Makes you wonder why the "experts" couldn't do it like this in the first place.

Hay Santa, for Christmas I'd like a...

Hi everyone,

This entry is being created on Christmas Eve, and as people everywhere scurry around getting things ready for the big day tomorrow, we just wanted to thank everyone for their support and comments on our web site throughout the year.

Originally, this blog was created for friends and family to keep tabs on our build, but it's had a terrific unexpected side-effect in that we have made a bunch of new friends - some of whom we have met (thanks for coming to see us in our new house!), and others who remain cyber-friends.

It's been a big year for us and a lot of other people who have built or are still building. All the best for your Christmas where-ever in the world you are, and all the best for 2009. We hope to meet more of you in the coming year.

In case you think I spelt the title of this entry wrong, think again.

Meet "Hay Santa".

This enormous haystack Santa lives near us, between Leopold and Drysdale on the Portarlington Road. We thought you might enjoy it.