if the gutters are the eyebrows of the house...

...then we just got the best plucking ever!

how was your weekend?

It's the question I ask / I get asked every Monday morning.

Short answer:

Great, got lots done around the house.

Long answer:

Up early on Saturday morning, had breakfast and put on a load of washing. Picked up wacker packer from the hire place (for more paving preparation) and stopped in at Bunnings for some supplies. Back home, hung out washing and set up high pressure hose. Lifted and cleaned 200 pavers. Lunch. Back to cleaning pavers, wrists and back starting to hurt, 400 stacked and ready to be laid. Pulled in washing. Went inside to get cleaned up for dinner out. Home by 9:30pm, got to bed early like an absolute nanna.

Sunday morning up and 2 loads of washing on. Raced to get last bits of crushed concrete packed before returning to hire place. Hung out washing. Start laying pavers (please note, this is my first attempt at it), realised I was paving askew, have to pull up 50 pavers and start on string line again. Lunch. Finish pavers, sigh of relief. Help cut small pieces to pavers to finish front path, looking awesome. Inside to clean up, vacuum house, wash up and mop floors. Am so stuffed, am writing this blog in slow motion. Ordered in dinner and collapsed on couch.

...so how was your weekend?


Back path in progress...



Back path mostly done...



Front path (see pix from last week's blog) finished...

two steps forward...

...two steps back. It feels like we're standing still. I know the big jobs are done and it's down to the smaller details but I'm finding it hard not to bogged down (literally) in the rain and the mud, and hurdles we keep encountering. Oh, and the bills...they never stop! I swear we should have shares in Bunnings!

Last weekend on Saturday we got heaps done. I lifted (from the old driveway) and cleaned down 400+ pavers. The boys formed up and created a path bed with road base and crushed concrete, then packed it down with a 'wacker packer'. They then began to lay the pavers and start excavating another path for the back door. The system worked really well. Awesome day, feeling really excited to get one path down.


Saturday night it rained...and rained...and bucketed down some more. Sunday morning before returning the wacker packer to the hire place they tried laying the road base and it all turned to slush. The wacker packer sunk itself into a messy, muddy hole. Devastated. Nothing to do but clean up and get dry. This rain is not going to stop until next weekend. Back to the sanding and painting inside. Oh how I want this to be OVER!

I can see it coming together

Though the list of jobs seems endless (tiling, painting, paving, landscaping, fences, gutters, downpipes and so on, and so on), the big jobs are done.

The house is moved. The driveway is down. The stormwater is in. I can't tell you how good this feels - a big weight has been lifted.

Now the race is on to get the house finished, ready for subdivision within the next few months. I don't feel like we can move at any other pace than fast. It's not like I would imagine most house renovation jobs: done in stages, one thing at a time - this needs to get DONE.

My Dad (a.k.a miracle worker) completed 90% of the decking prior to going back home. We just need to finish some of the footings and the top decking. Check out how it's looking!











The rain this last week has made things a bit soggy, including the carpet in 2 bedrooms, one wall and some treasured possessions but everything seems to be drying out - and gutters will make a huge difference once we have them installed (they've officially moved up the list of priority items).

Hopefully it will be dry enough this weekend to do some more work on the deck and pathways. If it rains, it's painting and tiling inside. Plenty to do, there's no shortage of jobs.