Friday, April 22, 2016

Subdivision is go!

Boundary pegs are in!

It's been over four years since the flood and the decision I took to not rebuild the original house, but to demolish and subdivide the block.  The process of the insurance claim and development application for the subdivision and building was exhausting and left me with the need (once the house was built) to just enjoy living and having a home again.

The development application (DA) was for four years and that is now almost up, so we have begun the process to formally subdivide the block with the plan to sell the spare block on the left of the house.

Blue metal for the drainage pits and fill for the storm water drain.

I'd forgotten how quickly building progresses. Once all the plans were submitted, it seems things have progressed at a rapid rate. The surveyors have come in to peg the boundaries and the engineers have laid the storm water drain through the neighbours yard (digging up a thousand of their trees in the process) and started carving up our backyard to lay the storm water and sewerage pipes.

In the meantime, I've started scouting real estate agents and listing things on Gumtree for sale…including the granny flat. Unfortunately as part of the DA, the granny flat has to go because when you sell a block of land it has to be clear. I've listed the granny flat itself for removal, but it's on slab so not an easy move.

In the meantime, everything else I've been storing in the granny has to be listed for sale. I've already sold all the timber flooring from the old house I was storing and the insert from the fire place. 

I'll be so sad to see it go but you can't stop progress. It will be weird if and when someone actually buys the block and starts building on it. We're so used to having so much space…poor Bella won't be able to do laps of the yard anymore.


Monday, April 18, 2016

All hands on deck!



My Mum and stepfather visited recently and they're the kind of people who don't really know how to 'holiday". They're old school and need to be busy doing something all the time, which was awesome for me!

The first thing my stepfather laid his eyes on were the fading timber on the back deck and side landing outside the laundry. I will admit I haven't oiled it since we moved in almost 3 years ago, and it's definitely been on my "to do list".


I think it's kwila hardwood and was a gorgeous deep red when it was first built. It had been oiled and the builder did tell me that I should be re-oiling it annually, but, well, you know…

Anyways, he was straight onto, asking to go to the nearest Bunnings (you don't need to ask me twice) and he picked up some deck clean, oil and brushes.


It came up a treat! (How does Bella keep getting in these photos??) We ended up putting about 3 coats on because it was just so dry. And we probably could have gone another 2, but we didn't really have the time.  I definitely won't be leaving it this long between coats again.


My stepfather did other things as well - sprayed the weeds, fixed the shower rose, tightened all the screws on the chairs. We like visitors like this!!

Thursday, April 7, 2016

The Front Balcony


Created this little nook on the front balcony to overlook the garden. A lovely little spot for the morning coffee and watching the people jogging by or heading to work. I'm loving the retro-ness of the acapulco table and chair set with the brightness of the outdoor cushion. I'm tossing up whether I need two and we can both sit out there, or do I just leave it as one and enjoy the rare solitude that I get.