Front fence

During the winter, miniature roses are ordered, planters erected at the front, roses are planted when they arrive and in Spring, the dream of a growing fence is realised.

Flat-pack fix

We may be suffering from flat-pack deprivation. Peter decides that the house is not complete without some kind of book storage, and so it's back to IKEA. We settle on some EKAT square shelves that we can add to if needed, but so far we're happy with just three units. They take only minutes to assemble, don't even need an Allen key. What kind of fix is that?

Guests come, and keep coming

As noted in the last post, we have the link between the houses complete for Helen's birthday party on 28 July, and the family wander happily back and forth between the two on an unusually pleasant winter day.
Our first non-family guests arrive the next day and stay for over a week. The day they leave, friends from Tasmania take their place for 3 nights. We then have a day clear to prepare for a breakfast for friends in the house on Saturday morning, before our next guest, Peter's sister, arrives on Saturday afternoon. And there are two more lots of people scheduled before we reach the end of August. It's all go.

Wall extension, arch and rose wrangling

When we get the decking material from Bunnings for the walkway, we also pick up the struts and louvres ordered a month or so ago to finish off the wall to match the one between us and our neighbour at the front. Peter realises that some additional brickwork will be needed and does a neat bricklaying job. A day passes while we wait for the mortar to dry, then he constructs the screen and bolts it to the gatepost at one end, the new brickwork at the other. Looks great, and matches the rest nicely.
On Friday we start the last task, of erecting a trellis arch over the gate. This was purchased from Bunnings months ago, but had to wait for the wall to be completed. It's another flat-pack, designed to produce a free-standing arch about 2m high. We shorten and adapt the pieces to construct something that will bolt to the wall on either side of the gate. It's dark by the time he is putting on the last fastenings, and then at long last she wrangles the rather vicious but lovely Nancy Hayward climbing rose, hoisting back up on to the wall, threading through the louvres and tying it on, and weaving a couple of long branches through the trellis arch.

All done and looking good for the party the next day.

Joining the dots, or rather houses

With a daytime party looming, we need to resolve the connecting walkway between houses. She has a vision of rural-looking stepping stones made from slices of trees, and has been promised such slices by two people with farms. As these have failed to materialise, we start looking at alternatives - some kind of bridge structure. Flat-pack ones are available, but not long enough, so it's off to Bunnings to buy some mirbau decking strips and treated pine for stumps and bearers.
Over the weekend and today ground is levelled, plants are trimmed, holes are dug, stumps inserted, bearers bolted and decking planks screwed down.

As a last touch she puts a paver as a jumping off-point and extends the gravel around it.

Hanging pictures

Not many things left to do, except to progressively hang our Tasmanian/boating prints and pictures. We managed to hang one before MICMC week, and three more today.

Port Davey joins Eddystone Rock

In the bedroom, Ysabel's print on the left...

... and Cath's Koonya print on the right.

Back inside

During this week he fixes the laundry cupboard where the bench was separating from the side of the cupboard. This is a non trivial exercise as he has to pull out the washing machine to get to the spot where an extra bracket is needed.
She takes down the curtains, shortens them, re-hems. He attacks the curtain hooks with multigrips to stop the hooks popping out of the header tape. She then irons and re-hangs, and they do look good.
She indulges in a bit more retail therapy, buying a couple more towels and a magnetic knife rack with knives, which involves another exercise of working out how to mount it on the wall. But as usual, he finds a way and the kitchen is now dangerously well-equipped.
And as always, once the project is complete, one has to write the documentation. The webpage is done, and the Guest Guide is mostly done, but not yet printed.

Exterior cleanup

To our surprise, the boys from Bayside Landscaping come back for one final task, to acid-wash the new bricks. Now it all does look absolutely spiffing.
While they are washing at the back, she gets out the Karcher and cleans up the front porch. Still a long way from really clean - will have to resort to chemical attack and will also need to replace a few tiles.
And at the end of the day, she drove the car in under the new roller door, over the newly laid bricks, alongside the deck, to prove that yes! you can open the car door and get out. Are we happy, yes we are.

And in the picture below, you can not only see how neatly the car fits in, but also how much better the old wall looks with the top courses of bricks removed.

Deck, day 4

Tuesday comes at last, the rain holds off. They finish the deck and relay the brick paving. And they take away all the rubbish, including the bricks that we removed over the weekend, and generally clean up.
How good does it look!

Brick-bashing, 2

Another day, another course of bricks off the top of the wall, and some general tidying up. We are pleased to have it done as we are hoping that the bricks that we've removed will be taken away by the guys from Bayside Landscaping when they come to finish the deck.

Brick-bashing

We have planned for a while to take the top courses off the old wall between the two properties, and replace them with some kind of trellis or louvres to match the back wall. And as it is bright and sunny, today is the day. To her surprise, it isn't as hard as she thinks it will be, and we remove all but one course before we decide that it's enough bashing for one day.

Deck, day 3

Boys return on Friday, and it is nearly done, but still not quite. Now have to wait over the long weekend...

Deck, day 2

Not quite finished, but well on the way.

And now for the exterior

Men arrived early this morning (not too early) and began construction of a deck outside the back door. We're hoping for completion tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Peter finishes titivating the front door, making it more completely weatherproof. Note the new letter box, new door handle, and the door seal.

Always one more thing...

This project is beginning to be like our boat - there's always one more thing to fix or improve on. Today it is the front door, which now has a weather guard, a nice brass handle, and has its lock changed to match the back door so we only need one key for the whole house.
Andrew the electrician also came back today to put in an additional power point in the bathroom and to try to improve the TV reception for the ABC channels.

Go!

First guests arrive Friday and stay until Sunday - Peter's nephew, partner and daughter. We have to provide an extra doona for the second bedroom bed (June nights are very cold), but otherwise all goes very smoothly. We are pleased to get commendation from them for our renovation, as they are architects.

Ready, set...

First guests are due Friday, so we spend some time on last things. On Thursday evening we stick various sorts of translucent stuff on glass panels in doors (front and internal) and windows to improve privacy. On Friday we complete the "Guest Guide" booklet with instructions for all the appliances.

Drum roll... Roller door!

Today the gates on to the lane were replaced by a roller door, electrically powered with remote control. This will make car access so much easier.

Curtains!

Appropriately, the last thing (almost) is the curtains. And yes, I will need to shorten them a bit.

Size does matter

When my brother visited he brought with him a TV that is surplus to his requirements. We duly set it up on the TV bench but then decide it is really too small to be viewed comfortably from the sofa (it is a 32"). We move in our 38" TV to test out a larger screen - still too small.
So on Friday we buy a 55" online at a Harvey Norman sale, pick it up and install it on Saturday. It looks huge on the TV bench, but it is the right size for the room.

Vastness of the TV necessitates moving ornament and vase to the window ledge.

We start curtain hanging - it's a work in progress.

And there's more (just a bit)

The blind man (really the shutter man) arrives early this morning and fits the plantation shutters in the front bedroom. Very pleased both with look and function.

In the picture you can see not only the new shutters, but also the "cupcake" pendant we found to hang from the ceiling rose.

But we hope this is the last ever time we have to get up early for tradies or delivery men.

At least we are up in plenty of time to go to our PO Box to collect a large parcel of last things bought on-line: new cutlery, a couple of mugs and an electric blanket, together with a completely indulgent purchase of two large vases.

Later we go to Bunnings, and even later to Spotlight in search of a curtain track that will span the back window.
Finally we pack the last of our superfluous items into the car, ready to go to the Salvos. Any day now the car will be back in the garage.

Flat pack marathon, Stage 11 (FINAL)

First guest in on Wednesday night (H's brother). After he had breakfasted with us and then headed off to a meeting, we put together the last IKEA item, a little bureau which completes the furnishing of the second bedroom, and the house as a whole.

Hanging, light work

Tuesday being the day we mind our honorary grandchild, no progress in the house, but we spend the evening sorting out the manuals for all the appliances and putting together an instruction book for visitors.
Wednesday we are back in there, hanging the two lights that were purchased during our most recent IKEA visit. It takes much longer that anticipated because it is very hard to fasten fittings to an aged ceiling rose, and even in the hall where the plaster is new, it wasn't easy. But by the time she heads off to jazz, both lights are in place, and look great. We're particularly pleased with the shade we picked for the bedroom - its cupcake shape looks quite appropriate hanging under the ceiling rose and it throws a lovely warm light.
When not required to hold the ladder or pass tools up and down, she oils the top of the new kitchen trolley. While she is at jazz, he does a massive cleanup in preparation for our first guest, due tonight. It's only her brother John, but we still want the guest wing to look as good as possible.

Hanging in there

Or should that be, "Hanging, in there" ?
Today's score for hanging was two blinds and a picture. Light fittings are in progress.

The wonderful photograph that has driven the entire colour scheme for the house, now in its place.

Flat pack marathon, stage 10

Today the small wardrobe for the second bedroom.
We start with the three drawers as we are pretty expert on IKEA drawers by now. But the overall structure is rather different from the two we built for the main room, so there are some false steps and some pauses to work out things as we build the frame. Early afternoon we realise that on Friday we have picked up the wrong size cross-brace that links the two ladder-like side panels.
We resolve to make another trip to IKEA after we've been to the market for our weekly shop. Returning gives us a chance to not only get the right-sized cross-brace, but also to buy some wood oil for the new kitchen trolley and another blind for the bedroom. We need it because although we have the blind we put up last year, we can't find the fittings anywhere. Bother! But at least we'll have a spare blind if either of the two new ones we are hanging gets damaged.
On our return we get back to wardrobe building and have it all finished in time for a rather late evening meal.

Just one item to go now - a miniscule desk for the second bedroom.

Flat pack marathon, stage 9

Today we complete the kitchen trolley, fitting the drawer we'd already put together on Friday as the final step.
It fits nicely beside the fridge. Peter remains unconvinced that people will actually move it to provide additional bench space in the kitchen occasionally - we will see.
That's pretty much it for the main room as far as furniture goes. Next steps are to hang blinds, curtains and pictures.

Flat pack marathon resumes, stage 8

Another pilgrimage to Ikea, and we come back laden with boxes and other odd items. It takes us most of the day, because we meet the crew of Caspian in the wardrobe area, and we have to stop and have a coffee with David and Sandra.
But we do have time to put together a coffee table, a side table, and a drawer before dinner.

Still tidying

Several days on and the garage is not yet totally resolved because Peter decides to sort it out properly. We do manage to offload a chair on Michael, and take a swag of smaller stuff to the op shop.
Assorted spare tiles from various renovations of both houses are now stored in the roof of the appropriate building. (Heroic climbing and heaving by Helen to get them there). Spare mattresses go into the storage over the bathroom in 1A. We swap the new microwave bought last year for our older one, which is now looking for a new home.
Slowly cleaning up our act.
The bad news is that the helpful stranger who removed the Encyclopedia Brittanica last Sunday brought them back again. Perhaps they noticed there is a vol missing. And no one wants the old IKEA folding chairs. So there are still assorted unwanted items on the front veranda.
We hang the lovely light shades made for us by friend Pam, but sadly we think they don't look quite right in the house. We're considering other options, but for now one is installed in the hall, where it looks quite nice, especially when lit, and certainly a lot better than a bare globe.

Cleaning up

Sunday and Monday spent cleaning out the garage which has been the repository for everything that was originally in the house next door since the painting began. Most of it has gone back in progressively, but some has no place in the new space, so there has been some general reshuffling.
Chairs from my office have come down and into 1A, chairs from the garage have gone up. Things have been put away in the huge storage cupboard above the new bathroom, and some into the roof above. A helpful unknown person relieved us of the incomplete set of Encyclopedia Brittanica that we left on the front veranda. The new microwave bought last year but superseded by the new combo oven has replaced our old one which is now looking for a new home. Peter has even deemed some of the stuff on the garage as surplus to requirements and disposed of it. One more day of tidying and we will be able to put the car in the garage for the first time in months.

Smaller things, and a final installation

After much thought and effort, we have the oven satisfactorily mounted over the kitchen bench, and we're happy with both the look and the operation.
While at the local hardware buying some bolts for the job, we found an ironing board small enough to fit in the broom cupboard. Hooray!

Small things

Wednesday we get rid of the old bar fridge, and take up the last bits of cardboard from the living room floor. Peter starts thinking about how the wall oven will be mounted above the kitchen bench.
Thursday we squeeze in a quick trip to Bunnings to buy the mounting brackets. We also buy a broom, a washing basket, and fittings to hang the pendant lights.
In the evening we put the original brass coat hooks back up in the hall and spend more time working out the best way to support the oven.
Friday Chad comes to measure up for the roller door, and it's back to Bunnings for more fittings, a small pedal bin for the bathroom, stick on hooks for the broom cupboard, and to check again that no-one makes an ironing board small enough to fit into the broom cupboard (they don't).

Renderers return

Rendering now complete and the back of the house looks so much better.

Flat pack marathon, stage 7

"Boy" wardrobe

"Girl" wardrobe

Monday is the day to finish off the wardrobes. Helen has one drawer built before she heads off for an exercise class, Peter builds two more while she is gone. After a lunch with Peter's daughter, we fit these three, then build and fit the remaining two, then fit two more shelves and the clothes rail in the "boy" wardrobe.



Finally we fit the handles to the doors, adjust the levels, and both are complete, one in each corner.

Time for a big tidy up, vacuum, removal of excess tools and yet more cardboard, and the house is beginning to look pretty good.

Flat pack marathon, stage 6

On Saturday night, Peter states confidently that we can complete both wardrobes on Sunday. Helen thinks this is unlikely unless we get up at 7:30am. Which of course, we don't.
We decide to make up the second wardrobe carcase in horizontal mode, as we now know how heavy the finished product is, and think we will be able to tip it up without killing ourselves. It is easier building it that way, and as it's our second time, we get it together pretty quickly. As we are finishing, we realise that we may have a problem. The Ikea instructions make it clear that you have to build it in vertical mode if there is not much clearance between the top of the wardrobe and the ceiling. With our Victorian high ceilings this isn't an issue, but the distance between the walls is! In order to tip it up we have to move the bed over so that we have the full width of the room, as the space we were using between the broom cupboard and the opposite wall just wasn't long enough. Even with the bed moved, it takes a bit of manoeuvring to get it vertical.
To avoid the problem we had with the first wardrobe, we've moved the fastenings down about 3cm and drilled a new hole for the fastening bolt to come through. Peter drills the first hole and yes! we are into a very solid brick. But Murphy hasn't finished with us yet - the second hole goes into mortar. We must have struck a vertical mortar line for this one. Curses. More fiddling around, until at last both wardrobes are securely fastened, and we can start populating the interior. While Peter was fastening, Helen made up the divider for one of the wardrobes.
(When we were designing them we decided to have two different layouts, so there would be somewhere to hang anything from a short top to a ball-gown, and spaces of different sizes for other stuff. So one has a divider and drawers that go two thirds of the way - the other has full-width drawers.)
After fixing the divider in place, we can judge the appropriate height for the upper shelf and coat rail, so these are fitted next. Then we decide that we should put the doors on as the next step, rather than continuing with interior fittings. Each wardrobe has two doors, one wide and one narrow. The only narrow door that Ikea sell is a mirror door, and we've chosen to have a fairly plain white panel door for the wider one. We're relieved when this combination looks not only OK, but actually very effective, as the mirrored door makes that part of the wardrobe quite recessive, and makes the overall thing look smaller as a result.
As a bit of light relief from construction, we bring the weekly wash in from our house, using it to confirm that both washer and dryer work well, and aren't excessively noisy, even with the cupboard open for the dryer. The fan and vent system also seem to prevent the living room from filling up with water vapour.
With the doors on, we return to the interior, and fit a single metal mesh drawer at the bottom of each wardrobe. (These drawers can be fitted where there are hinges. Above them we will have wooden drawers with perspex fronts.)
By the time we have the mesh drawers fitted, we've had enough for the day - the remaining drawers will have to wait until tomorrow.

Flat pack marathon, stage 5

Saturday begins with the second drawer for the bed, and we can then shift that into place and make a start on the wardrobes. These are big items - the flat packs that hold each one are too heavy to lift and we have to slide them around. We also have to work out whether there is enough room in the front bedroom to put them together without moving the queen size bed that occupies much of the space. We have to make them up in situ as once they are constructed they'll be too big to bring in from the hall through the door.
Ikea are masters of the small space, so they provide two sets of instructions - one for erecting the wardrobes vertically, the other for making them up on the floor then tipping them up. We make the carcase of the first one vertically, and it proves reasonably straightforward, except that we have to keep standing on a ladder to reach to the top bits.
We have a break in the middle of the day when Marty (who built the gate between the two houses for us) came to quote for a deck at the rear, and for some work on the garden wall. It all takes time as we wrestle with having the largest possible deck while retaining the option to park a car in the courtyard.
When the wardrobe construction is complete, the next step is to fasten the wardrobe to the wall - anything that tall has the potential to topple over on top of the unwary user. The back has pre-cut holes through which to put fastenings into the wall behind. Murphy gets into the act here - when Peter drills the first hold into the double brick wall behind the wardrobe, he realises he's on a mortar line, not brick. And as it's really old mortar, it is much too soft to hold the fastening. There is a fairly long pause in proceedings while he tries various kinds of plugs, makes a trip to the hardware store, tries more options, before he is finally satisfied that he has a secure fixing. Meanwhile, Helen tidies up the masses of cardboard packing we are generating, stows linen in the drawers in the new bed, while holding things and passing things to the man on the ladder as required.
Before we discovered the problem with the mortar line, we made the mistake of lowering the levelling legs in the front of the wardrobe. In the process of moving the wardrobe away from the wall and back again, we have now dislodged these, and it takes a bit of thinking and a lot of time to get them secured back in place. But by the time we quit so that Helen can get dinner and head to a concert, everything is in order, level and securely fastened to the wall.

Flat pack marathon, stage 4

Up early again for the renderers, but rain stopped play. It wasn't so much that they couldn't render in the rain, but there is apparently a bit of a spouting leak on the back wall, now obvious as a big wet patch on the render they did on Wednesday. If they put fresh render on and then it rains some more and the spouting continues to leak, the render will run. We contact the builders who are going to come and have a look and hopefully fix. So after a bit of initial waiting around for the rain to stop, Matt and Shane leave, promising to return Monday.
Meanwhile we complete the job of mounting the dryer upside down. This has been mostly Peter's project, with Helen helping whenever the dryer had to be moved. For the last step we need something about the right height to prop the dryer on while the vent is attached at the top, before it actually goes on to the wall brackets that Peter has fixed in place. A very old and incomplete set of Encyclopedia Brittanica is stacked to just the right height - knew they'd come in handy for something one day.
With the dryer firmly in place we start on the next flatpack exercise - a day bed with a pull-out trundle and two storage drawers under that. Two large half beds and two drawers to construct. We take a break mid-morning to go to the market, and Helen takes a break in the afternoon to attend a 90th birthday party. In her absence Peter relocates his pull-out shelf over the washing machine back a bit so that it no longer obscures the control panel. Laundry cupboard is now 99% complete - just a bit of cosmetic work on the duct at the top and a hose clamp on the drain hose at the bottom and it will be all done.
When Helen returns it's back to work on the Brimnes bed and by teatime it is all done except one drawer. Tomorrow we finish that, then it's wardrobe time.

Several days later, with final drawer done and tastefully furnished with bedding and cushions.

Is it a record?

Thursday we decide to go to Ikea in the morning to purchase the next round of furniture. We break all records - in and out of Ikea in less than an hour, having bought a bed, 2 wardrobes, and about 10 smaller items. These latter items we carry home ourselves, the rest is picked for us and delivered at about 4pm the same day. The whole trip to Ikea took a little more than an hour and a half door to door. Is it a record? We think it might be.
The newly delivered flatpacks just sit on the floor, because we are still working on the installation of the dryer and a shelf above the washing machine.

Rendering, day 1

Life intervenes on Tuesday, so it's all quiet on the eastern front.
Wednesday we are back into the get-up-early routine as the renderers come. Their work makes an enormous difference to how the back of the house looks. They are due back on Friday to finish off.
Meanwhile we contact the electrician, who promises to visit and check the circuit that tripped, although we haven't had a recurrence.

Flat pack marathon, stage 3

Peter heads to Castlemaine on Sunday for a party: Helen is suffering from Allen key deprivation as a result. She contents herself with opening the broom cupboard cartons and reading the instructions. We show our neighbour Leigh around on Sunday evening, and after he goes, the lights all go out and we can't get the circuit-breaker to reset until we try turning off the fan in the second bedroom, turned on during Leigh's inspection.

Monday begins with another nasty experience - there is a puddle of water on the bathroom floor. We mop up and resolve not to use anything in there to see if the leak continues.

Closed

Open

During Monday the broom/linen cupboard is built, and things are moved from other storage areas and stowed in it - linen, towels and cleaning equipment.

Hiding behind the door

In parallel, much work is done to work out how to mount the dryer in the laundry cupboard. Turns out this involves reversing the fan and the vent that have already been installed by the builders. By evening the reversal exercise is pretty much done and the dryer is in the cupboard sitting on a box as a test for appropriate height. The living room is rapidly becoming liveable again. Just need to get rid of the old fridge, earmarked for my brother's workshop.

When it gets dark we turn on every light and the fan in the second bedroom, and there is no failure. The bathroom has also remained completely dry. Causes of the problems still to be determined, if they recur.

Flat pack marathon, stage 2

Today's major project is the TV cabinet. But we begin by unpacking and installing the washing machine, to get it out of the way. This takes a bit of time as we have to cut a hole through the laundry bench for the power cord, as well as attaching input and output hoses to the appropriate plumbing.
The dryer remains unresolved, still to be hung on the wall, because we are still waiting for a piece to arrive by post.
By lunchtime we have installed the washer, assembled the two drawers for the TV cabinet, and started on the main frame.

Work in progress on the TV cabinet, dryer in background. 

By the end of the afternoon we have completed the TV cabinet. We decorate it with two lamps that were surplus to requirements for Peter's daughter Barb and husband Scott when they moved into their new pad last year, and a rather nice blue vase that Helen found on-line.

Finished product, completed by the two lamps and vase.

Then we assemble the two additional chairs from Fantastic Furniture, and also unpack our microwave/steam/convection oven and work out exactly where it will be placed in the kitchen.

Two more chairs, being used for a much-needed cuppa. New gateleg table is half extended.

Flat pack marathon, stage 1

Today we head to Ikea, for what we suspect may be the first of several excursions. On arrival I find that the very annoying Ikea website has eaten my shopping list when I added a couple more things this morning. The new items are there, but the list of some 30 bits I had painstakingly assembled over past weeks is gone, gone without trace. This makes me extremely grumpy.
Resorting to pen and bits of paper, we painstakingly reassemble the list of components to make up the TV cabinet. In the kitchen area we are frustrated again because the waste bin stacks were not in the place that correspond to the shelf labels with their price and description, which is all I remember. But with the help of our phones we manage to look up the website, find the product code and locate the ones that fit in the kitchen drawer. We select some more small kitchen storage items, and then feel the need for a break.
After lunch and coffee we feel much better and go to tackle the task of recreating my wardrobe designs, this time with some help from an Ikea person, which gets the job done much more quickly.
On our way to lunch we check out the day bed for the spare room, and the dropside gateleg table we decided on eons ago. The day bed is not in stock, so it and the wardrobes will be bought and delivered together. We meander through the rest of Ikea collecting a couple of doormats en route, then manage to pick all the bits for the TV cabinet successfully. Trolley them through the checkout and out to the car, fit them all in, then head to the warehouse pickup to collect the table, which we ordered with help from the lady in wardrobes and paid for at the checkout.
Wedge that in with the rest and head home, where we spend a happy couple of hours erecting the table. We are delighted to find it fits just nicely under the window as planned, and looks great.

Dropside table, neatly in place under the window.

Tomorrow we plan to start the next stage of our flat-pack assembly marathon with the TV cabinet, then the broom cupboard and two more chairs picked up from Fantastic Furniture yesterday.

More stuff

We get out to Fantastic Furniture in the morning to collect our broom cupboard and we buy two more chairs. In the afternoon the fridge is delivered and we unpack and install. Washer and dryer are still in the middle of the floor as installation of the dryer will be a major operation. Peter has it all planned, but we need some more bits, some coming by post and some requiring a trip to Bunnings.

Bathroom accessories

Bathroom accessories were bought on-line before we left for Tas, and arrived in our absence, kindly picked up by neighbour Rosemary. Mounting them on the walls turns out to be a more time consuming job than we expect, and we have a slew of other things to do and places to be when we return to Melbourne. We start on Sunday, tackling another item each time we have a free hour or so, and by Thursday we have a fully accessorised bathroom: 2 shelves, 3 towel rails (2 heated), loo roll holder, loo brush holder, hand towel ring and a coat hook.

Shelves, heated towel rails, loo roll holder, loo brush holder (barely visible).

Towel rail for the bathmat, and the coat hook.

White goods arrive

Good Guys call on Tuesday to arrange delivery of washing machine, dryer and fridge. When the delivery arrives it's just washer and dryer as it appears the fridge is damaged.

What's behind the green door?

As we travel back from Hobart on the SoT we get messages from the security system telling us there is someone in 1A. When we look at the videos we can see the painters back at work. When we get home we see that the outside is finished and looks great, except that the door is much greener than we expected. That's the problem with picking colours via the colour charts on the web.

That's all (for now, anyway)

We move back into the house on Monday, and for the next few days we progressively move more stuff in and more packaging out. Recycle bins are all full, again.
We make the decision about bathroom accessories and order - they will probably arrive while we're away and be ready to fit on our return.
We also take a load of things that have no place in the new setup to the op shop. There will be more.
We have the place looking pretty good by the time friends arrive for a farewell drink - tomorrow we head to Tasmania.
And now, a tour:

Main bedroom, showing new chair.
NB carpet isn't purple, it's just my phone. Stripey effect is also courtesy of the phone.

Second bedroom, grey carpet still looks purple.
I need a new phone.

Lounge suite in place

Laundry cupboard, now painted.

Kitchen area

Lounge area

And the picture is home, just not yet on the wall.
Entertainment unit to go here eventually.