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.

Quiet Sunday

We expect the painters back on Sunday, but they don't come.
We make up for the lack of action in the house by going out and ordering a flat pack broom cupboard, and buying two flat-pack chairs, which we bring home and erect on our return.
We are still wrestling with the bathroom accessories, no decision yet on what to buy.

More painting

Olsi and his team arrive early Saturday and paint all day. Having the big laundry cupboard painted to match the walls makes a big improvement to the back room.
They don't do any outside work as it is raining for the first time for a month.

Last things

The guys from Profast came today and fitted the cover for the range hood flue. They also took away some left-over building materials and a couple of brooms. One day soon we'll be able to put the car in the garage again.
Olsi the painter is coming tomorrow and Sunday to paint the flue cover, the laundry cupboard, and to touch up any areas that need it, and then we really will be able to say that the house is finished. We may move back on to the 8 Finlay Street side of the new gate for the weekend to get away from the smell of paint, and to avoid messing up any wet paint.

We're in!

First night in the new house and we sleep very comfortably, thank you.
We continue the unpacking and washing of kitchen equipment as we have our morning tea and prepare breakfast.
Before we actually sit down to eat, Marty arrives to fit the gate. He waits for Chris who is collecting the gate and is stuck in traffic, so we have a chat about some other jobs that Marty might do for us - putting some metal louvres on the top of the garden wall to match those erected by our neighbour across the back wall and building a small deck at the back door. At about 9:58 we remember we have parcels awaiting us at our PO Box, and rush down to collect before 10am when the parcel pickup facility closes. Back home with the parcels we have the fun of unpacking a bit more kitchen equipment - chopping boards, a large fruit bowl and two grey hand towels.
Chris arrives with gate, but then he and Marty discover that the gateposts supplied with it are larger than Marty specified, and the combination of gate and posts is too big for the aperture. So another pause while they go off to source the right size posts, and we continue cleaning and tidying.
With the shower screen in place, we decide that the heated towel rail we've purchased but not yet fitted is too large, so we will have to do a re-run to Bunnings to buy a smaller one.
By the time Helen returns from her afternoon playing with her Allsorts group, the gate is finished, and looks just as we hoped it would.
Later we have the fun of showing the project off to nephew Nick and wife Ivy. Nick was our tenant in the unrenovated house for some years, and was most impressed with the new incarnation.
Our last act for the day was to christen the new bathroom, having showers there before going to bed.

Glaziers come, and we move in, sort of

Today is the day for the glaziers to come and fit the shower screen, and replace a number panes in old windows and doors. The arrive around 7am and spend most of the day glazing.
Andrew the electrician is back briefly as well, and shortly after he has finished his final checking and fixes, the guy arrives to do the electrical inspection - all OK.
Cousins who are re-locating from Sydney to Melbourne 'booked' the guest wing months back for tonight and tomorrow night. As the new house is barely finished (shower screen may be in place, but we have to wait 24 hours before we can use it), when they arrive late in the afternoon we install them in our place and we stay in the guest wing. This entails quite a lot of work during the day - making up the bed, moving some clothes in, and progressively unpacking stored content of the old kitchen, bathroom and laundry cupboards, and the spare linen. As all of it is pretty dusty, we exercise the new dishwasher, putting load after load through before things are put away in the new kitchen drawers.
Our last act for the day is to cut out and stick some frosted film on the front windows, so that passers-by can't look in on us in bed.

We get laid (or at least the carpet does), wired and plumbed

Once more we lurch out of bed at 6:30, as the carpet layer is due at 7:00am. He is early so it isn't long before he's measured up, decided which way to run the carpet, consulted us about edging at the ends of the hall, then headed back to the warehouse to collect the carpet.
While he's gone, we make the final payment, so it's all good to go.
We spend the next hour shifting all the plastic containers and boxes that have been stacked in the garage for ages back into the house next door - these are the repository of all the glasses, crockery, cutlery and kitchen equipment, the linen, the cleaning stuff from laundry and bathroom, and small appliances like the iron, the hairdryer, the toaster and coffee maker.
At about 9am the electrician comes back to complete the final testing and fix a few things that weren't working. Shortly after that Mark the carpet layer returns with underlay and carpet. For the rest of the day he and Andrew conduct a pas de deux as Mark lays underlay and carpet and Andrew does final wiring and testing. We trot in and out occasionally to see how they're going, between spending time with Peter's son Michael and our sort-of grandchild Summer.
Later in the afternoon, when Michael, Summer and I return from the neighbourhood playground and Peter ends a long telephone call, both Andrew and Mark have finished, and we can admire the result. Michael gives us a hand to move the queen bed and mattress back into the front bedroom, with Summer supervising. She finds all the new cupboards fascinating, and explores all the contents. When we get the bed re-erected and the mattress on, she insists that we all take off our shoes and try it out.
After Michael and Summer leave, Peter vacuums the new carpet, while Helen shifts the bedding and cushions which have been cluttering up the piano room in the big house back into the little house, and makes up the bed ready for our occupancy tomorrow night. In the process we realise that sometime during the day the plumber has also dropped in and connected up the dishwasher. With toaster and coffee maker installed, it is all starting to really look like a home.