Some photos...

The 'pool slide' !!!

Boxes to hold all the pool toys etc.... doubling as handy seats as well!

Beautiful sunset tonight ... no photoshopping here, this was the real deal!

New washing line (yes string needs to be tightened a little!)

More progress - mirrors, moving, showers, skirts, and a washing line!

We're still moving on.. although a LOT slower than we have been moving the last 12 months! Too much swimming in the pool, hehe. And the kids started back at school which meant for me finishing the rest of packing while the kiddies aren't around to say 'but mum that's my favourite toy ever!'. Nearly done, bringing boxes back as I go so it's not so daunting all at once! Our mirrors were installed a couple of weeks ago, which is really exciting. Sorry I haven't had a moment to take photos, but will put them up when I get a chance. Mirrors in ensuite, bathroom and WC and it makes such a difference to those rooms. Bikeman and Rizzo had a crack at putting up one of the shower screens - took a long time and a lot of frustration when it became apparent (after the first screen was up) that it was smaller than noted on the box ... put all the measurements out... eep! So a bit of ingenious fixing by Bikeman and we have half a shower screen - better than the scraps of plastic underlay I had taped to the sides of the shower to stop the walls getting wet! What else.... ooooh I have a washing line, which is pretty exciting. It's very high up at the moment as we're going to have the concrete paths done soon - lucky I'm tall! Laundry is working brilliantly, is it incredibly dorky to say that I really like my Laundry and all its storage? It is?? OK. I won't say it then. :) Our new couches arrived, they are really comfy and suit the house beautifully. If only now we had time to go looking for a new table, the old green plastic table is starting to look a bit out of place now! We have one in mind, just have to find it. Skirting boards are pretty much all on, apart from one area that is going to be a built in cupboard eventually, so not sure how skirts will affect the cupboard - in place just not painted or nailed on. The rest of the house are nailed on, and have at least the first coat on (80% of the house). I'm seeing the end of painting ... I can see the horizon!!! Oh and then I remembered the doors. Doors need painting, whoops! It's amazing the things you 'don't' see after you move in. Like the blue painting tape around the windows for instance. Some of the windows have been finished already but still the blue tape remains. Almost like part of the window now! Best get cracking and remove it actually, as the window furnishings have been ordered and should be turning up in the next week or so. Will be glad to have my quilt covers back and off the kids windows!! Thanks to all the lovely visitors we have had and the kind comments. We've had a blast, really, during this whole process. There have been a few ups and downs but for the most part it has been great. And we are soooooo lucky to have so many great family members and friends who put in time to help us - thanks to you all. We love you heaps and couldn't have done it without the help from you guys. x That's it for now... photos to come soon.

Cats and Couches are in .... we are officially living at 'The Block'!

Except that now calling it home feels a little odd. The kids still refer to it as the block even though we don't have much stuff at the old house (although admittedly a lot of their toys are still at the old house - need to have a massive 'cull' before packing them into boxes!). And we had our first official visitors since moving in - the Rizzos. Plus the smaller two from the Sandhurst Clan came to stay a couple of nights, so we really have had a full house! Has been lovely though to put all those rooms to good use. So now we have couches to sit on and all of our clothes... yippeeee! And the washing machine, although that only lasted one wash before a leak in the waste pipe put a stop to all that. Bikeman has to get a plumbing part to fix it and then it will be up and running again. And the cats are here - Tiger is now roaming the house quite comfortably (and would like to go outside, thankyou very much) but Purple rarely leaves the safety of the laundry. Every now and then she sticks her head out, may even venture to the room across the hall, hears any little noise and runs back into the laundry behind the dryer. She's not quite ready for the big outside world yet! So we're here - and now have a bit of a role reversal with the houses - now at the old house we don't have a fridge, and had to take the 'building' kettle back there - but have had to stock up on UHT milk so we can have a coffee when we go there! And the cleaning has begun .... oh my god 11 years worth of dust behind things is not a pretty sight. Especially after being in such a sparkling clean new home. Time to roll up those sleeves and get it on the market....

The pool is open for business!

After many hours spent by the Sandhurst Crew and Stevie B, we had a beautiful setting for our very first swim in our fantastic new pool. Hard to believe that only a week earlier it was so murky and green... amazing what some great advice from Ze Pool Man can do (oh and a lot of chemicals and some elbow grease from Bikeman!). We swam and it was GREAT! It was a little chilly to begin with but Pink was in there, straight out no hesitation. It could have had ice floating in it and she would have been in there regardless. Blue had a wonderful time, he has been waiting sooooo long for this pool to be up and ready. And just in time, with a few 35+ days in a row it was the perfect antidote to a hot day (or days)! In the days following we have had lots of visitors which we are really pleased about - why have a pool if you can't share it with friends? Not enough words to describe how much fun it has been. Amazing. Cooling. Delightful. Friends. Perfect.

I think we may have moved in...

I said to Bikeman the other night: "Do you know what? I think we may have moved in without realising". He laughed at me and agreed that perhaps we have. It started with sleeping over a few nights. Bikeman has been here for weeks now, keeping an eye on things and making sure stuff didn't get nicked (as is apparently common at this stage of building). The kids and I stayed every now and then, until the start of last week. We intended to stay for 2 nights, then the kids friends were going to have a sleepover (which didn't eventuate) so that meant another night, then my family came over for dinner the next night (we're up to 4 nights now) and then we stayed Friday night (just because it was Friday). Then it made sense to stay the weekend and now we're at Wednesday and haven't been 'home' yet. Of course we have been 'home', to feed the cats and do washing, but we haven't stayed there. And I'm not sure that we will again. So.... officially moving day is looking like Sunday, possibly... Doo Bah is going to return a favour (or 3) and help move some big furniture into the house. We're nearly ready - only a few arcs and skirts to finish off and we can get that done around the furniture. Enough already! We need to be in, and now. I've had enough of waiting!

What's been happening at 'The Block'

Firstly Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Hope that 201o finds you healthy and happy. A lot has happened at 'The Block' over the last few weeks. Firstly I have reverted to calling it 'The Block'. Firstly it is helping me mentally get back into work mode and secondly it requires further explanation when I say 'home' so that way it is clear! Anyway, we and a variety of our wonderful friends and family have been very busy. Carpets went in thanks to Steve J (they look great) and the pool has the filter and pump attached so would be swimmable if it wasn't so murky. Nothing that a bit of attention from the pool vaccuum and some big time chemicals won't fix! Big thanks to the Sandhurst Crew for fronting up New Years Day after a big night the night before to work their butts off all day to get the fancy plumbing work done. Then came the storm, just minutes after the Sandhurst Crew had downed tools for the day (at 7.20pm I might add) and we were able to watch the most spectacular lightning show that I have seen in some time. Fantastic! Stevie B and his myriad of beasts (machinery, not children!) arrived a couple of days later after the soil had dried out to move around a whole heap of crushed rock. The result: around the pool is now flat and even, able to be walked on without the fear of being held hostage by mud as you walk around. The outside is pretty much now ready for paving/concrete and around the pool is nearly ready for the concrete beam required. Looks FANTASTIC! And not to mention that the Sparkies were back in on Christmas Eve to add in another light at the front (drilling through the wall at 7.30am - not good while suffering from a hangover from the street Xmas Party from the night before!) and powerpoint to the front and the back area (for the pool). And the roofers were back in to finish the downpipes. I've had a heap of 'spakfilla' helpers - Nana P and Jordan B, thanks to you both for your sanding/spakfilla efforts. And unmentioned previously was Orange (cousin of Pink and Blue) who helped me paint the front entrance way and did a GREAT job! Oh and in between all that I finally painted my last wall - our bedroom. Hurrah! Not content with all that walls had to offer, I have moved on to skirting boards and architraves and eventually will finish the doors as well. I must say the rooms look much more finished now with the skirts/arcs painted. All the carpeted areas are now done, apart from doors, so as a result we moved our bed and Blue's bed in over the weekend. And a heap of toys, to keep the billy lids happy while we frantically try and finish it all. Oh ...... and last but definitely not least : we have CERTIFICATE OF OCCUPANCY!!! Meaning that officially we can move in - which we had planned to do before now but we're just not quite ready. So hopefully now we will be in over the next 2 weeks - probably gradually, each time we go up we'll take another load. And in between all that we had Xmas in the Mount and New Years at home. Is it any wonder we're looking a bit weary? Looking forward to being able to lay my hat at the new house and call it 'home'. Fancy Plumbing by the Sandhurst Crew, designed by Mrs B Skirting, Architraves, Carpet and a bed! Starting to look like a real room - Blue's Room. Even sheets as curtains!

Our bedroom - pink post it hearts courtesy of Pink. 'Up high so the babies can't get them' - not sure what babies but a cute thought. Very nice to have carpet underfoot and a real bed to sleep on!

Stevie B in the midst of moving around crushed rock. By the end of the day was all level around the pool.

Thanks to all our helpers we are soooooo lucky to have such wonderful people around to help us. Happy New Year to you all and my New Years Resolution for this year: To spend more time with my family and friends. And not so much on the bloomin' house!