Wednesday, 11 May 2011
Too much to report! But first, the most exciting news of all (according to Rosie and Jem, anyway): just had the first snow of winter (well, autumn even!) tonight, as the pictures will prove. Been UTTERLY freezing all day after this cold front has moved in - air temp was around 5 degrees all day, but with wind chill that dropped to about -6 this evening! Still a thrill to see snow up here, and makes being freezing all day seem worthwhile...
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| Caught one |
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| Rosie giving a bit of dining/lounge perspecti |
Meanwhile, back on the Block, Monday saw the delivery of the rest of our gorgeous windows and door frames, and as of this arvo they have all been fixed in place. Quite a few of them still have glass missing - this has to be glazed (installed) separately, otherwise they would have been too heavy to lift into place! I think the big hallway window was 100 kilos anyway, even with half of its glass missing... They look amazing, and I'm so glad we went with the local craftsfolk for them - they're clearly very skilled, and from my perspective, at least, they were easy and pleasant to deal with. Love 'em.
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| High and tall front windows (through the now-bare maple) |
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| The 5-hour slider installation...gulp... |
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| Southern wall |
External cladding started on the southern side last week (straight fibro along there), and yesterday the fellas started cladding the front with the Weathertex vertical boards we're using in some other sections – the house has a combination of both right around, just to keep you on your toes. These are a snazzy eco-ish product: sheets made of compressed eucalypt offcuts, with no glues or other nasties in them. Love the verticals too – looking very Brady Bunch, methinks – and it's amazing to see the difference putting a skin on the whole shebang makes. Still to be painted, obviously, so no prizes yet in the guess-the-colour comp. Warwick's aim now is to get us to lock-up stage by about the end of next week, then the brickies come about a week after that to start on the internal walls.
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| See front pic above – now it looks like this! |
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| Front door (with anti-builder protection!) and kitchen window, clad in fibro |
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| Internal bricks (awaiting Trent), flashings and gutters |
Paul the lovely electrician (no relation to James the lovely plumber) arrived last week to start on the wiring, and he handled both Mat and me visiting the site (separately even) and wanting to be babied through the whole process with aplomb. Despite my sparkie heritage (hi, Dad), I really don't think lights and plugs are my forte – the whole thing has had me bamboozled on more than one occasion, but Paul has been kind and tres helpful, walking through every room with me and making sure everything is going to work. I think he's a Zen monk on the weekends. Thank god for tradies with social skills!
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| Simple enough... |
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| Hmmmm... |
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| Ye olde pink bats |
In the meantime, I've been spending far too many hours learning all there is to know about heated towel rails. Hard-wired or plug-in? Wattage and IP rating? Chrome or stainless? How many bars are enough? Rounded or square profile? And so on – trust me, you don't want to know any more. I think we are officially heading into ten-decisions-a-day territory...
Too much to report! But first, the most exciting news of all (according to Rosie and Jem, anyway): just had the first snow of winter (well, autumn even!) tonight, as the pictures will prove. Been UTTERLY freezing all day after this cold front has moved in - air temp was around 5 degrees all day, but with wind chill that dropped to about -6 this evening! Still a thrill to see snow up here, and makes being freezing all day seem worthwhile...
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