New Beginnings

Just over 4 1/2 years ago we decided to move away from the city to live in a smaller community.   So we packed up and headed several hours south and ended up about 35 kms from the coast in a small rural township. We bought 3/4 of a acre in town and built a new home.
Life being what it is, my new job is a little further travel wise than my old one.  120 kms round trip each day, thankfully through some beautiful country.
Life is busy and very full.
My husband is about to start a new p/t job in the next day or so. The house is full of anticipation/excitement/trepidation as it's his first venture into office work and day time work in 13 1/2 years.So a whole new and exciting world is opening up.
Eldest has just got his driver's learning permit and is about to start his final year of high school and younger son is about to start  high school. This will be a big year for us.
Paving will be taking a bit of a back seat as everyone settles into both new and old routines.
             

Merry Christmas

edges

Paving edges are almost finished now. It looks so very neat.

bushfires

There have been some bushfires to the south and south east of us here.  6 separate ones in fact. The fire at Margaret River saw the destruction of thirty one houses, four sheds and nine chalets, including the historic Wallcliffe House, while 16 houses and one shop were damaged at Prevelly, Gnarabup and Redgate.

 

I took the dog for a walk yesterday evening. The smoke isn't too thick here as we are about 90mins drive away from most of the fires. But it is thick enough here to make for an eerie sky.  Have heard 2 planes go overhead today though Hope that doesn't mean more fires.

Almost home.

A few snapshots

Just a little progress around the place.

The front gate went on.  We decided to go for a "pool" type gate as they are much lighter than a traditional gate. Attempting to dig a deeper hole for a bulkier and longer support post for a heavier gate would have been a major drama  in our rocky ground.

 

Doggy door frame arrived from the UK finally. It was cheaper to buy the same kit from there than to buy it locally  from Perth and have it posted down ( by over $70)

or to buy it even more locally ( by over $100) 

 

We've bought some paving.  Around 240m2 in fact.  They are 2nd's.  Given we could easily use another 100m2 with ease and end up spending closer to 20k for fancy paving we've decided to opt for a less fancy paver and  keep costs down.  With 2nds it  means a little  more cracking, some bowing, and a bit more variation in size and colour.  But overall well worth the savings as we ended up paying around $5.500 including 2 lots of delivery charges. ( we bought a smaller batch to test the waters then decided to get the lot) The plan is to do a small amount every few days.  We're no longer spring chickens and G is pretty much doing it on his own.  Doing a brilliant job of it too. The last time paving was done we were around 20 years younger so doing a small amount a few times a week is less strain on the back, the knees and  the rest of the body. G semi jokingly said he'll be finished in Feb.  I'm holding him to that.  Oh to win the lottery and be able to afford to pay some one. :)

At first we decided we quite fancied the underside of the pavers, but as work progressed we realised it wasn't as good a look as we had hoped for. So up they came.    Then when the alfresco area was almost completed G worked out why he was having more difficultly than expected in keeping the paving straight.  The first pack opened were slightly more square than the rest.  Up came the pavers again and they were all relaid  in the  same direction. 

It was amazing just how much dirt had to be dug out to level the ground.  

We have little mounds of builders white sand pad sand around everywhere that pavers have been laid.  We'll be using it to  cover up a bit of rocky ground near the fruit trees once the pavers have been sanded in.

We have baby pink lady apples.

 

 We've left a paver width gap up against the house for all paving areas except where there is a doorway.  This will be filled with bluemetal.  This is to assist the pest control man.  He had told G that they charge almost triple on jobs where they have to drill through paving ( every 1m)   to do their sprays as they will not lift pavers. His suggestion was to do the stones. So I guess when our next pestman visit happens we'll see what the bill is.

 

  Ever so nice to sit outside with a cuppa and not be in sand.

After a short break with not so practical paving weather.    G started on the front.

Lots of angles. Once all the whole piece paving is set out here G will buy a saw blade and do all the cuts.

 

Wattle loves roses. He likes to admire them for a second then bites them whole off the plants.  He only picks those in bloom that look  good never any that  have finished and are wilted.  His "handiwork" can be seen here on the pavers.  Usually he runs off to the lawn with the flower to scatter petals everywhere.

 

Once the paving is finished I'll build a retaining bed around the rose garden out of the leftover house bricks.

Pets.

Wattle wants to be friends. Mia isn't impressed. No matter how much she hisses and growls at him he whimpers for her and wags his tail and wants to play. (pounce on her)