Mmmmmm.....Fudge!

Well, we have discovered a way to break in to our locked-up house. Very sneaky....we visited the men installing the cabinets today and yesterday...told them we were 'just measuring up for a few things around the place'....snuck into the study and opened a window just a tiny bit...go home...come back later when they've all gone....insert hand and wind window out all the way....send skinny six year old in through window to open door...voila!! Make sure window is closed properly when we leave.. Brilliant!!

I am waaaayy excited about my cabinets! I have chosen 'Fudge Stream' for just about everything - I love it! I am a bit unsure about the overhead cabinets in the kitchen, though. I have gone for a very light, neutral colour ('Moleskin') which I think looks great, but I'm worried about how it will look with the 'Kid Leather' walls. I hope they complement each other okay. Time will tell, but for now I am extremely happy with my choices. I will let the pictures speak for themselves and I apologise for the blurry ones ( couldn't stand still long enough to focus..lol).

Looking into kitchen from rear.

Other side of kitchen (love my handles!!).

Laundry trough.

Laundry bench and drawers (bench top - 'Stipple Seal').

Powder room.

Upstairs bathroom.

Now this one's tricky. We asked for a 'shaver cabinet' in the ensuite. We thought this would be fairly straight-forward, but apparently not! Porter Davis found it very difficult to draw up and price, and then the installers today said they had never seen one before...?? We were also charged $80 after much deliberation to have magnetic catches put on the doors, but guess what?? No catches!! I know it will be nice to not have to bend down to get the toothpaste, deodorant etc... but I am a bit concerned about how it all looks. Hopefully it will come together a bit better once the mirrors are in... (I'm still lovin' that Fudge!!)

Out in the cold.

Went to have a look at the staircase tonight and couldn't 'cos we have finally been locked out. It was nice to see the bi-folds in but at the same time very sad that we can no longer go in and run around. So here are a couple of shots of the house without scaffolding and with doors, and what we can see of the staircase through the doors .

Bedroom 2

Looking from kitchen through laundry

Looking toward kitchen, dining & rumpus from living

House minus scaffold and garage

Bi-folds and alfresco

Looking toward front doors and staircase from rear

Staircase issues....again..

Well, I didn't realise it has been so long since my last post. It's really only been plastering that has been happening for the last couple of weeks.

We got a bill for 'lock-up' before the bi-folds had gone in so I told them in no uncertain terms that I would not be paying for 'lock-up' until the house can, in fact, be locked up. However, I have now paid the huge bill and the bi-folds are still not in!! The brickie had been waiting for a lintel to arrive before he could finish one last row of bricks above an upstairs window, the scaffolding couldn't come down until the brickie had finished, and the bi-folds couldn't go in until the scaffolding came down.....After much discussion with the SS (who, by the way, is wonderful) I agreed to pay so the rest of the work can continue. The upstairs bricks are now complete and washed and the scaffolding is down, so I expect some bi-folds very, very soon!!

Since the plastering has been completed there has been a bit more action. The internal doors have arrived and are stacked up ready to be hung (which is a bit of a worry since we can't lock them up inside and they may go walking..) and the staircase is in the process of being installed. Unfortunately, it's the wrong staircase! The staircase has always been an issue as we were told initially that we couldn't have what we wanted and then the wrong description was included in the contract. After I pointed out the error it was rectified in a post-contract variation, but unfortunately that variation didn't seem to make it to the carpenter. So Graeme visited the house the other morning to find the guy there installing quite obviously the wrong posts, which makes the whole staircase totally wrong!!! Shit! Shit! Shit!! Please excuse my French...

Anyway, after a couple of phone calls, the SS admitted that there had indeed been a mistake, but they will continue installing the wrong staircase so they can use it when they fit out upstairs, and then replace it with the correct staircase later. Oh, if only they had got it right in the first place......

Still, that is just a minor hiccup which PD are quite happy to rectify so I am okay with that.

Damn you long weekend!!

Nothing to say except that three days is an awful long time to go without anything happening. How dare they take three days off! Whose idea was it to have public holidays anyway? Bring back the 84 hour week I say!!

Bats in the belfry.

Or should that be 'batts'? As usual, there has been much action at the house. There are cables everywhere and in all the right places as far as we can see. I must say I am very relieved about that considering how many times I rang and 'annoyed' the electricians with 'just one more thing'!The plumbing is all done. The heating and cooling units and ducting have been installed. Graeme is impressed with the cooling unit - apparently it's a 'whopper', which is good 'cos I need to be cool! The insulation has arrived and semi-done.

The bricks are almost finished. Our brickie is now waiting for the scaffolding to be removed so he can finish. The scaffolding was also a problem for the bi-fold door man. Apparently he turned up yesterday to install the doors only to find he couldn't get them in because of the scaffold... I hope he didn't travel far! Lucky for us though, 'cos that would mean we would be at lock-up and possibly not able to get in for a look. All the other doors were shut and locked today, which could be a sign that our daily visits might be coming to an end.

We did sneak in and move a fan noggin and put some noggins in elsewhere for towel rails and shelves etc. All with the blessing of our wonderful supervisor. Hopefully everything has been thought of and acted on. If not, it's too late now because.......we have plaster!! Actually the plasterer was there before the insulation was in so he had to wait around for that to be done before he could start. He was a day early, but that's okay by us. I tell you, there has been absolutely no time wasted here! We are no longer able to walk through the walls downstairs and are starting to get a real feel for the size and shape of the house.

Laundry plumbing.

Can't remember what this is for - I'm sure it's very important.

Upstairs bathroom shower.

Where all the wires originate.

Insulation and ducting - really does look like a spaceship.

My kitchen & pantry.

Looking towards front door from back - and no, those kids would never dream of climbing that ladder..;)

Living room.

Almost a house.

Impressive cooling unit!