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!

Now we can welcome our visitors!

That's right, we have a front door for our visitors to knock on! Woo hoo! I love my doors and I love my door handle! The kids are excited to have a big box where their bath will be and were very tempted to walk out the sliding doors onto the balcony. I did stop them though, because the balcony doesn't actually have a floor yet and it would have been quite a fall for them. I'm a good, responsible mother I am. Lol. I apologise for the lopsided photo, the walls are straight, not so sure about the photographer...

That's a Wrap!

I can't help but feel guilty that while hundreds of people are losing their own houses, our new one just keeps going up. The lower level has been wrapped, the plumbing roughed in and brickies started.

I went and saw the electrician and he has put my mind at ease - nothing was a problem. I am so glad we were brave enough to ask our supervisor, after PD had emphatically insisted that nothing more could be done! It was lucky I did talk to the electrician because there were a few things missing from his plan that were on mine! He must've had an old one without revisions so that was sorted out as well.

Strangely enough, our plumber rang us with a few discrepancies the day before - he too had the wrong plans! Nothing major, just number of and position of taps, but lucky it was picked up early.

Our brickies are well and truly under way. My daughter pointed out tonight as we drove past, that they have started bricking up the top level before it has been wrapped. Has that happened to anyone else? Is it a problem? I might get Graeme (hubby) to go and talk to them tomorrow just to be sure.

My thoughts.

We did the best we could to cope with the 46deg heat on Saturday - we spent the day at my sister's house swimming in her pool, huddling in the shade and sharing a few cold beverages. The sky was menacingly grey. We didn't know if it was dust being blown around by the strong winds or smoke. Then as the wind changed late in the afternoon we could suddenly smell what was definitely smoke. We could hear the sirens as the local CFA trucks left town to help out where they could. We are miles and miles away from any of the mass destruction, but that smell and those sounds filled us with dread. Of course, it was a stinking hot day with strong winds and we are experiencing one of the worst droughts ever, so it was inevitable there would be fires, but none of us ever imagined this....... Our thoughts and prayers are with all the victims, the volunteers and their families.

Selling up.

I just thought I would add a few photos of the house from different angles before the bricks start. After the scaffold was removed, the chippies were able to complete the alfresco frame and install the upstairs windows.

A friend of mine informed me today that her husband has the bricklaying job!! I was very surprised to say the least but happy that a local is doing it. He needs to do a good job because I know where he lives!!!! Lol, at least he doesn't have to travel far. Apparently he starts Monday, so my house will look like a house in no time.

On another note, we put our current house on the market this week. We had a difficult time deciding when to do it. On one hand, if the house sold too quickly, we may be a family of six and a dog with nowhere to live, and on the other hand, if it doesn't sell soon, we will be struggling to pay two mortgages!! In an ideal world, the house will sell shortly, we'll have a long settlement and then rent from the new owner until our new house is ready.... I guess this is just one of those occasions where we just have to sit back and let whatever happens happen. On that note, I think I will have a drink...

Minor update

Things are still moving on nicely, considering the extreme heat we have been experiencing. We were notified that we had a day's delay due to heat, but that was before the heatwave and our roofers were there on both 44 degree days! Unfortunately, I was too late with the beers so they missed out.

So, the roof is complete, except for the alfresco and garage, which will be done later. The bricks arrived this morning - Boral Mocha - and they seem to be right??

We snuck in over the weekend and climbed the ladder to have a peek at the top floor. It was so exciting for the kids to see their rooms starting to take shape. It's also starting to feel like a house and I think we will have plenty of room! I think I should comment now on how neat and tidy the builders left the site. All the rubbish had been removed and any leftover materials very neatly stacked up. Very impressive!!

We met our building supervisor (T) and he has already been very helpful. Anything we have asked has been no problem at all. My major concern was that we hadn't included enough power points and lights etc. for downstairs. My brother-in-law is an electrician and he can do anything we missed upstairs, but he told us that access will be limited on the ground floor and to get as much done as possible. Of course, after contract PD simply refused any extras, but T has given us the number of the electrician and we will deal directly with them. Such a relief!

So now we just sit and wait for the plumbers and the brickies...... stay tuned.

Moving right along.

It's been a couple of weeks and still I am constantly amazed at how hard our builders are working. The top level frame is up and roof trusses on. At the moment the windows are being installed. Every time we've had a stinking hot day we have driven past the house assuming the builders have gone home for the day, but every time they have been there slaving away in the searing heat. I couldn't help myself today and introduced myself and handed them a couple of icy cold beers. I just hope we don't have any wonky walls as a result! Drove past tonight - 5.45pm - and they were just packing up! Wonderful, wonderful guys!