Christmas

It was our turn to host Neil's family for Christmas lunch.  We had 17 and we all fitted in the family room easy.

Here's the tree and the mantle piece in the loungeroom.

Extra Cabinetry after we moved in

We got a carpenter in Kilmore to come out and do some more shelves for us.  He put shelves in the store room, moved the shelves in the walk-in wardrobe, built a bench for us in the shed, built us some book shelves in the passageway next to the stairs and put a cupboard under the stairs for us, to get around the problem we had in using that space.

 The doors need another coat of paint yet and the insides of the doors painted.

Landscaping

We moved in in July and after settling in a bit, decided that we really wanted to get something done about the bare ground around the house.  We got a landscape guy in and organised turf, fencing, extra topsoil and mulch for around the house.

 See how much the grass has dried out between the day it was laid and the day the fence wire was put up.  It only rained one night after the grass was put down and we've been trying to keep it alive since then, using up the water in our tanks.  I bought a cheap pump to use our dam water, but it didn't work.

 We've had extra wire put at the bottom to stop critters digging under the fence.  We are going to use the yard for dogs, chickens and veggie patches, once the gates arrive in a couple of weeks.  At the moment, the kangaroos are enjoying it when we're not around.
UPDATE:  We need to get the fence guy back to attach the extra wire at the bottom at more places along the fence.  It's only attached every 6" to 8" and the other night when I was out watering it, I was trying to chase 2 rabbits out through the gate opening and they just went straight through under the fence through a gap in the wire.  Like they'd done it before too.......

The front of the house will have garden beds laid out.  Until I get my design sorted out, the whole area is just covered with mulch to stop the topsoil blowing away.

We'll have a path leading from the driveway to some steps that will go up to a meandering path through the garden beds to the front doors.

I've been collecting flat rocks from around the property to use for the steps and paths outside the doors.  Plenty more to get.

Here's a plan of the garden at the moment before I decide where I'm going to put all my plants.  The marked bushes in the garden bed to the right are existing small wattles.  There's a big tree at the top right, but I haven't put it on the plan because it will cover an area that I want to mark out for the few plants that will be getting its shade.
The curve across the top is an embankment with a flat terrace about 5 foot lower.  There's a fair bit of junk still on here.  Bits of broken roof tiles and such.
The curved lines on the left on the far side of the lawn to the house, are the top of the cutting and an agricultural drain dug across the top of the hill above it.  I plan to plant a wind break along here, extending further than what's drawn here.
The bottom right section is a long steep embankment sloping down from the gravelled driveway.
The rectangle at the very bottom of the page is the septic tank and the dark green curve to the left is the edge of one of the water tanks.

I've been reading up on plants which would be suitable for our site.  There's a bit more reading to be done before I make any major purchases.  Some of the ideas in Model 3 - Rural garden, from the CFA Landscaping document, look like things I was wanting to incorporate anyway, so that's a bonus.
http://www.cfa.vic.gov.au/fm_files/attachments/plan_and_prepare/landscaping/landscaping_for_bushfire.pdf

Now I just have to find some suitable drought tolerant, frost tolerant, wind tolerant, sun loving plants that like clay soil and hopefully are "fire wise".  Once I get a hedge going, I'll be able to look at a few more shade loving plants.
That triangle of lawn outside the fence will be surrounded by a hedge and develop into a bit of a secret garden.  That's the idea, anyway.

Cabinets and bench tops

I don't think I've done a proper job on the cabinetry and bench tops we've had installed.  I had some photos printed off in hard copy to show people when they asked me, but I didn't post them on here, which is a shame, because they are quite good and I'm pretty happy with them.

So here is the laundry with the bench top in oiled soapstone Wilson Art laminate and the cupboards in Astral Cumulous.  The handles are plain, ordinary stainless steel rails across the board.  The company that made our cupboards asked me which direction I wanted the handles to go for the cupboards, as opposed to the drawers.  I don't know why they bothered to ask, because they didn't do what I asked.  They did all the cupboard handles vertical.  It isn't worth my time or effort to complain about it and ultimately, I'm not that unhappy with the end result, although, I would have picked longer handles in the bathroom, if I had known they were going to be set vertically, but like I said, it isn't worth the grief.

The ensuite cabinets are in Beigewood (vertical) with a Bronzed Fusion bench top.

The bathroom cabinets are in Urban Bamboo (horizontal) with a Crystal Topaz bench top.  It looks a bit ordinary in the photos, but the crystal topaz has quite a bit going on.  You can get an A4 sample of it to see how it looks in a larger piece.  I'm very pleased with it.  The Urban Bamboo was another story.  You'd think if you had seen the sample in the showroom and asked the person in the showroom if you can get cupboards in Urban Bamboo then that wouldn't be a problem.  Ha!  Think again.  The cupboard guys asked if I was wanting Winter Bamboo since Urban Bamboo "doesn't exist."  Excuse me?  For starters, Winter Bamboo, looks alot like Beigewood, so if I wanted something that looks like that, don't you think I would have asked for Beigewood in both the ensuite and bathroom?  Get real guys.  I had to refer them to the online brochure, page number etc. and they finally told me it took them 3 phone calls to the manufacturer to convince them that Urban Bamboo existed.  How is this my problem?  OK. So I got what I wanted in the end, even if the handles on the cupboards were vertical and not horizontal like what I asked for.  *groan*

Now leaving the best until last is the kitchen.  How many dramas can you have to decide on a bench top?  The cream cupboards were a no brainer.  The cupboard profile was a no brainer.  The bench top was one of the biggest dramas in the whole shebang, but I wont go into that here.  Suffice to say that we have Emerald Pearl granite bench tops with antique white cupboards.  Here are some pictures.

Floors done

I went up today to check out whether the carpet had been laid yet.  The last info I got was on Thursday that the installer had hurt his neck and wasn't going to be installing before Monday.  Today, there was someone cleaning windows and someone else vacuuming the carpet.  The bamboo flooring looks awesome.   I'm extremely happy with how it looks.  They rang me on Thursday to double check which direction I wanted it laid, since the instructions I had supplied were contrary to how they would normally do it.  This was definitely how I wanted it.  I had told them I wanted it laid with the boards in the same direction as the grain on the treads of the stairs.  I'm so glad I stuck to my inner vision.  The end result is exactly how I wanted it.

They said they would normally go with the direction of the longest line, which was perpendicular to what I wanted.  If they had done this, it would have made the master bedroom look narrower and longer than it is and coming down the stairs, would have looked wrong (in my opinion) with the floor boards in a 90 degree angle to the stairs.

Their advice was that what I was asking for, was going to close in the rooms.  YES.  YES.  YES.  Precisely!  That's exactly the look I'm going for.  I'm not looking for rooms that appear larger than they are.  I'm trying to get a cosy feeling here, despite the size of the rooms.

And also,  the master bedroom already feels too short in one direction (even though it really isn't), so setting up the floor boards in the other direction gives it a psychological depth, based on the line and direction of the flooring.  It's the cheats way of making a room feel bigger in a specific direction.  And I was right.  I'm standing in the room and it just feels wider.

Today was a good day.  Not only does the fire streak bamboo look frigging awesome, but the direction it has been laid has directly impacted the feel of the entire house.  Win to team Sarah.

  

Oh and the carpet has been installed as well.  Yes, the carpet looks fine and feels great to walk around on in socks, but in the scheme of things, I can't help but think it's just carpet.