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.