Laying turf

If you read my previous post you will remember that last weekend we set about cleaning up one of our side yards. The results were amazing, even the bare soil was a vast improvement on the jungle that existed there before.

This weekend we set about planting a mulberry tree and turfing the area. It's come up a treat don't you think?

 Before...

 The first thing I wanted to do was put my 'money tree' back into position. We purchased this on a whim from someone we had intended to purchase something else off about 5 years ago. I've neglected it ever since but I was told to place it in a certain spot in the garden and it would bring in money to our home. I have never once watered it and it's thrived in this spot so I insisted it be moved back first thing today.

 And here's the after shot!

View looking down the hill to the pool.

And the after shot. (Note very happy small boy.)

View to the top of the area.

And after.

We ran out of turf so the area isn't 100% finished but it's near enough and I love it. What a huge difference it has made.

Earthworks

Finally we have movement at the station!

We have an area at the side of our house that has been a nightmare for years. The previous owners built a system of ponds in the area that flowed nicely downhill. Unfortunately by the time we purchased the house the ponds were leaking, the plumbing not working and the ponds themselves were so close to the house they were causing wood rot. It was pretty clear to us that they had to be removed. It was at that point that we decided on the best course of action - do nothing and hope it one day fixes itself.

The area was very overgrown and despite a yearly weeding and pruning it was just out of control and horrible. When it rained the ponds filled with water prompting the frogs (and mosquitos) to move in. That part I loved however the neighbour hated it and complained often about the noise. Thankfully, due to the leak, the ponds also emptied quickly after rain. The most worrying part was the depth of the ponds, they were more than deep enough to drown a child and we think they were probably quite illegal given current council laws.

Here was the area during last year's annual attack of pruning and weeding.

This is how the area looked this morning.

Eight hours later after rock removal, jack hammering and a lot of mini digger action we were left with this:

The next step is topsoil, turf and a few well selected plants. Hooray for progress.

One man's trash is another man's cubby house

The Gas Man was busy over the weekend trying to transform the half-built cubby into a functional play area for the kids. It's come up very well and will soon receive its finishing touches including a bit more paint, another window and a sandpit landing area for the bottom of the slide.

The entire structure is built from recycled materials including parts of our old pool ladder, a bulk lot of scrap building timber, old paint we found in the shed, our neighbours' old garage door (the roof) and a second hand slide which cost us $10 and was covered with graffiti. (For those interested chlorine removes graffiti on hard plastic surfaces.)

It might not be 100% level and it might not ever have any requisite kitchen equipment or shelving but our kids love it and that's all that counts for us.

In the beginning ...

So where did this all start? Well it really started for me back in the 1980's as a kid. You see we used to live in a very small, A V Jennings built home with only the most basic inclusions. Nothing was very 'pretty' and it certainly had no real soul to speak of. In those days we used to walk everywhere and often we would pass a lovely old Queenlander house just up the road and around the corner. The gardens were always so lovely to look at and sometimes if it was twilight and they had their lights on you could sneak a glance into the house and it's occupants. I used to imagine (in my ten year old logic) that someone very rich, and of course very pretty, lived there and I remember proclaiming that one day I too would live in that house.


Fast forward about 15 years and somehow I convinced my husband (AKA The Gas Man) that we should buy the house for ourselves. By that stage it had fallen out of the hands of loving owners and was rented out. The man living here was lovely but the yards were unkempt and the house had been ravaged by white-ants and wood rot. It certainly wasn't a dream home, in fact the real estate agent listing the house had no even taken a photo of the front of the home, lest buyers be scared away by the jungle outside. Inside the house was better, though it had been painted a revolting shade of green. Needless to say I somehow managed to convince The Gas Man that this house was just right for us. He has never let me forget that it was I who loved and wanted this house, and all it's problems.


So the house that was first built in 1885 became ours exactly 120 years later.


When we bought it our house sat on the ground, we have since raised it and built it in underneath. We've landscaped a bit and added a pool. It's been a huge task and it is by no means finished. We have a list of 72 things that still need to be done before we can finally see the end product of the project that we started 5 years ago.


Here are some pictures to put all these words into context.

Pic 1: This our house post-raise. Yes that is Santa - he always lives on the verandah and comes out to wave and sing each Christmas.


Pic 2: Here is a shot of the inside as it was in about 2007. Much has changed as I've found my own style and worked out how to live nicely here but I did want to show off one the features we have kept- the gorgeous floor to ceiling built in cupboards.


Pic 3: And finally here is our house in the midst of being raised.It is amazing how the contractors do this kind of work - such an art form. The child in the picture is Big Boy my now much older little guy who was probably only three when this picture was taken.


Pic 4: We were blessed to have a few nice features to work with, this entry way being one of them.