Boxing Day

On Boxing Day, the Slaters and the Pipers came over, bringing leftovers from Christmas to share. The TV was not set up yet, but Jacob connected a pair of "Bunny Ears" to the aerial cable so the blokes could keep an eye on the cricket.

The cousins always know how to have fun when they get together.

In the afternoon, the fellas all helped to assemble a BBQ that Mike had got for Fathers Day.

After too much food again, the tide had gone out, so the kids all went out to play on the mud flats:

While the "Mums" looked on from the Boatshed: (Apparently assembled in height order, or is that Kate cheating again?)

Merry Christmas

Best Wishes to all our friends and family.

Here at Hobbits Hollow, we are so pleased to be living in the new house, even if it doesn't yet have front stairs, shower screens or wardrobes, and shame the pool is not finished yet, but that gives us something to look forward to next year. We're as happy as pigs in mud.

After all, with a new house and a new car in the garage, and most importantly each other, we have everything our hearts could desire.

We must have been good though, as Santa brought the kids LCD TVs for their new rooms, while Mum and Dad got a new Dyson to help keep the new house clean (and replace the old dinosaur we were using).

On Christmas Morning, Nanny came to share Christmas Breakfast with us:

Here's Jess with the traditional lolly tray:

Hope you've got everything you want too.

With lots of love from 4 very relieved hobbits.

The OLD and the NEW

When we bought our first new car in December 1995, it was difficult to imagine that our kids (both then pre-schoolers) would end up driving it.

13 years on, the little white Hyundai has been really good to us, and Jess has nearly completed the 120 requisite hours on her Learner's Licence, and will be able to go for her Provisional Drivers Licence in it at the end of February 09!

Even more scary is that in October 2010, Jacob will be able to apply for his Learners Licence and start driving officially.

Here's a picture of Jake practicing in the Excel at Kurnell aged Two:

We had to share this next picture with you for comparison; here's a similar Photo of Mike in his Grandad's VW at about the same age - this one is taken at the old house in Peninsular Rd, just up the hill from where we are now, with next door neighbour Donna Label: The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, does it?

Moving on to the 21st Century, it was part of our plan for Kate to get a new car when we had built a garage to put it in. After such a good run with the old one, it was hard to go past another Hyundai: Some of the subtle differences that the new one has include two extra doors, keyless entry, iPod dock, cruise control, 6 airbags, ABS, ETC (think that stands for Electronic Traction Control, not etcetera) and much more. And being a Turbo Diesel, it apparently puts out less emissions than a Prius, so soft on the environment.

Looking forward to at least another 15 years with the i30, while the kids get to use the old girl.

MOVE IN DAY!

Wahoo, we finally did it!

Apologies to all our blog-watchers, who have been pleading with us for an update since we moved in.

While we were all extremely happy to finally be in (it still seems a bit surreal), we did spend the first four weeks trying to get various telecommunications companies to connect us with a phone and internet, in the end our very good friends at Telstra came through with the goods, so now we are on-line again. We appreciate the wait has been difficult for you, and you can surely understand how frustrating this has been for us. It even affected deliveries (see more below). We have backdated this post to mark the momentous day we moved in.

Anyway, enough dribble, here's what you've been waiting for, our NEW HOME: The first thing you see when you come down the driveway (other than the distinctive curved roofline) is the cedar garage door, now finished in Mahogany Red. Yes we need to finish off the safety railings and fencing.

The recycled ironbark posts at the front entrance have now been revealed. While we are waiting for contractors to come back to work after the Christmas break to build our front steps, the access will have to be though the garage and internal stairs:

When you make your way down the stairs you arrive at the Family Room. Once we had moved in the Fantastic Tub-Chairs, this area became affectionately known as "The Lobby Bar" :

On the other side of this large open space is the formal Lounge Room and TV:

In between these two living areas, at the hub of the house, is the Kitchen:

And this is the work area in the Pantry behind, where the toaster and other small appliances now live:

One of the minor dramas with the move was getting these two new Fridges delivered; waiting patiently without any home phone or mobile coverage, the delivery driver assumed we were not there and twice took them back to the warehouse. On the third day, when they finally understood we were home waiting, the concretors had poured wet cement along the full length of the driveway. So that was interesting but they're here now:

The leather lounge was imported from Malaysia, and although it came in 4 pieces, not one of them fitted through the sliding glass door at the side of the house. Luckily the delivery driver and his offsider were happy to manoeuvre them around the front of the pool area to get them in the larger terrace opening.

Its big enough to seat 10 (which we later proved on Boxing Day), nearly as good as the Chrysler in B52s Love Shack, you know the one that "Seats about 20"!

Our Outdoor Table looks inviting on the Terrace. Jacob found this corner was the only place he got an ounce of mobile coverage, and sent SMS messages from here and waited patiently for any replies.

Upstairs now, and here is our Master Bedroom:

And Ensuite:

Here's Jessica's Bedroom:

And Jacob's Room:

And finally, here is the Coffee Making Unit outside the Office:

We do hope that you will drop in for at least a coffee with us one day!

Connections and Trenches

Even though the house is essentially complete, it is still not yet functional, as it is still operating on the temporary (original) single-phase power supply to the boatshed and the original (badly deteriorated) water pipe. There is still no sewer connection to the street, as the contract only covers to the property boundary.

So it was our responsibility (not the builder's) to organise contractors to get these vital services connected.

Fortunately, we were able to contact some tradesmen from Kurnell, who we had previously used at our other houses, and they were able to pull a few strings to get things happening at this busy time of year.

Less than 2 weeks before we are due to move in, we had to get an excavator in again at the tail-end of the project to start ripping open a trench in the driveway:

Fortunately for us this is also designated as an easement for services:

This did leave the driveway inaccessible for the best part of those two weeks:

With a 600mm deep trench for installation of the new 3-phase electrical cables, the sewer pipe, a new (clean) water supply, and other conduits for telephone and communications cables:

With the move-in date looming and fears that any replacement concrete would not be cured enough before the removalist truck drives down, the backfilled trench was temporarily covered with crusher dust that could be removed and replaced with the concrete after we had moved in.

At least this will get us in to a functional, habitable home, although anything else that needs to come in after the removalist truck and before Christmas will need to be carried down from the street.

Another Busy Week

House Update

The remainder of the Cabinetry (under the builder's contract) was installed this week, including the curved stone Kitchen benchtop in "Mangrove", which blends in beautifully with the natural colours of the site: The rest of the appliances were also installed: Most importantly, Mike was keen to check out the new Smeg gas cooktop, where he is bound to spend many an hour to unwind from the day's work!

Upstairs, the vanities and shaving cabinets were installed in the Ensuite, and the main bathroom: The small coffee making area outside the home office also had the benchtop and little sink installed:

For the first time, we got a glimpse of the Laundry, which we had redesigned during the year:

With the fernery outside, it looks like it will be a pleasant place to do chores!

Unexpected Visitor

While packing up at the rental yesterday afternoon, we had the back doors open, and the local Blue-Tongue Lizard wandered in and started helping himself to the cat food in the Kitchen:

If you notice he was heading towards the dishwasher as we were trying to take a photo of him, and before we knew it, he had flattened himself and slipped through the small gap under the door!

So we had to pull the front off the dishwasher and entice him back out again with the cat's meat.

He was a beautiful specimen, and Mike bravely picked him up (with a towel) and safely returned him to the garden.

Cook Community Awards

After 25 years of collecting and delivering bread to the poor (including us!) Granny and Poppa were recognised by our Federal Member for their services to the community.

Both Jess and Jake have given them a hand at times over the years.

Click the play button below to view the short video of the presentation at Sharks Leagues Club:

Congratulations to you both for your efforts!

Kitchen & Colour

Our new kitchen started going in yesterday:

Here's Jess testing the big drawers...

and Bin system:

Our rainwater tanks have also arrived, and now that the bridge has been built and formwork removed, they can be set in place under the garage and the stormwater pipes connected up:

Upstairs, the painting is almost complete, and the colours started going on the feature walls. Here's the "Donkey" in the master bedroom:

We let the kids pick the colours for their own rooms.

This is "Michael" (probably not his real name!) the painter edging for the rich, dark chocolate brown colour "Cafe Noir" in Jess' bedroom:

While Kate and Jake look on, in awe at his speed and accuracy:

We like work (could watch it all day!)

Within about 20 minutes, here's the same wall after the first coat. Beautiful.

Jacob has always wanted an Orange Wall, for the full 5 years we've been planning this project - we were thinking more a Rust or Burnt Orange, but he has picked "Racing Orange" (How Appropriate!)

This one needed a special undercoat, and Jake watched with extreme interest as the long awaited feature wall appeared before his eyes...

And was very happy with the result.

Next week the rest of the cabinetry for the bathrooms and laundry will be installed.

Watch this space for more updates.