The "Stupid" Waiter

From this unusual angle, not only can you appreciate the blades holding up the garage, but from underneath you get a better understanding of the height, with the garage floor 7.2metres above the ground: And we didn't leave that hole in-between all 3 levels for nothing; today the Dumb Waiter was installed:

This handy device will make it easier to get the shopping directly from the car to the kitchen without scuffing up the walls down two flights of stairs!

The boatshed windows have also now been installed, with louvres to let the breeze in.

And the formwork has commenced for the pool

The happy family watches the progress eagerly...

Lockup!

No longer is the house a floating island... It has finally been connected to the "mainland" with the driveway now going all the way to the garage! which is great, because it is going to be a bit longer before we can afford the timber stairs to the front door. So for now this and the internal stairs will be our main entry. The front doors have now been properly hung with the electronic locks installed, and their first couple of coats of stain. With the driveway completed, the cedar garage door could be installed.

Don't panic Kate! It has only had one coat of stain here - there are a few more to go to make the colour deeper.

At least the place is now weather-tight!

Concrete Driveway and Glass Balustrading

The Innovative Team got stuck into one of the last pieces of the jigsaw today; the bridge across between the old concrete driveway and the garage: Meanwhile, downstairs, the glass balustrades were installed on the terrace: and you can see here why it's nice not to have the view interrupted!

It will also be nice to enjoy the reflections off the pool from the terrace

The New Boatshed gets a roof

Our cute little boatshed has now got a roof: We are very happy with the "Jasper" coloured steel, and it fits beautifully into the surroundings. Inside the main house, the timber flooring has finished being installed: And the last of the windows are now in place, with the tricky curved pieces in the curved skylight finally arriving: The tinted eco-glass seems to make the view of the trees even more impressive.

Next week, the bridge across to the garage should be completed.

Jacob's 14th Birthday

We had a family get-together at our temporary home in Sutherland for Jake's 14th Birthday

Getting ready to open his presents:

with little Chris also eager to help:

With a major addition to his power tool collection:

And some replacement wheels for his beloved (and worn out) scooter:

Uncle Dave commented that his old ones were shaped more like a 50 cent piece!

The next morning (his real birthday) Jacob was brought to tears when he uncovered an electric guitar:

He has since amazed us with his playing prowess, you would think he has been practicing for years - he's very clever!

That day we took him to the Sydney International Motor Show, and he had a ball (and a bug)

Although he seemed just as impressed with what he found in the parking station:

Afterwards, we picked up Jess from work, and bought him some orange sheets and pillows for his new bedroom (with the orange wall)!

Back home, we had another birthday cake, this time just big enough for the 4 of us...

Hello NEW Boatshed!

Well get a load of this - it has only been days since the old boatshed started being dismantled, and already the new mini-boatshed is starting to evolve: This new one will actually have windows along the North-West wall to admire the views up North-West Arm: On the other side, the removal of the overgrown weeds has opened up our view across our own little beach: This cute little boatshed has a mezzanine floor for storage, and the door has been relocated to the back: Inside (upstairs) the open plan will provide plenty of room for the kids to play (and maybe even for little guests to stay!). The triangular windows on the front will have the best view in the house: Downstairs still looks very familiar, although now with the red termite resistant timbers (a very good idea considering the condition of the old ones) -

At the back of the boatshed, we now have a new garden area, with lovely shade provided by the trees that were growing around the old building: Looking back up the hill from that area, you can admire the new house being finished up, now without scaffolding for the first time Looking out through the curved window, you can now see how the lower profile of the new boatshed has opened up the views. From this level the wet-edge pool will almost completely hide the boatshed. Inside, the Sydney Bluegum timber floorboards, which have been acclimatising in the garage over the past 3 weeks, are now being laid: With all the angles in the house, it was difficult to decide which way they should run. They are being installed perpendicular to the stairs and the kitchen, and by the time they get to the fireplace, they are on an interesting diagonal: With Christmas getting rapidly closer, Jess has already decided the best spot for the Christmas Tree will be in the far corner by the windows:

Farewell old Boatshed

With mixed feelings of excitement and sad goodbyes, we watched as the old boatshed started to come down. When the roof tiles started being removed, a strong smell of possum pee filled the air, and a small ring-tail possum had to be relocated out of the big clump of ivy on the front. It seems that some of the larger brush-tails had already sought new living quarters.....much to the horror of our builders who found possum claw marks in the fresh plaster work of the new house. We managed to rescue the two multi-pane windows with some of their poorman's glass still intact. We hope to restore them and use them in the landscape for symbolic reminiscences of our more humble start. With the windows removed we could see the light spilling into what used to be a dark lounge room. Guess we should have put a glass sliding door in years ago (haha) Many of you may not know that this humble little cottage was Mike's first bachelor pad when he moved out of home. After about 8 years batching, Mike married Kate and it became the Love Nest leading to the birth of our Beautiful baby girl Jessica. By the time Jess hit 9 months it was getting a bit crowded with the 3 of us in a single bedroom. We moved out and laughed that Tina, Mike's youngest sister moved straight in. If you look carefully at the front left hand of the Boatshed you will see the original sandstone base which we are keeping and will support the new smaller boatshed roof. Back to the new building; the time had come to complete the soffit over the terrace. Timber blockwork was installed to support a ceiling fan (outdoors - another Qld influence!) And in another great cover-up, the pipework disappeared behind the sheeting ready for the painters...

Another challenge we had was with the rainheads to drain the large box gutter - we were disenchanted with those commercially available, so we surfed the internet for inspiration and had a modern take on the Ned-Kelly style fabricated to suit...

The downpipes are yet to be painted to match

Inside, however, the painters are already getting stuck into it, with the first coats going on downstairs today:

The fireplace alcove has also been finished and painted to blend in as part of the wall.

Looking forward to a big week after the long weekend, the timber floorboards should start going in, the remainder of the scaffolding should come down, and then the pool can start.