Capturing how gorgeous this area really is.

Now I am no photographer but sometimes this places is just so beautiful I have to grab the camera and have a go.

Out to the woodpile

 

 Our resident kookaburra

 The fog rolling in from the valley (taken from my bedroom windows)

More fog and the sun peeping through.

Time to update.

Yes I know I can hear you say "But it has been a year, what has she been doing" Well the short answer is a lot.
The longer version is finishing the house, establishing a shop, Shop Handmade, that connects with the Handmade market, writing a book, Handmade living and raising a family.

So as Easter rolls around I am going to try and get some information onto the blog. As there is so much to fill in I will try and do it in stages and lets all be happy it is getting done at all :)

Lets start with the front (as these are some of the few photos I have) This is the front verandah with the window being for the office. As you can see we have a mix of corrugated iron and a lovely large brick called silver. The posts are in the builders version of natural wood stain. We have put a deck in here, it is bamboo. Not in love with this material for wear as it is going quiet grey in areas.

                                                          South facing front verandah.


Enjoy your long weekend and stay safe.
J x

Another challenge...

Wow the days are pasing fast. Since I am trying not to let this blog turn into one bad story after another there doesn't seem to be much else to say! The bank finally paid up 6 weeks later after annoying them constantly and then calling the ombudsman onto them again. Why is that the only way to make then accountable?

So the roof has almost been finished, unfortunately the materials have been sitting there for weeks with no one to put them up. The roofer finally turned up but alas has not finished the job completely.  Most of the guttering is still not on so the water tanks cannot be connected.

Since the frame went up at Christmas time this is the only work that has happened at the site except for 11 posts for our verandah. I am starting to think the builder is not keeping his end of the deal! He has now missed two meetings on site with us and offers very average reasons as to why. We live 30 mins away from site and also need to take time off work to attend. So we are becoming very upset with his efforts as well.

Stay posted.....

Are you sitting down?

You know when you say out loud "things couldn't possibly get any worse" ? Well here is a lesson for you, don't ever say that cause the universe is going to try you out every time!

We got a call from bank manager #6, apparently our entire loan has been done wrong and they need to start the whole process again because they cannot make anymore payments to the builder with wrong paperwork.

They are now getting a re-evaluation done of the land and starting again. Are they nuts?

They called the builder and told him there would be no more payments until it was sorted. He then called us and said he was going to down tools and go to another job and I cannot blame him on that one.

Then they held out $247K, yep, that is correct, deposit in a fixed term deposit without our consent so we cannot even pay the builder to keep going. This money was supposed to pay for the house, now we cannot as they have held everything. Oh yes I hear you say "they cannot do that" but they have.

Today I call our solicitor and the ombudsman. Please watch the news tonight, if there is a crazy lady being lead away with a towel over her head accused of shooting up an entire NAB bank can someone come and bail me out?

Time for an update

I know it has been a long time between posts, life is like that. (Actually I have lost my camera cord and cannot download the pictures, I have hundreds)

Anyhoooooo the lovely builder, Leslie Paton has sent me some to use. This will ensure the next picture you see is not the completed house!

Here is the start of the frame. This is the view from the front of the road. The brick work is the wall of the kitchen and the space will be a window and my splashback.

 

Much the same view but this one does include the garage. The front door is at the left of the kitchen brick wall and you can view straight through the house from here. We will also have a semi internal garden here. ( I will explain that more as it comes to life. To the left of the front door space will be my office, ohhh a place of my own......

 

 

This shot is from the corner rear of the building. This is the north facing wall and where all the magic will happen! The main room is a raked ceiling. it will contain the lounge and kitchen. If you squint hard you can see the two double frames for the doors that will open out to the deck. This will lead out onto the pool and views to the Yass valley as far as you can see. Yes A-M I will be  using all your advice re pool design for this one! 

There will be a pergola running along the back of this room, it is at the perfect angle to let in winter sun but not the summer heat. There is also another pergola to go below this one that will also have the same effect. You can also see the window spaces above the double doors (yep squint again) this will let in heaps of natural light in winter but will be too high in the summer. All part of our solar passive design.

Now off to find that cord...

A 3D picture

I found this whilst looking for a plan to place the power points on etc. I even rotated it for you but every time I save it it flips again, feel free to let me know how to fix this!

This is a 3D plan we were asked to send in when we applied for the Australian version of Grand Designs. We were not chosen but apparently did make a short list. This is the North view.
The plan looks pretty amazing, what do you think?

Oh my has it really been that long?

YES I hear you all say......
well they say no news is good news, I say no news means nothing has been done. What on earth is going on??
Our builder who had the patience of a saint with the bank seems to have slowed to a snails pace. We have been waiting for the house frame for 6 weeks now, each week it is coming the next. Lets hope that next week will be the lucky one as the frame builder pulls out all stops before Christmas. Santa if you can help at all.....

The builder is on site today, must check that, to start the building of the internal brick walls. This brings with it the task of allocating every power point and light switch, geeze there are a lot of them.

With any luck we may get internal walls, and the frame before Christmas. The roof trusses should also be there and should go up just after Christmas as the builder is only taking a few weeks off, yeah!

The shed has been put up and I will post some pictures over the weekend of this and the massive water tank we have.

A quick call to the banking ombudsman

It is amazing what a quick call to the banking ombudsman, and then to the banking hotline to lodge a complaint, will do....

Now I know I said no news till good news, but hopefully tomorrow will be the day that the bank will finally pay our long suffering builder. It took the bank a good 7 minutes from me hanging up from said complaints hotline till they called and said that things will be sorted in the next 24 hours... coincidence, me thinks not!

So lets pretend that all is good and finally here are some pictures, yeah.


Here is the first cut into our beautiful & green grassy block.


Ohhh and another angle


Yes the driveway will go around the tree.


A whooping great hole for the whopping great water tank.


And just like that we have a slab, this will also be our floor!


This is the front of the house looking towards the back, should the bank actually come through we may even get walls....
Did you take notice of all the surrounding houses in these pictures, that's right there are practically none.

Wow that was a quick 39 days!

This is the last post I put up until we get good, no GREAT news!

It has been 39 days since my last post of how the bank manager is a moron and left so very quickly blah blah blah....well since then we have lost ANOTHER one. Yep that would be #4 me thinks. What the hell is going on at NAB in Gungahlin? (or what is NOT going on) Our loan to be precise! Soooo went back to the bank today, behaved oh so very irrationally and jumped up and down a bit and asked WHEN this might all end? Apparently nice Mr stand in branch manager (oh I bet he was glad he went to work today) said 48 hours and the money will be in your builders account.

we shall see.....

On that I must say Leslie from Patons Construction has been our rock, you don't read that much about builders. He has kept going, assured us he has seen worse, although surely not much worse by now. He is fantastic, has poured the slab, put our massive water tank in, dug the enviro cycle hole etc. it looks great and as soon as I can work out how to get the new camera to download to the computer I will get lots of pictures on.

Now it's the bank

Would it surprise anyone, anyone at all to know that I have been emailing and leaving messages for the bank manager to finalise our building loan, that he has left the bank, for good?

No I didn't think so, oh and yes I would love to re submit all my paperwork again as he didn't really finish anything, in fact I live for it. I have nothing better to do, no major event to organise like Handmade in 8 sleeps.

All in a days work, bring it on!

Ok, one more bloody Council story

So you thought you had read the last council story here?....... Me too!

This one, like the others made my day so I thought I would share them with you cause that's the kind of person I am.

So it goes like this...... on Monday I answered a call from, lets say, trusted council employee, "Hello Mrs Nichols it's .... here. I have just had a look at your application for your shed. I noticed the colours you have chosen are surf mist, Um we don't approve anything to be built in surf mist at Murrumbateman. You will have to choose another colour and re submit your plans, that will only take a week or two and cost more money"

So I said " Oh I guess it won't match my home then that you have already approved to be built in surf mist then"

Long silence

"Oh really, did we? I will have to call you back, I don't know why we would have done that"

Mmmmmmmm 2 Minutes later

"Hello Mrs Nichols, Um yes we did approve your house, we will approve your shed but won't issue your building certificate until you drive out to Yass and sign the paperwork"

The rest of the conversation is not important or printable here.... I drove to Yass, only 40minutes each way so no biggie!! I put my initials on the paper and I drove home.

Now I have a theory that the Yass council has shares in the oil companies, anyone with me?

Offending Surf Mist colour

Have a lovely day and yes pictures will happen very soon

We have started

Well you would never believe but we have started...... I wouldn't joke about this. It is all true. The digger came out, late but none the less, he has cut in the driveway tried to pull down the couple of trees that must come down much to my disgust as they are beautiful and cut a pad for the house.

How excitement!, watch this space photos soon!

Well maybe not

It has still been a while since anything happened. BUT I do hear that we should have the few trees that have to come down starting next Monday.... Now seems I have heard that a few times before. Fingers crossed it actually happens this time.

Time will tell, watch this space!
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Starting very soon!

Hello all,
Once again it has been a while between posts. I know there will be a day when there is so much going on I won't be able to keep up with posting everything. Like they say be careful what you wish for!
Well we start next week, Leslie will be back from his family holiday and had better be refreshed because I want lots of work to happen......
The footings should begin next week, (note to self buy a camera and start taking photos!)
Cheers

We have been approved!

So, a big cause for celebration..... we have the approval in our possession. Yeah!

So to celebrate here is a look at the floor plans, it's not big but is sure is pretty. Of course it sailed through the Basix needed these days.

We went to the block on Sunday and chose the tree for the tree house and also the hammock. Don't be surprised if an application for a pool goes in soon as well.The block is beautiful and green from the rain, I will post a new photo soon.

Calls from council

So I did actually get a call from council last night, 6.15pm to be exact. Yes your plans are finalised, signed off etc. Yes I will put them in the post and have a good day!

Today I get a call from council, yes the plans are finalised, signed off and would you like to come out and pick them up? Mmmm a well oiled machine if ever I have seen one.

"Perhaps you could pop them in the mail for me like the kind gentleman said he would last nigh". Oh OK I wonder how many days it will take?

How does council talk to your husband when you know he is in a meeting?

How clever the council people are.... they are able to talk to my husband on the phone even though he is in a meeting in another state at the time of their conversation.

Let me explain something council people, I don't know about you but my husband does not make calls to council to see where the DA is up to or ask any other questions. That is what I do, he doesn't know your phone number or the DA number. Do you all think it may be time to consider there may be two people with the last surname building in the estate or that you are giving the wrong information to the wrong person (scary)

The sad part is this is the second time I have had the conversation with them......

How long does approval take?

So now we are at June 25th and guess what.... still nothing.

Every time we speak with favourite council lady it is a different story. The fire place is fine, the plans have, from what we are told, passed everything they need to. They must have been shown to everyone in the state by now. Last week they were signed off by the "last person" who needs to sign off on them. So what is the hold up? Maybe it is the environmental group wondering why we need to cut down a few trees, One would hope not considering there are over 40 new ones already planted.

I just wish they would hurry up, long gone is the dream of being in by Christmas, Easter is now more the plan.

The builder, Leslie Paton, is off overseas on Friday for 3 weeks, will it never end? Maybe council will have their act together by then. Oh lets hope so.

Our second "are you kidding me story"

So council said on May 6th that we should be ready any day now for approval! Well we are now at May 26th and still going. We have had a few conversations along the way and at this stage 10cm stand in our way of approval. Shouldn't be too hard......

I did have a lovely conversation with my favourite council employee last week that went something like this... " Hello it's Julie here I am just calling about Da xyz123 can you tell me where it is up to' Oh OK just wait a minute and I will check for you, Oh I have your husband on another line you can ask him where your DA is up to" mmmmmmm doubtful so deep breath and continue " really I am not sure it would be my husband as he is in another state and in a meeting as we speak and would have no idea what your phone number even is' 'well I am telling you that we have just told him the details and you will have to ask him" Grrrrrrr End of that conversation.

So I called hubby, whose phone is off because he is in meetings all day, leave a message that should make his day and wait for a call back. He calls and "no of course I have not called council" Right....

I called back favourite council employee and ask her who she may have been discussing my plans with as my husband has just confirmed he did NOT call them! "Oh I am sure he said he was your husband, it was definitely your DA number, oh I wonder who it was" is she for real?

Yes I think she was........

Not a lot to report, called council today to see where the DA was sitting in their long line of DA'S. Well they tell me it will be done within 2 weeks...... we will see.

Paton's Construction will have some 3D images to submit to Grand Designs by Friday. How excitment!

The kitchen company I was going to use at Hume seem to think it is OK to go weeks without answering my emails. Mmmm I am thinking it may be time to find another! I am open to any suggestions.

More news when I get it.
Cheers

A Grand Design?

So weeks ago I was watching Grand Designs on the lifestyle channel, as you do, and they announced they were making an Australian series. So I hurriedly jumped online and put in my plans. You can too here.

I got the usual "Thanks we have had lots of submissions we might get back to you" type response.........

Well yesterday I got an email asking for more details OMG OMG. So I sent that off and then got another one asking questions, sent that off. "Can I get some 3D pictures of the plans?" Sure! What..... hurriedly send email to Leslie @ Patons the builders. Can we do this? He thinks so.

This is the story so far, I will keep you posted. Fingers crossed you never know.

Beautiful plans!

I am in love with our design, and so I should be!

It has everything we need, nothing we don't and will be oh so comfortable to live in.

There are 3 separate pavillions to the house, well not actually as this is very expensive to do, but the house gives the feel of having 3 separate areas.

One central living, cooking & lounging area. it has big beautiful doors, north facing looking out to the deck and this view.

Oh do you see that? That's right no one for miles.......

The other pavillions are a kids zone, bedrooms, rumpus, bathroom. study area etc and then the parents end. Ahhhh I hear you say! All have this wonderful view, yep all North facing.

We are going for a contrmporary come modern farmhouse design. We will be using Colourbond in seamist for a fabulous Basix Count and some double brick walls. A polished concrete floor will also help in that count.

A view of the outside on plans. I cannot work out how to flip them!

Our very first "are you kidding me" story

it occurred to me as I hung up the phone from speaking to Yass council the other day that I had had my first "are you kidding me experience" You know the one you might celebrate as a couple after you have your first fight! No make up sex going on here folks let me tell you!

The story goes like this..........
Our beautiful plans are finally ready to put into council (more on that later) MOH and myself travel out to yass and lodge the plans. We speak to a very friendly lady behind the counter about our plans, she shares our dreams and ohhhs and arhs in all the right places. Gives us some advice on weather we should lodge our pool at the same time, "no just put proposed as you don't really have all the details just yet, don't want to hold up the process" So we write proposed and pay our money and off we go.

2 weeks later we have a letter saying "please provide all details of the pool before we can advance any further" So I pick up the phone to talk to "she who must be obeyed" and get told that she doesn't really care what we were told at the time if we don't have all the details for the pool our only option is to DRIVE back out to Yass in the VW (lucky it is soooo comfortable) and liquid paper it off the plans ourselves as they cannot! mmmm blood is boiling and I really want to tell her what she can do with her liquid paper but don't.

Next day I do exactly that, drive out liquid paper in handbag and ask at the desk for plans to correct. Lovely lady at the desk remembers me, makes fatal mistake of asking me how I am...... I tell her! her face drops, not happy Jan! Lovely young man gets plans and happily explains that if this had been his building he would have just asked the builder to fax over a new copy minus the pool, death stare and explain that he is not helping the situation or their reputation.

Now this is not a post to just complain but if you must, leave a comment here!

Solar Passive design

We, MOH (Man of House) and my self have decided that a solar passive House that includes as many environmentally friendly options as we are allowed and can afford will be the way to go. Now before you send us the post where you tell us we are not doing what you would remember these 2 very important points.....

1. That the council allows us to do &
2. That we can afford

After you take this into account them post your comments galore!

So we have chosen a designer/builder.Paton Contruction

Paton Constructions has over 20 years experience in building quality custom homes in the Canberra region.

This is taken from their sometimes hard to find website!

We:focus on building energy efficient homes which meet our clients’ needs

encourage good home design

believe homes can be uplifting as well as energy efficient

have a particular interest in building country homes

aim for our clients to enjoy the building experience

Our company employs trustworthy subcontractors most of whom have been working as part of our team for many years.

Throughout each project we endeavour to build a relationship with our clients that is based on trust and clear communication. At the end of a project we want our clients to have a home that pleases them.

Now we have been working with Leslie Paton and Julia (trusty PA who really does "get back to you") for about 4 months now designing the house. The first thing that we liked about Leslie is that he is not interested in building just any old house. He is really keen to follow through on the points above. We also needed someone with an opinion, could listen and improvise and keep our budget in mind. So far so good.

Here are some of Leslie's houses around Canberra

Let the journey begin!

This is the start of our journey. We have built a house before, I wonder if it will prepare us for the journey that lay ahead of us? Time will tell.
I will try to write about the good, the bad and the ugly, ohhh lets hope there are not too many of them.

I would love to have everyone along for the ride, feel free to comment on things, add your thoughts, let us know what you think! No really......





This is our beautiful piece of heaven at Murrumbateman. it is about 2 acres, north facing onto heritage listed farm land that goes all the way to Yass. There is a reserve on one side, neighbours about 300 meters on the other side........ Noice!

Now we realise being 20 mins out of town is not everones cup of tea but it sure is ours! No more telling the kids to be quiet as they wrestle on the trampoline, the lady over the side fence can rest in peace that the kids will never hit the ball over her fence!
The kids have friends out there already from their schools.
We have just leased a VW diesel car that is a pleasure to drive and oh so economical on the hip pocket.

Shaw winery is only a stones throw, and I read an article on their wood fired pizzaz in the paper last week, mmmmm I can taste them already. Sitting on the deck watching the sunset (as in the pictures) glass of wine in hand. Oh bring it on!