The gap in the kitchen just needed something

One corner of the kitchen just seemed to be missing something ... I was thinking of what decals I might use ... some flowers? something pretty? ... found a better solution ...

Isn't it just the perfect gap filler?!?!? And it is also useful ;-) ... first recipe I tried it out, no point starting off easy, fresh strawberry puree marshmallows!!! (and in the photo above you can just get your first look at the new kitchen draw fronts and handles ... just a coat of paint on the corbels and then I'll take the final AFTER photos of the kitchen!!!).


I've tried making mashmallows before and they always end up a bit rubbery, as the little hand held beater starts to smoke (oops!) after only about 5 minutes and the recipe wants 8-10 minutes of beating. Stick the mix in the kitchenaid, put it on high for 10 minutes ... beautiful fluffy gorgeous marshmallows! I'd love to make a cake next but not sure about timings tomorrow (might be picking up a new horse!) ... though the carpenter will be back and the electricians are around.

Talking of electricians ... below is an electricians idea of a joke ...
Yup, anyone over 7ft can not enter my house, or they'll risk losing their head!!! Silly shop told me I had to buy an extended pole for the fan so it wouldn't be too high because of my ceilings ... the electrician installed it as a bit of a joke ... they knew I wouldn't want it at that height, but just wanted to make sure ;-) ... sure ... course I want to lose my fingers if I put them up in the air :-)

It will be getting raised tomorrow!!

I've spoken with the builder ... he wants to do the final inspection next week ... of course there will still be faults after that ... but sooooooooooooo exciting it is so nearly over!!!

It's beginning to smell a lot like Christmas ....

The lovely electricians connected up the ovens today ... so of course I had to use BOTH of them (after turning them on for an hour or so to get rid of the horrible smell!) ... very exciting that I got to cook in TWO new ovens ... which meant thinking of two things to be the first timers: dinner was roast veggies out of one oven, then we (my brother and I) made gingerbread in the other oven! YUM!!! I LOVE roast veggies and gingerbread!!



The gas tops are still not connected .... looks like there is a problem with me being on LPG gas ... even though the oven was ordered to be set up for LPG, it seems it wasn't. I haven't quite been told about this (heard through one of the other tradesmen) ... so I'm assuming it is a solveable problem that I don't need to get involved in.

Also going in today were the flyscreens ... they look wonderful - even if the cat can't see them and bumps into them with his whiskers ... "engage invisible cat shields"!

The airconditioner guys did turn up to put in the aircon ... pity the store had given them the wrong inside unit ... the lovely label on it had my name and the model number, pity that model number didn't match the BIG writing right underneath it!! So tomorrow morning it goes in (would have been nice tonight since it was quite warm).

The electricians have also set up my inside lights, some of the outside lights, phone line and powerpoints ... just missing a bathroom light which they'll come back to do (oh and no TV for me until next year - they cut the cable!).

The tradesman missing today: the plumber!! I've given up hope of getting the rest of the stuff finished, now I have a working oven ... all I want is some plumbing! A dishwasher, toilet and basin would be juuuuussst lovely!!

My storybook cottage

It is just sooooo pretty!! My not-so-little-anymore storybook cottage.

Above is the west side of the house ... to the left is the bay window for the kitchen, the center is the main kitchen bench window, then to the right is the dining room bay window. I do love the white (undercoat) veranda posts/window frames ... but they'll all go dark green to match the original - I know the white looks prettier, but ... I know I'd never keep it clean!

Above shows the kitchen living room new french doors, the kitchen bay window, then the dining room french doors. The veranda to the left is not quite finished yet.

They have started installing the "back" door ... the main door that will be used. The plan was to replicate the front door, which - other than some minor changes - it looks like it will be beautiful. That is my ensuite sitting under the veranda, very pleased with how that fits in (though the little window is a pain to open!).

The kitchen has its plumbing rough-in and electricals ... the bench is going to be over 5 metres long ... certainly beats the tiny area I had before! I can't wait to see how that window looks once it goes in ... it is the only one that is quite different to the originals - much wider compared to the height.





This photo shows the bathroom window - the bath will sit just below this, the vanity to the left of it. I'm glad all these decisions are already done ... nothing really left to decide in here except the light!










All the rough in electrics have been done ... so there are wires going everywhere ... and I'm not even having any fancy systems! I would have loved to go for the home automation stuff ... but that cost just was a bit beyond the budget. Hopefully the technology will become cheaper and I can look into it in the future. This photo is of the small side of the kitchen (the sort of breakfast area).


The only slight worry at the moment ... no builders for two days ....

A roof!

The ensuite is coming along - should be done by next week. There is an actual roof on it now vs the tarp, which is much better and less noise for me - and less likely to blow off in all the rain/wind we're having.

The builder has said that tonight I might get home to find the entire back of the house gone - and I'll have a temporary bathroom - ICK! But ... hopefully just for a week or so until the ensuite is completed. Not looking forward to going out in the rain to get to the bathroom.

Meeting with the builder yesterday we've changed some of the windows - two of which I'm really glad will change, until I saw how small the ensuite window was, I didn't realise how tiny the rest of them were going to be. It wasn't what I had imagined at all.

Discussion with the electrician yesterday about the electrical layout - I'm going to have to do some deciding on lights and pendants - the sort of thing I thought I could put off longer. I'm wondering if I'm brave enough to do something different in the main bathroom vs normal downlights!

I'm fuming - WRONG septic installed

Got home on Wednesday and looked out in the dark by torchlight ... hoping they'd have installed the septic during the day ... they had ... just the WRONG ONE!!!!

I'd done quite a bit of research when decided on the water treatment system I wanted, I'd asked around ... and made sure it was in the contract documents.

But ... not much help when they've dug a massive hole in the ground and installed it. Calling in the lawyers is not exactly going to help.

So who's fault is it?! well ... a little bit of a couple of people ... the builder for sending details on the wrong system (whilst all the while telling me "yes the xxx guy has been and checked it over, it isn't a problem to have the xxx system") and the architect for sending off the permit for the wrong system.

They're of course now selling me on the benefits of the other system ... but I'm just fuming at being presented with something that I've had no choice in and that they've done this behind my back ... and not the "accidental" we forgot to check the specs they're pretending.

Good things about being on site yesterday - tiler was there and we discussed the direction of the tiles (I'll get what I want) and he's going to do up a tile with some different grout colours so I can choose the one I like.

Had a meeting with builder and architect and, apart from my fuming, quite a few things were sorted - my worry with the windows not looking right seems to not be an issue and the builder is on it. There is a slight issue with the way the windows are hung - as I want them to be either opened at the top OR the bottom - not counterlevered by each other.

They poured some more concrete - just a small section of front veranda ... and some was left over so they've done a mini path for my dog enclosure ... I waited until it was nearly set and let the dogs run on it - cute little footie prints!! Not quite so cute: little puppy must have run across the front veranda when I wasn't looking - oops!!

Architect finally came up with the electrical plans ... which are all wrong!! Electrician is going to meet up with me next week and go through them all. Hopefully we'll be able to get them finalised quickly ... though I'm having a hard time looking through lighting websites - too many choices!!!

Ensuite is coming along nicely - they are saying possibly mid-next week for it to be complete.

Then they will smash the remaining part of the house down ... not that there is too much left to go, they've cleared out the inside. It is quite amusing, standing in the shower and, other than I've only got a lamp for light, it could be just like the house was before ... then I step out the door to chaos!