Bend in the Weather

Regular readers of my blog will know that at the end of last year we moved into our new house. In February we completed our front garden, but as yet haven't started on the back yard.

I took two weeks off after Easter and spent the time doing some odd jobs around the house. When moving into a newly built place there's 1000's of small jobs to do. (I know, I've already completed one large white board of such tasks, and have another one on the go!)

Whilst we've drawn up what we want to do out the backyard, we are starting getting our planter boxes up and running, so we can enjoy some great winter vegies as soon as possible. Around late Winter/prior to the start of Spring I'll also be planting a series of fruit trees as well to help complement the vegetables. We'll also be planting a range of herbs amongst the vegetables, as many such herbs work as natural pesticides to keep the creepy crawlies out of our lovely green leafy vegies. Much better letting nature fight it then introducing a range of chemicals.

A quick visit to see Trevor and Glenda (thanks guys -- we really appreciate it!) resulted in getting some great red gum fence posts that we were able to convert in to free-standing planter boxes. By using red gum and some galvanised bolts, these boxes will last us years and hopefully return us some fantastic home grown produce!

We've built one box so far, and plan to build one more in the upcoming weeks (in between birthdays, and an over-flowing social calendar!). A big thanks also to our fathers for helping with the building process.

So how did it turn out?! Well, we're certainly happy with the results!
Now to get planting and enjoying some home-grown goodness in the next few months.

The raw material.	Front On View.
Front profile.	Rear profile.

Once the 2^nd planter box is completed, we'll be gravelling around the boxes (so it's easy to move in gardening equipment (like wheel-barrows, etc). I'm considering whether we need to put up a short fence to keep the dogs out... still be determined at this stage.

We'll also have a heap of composting/chip-barking to do under the proposed fruit tree locations. Slowly but surely the back yard is starting to take shape. I'm finding working in the garden is a great way to get away from the computer and a good outlet that isn't 'electronic'.

In December we moved into our new house.

Like any new house there are a million tasks that need to be undertaken to make that house into a home.
Slowly but surely Pauline and I are undertaking these tasks.

Whilst the majority of the house is now set up as we desire inside (albeit a few pieces of furniture and moving boxes that seem to continually appear!), the outside has been relatively untouched. Looking out on dirt, rubble and left over building materials wasn't too inspiring.

We laid down approximately 24 metres (yup 24 metres!) of top soil over the Australia Day weekend after removing most of the rubble from the yard. Six hours of bob-cat work and we had it laid out and levelled. Whilst the top soil provides a great foundation for lawns and gardens, it also is a wonderful way to introduce a massive amount of dust and dirt into the house. We also laid about 2 metres of gravel with the bob-cat laying it out for the commencement of a side driveway for us.

I took last week off on work to put in a front garden. This would provide a few solutions:

• Limit the amount of dust being brought in the front door.
• Provide us with some inspiration.
• 'Complete' the front of the house and making it much more appealing to the passing eye.

We started by drawing up a rough plan of what we were after. We wanted a low maintenance garden, but something that was pleasant to look at, but also something that attracted native birds. As the front yard can be seen from the bedroom and Pauline's study, we were also after something inspirational.

One item I did want was a 2nd driveway, to provide access to the rear of the property. We have a 2.5m side gate, and a gravel driveway would be ideal to separate the garden from vehicles and machinery needing to get around the back. I wasn't overly keen on having the garden being stomped on by earth moving equipment. In addition, we could put an area behind the gate to store our trailer.

So after many, many hours in the last week, we've produced a garden we are extremely proud of. It's our first attempt at any serious gardening (do growing herbs and potted plants count?), so we actually surprised ourselves.

Here is a run down on the various stages we undertook. It should also help provide some steps to those wishing to undertake something similar.

Stage 1 - Starting point We had previously had the bob-cat operator in a few weeks earlier. He had laid down and levelled the top soil and some crushed rock for us. This was our starting point.	Stage 2 - Preparing the area We started by laying some treated pine (H4) as a boundary between the side driveway and the proposed garden. 3 additional metres of gravel was then placed on the driveway, and we shoveled and raked this out by hand. (in hindsight -- using a bob-cat would be recommended) Moving this much by hand isn't advised! Weed mat was then applied and pegged down to cover the proposed garden area.
Stage 3 - Laying the chip bark We ordered in 3 metres of chip bark and raked it out. It's about 4-6 inches deep, which helps reduce water evaporation and also provides another barrier against weeds. Now the chip bark is down, the defined areas of the garden can be made out.	Stage 4 - Creating a feature point A feature point in a garden is important, as it draws the viewer in. We decided on a centre feature point to utilise the shape and area we had defined in the garden. ¼ a metre of 20mm tuscan pebbles and another ¼ of a metre of 40mm tuscan pebbles where mixed together to create variety and randomness. The ½ metre of pebbles was then laid out in a 'pond' style shape and curved to break many of the straight lines in the garden.
Stage 5 - Adding garden pieces Garden pieces add curiosity to a garden and often provide the charm. Whilst the plants are the main aspect of a garden, it is often a good idea to add non-plant items to a garden to break up the garden and generate some interest. As we were going for a native/bush garden we added some 'rustic' elements such as the tree stump and the log (a disused/broken old fence post). In addition we wanted to attract native birds to the area, so we added a bird bath to the garden. The tree stump is strategically located so curious birds can fly/land on the tree stump and survey the surrounding area before venturing in for a drink/splash.	Stage 6 - Planting Now that the base of the garden has been established, we planted the succulents, trees, shrubs and flowers. We were after a native bush style garden, so natives and drought tolerant plants were used. We were also mindful of colour, shape, texture and foliage of all the plants selected. Doing so meant that we didn't create a static looking garden but one with visual depth and appeal. Many of these plants when established will grow out to 1-2 metres in width and height. This will provide a rather populated garden and one rich in colour, foliage and shade. Due to so many native plantings, it's likely to also be a hit with local bird and animal life.

The garden is quite attractive from all angles:

Here is some close ups of some the plants we planted:

We're extremely happy with the results, particularly seeing this is our first real attempt at gardening. Whilst it's daunting starting out, there is so much information available on the Internet, in books and at hardware stores/nurseries that it really isn't hard to locate the information you require.

Pauline now has a beautiful view out of her office window, and we wake to a lovely garden each morning.
It's definitely not a weekend job, and it did take us the entire week to do. (Though a very warm summer and not being the fittest people going around probably dragged that out). In addition we had to go get supplies on a regular basis which ate into 'gardening time'.

So if you are wanting to put in a garden and remove that dead brown grass I highly recommend it. It's much more pleasant and lively to look out on, and will help attract native birds into your part of the world. Whilst we could have also paid a landscaper to come and do all the hard work for us, we ended up saving thousands and have a great sense of accomplishment. It's well worth the investment in labour and time. On the finance side, we hit just over $500 which is quite cost effective.

Finishing Touches
We are going to put in a pathway from the side gate to the front door. I'm picking up a bunch of red gum sleepers and will be cutting them in half and burying them into the chipbark to provide a nice rustic path via red gum steppers. Even better, I'll pick them up for free after a barter was undertaken (configure up a Samba server for him, and access to the sleepers I would like). Now that's using Linux in ya garden!

We have some garden lights that we may eventually run down the driveway/path to the front entrance. We do have a sensor light there, so I'm undecided at this stage if we need them out the front (we also have a street light opposite us, which provides a lot of night light). If I don't use them around the front, we will redeploy them around the backyard.

There should be laws when moving. Particularly when you're moving your business AND your house at the same time.

Let me introduce you to the 10 laws of moving:

Law #1
Instead of boxing, cleaning and moving literally tonnes of computer equipment, furniture and other knick-knacks, you should be allowed to burn the lot from the former residence/office and then get a 'magical' wish/rebate the other end to replace the lot with new stuff.

Law #2
You are excused from everything. Moving is stressful and tiring. You are allowed to be obnoxious, rude and angry for a period of 2 weeks prior to moving and 2 weeks after the move.

Law #3
All favours can be called in without exception. This includes all those people's who's computers you've repaired, the hordes of people who come ask for computing advice and those you have lent a hand over the years.

Law #4
Anything not worn, viewed or used in the past 3 years is able to recycled, handed on, given-away or disposed of.

Law #5
You will always lose one box when moving, but regain the box you lost in the previous move.

Law #6
No matter how well you think you have estimated the effort required, you will under-estimate the task. You will under-estimate the task.

Law #7
Something will be broken in the move. It's only stuff, so don't stress too much about it, it can be replaced.

Law #8
There is no such thing as too many boxes, packing tape, bubble-wrap and packing clothes/paper.

Law #9
Some boxes are never unpacked. The contents of these boxes will remain locked away in these boxes for years to come.

Law #10
You never have enough time to move. Moving is supposed to be cram 2n days in n days.

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Having said that, we've survived the move. We moved in last Friday (12^th December). Yes, we had a few things damaged (nothing major, but does require some love, hammers and glue to repair a few pieces).

We're working through the boxes (albeit slowly). I think by the time signed 32-bit integers roll over we'll be unpacked.
The essentials are unpacked and we're making some progress through the rest of the house.

All in all, it's been successful; though we're thankful the experience is over. We're dead beat and looking forward to going into Xmas/New Years mode for a few days to recharge the batteries.

Most things around the place are complete; although we do have a handful of tradies due back to finish up their jobs (mainl due to them 'forgotting' or stuffing up. Gawd, the general population of trades-people out there are slap happy. There is no-way I would get away with some of the crap they pull. I'm finding unless you watch 'em like a hawk you'll end up with a dodgy or half-asses job. They are learning quickly though, that I write down everything so nothing slips by me. I've caught a few of 'em out now and it seems the word is getting around. Hopefully by the first week in January all these items are cleared up.

One bonus: It's great to finally have a house with central cooling!

In my last post, I mentioned I was moving out of the city (Melbourne, Australia) and heading to the country.

Well the transition has occurred and I'm more than happy with the move. Our neighbours two deep on each side have all come out and introduced themselves, and the general atmosphere around the place is warm and uplifting.

The sense of community runs strong outside of the capital cities by the look of it.

Bannockburn is by no means a small town, though it's no thriving metropolis. It's about 15 mins drive from Geelong, but you would think you're thousands of miles away or in a parallel universe. Hand-waves whilst driving, a chat with a stranger (soon to be become an acquaintance/friend) are all common place. At the time of the 2006 Census, the population was a mere 2,486, but has more than doubled in the following two years. By 2015, they are expecting a population of around 15,000. If you're down this way, be sure to drop in. It's a quaint part of town and quite charming.

All the majority of our daily needs are here (local Woolworths, petrol, green grocer, butcher, baker, vet, auto repair, post office, pub, restaurants, fast-food, legal and accounting services,etc can all be found in the town). Those not here (ie: the not-every-day purchases) is only a 15 minute car-drive into Geelong.

I'm loving the lack of police sirens/choppers and cars doing wheelies until 4am most nights. The only noise we hear at present is the 6-7am chatter of the native birds found in abundance. (Not a real problem -- we're up at 6-7am anyway -- working through to late at night getting the house set-up).

Bannockburn for me was a natural choice. It's closer to loved ones, as well as the type of environment, community I would like to raise a family one day. The hustle and bustle and dog-eat-dog attitude that the big cities portray is not the values I would like to instil into my own children.

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So how did the move go on Friday? As many know there was a deluge across a lot of Australia. In our neck of the woods we had the pitter-patter of a few rain drops from about 10:30am whilst filling the removalist's truck. By 3:15pm they had finished unloading the truck and literally seconds after the truck doors had been shut down it bucketed!

I'm glad we got our water tank hooked up prior to the move. Those 24 hours resulted in approx 70mm of rain. The tank is now full!
That much rain ensured we had a natural inground swimming pool over most of the backyard. The dogs found this too irresistable (they had never seen so much rain in their young years), and decided it was time for swimming. Shortly after we had dual-coloured dogs.... The original colour on their top half and a nice brown/muddy underbelly.

Saturday/Sunday saw us return to clean up our vacated premises. On Wednesday we return the keys to the landlord. It's a great feeling moving out of the rent cycle and into our own home.

Monday I had our networking guys in to terminate off our wired house. We now have 48 GigaE running throughout the house. The 19" racks I have in the garage look all very impressive now. I'll take some photos in the next few days and post them up for all to see. (Once I find the box with my camera data-cable! )

The new 48-port GigE Managed Switch also has PoE on all ports, and makes powering the Snom VoIP phones a breeze with no need for a power pack anymore (frees up on power point, and also one less cable to tangle unde rmy desk!). Cabling the house was a great idea -- being able to just plug an Ethernet cable into the wall in nearly every room of the house is just a god-send and something I would recommend to anyone who's building (do it during the framing stage, prior to the plastering).

The mountain of boxes strewn around the house are slowly disappearing. It will take us some time but we're hoping by Christmas to have everything fully unpacked/setup. That will leave me with the daunting task of establishing our gardens/plants/lawns outside during this crazy drought/summer. Something I am looking forward to getting up and running.

One of the benefits is since moving that my ADSL1 connection is indeed faster and cleaner here than our previous location (though we are about the same distance from the exchange (1-1.5kms). I'm pulling down pretty much the physical limits of ADSL1 and squeezing 100-150Kb/sec more then I previously have. Once ADSL2+ becomes available through my provider (Internode - due in the next few days), I may consider the move up if the price is 'reasonable'.

The garden shed and vegie garden will probably be first off the ranks, with the rest to follow after that.
I'm seriously considering putting in a large sandpit for the dogs so they can dig til their hearts content (and not in my lawn/vegies/plants! )

Though, all in good time. In the interim, I'm just enjoying country life, and not missing the glare of the city at all. A few more weeks of setting up house and I'll be as happy as my dogs running around in mud!

We met with our builder on the weekend to go over final items for the run home with the house.
We wanted to ask for a completion date so we can start the hideous task of getting organized ready for the move. We'll hire movers and packers.. as we just have to much crap... that and it's a little bit too far to make multiple runs. (Big cleanout this weekend... feel free to drop past as we ditch hundreds of old PC parts, memory, HDDs, power supplies, and you name it!)

The builder bet us to the punch... and announced. "I'm attempting to get you in here in 6 weeks". We both dropped our jaws.. they were still plastering the house when he said that. "Yup, don't hold me on that, but 6-8 weeks we should have you in. This stuff wont take us long now."

So we're quite excited... even if it looks like a skeleton at present... Today (Wednesday) all the plastering is meant to be complete with cornices going up as well. So I guess benches, cupboards will start to go in now... along with tiling and carpets.

For those that want to see the progress of our house being built (and why wouldn't you?!) You can watch it go from a block of land to the final stage over on our flickr account.

To be honest, the building process for us has been quite smooth sailing to date. (fingers crossed it's like that for the remainder!) We've had an extremely picky builder and some very good tradies working with him. It has made the process a lot less stressful as a result.

Here is a quick flick through some of the photos of the place for those too lazy to click on our flickr link.

So there is a bit to do still from our behalf. We're organising some fences (to keep dogs in!), as well as concreting. The concreting of the Alfresco is included in the house but we'll do down the side of the Western side to make a nice court yard that the Alfresco will spill out into. We also have driveways and paths to concrete around the house. There is also a 10,500L water tank to get installed and fitted.

We've run 48 points of Cat6-GigE throughout the house... and about 12 of those are PoE. We've also decided to put up the TV antenna now as it's much easier running it prior to the plastering.

We are also going to install a drought tolerant flowering modern native Australian garden... but all in due course. We've waited this long for our first house, so some of the finishing touches will take a little bit of time. We'll just be happy to move into a house we call our own*.


_{* Well the banks anyway!}

We met with our builder out on site today. The last week didn't see much happen on the block as it's been raining on and off, however it's given the slab time to settle now, so that's a nice bonus.

The builder wanted to walk us through a few things.
Due to having brickwork in all the in fills (above the windows) it now means in order to finish the external brick work so it's flush with the eve; we need a ceiling height of 2610mm instead of 2570mm (as were originally in the plans). As a result we'll end up with 40mm higher ceilings for no extra cost! I'm happy with that outcome!

This weekend was the only chance for a while we've been able to get down to the block (between sick doggies - both came down with kennel cough, and being crook myself (a dose of bronchitis), and next week-end I'll be out of action as I'll just be out from surgery).

We noted the meter box has gone in, as well as we've got delivery of all the timber, windows, doors and bricks.


The builder has mapped out everything on the slab (where walls, doors, braces, etc. are to all go). It makes it a lot easier now as we can walk around on the slab and see how it will all look and have the right sizes. Things do look different from going from a plan to actually seeing it at the real 1:1 ratio.

It will only be a matter of a few weeks and we should be at "lock-up" stage.

From there things will move inside and we'll start seeing the internal work commence. It will also mean that any bad/wet weather won't delay us further.

All in all, we're on about schedule and we should hopefully be able to move in come mid-October/start of November.

The last two weeks has seen some rapid movement on the building of our new house.
For those that have missed the updates, feel free to have a read.

Yesterday (Tuesday 24^th June) the builders laid down the house slab.

The house shape is much easier to make out now, and is quite recognisable when it's compared against the house plan or the electrical plan (which includes the modifications to the base plan we've made).


It was absolutely freezing down in Bannockburn today and reached a whooping 12^oC maximum. Why did I mention this? Well... even though it's quick drying cement used in slab creation, it does require some heat to actually dry the slab out!

Whilst it did eventually set, it took longer than expected. You can tell how cold it is in the photos (you'll notice the builders standing around a small fire trying to get warm!).

The slab was laid around 7:30am, but the builders were still on site mid-afternoon levelling and trying to ensure it set correctly. The boxing had to be removed to help speed up the drying process.

The 'gap' on the left hand side half way down is the location of the alfresco. This will have a concrete base added after lockup and is done as a separate step to stop cracking that would be visible.

We're going to lay exposed aggregate in that area, that will match the footpaths and driveway. The benefit of exposed aggregate is that it is not as slippery as traditional concrete (and personally I think it looks better!)

If you aren't aware what exposed aggregate is all about, click on the image for a larger view. Basically it exposes the pebbles in the concrete mix, and gives it a 'worn' look.... consider it the 'acid wash of jeans' for concrete.

Once again a big thanks to my folks for heading out to Bannockburn and taking the shots. It's great to see the progress being made. We won't be able to get down their until the weekend (work committments and the like restricting a mid-week journey). Google Maps reports it's about 67.1 km – about 1 hour 4 mins one way from our current residence to the property. So it's pretty much a 2 hour round trip... just a tad too long for a lunch time visit!

All good though, and we've made it to the first milestone.

The slab will be left to settle until this time next week when the frame will go up. Hopefully the weather holds over the next few weeks until we get to the lock-up stage. It is expected to be windy the next few days, which will assist in drying out the slab even further.

Pauline has rendered a depiction of what the final house will look like... though it's changed slightly as the roof colour had to change (the colour we chose was unavailable). We went with Woodland Grey instead. We've seen this colour used on other houses and it does come up quite nicely.

FYI: The bricks aren't that large as show in the picture, it's just been done that way so we could see how the brickwork would look on the place compared to other colour selections we had made.

If all goes according to plan we should be moving in mid Sept/October. Pauline and I are a little more realistic and we will be happy if it happens prior to Christmas.

I recently posted pics of our new house getting built getting under-way with the site preparation.

Things have progressed reasonably well (albeit in between some rain - which we do actually need, but preferably after we get to the lock-up stage!)

So here are some photos over the last week.

Water, Plumbing and Electrical
The water to the property goes in and we officially have a tap! Woot!
In addition, we have had the underground electrical and plumbing go in.



Foundations
This week we saw the foundations dug out and boxing up ready for the slab to be laid.



The boxing up was finished up today (Friday). It's been covered up for the weekend as we've been getting light rain all week (and likely over the weekend). At this stage the slab is scheduled to go down on Tuesday. Speaking to the builder, we'll let that sit for about a week, and commence building frame the following week.

It's great to see the actual house start forming from a drawing to something physical now. The slab will make a big difference as the shape/size of the place will become more evident.

We're scheduled for a mid-Sept finish, though I suspect we'll run over, and we'll be happy if we're in before Christmas. Hopefully the next few weeks the weather can hold until we at least get to lock-up as not to delay the builders.

Thanks again to Mum and Dad for snapping the shots for us!

I have previously mentioned we're building a new house (both here and here).

Well on Tuesday the building commenced!
Not much to date, but they have done the site preparation, and will be digging the foundations and hopefully laying the concrete slab this week.

Obviously this will be dependent on the actual weather. This week isn't too promising, but next week is! Hopefully a 'few showers' means that work can still progress and that they are only light.

Wednesday A few showers. 16^oC
Thursday Showers developing. 16^oC
Friday A few showers. 16^oC
Saturday Becoming fine. 14^oC
Sunday Fine. 15^oC
Monday Fine. 16^oC
Tuesday Fine. 16^oC

My folks were out at the block (they are also building out at Bannockburn themselves).
They took some photos to show us the progress being made. (Thanks Dad and Mum!) You can click on each image for an enlarged view.

Front of the block. Left hand side.

Front of the block. Right hand side.

Back of the block. Left Hand Side.

Back of the block. Right Hand Side.

It's great to finally have something happening on the block. It's a little frustrating doing the paperwork dance and it was November when we purchased the block. So just over 6 months later the physical work can now start.

All going well... we'll be in September - October of this year. Truthfully, we'll be happy to be in for this Christmas, anything earlier will be a bonus.

I'll post more photos as the building progresses. We'll be heading down to Bannockburn this weekend and will look at taking more shots, hopefully the plumbing and slab are done by then.

For those that want a reminder of what we're building, here is a copy of the houseplan (well we've made some minor adjustments and the carport is actually a double garage!).

We've just finished the actual final electrical and the network plans for the house.

On top of that we also think we've found the water tank we'll be putting in a 10,200L tank off the side of the house. After we move in I'll probably put another 5,000-8,000L tank off the garden shed. The smaller tank will be used to supply a vegie garden, whilst the larger one will be used for some lawn and drinking water.

I've already been doing a lot of smart planning for the garden/lawns. We'll be laying Sir Walter lawn (or similar) - which is drought tolerant but vibrant in colour.

I'll also be planting a native Australian garden. My parents gave me a wonderful book about Native Australian gardens and designs for my birthday earlier in the year. It is amazing at the rich colour and diversity that is available to us all using our own natives.

It's well worth a read for anyone considering how to reduce their water requirements but keeping a colorful and lively looking garden. Many of our own native plants show the beauty of the traditional European gardens we have traditionally planted. It's not all about mulch and grey coloured foliage!

I've actually requested that all the site excavations from the property be left on site and will be incorporating this into the design of our garden. I'll be creating undulating garden beds, with heavier water thirsty plants at the bottom whilst hardier and less water hungry plants positioned on the top of these mounds. Using this method I can use the 'natural' layout of the land to deliver the right amount of water to the various plants (either with rain or watering).

I think over the next 10 years we'll see more frustrated gardeners who have given up trying to grow a European style garden (without it dying off or turning brown) move across to this style. Like many gardens it can be setup relatively maintenance free, or not. This really depends on the type of garden and time you have available. I'll probably plant for something in the middle. The idea of getting off the computer and doing something with nature is quite appealing.

I've previously blogged about building a new house.

It's taken quite some time, and a change of builder but it appears we're finally going to actually start the building process now.

We met with our builder yesterday who has informed us that our building permits have been finally approved.
With all the paperwork now done, we can commence on the actual building.

Contract wise the house is to be finished by mid-September of this year, though I am happy if we are in prior to Christmas.

I will be fantastic to move into a new place that has wired GB Ethernet throughout the house.

I'm looking forward to moving out of the rat-race and into a nice rural location. The pace will be ideal and something I've been desiring for some time.

We've made all our selections, so hopefully it's just a matter of following the plan now. (I'm sure there will be surprises but hopefully most of them are now behind us).