Internal walls

While we've been away the plasterers have been hard at work sheeting up the inside of the house. We've also been given a moving-in date towards the end of June, which is disappointing in the sense that we'd hoped things might move along more quickly but we understand why there have been delays and there are some hopes that we may catch up on some of that time because it might be possible for several trades to overlap once the plastering is finished. Who knows? Meanwhile, here are some pictures of the internal sheeting - it's amazing how different the rooms feel now that you can't see through the framework and into the next room! We are finally getting a feeling of what the finished space will be like.






















On Tuesday afternoon we all took a walk through the Botanic Gardens in Sydney and I took some photos as references for us in thinking about combining different shapes and textures in our own garden. All of my gardening experience is with northern European, cold-climate planting and so I'm a bit clueless about what to plant, where and how in sub-tropical northern New South Wales.



























Lots of things we love such as daffodils, tulips, crocus, hellebores, euphorbias and the like, even apple blossom and stone fruit trees simply won't grow here so we're working hard to find out about alternative plants. My sadness about being unable to use some plants I really love is definitely tempered by the fact that we'll be able to grow tomatoes outside all year round and that I can have succulents like agaves, tree dahlias, magnolias, some jonquils and lots of exotic species. I guess you can't have everything (although I like to try...)!

The Deck and the Doors

At last! Progress!





















The pink batts are standard insulation materials round here - the R rating will be about R3, which is more than adequate in a sub-tropical climate





















Evidence of workmen...





















The beginnings of the deck outside the front door





















Now we've worked out which way up it goes, the Modwood decking looks great





















The cool room wine doors!





















Although the walls aren't in yet, the doors look great across the room





















Toby's happy!