Shed update

Well, our family have been working very hard for us over the last few months to get things ready for our arrival.  Not only have they been busy cutting timber and building walls, but so many people have offered furniture and other things we need.  We were given a kitchen sink and cupboards by an Aunty of mine who recently renovated her kitchen.  We have been given copious amounts of furniture, which will be fantastic because, although we already own a lot of furniture, we have decided not to build internal walls to begin with, so we will need all the furniture to build rooms with.  I am hoping we will be able to do this in a way that doesn't make the place look like a second hand furniture store! My dad is a house painter and he has sourced a few things for us as well.  Another relative even found a rainwater tank for us!

Needs some work, but it'll do the job!

Things 'we' (all we did was organise, everyone else has actually done the physical work so far) have done to the shed so far include - cleared the block of fallen trees and overgrown weeds and guinea grass, cleared away a LOT of rubbish from previous tenants,  moved the tank and kitchen to the shed, had all the wiring checked and fixed (powerpoints and ceiling fans still to come), worked on fixing the pump for the bore, and finally, built a ceiling and walls halfway up the inside of the shed and put in a double glass sliding door.

Putting up the frame for the walls and ceiling

The ceiling and walls were only done this past weekend and it is very exciting for us! The rest of the walls are still to come and will probably be a job for us to do when we get there, but it is snake proof the way it is and that's all I care about for now.

The ceiling going up

You can see how far up the walls go in this photo

There are still a few things I haven't told you about the shed and I will do so now.  The shed is on quite a large piece of land (I don't know the exact measurements, or even an estimate, but there's quite a bit of land) and there is a creek that runs through the property.  One section of the creek runs quite close to the 'Shouse' and is apparently swimmable, but I haven't checked this out for myself yet.  The 'Shouse' is about 20 minutes drive from a supermarket or shopping centre, which will take a bit of getting used to as I currently live in Brisbane about 5 minutes drive from TWO major shopping centres and have gotten used to the convenience of it all. It is a very short drive to the nearest beach. There are lots of snakes, but they won't be able to get inside and we will keep the yard cleared.  Lastly (and this is the best bit of all), we have relatives of Daddy's within 3km of us in both directions.  Oh, and there is already a bush lemon tree there! I plan on having lots of fruit trees.

My mum picking lemons to make cheesecake

Part of the creek looking a bit unloved

There is officially only one week until we leave Brisbane and there is so much to happen in that week.  Good thing Little Miss is so well behaved and 'helpful' while Daddy and I are packing/cleaning.

The week in review

It has been a busy week what with moving cities in a week and christmas approaching.  As we get closer to our departure date I realise how many more people I wanted to see before I go, but have left it too late to organise anything.

In the past week I have managed to pack up most of the house with help from Little Miss, but not Daddy, who has been working like crazy these last few days.  There is now only the music room and a few odds and ends that we need to use over the week left to be packed.  This means it's time to start the cleaning. BORING!

Other things that have happened this week are:

I gave in to the need to craft and unpacked some crocheting to indulge in at night.  I learnt to crochet when I was pregnant with Little Miss and suffering from lots of swelling and high blood pressure.  I needed something to keep me occupied from the couch and there's only so much DVD watching and online crosswords one can handle.

Daddy and Little Miss played in the rain.

I witnessed Little Miss stand up without using anything to help her!

And I baked this interesting dish that actually tasted pretty good. It's tuna mac and cheese with chicken as well as tuna and an ensemble of other ingredients. With only one saucepan, one frypan and only a knife and fork it took a long time to put together, but I enjoyed discovering what I could do with what we have left in the house to eat.

Finally, this afternoon when I got Little Miss up from her nap there was a nappy in her cot.  I could not for the life of me figure out where it came from until I picked her up to find she was no longer wearing one! Now if only she could learn to put a clean one on and the old one in the bin!

I have just been on the phone to some of the very hardworking relatives in North Queensland and should have some photos of the latest developments to show you soon! Can't wait to see them myself!

Thanks for visiting! I'm off to play with a lovely little lady.

Packing Packing Packing!!!

We have come to that point in the packing where you don't know what to do next and it comes to a standstill.  We have packed all the things we can easily go without for another week such as books, dvd's, linen, and random items, so we're up to the things like clothes and the kitchen.  I seem to be unable to make decisions about what I will need to cook with for another week, both in terms of food and dishes.  I just want to pack it all and start the horrible task of cleaning, but if I did that we would have to eat takeaway for a week.  I don't think the budget or our bodies would like this plan too much, despite what our tastebuds say!

This is what the lounge room looks like right now! 

There is a small cleared spot where Little Miss plays and a path to the front door.  Little Miss is loving all the boxes to climb over and hide behind and has been quite the little helper since she has learnt to put things into other things ( a much needed skill for packing boxes!) 9 days to go until our stuff heads North and 10 until we do. 

My little helper

I can't believe how quickly this has all happened and how much it hasn't sunk in yet.  In less than a month the shed will be our new home.  Just cannot get my head around that thought right now.  I suppose I'd better stop trying to and just get on with the packing!