the hole

Before you start reading-this isn't a pretty post. At all. This is a post about dirt, and digging, and sweat, and tears, and blisters, and more dirt and more digging. Just letting you know.

We've planned to put a water tank in since we moved in, and now that we have built our vegie garden we figured there is no time like the present. We had a bit of a nothing area at the front of the house, it's under the front verandah, and set down quite a way, nothing much grew there, it's where the hot water system lives. 

Right near the start of digging

Near the start. Sorry about the iphone pictures. There was no good
photography happening...

But we had to dig out some dirt so we could lay a slab, build a retaining wall and sort out some drainage. And by some dirt I mean a whole lot of dirt. And by dirt I mean thick, heavy, often rock hard clay. 

For three days 2 or 3 of us dug. Luckily for us L's brother was staying with us at the time and helped us out. We mostly used a pick and shoveled the clay up into a wheelbarrow. The boys then pushed the barrow along the path, and up the driveway. Eventually we did hire a jack hammer for a few hours when the soil got really hard.

Almost done

We threw the dirt up high into the wheelbarrow on top of the path 

Every muscle in my body ached. I grew callouses and blisters. By part way through day 3 I couldn't do any more. I was so exhausted and sore and just started crying. To be fair L didn't ask me to help, I offered. And he didn't think I would actually stick it out. He was pretty proud and impressed I think. 

But we did it, we got it slab and retaining wall ready. I don't think we will look at a shovel for a long time. I'm now using it as a motivation tool when my brain is telling me that I can't go on when I'm exercising or doing yoga, that I'm too tired or too hot or that I can't do that. Now I can tell my brain that I dug a hole for three days, that I lifted shovels of dirt into a wheelbarrow above my head, if I can do that, I keep going, or have a go at any yoga pose. Your body is so much stronger than your mind gives it credit for!! 

Have you ever started a job that you were determined to finish, even though it was so hard?

what's on for this year?

I wrote about how our list went last year a few days ago, so thought I would fill you in on what we have in the works for this year.

We spent a bit of time on New Years Eve reflecting, and planning our year, and we have dubbed it "The Year of Outside". This year is shaping up to be a bit less hectic than last year with no wedding, but we will be going on our  honeymoon to Sri Lanka for 3-4 weeks. Again, things will probably change as we go along-priorities change, things pop up that need doing, other things happen that mean some stuff isn't viable at the moment for whatever reason. Plus everything always takes more time and more money than you expect! This is a pretty flexible list, and writing it down looks quite optimistic...

-Build raised vegie beds in the side garden

-Built a small retaining wall under the front of the house, (and dig out a whole heap of dirt!) to put in at least 1 water tank for our gardens

-Build another 'feature fence' on the other side of the house near the garage

-Fence the northern side of the block (currently unfenced)

-Built some retaining walls in the back yard

-Turf the back yard

-Paint the rest of the railings

-Refinish the other french doors

-Fix up some of the windows (peeling paint and putty needing replacing)

-Look at painting the exterior

I'd also like to paint the purple lounge and dining rooms, but this may or may not happen this year.

I also hope to spend some more time doing some DIYs, including some more sewing, and hang some more art on the walls. A bit less renovating, and a bit more decorating!

We had planned to renovate the laundry this year, but we have decided to put it off. We can live with the laundry we have for the time being, even though it isn't ideal, but we want to get outside sorted, plants and trees growing, and the outside looking good. We will save the plans for another time.

Have you got a bit of a plan for what you would like to achieve in the year ahead? I'd love to hear about it!

laundry inspiration

Now that our laundry update planning is definitely underway I've been looking at lots of lovely laundries, so I thought I would share some with you. There are a few kitchens-but just turn them into laundries in your mind. Here's a refresh of our current plans:

This first one is one of my favourites, and a similar layout to ours, but ours won't have windows. It feels so nice and bright and clean!

link

Another favourite, again with a similar layout. This one also has no natural light like ours. We wouldn't have a potting station at the end. Look at that amazing storage!!

Not sure of the link-it's a fake one from pinterest

I like the green flashback and the dark handles on the cupboards. All three of these so far have had similar cupboard doors. I like the mix of cupboards and shelves, but don't think I would want clear glass in the laundry.

link

Similar again, but silver pulls.

link

I'm seeing a theme here.... 

link

Another kitchen-so simple-very clean and fuss free. All just stainless steel, white and wood. It's a bit more modern.

link

Maybe an expedit on the opposite wall for some extra storage.

link

Have you seen any nice laundries? Which is your favourite? What would you incorporate if you could? 

laundry plans

After all of our work downstairs in the garage we've decided it's time to look at doing something to our laundry.

This is what we currently have to work with.

It does the job, but there are some pretty big flaws. 

-It lacks effective storage

-It has zero bench space

-It's open to the garage, meaning that it is impossible to keep clean-there is often sawdust, dirt, potting mix, glass clippings, leaves etc blowing into the laundry

-There is a lot of wasted space

There are a few problems to start off with. The washer and drier are on a fake dividing wall, behind the dividing wall? Nothing. It's just storage space (basically empty now apart from golf clubs and a bike). 

So, our plan is to build a wall between the garage and laundry area (where the step up in) to divide te two areas, and knock down that fake dividing wall to open up the space.

We will then have a galley style laundry, with everything along the existing exterior wall-we wont be moving plumbing, but we will be able to have the washer and sink up one end, with the dryer on the wall. Then will be a nice big bench, with lots of cupboards underneath, and a tall cupboard at the end for linen. We will have either open shelves, or cupboards, or a mix on the wall above the bench. L has been busy planning, and we have knocked up a bit of a sketch. Things might change a bit between now and then, but this will be our basic layout. 

Because it will be such a wide space, I think we will be able to have cubbies or shelves on the opposite wall for more storage-probably for beach gear and sports equipment.  I've been pinning like a crazy person! At the moment the surfboard racks will probably stay where they are, but in the future we may look to moving them, and putting in a fridge/freezer in there. 

Our plan is to go for a flatpack-probably Bunnings or Ikea, but we will figure all that stuff out over the coming few months. We will do most of it ourselves, with the help of a carpenter friend for the new wall, plus plumbers and electricians. It's exciting. It will also mean we will be getting rid of more of the lovely green paint, and getting some nice new flooring in there too! YAY!

veggie pots

I mentioned here and here that we had planted some veggies in pots. 

Sometime soon we will build some raised garden bed, but for this season (unless we start quite soon!) we will grow them in pots. I'm actually really pleased we went ahead and planted in the pots, because after just a day or two, we moved the pots from their original location (where we were thinking of building the raised beds) to where they now sit. Their new spot gets a few extra hours of sun each day, so that will be where we make our raised bed. This side garden is just down a set of external stairs from our kitchen, so will be nice and close when it comes time to harvest.

We used a few bags of potting mix, and added extra goodies to it, including dynamic lifter, some kick along, and some worm castings, from our worm farm. We also used some Seasol to give them some extra nutrients. 

Probably should have worn gloves...

We planted some new basil, coriander, parsley and mint-we have grown these for years, but they were kind of at the end of their lives, so we started fresh. We use them all the time in cooking. 
We also chose to plant mixed lettuce and cos seedlings, as well as kale, tomatoes and capsicums. We figured they will be the most useful to us, and will grow well in pots. Hopefully next year we will be able to expand a bit more. 

Our lemon and lime trees already have baby fruits on them, and our chilli bush has lots of green chillies just waiting to ripen. Unfortunately, last year our chillies all were eaten by birds as they ripened, so we have hung some CDs this year, in the hope that the reflections will  scare them off. Will see how we go. 

Have you every tried a veggie patch? How did it go?

we have a gate

Thanks for the wedding love! I thought I would break it up a bit (while I wait for my professional photos) and get back to the side area we have been working on.

Our fence is finally finished-we have a gate!

 I'm actually really happy with how this area is coming along, especially because we still have quite a bit to do to it.

**

Despite the carpets of rocks down there it is feeling quite green at the moment, now that spring has definitely sprung.

Our next steps down here are 

-build some raised garden beds down near the bottom of the garden for some veggie patches

-hire a jackhammer to break up and remove the big rocks

-remove the small white rocks (we will use some to fill out the bottom of our garden beds to provide drainage, but might put an ad on gumtree giving them away if someone else removes them!!)

-lay grass

-plant out the gap between the rock retaining wall and the fence **see photo above

Currently our veggie patch is a pot setup, until we get around to building our beds. Most of the pots you see in the photos are fruit trees-a chilli bush, a lemon tree, a lime tree, and lots of smaller pots, but we were given a climbing jasmine, and L put in some eyelets and wires for it so it can grow. 

Here is a quick before, so you can really appreciate the difference down in this little area. I didn't even photograph this area in all of it's original glory-I must have been too horrified!

This is the closest we came to having a photo  of the green lamandra. It is also the only photo we have that shows the monstrous fig tree we had growing within meters of our house, and the neighbours'. We removed it within a week of getting the keys.  The below photo is when it was all dying off with the help of a considerable amount of roundup.

I'll leave you with one more after to remove that image from your memory! Have you been getting out into the garden lately??

on the dark side

***Hmmm-this post went up a few days ago, but somehow came down again... More work is happening today though...***

Sorry little blog for neglecting you! Anything to do with the house has almost slowed to nothing. With the wedding less than a month away all our free time and money have been going towards that. I thought I was so organised, and we had everything booked and picked months ago, but making final decisions, and confirming everything is time consuming!
I'll have to do a post with all of our wedding details to show you!!
Work is also flat out as I try to cram 7 weeks of learning, meetings and paperwork into the next 3. I do go back for the last 2 weeks of term, but would rather not stress about meetings and paperwork in that time. Plus, I've really been trying to go to bed early (for my beauty sleep!) and exercise daily.
After the wedding we will get back into it, and I'll have some new things to show you!

We are knocking over one job though. Earlier this year, in our plans for this year I mentioned we wanted to 'something' to the side area. We still are debating what to eventually use the area for (I'm for grassing and putting in a raised vegie patch, L thinks it won't get enough sun in winter, and wants to pave it. I think grass would be better for (future) kids, especially since the backyard is down another set of stairs, and it is just out from the clothes line, also don't need a paved patio because we have three verandahs...).

Nevertheless, 'something' is happening. We have been round-uping the lamandra for a few months, and they slowly have been dying off.

Before-from the road

A few weekends ago L spent a morning digging them up, leaving us with a nice pebbly area, with a murraya hedge growing to the side.

During

Action shot

After
This one looks sideways, but is actually the view looking down from the front verandah

But that's not all. As I write, we are building our first fence. We are building some timber screens for privacy, security, and for our 30th birthday present to each other and ourselves-a dog! The boys are working hard today, but unfortunately came up against a roadblock or two, which slowed them down a bit.
I should have more to show you later in the week! :)

future, future plans...

I thought while I was posting about downstairs I would show you our plans for the far distant future. Currently our house has  3 bedrooms-1 downstairs, 2 upstairs and also the sunroom. Downstairs we also have a big garage that is built into the house.

The big empty garage before we moved in

Looking back the other way. It does not look like this now....

What we would eventually like to do is change the direction of the stairs from the main part of the house, so they go into the garage, and  convert the garage into a big family room/ rumpus room. It would mean putting a floor in, as currently there is just the cement slab, and a ceiling as the current room is just the bottom of the floorboards and big beams. We would also put in some bigger windows, and probably some doors where the current roller door is. We could put a shed out to the side, so it wouldnt be a whole wall of doors. I want to build a wall already to block off the laundry/storage area from garage, so hopefully that will already we there. We could then easily turn the current room under the stairs into a big fourth bedroom, which would have access to the bottom deck. Could maybe even sort out a walk in robe, by stealing a little bit of the current garage... Hmmmm. One day maybe....

Do you have any one day plans??