Just really quickly

We had the roof shout last night and it was good - the builders were very polite and nice and friendly.  I was worried there would not be enough sausages and bread so way over-catered and Steve told me off.  However, it really could have gone either way because there were a few builders who were still working and couldn't make it.  So that's me acquitted from the crime of over-supply, right?

The curious thing was that only one of the 24 x Jack Daniels and cola was drunk.  This is curious for the reason that last week, as mentioned, there were bourbon and colas drunk in abundance.  Suddenly Steve and I thought - with a gasp, because that sounds good - "I bet Jack Daniels' is what old people drink!".  The reason doesn't really matter but suffice to say, I hate bourbon and cola and it's really sweet and I felt ill yet strangely compelled to drink some given no one else did!!

I do have a picture to prove it but that's for another day.

Steve and I have enjoyed some beautiful and tranquil time without our children thanks to our wonderful friends Tamah and Campbell, and to my sister and bro-in-law.  We went out!  We went to a bar!  And had drinks!  And dinner.  I won't tell you what else we had.  Oh, Ok, Chocolate brownie!  Tricked you, didn't I.  You thought I was going to be rude.

Child-free dinner

And a child-friendly dinner.  What was going on without us.... thanks Tamah for this picture!

Earlier today, we moved our kitchen into the girls old bedroom, moved the spare bed into our bedroom and our kitchen is standing, masoleum-like, sparkling, bare and brave.   And it's on Trade Me.  http://www.trademe.co.nz/building-renovation/kitchen/complete-kitchens/auction-582594847.htm

Here are the latest illustrations of activity:

Spare bed in our bedroom.  If Steve snores, that's it!  He's in the spare bed.  And guests can sleep with us!

Our new kitchen, without running water, a dishwasher, or an oven. 

But we still have an espresso machine and wine, so we'll be OK.

Old Mrs Hubbard's cupboards are bare!

 

 

The next pictures I post will be of this space but demolished! Very exciting.  Also watch this space for the big stacker door pic.  It will be EPIC.

 

Anna x

Monday Monday la la la la la la

Good evening,

Tonight I'd like to talk to you about concrete slabs and what happens if you do not put the right pipes in before the slabs go down.  The concrete slab has to be cut into in order to put the pipes in, and then concrete re-poured over the new pipes.

We don't know what happened to cause the above situation, but I do know the builders are blaming the plumbers and the plumbers are blaming the builders.  Only because I overheard comments which didn't make much sense until our main man builder sent through an email outlining the problem above.  He downplayed the problem but reading between the lines he is a bit annoyed.

Moving right along, we have bought a dining table off Trade Me.  It's an 8 seater!  It's massive!  We can have many parties!  Here it is:

A heavy-duty, glass top, 8-seater dining table strong enough to withstand the activities of small children.

It's definitely not 'the one' but it will be great with small kids and I know that I will not worry about what they do to it. The chairs are not ours, and I am still searching for some lovely pieces to perch our bottoms on.

We spent the weekend camping, or at least we tried to.  We left Auckland at 3pm on Friday afternoon to find it took us 45 minutes to get to the first motorway exit on our way north.  This meant that our one hour trip would actually take three hours, approximately.  We turned around and went to McDonalds and took the kids to a park near the beach.  It was great fun and less stressful than sitting in traffic, hauling up our tent and cooking dinner in the dark.

The next day we set off and arrived at the campsite to find our friends looking a bit drawn and tired, but ready for a party for three little ones (a 1 year old, a 4 year old and a 5 year old).  There were balloons, party food, games and streamers which is not bad for a camping party!  It rained a bit on and off but stayed mostly dry and we had a dinner of burgers (home made ones this time). 

However the next morning, it poured!  We all took down tents in our rain jackets, juggling sodden children and soggy breakfast cereal. 

This is the amount of rain that fell in mm.  See the highest bars there?  That is the time we were packing up camp.

We arrived home wet and cold and tired - but having an adventure like that is kind of fun.  After hot showers and some rest, we were all feeling better and then lentils for dinner ensured we felt virtuous nutritionally also.  Next time shall we trust the weather forecast? 

Framing turns out to be great for drying wet tents!

More house stuff to report in the next few days.

x

Slab down

Here it is, the long awaited house update!

Since last week, the builders have been going gangbusters.  I might let the pictures tell the story. 

Now, where were we up to?

Ah yes, that's right.  The trenches were dug.


And we actually bought the lights.  Remember these?  We ordered one in smoke grey, one steel blue and one pink.  I figure that our kitchen is all white and our walls will (probably) be white too, so to inject some colour this way will be fun.

Our new kitchen lights (look at the three larger ones and you'll get the idea).

The poor builders have had no more biscuits or tea because I have been a working woman this week.  I filled in as Sandy from Grease at a trade show.  The girls thought it was excellent because Mummy got into dress ups every morning.  It was lots of fun but it has left me under no illusion about how organised Steve and I would have to become for me to go back to work full-time.  Another realisation is that I feel like I have had a break equivalent to that of a 5 star cruise in the Bahamas for ten days. 

I don't look that relaxed but this was the first day.  I was semi-waiting for little people to jump out from behind trees asking me to wipe their bottoms.

Despite the lack of baking, the builders were happy because the nanny was a young gorgeous blonde Irish girl.

And perhaps she made them work harder. This is the progress this week:

Not really a progress shot, but don't Uncle Mike and Steve look sweet together? 

 The insulation laid down

 

And the concrete pad!  All marked out for our beautiful big stacker doors. 

We will have enough room for our dining table!

 

And that is all for today because it's bedtime.  Tomorrow the framing goes up and it's door day.  As in, choosing some doors for our new house!  And then it's the weekend (we're going camping!) so look forward to an update on Monday.

 

Lots of love,

 

Sandy x