Tah-dah!

As promised....the Christmas tree:




Yes, it's a bit of a tinsel overload, but that's because I don't have enough baubles for such a giant tree and I'm not going out spending the $$ just now.

At least it helps fill up the furnitureless empty space in the lounge. :D

How does your garden grow?

With sunshine, rain, some Seasol ....and about nine months since planting:





The Little Gems I planted as a border were a bit straggly and skinny after spending way too long in their pots. So I hacked at them mercilessly and they were sprouting new leaves all over ....which the freak hailstorm a couple of weeks ago shredded. :(

But they're bouncing back. They should make a nice bushy hedge given a little time.



I get impatient at times and think there hasn't been much growth. So it's good to take photos and do a comparison now and then and see that things really are taking off nicely.

Now I can't wait to turn this into a tranquil oasis:

One year on....

We had handover on the 28th November last year, so even though we didn't move in till the 13th December, we've officially been in possession of the place for a year now. Sometimes I look around and think we've done hardly anything and feel all blah about how much there still is to do. Then I remember all the stuff we have done so far, and tell myself to get over it.

Really, apart from the landscaping, we have one feature light fitting that we haven't yet installed, the wardrobes need to be properly fitted out, we still need blinds on the bifolds, and that's about it. Everything else is optional - extra cabinets in the laundry, maybe a roof ladder installed in the garage, furniture, decorator stuff.... I'm sure I'll think of lots more things we "need" though. ;o)

Since it's that time, we had one of the builder's maintenance guys out a couple of weeks ago to do our 12-month inspection of all the "structural" defects that have appeared since the three-month inspection. They're mostly sticking doors, nail pops in ceilings (and one spectacular one in the hallway!) and so on. But there's also some sub-standard work that was done as part of the three-month maintenance that we're unhappy with, and a leak in the roof that developed about three weeks ago. Luckily the leak is in our ensuite, so only tiles were getting wet....

There was no problem about fixing any of it, and I even got them to agree to sort out the study downlights that take a good 10-15 seconds to come on when you press the switch. Various other people told us that that was normal. Hmmph.

Now I'm expecting a plumber to contact me about the leak and an electrician about the lights and a dodgy exhaust fan in the bathroom soonish. The rest is unlikely to be started till the New Year, but there's nothing pressing amongst it, so no biggie.

I'm keen to get this stuff out of the way and get the landscaping done, and then I think I'll start to feel like the house is complete.

More Christmas decorations

I borrowed this idea from someone else, after deciding that Buddha needed to join in the Christmas spirit:



Bike Boy thinks he looks a bit disgusted.

Hey, it was either the Santa hat or a tinsel necklace and a pair of bauble earrings.

Quick update

We got the landscaping quotes back and didn't QUITE faint at the price. It's more than we want to spend, but not by a huge amount, thank goodness.

Since we took the "let's include everything we want" approach, we now have some room to pare a few things back and hopefully still end up with a design we like with all necessary inclusions at a price we're happy with. Then we'll be content to spend the next twelve months or so gradually adding the extras.

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I finally got my flyscreen on the sliding door in the studio too. I'm keen to see if the air con works better in here with a door open. Last summer was unbearable in this west-facing room, even with the evap cooling on full and the blockout blinds closed. Let's hope it's just an airflow issue; the rest of the house is great.

We'll no doubt find out soon. I'm sure there's more heat in store.

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eBay is my current obsession. I'm madly selling stuff we no longer need and also picking up some bargain secondhand textbooks for the kids. I refuse to buy another $70 book that can't be passed on to a younger brother because the school changes the required text. Grr!!

I'm trawling through the house looking for anything that might be sellable.... the kids better not stand still for too long.

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I bought a new Christmas tree this year (one that doesn't look ridiculous with our high ceilings), and it's up - yay! I'll post a photo when I have more presents under it.... it looks kind of bare at the moment.

I picked these up at Target today though, very blingy!