Our future home...

This post is well past due. Our year to date has been ridiculous, with very few weekends being spent at home. We have done the run up to Canberra and the farm on many of our weekends, and have had to go to Melbourne for events also. It is great fun - but we are not getting a lot of time for a rest.

Summer was incredibly busy. We spent six or seven weeks at the farm building what will be our future home. We had the luxury of a couple of years to plan the house, which meant several completely different plans, and the incorporation of a few fantastic rooms which we will definitely appreciate into the future.

The kitchen area includes a bakehouse, brewery, slaughter room, scullery, cold room, cool larder (for curing salami and prosciutto), cheese cave and wine cellar. It will definitely be the heart of the house! I am also looking forward to spending time on our deck. We have a brilliant view, and should be permanently sheltered from the worst of the weather.

We are incredibly lucky to have the families that we do. Both Tyson and David gave up time to come to the farm over Summer to help with the build. Without their help we just couldn't have done it. I had just come home from a few months overseas, and the build was a fantastic way to get back into the swing of things. We worked long and hard - and had a great time. A picture paints a thousand words, so join me below for a visual stroll through our building journey over the summer gone...

This was how the ground looked when I first got to the farm. The local concrete guys had drilled the pier holes, and were ready to fill them with concrete (Day 2).  In the background of the picture, you can just make out the level lines - level with the timber in the foreground. I really struggled to believe there was that much fall across the block - and wasn't the only one. Until we started to put up the structure, most people struggled to see the fall. Apparently the guys setting out the piers had to calibrate their lasers twice to be sure!

 We used a steel sub floor system. Kind of like Meccano - only much, much larger. Tyson is starting the set out. Some of the main bearers were upwards of 11 metres long - and heavy.

Jane being the technical one - checking the levels for the verandah posts.

As you can see, we did it tough on the build site! This was one of the meals that Tyson and I enjoyed early on...

The completed sub floor. This took us about a week from start to finish. All the panels were computer cut, and pre-drilled. It was a very easy system to work with - and great to see results on a regular basis!

 Tyson surveying the work site - and the view

Showering happened - lucky this was a summer build

The foreman has arrived! Jane was only able to be on the farm on weekends for the first few weeks of the build. It meant a lot of driving for her and MacK, and it was definitely easier when they were full time on site for three weeks.  

Peter spent several weeks on the build - even giving up the golf course. He had a blast, and was a great help. He even got used to sleeping on the floor. Kind of! every now and then he decided that I had worked hard enough, and didn't need to get into the kitchen, and would duck into Canowindra to buy Indian takeaway. The Indian shop in town is less than inspiring to look at, and I only ate there one night when it was the only thing open. The food is authentic, really fresh and full of well considered spices. The samosa are to die for!

We had facilities... Tyson celebrating his plumbing efforts

The frames start to go up. What an education - still not a fan of heights.

Tyson went home for Christmas, and Dave came down from Darwin. His first job was to interpret the truss plan, and to get them laid out on the roof. Apparently a job best done in 'roofing thongs' up on the frame!

The trusses all went up together, without too much hassle

Hi Dave...

We took a break on New Years Eve for a Super heroes party next door. Static Nomadic played, and we had a great time. The next day was a little more difficult, and we didn't get too much done.

Visitors galore... (although these ones didn't wear high heeled cork wedges and carry parasols onto the build site!)

 There was also time for recreation. Tyson here showing off a little... I think the kids were much more impressed when he came running up onto the house wearing his plasterers stilts. He could cover about three metres per step in those. Very impressive.

Mum, Dad, Harry and Summer came to visit for a couple of days. Mum got a little camera shy in this pic!

'Canowindra Coffee' time - We got rained off one day, and I suggested to David that we would go into town for coffee. We asked Peter to drive. As we got into town, he asked us which cafe we wanted to go to, to which I suggested the Royal. Peter asked if the Royal served coffee - I said "I hope not!"

From that time on, every time the rain came in, it was time to stop for a Canowindra Coffee. And cheese, and sometimes even cards.

Everyone had to pull their weight on the build

This was the day we rolled out. We didn't have time to get the roof on (that was done in later weeks by a local contractor). The rain was torrential, we wouldn't have been able to get anything done in any case.

A great picture of David and Jane

This is the view from our deck. I think even Kevin McLeod would be impressed with the way we have framed our view.

This is the view from our bedroom window. Isn't it just beautiful?

And there is that view again...