Best spire in all the lands

We finally decided on Manor Red for the exterior paint. Over the course of a number of hot weekends and with the help of Pa and Darrin, Mark completed the painting of all exterior gutters, fascia, eaves and... a gable and spire. It makes such a difference!

The only thing left to do is make a new home for gnome in the front garden.

Have now planted a posse of Iceberg rose standards and gardenias in the rear garden outside the dining window. The thought is that we can look out from the dining table onto a cluster of roses. Just need to replace some irrigation hosing, place down more pine bark, plant a few more flowers and the gardens will be complete. In the meantime, my vegetable and herb gardens are doing very well and I have my first red tomatoes on the vine. Very cool!

Secret garden

Stage 2 of gardening has commenced. Operation T-reemove successfully completed and now the landscaping begins. The hedges have been planted. In the end I selected pittosporum "golf ball" with ficus trees as highlight. Our tree removal conditions have now been planted. Have also made the beginning of a lavendula hedge with English lavender which smells so sweet. Also have a feature yucca at the door.

We have started laying pine bark and are nearly finished the painting. Finishing touch will be the erection of a gable and giving gnome a new home! Can't wait to finish.

Raw cotton and...

The tree and stump have gone and moved on to next project with a lick of paint to the exterior. After one coat, its already looking great. Now we just have to decide on what colour to paint the guttering, gable and spire... thinking green. MT is in charge of getting sample pots to assist with our selection. Whatever the case it will set us apart from our neighbours who have the same exterior as us.

So this week we are working on fixing the gable, buying a spire and finishing the painting of the exterior... and oh, the fence! which is leaning a little bit more to the left.

Ding, Dong! The Tree is gone... but the stump remains

Now the tree is gone just have to work on getting the stump removed... then i can start on making a frontscape to my house with lovely hedges, lawn and green, green, green. Yeah!

Next project, bathrooms! In the process of researching designs for our main and ensuite. Stay tuned!

A special shout out to a special friend who has something BIG happening this week. We love you and have our fingers crossed.

Tree, Two, One, None!

Huge update: the tree has gone. I cant wait to revel in our neighbours' excitement. We should all hold hands and skip in an anti-clockwise direction around the trunk.

Big thanks

A Big Thanks to Scott (for helping with the move!), Pa, Nanny, Mum and Dad for all the hard work put in to improve our house and make us comfortable. All looking good!

I particularly love my Herb and Succulent Gardens which will in time look absolutely lush and fabulous, if I can only water them as I should.

Once we get a few stray boxes unpacked and can start on the front garden, we can move onto Project Bathroom and make our home "Schome".

Thanks also to my beautiful hubble for everything...

Trees a crowd!

Waiting on the Council to approve our Tree Removal application.

Always waiting on something... Also taking advantage of the insulation rebate from the government. It really is a good time to buy...!

And it begins... our Extreme Home Makeover

House frontage BEFORE...

and AFTER...

After a bit of effort, we finally removed the shrubbery which has been blocking the front bay windows and can now hang our heads high as we no longer have the ugliest frontage on the street. An easy way to win over the new neighbours!

We now plan to make this bare patch beautiful by planting some hedging and plants to liven up this space. We can also now access our mailbox without foraging through a tree.

The transformation has begun...

New home

As of 6 August 2009, we are the proud owners of our first home. The moment we eagerly awaited finally came.

Disappointing

Still have not been certified ok for settlement, so no settlement date yet.

Quite disappointed with Bank who have already caused much delay to the settlement and will now cause us to incur penalty interest at $90 per day when we cant complete the contract on time.

Unfortunately, it has been quite difficult of late to get excited about buying our first home which is a bit sad really.

All that is left to do is....

Confirm settlement date, pack, pack pack, and wait for settlement and then we will be First Home Buyers!

Why are we waiting?

This just in... mortgage documents have been received.

It pays to sit firmly on your mortgage broker's back.

Still waiting..

How frustrating! After being told two days ago, that our Mortgage documents had been mailed out, they are still not received. Now we find out that they are being sent today.

Any day now would be great thanks Bank!

When can we settle?

Still waiting on Mortgage documents from the Bank, which we hope to receive tomorrow. Once these are received we can find out how long we have to live in this mess and boxes. Lilly isnt complaining as she looooooves jumping and laying on boxes, especially the ones marked "Fragile".

Meanwhile, we have received a Survey which shows the land to be within its boundaries and without encroachments, which is great, no problems there!

Buying a Home

After deciding to join the First Home Buyers Market, it has been a long road to get to this point. With one failed attempt to buy a property at Quakers Hill, it looks like our time and effort will soon be rewarded.

At this point, we have unconditionally exchanged and are awaiting receipt of mortgage and FHOG documents and the receipt of a survey, to ensure that we are ready for our settlement which is proposed to take place on 27 July 2009.

Its hard not to get excited and I fall asleep designing the layout of my new bedroom in my new home. At the moment, thinking about a possible feature wall and the erection of photos on the wall because with 12 years of renting under my belt, I finally can do those things!