Building a house is exhausting! Add to the mix: raising a family, looking after animals and vegies, trying to improve the property, running a business and teaching, and you are wanting to go to bed at 7pm.

Yesterday we finished the internal framing. This was a very exciting occasion. We can now walk around the house and visualise the rooms – moreso than from the drawings anyway. We made a lot of changes as we went along. For example, we decided to have one big bathroom rather than having a separate toilet off the hallway. We decided to move the wood-stove into the kitchen, extending the wall slightly and moving the door to the deck. We decided to use the end of the hallway for a children’s study area, rather than for a linen cupboard. There are so many cupboards in the house, we felt that it was a waste of a good, useful space.

Here is the latest photo of the house, taken at 5pm today. Already this photo is slightly out of date, as Monte has just finished attaching an extra beam along the ringbeam. This is so the internal wall frames will sit below the trusses. The next job is to finish the ladderwork for the base of the bales.

This photo is not here just to showcase the beautiful skies we have had recently (actually, the day was so hot. It must have reached 27 degrees. We almost passed out from the heat!), but to show the bracing of the internal frames. The top of the frame is braced to the ringbeam and the side of the frame is braced to the floor. The metal strapping is on this wall because this particular wall is a bracing wall.

Things are happening faster than we anticipated – thus the fatigue! To think that it was only last month that the concrete was poured. In three months we have gone from a pile-o-sand to a frame that closely resembles a home!
We are due to have the trusses delivered this week, and Monte’s dad and brother are coming over to help us put the trusses in position. We are excited that when the trusses are in place, we can organise the council inspection and then get the roof. Having the roof means we can begin baling, which will be exciting!

At present we are trying to think of plants to use on our hill. We’re concerned about soil erosion on the fill side of the house site (the house is securely placed on land, not fill). Monte has suggested that I propagate about a million geraniums for this purpose. I can imagine a hill, brightly coloured with simple yet pretty geraniums. It would be quite striking, especially against the backdrop of brilliant green (aka grass) on the property.

We are also looking into purchasing a greenhouse. Our tomatoes are still green, and we’ve heard that the best way to actually grow toms is to grow them in the greenhouse. Monte has made a plastic tent over our toms for this purpose. I am looking forward to growing some more vegies. We just feel so pushed for time all the time!

Today Matty got a card from Nanny. He was most excited by this, as he and Georgia love to get mail (thankfully the grandies write to the children often!). The card has puppies on it. He showed it to Lucy – for a long time, and did not let us take the card from him to read it. He just looked at the puppies and pointed to them, saying “puppies” and “dogs”. Then he would point to the card and say “nanny.” Then he said “where’s the cat? the cat is gone!” and started looking for our cat. I mention this because it is one of those cute toddler moments that you hope you’ll remember long enough to tell nanny, or whoever, about his reaction. Poppa writes cards to the kids a lot too, and we’re keeping them in a special folder they have made, filled with stories and poems. It’s wonderful

The world has just got smaller for me. I took Georgia to the doctor yesterday, only to come face to face with the very same doctor who induced me when I went into labour with Matthew! I had a chance to “thank” her. It’s so weird that a doctor who treated me in Adelaide is now the local doctor here.

Life is very very good. Seeing the progress of our new house, which we have designed and are now building ourselves is most rewarding. We have found a beautiful “groove,” and we are happier than ever. This is reassuring and encouraging. We have made the right decision to move to this place. We miss the people we love in Adelaide, and we hope we can share pieces of our dream with them, despite the small distance that keeps us apart. Those who think of us often will be happy to know that we are happy. For me, I have never been this happy. Despite our small cabin (which seems to be shrinking!), our lack of electricity and the belongings that are stored away, I am happier than ever.

If this post didn’t make you happy, then at least this photo of Matty will make you smile.