Great news!

We’re very excited at present, as much is happening at our house! The ceilings are in! We are rendering the walls and they are looking splendid, with rounded curves around the windows. We render the final coat by hand, painstakingly smoothing over the surface to create a beautiful texture. We also have electricity now, and I am very much enjoying using a fridge and a washing machine! It makes such a difference; life is much easier! We have now got a toaster, and Georgia particularly loves being on toast patrol! We find it a bit strange using an electric kettle, and sometimes we use our gas stove to boil a kettle of water for the morning cuppa. Probably the most exciting thing for me, however, was being able to put lights on the christmas tree. Possibly not a big deal for some, but for me, the lights glowing on the tree of an evening is an essential Christmas ingredient.

Plumbing is happening. The pipes for the wood stove have been installed and we are looking forward to manouvring the big item into the kitchen! How it will be done, we are yet to decide… More plumbing means that we have a toilet in the house now.

Soon the plastering will be complete. I am looking forward to painting! The tiles are sitting, waiting to be laid. The kitchen and laundry is on order; it will be exciting to put that in.

When do we move in? Well, the answer varies. We’ll be moving in before the beginning of the school year, which coincides with our 11th wedding anniversary. Sometimes we think it will be best to move in only when everything is complete, but most of the time we think we will complete half the house and live in that whilst we complete the rest at a more leisurely pace.

Ensuite window

Ensuite window

The main bedroom window

The main bedroom window

The children singing at church on Christmas eve

The children singing at church on Christmas eve

Matty is a king, Georgia is Mary on Christmas Eve

Matty is a king, Georgia is Mary on Christmas Eve

The Children on Christmas day

The Children on Christmas day

We had a lovely Christmas day here in Geeveston. We spent our first night in the new house. I was awake a lot of the night, as I listened to the creaks and other new sounds that the house makes. It was great to wake up in the house. It will be wonderful to live there; the space is beautiful and the children run about happily – it’s great having lots of space!

Father Christmas visited us during the night and the children were excited to receive the gifts they had asked for. We had delicious food for the day, and too many presents. We had just the right amount of wine though, and we were very delighted to pack things up and return to the cabin for an afternoon flop at 4pm.

Would we have Christmas at home again? Yes, definately. It was great doing our own thing! Although we missed the family and friends we left behind in Adelaide, spending time as a family was brilliant. We gave the children a totem tennis kit, and playing that, as well as singstar and various DS games, made the day entertaining (particularly entertaining when mummy played totem tennis with daddy, who thought it a great idea to aim for mummy’s head when he hit the ball…).

A wonderful Christmas, and we’re looking forward to an excellent new year (to be honest, I can’t wait for 2009 to be over!).

Happy new year!

Our view on Christmas morning... reminding us why we live where we do!

Our view on Christmas morning... reminding us why we live where we do!

My strawberry blonde in the strawberry patch

My strawberry blonde in the strawberry patch