At last, some real progress

       Well here it is, almost in all its glory. We have the frame up, the door and most of the windows in. Husband has also finished the line of water proofing around the bottom.  We are having a very quick dinner and then we hope to get at least a couple of panels of cladding on tonight. I stand in it and cant still quite believe it will be mine!! I am now wondering about window coverings, floor coverings, furniture!!! POWER POINTS, where shall I put the power points, I know I want lots!! Hope to have a pic of the finished exterior by next weekend.

What a week.....

I have sat down to write this at least a dozen times in the past week, but it has been incredibly hard to order my thoughts. There is no one in the world who would not know what has happened in my home state of Victoria this past week. I dont even know where to begin......there is a complete sense of desolation hanging over our community. Last Saturday I had family running from the fires in country Victoria, thankfully they and their properties came out unscathed.  Many did not. Here in Melbourne today it is very smokey, the sun is glowing an eerie golden yellow, reminding us all that the danger is not over yet. We have a significant portion of bushland behind our home, and I think I have lost track of the times I have been out to sniff the air and look for flames. Everyone is on edge, especially those of us who live in bushy areas. 

I have friends and family assisting in the relief effort, and that at least does something to relieve the sense of helpless that those of us not directly affected feel so deeply.  I continue to pray for all those who have lost homes and loved ones and hope that much will be learned to prevent this from happening again.

More Concrete & Parcels......

Here finally is a picture of the finished slab. Not very exciting I know but a huge milestone in what is becoming the soap opera of this project. Husband is home, but of course it is going to be 44 degrees here today, so there will be no real work done. He is off buying brackets, as that can be done in an air conditioned car.

Nancy is back from her trip and informed me that her parcel has arrived safely, so that is all 3 received now. Thanks again to everyone who joined in the fun, I am just sorry I couldn't give a prize to everyone.

At the left of the photo you can just see some huge trees. They are part of a protected reserve that surrounds the Blind Creek Billabong which is just behind our house. It was one of the features that attracted us to the area, but of course on a day like today it becomes a point of concern. Over the 10 years we have lived here, we have had several deliberately lit fires in the reserve, one burning a significant area of the bushland. That fire was only about 100m behind our back fence. But I am in the middle of suburbia, and the risk to my property is realatively small. I cannot even imagine what it is like for friends and family who live with an ever present high threat of fire at this time of the year. So to all of you who are literally sweating out the arrival of the cool change, I am thinking of you and praying that this feral day passes without incident.

BFN

Concrete..& Parcels

I didnt realize it had been so long since I posted. To all those who have enquired, yes the concrete went done as scheduled on Tuesday. I then had to spend the next 2 days watering it so it would not dry too fast in that ridiculas heat we had last week. It felt so wrong, but I had been told water or it will crack. I have no pic at the moment. I did try to post one last week but the google uploader was misbehaving and now I cannot find the picture. Husband who has been in Perth working for 2 weeks, will be home Friday, not sure how long it will be before he starts building.

In regards to parcels, May Britt & Lissa have been in touch to say their packages arrived safely. Has your come yet Nancy?? I cannot understand how you could not if May Britt does?? 

I now better get myself packed up for the class I am teaching tonight, apparently I am getting 4 new students!!! It is exciting and scary all at the same time.

BFN