Mummy has a headache.

Yes I have a headache. A tension headache. I am kinda thinking what the hell have we done? Have we bought ourselves a big problem by buying a partially built house, and not just starting from scratch?

To explain, we saw our consultant today. I immediately liked him. He was an older gentlemen with loads of experience in building, drafting, surveying and the like We knew he would advise us correctly because he has been around for years and you can't beat experience and knowledge. And passion for what you do, and he has that in spades.

He also lived in an old country house that he built himself, and I really loved that. We explained our current situation, and the things that are worrying us. Besides giving us good practical advice, he explained that building our home is a journey, we need time out, we need to chill (not his words!) and we have to go step by step and enjoy the process.

Now I thought building was just drawing a floor plan, submitting it to council, organising a someone to build the thing and move in. I have so much to learn...

Things I didn't know and wished I did before starting this "lets build our dream home and be owner builders for part of it" blah blah blah

1 If a measurement on a plan reads at 300 but the wood on the house is built to 450, that could be a problem.

2 Hard wood is graded and if left to sit for a certain amount of time, the grading changes, which in turn may stuff up the plan already done.

3 Nothing ever gets done quickly and everything costs more.

So today we are getting measurements on what's been done, to give to our man who will draw up the floor plan. Then the three of us will meet the original engineer who drew up the plans, to voice our concerns and issues and really get the ball rolling. We have only today found out he is still around, I wish we knew this at the beginning.

So it's baby steps. But that's fine because we are that little bit closer to the end result. I think we are nervous because we are so new to this, having never built a house before and there is so much detail involved. Life is a challenge and this is ours.

And another thing, if Miss T (aged 4) doesn't stop having middle of the night, throw herself on the floor, scream like a banshee tantrums, I am going to poke myself in the eye with a stick.

Have some VISION

So it went a bit like this. The hubbster and I patiently waiting in front of the computer for the quote for redesigning and engineering the roof. Of the house that doesn't yet exist. You see, the plans are approved already, but we want a different roofline. Or did!

The email downloaded and in perfect harmony I said WTF and he said doh, while burying his head in his hands and jumping away from the computer as if he had seen a giant toad. Which we do see frequently here on the farm. What did we see, you ask?

We saw $5200.00, that's what we saw. For redesigning the stupid roof of the faceless house. That doesn't even include the floor plan. For that price the engineer can come and build the bloody house himself!

We were hoping to cost it at around $2000.00, but alas we were wrong. So we have decided to stick with the original plan, with one or two minor changes to stick with the Queenslander style. We are seeing another consultant tommorrow who will probably be alot cheaper, and can advise us where to go from here.

Once he sees the housesite and what is already done, he will draw up our floorplan, add it to the rest and we can submit it all to council. The most pressing issue for me now is to find a builder. A local with a good reputation, who can understand what we are trying to do. We want a classic Queenslander look, wide airy verandahs. High ceilings. Polished timber floors. Panelling on the interior walls with chair and picture rails. I can almost imagine what it will be like. Almost. The hubbster says "farmers wife - have some vision!!" I try, I really do and I can almost see it.

Mystery of life 1

So after yesterdays long blog post (which to some could have induced sleep) today will be short.

What the hell happened to the 28 tennis balls I bought the kids for Christmas, as we went to play today and couldn't even find one - I think it has to do with young Mr C hitting them over the tennis court fence. I mean I know he's sporty and all that, but 28 tennis balls - gone???

Pic of the day

I have this fascination with tall buildings. And amazing bridges. And architecture that defies belief. I spend hours on wikipedia reading about skyscrapers - their height and whats involved in building them. Currently the record goes to the Burj Dubai, which stands at 2684 ft.

Don't get me started on Dubai. What a head shakingly amazing place. They have things like this and also like this and even this. I would love to visit this amazing region one day, just put it on my list of places to see.

When I toured America all those years ago, I loved seeing the different buildings from city to city.

In Santa Fe, New Mexico for example, the buildings we saw downtown looked completely different to what we saw in Dallas, Texas. The difference in architecture was simply amazing to me.


Other things that I loved was the Gateway Arch in St Louis, Missouri, and Lake Pontchartrain Causeway crossing Lake Pontchartrain in southern Louisiana. This consists of two parallel bridges, the longer of the two is the longest in the world over water, measuring at 23.87 miles (38.42 km) long. It is also the second longest in the world over any terrain (cut and pasted directly from my old friend Wikipedia).


I crossed this Lake sitting in the front seat of our tour bus in the pouring rain, wondering if the driver could actually see anything and crapping myself thinking how the hell do we get across!


Apologies if I have lost some of you, as todays post may not be as true to your heart as it is to mine. In fact I admit that my palms are sweaty just thinking about Lake Pontchartrain. I didn't, at the time, realise the significance of crossing this Lake on this amazing bridge, that it will remain one of the most memorable moments in my life.

This long and winding road has now led me to my pic of the day. A place I have visited, you may know it as the Grand Canyon but with an added extra that I will walk on someday...

Decisions decisions

What is it with snooty jewellery store salesgirls. I was anniversary gift hunting today for me (our 10 year wedding anniversary is fast approaching, yippee jewellery time) and ventured into one local jewellery store. The two assistants there were each double my height and twice as young as me (well not quite double my height but really ridiculously tall), and had an air about them that spelled S T U C K U P.

One girl served me and I kinda got the feeling that I was wasting her time, that she would have much preferred to be somewhere else, like on a yacht somewhere exotic. (Well actually that could have been me preferring to be somewhere else).

So I looked at a few things that I would like the hubbster to buy me. I can't decide between:-

Of course these pics are not exact but you get what I mean. I saw this gorgeous rose gold bangle which I am leaning towards. It's a good price for solid gold but in some ways still expensive as it's so small and useless, according to the hubbster who can't for the life of him understand my penchants for gold jewellery, but who still won't give me his wedding ring to wear on my thumb (he doesn't wear it as it's not safe for him to do so at work) - but he doesn't wear it at home either so GIVE IT TO ME.

I ended up with some catalogues and not much else and left the dreamy dolls behind the counter and walked across to the other shop where a friend works and she is as down to earth as you can get, and I didn't want to go sailing after all.

Ode to the Jump

What is the deal with jumping castles? I swear my kids have an inbuilt radar that detects these things from miles away, or even hidden away in someones backyard. We might be driving down the road and the kids will start screaming from the back:- "OM MY GOD (yes they do say this) there is a jumping castle".

Often we will go to the markets and the only things I buy are some tickets for the jumping castle. Which brings me to price. They usually range from $4.00 upwards, and if I ever ask the price and it's say $6.00 a turn, I always feel the need to say "no thanks, we can go home and the kids can jump on their beds for free" I never say that of course!

On the weekend we "found" a jumping castle at the local supermarket. I said we can go across but the hubbster can pay, as I am not paying today. I walked up to the lady and asked her how much for a jump on the jumping castle. She looked at me and said, "honey, it's free for you, jump on" Umm its not for me obviously but for the kids, over there hanging out of the car. I motioned for them to come across and they departed the car like rats, out of every hole and crevice, one out of the window, two out of the door. And bonus, it was FREE. We didn't need to go jump on the beds after all.

Just .. Stuff.

1 The day I wore my oldest undies (the ones with the hole in the seam) was the day the doctor suggested my yearly checkup.

2 I have run out of petrol in the car and locked the keys inside - at the same time.

3 When I dash to the shops with the kids to get just a few things, I run into a friend known as the perfect mother, who is well dressed, organised and has her kids under control. Mine are tearing up the place and I have on a thrown together clothing ensemble eg a tracksuit.

4 In any social situation where I need to show some form of emotional control, for example kids awards ceremony, kids dance recital, I disolve into tears and everyone looks at me strangely.

5 I have so many country home magazines ( and so little time to read them) that last week I bought 2 more at a cost of $18.00, not releasing that I already have them.

6 Just when I need to be quick in the shop because the hubbster and kids are circling the parking lot, there is always a delay at the checkout, and I get back to the car and the kids say "Daddy just said a swear word".

See I'm perfectly normal.

Pic of the day .. one day late ..

One child is asleep. That's the one who has been awake since 5.15am this morning. The cranky one. Two are watching Friday Night Football with the hubbster, waiting patiently for what we call the half time report which in essence is some kind of food related treat during - half time. Usually a milky milo and thick peanut butter and honey on bread. Tonight I think it's ginger nut biscuits. They may refuse, who knows.

Next week we should have some news back about our new house roofline. It's in the post apparently. Once that arrives, the hubbster will be drawing up the floorplan and submitting that along with the roofline specs to the engineer to be officially drawn up. I am so excited. We are just that little bit closer to actually living in a house. It's been nearly 5 months since we moved to the farm, and I must admit the time has gone by quickly. But some days I get antsy, I want it done then and there. It takes time, I know, but I am very impatient. It will be worth the wait.

Once the plans are drawn up, we will submit them to council then the business end really starts. We get a builder in to put the frame up in winter and we go from there. In all honestly I don't know how it will all go, but that's the plan.

For the pic of the day, I'm going all cutesy. Enjoy.

I scrapbook, therefore I am ...

I like to scrapbook. No. I love to scrapbook. A good friend introduced me to this worldwide craft phenomenon (the hubbster wouldn't say its a phenomenon, rather a way for wifey to spend loads of money on paper, ribbon, flowers, more paper) yadda yadda yadda. You can never have too much Bazzill I say!

The reason I scrapbook is for enjoyment, for stress release, for creativity, for brain function, for passing the time when there is nothing interesting on tv (scrapbooking is always more fun when the tv is on) and to preserve the memories of our lives. Specifically our childrens lives because in the years I have been at it, I only have albums for the kids, not myself, not the hubbster and not my overseas trip. I plan on starting these, I really do, but when I have some amazing paper, I always scrap a pic of the kids. For their albums. To be given to them on their 21st birthday - or maybe not. I wonder will they truly appreciate all the blood, sweat and tears? I have put into their albums??

I haven't tried digital scrapbooking as yet. Hmm, I'm not really sure about this. I like my pages to have texture, and depth, so I stick to the "old fashioned" way. I am not a tidy scrapbooker. Because we are in temporary accomodation on the farm, I have some of my "stuff" in a big plastic box, and my table is overflowing with the rest of it. As I have mentioned before, I will have my own kid free craft room in our new house and I honestly think I am looking more forward to that than say .. the new kitchen.

I never put away as I go, rather clutter up to the point of chaos. Heres a photo:-

- Note the unrelated wine glass and gym gloves in the top right hand corner. Guess which gets used the most. Here are some pretty pics:-

Just Another Day

Miss T (aged 4 years) had a tantrum today. She looked me square in the eye, wiped the floor with her toothbrush and threw it down the paddock.

I think she will be really good at sports someday ...

An Incidental Moment

The kids are driving me a bit mental today. So much fighting, hitting and stirring each other to the point of mummy getting a headache. Does a family exist in Australia whose children behave like angels, that can be taken to the supermarket without all three having shopping basket races up and down the isles - damm those baskets on wheels. Some days we can shop in peace, other days the check out girls see us coming.

This afternoon, my younger two were actually playing nicely together, since we have a no tv rule now on weekends, they have to amuse themselves. We were getting to the point where if a dvd was on, they were robotic, and if a dvd was not on, they were still robotic. Warning bells - get these kids outside to play, to imagine, to pretend.

Mr C and Miss T played brilliantly, and the most amazing thing I noticed was the way they spoke to each other. Instead of yelling and teasing they were so pleasant and .... nice. I just loved that. They spent the afternoon filling the dogs dishes with grass, water, rocks and mud, arranged dolls and bunnies in a picnic type scenario, who was I to stop them. I left them to it, of course commenting on how lovely they were playing together praise praise praise.

Miss D was laying on my bed reading and listening to music. Her choice of the day - Garth Brooks, Maroon 5 and Brandi Carlile. What a great opportunity for some girl time as we call it. I layed down with her face to face and chatted about school, dance and... stuff.

I often get so caught up in my own world that I fail to take notice of the things that really matter. I can't remember the last time I looked at her face so closely. She has the most amazing, I mean amazing eyelashes. When she looks up they are so long they touch her eyebrows. She is beautiful, when she was a baby, people would stare at her eyes, so blue, so round.

I studied her, watched her expression as she talked about school. Her smile, the shape of her mouth, which was the first thing I noticed when she was born. After 25 hours of labour, after longing for a baby for so long, after wanting to be a mother.

I felt really emotional today, it has caught me a bit by surprise. Of course being the sap I am, I got teary. I just sometimes forget, no forget isn't the right word, I just sometimes don't appreciate how lucky I am to be a mother, to have the most wonderful, amazing, beautiful children. Who shouldn't be taken for granted. It stopped me in my tracks, a bit.

They are also very energetic, spirited, kind, funny and sometimes naughty, and do drive me to drink occasionally. A glass of wine does wonders on the farm. They love it here, they all have boots and gallop around like crazy because there is so much SPACE. As the shed is open, they tear around on their bikes, and make jokes about mummy letting them ride their bikes in the house. Yeah right, we don't have a house.

Which reminds me, we need to see the engineers this week to see if the plans for our roof line are finalised. Every day, the hubbster draws something, or measures a beam, or adds/subtracts to the finalised house plan. It's big business. We want this house to BE RIGHT. This is it. He is very particular and I just say that as long as I have my kid free craft room, you can call me snap happy.

Favourite photo day

It's raining. The kids are tearing around the shed, noisy and energetic. Waiting for the hubbster to come home from work so I can disappear and put the washing on, or wash the dishes, or sort out what the heck the kids will wear to school tommorrow. I don't mind, as long as the kids are in bed by Greys Anatomy. I hate bedtime, it always seems to turn into some kind of crazy ****fight where everyone refuses to do what they need to, and everyone yells or cries and my stress level rises. The kids just had some chocolate cake so they are running a bit faster tonight.

I thought I would make Thursday my pic of the day day. Something that I like at the time, or explains the current mood I am in. I have lots of photos to choose from. Heres todays:-


Need I say more. I adore this man. I actually named one of our male guinea fowl after him Antonio the guinea fowl but I don't know which one he is now as they all look like this:-

I think he is the handsome one there smiling at me.

Bits about me ..

Now that the little devil Hamish has gone out to sea - for now, I can concentrate on getting this thing up and running. A few things about me:

1 I love going to the cinema alone, I would much prefer to go alone than with somebody.I love to spread all my belongings (bag, hat, food etc) over several seats so no one sits next to me.

2 I write with my left hand, but bat with a cricket bat the "right hand
way".

3 Besides Australia, the USA is my favourite place.

4 I excelled in English at school, but sucked at science.

5 I wrote the best essays and short stories at school, with the teachers always commenting that I had a great imagination.

6 I should have been a writer.

7 Green is my favourite colour.

8 I once caught part of the torn shirt that Doc Neeson from The Angels threw into the crowd. I still have it.

9 From Dusk Til Dawn is my favourite movie.

10 My first kiss was behind E block at school. I missed the bus home.

I have had a busy day, doing farmers wife stuff. Fed the chooks, collected the eggs, fed the dogs, fed the guinea fowl 3 times, cleaned out the dogs run, played dollies on the floor with my darling little girl. Which brings me to my family. I have a husband (the hubbster), and 3 kids (who I will refer to as Miss D, Mr C and Miss T). I prefer to not use their real names, funny that I am writing a blog but I am still apprehensive about giving everything away. This is about me, how I am coping with the changes in our lives.

We have been looking at windows and french doors. So far we have figured out what type and where the windows and doors will go. The plans are with the engineers at present. The roof specs are to be changed, then we can get into the floor plan. The plans were approved when we brought the property, so we are just changing a few things, adding a room, taking out a wall etc. Making the place kid friendly. We have been living in our shed for nearly 5 months. Somedays I am over it, other times its okay. I want a house, I want a roof over my head that doesn't leak. I want to not see frogs and toads hopping across the floor. I want my precious, sentimental things around me again. noting that I already do have my hubbster and kids and they are my precious things.

I am not a very patient person. But I need to work on it, because it will be a long time until our house is completed. We hope to start building in winter, step by step, one floorboard at a time - literally. We plan to have a builder work on our house til lockup, then take over as owner builders. Then I suppose the fun begins......

Bracing for Hamish

So I originally started this blog to document our journey from shed dweller to house occupier, but the pressing issue right now is Cyclone Hamish. After watching radar and cyclone track predictions, it's hard to say what will happen tommorrow. Right now it looks like the little devil will continue along the coast, heading out to sea, just a wee bit then come back in again. We are already getting some strong winds and dark skies and misty, only misty rain. It actually feels very eerie, to know that something will happen tommorrow.

I went shopping to get some supplies and there was excitement in the tinned food isle. So I stocked up on soups, ravioli and pasta and sauce, long life milk, fruit and veg,chips, bikkies and various other bits and pieces to help us ride out the storm. We won't know til tommorrow whether we need to evacuate, but the scouts say BE PREPARED so we are.

We tied the guinea fowl cage down, well the hubbster did, and as you can see, he used my pot plants for traction. Not sure where the flowers are now.
The skies as of Sunday late afternoon are looking like this:-




Go out to sea you little devil Hamish.

Blog Etiquette

As I am new to this blog thing, are there rules to blogging? Do I blog every day, or every second day, or only when something of interest happens?

Well the interesting thing today is we are bracing for a cyclone, Cyclone Hamish to be exact. As we are living in our shed, lets hope we don't literally get blown away.

In the beginning ...

A couple of years ago, the hubbster and I decided that moving from suburbia to a farm was the way to go. So in July 08, we found, and bought 75 acres, with a magnificent view and a partially completed house. Oh and a big shed to live in! We bought the property in 45 mins, then went home and looked at each other and shook our heads.
We sold our house and moved to the property in October. This is that story.


I regret not starting this blog, when we moved out to the farm, as we had many experiences just settling in. But I will backtrack when needed. Basically we have moved from this:-

To ... this ...
But its fine, it really is, because we have a magnificent view:-

So it has been a bit of a change, well a bit of a big change, going from the middle of suburbia, to a farm, from a gorgeous house (that we finished renovating just before selling - go figure) to a shed, and all the other things that I will share at a later date. But its fine, because in the end we will have our farm, our happy family living in our dream house, which presently looks like this:- Our dream has begun ...