July 31, 2011

Let's talk VJ!

I wanted to talk today about VJ! That is VJ Wall Paneling!

We have decided to use Easycraft Easy VJ on our walls, in keeping with the Queenslander look.

And it arrived on Thursday!




In most areas of the house the paneling will go from the floor to the middle of the wall area, with gyprock going on the top. We will add a dado (or chair) rail to the join. Here's an example...


In the kitchen and the mud room, the VJ will go higher and we are using it for the entire wall and ceiling in all of the walk in robes.

We are very excited to have our first internal wall!

First, the carpenter had to add timber noggins in straightlines following our stringline so the VJ and the gyprock can be nailed and glued to it.






And here's the first glimpse of how it will look. The panels come pre primed so we will give them two coats of paint in a semi gloss.

Doesn't it look amazing!












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July 28, 2011

Take me to Bunnings to buy a ?

We've had a rather frustrating week here on the farm.

First, I blew up the Dyson while vacuuming the shed.

I now have to buy another vacuum cleaner to use in the short term until we move into The Money Pit, because I won't be allowed to use it on the polished timber floors in case I scratch them, forcing The Hubbster to divorce me.

Then this happened to our broom. I don't understand why every single broom we buy gets broken in half. Just look at it?


How am I supposed to sweep the kitchen floor without breaking my back? I'm not 3 foot tall (unlike the rascal who broke it).

The kids use my broom for limbo, for cricket, for jumping over, for martial arts type fighting and for hitting each other. Pity they wouldn't use it for sweeping.

I swear I'll be buying a new broom with an unbreakable wooden handle and hiding it from the kids.

And now the washing machine is annoying me. It seems the quality of washing is relative to how it wakes up in the morning.

Somedays it feels like spinning, while other days it doesn't particularly want to drain.

Maybe I should bribe it with some chocolate or beer.

It probably knows that it will be replaced when we move into the house.

I hope the refridgerator doesn't read my blog!

July 24, 2011

The Money Pit update

It's all happening here at The Money Pit!

On Thursday I spoke to The Plasterer, The Gyprocker, The Plumber, The Electrician (well that's hubby *snort*) The Carpenter, and left a message for The Waterproofer!

Just to recap from my last House Update:-

In no particular order we have to:-

Talk again with our plasterer and get his recommendations for a carpenter
. Done! We have our carpenter who is positive and enthusiastic (and with lots of experience). He is going to be doing alot of work for us..he is here today starting on the wall noggins.

Ring the carpenter and organise a visit....he will be hanging our doors, putting up our vj wall panelling, and doing trims and architraves etc Done! He will also be checking in our shower bases, building our bath hob and lining the cupboards and walk in robes with floor to ceiling vj paneling.

Ring the plumber and see how much more work he needs to do before we sheet out inside. Done! He still has some work to do and will be here on and off over the next couple of weeks. He needs to water test all the work he has done before the interior is sheeted out.

On Tuesday, The Hubbster and I are doing a string line all through the house so we can begin putting noggins in, which are the pieces of timber that the gyprock will be attached to. Done! That was fun.

So the carpenter will do the vj wall panelling, the gyprock guy will put the walls and ceilings up and then the plasterer will come in and finish off. The gyprocker came out on Thursday and measured up so we can order the gyprock.

We are deciding on some nice ceiling roses and some fancy cornices, in keeping with the style of the house. Still deciding.

We also have to decide on which doors we are having, and buy them. We will be ordering our doors this week so the carpenter isn't delayed in his work.

Our tanks have to be purchased so the plumber can do that work. Still to be done.

And we have to find a tiler. I have one in mind, and I will contact him this week.

And a painter.
Still deciding.

This week we ordered our vanities for the bathrooms.

They are from the Arto Series and are gorgeous with china tops and glass doors. When we add the country style quarter turn taps the vanities will look amazing.

We have 3 sizes, a 600 for the guest bathroom, a 900 for the kids bathroom and a 1200 for our ensuite.

We have decided to go with Antique White china tops as apposed to coloured tops. We can then bring out the colour in the bathroom with the traditional Queensland bathroom colours by using the tiles on the wall and floors as features.

Kind of like these.....


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Here are our Arto Series vanities.







July 23, 2011

I need a new one.

I just blew up the vacumn cleaner while cleaning the shed.

RIP Dyson.


Big house update tommorrow!

The Money Pit is getting some attention ♥

July 17, 2011

House Update

We are putting up the soffits now...or the verandah ceilings. We are using our fantastic panel lifter...it makes the job so much easier.







This photo shows the back deck. You can see how much work there is left to do....sigh.

We have a busy week ahead.

Our plasterer visited on Friday and we have a plan of where we are going.

In no particular order we have to:-

Talk again with our plasterer and get his recommendations for a carpenter..

Ring the carpenter and organise a visit....he will be hanging our doors, putting up our vj wall panelling, and doing trims and architraves etc

Ring the plumber and see how much more work he needs to do before we sheet out inside.

On Tuesday, The Hubbster and I are doing a string line all through the house so we can begin putting noggins in, which are the pieces of timber that the gyprock will be attached to.

So the carpenter will do the vj wall panelling, the gyprock guy will put the walls and ceilings up and then the plasterer will come in and finish off.

We are deciding on some nice ceiling roses and some fancy cornices, in keeping with the style of the house.

We also have to decide on which doors we are having, and buy them.

Our tanks have to be purchased so the plumber can do that work.

And we have to find a tiler.

And a painter.

There is still so much to be done. That is why we have decided to outsource and have an expert do most of the internal fitout. We can do it, but we don't have the time if we want to be in by Christmas.

Even that will be a stretch.

It wil be a dream come true when we actually move in. I can't wait to transfer all of our things from the shed and the dongas up to the house.

At least we won't need a moving truck. We live a metre away!

So you'll find me working on the house on Tuesday and with any luck The Hubbster will let me use the nail gun!


July 14, 2011

Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop

3) On a piece of paper write down something that makes you happy...take a photo of your paper and wa la...there's your post.

The statement above makes me so happy. It's our family motto....

And it's so true.

Our life is blessed. If we are eating a delicious lunch in the park..in the sunshine, someone will say this.....

If the kids are riding their bikes without a care in the world...it will be said.

It's the simple things......

Mama’s Losin’ It



July 10, 2011

Made for each other!


Me: You snore too much.

Hubbster: You're a tv addict.

I love it when we get along ♥



July 5, 2011

Duck anyone?

I love ducks.

I know you're thinking "Farmers Wifey, have you been drinking?"

No, no, of course not. I've given up! (That's another post).

But, I love ducks.

Everytime I see one, it makes me smile. They are just so.......funny.

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The way they waddle slowly across the road, in single file, oblivious to the fact that at any moment they could become duck soup.

I saw so many ducks on my drive in to work this morning, I could easily be living in Ducktropolis!

There was a pair of ducks swimming in our dam. I then encountered a low flying duck, whose altitude instruments were out of quack (pardon the pun) as he nearly flew into my windscreen.

Then I had to stop the car on the road to allow one..two..three.........nine ducks to waddle slowly, single file across the road.

I'd love to have some pet ducks on our farm. Then I could smile at them every morning and they would make me feel happy for the rest of the day.

But we already have 2 roosters and 3 hens, all of which are not laying (I'll let the Roosters off for obvious reasons but I'm showing the hens the axe if they don't start producing my breakfast).

And of course we have 23 or so guinea fowl. I don't have an exact number because they don't keep still long enough for me to count.

And they're just plain weird and drive me crazy. Most of the time they make me grit my teeth.

Just look at what they have done to my deck chair.


No wonder I'm pasty. I have nowhere to sunbake.

Which actually is a good thing because if I parked myself in the sun, I'd spontaneously combust.

That or my mother would kill me.

July 3, 2011

Bathroom Update

Our shower bases and our bath arrived last week.

We have gone with the Decina range called Prelude in the bases and the Carina design for the bath.


We have a bathroom for the kids, a guest bathroom and our ensuite and this bath is going in the kids bathroom. I am hoping they will let me soak and read because I haven't had a bath in nearly 3 years.

Don't worry. I shower every day.