I have been writing all of these updates from my phone, and so my updates are lacking in detail. We have the internet set up at home now though, so very soon I will actually crack open the laptop and write in a worthy update with pictures. But in a nutshell, we have moved in and we are in the process of unpacking!
It’s been such a huge process. We are so blessed to have such wonderful families and friends. It’s incredible to think that in just over a few weeks this place has been almost completely gutted and rebuilt. I can’t wait to share proper photos with you as soon as everything has been put away, but right now it’s a bit of a box town. We are starting to make some serious dents in it though, and as we speak Mario is in the garage packing away all the camping gear.
Thank you to our family and friends
We wouldn’t be here yet if it wasn’t for them.
Mario’s father has been so incredibly amazing to us. As soon as the property settled he took holidays, set up shop in the house and poured blood, sweat and tears into this for weeks. He was beyond exhausted at the end of each day, and yet got up and did it all again the very next day.
Mario’s mum has also put in an extreme amount of time. She coordinated all of the cleaning, and I believe managed to blow up two vacuum cleaners (all old ones anyway). Without her the boys wouldn’t have been fed each day, and wouldn’t have had the energy to go on. She moved things, she cleaned things, and she somehow still managed to work during the week. Her stamina was amazing.
My own parents put in a lot of time, and I’m beyond grateful. Mum did a lot of cleaning as well, and helped me get the first chunk of packing out of the way. Even now she is trying to get access to our old place so she can go clean it for us. I don’t think she expected to wrap so many wine bottles, or believed a man could own so many clothes!
My dad played garbage man so many times, doing multiple tip runs. Thanks to him we got rid of a pile of green waste from the front lawn that stood taller than Ayers Rock. He ventured into the realm of working sides-by-side with two Italian men, quite the mean feat! He also donated weekends and time during the week, when instead he could have had his feet up, relaxing.
Mr T of 4 passengers fame spent a mammoth day helping Mario to lay our new flooring. Together they worked like a well-oiled machine. They expected to spend a weekend on the flooring, instead it was over just after lunch! Thank you so much Mr T!
Mario himself has been beyond amazing. Every day I have been reminded how lucky I am. He’s worked so hard, and put everything he could into it while being so considerate of everyone else. He’s also become quite skilled at cursing (as I read this paragraph out to him while he continues to work in the garage he let rip with another string of words, I’m assuming something was heavy).
What’s left
We have done a lot so far, including:
- Ripping out the gardens
- Taking up all the flooring and replacing it with floating timber
- Repairing and repainting all walls
- All new lighting fixtures
- New blinds throughout
Essentially, we have completed the foundation work for a beautiful home. From here, there a few bits and pieces we need to tackle before we take a break:
- Curtains for the bedroom
- Finish hanging the cool new light for the dining room
- Unpack
- Settle in
We will need to save up a bit before we start to work further on the “pretty up” process. That’s not to say it’s already looking good – I’m so excited to share pics when everything has been put away. The difference in the house already is incredible.
There is a list a mile long on things we still want to do, but will take more time and money:
- Bathroom renovations
- New furniture in the office/study
- Pizza oven
- Custom wine rack in the dining room
- Redo the kitchen
- Increase storage throughout the house
- Excavation to the backyard to level it out (other than clearing we haven’t even begun outside, and there’s a lot to do)
- Moving the fence line to the front of the property
- More new furniture *grin*
And that’s just the list of things that we have already planned for! I’m sure as we spend more time here more things will become be added. Unfortunately we don’t have unlimited funds, which means we have to pace ourselves. The good thing is we plan on living here for a long time though, so we aren’t in a rush.
Well, back to the boxes and I look forward to sharing all the pictures with you soon!