Slack just ain't even the half of it!!!

Well maybe that is a bit harsh...but as you may or may not know yet it takes alot of time to get things planned in the garden to ensure that a load of blood sweat and tears doesn't go to waste by rushing in and doing a half baked idea.

So I thought as the last 2 days have seen marvelous sunny and hot weather I got my gumboots on again and finished the front driveway garden beds!!! Yay!!!

Nathan had been kind enough to put the garden edging in earlier on in the month as I was deliriously sick at the time and had done quite a few beds around the house the week prior to his great efforts.  Well done my love! 
So after 2 trips to the "Rock shop" aptly named don't you think... I came back with just over 1.5 m3 of pebbles and about 30 odd rocks of various sizes.

Shovel load after shovel load ...well technically a spade.  Should have just called a spade a spade really!
The pile in the trailer got smaller and smaller and the well distributed piles in my garden beds increased.  I could only have the time to roughly get the pebbles in place to ensure I had enough for each bed then arranged the rocks as my inner Feng Shui told me to do.

The biggest challenge was getting the 3 largest rocks off the trailer without popping a grape or killing someone...namely me as I was doing this solo. 

So I got my Roman on! 

Out came the rope and with massive block of wood to act as landing pad (incidentally it was a piece of wood off the Rena that ran aground in the Bay of Plenty) I pushed and pulled and lowered that nice wee boulder off the trailer safely.  I was then extremely concerned for my little dolly trolley or trolley cart if it would snap in several places trying to haul the load to it's final resting place.

Well today was the final finishing day to get gardens finished and I mowed our lawns in record time this morning too.  I had to dig a small trench (3cm down) at the edges of the garden beds under the weed mat so that it created a natural stopping border so the stones didn't keep rolling onto the drive or grass.  Handy tip as it took me till half way through one side to realise it was painfully time consuming trying to poke pebbles down the edges to form a barrier.

No more gibber jabber as my G & T needs refilling and it may be a mistake to blog whilst under the influence.... Oh and there are also 20 plants in there it is just they look invisible at present they are Muelenbecia Astoni (spelt wrong!) which will grow into fabulous beautiful wirey shrubs that are so soft and delicate looking but have an amazing barb wire appearance.  The natives and bushmen occasionally used them as a bed to sleep on as the big bushes are like laying on a squashy foam bed and are really comfy.

The Round bed is at the corner outside the Master bedroom out the back and has a Maple, Sclirianthus (moss), and Thrift planted.

The two gardens either side of the drive and don't be fooled 

that big rock in the background by the fence is huge!

The plants in here are Caprosma Black Cloud and are very Ninja like too as they are also invisable.

the Other dirt bed is where the herb garden will live eventually once it is the season the plant them.

 

And lastly the circular garden on the corner of the Master bedroom or shower to be precise.  Sclirianthus (NZ moss) Thrift and a lovely Queen Maple taking centre place. 

STOP LOOKING AT ALL THE CRAP I HIDE OUT THE BACK!!  Sorry a temporary place whilst I was mowing the lawns...yeah righto Trace whatever!

A few pictures of the house finally...

Have been too upside down to effectively take many photos of the house as we are still finding our feet living here and to make the house feel like ours is a work in progress.  I have purchased one or two things but will hold off buying any other bits till we can get on our feet money wise.  The house is wonderful and I love they way it works for us and the feel of the house is minimal with a cuddly blanket.  Well here are a few pics that I have taken so far once the house is dressed a finished a bit more I will add some more pictures.

My Barcelona chair and stool was a bargain!

Kitchen at night.....

The family room with bean bags for the kids to laze on...

One week and one day of living in our new home!

Now we have been officially moved in for just over a week and what a whirlwind it has been.  The moving went really well although trying to make it in one truck load was a bit of a laughable idea.  2 full to the brim truck loads plus all the car trips with precious stuff and clothes the 2 days prior.  Pack of bloody hoarders!!!  I will get a skip in to sort out all those boxes of crap very soon.  This week has just been a priority setting game plan for every day and now that all the unpacking has been done and the Everst of all washing piles has been conquered we can start to relax and start to live in our awesome house!! ( I refrained from popping a 4 letter word in there).  I will get picures taken tomorrow as we have got the new curtains up in the lounge and no long are we on view for all the dog walkers and any drive by tourists in the area.  The house is even better now we are here and with all our stuff in place it feels amazing to think this place is ours (or BNZ really).  The kitchen is amazing and I am now remembering how to cook with gas again yay! 

Joe kindly lent us his sprinkler systems he has to get our lawn sorted and that has been a absolute necessity as there is so much lawn to keep watered,  We have nice little green needle like seedlings all over and hopefully the weather will stay nice till it gets started as we don't want any seeds getting washed down the drain with torrential rain.  Will get into the garden and also order some plants weedmat and compost once the lawn is more established.

  The girls are settling in nicely as are we because we we up here so often during the build process it feels natural to be here which is great.  They had already befriended the 2 girls next door so that is a bonus.  Well double bonus as they have a big trampoline and their swing set is up so at least they have somewhere safe to go and release some energy.It is so surreal to wake up in the mornings and in your head you see the old house before you open your eyes and then you have to adjust your brain to remember that you are here.

I am really happy that we have now unpacked our new coffee tables and I bought a knock off Barcelona chair and stool....OMG I love it and it looks wicked!  Once we stop hemorrhaging money with the last of the bills I will go bargain hunting for a few bits and bobs...hand towels to go with our bathrooms and stuff as we have so many more rooms that need a towel near each sink.  Would like to buy this awesome mirror to hang in the dining area but will wait and see what the budget looks like.  Soooo Who wants to sponsor a mirror for the new house for us, think of it as a time share as you can look at yourself in it 6 weeks of the year and don't have to pay for the upkeep of it's surroundings hahaha. 

Will love and leave you and will post piccies soon....oh and for family achievements our Layla sat on the toilet for the first time today and has done 4 wees on it!!!  What a flaming genius she is.  :) :) - that is us 2 proud parents!

Hand over is tomorrow!!!

With the show home going so well last weekend and the state of the the house (near perfect) we paid our final bill to Joe and Nicki and we have brought the hand over day to Wednesday!  Then the mover truck will come on Friday at 9am to do all the bulk of the house move although me and Nath will be up and down to do fragile stuff and get loads out of the way so we can get the truck to do one load only this time!

Will love and leave you to get back to having a wee stress and brain strain at doing this move and boxing up more stuff. EXCITING!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm a Bittumnen, I'm a lover I'm a child, I'm a mother I'm a sinner, I'm a saint I do not feel asphalted!

This is getting harder to do the titles now as we are 1 week and 6 days from handover!!!  Nervous and anxious now!!!

So it finally got done and it looks great!  The girls and I went up to the house to open the garage door for them so they could get it under the garage door edge.  We stayed there all morning and they turned up at 1.00pm.  Just as well I had food, toys  for the girls and cleaning cloths so I could clean out my new fridge!

Will keep this short and sweet as I need to get kids to bed and start to clean and pack for an hour or so to make me feel better....who knows it may work!  Joe is going to use our house as a show-home after all!  So we can ship our new stools up and a few other bits to kind of stage the house a bit then it is less stuff for us to shift next week! 

I'm starting with the man in the mirror

Gotta add one in from the King of pop aye...
Almost feel like I have nothing to add as bugger all has happened in the last 2 days...impatient I know!
But the boys from BOP Asphalt were there getting a better level on the base for the driveway etc and were just leaving at lunch time as I turned up with chocolate mint slice and ginger lemon slice to fatten them up with.  Unfortunately they won't be back till Friday to pour the asphalt and the boys from the concrete company came and cut and dug out the curb today and so that will be delayed for pouring till next week now.  Plus my grass man will be delayed by a week as well.
 
But I'll chuck a few pics on that you haven't seen before (I think) to pass the time so I don't feel like I am twiddling my thumbs.  Plus bought the 4 bedroom rods for the curtains which were 40% off yippie!  The Lounge rod/tracks are custom made jobbies so am waiting to get the call to say they are ready.  I am trying to find a measure guideline online to make New York (single) pleats on the curtains as they look nice and clean for a minimal look.  Searching searching.....

Our girls luxuriating on the new carpet

Peek-a-boo you can't see me...well maybe my camera

The lounge light...maybe a shade too low hahaha

The speakers in the portico soffit

The rear speakers in the family/dining ceiling

Got some kitchen aye

Nioce tap

Nearly a complete picture just need fill it with a few dozen boxes of crap!

Go on now gooo...walk out the door...

Coz there are soooo many of them in the house now!  Little elves have been at work while we have been at home.  Joe has been up and put all the doors and handles on and all the door stops too.  It is kind of strange as you get used to the way the house looks with no carpet and no doors so we will have to get our heads around it.  Plus it will all change again when the furniture goes in.....IN 2 WEEKS AND 5 DAYS!!!!!