A gal's home is her castle

Well, this last week I've been planning my house. I've been doing the costings and take-offs for the build. The council have thrown a spanner in the works, they don't like my plan, so I have to re-submit it or argue it out with them. I'll try the latter, then the former.

In the meantime, I'm going through all the organising. I've just about finished the full list of everything required to build a house, right down to the last nail. It's absolutely fascinating!

I think I've remembered everything. There's not a website (that I've found) where you can download a list of everything required to build a house!!!

Today, we went to a newly opened Second Hand Building products warehouse. The lady that owns it is really nice, and she's got a good eye for recycled materials. I found the PERFECT doors for my house. Well, the Back doors that will open out onto my deck. They used to be in a pub, and are HUGE cedar framed glass sliding doors. They're 3m wide each, and each side has about 15 glass lights in it. They are simply magnificent. And, the BEST thing is, they cost the same as a stock standard 2.1m wide glass door !!!

We have also decided to live on the block while we build. We'll be living in a caravan or similar, and since neither of us are keen on 'camping' as such, we're building an amenities hut. It's a 2.4m x 1.8m Bathroom. We're going to build it here and move it there complete. Then we'll connect it to our sewage and use that while we build. At least that way we'll be able to shower and go to the loo without having to use a porta-potty!!! It will also give me a small sink so I can do dishes and stuff. We bought all the timber for it on the weekend, and the plans are done. We've picked up a Shower base cheaply, and this will go into the hut. We will go to the recycled place tomorrow and pick up a small sink/vanity unit we saw there today, and then all we need is the Toilet. I've got lino left over from another property a while ago and will use that in the hut. I don't want to tile it as I'm afraid that moving it on a truck will pop the tiles.

We've also been down to the block in the last week and stood on the house site. I am extremely pleased with where the house will sit. It's 100m from the lagoon, and whilst this doesn't have me hanging over the water, it also means I won't get flooded should a 1/100 flood befall us. I'm on stumps, so even a 1/1000 flood should be fine!

We're going back to the recycled place tomorrow (as I said) and I'll be looking for other windows and such that will work well in the house. Hopefully I can save some more money.

There are so many things I'd 'like' in the house, but the budget is getting in the way. Like Stainless steel wire balustrading on the main deck, there's a difference of $500 between the stainless wire, and pine pickets. So, pine pickets it is. Still, if it's a choice between stainless balustrading and a dishwasher, the dishwasher wins.

So, planning's getting there, so long as the council plays ball we'll be turning sods soon!

And so it begins....

This week we've become proud owners of a CHAINSAW and a couple of LOG ARCHES!

Also the previously mentioned Generator. The aquisition of farm related stuff has begun!

Also, my Diggers stuff turned up today, there was a book, a catalogue and a poster. Must admit, the poster was a little smaller than I thought it was going to be (or hoped it was going to be), but the book called "The Australian Fruit and Vegetable Garden" is magic. It's got heaps of veggies photographed and explained in it, and how and when to plant them. it's a really lovely book. The only way it could be improved is to be printed on waterproof pages and spiral bound, that would make it easier to take it out into the pottery shed.

I also got a packet of Sunflower seeds, which will be cool, girl child is thrilled with them. I've got other seeds of stuff I've bought in anticipation of planting them at the farm, so I've FINALLY got a box to put seed packets into so they don't get dispursed and lost.

Will start planning the garden beds in the next few weeks.

Certifiable!

The Certifier says the plans for my house will be in to council tomorrow (monday at the latest). It's VERY exciting. It means that in about 4 weeks we'll have the approval and can get STARTED!!!

We've now got our Septic plans, which, whilst perhaps not 'exciting' are definately necessary. The generator arrived this week, too. Still working on organising solar power for the main power supply, the genny's backup.

Got the water tests done, the water in the lagoon is basically spring water with tannin in it, how cool is that :D Working on organising high capacity water filters so we can use the water from the lagoon in the house.

There's so much to do, but it's all good fun, so far.

Going down to the farm next Monday, gotta take the kids to see their new school for next year, and for the school to see the kids.

I'm a digger now

This week I joined the Diggers Club.

It's a club for people who have veggie gardens, you can buy heirloom seeds from them. Heirloom seeds are seeds from older style plants, no GM stuff, that have flavour and style. They also have a HUGE range of seeds. I'm looking forward to ordering seeds, and am having to restrain myself from getting them all NOW.

I had thought that I might get them now, and at least have seedlings to transport and transfer to my garden, but the reality of it is that, with organising the house, I probably won't have gardens ready until next year.

Sad, but true.

I have bought some seeds off ebay, mostly trees, which I'll be planting in the next few weeks. I will then have tree seedlings to transplant, and it doesn't matter if they sit in a tub for 6 months.

Also, I got quotes from the Draftsman for the house, and they were ridiculous, so I spoke to the certifier, and did the drafting myself. It came out really well, and I'm quite proud of it. The elevations look fantastic, and I can't wait to see what it looks like in real life.

The Wastewater plan is being done, and should be finished late this or early next week, The engineer has been sent the plans for his quote on the engineering of the sub-floor, the Certifier says he can have the plans in to council as soon as he receives the Waste Water plan, then the council will take up to 4 weeks, so, based on the fact that the council should have the plans by next Wednesday, we should have our D.A. by the 23rd of November.

This fits perfectly with our timeline, the builder will be available in about that time.

I've also asked for a quote for trusses and frames (pre-manufactured), this should greatly reduce our build time, as the builder won't have to make the frames. The trusses are full span, including the verandah's so it should look spectacular.

My house site has been chosen, it's a little further from the lagoon than I'd hoped, but, in the interest of not flooding, that's where it has to go. Even though there's not been a recorded flood there, we're not taking any chances. Bad enough we are in a bushfire prone area, I don't want to be panicking when it's raining as well as dry!

It means that I'll have to manufacture 'a view'. I'm planning mostly clearing a few acres around the house, and cutting timber for a nice fence when we get a chance. I'll put a nice rainforest style garden in, and that'll cut the heat, give me a fire buffer, and look nice, all in the one fell swoop.

thinking trees

I'm thinking...

Other than the obvious safety considerations of having two people there when a tree's being cut down, I want to be there for every tree-felling because I want to check every tree for hollows as it comes down.

We have Yellow tailed Black Cockatoos, Glossy Black cockatoos, and Wedge tailed eagles on the farm, along with 6 varieties of owl. I'm concerned that, notwithstanding the many varieties of arboreal mammals there, that, if we fell a tree with a hollow, there could be unfledged young in it.

Now, I've hand raised cockatoos before. I'm not really overly keen on doing it again (it's a bloody lot of work) but, if we happen to accidentally fell a tree with young in it, I'll want to be absolutely sure that the young are cared for.

I'd like to try to avoid felling trees with hollows in them. Other than the fact that they aren't good milling trees (not a lot of timber in a hollow!) They'll serve to hopefully steer the critters away from those trees we DO want to use. Some areas this will not be possible, for example, the home site, the boundary and the roadways. We'll have to clear ALL trees, whether possible hollows or not, and unfortunately our timing is shithouse, since it'll be right in the middle of breeding season. It would be better if we were felling toward the end of winter.

Maybe we'll be able to set ourselves up such that we drop a years worth of trees in a few weeks at the end of winter, to minimise the breeding disturbance, and just mill for the rest of the year.

I'm really looking forward to seeing Glossy Blacks and Wedgeys hanging around our farm. I used to breed Gang Gangs many years ago, and have to admit, they're my favourite of the black cockatoos, I'm sorry we're too far north to fall into their habitat.

I have to get onto the draftsman and certifier tomorrow and get my house plans done! That'll be fantastic. Then maybe we'll have some sort of timeline for when we can actually get to living in paradise.