4 Little Words

So my whole point of starting this blog was to log the ins and outs of building your house, doing a ‘tree change’ and learning a little about our lives along the way

It’s been a while since my last confession

With only 32 days left to our life in the one bedroom unit ending, it feels like the longest  and the fastest year possible.

I feel like I could write a ‘what to ask’ book when it comes to building a house… so here are my top tips

1.     ASK ASK ASK. If there is even one tiny detail you don’t quite understand, get them to explain it to you. My house would be paid off if I got a dollar for every email that started with ‘sorry to be a pain, was hoping you could explain this to me……”

2.     You will hear these 4 words A LOT. “It’s not in the budget”.

We heard this from the very start, and we accepted it and only in the last few weeks have we found websites that we could have sourced all the little extra things we wanted on the house. We have since sourced ceiling roses that weren’t in the budget, antique drawer handles, sandstone, we even found fireplaces that had we known existed for us to buy, we would have replaced the one in the plans. So always look at what you really want in the house and don’t feel guilty about sourcing it yourself. It save you more than a few $$$’s and get's you the look you want.

3.     Keep triple the amount you ‘think’ you might need for ‘variations’.

      Ours came in at over 30k extra.

4.     Don’t assume that if the builders dig a hole for your house, water tank – anything, that they will fill it in for free. Finding out that we had all these extra excavation costs to refill holes that they dug out came as quite the shock!

5.     When choosing colours, this is so easy to get wrong! I decided on a lovely earthy grey colour for the exterior, problem is the sun hits the house all day so now it looks white in summer….  Always get a sample of your weatherboard, paint it and look at it in all types of weather!

6.     Check your plans every day. So many things were missed on the small detailing. Like having tiles in a brick pattern, having shower nooks, making sure the taps/power points etc are all in the correct spot… pays to check as much as possible

7.     Get up in your roof and check your insulation- a must!

8.     Visit your house with the project manager as often as you can… this is the only way to identify together things that aren’t quite right.

I am sure there are so many more than could fill my book, but these are just a few that have come to light in the last few months!

I do love the house though.. It is looking more and more like my dream home every day..

And now that we have added Tilly the rescue kitten to our family… those 32 days can’t come around quick enough…

The Guilts

After promising Mr 6 year ago today that I would be there for his next sports carnival, I find myself sitting here in studio with a serious case of mummy guilts


that is all. x

How can it be August already?!

This means 6 months living in our one bedroom unit..

Luckily, things are happening very quickly on site for House De Luca. With weatherboards on, it’s water tight and ready for internal fit out.

What does come as a shock is the extra costs that are now starting to add up in the final length. People warn you about this when building new, but until those figures start to come through, you think you’re safe from it all!

As the stress of two mortgages threatens to swallow us whole, I have to reflect on the sweeter things July has brought us

Mr6 got his first tick bite showcasing mother’s guilt about not having spotted it

Olympics is in full force with Mr6 comparing his gymnastic talents against well, every other country, which resulted in him writing a letter to Lauren Mitchell on the Aussie Olympics team, touting her a hero and sending his hope in her winning a gold medal (not a silver one, that’s not as good apparently)

Bob the new resident fish living through his first month consumed with inner city living dust and pollution.

Learning that I am the master of making Batman jump on the newly attained DS (making me super cool mum)

That Mr 6’s take on the latest Batman movie is that there were too many guns (again showcasing bad mothering of allowing him to watch) and that Robin needs to make an appearance sooner, he is after all, his best friend (?)

And the main highlight, confirming that my love of carbs is not all in all a bad thing! http://www.bodyandsoul.com.au/food+diet/diets/how+to+eat+carbs+and+lose+weight,16673

Phew!

Toast time…

Back to school


School holidays is always such a tricky basket full of the unknown. 
When you don't have family around, finding free care can be a bit of a problem.
Lucky for me this time round, my mum took AJ and he loved spending time with her.
It was tougher than we thought, it being the first time we had all been away from each other for two full weeks. 
Our tiny one bedroom dwelling felt huge with no Mr 6
We took off up the coast Friday night to pick him up and spent a gorgeously windy Saturday in the Hunter Valley having a standard De Luca picnic of breads, smelly cheeses, olives and equally stinky meats... a great day of catching up.. a confirmation of our tight little family unit.
Tomorrow is back to school and our tight routine, so shoes are polished, hair is cut, uniform is clean and bag has been sanitised to an inch of it's life as we count down the 16 weeks till the house is ready for our move to the Valley.
Framing all done, apparently front door is in!
This week should see roofing, doors, windows and weatherboards all going in.
xx

My Bad Hair Affair


You know when you have those weeks
Got a cold (thanks boys)
Skin looking dull from cold.
Hair looking decidedly grey (thanks Dad)

Inheriting the grey gene is a wonderful thing.
My first greys appeared around 12 years of age - much to the delight of my fellow year 6 friends.
Since then, the battle has been a constant tirade of first plucking them out, (not recommended) to constant dyeing.

It's definitely accelerated since giving birth and turning 30, and 6 years on I need to re-touch every two weeks  - EVERY TWO WEEKS!

I'm always reminded of that Sex in the City ep where Samantha finds a grey hair 'down there' and her comments that follow (love that quote but perhaps won’t repeat.)

 One recent discovery was a grey eyebrow, which to me is a definite indication of what it is to follow!
x

From the ground up..

I have been really slack with writing about the rise of the De Luca residence...

Building a new house is seriously exciting after so many renovations. So here are our phases to date!

I have spent the last 6 months choosing every single element to the house from door handle heights; colours; tiles, windows – you name it!

So for me, it felt like the house was built last year - all to choose now is interior wall colours

Things are well under way now though.

Phase #1

This is our land, purchased from a farmer that has had it in his family for 5 generations. We feel so privileged to be building our family home here.

            Phase #2

                               Scraping the surface

          The digger truck arrived at 7am, clouded by  the  morning fog. This fog didn’t lift until well into the day... a standard thing in the valley - Hamish in this pic is our site manager.

 Phase #3

  Digging a huge hole!

We were surprised the way Strongbuild have carved into the land! We envisioned our house sitting in a field – a bit like a sore thumb, this is grand designs KV style!

 Phase #4

Water and Septic Tanks

This hole is the size of a massive swimming pool! Our life time supply of water, in the event of extreme drought which will no doubt hit the valley again in years to come.

 Phase #5

Concrete Slab being poured. Really starting to see our house now, although this does make it look super small – but apparently that’s what all clients say!

 Phase #6

Up go the frames – house is starting to look like a real house!

Strongbuild are awesome, Can’t wait to get down there to see for myself. The hardest part is being so far away and not watching each part of our dream take shape.



It's a beautiful thing....

As AJ (almost Mr 6) rose this morning, his first words were

"mum take a good look at me, tomorrow I’m going to look different"

Can’t beat that.

Now the dilemma of what to get a 6 year old.

Living in a one bedroom unit

With no space

Ummm…..

We are a house with no gadgets/games/consoles etc. and I have a feeling that's about to change.

A fish?

If I got him more arts and craft he would have to open his own studio

I think it's off to the stores this afternoon in search of the ultimate toy.

He does deserve it...

Every toy he owns sits in storage as he awaits his new digs.

For such a kind, loving, patient and thoughtful little man – he deserves the best

Happy birthday my little monkey

x

Mums the word

I’m a mum. I hold down a full time job. I don’t get the quality time with my son that he deserves. We struggle to get homework done; have a clean uniform for school; clean hair and then there’s me racing to after school care before it closes.

When a woman has a baby, your career takes a nose dive. At the time we don’t care, we have this beautiful new baby that loves us unconditionally… we don’t care about work.

As baby grows and we start to get our body and life back, we have to seriously re-think about what we can do to utilise our skills and our brains and still cater for a child.

With all this talk and hype and well... slight abuse about mummy blogging, it’s hard not to be offended

I myself am in a position where I need to find work, I am moving two hours from current work location and I need to still pay my mortgage and make ends meet. This blog is the start of something new.

I choose to move and give my child a better family life. I don’t choose to give up work and sit at home watching daytime TV

I think the problem is that blogging is seen as a ‘way out’… not a real job

I wish.

I can only hope things unfold for me and they start to pick up and I find work so I can avoid the two hour commute to current job.

If only one understood the constant struggle and guilt that mums face on a daily basis.

Go mummyblooging!

The storm rolls in

I feel a little self-indulgent writing a blog.

It's almost like my little 'whinge of the week' but to be honest, it's my therapy!
Things have come grinding stop on site of the dream build. Thanks goes to the very trusty Commonweatlth bank - thanks so much for your support!
And then there this blog, I can't for the life of me figure out how to add some tabs up top! I just want a few..

Perhaps life in the one bedroom unit is getting to me, I don't think I'm alone there... (JD?) - 4 months in, 4 months of no personal space, 4 months of a shared laundry.
At least it's a long weekend this week, determined to end on a high.

Around the world in seven meals  (well 6 with some leftovers.)

Who says one has no time to travel!

I have mastered the art of a quick world wind tour in a week

Every meal in my one bedroom unit kitchen needs to be a gourmet creation made in less than 10 minutes and done in between checking homework and cleaning out a smelly boy's school bag.

Monday we start in Mexico with some beef tacos - total cooking time 8 minutes Ola!

Tuesday sees us with a quick stop to America with some homemade Cheeseburgers

Wednesday takes us to the Orient with Fried Rice and marinated Pork Loin

Thursday brings us to England with good old Sausages and Mash - right on chaps!

Friday is all things Italy with Spag Bol

Saturday bids more time so a slow cooked Indian curry sees us through to Monday

Very travelled

Very well fed

Very inventive?
Under the guidance of this very talented chef I of course recommend a wine with each adventure..:)

'Worldy Meals in under 10 minutes' will no doubt be hitting the shelves soon!

The flip side

Building is powering ahead on site with week 2 seeing the holes dug and the slab almost ready for pouring.
Exciting times really - our whole family could sit on site all day watching them go for it.
Especially AJ who for the first time was allowed to sit for hours in the mud

Reality is we are tucked up in a one bedroom unit, going about our busy work lives.
Life in a one bedroom unit is not easy.
Bedroom sharing with a 5 year old is not the most romantic of notions and as for leisure time... this is bearable whilst the weather is good but things are starting to turn ugly outside which could very well lead to some ugly inside!

Morning routine is get up and get out (of the way)
Evenings include homework, a simple one pan meal; wine and TV.
What keeps us going is the thought if the dream life... soon to be ours.

Get us out of the city!

A tree change.... the beginning

We've all been there - gone on a little weekender, snuggled into a small town and thought... "This is the life; I wish I could live here full time...”
Then comes the obligatory, 'maybe we can" moment.
Reality is we head back to the city and get on with life and the moment is forgotten.

After years of visiting and dreaming, it’s time for my family to make the change... its happening! The 'big' move out of the city and into country living
When I say country, it's only two hours south of Sydney but certainly feels like a world away.
Husband (JD), Mr 5 (AJ) and the family lab are building a new home, new location and creating a new life.

I can’t help but write about this new adventure, writing about life tends to spill out of me so one can only hope that you find my adventure exciting and maybe inspire you on to take on your hidden adventure?

I've read so much about what to write on your first blog, and yet I find myself holding back, nervous! Being a mum and uprooting the family leaves plenty of room for funny stories, life lessons and no doubt some heartache along the way...

Perhaps this first post will be short and sweet with an attached picture of our destination.

This is our life as we know it..