Which colour do we choose?

Such a minor detail but it needs total thought... Which colours for the aluminium joinery windows.

What ever we choose now will determine the roof colour of the shed which will then be the colour for the house...

I think dark blue or iron-sand are the winners... But that's just my opinion :) 

Paper towel planning

A few "sketch plans" of the layout and potential vegetable garden was the plan this evening. Things have become rough for us and we had to scratch around for something to draw with and draw on in the little holiday home we are staying in "up North" in Russell. 

We are thinking about a tiered vegetable garden-with sleepers as boxing...BUT!!! 11 x $30 per sleeper  = too much! Lets scale it back! Rough sawn timber or painted half rounds??? 

Few concept plans. The top left belongs to Maegan- not one for the finer details! 

If only we had endless water supply! This would be fun! 

Working overtime

Rowan has spent every night this week on the digger. He thought the curve wasn't right... So he made a better curve in it. 

" don't you think that looks better Maegs?" 

Weed spraying and cloud watching

So, we let the driveway weeds get away on us. Best thing for that would be weed spray " a good job for you Maegs!" 

Rowan said to make sure they're wet... So I did. 

Turns out I did a reaaaalllly good job of spraying half of them.

 And then I ran out of spray. 

So I lay in the sun and watched the clouds 

Bringing in the big guns.

And the driveway begins. 

Now to decide what to do with the edges! 

Oh and while you're at it Rowan, you may as well dig massive test pit holes for the septic tank! 

And what did I do while this was going on??? 

I sat on our "office" and finished up some school work for the year. And it was fun. 

I'd have rather been pulling out thistles with my bare hands, but it was too hot. 

Roof shout... Not quite

Vege helped out again... This time with his eye for detail. 

Getting it all water tight. Good to see safety first Matt! 

Almost completed. The sheep have made the most of it, creating a path around the shed.Windows and doors to come.

What's a stronger word for hate??

.... Thistles.... Everywhere. By the time we settled on the land the thistles were in full force- and seeding. They were everywhere! Rachel and I ha a good go at removing 30 of them with a spade but we knew, a grubber would be the magic we needed. 

Luckily Justin came to the rescue again and gifted us a new grubber and Row and I were set to tackle them. 

It only took us about 8 hours to clear them out for this year...

But 

It's most likely another 500 will sprout up again next year. It's a good thing that its a good way to de stress. And it's a tool I can use. 

The build begins.

"We're not having a plastic garden shed Maegs, ill build a nice one out of timber. Ill probably need to buy a nail gun or something just to make it a little easier"

And here it is. (And yes that is the new nail gun)

Built in sections at Lully and Justin's.

Some recycled wood from Justin's supply and some new pine boards to finish it off. 

And of course we had to have it built into the side of the hill. Engineers eh? 

And how did we get it up the top?

We found these smart looking guys who bought beer and helped us carry each wall up the hill! Nice work team! 

RJ Gardner looking pretty happy there! 

November is the best month ever!

31st August- 1st November

The title finally came through and we were set! Settlement date 8th of November! 

We organised a picnic for the Friday night... And Rowan organised an engagement bracelet.

"You'll know when you find the right one" , said the parents.

I'm sure they were talking about the land! 

And we wait!

Fortunately- before we totally gave up we        received a  a pretty positive email. Unfortunately I don't talk to people on the phone and I'm fairly useless at cutting a deal.

Fortunately Rowan is much better at negotiating than I am. 

Unfortunately the negotiations took a week ( not long in the scheme of our 6 month search, but quite a painful anxious week! )

 Fortunately Rowan found success with the Moutere Property after a week and on the 31st of August we signed a  DEAL!!! 

Unfortunately this was the date we had to move from lovely "rental" in Appleby!

Fortunately Rowan did an excellent job of   packing the house AND painting his boat!

- he's very good at multi tasking! 

Unfortunately we had purchased a property with no title... 

Fortunately we were good at waiting...

So we wait! 

Waiting!

July... Cold, dark and so unmotivating!!! Row and I decided to head back to a block of land in the Moutere ( just for a second look). I always liked the outlook and how quiet it was. I'm not a country girl but I'd get used to quiet. 

We decided to think about a new offer and give it another try. We spent the long drive to Westhaven and the evening thinking and deciding if its really what we wanted for our next project! 

Decided... So, lets email our offer. 

No reception.

We meant business so we climbed to the top of the hill by the Bach to get reception. 

"Sent" ( where would we be without smart phones!) 

And we waited. 

....

10pm the following evening I sent Rowan up the hill in the dark to check for a reply. No luck :( No reply. So we wait some more. 

I'm not having fun anymore!

Eight months of Trade Me property searches and real estate magazines led us to uncountable open homes and seven serious offers. All declined! We found a really nice piece of land in the Moutere,  tried an offer and again it was turned down. It became quite hard to keep looking each weekend, realising there is always someone wanting more $$$ OR someone willing to pay just that bit more. Not to mention our days were numbered. We only had two months until we had to leave our beautiful free rental :(

Selling Up!

 We loved our shed in Mapua. But as Rowan realised he had nothing left to do on the 600 square meter section, he decided to sell up! In just over a month we were packed up and on our way...

Not to our new house, but to live at Rows parents house until we found just the right property. We closed the garage door for the last time to enable us to buy something bigger and better! Little did we know the property game was to be an eight months of frustration and let downs...