January 2008 - Fort / Cubby House Heading out prior to Xmas to have a look at ready made cubby houses as a possible Xmas present for the girls we were blown away at the ridiculous prices they were. After Catherine and I talked about it we decided that a “Fort” style would be a better option, cheaper to make and less grief as it wouldn’t require building permission. So with only a rough plan in my head we headed down to the timber yard and returned home with a mass of cheap and nasty treated pine, sleepers, fencing rails and decking. The trouble was as I started building the cubby/fort the design became more and more elaborate, with a crows nest arrangement between the trees leading to a flying fox, multiple stairs etc. As it is very unlikely we will move any time soon I wanted to make it as strong and lasting as possible and with all theses factors this is where the issues began …. The sheer lack of time. Everything is mitered and/or checked-in; its plumb, level and square, all the edges of the timber is routered round and smooth and all of this is time consuming to say the least. Unfortunately just as I started the construction Ray had the pre-Xmas rush happening as well so I was working 7 days a week leading up to the Xmas break. So currently at the time of writing it is still not finished and I estimate that another 3 days will be required to finish it off.

December 2005 - Xmas Clean Up Well after a mammoth clean up of the garden for Xmas i thought it best to take some photos before the wind blew leaves everywhere. Spending 2 weeks pruning, mulching, spreading scoria and moving 14cu metres of mulch onto the garden beds the garden has never looked so good!

April 2003 - Dining Room Creation After 6 months living in the house it was time for a bit of demolition. What was once nothing but a storage room became our dining room after a a few walls came out and some plastering.

Wildlife at home Photos taken of some of our visitors includes black cockatoos, rosellas, owls, kookaburras and the ever present possums.

July 2002 - Settlement Photos taken of the house before settlement

Old Photos The house as it was in 1979