Relax...

At last...

We finally hung our house plaque this afternoon and though I think the black background would've looked better with the Dune render, it's nice to have a different tone of grey to go with the pillars. 

SOLD!

I'm sad but excited at the same time as tomorrow we say goodbye to our beautiful dining table.

Hahaha, and you thought I was talking about the house didn't you!!!!!!!

After having it for well over 6 years now, it's withstood 4 moves. The first being when we moved from WA where we bought it brand new when we moved there in 2004, then back to Sydney in '08 where we rented a home while our previous home was being built, then to that home in '09, then to the rental we stayed in last year while this house was being built and now here

A nice surprise....

I went down to our local PO (on my way to the shops) last Thursday to collect something that had been posted to our son for his birthday, when the lady behind the counter put not only it up, but another large item as well. I knew what it was straight away just by looking at the shape of the box and was ever so excited.

When I got home later, I quickly opened it and revealed what I had been waiting for for about 8 weeks or so.

I'll try to cut a looooooong story short, even though we've been in the house for 9 (can you believe it) months now and it's taken us that long to decide whether we wanted the house plaque (that MJH give you) or not.

I had filled the form in (that you get with all the other paperwork) the night of our hand over and didn't give it another thought for well over 2 months.

Then looked at it again and thought to myself that I'd rather a sign (without the MJ advert) with just the name of the house which is 'SANTAI'.

Our neighbours across from us had put theirs up a couple of weeks after they moved in (roughly the same time as us) and said to have a look at all the different signs that they have in the office (I was unsure of the background colour and detail that I wanted) to make the decision easier.

Again, leaving it in the drawer and not giving another thought for what seemed like a lifetime, I finally went to the girls in the office to both pick a sign and get them to send it off to be made.

Just like my luck, no one was in the office where the signs were, and the girl didn't have the key to get in!
So I left the card with her and she was going to arrange for someone to call me the day after so I could pop back in.

Suffice to say, I got a call the next day and was told that I could go in when it was convenient and someone would show me the signs......I kinda got too busy and eventually forget all about it until about 8 or so weeks ago.

I finally called the office (after seeing the different signs on line and the $$) to arrange to have our 'Free' sign made.

She couldn't find the card that I had left (I did tell you it was a long story didn't I?), so she sent me a new one in the mail.

After filling it in for the second time, I sent it back to office (as I was told to do so) to have it sent off to the signage place.

Given that every other MJ home I knew which had been built and handed over, it wasn't long after (I'd say 2 weeks or so) that they had house plaques on them and here we were still waiting.

So I rang the girls in the office and asked them if they knew why our plaque was taking so long to be made.

She said that I would have to ring the actual place where they make them and ask why I haven't received it yet.
So I did and apparently the lady had no knowledge of our plaque and wondered why I hadn't sent the form off to her personally.

I told her that this was the second form and I was told by the girl in the MJ office to send the form back to them and they would send it off on my behalf.

She then said that that was wrong and that it shouldn't have ever taken more than 2 weeks for the signs to be made and sent back to the home owner!!!!!

Never mind I said, it was just a miscommunication and could we just order it over the phone rather than fill in another form and wait another couple of weeks. She said yes and it took less than 2 weeks for it to be in my hands...woohoo!

So not expecting it for another couple of days, it was a nice surprise indeed and now it's just a matter of getting Geoff (he won't let me) to hang it when he has time!


Well I did try to cut it short but gave in, so you now have the full version...lol

here it is.....I've just sat it in the picture recess to take a pic of it

Sunsets at last...

It was so nice to have the sun shining through the backyard again after all that rain we've had lately though it's been really good for the grass and plants. Standing out in the alfresco, I noticed how it was shining on the hut and curtains so I just had to take a snap. It's been a glorious spring day today and quite warm though, not enough to jump in the pool that's just hanging for someone to take a dip! I just hope that this summer will be exactly (if not better) like the last one we had and I can't wait for the balmy nights again...oh dream on!

The quick fix!

OMG, why I start these crazy ideas is beyond me!

To put it bluntly, I should've left well enough alone when it came to cleaning the floor...again.

You all remember I spent 2 days prior to moving in, on polishing the 'polished porcelain' tiles...all of the 'polished porcelain' tiles including all the wet areas?

Well I decided that this time (after the many times done by me being on all 4's), it would have to be easier to use a proper floor polisher...what a biiiiiiig mistake that was.

I went down to the local Kennards hire store and asked them for just a normal domestic polisher and told the guy what I wanted to do.

He asked if I had used one before to which I replied "No, but I've seen them used (being a nurse, they were always used in hospital), so how hard could it be?"
He smiled and said "It'll probably take at least 5 minutes or so for you to get used to it, but be careful it will tend to take off from you!"

He also said that there was a youtube video on it that I should watch before I get started.
I chuckled and told him that I could handle it!!!!!!!

So after paying $150, I had to wait until another guy went to another store to get some more buffing pads and have it all delivered within half an hour or so. So I went home to move some furniture (chairs away from the dining table, and the coffee table and rug out of the lounge room) and give the floors a bit of a sweep to get rid of any dirt left lying around.

True to his word, I get a knock at the door (4pm) 30 mins later and couldn't wait to start. Remembering what was said about the youtube video, I sat down and watched it. Mmmm, it seems simple enough I thought, so I moved it into the biggest area of the dining room (just incase it took off from me like he said), plugged it in and....I couldn't find the turn on switch....what!

So I spent at least 5 minutes trying everything to turn the darn thing on when I gave in and called the guy up.
He laughed and said "don't worry, your not the only one who's done the same thing". Now wouldn't you think that he would've said that in the first place back at the shop?

So after working out what he meant by pushing one switch fwd and the other back (safety cutoff apparently) and flicking something else at the same time, I finally got it started! Thank god I had the sense to keep the wheels in the 'down' position because as predicted...it took off!
Had I not had the wheels down, it would've gone through the bi-fold doors and you would now be watching Geoff being arrested for my murder!

So now I'm driving it in the 'wheels down' position (and arms about to fall off) for about 10 minutes, then I decided to try it without relying on the wheels to sturdy it and flicked them up....whoa, what a big mistake that was, I now have gouges taken out of the skirting paintwork and rub marks along the bottom edge of the bi-folds in the billiards room. Perhaps I should've tried it in a larger area where if it took off, it would've done the damage it did!

Oh well, I'll just have to do it all with the wheels constantly down. Oh why do cleaners make it look so easy?

It's about an hour since I started this dreadful ride and I wanted to get off. My hands were killing me, I had huge blisters on my thumbs, my hip was just about displaced and again, my arms were about to drop off...I've had enough!

So I stopped and had a look at what I had already done....are you kidding me....no difference....what! If anything, it was worse, it was hazy and not shiny at all.

I started to panic thinking that I had taken the shine off them completely...shit, I've ruined my lovely tiles, oh god Geoff's gunna kill me when he gets home for sure...start packing the bags.....now!

After calming down and my 10th cup of coffee, not really but it felt like I needed at least 10 to keep me going, I got on my hands and knees and buffed a tile with my micro fibre cloth and voila', I had a shiny tile.

Phew, I hadn't ruined them after all, but why were they so hazy I wondered?

I figured that it must've been the tile cleaner that I had mopped on prior to getting the polisher and by changing the pad and going over the same spot, it was starting to bring out the shine.

So after having a break for a much needed drink (non alcoholic just water), I was eager to get started again and this time try the wheels up and just hold onto it.

I don't know what I did differently this time, but it didn't seem to take off quite as quick as it had done previously and I managed to control it a lot easier and better. Perhaps I found more strength after my little break or I was just running on adrenalin, but whatever it was, it was working.

I manoeuvred it around the table legs without crashing and managed to not take so much paintwork off the skirtings this time and even got it to move from one side to the other with no trouble.

I finally had a rhythm at last, but why was it working this time and not before? And then it dawned on me that if you push down on the handle (which I wasn't really aware that I was doing) just slightly, it'll move to the left, and when you pull the handle up (again just slightly) it'll go to the right.

Now, you would think that the guy back at Kennards would've explained that or was that too much to ask? Obviously he's the one laughing at my expense, I could just imagine him and the other guy that was with him, crying with laughter knowing I'm here struggling to keep this thing from destroying the house and any hope that I had of getting my floors to shine...I'm just picturing them rolling over the counter in stitches while I write this!

Never mind, the show must go on as they say.

So with some more polishing done, I've come to the end of day 1 of, 'Me verse floor polisher' and decided to pack up for the evening and get dinner under way for the kids.

I wasn't fussed on the job done so far and thought that if I started nice and early when the boys went to school, I'd at least have all day to get it all finished and hopefully get some shine on the tiles.

Upon waking up and walking into the meals area I was horrified to say the least. It was shocking and I just dreaded the thought of having to get on all fours and do it by hand.

What a waste of $150 if this is the job it does, I felt like taking it back and telling the guy where to shove it, but I wasn't going to let it beat me, I wasn't going to give in without a fight and I was going to win this war not the polisher!

So after the boys went to school, I got stuck into it. I remembered how to control it by the handle and felt more confident in getting into all the tight places and thought I was doing fine...until I lost my rhythm and all hell broke loose then.

Once again I found myself constantly yelling "go left....no the other left....oh shit more gouges, stop you bloody stupid thing go right...no the other right, why won't you listen to my directions damn you?"

If you had've been a fly on the wall, you certainly wouldn't last long because you'd soon fall off from laughter!

Even I'm chuckling as I write this...tho yesterday, smiling was not on the list.

Suffice to say, that now that I've spent 8 hours trying to get my floors to shine, I would've been better off to spend $150 on a good massage after doing it all by hand in the first place.

So after taking the dreadful thing back to Kennards just before 5pm, the guy had the nerve to ask me how I went, with what I thought was a little smile on his face as he said it!

Mmmmm, should I tell him the truth and that it was not only a waste of money, but a freaking waste of my time, or should I just smile and say it was brilliant and the tiles came up like diamonds?

So after going with the first scenario, I walked off feeling slightly better for it and vowed never to rob myself of 'quick' fixes ever again and have now succumbed to the fact that, if you want a job done properly, you have to do it yourself!

So now that leaves me with today. Today I'm spending all day on hands and knees once again polishing tile by tile, painting all of the skirtings and fixing the bottom of the bi-fold door frames with some touch up paint before Geoff gets home later this afternoon....wish me luck.

Oh, if you hear of a woman dying of sheer exhaustion and found curled up in the fetal position on tiles that look like diamonds.....that'll be me!






Signed.................................................

Just like a mirror!

Now that's what I'm talking about....Oh so shiny!





    

Remember when...

we decided to move the outdoor setting from the smaller hut to the alfresco way back? I didn't realise until now that I hadn't added a post of how it looked and what I did to the sun beds that replaced it.

So here's a little look back (beginning of May) to remind you of why I love my private 'Oasis'

The Day Spa...Pure Indulgence

What a difference...

Going back through my photos the other day and I've just realised that I hadn't added any of the front since we laid the turf, put in the gardens and painted the pillars, shame on me.

What a big difference a lick of paint and some greenery can do, it all seems so long ago that we were waiting to have the final hand over, but alas it's lovely to look back on and admire our accomplishments. 

*this was taken just before handover*