staining the fence...pt.3 nearly there!

I finished the back fence today and also managed to do a few panels just outside our ensuite (also known as my 'Day Spa' lol

I have to admit, it's been a mammoth task but i can see the end is near and I should have it all completed by...I reckon about Tuesday

I can't believe how much it's changed the whole look of the yard especially the pool area, but even looking form the alfresco now gives it a whole new appeal

I reckon my plants have had a growth spurt in the last couple of weeks too, I can't see the pool (like I use to) when I take a shot from the back yard to get both huts in :( but i guess that's a good thing to know that perhaps i really do have a green thumb lol

Here's a few shots of what i done today:

here's where I got up to yesterday..pretty much inline with the hut

can you see how good it's going to look (once it's all done) from this end?

almost the same angle...this was taken back in September last year!

don't you just lurve my zen garden now? and it's right outside my ensuite!

 what a calming and relaxed view now

all 14 panels along the back fence are now done..Ive just got the left side to do...phew!

see what I mean...as I mentioned above, I can't see my pool :(

check out this old shot...and there is a pool!

look how small my plants were 

wow, this shot was taken before we did the deck in the second hut

god I'm a legend...bahahahaha

Staining the fence...pt.2

Yay, I've finally finished one side woohoo!

I was sooooo exhausted yesterday (Tuesday) that I had to have a rest and let my right arm recover

I finally finished the first side (on Monday) which I like to call the pool side and it looks amazing even if I do say so myself

I just love how it just makes everything surrounding it POP! 

Even my garden looks sooooo much more tropical now that the background is darker...don't you agree?

I managed to go over the deck and retaining walls again just to give them that extra boost of darkness  and just love how it's even lifted the look of the tiles

I can't wait to see it all completed and how it'll make our (already) Oasis feel more like we're on a holiday in the Bahamas! 

here's a view from the alfresco looking toward the back corner of the yard

looking from the back...don't mind my patchy grass, that's where the hubs has taken out some weeds

OMG, can you imagine what the view will look like from the bar area when the back is done?

here's a wider shot

what a difference...here's what the fence looked like before

at almost the same angel as the first pic, you can see how much the plants have florished!

omg, the fence just looks so plain

such a big difference hey?...wow!

Staining the timber fence pt. 1

I had a moment of pure wait for it....'mental madness' when I decided to do the unthinkable last Friday...staining the fence, all 100 plus metres of it, am I crazy or what?

All by hand I might add, no spray guns for me...lucky I love painting!

I started by staining behind the Buddha in the pool area first which was bloody hard with the gardens already in and getting established! I tell you it certainly wasn't easy getting behind some of the plants especially the Yukkas and I was literally scratched beyond recognition (maybe that's exaggerated a bit) and had my eyes almost poked out.. honestly!

But the end result was astounding to say the least and I'm so happy with it and cant believe how much it's changed the whole look again.

It's so Oriental looking now and if it didn't represent paradise before...then it truly does now!

I cant wait to see it all finished 

I completed the pool area by Saturday afternoon

By Sunday afternoon, I had done another 3 full panels towards the back fence

I took this shot with the mini iPad so its not that good but can you just imagine how awesome the fence will look once it's all complete?

I have another 4 panels to go before i start on the back...omg it's gunna take me forever!

In the news!

Hey guys,

I thought it was time I share what happened to me a little while ago.

I received an email from the marketing manager of our estate asking if I would mind if he ran an article of our build to be published in our local 'Estate News Paper'. After finding me via our local thread in the HomeOne forum (to which he found my blog), he found our build quite unique to the area and wondered if I minded sharing what we've done and the reasons why we chose to build in the area.

After thinking long and hard about it, I agreed to do it.

I thought it would be nice to share with many locals that may not know about the forum, nor what we've done, that are going through the building stage at present who also have the numerous questions (we once had) they want answered but don't know how to go about finding them and hopefully inspire them to create their very own 'Private Oasis'

I find myself overwhelmed with the response from people who have viewed my blog through the article who have left emails (via the contact form on the blog) and even having people stopping us in the street and commenting.

It sure is nice to be recognised for our efforts in making this, one of our best homes to be truly proud of, and even though they got the idea of Geoff and I being 'home renovators' wrong (although I have thought about it), and for some reason the photo of the huts mirror reversed...(ah did you notice straight away like I did?), I still think it was worth it.

And kudos to me for giving McDonald Jones Homes and Clipsal (not that they needed it of course) a plug hey lol!
 

Splash!

With the temps souring well over 30 degrees today, the boys decided it was inevitable that they jump in the pool and cool off. I would've loved to have cooled off with them but once I dipped my toe in...brrr, it was way too cold for me. So both Geoff and I opted to lay on the sun beds in the shade of the hut and just watched them both have a blast. Perhaps in another month, the temperature will be warm enough for us to join in!

Relax...

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!

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'

Let there be light...

Ah, finally I wait no longer to have some lights in my garden thanks to my wonderful husband who gave up his well earned rest last Sunday. I’ve been hounding him for ages to put in the old garden lights that we had from our last build only to be told “I’ll do it next weekend, when I’ve got time”. I think he’s finally learnt not to keep ignoring me and my demands and in the end gave up so to speak just for peace.

this would have to be my all time favourite spot to relax in now...I loooove it!

Mirror Mirror...

I seem to be so mesmerised every time I'm out in the pool area and I humbly apologise for the continuation of the photo bombing but I just can't help myself, and if any of my photos helps someone watching my blog (to all near and far, I do thank you very much for your interests) who is perhaps thinking of doing the same thing with their home...then my job is done.

The great outdoors...

We finally worked out what we wanted to do in the bigger hut since we couldn't have a built in bar and bbq because of the water run off that flows into the drain (behind fence), so we ended up buying an outdoor kitchen that has castors for manoeuvrability and a water hyacinth outdoor bar setting instead

'All fired up'

There's nothing more that I like than to sit around a camp fire toasting mallows, wine in hand and listening to great music, or just enjoying conversations of yesteryear.

With the nights becoming quite cool now, we decided to buy ourselves a fire pit to bring back the wonderful memories of our camping days but this time we'll be doing it in style....glamping!

Happy hour!

It's finally completed....hip hip hooray!

We finished the bali hut last weekend and deck over this weekend and I must say I'm now in paradise.

When we decided to have the two huts, we never imagined how much it would change the pool area and now we can't stop looking and admiring it.

One down, 1 more to go

don't you just love the way Geoff mows the lawn...on a 45 degree angle, it actually looks good!

We finally finished the first Bali hut and I have to say I'm quite impressed.

The BIG weekend...

and boy were we stuffed.

Geoff and I kicked off nice and early Saturday morning after reading the DIY instructions for what seemed like the 100th time.

We cut the 4 posts to the right height, then laid out the timber beams in order to get them squared before placing the posts in the right position so they could be bolted through the tiles and then into the concrete under.