Staining continued

Don't you just hate it when you start something and cant finish it off? Well that's been me for the last week and now I have to contend with the rain...grrr

Last time we spoke, I had completed staining the rear fence and the whole yard seemed to be taking on a different look and I just loved how it was all coming together.

Since I was doing all the staining by hand, my shoulder and wrist was suffering and it was looking like I was going to have to give in and hire a spray gun to do the rest.

My stubbornness got the better of me though and so I decided to continue (by hand) and start the next side...the final side last Monday.

After having most of the week off prior, to recover from my aches and pains, I got a start on the final leg and did another 2 panels...woohoo I was determined to finish the fence and soreness wasn't going to get the better of me

On Tuesday,

I needed a change of scenery, and wanted to do the front panels just to lift the look of the house (so to speak) and given that the one on the right side of the picture needs another coat (the clouds started rolling in), I'm loving how it's matching the colour of the garage doors

here's a closer look

By Wednesday the rain continued and I was trapped indoors :( which stopped me from doing anything outside.

The rain continued for the rest of the week just lightly at first but enough to stop me from painting

With Easter and the school holidays upon me, I'm not sure when I'll be finished now! 

Ho hum, I'll just have to do it whenever there's a break in the clouds even if I only get to do 1 panel at a time

Bye for now, have a wonderful Easter break and stay safe 

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!

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!

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'

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* 

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.

'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.

Plotting along nicely

Well the turf had it's first haircut last weekend thanks to all the rain we had after it was laid...talk about great timing!

Green green grass of home!

Well the weekend arrived and we were about to lay 760m2 of Sapphire turf to both the front and back yard...oh boy was this going to be a task.

No more Mortien!

We had our outdoor blinds installed yesterday and can't believe the difference they have made....why didn't we think of it sooner?

It's soooooo big

Well that's it, I'm up to date now, there hasn't been much happening from the time the pool was finished (end of Jan) to now apart from a few little bits n pieces.

We had the rest of our backyard excavated yesterday (what a difference) and can't believe how big it is!

Surprise!

With Geoff being on a overseas business trip, I decided to finish off the rest of the retaining walls myself by placing some Merbau capping on top of the edge. 

I'm blue... daba de daba da!

I couldn't believe our luck when I woke on the Tuesday morning (28th Jan) at 6am, yay I knew the guys will be here for sure to do the interior of the pool...yippee! 

Almost there...

On the 14th & 15th of January, we managed to put the Merbau battens on the face of the retaining wall before the guys came on Friday the 17th to put the pool fence up so we can get it approved and then finally finished off....woohoo! 

If all goes well, we will have the pool completed and filled by Australia day.

The retaining wall

We're making good progress considering we've only been in the house for a about a month now and still no internet/NBN.

We had the coping laid around the pool and the water line tiles put in as well.  

These were done just before xmas on the 19th Dec.