Mother's Day

I had a wonderful Mother's day with my family, brunch with my mum and sister and the kids at the scrumptious restaurant Barenz in Camden. After this I made a dash down the M5 to Ikea Tempe to pick up my drawer liners... So very happy, also got a plastic bag dispenser to put in the pantry.

On the way home popped into Kmart and bought a new ironing board cover, new pegs and new brooms. Then back to the house to resume packing.

I got an Aussie skip bag http://www.aussieskipbags.com.au/ delivered yesterday and have been busy filling it... I am getting rid of the old microwave as we get one included in our kitchen appliance package. I also have thrown out my toaster, it was a cheapie one when the old one went... I have forgotten to buy a stainless steel one today... Opps no toast tomorrow! Hope the one that was on sale at Target is still there tomorrow.

Security doors

I was soooo happy with the quote I received from Advanced Security doors... Corey  Adams  0430327186. He is based in the Macarthur area. He will be powder coating the front trilock door  the same colour as our wood work so it will match, it will be the toughened screen, and providing sliding doors for the laundry and alfresco areas, matching the window trims in these areas, and the same toughened screen. These doors will all be keyed the same, so we will just need one key! Best of all because we ordered today, they will be ready next Friday. Yeah!

I got three quotes and Corey's was the best by far... An enormous saving from what EB originally quoted. One thing down....so many more things still to do. One of them packing lol

Fence removed

Now we can see what our house looks like fully from the front...

The painter was down on the corner EB house working this morning. As our garage door is up, I am hoping they swing by our place this afternoon to do the touchups... I noticed through the windows, they have sanded the walls where we put the tape.

I hope to get a couple of solid quotes for landscaping in the next fortnight. We looked at some blocks to use for the retaining wall yesterday. I hope the neighbours like them.

I also intend on going to Ikea this week to buy some  drawer mats... Here is the link http://www.ikea.com/au/en/catalog/products/60177741/  My sister in law lined her kitchen shelves and drawers with it, it is such good quality, and it will stop marks on the beautiful new cabinetry.

Packing house...

I have been busy the last few days packing up... I have run out of packing tape on three occasions. But I must say I have enjoyed taking the break and wandering around Bunnings and on another time Masters looking at all the things I can buy after handover.... I still haven't found a front door mat I like. I have looked at clothes lines, and wardrobe organization, as well as laundry organization. I have taken bags to the clothing bins, had a council kerb side pick up, sold things online as I have decluttered.

One of my favourite blogs wrote these tips yesterday...
http://theorganisedhousewife.com.au/organising/moving/how-to-de-clutter-when-moving/

I will also add a couple of my tips... Buy some colorful round stickers... Anyone who know me knows that I colour code things to quickly get my hands on something. So I have colour coded my boxes as well as labelled them with room and contents. Eg... Blue stickers are for my son's room, green for Bed 4 etc. I hope it will all help on the other side.

At this stage, packing is overwhelming, exhausting work. But I better get to it, my partner is taking me out for dinner tonight. Looking forward to that :)

PCI day

I was very excited, I hoped to get lots of photos but spent a lot of time looking up and down the walls and ceiling in lots of various angles to see if I was happy with paint finishes. Opening and closing windows, switching on and off lights, opening and closing door and drawers. Checking everything with a fine tooth comb.

End result.... Very happy with the quality finish of our home.

Our ensuite! Love the long mirror,

Our shower but the rainwater head is there but the hand held shower point is missing. I didn't notice, lucky Jeff was turning on and off the tapes checking water flow. 

My bedroom light again, this time with carpet... The walls look a funny colour in this light in this picture  but it's the same colour throughout the house.

Our formal lounge room... Love this light I have a Bali water feature with a thick bamboo screen planned for outside that window.

This is my only concern - I dont know if you can notice it, but we have three joins in the carpet in this hallway. This is a major traffic area... our bathroom and main toilet. I want this redone in one piece!

My little munckin playing in his bedroom whilst we had PCI. I forgot that school didnt go back until Wednesday!

My kitchen - so love this! Looks like I just got home from shopping... LOL One of the pendants got broken... They have replaced it, but will be installed the same time as the oven goes in.

My fanaway... we have these in the bedrooms and kids rumpus room.

Nearly at the finish line

We are nearly there. PCI booked in for Tuesday. Cant wait to go in and spend some time in my house!!!

Whilst its so close, its so hard to stay away from the house, all I can think of is all the stuff that needs to be done when we get the keys...

Turf... I sent our plans out to a couple of companies to quote on preparing the ground and laying turf for our block, but no quotes yet!

Clothesline... I might hold off buying this until we move in.

Letterbox... We have a pallet and a half of bricks leftover, ideally I want a brick letter box, I asked our SS could I get someone in to do this before we get the keys, but no... Will just have to wait!

Security screen doors... I lined up a few quotes when we move in. Imagine my surprise today when one of them turned up at my block and waited for me to get there. My SS was here and he apparently asked him if he could go through. I was actually scared because I was caught onsite on Monday and didn't want to jeopardize the final weeks... So glad we got quote $1200 cheaper than EB! That's for invisgaurd trilock screen door powder coated to match my woodwork for the front. Stacker sliding door in the invisiguard and two more sliding doors to match my windows. So glad he quoted, I know one cost I am up for post handover.

Landscaping... I have quite a few ideas but will have to wait post handover for quotes.

Howard Ryan surprised me tonight, originally he was going to do his inspection tomorrow but was in our area and completed it today. His report puts my mind at peace... Love the colour photos as a reference, he didn't pick up any major issues, just paint work that needs touching up. I will use this as my reference on Tuesday at PCI. I am glad we got it done as he even crawls in our roof cavity... I wouldn't have done that LOL Rest assured its all as it should be.

And with PCI comes the final invoice we also received this today... It has our Building Variation for the comm box... We asked the bank would they issue the amount as a cheque for us, they will but not include the $220 variation, so we contacted EB, they will not take personal cheque only cash or credit with a surcharge... 

I also took advantage of the Target sale today, got the little man and I some winter Jammie's but also two cushions for his room, it's going to be a grown up boy's room in the new house...some towels for his bathroom, some sheets for the spare bed, can't find a quilt cover I like yet. I also bought some new accessories for the bathroom and ensuite... New toilet brushes, new soap dispensers and toothbrush holders. I have written a wish list for furniture... I'm going to concentrate one room at a time... Which one to choose LOL

So very excited, I hope this time goes quickly!

Driveway done

When we pulled up the landscapers were just about done, they were sweeping the special sand that when wet is like glue. So I asked them if they could put the garage door down so we can see the house in daylight when it's down... They happily fulfilled my request.

They mentioned that a few people came and went today. I noticed my doorbell was in... So I think the electricans came back... Hopefully they finished some of the work that was left to do.  Bring on Tuesday 9am!