tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21632064153451466232024-02-22T10:52:50.102+11:00from the tip of Africa to the edge of AusI'm just going to write because I cannot help it.(Charlotte Bronte)rodneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06251117406916755373noreply@blogger.comBlogger173125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2163206415345146623.post-12418315317447415172016-08-30T21:01:00.001+10:002016-08-30T21:01:19.991+10:00Jony Ive and Thomas Ingenlath - brothers from another mother<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7DqBSZaq2D7KmNE6xAW9wFngN41j9WuEL2fi5x4Fg6wo_WdMJ92nYaZWdab5X0i0KVXGooTuaauugLg8bB0a9CKfi1mhrTKn9aA51PBH6SmPRP_vZjTGECnDDelmUlECcZmrqkyRhNmA/s1600/XC40+concept.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7DqBSZaq2D7KmNE6xAW9wFngN41j9WuEL2fi5x4Fg6wo_WdMJ92nYaZWdab5X0i0KVXGooTuaauugLg8bB0a9CKfi1mhrTKn9aA51PBH6SmPRP_vZjTGECnDDelmUlECcZmrqkyRhNmA/s320/XC40+concept.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">Aren't Thomas Ingenlath (of Volvo) and Jony Ive (Apple) somehow soul mates in a way? Beauty and simplicity of design that is minimalist but not empty - a minimalism that is rather evocative; lines and spaces that are admittedly stark but do not repel because they are not cold. In their bareness they invite the viewer / consumer to place themselves within the canvas of the product. The consumer thereby becomes the focal point. This intrinsic humility of the product is so Scandinavian and shows such respect on the part of Thomas (who is German) for his company's (Swedish) heritage.</span></span></div>
rodneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06251117406916755373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2163206415345146623.post-87707731106917045262014-10-22T20:44:00.002+11:002014-10-22T20:49:34.076+11:00Letter to Volvo on the release of the 2015 Volvo XC90<div class="MsoNormal">
The new 2015 Volvo XC90. </div>
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The world’s safest car
echoes ancient values – before utilitarianism trumped beauty.</div>
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This is written in gratitude to the shareholders, managers,
designers, engineers, assembly line workers, logistics and marketing teams
whose work has given the world the 2015 Volvo XC90. It is perhaps a driver’s
car, but it does not belong only to those who drive it. It belongs to all of us. <o:p></o:p></div>
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If they had not yet existed now, would any of the great buildings of the
world, constructed over the course of centuries, ever have been built? Which
architect or captain of industry in ego-centric 2014, would commence work on a
project with little or no prospect of living long enough to bask in the acclaim
its completion would afford? But it was not always so. Multiple generations of
artisans from the same family would work on a cathedral or shrine over hundreds
of years, proud of the contribution - however small or mundane - that they had
made towards its creation. Inspired and driven by their faith, they
deliberately produced works of such quality and beauty that they have stood for
millennia. Not as monuments to their egos but heirlooms for believers who would
follow them. Work not grudgingly extracted, but offerings of human toil worthy
of the Divine.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7jqzDgUlcasP_vxmlfi0hSyEQd5aMKHuGnm8seeLhC7Hssg9MzIs2uX25YDrUJa6JPbahED4NNI1dcr3Gr3njo4yTpGzRh0ss_Z66YkVBRoAjkV9-7RhQCm-hPxArwangW8kf3m6yJiU/s1600/YTo2OntzOjI6ImlkIjtpOjk1NTE3ODtzOjE6InciO2k6MTAyMDtzOjE6ImgiO2k6OTk5OTtzOjE6ImMiO2k6MDtzOjE6InMiO2k6MDtzOjE6ImsiO3M6NDA6ImQ3MDRiNmUyNzJmMjEwN2M1MmM0MjEzY2IwNjRjZWJhNGJjZTE5OTIiO30=.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7jqzDgUlcasP_vxmlfi0hSyEQd5aMKHuGnm8seeLhC7Hssg9MzIs2uX25YDrUJa6JPbahED4NNI1dcr3Gr3njo4yTpGzRh0ss_Z66YkVBRoAjkV9-7RhQCm-hPxArwangW8kf3m6yJiU/s1600/YTo2OntzOjI6ImlkIjtpOjk1NTE3ODtzOjE6InciO2k6MTAyMDtzOjE6ImgiO2k6OTk5OTtzOjE6ImMiO2k6MDtzOjE6InMiO2k6MDtzOjE6ImsiO3M6NDA6ImQ3MDRiNmUyNzJmMjEwN2M1MmM0MjEzY2IwNjRjZWJhNGJjZTE5OTIiO30=.jpg" height="87" width="320" /></a></div>
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Those at Volvo who designed and built the 2015 Volvo XC90, so very
obviously loved it into existence. Yes, I used the word ‘loved’. When you don’t
just raid parts bins but commission Orrefors to design your gear lever and
construct it out of crystal glass; when your dashboard employs the use of
timbers only available in Scandinavia for no other reason than the aesthetic,
then you are not manufacturing. You are creating. Every inch of the XC90 has
been coaxed into being by a complete devotion to quality. Every single Volvo
person, according to their area of expertise, playing their own small part in
the building of this magnificent vehicle. Not artisans but artists. Is this not
the essence of art? Beauty created for no other reason than Beauty’s sake? Yes,
I know the company is owned by Geely, and I don’t know why the Chinese owners, largely
focused on building high volume, low cost units, entrusted the renewal of their
new acquisition into the hands of the Swedes – a people with a culture so
different from their own. But they did. It should never be forgotten, that it was under their patronage that the XC90 was born. The XC90 project could have been shelved at
any stage, at the stroke of a pen. But it wasn’t. Not at $2Billion. Not at $6
Billion. Not even at 10.</div>
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$11 billion dollars is a lot of money to invest in the development of a
motor vehicle. Manufacturers manufacture products to attain profits and a few
even take pride in the quality of their merchandise. Once in a generation,
however, a company will produce a work that is so exquisitely gorgeous that it
elicits not merely a utilitarian desire to own it, but a posture of pure
awe: the only appropriate involuntary
response when sheer unadulterated beauty overwhelms any attempt at a rational
response. If one is a person of faith, one may even be drawn to wonder at the
ultimate Source of such beauty. When words. Simply. Fail. Such is the 2015 Volvo XC90. If Michelangelo’s
Sistine chapel is ‘just paint on plaster’ then the 2015 Volvo XC90 is ‘just a
car.’ <o:p></o:p></div>
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You argue with me and I agree: Yes, the XC90 will eventually age, corrode
and be recycled or return to the earth. So will all the people who had a hand
in its creation. The people of Volvo who exchanged the irreplaceable substance
of their life, (their time), to participate in its creation. Yes, all earthly beauty
is fleeting, but those who are witness to it are forever grateful that they
were given the gift of that experience - be it a sunset, a flower or a loved
one. Surely, even if an XC90 were never to traverse a mile, the beauty of this
vehicle alone would have been enough to justify its existence. Perhaps, like
most of the people on this planet, I may never be able to afford this vehicle,
but somehow that doesn't matter. I no more need to own the XC90 to truly
appreciate it than I need to own Van Gogh’s ‘Irises’ to appreciate that. <o:p></o:p></div>
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So I end this letter as I started, by tipping my hat to the shareholders,
managers, designers, engineers, assembly line workers, logistics and marketing
teams– the people of Volvo, from Hangzhou to Gothenburg that have jointly birthed
a work of such extraordinary passion. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Thank you. Tack. Xièxiè</div>
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rodneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06251117406916755373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2163206415345146623.post-27890494032316349372013-07-06T00:03:00.002+10:002013-07-06T00:03:58.513+10:005 years on.
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">On this the 5<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> anniversary of
Kirstin’s passing, I wanted to mark the day by reflecting on one or another of
the aspects of Kirstin’s life and so I sat slowly going through the photos of
her taken from when she was a baby until shortly before her death when she was
a young woman of 18. I became conscious for the first time of a pain that she carried
so deeply and that I have only recently begun to appreciate. I guess that with every
passing year, I am learning to recognise aspects of her that I was only somewhat
dimly conscious of when I knew her in life. In as much as I could not look at
and deal with teenagers in the same way as I had before I had the privilege of
being her uncle, as a father, I now look back on my niece and her life not only
as her uncle, but as a father of my own daughter, Amelia. Carmen and I love
each other very much and though we fear the future inevitable earthly loss of
the other, our fear for the wellbeing and life of Amelia is even more profound.
As little as Amelia is, both Carmen and I now know what unconditional love is –
both in the giving and the receiving. Perhaps by way of stark relief, it has
made us more aware of the times when our conjugal love fails in this respect.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have grown to understand more fully why it
is that only in the bearing and raising of children that marriage finds it full
sacramental fulfilment because the spouses’ love is not self-directed anymore
in the sterile and potentially stagnant pool of mutual narcissistic self-fulfilment,
but the closed greenhouse of our sacramental married lives is broken open so
that it might nourish the flourishing of our child. This child, the physical
manifestation of our love as co-creators of the Author of Love who loved us so
much that we and our children in their turn came into being. Unthinkingly, we become
less selfish by the cute bundle who barges into our lives and leads us into reckless
self-giving by the sheer power of exponential cuteness. When a child is
accepted as a gift from God, this mutual exchange of unconditional love cannot but
reveal the unconditional love of our Father God. If I am not as good a father
to Amelia as I can be, I cannot begin to communicate the loss that I would
suffer from not knowing her and I cannot bear to imagine the hurt it would
cause little Amelia if she felt she was not loved unconditionally <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>by her daddy.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I have a renewed sense of the acute pain that
this absence must have caused Kirstin as her own father chose not to be a part
of her life and what that loss must have meant to her as is testified by her anxious
search for him as she grew into a young adult. But I am comforted by the knowledge
that on achievement of the beatific vision, she is embraced by her heavenly
Father and finally understands it’s full meaning for all eternity. Kirstin
challenges me still in so many ways to be a better father. Her memory is therefore
not just an ossified intellectual memorial but a life-giving legacy for her
cousin Amelia (and others) in this and so many other ways. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">May perpetual light shine upon her and may she
rest in the peace of Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
rodneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06251117406916755373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2163206415345146623.post-12337942656992624342012-07-05T21:11:00.003+10:002012-07-05T21:25:19.553+10:00Born into Life<div style="text-align: justify;">
Just over 6 weeks ago, I officially became a dad. I say officially, because my wife and I were parents to two that never made it out of the womb when she miscarried fairly early on in those pregnancies. </div>
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A couple of weeks after Amelia's arrival, I was chatting to a colleague who has two toddlers and he asked me what I thought at the time was an odd question. He asked me what I had felt as I had watched them pull Amelia out of Carmen and saw her for the first time. And I hesitated. Before I could answer, he dropped his voice and leaned towards me, 'you know what I felt when my first was born?' I shook my head. 'Nothing.' He continued: 'I always wondered if there was something wrong with me, but Rodney, honestly, it took me 2 weeks to connect with my baby and then it was like I had been hit by an avalanche.' </div>
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I nodded. Throughout the pregnancy, I had talked to 'the bump' and then Amelia as we named her when we had found out she was a girl. I had rubbed Carmen's tummy and felt her kicking and tumbling around inside. She had become a very real part of our lives - even though we couldn't see her yet, we had fallen in love with her. Then, when she was born, all the feelings I had been told I would experience never happened immediately. In my case, it wasn't 2 weeks, it was 2 days. Yes I thought she was cute and adorable and all that, but it was only when Carmen had to return to hospital for a slight hiccup 2 days later and I followed alone with just Amelia in the car baby seat behind me, that it hit me like a ton of bricks: If anything had to happen to her now... The fierce protectiveness I felt over her was almost overwhelming: like I would happily take pleasure in maiming anybody if they tried to harm her. The combination of love I felt for her and what I can only describe as blinding hate (albeit in the abstract) for any that would seek to hurt her was at once exhilarating and frightening. And I realised that I could not (and please God will not) ever know what it is to lose your child.</div>
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4 years ago, my sister and our family had my niece Kirstin torn from us (she was 18) and when she died, I can reflect that I went through a period of numbness that gradually subsided. I seem to think that there are parallels here. With regards to the Christian belief in eternal life, all of a sudden the idle question becomes a real question: In reflecting on the death of his wife, CS Lewis wrote that <em>'You never know how much you really believe anything until its truth or falsehood becomes a matter of life and death to you. It is easy to say you believe a rope to be strong and sound as long as you are merely using it to cord a box. But suppose you had to hang by that rope over a precipice.</em>' When Kirstin died, we had to learn to relate to her in the context of her absence and her presence much like I had to do with Amelia when she left the womb and I could no longer find her there. It is not for nothing that we speak of being 'born' into eternal life. And I take comfort that the disciples had to learn the same thing: Jesus told Mary outside His tomb: 'Do not cling to me for I have not yet ascended...'(Jn 20:17) because now she and the disciples would have to learn to relate to Him in a new way because once He had ascended, He would be present - and absent in a new way. And so we do not cling to the memory of Kirstin, but through faith, learn to relate to her and her new absence and presence, believing in the communion of saints and realising that through the cross, which her loss was and is for us, we are united to the salvific work of Christ's Cross, in whose presence she now lives and moves and has her being, beckoning to us as we make our awkward way towards her - and Him. Rest in Peace dearest Kirst. You are still so very dearly, deeply missed.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiesqxnl5H9hHX18eP7QkV0Fn3X60L8uxmYpzA9JNfv-YAAcmXvNZrNVWYlpbRjTRuVSxETtwLh4HDARFC8k-6bUybW847N3O-aVyKHFsftaIKSvBbH95CeHQW0GBNUny6x8oFBX_OXvT0/s1600/IMG_2244.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiesqxnl5H9hHX18eP7QkV0Fn3X60L8uxmYpzA9JNfv-YAAcmXvNZrNVWYlpbRjTRuVSxETtwLh4HDARFC8k-6bUybW847N3O-aVyKHFsftaIKSvBbH95CeHQW0GBNUny6x8oFBX_OXvT0/s320/IMG_2244.JPG" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Amelia Catherine</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidFLOAqHkbxRJ5i6u7aIs5ufplqTUXtwvMPY5jw-got-ywb207_7LAYn6pF3VxcQ8FPqX-KZphswA0zWHI1x4DBJXs60jG1B8hRyuAbaIM8VkT3rgoHitw581nUvjit2m1_7tdlHYJgCw/s1600/Picture1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidFLOAqHkbxRJ5i6u7aIs5ufplqTUXtwvMPY5jw-got-ywb207_7LAYn6pF3VxcQ8FPqX-KZphswA0zWHI1x4DBJXs60jG1B8hRyuAbaIM8VkT3rgoHitw581nUvjit2m1_7tdlHYJgCw/s320/Picture1.jpg" width="215" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kirstin Amy<br />
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</tbody></table>rodneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06251117406916755373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2163206415345146623.post-36739390017845948982012-01-14T19:24:00.001+11:002012-01-14T19:24:23.298+11:00APIACarmen and I taking an evening out tonite to watch the APIA International at Sydney Olympic Park. Been raining so the guys are drying the court low tech with towels and blowers instead of Tennants - silly billies!<br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=12/01/14/51.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/12/01/14/s_51.jpg' border='0' width='320' height='320' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=12/01/14/52.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/12/01/14/s_52.jpg' border='0' width='320' height='320' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br />- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone<br /><p class='blogpress_location'>Location:<a href='http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Nottinghill%20Rd,Berala,Australia%40-33.880119%2C151.036846&z=10'>Nottinghill Rd,Berala,Australia</a></p>rodneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06251117406916755373noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2163206415345146623.post-69801799268368093302011-10-16T18:10:00.018+11:002011-10-17T18:43:13.368+11:00End of Phase IOk so I am calling this end of Phase I - the garage floor still has to be coated and the garden is still short a few shrubs, cladding is to be done and skylights put in but this is part of PhaseII so this will be last post on the house for a while - I can get back to normal day to day stuff and hope to do some touristy stuff. We are really happy in our house - I know there are many bigger and fancier, but it is really home for us and thanks to Gideon of Plantastik http://plantastikservices.com - even the garden is better than I could ever have imagined - cos I am hopeless at that! Here goes:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUOCch1N-18MFvd-hLeXf6NPAa6zjSx1Ha5Gn_SboysEnDKEfGOW-rHH8wOMpDvCLhQRgonWrDUjPbWaPe3c-DTZBhL6t53bUeDC-CvaGQB-5mBDSHT824DMetq2VHYISS4UU1iz-UpqY/s1600/DSCF7669.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUOCch1N-18MFvd-hLeXf6NPAa6zjSx1Ha5Gn_SboysEnDKEfGOW-rHH8wOMpDvCLhQRgonWrDUjPbWaPe3c-DTZBhL6t53bUeDC-CvaGQB-5mBDSHT824DMetq2VHYISS4UU1iz-UpqY/s400/DSCF7669.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5663986291882333378" border="0" /></a>Hey we have grass!<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj17RqkVNcxXnBMtYDxcmFqKptwHjzgwWWneNscg7xZMZbox2i-M4TsQEPSaldE3lWwikFPpnUbCzbYgoD5NePWaghuMT3xf4joVtj5P8eP81w9sK50hgQHuE75OfkrSygo6sgCPAXbTGw/s1600/DSCF7670.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj17RqkVNcxXnBMtYDxcmFqKptwHjzgwWWneNscg7xZMZbox2i-M4TsQEPSaldE3lWwikFPpnUbCzbYgoD5NePWaghuMT3xf4joVtj5P8eP81w9sK50hgQHuE75OfkrSygo6sgCPAXbTGw/s400/DSCF7670.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5663986226173534066" border="0" /></a>Still waiting for last 2 shrubs by postbox.<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJAiPHN1m1QR13Gbo_XIeBSc3lFCklE1viTs2pyv23FI1zt4ZW2lp2Smra_zHVNvnEVPaPFbXoHCSUrm6bdRQ037djyW5mCSc_v85O4bH9WYiw5gfANJrXqg2v2nqmjk9-lKcn00qDOTA/s1600/DSCF7671.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJAiPHN1m1QR13Gbo_XIeBSc3lFCklE1viTs2pyv23FI1zt4ZW2lp2Smra_zHVNvnEVPaPFbXoHCSUrm6bdRQ037djyW5mCSc_v85O4bH9WYiw5gfANJrXqg2v2nqmjk9-lKcn00qDOTA/s400/DSCF7671.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5663986060899349362" border="0" /></a>2nd garden bed.<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsAiUqX3gt0xXFd6FRpAy5GXhz8nOuqLKelZNauvY0O1pxm_S87CElHQGlKWf898ksQHRNIQixlkgTwXkNHex1EEKEJoLXSJbJBYz2k6zICmeRE9RfdVAtgt2fMtewPM4cj8pTcaSfQok/s1600/DSCF7668.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsAiUqX3gt0xXFd6FRpAy5GXhz8nOuqLKelZNauvY0O1pxm_S87CElHQGlKWf898ksQHRNIQixlkgTwXkNHex1EEKEJoLXSJbJBYz2k6zICmeRE9RfdVAtgt2fMtewPM4cj8pTcaSfQok/s400/DSCF7668.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5663985879857795170" border="0" /></a>Carmen's cabinet - finally arrived - weighs an absolute ton! The laser combo scanner doesn't fit in the cabinet!!! So this is how it is going to have to stay :-(<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCWDeUC8zdYphqiXPepJYEHIPwb_TZhrw_AhlTyEkuUpJYPKhf1lcd2fXZhqCXkIPZRmqC1b3EWrETZXvP6Pq-sVFDP9b2XnVelos9yhJvlXGLgXvgyoqDbbOGdyo6TWZV74RrBuDYvfM/s1600/DSCF7667.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCWDeUC8zdYphqiXPepJYEHIPwb_TZhrw_AhlTyEkuUpJYPKhf1lcd2fXZhqCXkIPZRmqC1b3EWrETZXvP6Pq-sVFDP9b2XnVelos9yhJvlXGLgXvgyoqDbbOGdyo6TWZV74RrBuDYvfM/s400/DSCF7667.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5663985798408028930" border="0" /></a>Wires tidied up as much as I could. These desks make it difficult.<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqZDQequTqh6GnYKHZVjSFSh4XweBnbup75f-6assIswSs4ECCx_bLOY-B1Un_P0N7N6k_wnKEXUB2xNecyOm9XajK9HmTH723uI1HyE00mSExcrN3Y_vEh6QIQ_GbXD8yIQDZGkNyjqg/s1600/DSCF7659.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqZDQequTqh6GnYKHZVjSFSh4XweBnbup75f-6assIswSs4ECCx_bLOY-B1Un_P0N7N6k_wnKEXUB2xNecyOm9XajK9HmTH723uI1HyE00mSExcrN3Y_vEh6QIQ_GbXD8yIQDZGkNyjqg/s400/DSCF7659.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5663985701855149938" border="0" /></a>Our Bedroom suite - not everybody's taste I know, but at least we have draws!<br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE2MlavS76Fe4e__hPaWHxy0d9hMm4BOOlubEOIMlusP5IZFeAJ4A4GwamLQ0OWmTlnoWjxDoIXXcckluwnSj77JVX9QQoN5Dbmd9U9OBKoCG1YitPwK0tcs_Vue6kymOtlYEXT9Uekxw/s1600/DSCF7663.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE2MlavS76Fe4e__hPaWHxy0d9hMm4BOOlubEOIMlusP5IZFeAJ4A4GwamLQ0OWmTlnoWjxDoIXXcckluwnSj77JVX9QQoN5Dbmd9U9OBKoCG1YitPwK0tcs_Vue6kymOtlYEXT9Uekxw/s400/DSCF7663.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5663985617725179954" border="0" /></a>The wires to the right of Carmen's pedestal have been sorted - no more clutter!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhobLAM1MFVe3vH7nbkSGFSooNwWn8YFtEZ7V_dfshsNI2jApM9qAgz5ffCTa4P4wXtTDUOELVfWlOgYyLrhxdUdBhDGPjqsXcZdFPCIDxmDbMsFxnLWEI2euHWF4w6lGQmI4UskW9z-NY/s1600/DSCF7673.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhobLAM1MFVe3vH7nbkSGFSooNwWn8YFtEZ7V_dfshsNI2jApM9qAgz5ffCTa4P4wXtTDUOELVfWlOgYyLrhxdUdBhDGPjqsXcZdFPCIDxmDbMsFxnLWEI2euHWF4w6lGQmI4UskW9z-NY/s400/DSCF7673.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5663991333292374002" border="0" /></a>En Suite - don't have wide angled lens - so not great shot. Soap dispenser holds 1.8Litres so good for a month or 2!<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqTg6YIra2M8DTn6NVnYYSGQT9esYkjQdc8o-p7mRpAbO6hScCKq2e0QU8NU9b2HXccqzvQLJ8KTUsSLOIeIeSGHgnRqoSfYBoGRhM0V_DMdyiCi7XKYMjDRyadCkoCiZQ0IUx8phoCk4/s1600/DSCF7666.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqTg6YIra2M8DTn6NVnYYSGQT9esYkjQdc8o-p7mRpAbO6hScCKq2e0QU8NU9b2HXccqzvQLJ8KTUsSLOIeIeSGHgnRqoSfYBoGRhM0V_DMdyiCi7XKYMjDRyadCkoCiZQ0IUx8phoCk4/s400/DSCF7666.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5663985530152724002" border="0" /></a>Guest room - ready for our first visitors T&S<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ_vz6R49V1EBu0ttx7cu4GkDy5InBmdn2rfPfpomH_967JAuFfSRKs4iO3ZXMRgK5vINQdOPsw6QDRzYYhvlbMgihYJkHu9T82wrHTTILeEe6bTCoLP2O1Z6_tYd9U42FOdRBLjFQY64/s1600/DSCF7655.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ_vz6R49V1EBu0ttx7cu4GkDy5InBmdn2rfPfpomH_967JAuFfSRKs4iO3ZXMRgK5vINQdOPsw6QDRzYYhvlbMgihYJkHu9T82wrHTTILeEe6bTCoLP2O1Z6_tYd9U42FOdRBLjFQY64/s400/DSCF7655.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5663985269814499170" border="0" /></a>Lounge skirting under fireplace last thing to be finished.<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuAcIhcWdAaKA09IVQ8Z8jToBNZU1CfQHTnVnoIdTRAj40rhTI1X5-8bT6fQlJa1Sx43uGZQ2eW_BmkNAsGNcbCBIeGBTwfz1cL4f0KWsRLox_KxoE7b4ZjlDgX1qi-c0iD59EA7ore0g/s1600/DSCF7652.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuAcIhcWdAaKA09IVQ8Z8jToBNZU1CfQHTnVnoIdTRAj40rhTI1X5-8bT6fQlJa1Sx43uGZQ2eW_BmkNAsGNcbCBIeGBTwfz1cL4f0KWsRLox_KxoE7b4ZjlDgX1qi-c0iD59EA7ore0g/s400/DSCF7652.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5663985220700748786" border="0" /></a>T&C talking about life love and everything else in the Dining area. Both bins to the right behind are sensor bins - no touch - the large is for recycled the smaller for general waste. The box in the middle is just a carton from a gift that sneaked into the photo awaiting disposal - oops!<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0z2qdB3lyMqEUagcIb6qMT3rapAmRtRGJpZIEXKsmzvGi9bxQStAp8vTG1QUMSylsKayjsFRbybVT3svKgbvOZ_cFWTa8KEoRYZOBEXc0aQsyrczdv2VcjcDvxFiT6kQCrTwFVhev_Y0/s1600/DSCF7653.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0z2qdB3lyMqEUagcIb6qMT3rapAmRtRGJpZIEXKsmzvGi9bxQStAp8vTG1QUMSylsKayjsFRbybVT3svKgbvOZ_cFWTa8KEoRYZOBEXc0aQsyrczdv2VcjcDvxFiT6kQCrTwFVhev_Y0/s400/DSCF7653.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5663985074465414706" border="0" /></a>Alfresco - screen sliding doors fitted.<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP2wJMfEacyjOZc_nvdos_NGu_rrOYkH79I55MZOtiWU-BfZNtJfJl9hsGVrVRdUHQ-MqWRLn0fFdZ7tSMGV1ZPGsTW5wshsD6lFN-LNhuYVyjS2u32jax1WPwWFYQao7g_zGHAIOh9YU/s1600/DSCF7654.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP2wJMfEacyjOZc_nvdos_NGu_rrOYkH79I55MZOtiWU-BfZNtJfJl9hsGVrVRdUHQ-MqWRLn0fFdZ7tSMGV1ZPGsTW5wshsD6lFN-LNhuYVyjS2u32jax1WPwWFYQao7g_zGHAIOh9YU/s400/DSCF7654.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5663984945187676178" border="0" /></a>The back garden - interim but done for now!<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKIDCmzm3KOD8P56BxRwWK3pJw1j50SIo4cCX7Bv05C6oxrjGcslJ_O6lNbguUisl5ejbDDaEQAneCWT3h9mRXnfXM8a5x-esj_8EVzVYZu2caP7KIapS2v4yQrZQ2KEjvelMrP9F6xQQ/s1600/DSCF7672.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKIDCmzm3KOD8P56BxRwWK3pJw1j50SIo4cCX7Bv05C6oxrjGcslJ_O6lNbguUisl5ejbDDaEQAneCWT3h9mRXnfXM8a5x-esj_8EVzVYZu2caP7KIapS2v4yQrZQ2KEjvelMrP9F6xQQ/s400/DSCF7672.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5663984816883121122" border="0" /></a>The garage -still in dire need of attention - next project!<br /></div>rodneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06251117406916755373noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2163206415345146623.post-83903619549240469862011-10-06T17:04:00.013+11:002011-10-09T21:25:31.495+11:00Death of Steve JobsLike a great number of people and given that he was a complete stranger, I was - perhaps strangely - saddened, when I heard the news of the death of Steve Jobs this week. I kept hearing commentary on the radio about how he had changed the world and people's lives etc. and initially I thought of Henry David Thoreau. In Walden, Thoreau wrote about how the invention of the telegraph had radically changed the way that people communicate but simultaneously questioned whether its invention had actually contributed anything to humanity at all. What was it that people were using these new means of communication for? Had it elevated the level of discourse? Or had it just increased the volume and speed of idle chatter? I must confess to viewing Steve Job's accomplishments with the same jaundiced eye and had no thoughts of blogging about his passing. <div style="text-align: justify;"><br />And then as I (an expat South African) sat at the traffic lights here in Sydney with my iTouch on the dash, in the German car next to mine sat a young Asian guy and he was scrolling through Apps on his iPhone. And it struck me, not only the global impact that his company has had on communication, but that it<span style="font-style: italic;"> had</span> in fact, affected my life - and profoundly so. Between my wife and I we own 2 ipod shuffles, an iMac, 2 iphones, an Apple TV and an itouch. Still I wouldn't describe myself as an Apple fanboy - Apple's censorship of Apps that are at odds with its political or social agenda has never endeared me to the company. By all accounts, Steve Jobs was a ruthless and self-centred man who had a singular vision that drove him to eventually achieve the success he attained in business, but whose personal life was... well less admirable. Whether or not he could have achieved what he did any other way is a question, I don't know the answer to. Could he have been successful if he had paid the makers of his products a just and living wage instead of shipping those jobs to China? Am I not complicit in that decision by owning and utilising his products? All hand wringing aside, as somebody who constantly travels as part of my job, I am now able to listen to podcasts and talks from all over the world and pray the Divine Office through apps on my iTouch and phone. I am instantly in touch with family and friends all over the world in an immediate way I would otherwise not have been able to be. I have learned things and heard speakers I would never had had the chance to hear if it were not for Steve Job's contribution to technology.<br /><br />I am just sorry he experienced life as isolated as he did. In one of his more well known addresses at the Stanford commencement in 2005, he said that Dogma is a trap of living with the results of other people's thinking. I was recently doing an assignment in Canon Law and tracing the history of one of the laws of the Church that dated back to the year 252. It made me aware of the rich treasure and privilege it has been for my life to be part of a community 2000 years old - I felt the hands of my older brothers and sisters reaching across the millenia to guide me in my search for truth - not a fossilized Dogma, but a dynamic engaging Dogma of Aquinus, Augustine, countless Bishops and theologians that meant I never had to reinvent the theological or philosophical wheel but could explore world's infinitely further than I could ever have reached on my own. How sad it is that Steve could not acknowledge the debt he owed to those that informed his own journey - and even his business ideas - whatever he could see was a result of standing on the shoulders of those that wen<span style="font-family:times new roman;">t before <span style="font-size:100%;">h</span></span><span style="font-size:100%;">im</span>.<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--><span style="font-size:100%;"> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-fareast-Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA;mso-bidi-font-weight: boldfont-family:";font-size:100%;" lang="EN-GB" >Rick Warren perhaps put it best: <span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">The problem with self-made man is that he usually worships his maker.<br /><br /></span></span></span>In human terms, Steve Jobs was a technological visionary and a man of immense creative talent and I tip my hat to him in gratitude for the way his inventions have enriched my life. But I can't shake the fact that his lauded vision was ultimately comprised of technological trinkets. In entrusting his soul to the mercy of God, I pray that he may experience the wonder of the Beatific vision that simply dwarfs to an infinitely exponential degree, his own.<br /></div><div></div>rodneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06251117406916755373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2163206415345146623.post-22791331914705461452011-10-02T23:23:00.007+11:002011-10-02T23:39:14.570+11:00Phase I nearing completionJust a quick interim update on the house. We will post final pics of Phase I next week when our furniture is in. But here are some for now. Bye till next week!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFRxeP6t8WjfwUaaUJ9gk-5E43or5_EtCmvg9u6dTCRtbUJDQR8wGQ5ujhoXvsmWTDxtEAlaTj_DUIBPYa4Hgk9Lo3pVaZT9Hj9suAVpAu0Tx6s0BYZ__gO3yPLLLKLxsQWQ61gSL1HE4/s1600/DSCF7635.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFRxeP6t8WjfwUaaUJ9gk-5E43or5_EtCmvg9u6dTCRtbUJDQR8wGQ5ujhoXvsmWTDxtEAlaTj_DUIBPYa4Hgk9Lo3pVaZT9Hj9suAVpAu0Tx6s0BYZ__gO3yPLLLKLxsQWQ61gSL1HE4/s400/DSCF7635.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5658870914373327202" border="0" /></a>The front garden. Final turf and flower bed will be put in next week.<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwBUWGz3dmlPDqZevH1BGxclIc_384pkMBZfcMk7RcylZJSNEALjlI2ANHT-NqkUySGPVfph-6BDNDloucy4ejn2v9ffIcVqYqhhuz3P489NdMZLChhccqNTg_OK8mqgdJSpR-KHY5WqM/s1600/DSCF7638.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwBUWGz3dmlPDqZevH1BGxclIc_384pkMBZfcMk7RcylZJSNEALjlI2ANHT-NqkUySGPVfph-6BDNDloucy4ejn2v9ffIcVqYqhhuz3P489NdMZLChhccqNTg_OK8mqgdJSpR-KHY5WqM/s400/DSCF7638.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5658870640665112706" border="0" /></a>Our back garden looking from the Alfresco - we had finished the deck design and were about to purchase the wood, lighting water features and pumps, but have decided to grass instead as we will be saving up and putting in a swimming pool when finances allow.<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiGlbudIUcWzD5QvUKAsEhTXB5YoXQwy7lW2lYXiG-5UgFBQDx4YILl3DN4jvprmgDPwWCVIPYqCaO5NgduqMxRxQ8P2HAzuv5Z573cjfZ6FVgifZNtX86Ux3jYHu67XldcmI7rGg8KhU/s1600/DSCF7637.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiGlbudIUcWzD5QvUKAsEhTXB5YoXQwy7lW2lYXiG-5UgFBQDx4YILl3DN4jvprmgDPwWCVIPYqCaO5NgduqMxRxQ8P2HAzuv5Z573cjfZ6FVgifZNtX86Ux3jYHu67XldcmI7rGg8KhU/s400/DSCF7637.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5658870552183319538" border="0" /></a>Carmen's study now has a little 'kuier' corner.<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqurWaCH0JLSpAoYZYoUu_lqXXoPydb-KXk8Z17u-hwKGbEnxKrwTiWpnl0K2DXDgaCfdzKxhG873XtTxlUs3nlu9ofmNrMWPBhnPGFjDn52ku_JJMueD5b8klAQ_-O2JrdQ1hsilB1jE/s1600/DSCF7631.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqurWaCH0JLSpAoYZYoUu_lqXXoPydb-KXk8Z17u-hwKGbEnxKrwTiWpnl0K2DXDgaCfdzKxhG873XtTxlUs3nlu9ofmNrMWPBhnPGFjDn52ku_JJMueD5b8klAQ_-O2JrdQ1hsilB1jE/s400/DSCF7631.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5658870476737433442" border="0" /></a>My study is the only 'completed' room in the house - no more furniture to be added - only files and books to be sorted properly, arranged and labelled. On the left of the picture through the bookcase, you can see my writing desk - I do no work there - it is my hobby corner used solely for writing.<br /><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggi-1otxL_65gjoih6f-9kU7E66soXV68YodmW1TkE_Vs4vPGOacZ-8ytyHFndbsmenAFeQrmyIGyH1eXzcBFl8HFYOMxwHz34XObbVLbW-VT91g_AoHctcbbkQpCS4GRTwxwL6437QJM/s1600/DSCF7633.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggi-1otxL_65gjoih6f-9kU7E66soXV68YodmW1TkE_Vs4vPGOacZ-8ytyHFndbsmenAFeQrmyIGyH1eXzcBFl8HFYOMxwHz34XObbVLbW-VT91g_AoHctcbbkQpCS4GRTwxwL6437QJM/s400/DSCF7633.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5658870353264330498" border="0" /></a>The library end of my study - also with its own 'kuier' corner where you can curl up with a book.rodneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06251117406916755373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2163206415345146623.post-18158307114899033222011-10-02T23:02:00.005+11:002011-10-02T23:23:36.845+11:00Kangaroo Valley<div style="text-align: justify;">About 88 km from where we now live, is a picturesque little town called Kangaroo Valley (appropriate for Aus I guess!)We took a drive out there today but I never took any shots of the town. I will ask Richard to do so next time with his new fancy lens. The road on the way there is the Kemblawarra road and having travelled extensively throughout NSW as a result of my job, I have to say it must rate as one of the State's most beautiful areas. The vegetation is lush and the scenery simply breathtaking. I tried to take some photos, but it is impossible for me to capture the beauty of this part of the world.<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi00tVbl9m6GFu0whBKiFoBaW-q5uvDWqNJdQ9HIZZfFGZtfp17JDZv_fcb2X8yW-UnJvOsRzHDzrVVt_9_S43GTdLhwpbArKU70KkB6aEViWINCc_r4eA50TLlrMJrBp2tDwUgHao6kA/s1600/DSCF7625.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi00tVbl9m6GFu0whBKiFoBaW-q5uvDWqNJdQ9HIZZfFGZtfp17JDZv_fcb2X8yW-UnJvOsRzHDzrVVt_9_S43GTdLhwpbArKU70KkB6aEViWINCc_r4eA50TLlrMJrBp2tDwUgHao6kA/s400/DSCF7625.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5658868045177009954" border="0" /></a>The mist rolling over the hills<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijtBcKg7zyyYfiB50zu65Ud1W-2aEwc7tjFZIwObQxtCVODVy_4ttLBLK_eI1-dMJbSlQXhI6d7YA5PWbS03YHaDYEYfdJvKlxTk6GIwfcfFYoAyqq5PveF-cRhOUUemt0hgRg_HpWkgU/s1600/DSCF7627.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijtBcKg7zyyYfiB50zu65Ud1W-2aEwc7tjFZIwObQxtCVODVy_4ttLBLK_eI1-dMJbSlQXhI6d7YA5PWbS03YHaDYEYfdJvKlxTk6GIwfcfFYoAyqq5PveF-cRhOUUemt0hgRg_HpWkgU/s400/DSCF7627.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5658865564054719570" border="0" /></a>So dense and lush and green - feels like you are in a tropical rain forest.<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheFLKhYRDVGn3xC_yk9N0LOzhoEIkgEgk4w18-kEJtf6-52v88gPQRiJDH8wzLrADIppDv03gTbNf06tQ0qRQ1aFXcN6iYrjVKO1SU2sY9lncc6SHfOTZ7ds98MT7UopWfLrl7aieFqp4/s1600/DSCF7626.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheFLKhYRDVGn3xC_yk9N0LOzhoEIkgEgk4w18-kEJtf6-52v88gPQRiJDH8wzLrADIppDv03gTbNf06tQ0qRQ1aFXcN6iYrjVKO1SU2sY9lncc6SHfOTZ7ds98MT7UopWfLrl7aieFqp4/s400/DSCF7626.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5658865476454464930" border="0" /></a>The road is tight and twisty - Richard longed for his AWD quattro :-( !<br /></div>rodneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06251117406916755373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2163206415345146623.post-39805774678961154762011-09-19T22:17:00.014+10:002011-09-19T22:40:50.508+10:00Garden<div style="text-align: justify;">So if you've been wondering what I've been doing for the past few weeks, the answer is sweating over a garden. I hate gardening at the best of times, but this was ridiculous. A landscaper friend, Gideon and my brother basically whipped me along making sure the garden got done properly. The clay here is insanely hard -we used a pick and you were never sure if you had struck a hidden concrete outcrop from <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">the</span> building or clay - it was that hard. We hired a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">rotovator</span> - like a mechanical plough to help us, but this was heavy work. About 9 cubic metres of compost later and 5 cubic metres of granite and bags of gypsum to break up the clay and the preparations are done. Gideon and R also put in drip and normal irrigation. The fence is up at last - already one of the neighbours complained to the Estate because it is dark not light as per the guidelines - seriously how sad is your life that the major issue in your life is the colour of your neighbour's fence? Get a life! Anyway... I will have some internal shots hopefully by next week. All my bookcases are in but labelling the bookshelves and setting them out is a work in progress and I am too embarrassed to post work in progress pics! Till next time -bye for now!<br /></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3XLrLEUlPOgV6ukdSTBs-CiAPFd6-j_DI0tZSRvPhWVEGc0s0-R0l9G5iV1PdQrFcBfGRZ9By5HTi3g4olZF5UTmurabjHgk7P3a0XOD6DfVsezcWjwzV_4c6iMjD4hEBNQ_oxrSBlDE/s1600/250.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3XLrLEUlPOgV6ukdSTBs-CiAPFd6-j_DI0tZSRvPhWVEGc0s0-R0l9G5iV1PdQrFcBfGRZ9By5HTi3g4olZF5UTmurabjHgk7P3a0XOD6DfVsezcWjwzV_4c6iMjD4hEBNQ_oxrSBlDE/s400/250.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5654046839501977810" border="0" /></a>I should have gone with my first instinct and put down <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">astro</span> turf!!!<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXTlr2uxKqJe8jMaCjvuJB_DwTLupjfsF7sGbrkYqbOaFGl2w7p7bP8Mm3NjEaStkvszeI7UYktcogDKVSYdZS9dDVxQJZ6lZ92Z5yRffCYOnmmAL99iS4honxOUPptpvqOvDSNwVsxQA/s1600/251.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXTlr2uxKqJe8jMaCjvuJB_DwTLupjfsF7sGbrkYqbOaFGl2w7p7bP8Mm3NjEaStkvszeI7UYktcogDKVSYdZS9dDVxQJZ6lZ92Z5yRffCYOnmmAL99iS4honxOUPptpvqOvDSNwVsxQA/s400/251.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5654046788809259954" border="0" /></a>Endless moving of soil.<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaMBfqEDuP17jMVLzMXoiy40crkxvo_zB-2_nbHvfJ458xHrBkXxnC-Z-Jm5CcAN7vJqn-OMWhwqr-c6QTlbMttcKYVIf_WuVCAkoPpavPAn3PooVmT6zfw1kHME6TKonD8gyBAHCK2aU/s1600/253.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaMBfqEDuP17jMVLzMXoiy40crkxvo_zB-2_nbHvfJ458xHrBkXxnC-Z-Jm5CcAN7vJqn-OMWhwqr-c6QTlbMttcKYVIf_WuVCAkoPpavPAn3PooVmT6zfw1kHME6TKonD8gyBAHCK2aU/s400/253.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5654046745976282610" border="0" /></a>The <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">rotovator</span> aka Gideon's exercise machine.<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt3rNNmNVp-tHg3rYADrKlsOKWAPyOyT6vM1qfy1ygGfzvqwhUOcyidKRbhyphenhyphengcDcX9yb40LRQ_YJOd-CDl-7cklKtopIs88hRsybL4gd5xX3WBB26csBRgC6hyLMcZbt2Bc2cT5rL2Ols/s1600/258.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt3rNNmNVp-tHg3rYADrKlsOKWAPyOyT6vM1qfy1ygGfzvqwhUOcyidKRbhyphenhyphengcDcX9yb40LRQ_YJOd-CDl-7cklKtopIs88hRsybL4gd5xX3WBB26csBRgC6hyLMcZbt2Bc2cT5rL2Ols/s400/258.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5654046681742141874" border="0" /></a>The back of the house - awaiting decking, lighting, water features and grass. May not look it, but boy was this hard graft!<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvVKbd-uLN8gfXunMaL80gymHRo7FZZkoNoA7rL7SptiBwz1Vk0zf-nKEldOCWFeGA-ezJgL96Wcbg-CXY2nxvkaZUkNUk5YzCyGdBBMspzneVyyIzhVkLuCfGrvFsZgGIZb5zdIL6THM/s1600/261.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvVKbd-uLN8gfXunMaL80gymHRo7FZZkoNoA7rL7SptiBwz1Vk0zf-nKEldOCWFeGA-ezJgL96Wcbg-CXY2nxvkaZUkNUk5YzCyGdBBMspzneVyyIzhVkLuCfGrvFsZgGIZb5zdIL6THM/s400/261.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5654046588088287602" border="0" /></a>Ready for plants and turf<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpwS1zjNeWcKOpHfD_bpyZ-4o7ReZmu-Vt51XJQEhUqsZTop5seYyDooCRAVKne4msNTUWwHR1y1m3C2lJr6Qap9PNxCrYn0WsClhJLSPdfPQBn1mxCfJm5IfHSfBmSnu3ncjZgOHg-pM/s1600/260.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpwS1zjNeWcKOpHfD_bpyZ-4o7ReZmu-Vt51XJQEhUqsZTop5seYyDooCRAVKne4msNTUWwHR1y1m3C2lJr6Qap9PNxCrYn0WsClhJLSPdfPQBn1mxCfJm5IfHSfBmSnu3ncjZgOHg-pM/s400/260.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5654046535479569138" border="0" /></a>Taking shape - we chose the colour to match our garage door and gutters.<br /><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJcX6dvfTsOdtSEwSzqWfHonqAQPQTva0L24O39MhCDwn2VhY9u_z351T-Kh8hSEauIdxvv-SfatG_toDXwWbFwPE5-axKL9TSAPo9bhvGZPgqfP65PfNyOmMtuoZpfAQPBCd2-tswiDI/s1600/262.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJcX6dvfTsOdtSEwSzqWfHonqAQPQTva0L24O39MhCDwn2VhY9u_z351T-Kh8hSEauIdxvv-SfatG_toDXwWbFwPE5-axKL9TSAPo9bhvGZPgqfP65PfNyOmMtuoZpfAQPBCd2-tswiDI/s400/262.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5654046416617034210" border="0" /></a>I better mention - Carmen and Kerry built all the flat pack stuff while little <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Abi</span> 'helped' them. The long hall table on the right is actually an adaption - I removed the wheels - it is supposed to be a rolling table that goes over a queen sized bed so you can eat in bed or whatever.rodneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06251117406916755373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2163206415345146623.post-7192657581905441442011-08-21T21:41:00.017+10:002011-08-21T22:19:15.174+10:00Moved in - Phase 1<div style="text-align: justify;">I know that this is going to sound like an excuse, but because of commitments and trying to squeeze the unpacking of our stuff into our new house into what has been a hectic time we have had 8 hours sleep in 2 days so am feeling slammed! I never had a chance to take proper photos. By the time I did - we had people pop around for dinner - I had like 3 minutes to quickly snap a few so excuse the quality. This is Phase I - just moved in, nothing is finished yet back at work tomorrow and still a heck of a lot to do!
<br />Good <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">nite</span>!
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<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjufaYS0VkjELNN-tj0pkAd-chyCrpPOZAwFqSd0V2KFbUGOrggPZCk9t9XVntby8zPynsxEN_teNwMzikUTkoIqWRPBlv_VHAL7KiPzer9QvtblRQ95wH5Z293Z1e7_geUQ6IbtceFpRs/s1600/238.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjufaYS0VkjELNN-tj0pkAd-chyCrpPOZAwFqSd0V2KFbUGOrggPZCk9t9XVntby8zPynsxEN_teNwMzikUTkoIqWRPBlv_VHAL7KiPzer9QvtblRQ95wH5Z293Z1e7_geUQ6IbtceFpRs/s400/238.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5643276645509051858" border="0" /></a>The hallway -some paintings hung but others we can't until we know exactly where <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">furniture</span> is going.
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<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj53wY-qHZk3PuBt98VtUrKHBEu6c8WveD5tVnQUerPfBuvSJ3zrZawHqA0s9rhNEcRGAwVIf3hFaWWaExpgkkCWNRmXA6yeD6yhIY7Wpe3mxYGZbrEiKxqCRUwB7JWjG2k0CHng8HWGjw/s1600/247.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj53wY-qHZk3PuBt98VtUrKHBEu6c8WveD5tVnQUerPfBuvSJ3zrZawHqA0s9rhNEcRGAwVIf3hFaWWaExpgkkCWNRmXA6yeD6yhIY7Wpe3mxYGZbrEiKxqCRUwB7JWjG2k0CHng8HWGjw/s400/247.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5643276576153642882" border="0" /></a>Carmen's study -awaiting a white gloss cabinet before we hide all wiring and her printer will also <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">disappear</span>. The painting in the background has still to be hung - but needs to be centred on cabinet so will await that.
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<br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcLATgRHnncey75kTXVR9m1Dg9uJGl22pp64Rj3GExx2kE5ZPpjR1yyZsTwAwOrCltmHja3ujBwV2FpVjHBmN3d9VAv9hT0DmaKhg9cu6VBCp_Xsbbn2AY-esiKzLpoEjimErMrbTVhzg/s1600/237.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcLATgRHnncey75kTXVR9m1Dg9uJGl22pp64Rj3GExx2kE5ZPpjR1yyZsTwAwOrCltmHja3ujBwV2FpVjHBmN3d9VAv9hT0DmaKhg9cu6VBCp_Xsbbn2AY-esiKzLpoEjimErMrbTVhzg/s400/237.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5643276527081748770" border="0" /></a>Again some furniture changes due - <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">bookcases</span> are out <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">of the</span> picture to the right and once supplementary bookcases arrive, I can hang the painting centred to my work desk. Scale difficult to judge from a photo, but the room is a nice size - for term of reference the monitors in the pic are 24 inch ones.
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<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCpfAQtF976Im9LBKdbdLRSm_zSu2hhk5rboi9Ib11Vww0Js-s4OitOavps1IEirn8JIe4JszjVxr-5VRSQ7lF7UbmA-Ycr_TNl57_rFO3UQ9gPbyBdPkUGWP04GtpUQn_gNu5iyVciSk/s1600/240.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCpfAQtF976Im9LBKdbdLRSm_zSu2hhk5rboi9Ib11Vww0Js-s4OitOavps1IEirn8JIe4JszjVxr-5VRSQ7lF7UbmA-Ycr_TNl57_rFO3UQ9gPbyBdPkUGWP04GtpUQn_gNu5iyVciSk/s400/240.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5643276102528632930" border="0" /></a>We are very happy the way the kitchen turned out. Excuse the clutter - Carmen was preparing supper.
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<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC1uk45RNrkm6mgqB7VrfPENxePICKbkWTk25KFyEfdnL0D6BBjJgByaHBckzCiwhwmMMj2S6nRh-evLwgR1TkgqQklmhqPbMJTlsovh3kPulUiU3Hk1pblR1rlGVM-4eoZIC1oM8kubc/s1600/242.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC1uk45RNrkm6mgqB7VrfPENxePICKbkWTk25KFyEfdnL0D6BBjJgByaHBckzCiwhwmMMj2S6nRh-evLwgR1TkgqQklmhqPbMJTlsovh3kPulUiU3Hk1pblR1rlGVM-4eoZIC1oM8kubc/s400/242.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5643275999466288114" border="0" /></a>You can't see it very well in this photo, but the oven is really cool - no buttons :-) Our convection microwave was our <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">existing</span> one and fitted in nicely- only a pity the display is green, and not white like the oven's.
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<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCBCZXAcNnDSX_rB4A8PsK6NoUWPHFmb6ufxrYUghU4SlLV38aNuZSAaYJED1bEKayh0U3veYGdR-2ipCBtPAOPsp3nNrx5Uq7n05X4clQlcDXGhW4rTIii90WCWJ69AGFNPlSMPJ-D2g/s1600/241.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCBCZXAcNnDSX_rB4A8PsK6NoUWPHFmb6ufxrYUghU4SlLV38aNuZSAaYJED1bEKayh0U3veYGdR-2ipCBtPAOPsp3nNrx5Uq7n05X4clQlcDXGhW4rTIii90WCWJ69AGFNPlSMPJ-D2g/s400/241.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5643275942060546130" border="0" /></a>The hob looks better in real life than when we chose on the net. And yes there on the right of the picture is the star of a previous blog - Toaster himself! Have not test driven yet. Will do so this week.
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<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT2nN8Pb5DyYoCtz_CC25V8gFLaLr9iJ23nN2YiBaBxDUijXjJTcqokXb2Xmu6B3q3xQamOg6RigoGuvDxwM6R217XyF2X8FT-PO293YzUNyrEdrPSDxYJcGu76RA0aocUbTaDj_6V4fY/s1600/243.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT2nN8Pb5DyYoCtz_CC25V8gFLaLr9iJ23nN2YiBaBxDUijXjJTcqokXb2Xmu6B3q3xQamOg6RigoGuvDxwM6R217XyF2X8FT-PO293YzUNyrEdrPSDxYJcGu76RA0aocUbTaDj_6V4fY/s400/243.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5643275882686350546" border="0" /></a>The sink - that is a real flower and I wished it could stay like this, but we are going to have to clutter this picture with a soap dispenser for practical reasons. :-(
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<br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUuSQT93Ni9-N3I8IcmA3RTKHdgg-qgcy-jThmvw4NQJUg5df8rhzIkratRdNO6oX177JEIGrfOMqpQqWXXlvHto0O-vOZJEL2Ysjg3nKkjCbFISVtP-3KpKNVKqHCUuDDUrYH96cj59c/s1600/245.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUuSQT93Ni9-N3I8IcmA3RTKHdgg-qgcy-jThmvw4NQJUg5df8rhzIkratRdNO6oX177JEIGrfOMqpQqWXXlvHto0O-vOZJEL2Ysjg3nKkjCbFISVtP-3KpKNVKqHCUuDDUrYH96cj59c/s400/245.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5643275787764500866" border="0" /></a>Looking out towards the Alfresco - still awaiting timber inserts and the old barbecue which has started to rust will be replaced with a more permanent one.
<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghAh_q1C6wgCRFyALX2apPhWLtqD1YEyUQEUmD2siv1XMxHHE0ePtZqhRWLOSFDsLKuadZ3H2UKofedofr1YjHnDUj5ftLx6pv6k_nv73871mUH1gXhrdAzwxkYNU27IoHZnhiH8ZWBN0/s1600/246.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghAh_q1C6wgCRFyALX2apPhWLtqD1YEyUQEUmD2siv1XMxHHE0ePtZqhRWLOSFDsLKuadZ3H2UKofedofr1YjHnDUj5ftLx6pv6k_nv73871mUH1gXhrdAzwxkYNU27IoHZnhiH8ZWBN0/s400/246.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5643275717871168802" border="0" /></a>The dining table set for our first dinner - no lights in the Diningroom - we have the fittings, but need to fit them still - on the list to do asap.
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<br />rodneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06251117406916755373noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2163206415345146623.post-59677776455050535632011-08-14T20:31:00.004+10:002011-08-14T20:39:36.773+10:00Driveway<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Ok</span> surely the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">internet</span> or this blog has reached a new low when the most exciting pic I can post is of my driveway, but it is finally finished. The <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">aircon</span> covers are on and the fireplace is <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">gyprocced</span> up. The <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">tradies</span> go in on Tuesday and the carpets on Wednesday so on Thursday and Friday we move in. Phase I is the move in. Phase II will take about another 6-8 weeks to get the furniture and other stuff sorted and Phase III when everything is done should be within about 8-12 weeks. We spent the weekend packing, my brother and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">fam</span> moved into his <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">rental as</span> they prepare to commence building so it was a busy weekend. I will post a full summary pictorial next week of the result of the end of Phase I. And with Thursday and Friday off, that makes it a 3 day week! All good!
<br />Cheers!
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<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaSHmkUhWiN-XQOm9AbB2uupkZTjRMNEAuC5K8y4DAlSRvbkpccucHlV_htsKQHrSycre2jDIzwywHaq7n-RH7cvs5ayLe4wsSMkwJRdSsZfiuXAttrfdXdgqVpuyPe5VUhJkU3j-urAY/s1600/IMG_0087.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaSHmkUhWiN-XQOm9AbB2uupkZTjRMNEAuC5K8y4DAlSRvbkpccucHlV_htsKQHrSycre2jDIzwywHaq7n-RH7cvs5ayLe4wsSMkwJRdSsZfiuXAttrfdXdgqVpuyPe5VUhJkU3j-urAY/s400/IMG_0087.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5640657856026617970" border="0" /></a>
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<br />rodneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06251117406916755373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2163206415345146623.post-54666164220160653982011-08-06T17:50:00.004+10:002011-08-06T18:18:51.829+10:00Toaster<div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Ok</span>, so I get excited about well-made stuff - even kitchen appliances :-). Our current toaster is one that we bought about 12 years ago and somewhere along the way, a plastic bread packet brushed up against it in the midst of toasting operations and melted onto the metal side. It didn't affect the performance but old toasty was known to be a little bit temperamental and the bright red birthmark on his side didn't improve his appearance. Anyway he still worked so I couldn't justify getting rid of him. Somebody however just bought us this machine below - I hesitate to use the mere word 'Toaster' for this marvel of modern engineering. I don't know if you are up with the latest technology in these bread <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">crispers</span>, but this surely has to be Toaster - the very definition of what all toasters dream of being:<br />1. First of all you will notice it has 4 slots - no more jostling for position between Carmen and me.<br />2. The slots are extra wide and go extra deep to accommodate oversize slices.<br />3. Do you see the gap between the top of the '<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">depressers</span>'? that is so that if you have a small slice of bread or a crumpet, you can lift it that extra bit higher so that you don't have to waste time digging around with a knife (which is unsafe not to mention frustrating as your toast gets cold (sacrilege) while you poke around and hack the blasted elusive thing to pieces.)<br />4. Independent temperature controls for left and right pairs of slots! I know! - awesome, hey? I mean can you believe how civilised that is? Cars have independent left and right climate controls - so why not toasters? Imagine - you and your wife chatting happily, relaxed, sharing a lovely breakfast, no <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">que</span> for the toaster and each one able to perfectly toast slices to their own taste to perfection, side by side without interfering or disturbing the toasting of the other. This <span style="font-style: italic;">has</span> to be, at the very least, part of the secret of a long and happy marriage! Sheer genius! I don't think I am overstating it, am I?<br />5. A special crumpet button<br />6. Of course the standard temperature settings as well as a defrost function<br />7. Personal opinion, but boy she looks good.<br /><br />As you may have gathered, I hate clutter and appliance clutter on kitchen counters is no different, but I am seriously giving consideration to allowing this technological masterpiece to grace our counter tops...<br /></div><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjakUpoA9WUi43LN3FR0OV06aJV3Bgvz2iUu6t1kWatWyPQdwEK_f7Zy2Ljc4VNLqIgY-uZJZBMN7oKPLXwjUezc2Pq66Vxxl1gaIGefG5LttHnisY6BphRuhyphenhyphenivFLXE4FmbPfsYUemJYQ/s1600/DSCF7568.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjakUpoA9WUi43LN3FR0OV06aJV3Bgvz2iUu6t1kWatWyPQdwEK_f7Zy2Ljc4VNLqIgY-uZJZBMN7oKPLXwjUezc2Pq66Vxxl1gaIGefG5LttHnisY6BphRuhyphenhyphenivFLXE4FmbPfsYUemJYQ/s400/DSCF7568.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5637647423509739138" border="0" /></a>rodneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06251117406916755373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2163206415345146623.post-88882506445282995832011-08-06T16:24:00.009+10:002011-08-06T16:56:56.634+10:00Showers in and Driveway preppedWell it looks like I am going to have to have a whine at the builders - they seem to be losing speed towards the end. This week the driveway <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">prepwork</span> was finished, reinforcing laid and the actual concrete will be thrown on Monday. The fencing will also be completed next week. They put the shower frames in and the study floor went in this morning - we have booked the carpets for the 16<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">th</span> so as close to moving in as possible. Apologies for the quality of the pics - I forgot my camera and these are taken with my iphone.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaACJoY7oc09oFiXEog8BKA3OKnKAJGpbjTOtlwUUoiIyYy2xSb2u16qKRhJf7aI5UpPfEkMSyDsYrKu_ZsHFF3TzCJDkRasoqQHu_WTTJUUxh2P2pENvC2JRanhwmA_yfJbYzHsDy8pk/s1600/226.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaACJoY7oc09oFiXEog8BKA3OKnKAJGpbjTOtlwUUoiIyYy2xSb2u16qKRhJf7aI5UpPfEkMSyDsYrKu_ZsHFF3TzCJDkRasoqQHu_WTTJUUxh2P2pENvC2JRanhwmA_yfJbYzHsDy8pk/s400/226.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5637627048464240370" border="0" /></a>Shower in main bathroom - we went with semi-<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">frameless</span> as opposed to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">frameless</span> as I have never seen a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">frameless</span> shower that doesn't leak water. Function here over aesthetics.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoob2EdUaYw2daIJZB_jkzeF91j0pBRRAiU1CCbnMDKsK90zNuMk8lbtN6T6pQCgQMy-6eRgEXj0M5kz_w-yFcnXhezgSpK67wC8zkPOSTyVHRF4Irtb2L8kN8FJq1Kq4HsfdFeKWFmo0/s1600/227.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoob2EdUaYw2daIJZB_jkzeF91j0pBRRAiU1CCbnMDKsK90zNuMk8lbtN6T6pQCgQMy-6eRgEXj0M5kz_w-yFcnXhezgSpK67wC8zkPOSTyVHRF4Irtb2L8kN8FJq1Kq4HsfdFeKWFmo0/s400/227.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5637626873860275554" border="0" /></a>Mirrors are in as well and place is beginning to feel more 'finished'.<br /><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPbMkrde6rT47L3yX2KRepMJrRhOzwV36Q6WXEYxvzc00SObVuTUSPRhtoeO6BblQ_D_Nr3yQFfZ1N94lsMhWB7IwXLztkjAtVQ9zAlV67MVztfBuNNKj4jC2wsJ6wwR2ZQQqKkaBhMnY/s1600/228.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPbMkrde6rT47L3yX2KRepMJrRhOzwV36Q6WXEYxvzc00SObVuTUSPRhtoeO6BblQ_D_Nr3yQFfZ1N94lsMhWB7IwXLztkjAtVQ9zAlV67MVztfBuNNKj4jC2wsJ6wwR2ZQQqKkaBhMnY/s400/228.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5637626821356528450" border="0" /></a>Ensuite shower - the builder and the shower guys really didn't like my idea of sliding doors as they said it is old-fashioned, but a swing door always drops little bits of water when the doors swing out - frameless or not - which irritates me. In Sydney all bathrooms I have seen are wetrooms with floor drains so even if you get a lot of water on the floor, it doesn't matter, but it makes a mess so I honestly just don't see the point.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfLhcLFzZW_4OnbeqoLclicfo8CmWhFGhLZqgLBa0FIoSvST1eS8q7yuLxE3_nmhVZZObv_rNt2ZckOojJeiL2yKdASlrlY1zUOul9a84BYAOLeK4fFx1QMEqlNyyhSfnTYTiE_d-KxjE/s1600/229.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfLhcLFzZW_4OnbeqoLclicfo8CmWhFGhLZqgLBa0FIoSvST1eS8q7yuLxE3_nmhVZZObv_rNt2ZckOojJeiL2yKdASlrlY1zUOul9a84BYAOLeK4fFx1QMEqlNyyhSfnTYTiE_d-KxjE/s400/229.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5637626747529046738" border="0" /></a>Shower door sliders slide from both sides fully open so the tracks at the bottom can be cleaned very easily and there is no place for any soap buildup to occur. No soap dishes or recesses as we have mounted dispensers for shower gel, shampoo, etc.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeT41olknN5uPYW3zuxWi-J3ILo0_Ytvi43uwOvIgLQUabbxP4wq6IW0qCCRO5WCGde501C5a0uX7Tnu_S1TpJRnrnNo6XJ3PLfIUcWMgudQWM0NbBaOeY6Y57BEVAPt8B5IEpHrPiYgk/s1600/230.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeT41olknN5uPYW3zuxWi-J3ILo0_Ytvi43uwOvIgLQUabbxP4wq6IW0qCCRO5WCGde501C5a0uX7Tnu_S1TpJRnrnNo6XJ3PLfIUcWMgudQWM0NbBaOeY6Y57BEVAPt8B5IEpHrPiYgk/s400/230.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5637626305072794898" border="0" /></a>My study - floor looks really nice in real- life - not a great pic. It is quite textured giving a rustic effect. Cannot wait to give the place a proper clean!<br /><br />Till next week. Cheers!rodneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06251117406916755373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2163206415345146623.post-5201576077781661202011-08-02T19:29:00.002+10:002011-08-02T19:34:09.552+10:00Quick picNo not the lotto - I was on the way back from Wagga Wagga today and popped in at the house - the driveway has been started and the alarm is in - it is a free inclusion on the golf estate. The decking on the patio Alfresco was also done so I took a quick pic with my trusty old Nokia phone so apologies for the quality! Cheers.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQWrmciiZz6Uh3FqUWmWyTESj2bxKDbCsJSiNlQUx2g84EOEVDlwnKEQleMDMB4kyia31thyphenhyphen1D4Cl3RfrqTPtDJV2O0aqd-TvJ0_QRJcMvxrFNmLE6W37BM3qQoW5DYECQIHscQfwZA7k/s1600/225.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQWrmciiZz6Uh3FqUWmWyTESj2bxKDbCsJSiNlQUx2g84EOEVDlwnKEQleMDMB4kyia31thyphenhyphen1D4Cl3RfrqTPtDJV2O0aqd-TvJ0_QRJcMvxrFNmLE6W37BM3qQoW5DYECQIHscQfwZA7k/s400/225.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5636188838002717730" border="0" /></a>rodneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06251117406916755373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2163206415345146623.post-39134834024764104062011-07-31T17:56:00.013+10:002011-07-31T23:27:45.925+10:00Sydney big day outWell we have a final date now - the handover of our house will be on the 18<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">th</span> August. One of the faults was the sliding door lock which they replaced and hence my key doesn't work so no update pics this week. Only the retaining wall has gone in and our <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">internet</span> connection 100<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">MBps</span> is live :-). We opted for the 60Gig monthly cap.<br /><br />We took a day off the house and went into the city for a day out:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMLvO61QsTsV9WIrTOuDYv7BMyJxYqDxxUn4czLZ2z5WLc8VmESFp859x7YUhl3ijJGjNHziCt8tTV2vhyYzDuIQGRvqj9WGoRsoTE1u4xUJCtFNOKM4p7JyqT4tvQ1k0dgZWOKT2ckRc/s1600/DSCF7551.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMLvO61QsTsV9WIrTOuDYv7BMyJxYqDxxUn4czLZ2z5WLc8VmESFp859x7YUhl3ijJGjNHziCt8tTV2vhyYzDuIQGRvqj9WGoRsoTE1u4xUJCtFNOKM4p7JyqT4tvQ1k0dgZWOKT2ckRc/s400/DSCF7551.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5635427885778791074" border="0" /></a>There is a ferry terminal called Circular Quay - it is like a little bay / harbour between the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. It is to the left of this little park called Herald Park if memory serves. Nice water feature though no park as such.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibc3WK6-PHzwzBn9PhrQF_aQnsYob9OPWPrZgK7Sp_NiWwEh5IKmlU4U6K54RaCKV08XP7DrPHYUkvEYxLlZM-18mhmF8O9KuqLuSiWH_5aNRwDY70p2bsrX6Q36W3azx07YfRz947jmQ/s1600/DSCF7563.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibc3WK6-PHzwzBn9PhrQF_aQnsYob9OPWPrZgK7Sp_NiWwEh5IKmlU4U6K54RaCKV08XP7DrPHYUkvEYxLlZM-18mhmF8O9KuqLuSiWH_5aNRwDY70p2bsrX6Q36W3azx07YfRz947jmQ/s400/DSCF7563.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5635427772386418658" border="0" /></a>We had some lunch at a restaurant we've eaten at a couple of times before called Rossini, which is on Circular Quay. I took this shot from inside the restaurant looking out. Good food and well priced.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6PwQxcwaCH3RUfNS0S0tEnQmJjaVPrp9-Lo7fHotK1z4WCMnVvjVoqi6ApNOGs_mA5DQVJXSDHw6avhA0FiyxYyKBVG-l91TSn2zIIkiTh-84Y-5PEngt6k3KxY18edx-kwwuDyqYJ1A/s1600/DSCF7564.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6PwQxcwaCH3RUfNS0S0tEnQmJjaVPrp9-Lo7fHotK1z4WCMnVvjVoqi6ApNOGs_mA5DQVJXSDHw6avhA0FiyxYyKBVG-l91TSn2zIIkiTh-84Y-5PEngt6k3KxY18edx-kwwuDyqYJ1A/s400/DSCF7564.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5635427701056011234" border="0" /></a>Waiting for lunch... The little fingers on the right reaching for another rice cake. Ours was a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">bit </span>more flavourful!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgERopaO2zcRfcjHJLdqXLkxA4p52ecMCLe4xt5zVieNB_TUZuQFZO7cbiXVHI3x1EbaKcrjdn_Vdy9S4fXmt8oTzAGMo-kF0ewsbniiL8fpjKNKR6_aVPy21Tw_r5hEjhPvGIem_N8M0g/s1600/DSCF7554.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgERopaO2zcRfcjHJLdqXLkxA4p52ecMCLe4xt5zVieNB_TUZuQFZO7cbiXVHI3x1EbaKcrjdn_Vdy9S4fXmt8oTzAGMo-kF0ewsbniiL8fpjKNKR6_aVPy21Tw_r5hEjhPvGIem_N8M0g/s400/DSCF7554.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5635427533667254162" border="0" /></a>There was a coffee festival going on - called The Rocks Aroma Festival (the area under the Sydney <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Harbour Bridge</span> is called The Rocks) and featured all sorts of spiced coffee. As a non-coffee drinker I never tasted any and managed to keep the others moving along. Apologies for those who would have liked a report. That is the Sydney Youth Orchestra on the stage.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLw_MG0H38CGuQFyy3xqb0Ve04NWEJIKhtxwcwn-DvpdJDHP3GP-HcZye62bJmCKrNr_2AKGWKuZeMiHipPxrciZj_Cs0RMGAar0NxCHhG8tW-M0X6gq1xPtgR2qnzS6ImR5cuOEGtZu4/s1600/DSCF7557.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLw_MG0H38CGuQFyy3xqb0Ve04NWEJIKhtxwcwn-DvpdJDHP3GP-HcZye62bJmCKrNr_2AKGWKuZeMiHipPxrciZj_Cs0RMGAar0NxCHhG8tW-M0X6gq1xPtgR2qnzS6ImR5cuOEGtZu4/s400/DSCF7557.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5635427435401973794" border="0" /></a>A small part of the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">large</span> crowd. You can see the public recycling bins on the left - all garbage is separated here in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Aus</span> and people by and large do the right thing.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyhl1aTE6NbR_Szo4EDqT5hAQSdyxFuS6SVhGYCKavBznc8RVCgs3KnbQh1V-n66aCU1-6VrP4BiYadra4cgYoGcQzMilclc0V8-qumhiFP0Tzg9sHDKLDCrw38N0kcyNutnP7dbbCAy4/s1600/DSCF7558.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyhl1aTE6NbR_Szo4EDqT5hAQSdyxFuS6SVhGYCKavBznc8RVCgs3KnbQh1V-n66aCU1-6VrP4BiYadra4cgYoGcQzMilclc0V8-qumhiFP0Tzg9sHDKLDCrw38N0kcyNutnP7dbbCAy4/s400/DSCF7558.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5635427322511934082" border="0" /></a>Not a great pic, but just showing the bridge on <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">the</span> left and the Opera House on the right.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjto-AQOn4rAvn8kO9NFhyV9hZ1pTY2-wZCREUur1czUEgnBxPLFRWyPwIxNZRoqto8tb9Qe32D84dT-4hCI-_lMWrtlsXDZpY0RUdNr1WaUhIy7fy7iHCC1pTVbYQACrvCeNt4gKHfbUA/s1600/DSCF7549.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjto-AQOn4rAvn8kO9NFhyV9hZ1pTY2-wZCREUur1czUEgnBxPLFRWyPwIxNZRoqto8tb9Qe32D84dT-4hCI-_lMWrtlsXDZpY0RUdNr1WaUhIy7fy7iHCC1pTVbYQACrvCeNt4gKHfbUA/s400/DSCF7549.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5635427186860887746" border="0" /></a>This is <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">the</span> iconic Sydney Tower. I feel like a tree hugger, but they have mounted an ugly, <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">garish red</span> sign on top. It reads <span style="font-style: italic;" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Westfields</span> -which is the name of a large retail group of shopping centres here who have recently built a shopping centre under the tower. It is money gone nuts - I don't know how they could mar a landmark with that ugly sign! It really is jarring. If I had the time I would start a petition or <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">Facebook</span> site to have it taken down. It seems money can buy anything.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh80p1kdQP1byiof9su1NlkRnTkDP_yrCle8SrzkxsnKZfWe5QXMHhi8Juk1EW0JDV1U2NXwxjjdR5EqmndyH6j-CeOTBnRNhxfOs86GQbRQn9okkI3t2aYg1c8Sk4I9OLsXg4hnbIhRuw/s1600/DSCF7566.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh80p1kdQP1byiof9su1NlkRnTkDP_yrCle8SrzkxsnKZfWe5QXMHhi8Juk1EW0JDV1U2NXwxjjdR5EqmndyH6j-CeOTBnRNhxfOs86GQbRQn9okkI3t2aYg1c8Sk4I9OLsXg4hnbIhRuw/s400/DSCF7566.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5635427080076102642" border="0" /></a>Just a shot I took <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">from the</span> train s<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">tation</span> at Circular Quay of 2 buildings I thought were quite striking.The domed one has glass all the way to the top. I really think Sydney has one of the world's prettiest skylines.<br /><br />Cheers till next week!rodneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06251117406916755373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2163206415345146623.post-5104835932080108912011-07-24T18:15:00.007+10:002011-08-06T22:38:25.107+10:00Painting weekendThe past week has been unreal <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">weather wise</span>! We have had the wettest July in Sydney for 61 years so the plot is a <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">mud bath</span>! I <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">should've</span> taken photos, but didn't think of it at the time. When we move in, on the advice of G our landscaper friend we will work about a ton of river sand into the garden which is mostly clay as well as a chemical that breaks up the clay before we churn in the compost. We spent the weekend cleaning up a bit and painting the 2 studies. I vacuumed all the bedrooms and the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">one </span>study where carpets will be laid down as I suspect that most times, the carpet guys give the room a perfunctory sweep and then throw the underlay and carpets down.<br /><br />Carmen's study turned out really well - I am not sure if you can see on the photos, but it is in a textured paint called Suede and the colour is Sage green. Apart from the house, the other finishes like the fence and blinds etc. look like they are going to end up being around 35k so we had to make a call and decided that sadly the plantation shutters would have to wait. This room will now have white blinds for the time being and we'll save up for the shutters. :-( My study is more controversial - it is really dark - with the high window as you will see below it is what I was aiming for - I have heavy dark furniture and will have dark bookcases - I like the old look so as I have told those over here who have raised their eyebrows, give it until the paintings and furniture are in before final judgement. However, though I would like other people to like our house in general, my study is the one place where it doesn't matter what people ultimately think - it is the one piece that is entirely mine (and partially the bank's for now) on the planet - if I felt like putting in a purple polka dot ceiling, I would! Anyway. The rain prevented the fence or driveway from being put in, but the tiling is done. More shots when it is cleaned up next week.<br />Have a great week!<br /><br />PS: Please don't mention the rugby...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbkJgUzC_B-Q1-RFKlSLYZf1QW1gJEW3Mkz0hGWRgsgD9F4_ZRqQTpzs_xDhx1XoRs9CQhZ9O4P0ajwxE0h7ZPKGCtKk4oKSWhUkZi5CeqyYU3rCYk58NwswVXnZujNebUjUHUUXIwVZ0/s1600/218.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbkJgUzC_B-Q1-RFKlSLYZf1QW1gJEW3Mkz0hGWRgsgD9F4_ZRqQTpzs_xDhx1XoRs9CQhZ9O4P0ajwxE0h7ZPKGCtKk4oKSWhUkZi5CeqyYU3rCYk58NwswVXnZujNebUjUHUUXIwVZ0/s400/218.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5632830320887695394" border="0" /></a>Carmen's study. Although too '<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">girly</span>' for me, I think it will look really nice when the carpet and her furniture is in.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsWR_nBgktmvGmW8bA2pNhjAskE-s06zGKYN1lQvipeaW3_G7lNUy5d7TS6YLCr_KZ3-nzK2RBWpmVYrHG9LNW7PotcZbG0jdAnJYGt-j7AqEDzcx46tO-YgRdsSzP-EPk2aDyDIVa3G0/s1600/220.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsWR_nBgktmvGmW8bA2pNhjAskE-s06zGKYN1lQvipeaW3_G7lNUy5d7TS6YLCr_KZ3-nzK2RBWpmVYrHG9LNW7PotcZbG0jdAnJYGt-j7AqEDzcx46tO-YgRdsSzP-EPk2aDyDIVa3G0/s400/220.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5632830246548678274" border="0" /></a>Nice view of the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">portaloo</span> from the study. On that subject, we have to pay $350 per quarter just for the privilege of having recycled water for the garden on top of our water bill! Time to vote the green nuts out of parliament. Can't wait till we can vote!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLekvylvd471oJtqi3sQdJGy4bOTNWjmRbaHrOal5OAJKAQMHYdUynYkqaokvzj8H0KEoBwpdfX-ruiFY3GEGh-w5WA8w1W1AfOd9P7lCNjIMwRKPWEmVeFOH0yb6dKDCy5LHxqtGlPLw/s1600/219.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLekvylvd471oJtqi3sQdJGy4bOTNWjmRbaHrOal5OAJKAQMHYdUynYkqaokvzj8H0KEoBwpdfX-ruiFY3GEGh-w5WA8w1W1AfOd9P7lCNjIMwRKPWEmVeFOH0yb6dKDCy5LHxqtGlPLw/s400/219.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5632830180921670994" border="0" /></a>The entrance to the study - it was a lot of work. Photos of painted walls are not exciting, but it was so labour intensive, I am taking a moment to just appreciate our handiwork :-)<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtRtzMbKzgDnWXPiSxDpakgOVK8xDSGpcMarIEAus3lwtD7zGmFVzdjdprSMKIiMl4qYbpofpLTJXP4ye1PX_NQQQEdfM8uN-3t2xFCwWb3Ji5jCg6bTw0i8b1LRQUSH6S9jNDV4lkfFc/s1600/224.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtRtzMbKzgDnWXPiSxDpakgOVK8xDSGpcMarIEAus3lwtD7zGmFVzdjdprSMKIiMl4qYbpofpLTJXP4ye1PX_NQQQEdfM8uN-3t2xFCwWb3Ji5jCg6bTw0i8b1LRQUSH6S9jNDV4lkfFc/s400/224.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5632830009454496082" border="0" /></a>My study - awaiting the dark wood (actually bamboo cos it's harder) floors and furniture. I have to confess Carmen was a little bit cheesed with me - she painstakingly took over half an hour to put the special masking tape on the skirting boards in preparation for the painting and I even popped in to check she was doing it carefully enough, which didn't impress her. After she had finally finished and her butt was almost asleep from scooting along the hard floor, I remembered that I was painting the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">skirtings</span> the same colour.... I was not popular. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Ooops</span>!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipvdx9dqW_c0Dbt2hkw5PyiAM7PphKPatqDPy2VNZcG5JAmwMzo856IXADNXWXatNVdkW7kuyRHYD57IwsBa8SMAewK3L-jKeYHOBgj8FY6qVM4dSUTG5Nn2TcqXVaoYIOF87o6kCFi7k/s1600/222.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipvdx9dqW_c0Dbt2hkw5PyiAM7PphKPatqDPy2VNZcG5JAmwMzo856IXADNXWXatNVdkW7kuyRHYD57IwsBa8SMAewK3L-jKeYHOBgj8FY6qVM4dSUTG5Nn2TcqXVaoYIOF87o6kCFi7k/s400/222.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5632829945350259650" border="0" /></a>Somebody mailed me and asked for a shot of the top - here it is - <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">en suite</span> basins.rodneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06251117406916755373noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2163206415345146623.post-44841282496171000442011-07-17T17:21:00.014+10:002011-07-17T18:03:38.365+10:00Wet areas almost doneSo we arrived back from SA and the house has progressed a little. Bathrooms are tiled, though the mosaic inlay in the main bathroom was left out, so they will have to rip out the tiles and put that in. The power is now connected and lights are in but the 8 dimmer switches are not in (I don't like harsh lighting) so those will also have to be replaced. Excuse the place - everything is still covered in grouting dust and the main tiled areas have yet to be done though the tiles are on site. Still, we're getting closer..... it looks like they will be throwing the driveway slab this week and the fence will be done as they commenced work on that as well. Back to work tomorrow :-(.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaxaNdnqd-IQwayZ1m9kv6qxA4K7nm732jBz9Kji7qfqWMlyiLxmUePJKMwJG1C5BgSf56v66vvxBNXCRuV_zrBI-cgFscATybFPpJUyFHfVCqNAO1yxCQ8Xl5tL-_lepQT3drwYPGyLs/s1600/210.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 300px; height: 400px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5630221809494372162" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaxaNdnqd-IQwayZ1m9kv6qxA4K7nm732jBz9Kji7qfqWMlyiLxmUePJKMwJG1C5BgSf56v66vvxBNXCRuV_zrBI-cgFscATybFPpJUyFHfVCqNAO1yxCQ8Xl5tL-_lepQT3drwYPGyLs/s400/210.JPG" /></a>Looking down the hallway towards the front door (tiling not done yet). The red dot on the ceiling is the temporary cover for the smoke alarm. You can clearly see in this shot the 2 dark spots - the skylights will be installed directly above these to eliminate them.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzFIPqWJTecZcssHh4F7lZwv6vVPK9qGpfnNdhQXjZ46P-lvL04SSEV602vEhpI-0n5YnQs1KesNWubvnkPb3sOsIzgkWwWw5SoIkP2_kAc78s32Kr2ofWAglLMydPjHROSjaPpkvnnoo/s1600/203.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 300px; height: 400px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5630221300629478914" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzFIPqWJTecZcssHh4F7lZwv6vVPK9qGpfnNdhQXjZ46P-lvL04SSEV602vEhpI-0n5YnQs1KesNWubvnkPb3sOsIzgkWwWw5SoIkP2_kAc78s32Kr2ofWAglLMydPjHROSjaPpkvnnoo/s400/203.JPG" /></a>The en suite shower. Not big, but 3 heads - 1 for Carmen and 1 for me - we never shower together as we fight about the water too much so this should address that! The middle one with the hose is mainly to make cleaning the shower easier.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb56kYTrX3do6shz8cAvs4GbsX97cVGzX37y2xvdnzJVwcgaAjQcWIiFStYhrwaOmHyFvejiF7zy-OSUbb4DtF05dmM6f4yWdKfOLiE1tJLNHLvh0lLtFcL6C9etJ8LZkHS9P_ojoLGho/s1600/204.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; height: 300px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5630221131592431314" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb56kYTrX3do6shz8cAvs4GbsX97cVGzX37y2xvdnzJVwcgaAjQcWIiFStYhrwaOmHyFvejiF7zy-OSUbb4DtF05dmM6f4yWdKfOLiE1tJLNHLvh0lLtFcL6C9etJ8LZkHS9P_ojoLGho/s400/204.JPG" /></a>The double basin in en suite - another place of grumpy morning battles. The handles are still inside the draws to protect them for now. The cabinet doors and draws are soft-close - for if we have little ones later on.<br /><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx-5XzlgVtcX1JMskkw-FxBGJQDux3Z_Xx6tzswY0xnpdadxTXwZDuJTmN2_G8lTmrILRbFza7zVnibvpbjvJcKkIL6ptaV9FdfBczjlvDIjKn5cL_FaRjCHtfHxzb9AtgsI7Ny1sn6e8/s1600/205.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 300px; height: 400px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5630221045015149986" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx-5XzlgVtcX1JMskkw-FxBGJQDux3Z_Xx6tzswY0xnpdadxTXwZDuJTmN2_G8lTmrILRbFza7zVnibvpbjvJcKkIL6ptaV9FdfBczjlvDIjKn5cL_FaRjCHtfHxzb9AtgsI7Ny1sn6e8/s400/205.JPG" /></a>Hmmm - this blog is going downhill. Back to wall WC's so no dust behind - one of life's little irritants gone. The supplier threw in soft close lids as well - apparently toddlers love to slam WC lids so nice to have in case!<br /><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeJF-QxVb7nN7blvRTypCVolFceH9X54auw1kDpJNHT9VwDEBiQYIBQy3htu7RHJ7xKrcm0MHFEXO1Z1R9sf-HqPybLUYDGL8Up9M6LkJExhsuIdOCenqcsWmirWEIl36D0tlU72akOGI/s1600/211.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 300px; height: 400px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5630220949978189154" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeJF-QxVb7nN7blvRTypCVolFceH9X54auw1kDpJNHT9VwDEBiQYIBQy3htu7RHJ7xKrcm0MHFEXO1Z1R9sf-HqPybLUYDGL8Up9M6LkJExhsuIdOCenqcsWmirWEIl36D0tlU72akOGI/s400/211.JPG" /></a>The guest WC off the main bathroom. Some people questioned why we put in a separate basin and WC from the main bathroom, but if we one day have kids or overnight guests and somebody is in the bath or shower, the WC is still available for use.<br /><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6EYK2nCm1qhWp-2nf2PmhG3QpnfbSd-dpa2Zj18UoT7_Th721q13LG8qzkw27Qx5kOFQsn095shMMkfvOwXW5v3lyRoDj4cQwlBnUUD5RvdsobL3wJBG1oTm2XRlElDrLqypq9t4pE1A/s1600/213.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 300px; height: 400px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5630220839110746370" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6EYK2nCm1qhWp-2nf2PmhG3QpnfbSd-dpa2Zj18UoT7_Th721q13LG8qzkw27Qx5kOFQsn095shMMkfvOwXW5v3lyRoDj4cQwlBnUUD5RvdsobL3wJBG1oTm2XRlElDrLqypq9t4pE1A/s400/213.JPG" /></a>The bath - which we will never use but is essential for kids I guess. The waterfall spout was Carmen's request.<br /><div align="center"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBGo75NK7jIFOgCpv_tBBZhH20IjuxBz0mRgTLkUUhcC17fL6J4BXqi5PYDCOaQhyphenhyphen6jG8kBQ6K8zLPKU3eM_nBm8L5v_yUJ-UXOOImt9Zf4_JJza4kdHc2pyzHwOWWW4egwkr6Or3dGE0/s1600/214.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; height: 300px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5630220785546881266" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBGo75NK7jIFOgCpv_tBBZhH20IjuxBz0mRgTLkUUhcC17fL6J4BXqi5PYDCOaQhyphenhyphen6jG8kBQ6K8zLPKU3eM_nBm8L5v_yUJ-UXOOImt9Zf4_JJza4kdHc2pyzHwOWWW4egwkr6Or3dGE0/s400/214.JPG" /></a>Window's a little too big for my liking....<br /><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5TF4-5WFfGI2jm6Yx7ahPtTNQi0HZMXb8c1a4vPi_Y6dMJX1JZafXKJx786th1dH949vmb7V9SsXW-w3RhaF6ObWpNliT2DiniVWY33bMidQv4dHWBUDg8uli5Kx7yTf1YEKzbS2cdwo/s1600/216.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; height: 300px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5630220587915846994" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5TF4-5WFfGI2jm6Yx7ahPtTNQi0HZMXb8c1a4vPi_Y6dMJX1JZafXKJx786th1dH949vmb7V9SsXW-w3RhaF6ObWpNliT2DiniVWY33bMidQv4dHWBUDg8uli5Kx7yTf1YEKzbS2cdwo/s400/216.JPG" /></a>Laundry. Yes it is small - I wanted basically a Laundry walk in closet size area, but architect convinced me for resale had to have one. I grudgingly gave space. Taps are normal not Grohe like the rest of the house. Probably most unloved space in the house.<br /><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjauIYljm4Jh6lFVH1cm-UpxdTt_HTalN2bx_kc23ofuJpmvTG-7JNwHQGAohA8d7HI7VRH0yKAVG0XjS2mFkZ8A52ORQEeUXxaK0b8xmj_LNoMDYUvKhQI2XF0ps7Cqe2bjvS6X2zH83c/s1600/217.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 300px; height: 400px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5630220520671450434" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjauIYljm4Jh6lFVH1cm-UpxdTt_HTalN2bx_kc23ofuJpmvTG-7JNwHQGAohA8d7HI7VRH0yKAVG0XjS2mFkZ8A52ORQEeUXxaK0b8xmj_LNoMDYUvKhQI2XF0ps7Cqe2bjvS6X2zH83c/s400/217.JPG" /></a>Shot from other side of laundry. The bowl is over sized to allow for scrubbing of braai (barbecue) grids and pots so kitchen sink does not get messed up. Broom cupboard size designed to take vacuum cleaner and ironing boards so no clutter. One of my cheapest purchases but most rewarding were the wall bracket mounts that will be mounted inside the cupboard from IKEA to hold the irons and the vacuum cleaner hoses and pipes to avoid clutter in there as well. We have draw organisers for all our draws in kitchen, bathrooms and bedrooms and draw and cupboard shelf liners as well to try and keep things tidy.</div></div></div></div></div></div>rodneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06251117406916755373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2163206415345146623.post-34013270881085778232011-07-13T03:03:00.008+10:002011-07-13T03:47:50.739+10:00Grotto Bay<div><div><div align="justify">I don't know if it ever happens to you that you occasionally wonder about what your life would have been like if it had taken a different path. Today we took a drive out to one of my favourite places in the world, Grotto Bay, outside Cape Town. It is an estate on a nature reserve right on the coast. There is a brand new house (photo below) that is not quite finished and that has been for sale for a while and it always reminds me of the pictures you see in books of Cape Cod in the US. If Carmen and I had stayed in SA it is what we would have bought. This house has a fireplace and nestles in the wild unspoilt fynbos of the West Coast, with nothing but beach sand between you and the sea about 75 metres below on a pristine white beach. And then my aunt who lives there told us of a spate of of break-ins that had been occurring in the reserve - mercifully unknown up until relatively recently. Once she started outlining the upgrading of the security arrangements that had become necessary in the wake of these incidents, I remembered again that we <em>had</em> considered purchasing houses similar to this one prior to our move to Aus, but realized the futility of trying to outrun the blight that the scourge of criminality has brought upon this land. It makes no difference anymore if I am angry or sad at it all... it's just the way it is... and in a few days I go home to Aus...</div><div align="justify"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4FcrrUf4dk7SUyy8G7izrC6sbWUHhZDYwzXPeTxYCavxCLZngATx3TnLEAtkejmSUh5vwnbNc5-IFYe4gMwTEiWzvaN0aMc3OHqqFA0QwDNaZvdFjbEAadsJ0zJNHel5v3BhxIzjZEy4/s1600/DSCF7472.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; height: 300px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5628513495108460754" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4FcrrUf4dk7SUyy8G7izrC6sbWUHhZDYwzXPeTxYCavxCLZngATx3TnLEAtkejmSUh5vwnbNc5-IFYe4gMwTEiWzvaN0aMc3OHqqFA0QwDNaZvdFjbEAadsJ0zJNHel5v3BhxIzjZEy4/s400/DSCF7472.JPG" /></a></div><div align="center"> If you click on the image to enlarge it, you can get a sense of how special this place is. </div></div></div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeh1VJ-ZRPiUjsaRtkrdy2HhHViJfnvbqhnmsG8pITt5c2lYaBrfoNRmYSJ_G1glZuzy4JbvPPfcJ05qbT_hy8JxVreH-cVaHkG13jwlmdlY58R4OCTQ8GseOrdkiXUSvj3BMjvOOMNTk/s1600/DSCF7477.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; height: 300px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5628523715146457410" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeh1VJ-ZRPiUjsaRtkrdy2HhHViJfnvbqhnmsG8pITt5c2lYaBrfoNRmYSJ_G1glZuzy4JbvPPfcJ05qbT_hy8JxVreH-cVaHkG13jwlmdlY58R4OCTQ8GseOrdkiXUSvj3BMjvOOMNTk/s400/DSCF7477.JPG" /></a>rodneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06251117406916755373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2163206415345146623.post-1732528276075902642011-07-05T06:21:00.005+10:002011-07-05T06:45:27.589+10:0005-07-2011<div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkNDNVVSm_LuuZIxgEX4VP3E4YMA5U5Z_RlGqfBn1IQ4T5E7RV0YyBmcpdVb1BloiKpDiYawarf8g8NwRO9R8zfhyuFqTgoSz3D4ZPugXOFQnPwIeUdjtQP9asFODm9W0GSA9QA1QW3ws/s1600/21.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 300px; height: 400px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5623991548607614226" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkNDNVVSm_LuuZIxgEX4VP3E4YMA5U5Z_RlGqfBn1IQ4T5E7RV0YyBmcpdVb1BloiKpDiYawarf8g8NwRO9R8zfhyuFqTgoSz3D4ZPugXOFQnPwIeUdjtQP9asFODm9W0GSA9QA1QW3ws/s400/21.jpg" /></a>It’s been 3 years. Just 36 months. The time it takes to do a degree. The length of the warranty on a car. The length of time to perhaps pay off a lounge suite.<br />How far have I travelled in 36 months? 150 000km by road and 50 000 by air?<br />How many meals have I eaten? 3285?<br />How many sunsets have I looked at? Not seen. Looked at. Maybe 3?<br />How many sunrises over the water have I enjoyed? Maybe 2?<br />How many harsh words have I spoken and written?<br />How many kind?<br /><br />How has it mattered that I lived while you died?<br />Did I think that because it was you in the accident and not me Kirst, that it somehow matters? That I survived and not you? How has it mattered? That I escaped Fate’s cruel blow and you didn’t? When Plato spoke through Socrates about those that avoid death at all costs, he said: <span style="font-style: italic;">they think it will be a dreadful thing to lose their lives; as though they would be immortal if you did not put them to death (at that time)</span><br /><br />Truth be told, I have not being worthy of this gift. I have wasted and squandered minutes and hours and days. Were you here you would have chastised me to suck in the very air I breathe, greedily and with vigour, knowing that every breath is a second chance.<br />And so I ask 2 things now: forgiveness from you and then the God who every moment of every day gives me life and holds me in being. That I may recall your memory and His presence which call me to account, especially in the midst of my distracted forgetfulness. As Boethius put it: <span style="font-style: italic;">we earthly creatures dream of our origin, however faint the vision.</span><br />And secondly that you pray for us that we may always head towards that true Good, the source of our life and its journey’s end. Rest in peace, dearest Kirstin. You are so very deeply missed. Until we meet again.</div></div>rodneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06251117406916755373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2163206415345146623.post-47683723290914944572011-07-02T15:27:00.004+10:002011-07-02T15:38:23.871+10:00What's behind the grey door?We went to the house today to take shots of the tiled areas, but the door was locked and the cylinder missing so I could not use my key :-(. Well the front door and the luandry side door was painted so that's about as exciting as it gets this week. Should be somethings to see on our return. I am taking my camera with to SA and will see if I have a gap to blog here and there.<br /><br />PS: those mysterious white blocks in my lounge last week are what they use to 'brick' the bathtub in, instead of using normal bricks. Still weird.<br /><br />Cheers for now!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzHC5ho4GWTGN4Jc1QKe2tNYTjN6qeEUZ7A9XWAnWpzg6lhHcud5i7yzwMtzK8V4bIrBEDZbsgntmzb9rY_g7c39iwda6BD53lBXFk9BykHqBQhy2W_nh6ow-Ykcf321tHAeCRdJ-53fQ/s1600/DSCF7435.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzHC5ho4GWTGN4Jc1QKe2tNYTjN6qeEUZ7A9XWAnWpzg6lhHcud5i7yzwMtzK8V4bIrBEDZbsgntmzb9rY_g7c39iwda6BD53lBXFk9BykHqBQhy2W_nh6ow-Ykcf321tHAeCRdJ-53fQ/s400/DSCF7435.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5624622902978328482" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRF19P5hCpgIax1yn1pQStoJZRoN-7l4-A__8wCHOTcnUKt8-whlvwnhjjJDvJ0qRAu1FlZtC5riQOPqZadGi7oS6LgGvIfDvP040X8i4_swA6f-h5gYB1zsFcHCYAOgfR_ACxviCJHcw/s1600/DSCF7437.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRF19P5hCpgIax1yn1pQStoJZRoN-7l4-A__8wCHOTcnUKt8-whlvwnhjjJDvJ0qRAu1FlZtC5riQOPqZadGi7oS6LgGvIfDvP040X8i4_swA6f-h5gYB1zsFcHCYAOgfR_ACxviCJHcw/s400/DSCF7437.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5624622685533187170" border="0" /></a>rodneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06251117406916755373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2163206415345146623.post-50125815286981237952011-06-28T17:55:00.010+10:002011-06-28T18:33:49.857+10:00Counters on<div style="text-align: justify;">I had to travel near the house today for work so on the way back home popped in to check if anything has happened. Well, the tiles are there at last! The counters are in and they look nice in real life. Apologies for the quality of the photos - I didn't plan to go past the house so didn't have my camera - I took these with my iPhone and the light was fading fast. So the counters are good. BUT. I saw that they had screeded the bathroom shower floors and this is one of my bugbears. I don't care if I have to stand on a ski slope or I am old one day and slip and break my hip. I absolutely hate flat shower floors. I don't just dislike them, I hate them with a passion - you know the ones where the water slowly meanders down towards the drain? I specifically told the builder that I don't care if my ankles and feet are at 60 degrees to the horizontal, please slope the shower floors. He promised he would get the tiler to call me before he screeded which of course he didn't. I shall be making a call tomorrow. We can send men to the moon and build Bugatti Veyrons, can't we build shower floors that drain properly??? !!!<br /></div><br />PS: there is a pile of stone blocks in my lounge (see below) that I cannot, for the life of me, work out what they could be for? Any ideas?<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisBuDQGWsn2U9iPpfSu-EjK91DG1gox3D1BI50as9U4h8cAMwrQz1Sq4boQxmNXXvGijSTRJco1yn_yPuPY4n07nG4BuF-zvSr42AiF1hUDrfYrUkdZWiVOYgiopfMKlarp4aD-n0jUgg/s1600/2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisBuDQGWsn2U9iPpfSu-EjK91DG1gox3D1BI50as9U4h8cAMwrQz1Sq4boQxmNXXvGijSTRJco1yn_yPuPY4n07nG4BuF-zvSr42AiF1hUDrfYrUkdZWiVOYgiopfMKlarp4aD-n0jUgg/s400/2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5623183130847359714" border="0" /></a>The hob will go in there.<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih1ZnW9sPDEGdytHXT8BNNt3gzbTc5Ob91NHtWqXESR_OJ_tjTcaQC97HCN5qr6CEI-VfZ-RVK4XXmKSjIg6FXxfv0ZiKekPaDaaN_kSHKmGrArbq9LzT3xcfS5MQKYAkR9BxQNNOlnP8/s1600/3.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih1ZnW9sPDEGdytHXT8BNNt3gzbTc5Ob91NHtWqXESR_OJ_tjTcaQC97HCN5qr6CEI-VfZ-RVK4XXmKSjIg6FXxfv0ZiKekPaDaaN_kSHKmGrArbq9LzT3xcfS5MQKYAkR9BxQNNOlnP8/s400/3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5623183067627563778" border="0" /></a>The sink.<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDpX93Z1LvGbi3i-EHio42QETji5oRI-CiKqGQdpZDCVHEYy6yK3GIsljCP7KJTvgDbTeN4pBL-p8-VqJgXJu-M3twALHVrZyzqzostbkwDTaXmvd1SzxiBZtEdWjVmC9jB1cCwDDWMa4/s1600/4.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDpX93Z1LvGbi3i-EHio42QETji5oRI-CiKqGQdpZDCVHEYy6yK3GIsljCP7KJTvgDbTeN4pBL-p8-VqJgXJu-M3twALHVrZyzqzostbkwDTaXmvd1SzxiBZtEdWjVmC9jB1cCwDDWMa4/s400/4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5623182916558527106" border="0" /></a>The sink window - not so much a window as a feature like a painting. Will have water running down on the outside with a flowering creeper for colour.<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKrxUB9yYjKtkTXRRq-B8ztK9ASMyDWwYlZ18fnkGGf73fsI4trZtIGDWR12m3-68TgbyDW9c6r0fz9DFUEf_YfhyjMaLJHOittgGJXNJ460AtXfsLOzegLk5PAARzuDvDt-run5Jtxwg/s1600/5.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKrxUB9yYjKtkTXRRq-B8ztK9ASMyDWwYlZ18fnkGGf73fsI4trZtIGDWR12m3-68TgbyDW9c6r0fz9DFUEf_YfhyjMaLJHOittgGJXNJ460AtXfsLOzegLk5PAARzuDvDt-run5Jtxwg/s400/5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5623182854083354066" border="0" /></a>The island is the most expensive traveller I know - I'm not kidding. To move it 200mm to the right cost us $280!<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOCW1lY-Co6O0Suk7ONw7FsRMgXjYVhkJHJ3VydK_NBdpge270RrK9usJIPl63_ObYf1HIScjOA4s-tWnU328X3qpeygrrMy62NRBQr29KnhWDILHbQuBeSuUjn4ncs2TK8Tp539_S_Aw/s1600/6.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOCW1lY-Co6O0Suk7ONw7FsRMgXjYVhkJHJ3VydK_NBdpge270RrK9usJIPl63_ObYf1HIScjOA4s-tWnU328X3qpeygrrMy62NRBQr29KnhWDILHbQuBeSuUjn4ncs2TK8Tp539_S_Aw/s400/6.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5623182651510669410" border="0" /></a>View across the Dining room which will overlook the blue ponds.<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe1IEYIAiEdTAXecS2_lfotOixfnSfyqmY3gR9_Uepz6AX9907c-L6H61KYFbZ_vb10OoI650f78kBXYnxfD9wu7KAzoLG9nNRmCvRQncoxLAY4IPH2blrQ7ZdZe9ZrwEnvn8vfGbAxBA/s1600/7.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe1IEYIAiEdTAXecS2_lfotOixfnSfyqmY3gR9_Uepz6AX9907c-L6H61KYFbZ_vb10OoI650f78kBXYnxfD9wu7KAzoLG9nNRmCvRQncoxLAY4IPH2blrQ7ZdZe9ZrwEnvn8vfGbAxBA/s400/7.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5623182593279269554" border="0" /></a>What <span style="font-style: italic;">are</span> these? Made out of a light stone? Not as heavy as our counter tops though- weird?<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAfgjsEQdnRQmkHRHgzu8rwg4xlt6rsZR104z4-ru4JLMzj3UvvrMBNA_5Wh4N_1Fjh3PlMD0g7h5JhkoyBQhIpy5GRtEvTzeP5Vf8e2MvGvxfpSLL9nF2F9Sn95r5m6NlvKX0OCR9Ma4/s1600/8.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAfgjsEQdnRQmkHRHgzu8rwg4xlt6rsZR104z4-ru4JLMzj3UvvrMBNA_5Wh4N_1Fjh3PlMD0g7h5JhkoyBQhIpy5GRtEvTzeP5Vf8e2MvGvxfpSLL9nF2F9Sn95r5m6NlvKX0OCR9Ma4/s400/8.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5623182482397201394" border="0" /></a>One of those blasted shower floors!!! Look how flat it is! Seriously what is wrong with these people? Yes I am quite finished now. Thank you.<br /></div>rodneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06251117406916755373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2163206415345146623.post-77700260780880812632011-06-26T16:31:00.008+10:002011-06-26T17:41:58.248+10:00Painting beginsThe painting began this week as progress moves at an agonisingly slow pace! We are ready to move in now and get on with our lives! <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">C'mon</span> Mr Painter, plumber and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">sparkie</span>! We leave next week for a visit to SA so will try and get some shots next Saturday before we leave and then will be a few weeks before we will post any updates again. Maybe it is a good thing - the tiling will definitely be done by then and the bathrooms in. Anyway, here are some shots. Some of the rooms that you see here are going to be painted another colour before we move in. It was just too complicated and confusing to try and get the painter to do it for us so I told him I would do it myself. Let's leave it at that. Deep breath. Till next week. Cheers!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiySjepEuMm-bGgkaCsJ8waydS7InimsMqpIfvTQf4xxbFDTeNjkwQS1IapP26ZJZM9zYL4bNkuRF4vYl2l7JjVMB2JuHA1PB1ZrWlYwXZySSYZN5WVe3BjkXL51ZsmfTw-xPfR72HWOCI/s1600/1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiySjepEuMm-bGgkaCsJ8waydS7InimsMqpIfvTQf4xxbFDTeNjkwQS1IapP26ZJZM9zYL4bNkuRF4vYl2l7JjVMB2JuHA1PB1ZrWlYwXZySSYZN5WVe3BjkXL51ZsmfTw-xPfR72HWOCI/s400/1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5622421918380089170" border="0" /></a>From the front door down the passage. The house is starting to look almost <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">liveable</span> with some paint on the walls. The front door will be the same colour as the garage door - monument so still has to be painted obviously.<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid9NDKjxU7tP9zJbSfephY0ujtmgkRJlvnMoYdzxxNScF98uWSj3umMrUU1Y0MUyZ_4A28vEgwRRNSLQwUqcF15YaWPFc5au7tLaV1La1dmBZrMmQTGb8js7nBPlDGhBxGG-hxUgjsar8/s1600/2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid9NDKjxU7tP9zJbSfephY0ujtmgkRJlvnMoYdzxxNScF98uWSj3umMrUU1Y0MUyZ_4A28vEgwRRNSLQwUqcF15YaWPFc5au7tLaV1La1dmBZrMmQTGb8js7nBPlDGhBxGG-hxUgjsar8/s400/2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5622421873596131010" border="0" /></a>The garage. At the bottom where you see the unpainted raw cement, I am going to extend the grey epoxy floor <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">coating</span> up to the height of the white skirting as it is more resistant to scuff marks than the normal house paint.<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj24SCc3JU4_iMtrHi4YGYkW-OJFMLC0h4io27-tEsH3xrQRofJNZOBHEV0qg4jZbY1wtcNc7gSK_5YfMjnSFoxMBx9nBg79GJ1b9wlwhFXcHnaeMcCvKWz8-wevCHAbLbgvU6DQk582sc/s1600/3.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj24SCc3JU4_iMtrHi4YGYkW-OJFMLC0h4io27-tEsH3xrQRofJNZOBHEV0qg4jZbY1wtcNc7gSK_5YfMjnSFoxMBx9nBg79GJ1b9wlwhFXcHnaeMcCvKWz8-wevCHAbLbgvU6DQk582sc/s400/3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5622421815733433522" border="0" /></a>Carmen's study - this paint will change completely to Apple Green Suede - a textured light green paint with white plantation shutters and have a glass and steel desk, polished white low filing cabinet below a painting behind her and cream carpets for a modern, light, uncluttered feel. She has a 27 "Mac, with the white and aluminium <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">wireless </span>keyboard and mouse so the aluminium backing of the screen will fit nicely.There will be no wires visible. Period.<br /><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlycbanoySYls1OVeAbBuwmZXrWaL-JKvN3hs7Wz2_XpnRUOW-0aff2bh3hVzGMLWIdlpN_YdqxeU8GhHnqH2PICVFhgi7FpB3a5n6fXjrYRo0Z3Rvhi41oQomlZpr9GYjwrPoD34Mwz4/s1600/4.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlycbanoySYls1OVeAbBuwmZXrWaL-JKvN3hs7Wz2_XpnRUOW-0aff2bh3hVzGMLWIdlpN_YdqxeU8GhHnqH2PICVFhgi7FpB3a5n6fXjrYRo0Z3Rvhi41oQomlZpr9GYjwrPoD34Mwz4/s400/4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5622421758572975170" border="0" /></a>Looking down the passage to the front door. The passage is long and dark, though if you click on the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">picture</span> to blow it up, you will see it is not that narrow. Once building is done, we are putting in 3 skylights to lighten it up and break up the 'tunnel' effect. I have already seen a long narrow hall table that will also break the space.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTwQ_6ms9BBSl2L7Vh7BU2K7RBXKIXoK2jRMbOzr9VvHBLDhftgk6DGAcoyOgkr4Je2_BBj18YuuJsylG_v1k9McLAEhmu-I8tLaQFvo6MQjvNtpYJy8WiC7Rx7Cm4PsMXX0KmkeRovNM/s1600/5.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTwQ_6ms9BBSl2L7Vh7BU2K7RBXKIXoK2jRMbOzr9VvHBLDhftgk6DGAcoyOgkr4Je2_BBj18YuuJsylG_v1k9McLAEhmu-I8tLaQFvo6MQjvNtpYJy8WiC7Rx7Cm4PsMXX0KmkeRovNM/s400/5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5622421697568260658" border="0" /></a>Looking towards the dinning room - again that wall will be painted a textured buckskin sued colour to offset the dark plantation shutters in the 3 windows. If you look <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">through</span> them, you should see the deep blue of the ponds out back. It is <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">also</span> the only place in the house that doesn't have <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">downlighters</span> - 3 hanging lights above the table.<br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVCQfR7zCEuQD9eGXjrpFJwNLJan7e5dCUXnKcSfy2ZG5dW7Y1avtWJ74uoTHRjUhMCWh7WR85528ulu-H7y8gBPrNLVBi7lOPAb_E4r1yXczrt3awhFm5p7lxNQW5feATL618RXj4roU/s1600/6.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVCQfR7zCEuQD9eGXjrpFJwNLJan7e5dCUXnKcSfy2ZG5dW7Y1avtWJ74uoTHRjUhMCWh7WR85528ulu-H7y8gBPrNLVBi7lOPAb_E4r1yXczrt3awhFm5p7lxNQW5feATL618RXj4roU/s400/6.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5622421614306246290" border="0" /></a>Towards the lounge. Am not 100 percent decided on colour here - difficulty is that we have dark leather <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">furniture</span> and coffee table. Am thinking about putting in white shutters against darker feature wall. We''ll see.rodneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06251117406916755373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2163206415345146623.post-85245291301739669082011-06-25T17:50:00.018+10:002011-06-26T16:30:57.216+10:00The Hermitage Mittagong<div align="left">Around an hour and a half from Sydney is a small town called <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">Mittagong</span>. ( Visiting these little rural New South Wales towns seems to be becoming a habit for me.) I am here for a Youth Ministry leadership weekend run by the Diocese of Wollongong and it is being held at the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error">Marist</span> Brothers' farm out here called The Hermitage. It is a place where anybody looking for a time out can stay - there are private cottages etc. and it is great for retreats or just a quiet getaway. The photos below just don't do it justice, it is so pretty out here. You can visit it online at:<br /><a href="http://www.thehermitage.org.au/">http://www.thehermitage.org.au/</a> Here are some shots:</div><br /><div align="center"></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizbv1Q0FF4yCZsgIfqIRM57_uR7DbpTPMXLr372LiDLLhhGTXoQPw-oZR8tDv5LSDs_JfgSKEicttTXUtSaVEd_2lGEXEZxjFovf56Piwpe6ye3VrbCD-_gTSEDdpxSxurPNlHBFBeg4c/s1600/1.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5622064748613099650" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizbv1Q0FF4yCZsgIfqIRM57_uR7DbpTPMXLr372LiDLLhhGTXoQPw-oZR8tDv5LSDs_JfgSKEicttTXUtSaVEd_2lGEXEZxjFovf56Piwpe6ye3VrbCD-_gTSEDdpxSxurPNlHBFBeg4c/s400/1.JPG" border="0" /> </a>As you drive in to the entrance - I love these trees - don't know why but they remind me of the film, Gladiator.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn9WLcuwr0EmSfMx9rgRiUhooKofJaMAfKMQNa9MgrcEHI7UU33DoFr07UC6C-yOx2xHfRa2jyVcO-VQDafIX5xJkc5vXLDWZ1lHS3n-gu5LWh1sW1h1_7c3xle-jFYqlPnJf0R0UZjqM/s1600/2.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5622064657501897682" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn9WLcuwr0EmSfMx9rgRiUhooKofJaMAfKMQNa9MgrcEHI7UU33DoFr07UC6C-yOx2xHfRa2jyVcO-VQDafIX5xJkc5vXLDWZ1lHS3n-gu5LWh1sW1h1_7c3xle-jFYqlPnJf0R0UZjqM/s400/2.JPG" border="0" /></a><p align="center">Another shot of them looking down the road. </p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYQDB7pu79-RkjTGNIJijCzwEVTUCe35Y01wXMv9DRtst7R0h78p0-eZgxcG6WwLcr7EDk5_oI-MdvfzE30LJmhOcnBZlunWzFtorCvhSN_UeFtOq5LpKt6fSA08znEQ32SFvG0vP1TJo/s1600/3.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5622064557941980738" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYQDB7pu79-RkjTGNIJijCzwEVTUCe35Y01wXMv9DRtst7R0h78p0-eZgxcG6WwLcr7EDk5_oI-MdvfzE30LJmhOcnBZlunWzFtorCvhSN_UeFtOq5LpKt6fSA08znEQ32SFvG0vP1TJo/s400/3.JPG" border="0" /></a>Standing amongst them shooting across the paddock - they line most of the entrance road - <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-error">ok</span> I'll stop photographing them now! Just such clean and neat trees. :-)<br /><br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkkF3XHDQlyAMAe6sqoqA7iLxs0YKVleyEcZ6KA8bkSGt_skSqIlKmR-wIwtddV1WV1q4TxUMYXAqEVkNonqJujv551ojEuf81J0O9cypnMtxplUlhFEXHaa7-pfZSF06rja9CL5Chbjo/s1600/4.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5622064486901791842" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkkF3XHDQlyAMAe6sqoqA7iLxs0YKVleyEcZ6KA8bkSGt_skSqIlKmR-wIwtddV1WV1q4TxUMYXAqEVkNonqJujv551ojEuf81J0O9cypnMtxplUlhFEXHaa7-pfZSF06rja9CL5Chbjo/s400/4.JPG" border="0" /></a>There is a stream running through the farm with a large duckpond.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOdt4hFfkv0Ddgfbdxk7dMMK2cv2vded_eTyUzacM6FJdBTSmciFvVFTiV17arpMI0F4Rmw-OKG3uap1W462Jqo2NDFXob1lcVlszhdaMcn_CmnwF6zveGX1cmK6bwHPLHVicB9grvWms/s1600/5.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5622064209436190626" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOdt4hFfkv0Ddgfbdxk7dMMK2cv2vded_eTyUzacM6FJdBTSmciFvVFTiV17arpMI0F4Rmw-OKG3uap1W462Jqo2NDFXob1lcVlszhdaMcn_CmnwF6zveGX1cmK6bwHPLHVicB9grvWms/s400/5.JPG" border="0" /></a>Looking down from the top of the hill.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivpFhWoy7aP34MWxdKtQbwfZRlwROOUAIuacm7HK5oJw9jygkZdlw-WUxSSxSgWN_Kixd3sdw3tZK4xw1mBY9jgNQBCpaaeNnrqjXcBTgDcgA3boRQ_PNhb9cPOjw_DvTOs3a3TTcI4CY/s1600/6.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5622064136947947074" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivpFhWoy7aP34MWxdKtQbwfZRlwROOUAIuacm7HK5oJw9jygkZdlw-WUxSSxSgWN_Kixd3sdw3tZK4xw1mBY9jgNQBCpaaeNnrqjXcBTgDcgA3boRQ_PNhb9cPOjw_DvTOs3a3TTcI4CY/s400/6.JPG" border="0" /></a> There is the pond on the right. The field I walked up as you can see is not manicured lawn but 'mowed' by the cows. Uneven and with large dung piles. When was the last time you walked through a field on a farm? Made me wish I had a pair of dungarees, a straw hat while chewing on a piece of hay. And then the city slicker came out in me as I started speculating what cool state of the art features and gadgets today's modern tractors must have and if they have <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-error">ipod</span> docks? I never <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">captured</span> it, but I saw 2 of the religious brothers who work the farm, fly by on their quad bikes .<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtnALAcYiUgX3CQTP9eaAJnS5KDw7A3uEeeFCv14jbfhOpfOvYLArkFJsq29XBwyuekBTqKDHtnq3FnUjSLDTArvmThl9iTIQ1cMHnb-qy-WBRwp8lqTNUcsQwkq92sncvFvoEPQjuHOg/s1600/7.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5622064071990102514" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtnALAcYiUgX3CQTP9eaAJnS5KDw7A3uEeeFCv14jbfhOpfOvYLArkFJsq29XBwyuekBTqKDHtnq3FnUjSLDTArvmThl9iTIQ1cMHnb-qy-WBRwp8lqTNUcsQwkq92sncvFvoEPQjuHOg/s400/7.JPG" border="0" /></a>Just space everywhere. The house where we had our meals and sessions.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbqnoJYGImXS5vT8tspJ2Afbsa4_jlFhYVW_wubNP9ox-MhJpGXCB7LUdtXEnqzHKIJ4rwlrLXWbSvaNkf61ImrPwbxH87uTilj6YqsrwLUMNDRgM8p6l2io_vmtr7z9Cf4JzECZuoYec/s1600/8.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5622063971132857826" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbqnoJYGImXS5vT8tspJ2Afbsa4_jlFhYVW_wubNP9ox-MhJpGXCB7LUdtXEnqzHKIJ4rwlrLXWbSvaNkf61ImrPwbxH87uTilj6YqsrwLUMNDRgM8p6l2io_vmtr7z9Cf4JzECZuoYec/s400/8.JPG" border="0" /></a>Looks like one of those country living adverts.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV9i3lOnmJXVoNW2ooKIywdIaWgzReDc44EZkp8l-bjMZWjgS6krAs0w5WPUxlhbBwLwpG1lQI0c28GQfBZhmc0O5FIpKUepUS4DDvCkHD_r0uQcNJAwYqBKUF0PZ-orrj4csAjB4CX5c/s1600/9.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5622063856581600498" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV9i3lOnmJXVoNW2ooKIywdIaWgzReDc44EZkp8l-bjMZWjgS6krAs0w5WPUxlhbBwLwpG1lQI0c28GQfBZhmc0O5FIpKUepUS4DDvCkHD_r0uQcNJAwYqBKUF0PZ-orrj4csAjB4CX5c/s400/9.JPG" border="0" /></a>This Crucifix used to live in a church but was moved outside in 2008. Great view from there and so peaceful on a hill in amongst the trees. One of the Brothers who lives here, Brother Andrew said that there used to be 17 congregations of religious orders that lived in the area at one time. This farm used to be a dairy farm, but with the decline in their numbers, it is now a cattle farm - apart from the retreat / guesthouse business of course.<br /><br /><div align="left">Cheers for now.</div></div>rodneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06251117406916755373noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2163206415345146623.post-33896974880570026982011-06-17T19:00:00.007+10:002011-06-17T19:17:00.542+10:00Kitchen inWe had to meet the guys <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">on site</span> today for the measurement of the blinds so took some shots. The kitchen cupboards are in. The sink is at the stonemasons for them to get the measurements exact to fit into the stone tops. And tiling is next. That will be it for this week. We need to move the island a little closer to the sink by the window as it is a really large gap so will see if we can do so. You may not be able to see from the pics but the front of the island pointing away from the kitchen has no handles - the doors are push release because I thought handles would clutter the look. Our stone tops will be white. One issue is the kitchen window which you can see looks onto a fence <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">unfortunately</span>. I know it looks odd at the moment, but that fence will be stained dark and we will be running stainless steel wire along it with a flowering creeper to give lots of colour through the window and additionally are running a row of water solenoids on the outside of the window to turn it into a water feature so that as the water runs down the width of the window it will create a <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">kaleidoscope</span> of moving green and colours from the creeper. Again another chance we are taking and it could look <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">kitsch</span>, but given the space restriction, there were few alternatives especially given that we want to grab as much light as we can. Also not visible are the four integrated LED light sets that are recessed into the cupboards. They are wafer thin and don't protrude into the cupboards. I am debating putting dark blue LED sets in them to create a warmth to the lighting, but again will have to see about the fine line between striking and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">kitsch</span>! Cheers for now!<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTUxRulRrVN8BYtj7JBIUQL3bvLbajivza7mHtm3Nf_YQRZOEn3lGzhu7M8dYMrwIfAnjIHbrRnFv4VoPZ5S_qkGivnVz1uRcxPNmYEIUO8ag3Nx6lzNzcXQlYMS7n2yxv2pVZgHnwq4Q/s1600/166.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTUxRulRrVN8BYtj7JBIUQL3bvLbajivza7mHtm3Nf_YQRZOEn3lGzhu7M8dYMrwIfAnjIHbrRnFv4VoPZ5S_qkGivnVz1uRcxPNmYEIUO8ag3Nx6lzNzcXQlYMS7n2yxv2pVZgHnwq4Q/s400/166.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5619111258622130098" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvdwXUpk_JudfIgqbDNHMdpldEmr_CuLWRihgbcH2K6aZ4PwRbGJh-L6vyuFo3n7_6ZCpFDhKYy2abs-ocCUw4BdX93195s02LbDFSxMq2IPCh5m98Cb6_tNk664wu835MT75DK95BtqM/s1600/167.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvdwXUpk_JudfIgqbDNHMdpldEmr_CuLWRihgbcH2K6aZ4PwRbGJh-L6vyuFo3n7_6ZCpFDhKYy2abs-ocCUw4BdX93195s02LbDFSxMq2IPCh5m98Cb6_tNk664wu835MT75DK95BtqM/s400/167.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5619111189249273666" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixrK0ecvqiEnoOFLcBxCdqf_Orntm0lcU4ibA6n0cZZucQUs2Jy_Rxkp0yb63O_lM4mvGmIuKqyFJzpISWLopq79egGFge_N16GiM4tfgEtTrh-aqf0qwRSNgVslbULRbh3fejmXOHZf8/s1600/169.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixrK0ecvqiEnoOFLcBxCdqf_Orntm0lcU4ibA6n0cZZucQUs2Jy_Rxkp0yb63O_lM4mvGmIuKqyFJzpISWLopq79egGFge_N16GiM4tfgEtTrh-aqf0qwRSNgVslbULRbh3fejmXOHZf8/s400/169.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5619111083492808114" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpjhqasHykJ4o9rm6nPNtBt_8YtqNzpCmL1xOD5Ugf2-b0BvtJ_V-c4SDgquarbNaapcZexklt-hE2hTmKTVogM_DCqVu5oSTd2w1_jUfzjTdxz79DYU6c33dh9qOMf6ukdp9MlfQBEAQ/s1600/171.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpjhqasHykJ4o9rm6nPNtBt_8YtqNzpCmL1xOD5Ugf2-b0BvtJ_V-c4SDgquarbNaapcZexklt-hE2hTmKTVogM_DCqVu5oSTd2w1_jUfzjTdxz79DYU6c33dh9qOMf6ukdp9MlfQBEAQ/s400/171.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5619111003542918562" border="0" /></a>rodneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06251117406916755373noreply@blogger.com0