NOT TOO MUCH TODAY

 

We will be back into the unpacking/sorting today.  Last night I went over to the storage unit and bought back one load.

I specifically wanted to bring back the sewing 'room' computer.  I always have it on when I'm sewing, so wanted it back fairly quickly.

I also got about 5 boxes, some smaller paintings and this:

ABOVE: Our beautiful Blue/Green glass jar.  That coffee table with the plants and jar will be set in front of the lounge window, once the credenza and TV are on the other wall.

The SKY man is coming this morning to put the Sky connections in the two other places we want them

I can't wait  for that.  The TV can then get OUT of our front window.

After lunch today we are attending our first 'Residents Meeting'.  Hopefully that is informative and interesting.

Once that is over we can finally do a proper, full grocery shop.  Restocking the fridge, freezer and pantry, which are rather empty.

So, that's me for now... catch ya later.

As I sit here sipping on a very hot Jarrah's Chocolate Mint drink, I find myself wondering... how long before I say 'I'M BORED'?  Something tells me with everything that needs unpacking, sorting, gifting away, selling, re-arranging and so on, IT.  WILL.  BE.  A.  LONG.  TIME.

And let's not forget all the new activities I can get involved in here!

There's SO MUCH I can now join in on.

And there's the pool and hot tub.  

And   and   and....   I'm a very happy girl.

ABOVE: LOOK at that!  I'm not a complete idiot.  I got the computer set up and GOING!  I had to take the stand off the screen, otherwise it didn't fit in that gap.  Yaaa.

NEXT...

ABOVE: The spare bedroom.  For now it has two lounge chairs in it... they will be replaced by a sofa bed around August.  It is taking about 5 months to get here!   This room also has all of Stew's clothes in the wardrobe, and his drawers.

ABOVE: On top of Stew's drawers is the TV he will be watching SPORT on.  We are waiting for the SKY Guy to arrive to set that up for him.  We are also getting Sky put on another wall in the lounge, so the configuration works better for us.

11.23 am:  The Sky guys are here installing the cables... all going well Stew can bugger off to the spare bedroom this evening to watch his sports.

One of our neighbours just called in to say 'Welcome'.  I'm sure there will be more.

AUCKLAND BOUND

 

Today we are escaping the chaos here, and going up to Auckland for the day.

I ordered a really lovely light fitting for our dining 'room', so we are picking it up today. We will also check out the shop and see if there's anything else that catches our eye for other rooms.

We are then going to look for a new rug for the lounge, and maybe one for the dining area as well.  We'll see on that.

I'm sure we will end up having a lovely lunch somewhere in Auckland before heading home again.

ABOVE: Stew in the pool last night.

ABOVE: Me in the hot tub.  It is a really good size hot tub.

ABOVE: The gorgeous pool room ... it's roof is so nice to look at.  We had it all to ourselves last night.

There's fantastic His and Hers changing rooms, showers, hair dryers etc.  

Right, it's time for me to get out of bed and start the day.

I will probably get a couple of jobs done before we head off.

...11.32 am.

We are in Auckland safely.

We have picked up our lights.

Now heading over the harbour bridge to the North Shore to look at rugs.

It's a lovely day here in Auckland. 

ABOVE: Sky tower.... 

1.44 pm. No rug was bought today. We didn't see one that we loved in either of the very large rug shops.

Not a problem,  we will wait until we see the right one.

Just had lunch and are heading home.

4.21 pm:  And we are home.  It wasn't as restful a day as I imagined.  I'm bloody tired from shopping.

Before we came home, we went and looked in a 'designer rug shop' here in Hamilton.  NOTHING screamed 'buy me'... SO we didn't.  

Now we are home, and it's probably time to do nothing till tomorrow.

ABOVE:  I ALMOST bought this for our bedroom.  Stew was going to let me too... but common sense kicked in and I opted for...

ABOVE:  I got this instead.  It matches the style of the new dining room light fitting.

ABOVE: Eden Lighting, New Lynn, Auckland. AMAZING shop!!!!  So many Crystal chandeliers!  I was in awe of the selection.  Sadly no crystal chandeliers for me though.

ABOVE: (X's 3)  Auckland harbour from the bridge, so pretty.

ABOVE:  So many pretty skies today.

7.15 pm:  I'm done for the day.  Looking forward to Coronation Street, then BED.

Catch ya tomorrow.

EXHAUSTED

 

Is it possible to wake up feeling like you have already done a full day's work?

If so, I think Stew and I feel like that.

Being on the go for several days, doing jobs we are not used to doing, is taking it's toll.

If I only get the curtains up today, I'll be happy.  I have to go and exchange one set of curtains, as I got the measurements wrong.  Derr.

Stew is going to assemble the new dining suite today.  I can't wait to see it!  

I will be ringing the Plumber/Gasfitter and the Electrician today, to tee up a time they can come over and suss out the jobs we need them to do.

I think fitting the new laundry tub is top of the list.  I need to do some washing in the next couple of days.

We are also ringing around to get a quote for a Home Ventilation System, as this home does not have that.

ABOVE:  I shortened ONE net curtain last night.  Then I ran out of energy again.

I decided not to hang any curtains last night.  I did not want to hang them up, then take them down to shorten them, then re-hang them.  I'm too goddam tired for that.

Because we are both running on empty, we WILL be pacing ourselves better today.  We really do have to just slow down!

12.03 pm:  Lacy and Bex came around, and brought all the pots and garden stuff that was stored at Bex's home.

They helped us position it all too, which was an enormous help.

ABOVE: A dozy bumble bee.

ABOVE:  A 'Welcome to your new home' gift basket was delivered... From the Village Management.

ABOVE: Lily in her socks on the wet grass.  She was having an absolute BLAST running around.

ABOVE:  Cooper and Lacy, he's the builders dog.

There's jobs getting done all over the village at the moment.

ABOVE:  Out the front now has more of our garden stuff.  I'm so happy with how it all looks.

I have managed to hang two sets of net curtain so far today.

I'm about to go out and buy one more set of curtains.

I really hope by the end of today we have all the windows sorted.

Curtains are bought  and a small bin for my sewing area.

Stew has been busy while I was out...

ABOVE:  He has assembled our new table, and is now working on the chairs.

I have lunch cooking in the oven... not sure if I've got the settings right in the oven that is here?  I'll soon find out if I've burnt lunch, or not cooked it at all.  😂😅

After lunch I will shorten the curtains for our bedroom... I want them done by end of day.

The other ones don't matter as much, as there's curtains up already.

They are going though ... I cannot stand burgundy curtains in my home.  Nice if you like them .... anyone want some???

Lunch is over, and then we wandered down to the Village Management office to get all the legal eagle shit sorted.

AND we got the pass to the pool and spa pool.

Yes Peta, we will be getting in the spa tonight to soak and relax.  I can't wait!

ABOVE: 5.20 pm:  Our bedroom nets are up....

ABOVE:  And our bedroom curtains.  Tonight I can get changed in my bedroom.  Excellent!

That was a big job getting them done.

Tomorrow I get a break from all of it.

7.30 and we are done for the day.

We went down to the Community Centre and had a soak in the hot tub.  I felt so relaxed, it was wonderful.  It was the exact right temperature for me, not too hot, not too cool.

Now we are back at our home, and are going to have a light dinner, then do NOTHING else for the day.

Catch ya tomorrow.

SUNDAY... NEXT LIST!

 

We had seven things on our 'to do' list yesterday.

Happy to say five got done... the biggest being the garden shed.  I'm just so happy it's done and looks so good.  The two jobs not done yet from yesterday's list are the SKY connections sorted, which is happening on Wednesday.  The other was starting to empty the storage unit, which will have to wait a bit longer.

We want to get what's already here sorted out first, before bringing anything else back to the house.

ABOVE:  Looking from the lounge into the dining 'area'... boxes and boxes.  And there's a new dining suite in there too.  In a box.  lol

That ugly gas heater on the wall, the tall cream and brown thing, will be removed, and that wall will be where the TV goes.

Luckily there is already a heat pump installed.

ABOVE: All the big garden pots, waiting to be put in place.  We have HEAPS more smaller ones in the trailer and at Steve 'n' Bex's... which will slowly come back here over the next week or so.

ABOVE: Today we are ordering our new lounge suite... so in about 5 months this lounge will look totally different.  

Right now it's a disaster zone.

ABOVE: Our bedroom is probably the only room almost sorted out.  The light on the wall is getting removed, and the light above the bed will be replaced with something more modern.

Today I will be getting the new curtains hung, once I've shortened them.

Another thing on today's list, get a smaller laundry tub, so the washing machine and dryer will fit in the laundry.  I don't know how many times we've had to do that, at least 3 times.

SO.... Things to do today:

- Buy a smaller laundry tub.  DONE

- Order new lounge suite.  DONE

- Order dining room cabinet.  DONE

- Grocery shopping.  DONE

- Unload our trailer, and put it in the storage facility.  DONE

- Shorten new curtains and hang them up.  

If we get all that done we will be doing well!

I will also work on the garage some more, that's a work in progress.  I will probably unpack more boxes as well.  DONE

We are going to be BUSY again. 😊

11.05 am, and we have been slogging it out since 7.30.

We concentrated our morning's efforts on getting our trailer unloaded.  It had garden pots, shed equipment and a big garden seat on it.

ABOVE:  Our GORGEOUS new garden shed, getting it's name put on.

ABOVE: This back patio is what sold the house to me.  It gets afternoon sun, until sunset.  I've yet to see the sunset!  Been too busy inside.

ABOVE: The backyard, small but cute.  

We are now going to have a shower, get tidied up, and go shopping.  

1 pm. Our trailer is now at the storage facility. 

We have ordered our new lounge suite, it will take 3-4months to arrive.

We are now stopping for lunch  before heading out again.

ABOVE: Stew making sure we still love the lounge suite we have our eyes on.  YEP, we are. 

  

ABOVE:  Behind me is the Dining Display Cabinet we just ordered.  

We also bought the small laundry tub.  Then called it a day re: shopping.

ABOVE:  Thanks to our dear friend KJ, we have some gorgeous new Azaleas for our gardens.  Thank You so much Karen!

Azaleas are one of my favourite plants.

It's now 3.45 pm, and my batteries are totally run down.  I am just so damn tired.  I can't do anything else today.

Stew has gone to get a few groceries.

The curtains will have to wait... AGAIN. 😖😔

There were two boxes left to unpack, so I opened them. Just linen, it can wait.

But WAIT! If those were the last boxes that came over on Friday, we were missing one box.

I knew the net curtains for the lounge were in THAT MISSING BOX, and I'd certainly not unpacked them.

Dang, might be missing a box?

I went on the hunt, and finally saw THE BOX, it was on top of the freezer and I had missed seeing it numerous times. 

I couldn't get it down cos it was too heavy, so I got the ladder and climbed up and opened that damn box.  YES!

There were the net curtains.

Now I have them... I might hang them later on tonight, if I get some energy back.

Nope.  Not doing another thing, I'm just DONE for the day.

Catch ya tomorrow.

SATURDAY - FIRST FULL DAY HERE

 

Well here we are.

Just the two of us, here in our new home.

Our first full day living here ahead of us.

And just MASSES of things to get done.

ONE STEP AT A TIME.  One box at a time. One job at a time.

There is so much to do, I don't really know where to start.

We have a glazier coming this morning to install the dog door in the garage door, so Coco can go outside for potty.  Last week we had a builder install a gate so Coco is confined to the back patio area as well.

ABOVE:  Once upon a time I would have been worried that Coco could actually climb over a gate like this.  Now?  Nah.  She's too old.

We also have an internet technician due at 8 am to work out why the internet isn't working.  AND A SKY Guy to connect that up.

Lots going on!

ABOVE: Our cute little home. She may be tiny, but she's all we need.  More photos once we have settled in a bit.

ABOVE: Sonia C from Lodge, our Real Estate Agent, with a lovely bottle of bubbly for us to toast our new home with.  Might crack that open tonight.  She has been such a fantastic person to work with, I can't recommend her enough.

Next week we have a plumber/gasfitter coming to suss out removing the gas heater and hot water cylinder.  

8.10 am: And we have the internet back!  Thank god, it is such a nightmare trying to work on ya phone.

Next up should be the SKY GUY, and the Dog door guy.  TICKEY TICK.

ABOVE: Stew removing the shitty 'shell' shaped lights off the wall in the lounge.    

Most of the lighting in the house WILL be replaced soon, but not those shitty things.

ABOVE: Another BIG TICK... we now have a dog door for Coco.  

ABOVE:  I went out and bought new curtains for the lounge and our bedroom.  The bedroom did not have any at all, so we slept with virtually no privacy last night!

I went for the same colour as in our last two homes, Sea Foam.  

While I was out getting the curtains, Steve arrived, and he and Stew have been busy in the garage..

ABOVE: There was a dividing wall down the far end of the garage.  It is now gone.

ABOVE: Steve put the new shelving on the wall, it's for all my fabric.  It fitted on a fairly tricky wall PERFECTLY.

ABOVE:  Now they are working on assembling the new garden shed.  It's a fairly big job.  Once that is done we will have somewhere to put a lot of the garden/workshop stuff.  And boxes of things we need to unpack over time.

I am taking a break, as my back was so f*#ked by the end of yesterday,  I could hardly move.  I don't want that to happen again.  My leg is holding up though!  That's a blessing.

ABOVE:  I have spent the past few hours in the garage, just trying to make some sense out of the space.

The fabric shelving unit is ready for the fabric... I just have to FIND IT all now!  90% of it is in the storage unit down the road.  

No rush to get it back yet.

ABOVE: The garden shed is coming along nicely.  It is taking a lot of effort from the guys.  

Bex and the kids came to visit.  Lily was running around outside and one of our neighbours was like "Oh look at her gorgeous hair!"

So cute.

ABOVE:  Lacy arrived and immediately started helping.  We got the van unloaded, it had all our market stuff in it.  Now the van is back as Steve 'n' Bex's.  

It's starting to feel like we won't have any room to move soon!

AND that's before we get anything out of storage!

OMG nightmares.

ABOVE: The guys moving the work bench into the finished shed!

ABOVE:  The shed from the 'other side' of our fence.

ABOVE:  Our builder, such a dick... but we love him so much.  He spent 6 hours building that shed today, with Stew's help of course.

ABOVE:  They did so well.. and I absolutely LOVE our new garden shed. 

ABOVE:  Coco came home, and spent ages running around exploring.

ABOVE:  Coco coming through the dog door, sussing out her new outdoor area. 

4.52 pm:  We have stopped for the day.  The kids are here enjoying a quite beer/wine, as are we.

I've had nothing to eat all day, and have had two glasses of wine... so kinda pissed.  Better have dinner sooner or later.

ABOVE: Steve ordered dinner via Uber Eats... so good!  

We have so little food in the house, a BIG shop is coming soon.

The kids just went home, and we are going to blob out and do nothing else today.

Catch ya tomorrow.