Introduction phone call made

Today I received my call from Troy - sounds great. Based on the expected good weather, there should be action at the site from Monday with excavation. Concrete trucks are scheduled for later on that week.

Again, I was reminded about not entering the site unsupervised. The letter I received yesterday from Troy outlined the procedures for inspecting. Luckily, I am a girl that abides by rules and does not like to break them! I reckon if I posted photos on here from inside the house, it would be fairly obvious that I was doing the wrong thing (and I know Eden Brae read this blog)!

At last...the magic words!

Our file has moved to the construction phase of building after 12 months in Admin. We have the name of our Site Supervisor, Troy M. Another of my fellow HomeOners also has Troy as her supervisor and seems satisfied.

"He has been great so far. Very on top of things and has addressed any issues that we have had (e.g. shower niches were fixed up when I raised questions about them). He has been very accommodating anytime that we have wanted to go to the house to have an inspection and has been AOK with us employing our own independent inspector as well. Also provides you with screen shots of whats happening over the next 2 weeks so you know what is happening on site, even though you can't see it. When you go and inspect your house, you will notice that he will quickly do a visual inspection as well. He is happy to answer any questions you may have when you meet with him and I have emailed him countless of times with questions."

Here's to a happy build with Troy!

Thinking about the landscaping too

While I am twiddling my thumbs here waiting for the build to move to construction phase, I have been continuing the process of thinking about landscaping. We have a plan submitted to council already which we have to adhere to fairly strictly. We also have a council DA requirement to maintain canopy cover by planting 3 indigenous trees that will grow in time to a minimum of 15m high.

There is a local company called OutThere Landscapes & Design who have done some work for a friend who built with Eden Brae further out west. I really liked the look of what they have done to complete their house so I am keen to get them to do a quote for us. I have sent off my details for a prosposal to be out together. I am looking to 'stage' the development of the gardens (as with the interior decoration of the house) Stage One will be the basic requirements of retaining walls, pool surrounds, turf, tree replanting and possibly creating some garden beds.

I like the look of this pool - simple, practical & easy on the eye.

Trying to keep the interest alive ;-)

With the lull in building works, I have vaguely thought about some interior decorating although I am leaving most of that to my gorgeous friend, AJ, from http://www.redomyspace.com.au/

I have been wondering for a while what to do with the large vertical wall area left by the walkin pantry in the kitchen near the cooktop run. See the plan below.

Whilst away in the summer holidays, I found this wall hanging that I love. Sounds like what we are trying to achieve in our family. I would love to find a way to add in 'We do Jesus'. So I am thinking that the kitchen/family/meals area will incorporate this red colour into the decor.

I also contacted a local landscape design company today with the hopes of getting the ball rolling on the gardens. My hope is to do the bare minimum initially and then add more in stages as money allows. I have sent them a copy of our landscape plan, designed by another company, as a starting point.

I was a little too hopeful!

Damn, I was wrong in my information as confirmed by some of my HomeOne members. The contract period commences 20 WORKING days from the survey being received (Feb 11) so there probably won't be much action before then. Oh well, that will save me some time if I don't feel compelled to drive past the block on my way home each day!
On another note, some lovely neighbour has decided to use our empty council bins, filling them up with green waste. Our green bin was full of tree trunks that I could not move it nor would the council truck pick it up anyway. In addition, it now has a large split down the side of it :-( Bring on the fencing, I say!

Not much progress at our end....

....but hopefully the story is different at the other end! OK, I have been pestered for an update but really there is not a lot to say. What I think I know is that Eden Brae received our survey last Monday (11th), the file is in estimating to order materials and that sometime in the next week or two we should be slabbed. Be assured that when I see action on the site, you will be the first to know.

I have had other things to keep me occupied of late too like the death of my beautiful father-in-law and my current issue of a sickly daughter in hospital with viral asthma/pneumonia.

Suspect pegs

I have been waiting all week for red pegs to appear on our property (supposedly within 5 days of Thursday afternoon last week). When I drove past this afternoon, there were pegs BUT they weren't red. I am not sure what this means? Maybe they are pre-peg pegs and they turn red after a particular job is completed? Happy for someone to shed light on this for me.

I also noticed that one of the pegs was inside the pool fence, right on the edge of the pool. Hmmm, I hope that isn't where they think the alfresco will go up to!