Wednesday, 25 April 2018

Four Years On...

How time flies when you're having fun...

It's hard to believe it's been four years since we moved out to the Cape. I thought I'd mark this anniversary by posting a few progression snaps as to how things have changed exterior/landscaping wise here since we moved out to our little patch of paradise by the beach...

2013 - The Agents original 'For Sale' picture - amazing we even made it out here to look!!

2016 - Garage built in, new carport, bamboo planted

2017 - Bamboo growing, Frangipani planted, Grass dying (Water Restrictions Level 3)

2018 - Grass coming back !!

2013 - Rear Yard - back of house

2014 - Back Yard clean up

2014 - Back Yard Clean Up

2015 - New Garden Tools Shed - Refurb of Veggie Garden

2018 - Landscaping

2018 - Landscaping

2018 - Landscaping


2015 - New Shed and Refurb of Veggie Patch

2018 - Landscaping and Veggie Patch Version 3 !!



2016 - Landscaping by Pool

2018 - Landscaping by Pool

2018 - Landscaping by Pool

2013 - Poolside

2016 - Poolside

2017 - Poolside

2018 - Poolside
2013 - Side of House


2016 - Side of House

2016 - Side of House

2016 - Side of House

2018 - Side of House

2014 - Entertaining Area to Yard



2018 - Entertaining to Yard (still much to do here)

2014 - Back Yard

2015 - Back Yard

2017 - Back Yard

2018 - Back Yard

2013 - Poolside (future deck location)

2017 - Poolside (ready for deck)

2017 - Poolside Deck

2018 - Poolside Deck


2018 - Poolside Deck

2013 - The view that sealed the day - after looking at house for the first time

2017 - Another reason why life is better at the beach !!

2018 - After 16 years with us, our Red Dog's lat day at the beach :-(

So what's next...

  • Still a few windows and doors to change out
  • A few remaining hallway walls to paint
  • Renovate the entertaining area
  • Renovate the front entry
  • External paint !!
  • Final landscaping...
Never a dull moment hey folks.

Catch you next time.

Cheers, Col



Sunday, 19 February 2017

Reusing, Re-purposing, Recycling

I've been doing a bit of a clean up and getting some long overdue jobs done, which involved taking to the dump some leftover building and construction items from when we built in the front garage, and re-purposing some items we had kept. While doing this I rediscovered (hiding behind the garden shed), two steel screens that were from either side of the garage (that had been put there by the previous owner), which I had salvaged at the time from the builders dumpster. 

The builder's removing one of the white metal screens
I knew I wanted to use these somehow in our landscaping, and it was only recently while sitting by the pool having a 'sundowner', that I knew exactly how these could be best re-purposed...

The small garden shed at the back of the yard - screaming out to be screened!

It's been a while since doing a blog post so, I forgot to take photos of your's truly constructing the screen, which would re-purpose the old metal screens from the garage...


The resident chickens scouring the job site looking for left over morning tea...


The old white screens have been resprayed black, and old timber from the dump recycle shop has been added, to fill in some gaps and allow plants to climb up.


The top piece of recycled timber had an old metal bracket and bolts affixed,
which came in handy for hanging the garden bird feeder from.

That's about it for now, another job ticked off the never ending to do list...

Cheers, Col

Sunday, 20 November 2016

A picture is worth a thousand words...


We've made some progress in recent weeks, with Kate tackling the painting of the hallway wall which we had rendered...oh I don't know, maybe 12 - 18 months ago... but let's not rush these things.

That yellow trim's days are numbered!!



So long story short it means we can start getting some of our artwork hung that has been lazing around leaning against the wall. Given we've moved around quite a lot over the years before digging our heels in the sand in North Queensland, these items meant a lot to us as we moved from home to home, state to state, country to country. So it's been nice this weekend to finally get a few of them out on display again.

Poppy just happened to remind me it is Thanksgiving this Thursday

Entry to the Master Bedroom

'Poppies' by Gary Myers
'The Old Church on the Hill' - By Gary Myers
Kate and I bought this from Gary's gallery in Maleny, Queensland. We walked past the gallery on the way out to dinner and saw the painting which had just been hung that day. We went back and bought it the next morning!!

'Long Distance' by Anna Nielsen
I bought this in Dublin, Ireland when Kate and I first met. It pretty accurately sums up our relationship both in the first six months, and then again when I was absent on military deployments overseas.


A few reminders of my 21 years in the Army

- Officer Commanding Pennant from the Tank Regiment in Darwin, Australia -

- Hand made ISAF Carpet from Kabul, Afghanistan -

- Miniature Banner of the Royal Corps of Australian Electrical & Mechanical Engineers -

During my time in Kabul in 2007 - 2008, we used to get these made as thank you gifts from the Staff of Australian National Command Element. More than a gift, they were hand made by local children, an important training opportunity for teaching them how to weave hand made middle eastern rugs.

Un-named By Michael Fitch
We saw this artist painting a scene of Lake Burley Griffin in Canberra at Floriade in 2009 and we bought it from Michael on the spot just as he finished it.

What you see when you walk in the front door - it sums up living by the ocean...

I love this shot Kate took from the top of the Empire State Building - which we had printed on canvas - we loved our two years stateside and visiting the city that never sleeps.

That's another couple of jobs ticked off 'the list' - can't wait to get the other side of the hallway painted now... 

Cheers, Col