meanwhile, in the garden ...

 The banksias are in bloom - I just love these weird plants with their phallic flowers ... and I'm not the only one.  The garden is full of birds trying to get their share!

the cheeky rainbow lorikeet

out the front garden

our can of worms ...

About three weeks ago, we started 'renovating' the upstairs.  We thought it would be as simple as taking out a wall and fixing up the gap in the wall and the ceiling:

Then we realised that that meant replacing the whole floor (as well as the kitchen) ...

Our builder is very obliging ...

then we realised that the sheeting on the walls needed replacing ... and that is where we are up to at the moment ...

I think my builder has stopped telling me about all the things that he really 'should' do to make the house okay ... I think he knows that we are all well past our limits ...

its been a while ...

its been a while since I last wrote ...

its also been a while since I saw all my stuff...

... but the stuff has now arrived.

Three burly blokes took just under 4 hours to empty two container loads of stuff.  They lifted boxes two by two - I swear those boxes each weighed over 30 kilos ... mostly books, music and stuff.

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Result: having lived in a house devoid of anything, where the sound of our footsteps echoed through the passage, where we danced on the (new) floor, we now squeeze past 100 boxes as we struggle to find our beds.  (Actually - our much love bed seems to be missing the central support beam so Chris and I are still sleeping on a mattress on the floor.  We remain hopeful that the missing bit will reveal itself as we clear the stuff but we are loosing hope ...)

Isabelle is thrilled to have uncovered all her music stuff bits and pieces - her keyboard is set up with a view over the garden, her guitar is well within reach.  Don't tell her, but I can hear her as I lie reading on my mattress on the floor.

Matthew is hoping that if he sits at his computer long enough then the chaos will slowly resolve itself without him having to ever confront it.

 ... and I open boxes and find treasures and trash ...

its a good thing that I am surrounded by holiday houses - I can 'borrow' their rubbish bins, put all the unwanted stuff in it, and wave it goodbye on Tuesdays as the garbage guys take it away. (Don't worry - there is also a pile being saved for a car boot sale!)