Welcome .... coffee's on at the new house.

I've been in my new house for two weeks now and feel very settled, but have already experienced first hand some of the pitfalls of home ownership. I’ve already had a plumber in to

fix up a few minor issues with a grotty toilet, leaking taps and a shower door that can occasionally close on you like the doors of a prison cell, with great difficulty in getting yourself released. The mind boggles at the comedic potential of that situation.

I ordered a load of wood on the Friday I moved in - very keen to get my slow combustion heater working, to counter the cold, damp Mt Gambier winters. The man said I’d have my wood within the week. 

 After waiting in vain for a week and a half, spending the evenings in mittens, hat, ugg-boots and multiple layers, I finally ordered some wood from another supplier. This supplier had delivered and stacked my wood within two hours of ordering it, and I have had the fire burning almost constantly ever since. 

As I unpacked, I was a little worried that I might have made a mistake settling for two bedrooms instead of three. I always thought I’d need three bedrooms - one for my own bedroom, one to serve as my office/art area and the other permanently set up for guests - but after having no overnight guests at all for the previous year, I wondered whether a third room would really be necessary.

However, with ‘Murphy’s Law’ at play, I’ve had my first overnight guest within two weeks of moving in, and I was pleased to find several options to set up a temporary bed for a guest. And the second bedroom is set up with separate office area, calligraphy area and scrapbooking space.

A corner of the multi-purpose room - office and art room.

 I also still have room for at least 5 more storage units or bookshelves to store the remaining few items still in the shed - some of these being boxes of books I haven’t seen in a few years. I’m so looking forward to dusting them off and getting them out into the daylight again.

Some of my sons' favourite things

The table-less dining room.

I'm a sentimentalist at heart and have saved many of my sons' favourite books and toys for them. In the meantime, I can enjoy them myself - puzzles, games, badges, books, toy trains and Kinder Surprises, to name but a few.

 While out shopping last week I came across a wonderful second hand dining table, while looking for other things of course. Unfortunately the delivery men are on holidays, so I have to wait a few more weeks for delivery. It has a gorgeous, dark wood finish. The challenge will be finding dining chairs to go with it, as the table was on its own.

Before the damage was done

After the backyard blitz

The garden has already had some significant work done in preparation for a vegie patch and perennial flower border, but I'm not sure how much will get done before I go overseas at the end of the year.

So, it’s early days yet, but I am enjoying ‘playing house’ and getting things in order. I’d love it if you’d come and join me for coffee by the fire, but that will have to wait until the cement is set around the base of the new toilet!