Yup, more dreaded red bricks! Yuck!
- BEFORE
- DURING
- More painting . . . !
- AFTER
- Charcoal paint, plywood handmade mantle with storage cabinet, new pendant lighting, new curtains and wall hung TV!
- BEFORE
- AFTER
Category: Our First Home
We are getting chickens!
So, I decided I wanted chooks.
Max was less than convinced until the thought of fresh eggs, whenever he wanted, swayed him into agreeing!
After agreeing we were getting chooks, I started designing a chicken house that I could build myself . . . My Christmas present from Mum and Dad was an assortment of timber for my new project! How your priorities change as you get older!
We also bought a galvanised chicken feeder to keep out the pesky mice!
We rescued 4 x ISA Brown hens from a cage farm, and named them:
- Kentucky
- Peri
- Nando
- Ilona (Named, due to her mostly hanging out by herself away from the rest of the hens!) She is also super friendly and likes being held!
They are friendly, well behaved and we started getting eggs right away! Much to Max’s delight!
Let the renovations BEGIN!
Where to start . . . ?
Time to rip up some 30+ year old carpet from the front guest room,
Remove some very retro curtains,
Paint some very depressing ugly bricks,
And get rid of a very noisy, smelly and unwanted house-guest!
- BEFORE
- DURING
- Removing the 30+ year old carpet from the front guest room!
- Beginning the long and tiring job of painting the brick walls! These walls have recessed grout . . . Which is not fun to paint! It takes FOREVER!
- AFTER
- Not quite finished yet, but the dreaded red bricks are gone! Now to replace the power points, repaint the ceiling, install new lighting, lay new carpet, hang the new blinds . . . Pheeeeeew! Still a long way to go and this is only room No.1!
If you want to try something like this yourself, we could not have done it without the following things!
A good ladder, preferably with a platform, such as this 5 Step Ladder with platform.
A selection of paintbrushes, like Pro-Grade Wall/Trim brushes.
Painters tape such as ScotchBlue.
A paint roller tray kit.
Face Mask to protect yourself from dust and fumes.
Safety goggles!
Our New Adventure
On the 18th of August 2016 Max and I took the plunge. . . We packed the last of our belongings into our moving van and made the 2.5hr journey back to our hometown, in Mansfield, Victoria, AUS.
. . .
After living in Melbourne for the past 8+ years, we were feeling unsatisfied, claustrophobic and stuck in a rut. Our routine of work, eat, sleep. . . Repeat, was depressing and we were constantly looking for ways out. Escaping the city whenever we had a day off or a weekend free, became an obsession. We found ourselves spending more and more time in Mansfield and often spoke about moving “home”, yet it seemed so unobtainable.
The turning point came sometime in 2014, driving back to Melbourne from a weekend in Mansfield. 15minutes into our drive I was feeling so depressed about going back to our Melbourne lives, I started to cry. . . big, emotionally charged sobs. Max turned to me, took my hand told me he would make it happen, that we would find a way to move back “home”.
We started to plan, research and saved our hard earned dollars.
On the 24th of December 2015, Max proposed to me! After almost 8 crazy, wonderful, fun-filled years together. . . He decided he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me! Of course I said YES! Little did I know that this would signify the start of the all systems go part of Max’s plan, of not only our new adventure together, but our new adventure in life.
By May/June 2016 we had decided, it was now or never. We were going to leave Melbourne and move to Mansfield. Max had been job searching for months and had finally stumbled upon a few promising options. One of which Elin (Max’s Mum) had found and passed on the info. A new position had been created at Koala Cherries in Yarck (35minute drive from Mansfield) for a role perfectly suited to Max. It was as though fate had spoken. Max applied, secured an interview and was offered the job!
By the middle of July 2016 we had both given our resignations to our employers. A sad day for me, as I had the rare pleasure of actually loving my job and the people I worked with. But after 5 years working for the company I knew I was ready for a change.
August. All of a sudden it was August, we were leaving the big smoke! We had no house to move in to, no job lined up for me and no real plan. Except we knew it was the perfect time for an adventure. We moved in with Max’s parents on the 19th of August 2016, in to Max’s old bedroom! Max started his new job on the 22nd of August and I started looking for a home for us.
We bought a HOUSE!
On the 10th of September 2016 we officially had adult debt. . . Yup our first mortgage. Cue the champagne and celebrations! We had the keys to our first home in our hands on Friday the 23rd on September and spent our first night in our new “home”.
This is where the real adventure begins. . .