Author: chris_bj

Phew!

We’re about half-way done with the renovations, but this last weekend, the extraordinarily hot weather meant we just had to stop completely. 41°C in both Kingaroy and Dalby, and 35°C up there on the mountain. It wasn’t safe for Doug … Continue reading →

We’re about half-way done with the renovations, but this last weekend, the extraordinarily hot weather meant we just had to stop completely. 41°C in both Kingaroy and Dalby, and 35°C up there on the mountain. It wasn’t safe for Doug to be working outside in those temperatures, so he came inside with me and hid in the airconditioning. The wallabies were all tucked away in the shade, but all the wildlife seemed to be suffering. A poor young kookaburra sat on the deck rail and just looked at me with his beak open. I put water down, but I don’t think he knew what to do with it, unfortunately.

Today was supposed to be cooler (it wasn’t) but we both woke early after a humid night, and at 5 am, the world was a cool and lovely place to be. (Also noisy because something had excited the cockatoos and they were being incredibly loud!)

The wallabies, on the other hand, are much quieter creatures

But it got up to nearly 40°C again in Kingaroy, and Doug had to throw in the towel at lunchtime. The cool change has come through, thankfully.

Tomorrow it’s supposed to be 10° cooler than it’s been. Hope so!

Phew!

We’re about half-way done with the renovations, but this last weekend, the extraordinarily hot weather meant we just had to stop completely. 41°C in both Kingaroy and Dalby, and 35°C up there on the mountain. It wasn’t safe for Doug … Continue reading →

We’re about half-way done with the renovations, but this last weekend, the extraordinarily hot weather meant we just had to stop completely. 41°C in both Kingaroy and Dalby, and 35°C up there on the mountain. It wasn’t safe for Doug to be working outside in those temperatures, so he came inside with me and hid in the airconditioning. The wallabies were all tucked away in the shade, but all the wildlife seemed to be suffering. A poor young kookaburra sat on the deck rail and just looked at me with his beak open. I put water down, but I don’t think he knew what to do with it, unfortunately.

Today was supposed to be cooler (it wasn’t) but we both woke early after a humid night, and at 5 am, the world was a cool and lovely place to be. (Also noisy because something had excited the cockatoos and they were being incredibly loud!)

The wallabies, on the other hand, are much quieter creatures

But it got up to nearly 40°C again in Kingaroy, and Doug had to throw in the towel at lunchtime. The cool change has come through, thankfully.

Tomorrow it’s supposed to be 10° cooler than it’s been. Hope so!

Renovation progress post no.1

Whatever we’re doing up here, there’s always time to stop and look at the wildlife Thanks to the hard work of Paul Reeves and his team from Kingaroy, we now have back stairs from the deck, and a brand-new hardwood balustrade … Continue reading →

Whatever we’re doing up here, there’s always time to stop and look at the wildlife

Thanks to the hard work of Paul Reeves and his team from Kingaroy, we now have back stairs from the deck, and a brand-new hardwood balustrade on the front verandah. Airconditioning went in a couple of weeks ago, and boy, we’ve needed that on a few days. The new fridge with its bigger capacity was also welcome, as were the powerful new pedestal fans we’ve bought for the living room and bedrooms.

We finally sorted out the issue with the Telstra Smart Antenna—it was simply faulty and has been replaced. Now we have moderately decent reception inside the house, at least for a few hours a day. Not much help to our guests on other networks, but the Optus reception tends to be better without any assistance anyway.

Doug has painted the floorboards and balustrades on the front verandah, and the house exterior is almost completely repainted. Inside the house, we’ve replaced the mattresses in the queen and double bedrooms, purchased close on $3000 worth of art, mostly from local artists, got rid of a lot of the old, tired furniture, and replaced it with new stuff waiting to be set up once the kitchen and bathroom are finished. Lots of new rugs and brand new bedding to go in too.

Michelle and Clinton Hansen of Hansen Kitchens will be installing our new kitchen on March 2, and Paul Reeves will be working on that and our new bathroom around the same time. On March 1, we get new window screens and a new water tank!

Still to be done. Painting, painting, painting! Washing all the things! Buying all the things! Carpet cleaning! Running around and waking up in the middle of the night wondering what we’ve forgotten!

Oh yes, the life of a new holiday home owner is a nonstop whirl 🙂