A new life...a family of 3

Well, in case you weren't already aware, we've had a MINOR change in our life recently, which has completely changed everything...for the better of course!
With some days away from work to help with the little one, Andy decided to take advantage of the time at home to finish off some of the jobs around the garden.

Since our last post, we had our new garden wall rendered by a friend, so Andy took advantage and got the wall painted. In addition, he got the garden bed planted and the seating area next to the house paved. So, the garden area out back is looking very good these days. We're looking for a nice wooden bench and some nice pot plants to fill in the paved area eventually. Should be a nice place to sit and watch the kiddos play :)

Andy also shifted some of the plants from the front garden to the garden by the pool, cleaned out the rest of the front garden and prepared for planting, and painted the terraces to match the rest of the house. So, it's now ready for planting as soon as we get time and the weather cools down a bit.

Plants in the raised bed were transplanted from the front garden, so hopefully they survive the heat wave!

The last bit of work that's been done over the past month was to remove the Cape Lilac tree at the very back of the garden. We had our neighbours behind us come around to complain about the caterpillars in the tree that were falling every day and night into their garden and to complain about the berries that the tree drops. Although we hadn't really had any issues with that, there was a nasty vine that had taken over the tree that was causing loads of issues, so we just had the whole tree cut down. It changed the view out over the back of the house as compared to last summer!

The next bit of work to be done will be for the pool fence to be installed, which should be happening this coming week. Yay! Then we'll have a kid-safe back garden! :)

14 January - Cleaned up for a party

We had our Baby Shower BBQ this past weekend at our house, so it was a good reason to get everything tidied up...so I managed to remember to take a couple photos of the house, just to show what it's looking like these days. The only room where there's really been any work done is the baby room, and there are a couple new photos of the back garden as well...

Upstairs open plan living area, view from the entry way.

Same area as above...opposite view. 

Downstairs living area...still need to get the TV and entertainment sorted, but it's nice to see the floors not covered in cardboard and carpet protective layers!

The boys room / pool room!

Downstairs guest bedroom.

Downstairs outdoor seating area, with our new comfy seats and our big, beautiful palm!

The side passageway, all finished after Andy's hard work...hardly recognisable from when we first moved in!

The baby room view from the doorway.

Opposite view of the baby room.

New Year Update - 5th Jan

It's hard to believe we're already in 2014! Looking back at old photos the other day, it's even harder to believe that we've already lived in this house for 2-1/2 years!
Enough on the reminiscing, though. Andy has been super busy lately working on the back garden. Unfortunately, I've been quite bad about taken progress photos over the past month, but there's been quite a change!
Andy and Rob, our gardening expert, laid new turf just before Christmas, which is still looking green and lush! They also built the curved wall at the back of the grass lawn, to separate our nice garden area from the driveway.

Andy and Rob finished the paving around the pool where they had been working on the deck. Andy then cleaned and sealed all of the pavers, which then resulted in a week of cleaning the pool to get it back to the nice blue colour you see here...so inviting now!

Just a ground level view of the garden...

And looking back towards the house...it's really coming together now!

The next jobs on the list are to get the pool fence installed and to get our friend back in to render the new part of the wall. Meanwhile, we'll start shopping for plants to fill the garden beds!