Here in south-east Queensland, we have been cursed blessed with the return of warmer weather in late August and even some storms. One even knocked out our power which is a rare occurrence even in the height of summer when the storms are usually at their peak. I love spring for the sole reason that it reassures me that my pot plants only look dead and given a bit of a haircut and fertiliser, they resuscitate fairly well from the brink of death. I am trying to be a better parent to my pot plants….I often forget to water them for weeks days at a time so it is a miracle they survive at all.

I’ve found that impatiens can survive my neglectful ways quite well….as does anything which I have planted in the ground. Our grevilleas have taken off wonderfully and are attracting loads of birdlife to the backyard. The rosemary plant in the rock wall often grows up to the same height as our roof and no matter how severely pruned, it always takes off again. The oregano is loving the clay soil and has taken over the lower section of the rock wall. Even the dwarf callistemons are out in flower and the tree fern which I had pruned before the winter has shot up again.

So in this pile of photos, there’s a lot of photos of plants. There’s also a heap of photos of our new house being constructed. To think that when I started this batch of photos, it was just a frame with a roof on it. Only a few weeks later, we’re almost ready to move in. Correction. We are more than ready to move in, it’s just that the house is not quite ready for us to do that. As far as building a house goes, the experience has been pretty painless. That’s not to say that there hasn’t been frustrating moments but it hasn’t gotten us to the point where we are tearing our hair out.

Of course, we haven’t moved yet so I’m sure there will be plenty of hair-pulling, teeth-gritting moments to come….of that I am sure.

The house is turning into somewhat of an obsession – I feel like I must go and check on it every day. Not that I am worried that the builders aren’t doing the right thing but more because if I don’t go out for just one day, I might miss a huge phase in the construction. I love seeing it all come together.

That can only mean one thing – the middle of the year is rapidly approaching. Halfway through this daily photo grind. I can’t wait until the house starts (yes I know I said that last time) because then I can take photos of all sorts of interesting construction type things – like bulldozers, post-hole diggers and pieces of timber off cuts. Initially I was really happy that construction was due to start in the middle of winter…after all it’s supposed to be the driest time of the year for where I live. But lately we’ve had more rain than I can recall from previous years. Perhaps it is that we need it to be dry for construction that I’m noticing it more. In any case, I’m hoping for reasonably fine weeks ahead so that we can be in our new house by November.

The past few weeks have been insanely busy – winter flu season means work is busy, our house will need to go on the market soon which means I personally am very busy making it presentable. One of our greatest achievements over the last month has been the finalising of the spa area – just in time for one of the cooler early winter weeks on record. I can finally walk outside and enjoy using our alfresco, again just in time for winter. Just as well the winter weather doesn’t deter me from using the BBQ.

Today was the Million Paws Walk for 2009, so I figured I would take the 365 photo I took today  of our canine companions and make it a more prominent feature in the mosaic. And what a great day out it was! I think we saw every dog breed from A to Z, from the diminutive to the monstrous and everything in between. We attended the Cleveland walk as we did last year and we couldn’t have asked for more perfect weather. Rock on MPW 2010!

We’ve managed to buy ourselves a chunk of land to build a new house on in the last couple of months. The buying of the land was a big enough headache on its own and it seems the building process is going to be a bit of a trial as well. I’m looking forward to the end product and no doubt some of my daily photos after the site works start are going to be bits and pieces of construction. It’s an exciting and scary time simultaneously it seems….at least it takes my mind off turning 30 later this year.

Left to right, in rows: [1] Rusty old tools; [2] Sky over Milton; [3] My potted frangipani in flower; [4] Some horrid weed in my yard; [5] Mojo looking “happy”; [6] My dolphin calender from Leigh; [7] Hitler’s diet scrawled on paper; [8] My fender bender; [9] Flickr on a tee (also from Leigh); [10] Bunnings, favourite weekend shop; [11] Drive by shot of an acreage property; [12] Interior decorating in the work office; [13] The dash of my car; [14] Turkish Delight; [15] The fish tank; [16] Max, asleep as usual