Eucalyptus Country

Late last year we got some quoting done for flooring in our garage. Most people don’t bother with flooring in there – after all, it’s the room where you just keep your cars and crap that you don’t want messing up your house right? It’s usually hot as hell, filled with dust and spiders and if you feel motivated, you’ll sweep it out once or twice a year….probably at a time that coincides with a free tipping day at the landfill. So why would you bother with flooring when it’s a room that you don’t like to spend time in?

The reason why we decided to get the flooring done in there was mainly because it makes the room look so much neater and it looks uber cool when everyone else has plain boring concrete! The flooring is from Flexico, installed by the very groovy Dave who is very passionate about his product. If not for the home show I begrudgingly went to last year, I wouldn’t have even known about the stuff. He had a display there of all the different types of flooring and we were pretty much sold on it before we even got the quote. For a very spesh garage floor like mine, you’ll need to set aside around $3k for a double garage, including delivery and installation.

Easy maintenance – vacuum once or twice a year and if you spill something, just pick up the tile, clean up the mess and put it back down again. Or even easier still, you can hose the entire garage out and be done with it. The type we have gotten is RibTrax….it almost looks like a checker board on some angles. It comes in all colours of the rainbow and you can design incredible patterns with it, as Dave would say, for extra groovy appeal. As it happens, we thought we would go for something a bit more conservative and have one straight line down the middle. No more hogging of the garage – he has his side, I have mine.

Pretty noice I think!

At the old house, we had a faithful hot water system which was solar with electrical backup. While it did the job in summer, we had to frequently use electricity backup to keep the hot water coming in winter or prolonged rainy weather. The bright sparks who built the place put the booster switch outside in the meter box so every time it needed to be turned on and off, someone had to go out and remember to do it. I remember a lot of cold showers as a result of that booster switch not being flicked on the night before.

Consequently, I was rather grateful to have a gas hot water system here. No more running out in my PJs or dressing gown to flip a switch and having to wait for ages until it warmed up. No more cold showers. But since we weren’t needing the roof space for a solar hot water system, we figured we might as well put some solar PV panels up there instead.

Solar technology isn’t exactly new but it’s not exactly common either, probably due to the cost of a decent sized system. The government has been running grants to get more people on the solar bandwagon which might increase its popularity. The size system we have is large enough to offset our power usage entirely and on a fairly clear sunny day, we are feeding excess back into the grid. Essentially it will mean a negative power bill – it’s a win for us and a win for the environment. The only downside is that when it gets incredibly hot, the panels aren’t as efficient even if they are still in direct sunlight. Of course, if it is very overcast, they won’t produce as much either.

It was one of the first things we had done after handover in late September but today has been the first day I’ve popped out to see the finished product glittering in the afternoon sun. The entire process only took two weeks from quote to installation. In terms of customer service, I can’t recommend Infinity Solar highly enough – they are certainly one of the most efficient businesses we have been involved with recently. It’s not exactly cheap to get done but even a basic system such as those funded by the grant will help offset your power bill. It’s certainly a worthwhile investment in my eyes and I would love to see it become more mainstream.

I will not speak of the retaining wall for a while, I promise. This is the first year in a while that I haven’t set myself a challenge to complete throughout the year. The 365 self portrait doesn’t take my fancy in the slightest and I’m not sure I’m up for another 52 Blessings. Perhaps 52 Things That Really Piss Me Off would be more to my liking this year – in which case consider the last post the first in a series of similar rants.

I might not have anything much to look at outside right now but the inside is really starting to come together. We finally have timber shutters on all our windows (except one that got forgotten and is yet to be done, long story), we have curtains up over the sliding doors and finally, it is starting to feel just that little bit more like home – rather than a house we have moved into and yet to put our mark on.

We’re even having a crack at indoor plants! We got one as a gift at Christmas time and not to be asymmetrical, picked another one up shortly afterwards. So far the cats have behaved themselves and not decimated either the foliage or the flowers. They haven’t even knocked the pots off or even shown any interest in getting up there at all. Mind you, it took them a few years to be interested in the Christmas tree and it has since been conquered, so I’m not holding my breath…

But lately, I am getting just that little bit sick of it.

We’ve been waiting for a few months to get our retaining wall done and the rain makes it just that little bit more difficult. Of course, if they had finished it when they were supposed to, we wouldn’t have to worry about the rain being a problem. That’s another matter altogether….

So long as it keeps raining, we will be whistling dixie to get it finished. Fortunately, we haven’t had as much rain as we have had in recent weeks today so the “creek” beside the house isn’t as full as it usually is. Even with a small of rain, this is what happens.  The amount of rain we have had means that the soil can’t absorb any more water. It is at maximum capacity, so it just sits on the surface to be evaporated by the sun. And when the sun comes out, the water is a perfect breeding ground for bacteria, mosquitoes and who knows what else.

People keep telling me to think of the finished product, so I’ll just have to keep imagining it for a bit longer to keep from going  absolutely stir crazy. After a few months though, that image of how it will look is fast fading in my mind’s eye.

It’s not exactly noice is it?

Almost a month ago, I was staring down the barrel of a whole month off from work. Sure I was looking forward to the break but I was hoping to get a lot of work done at the house while we had our time off. I had the best intentions of having the retaining walls done, plants in, fence up, turf down, clothes line installed, garage kitted out, curtains and shutters installed and hopefully the start of some landscaping along our very long driveway.

Back to work for us both on Monday and the retaining wall is only half finished. It is looking good though and I’m hoping that by the time it is finished, we can say that it was worth the wait. There are two to be done,  one fully along the service side of our house which will be part terraced (left and middle) and the other in the main part of our backyard near the alfresco (right).

Because the retaining is so extensive and covers a large portion of the property, we haven’t been able to do much more. I am a little disappointed that we couldn’t get as much done as I hoped but the best laid plans tend to fall in a heap at times. At least we do have our one little patch of garden finished, although I think it needs something….maybe a budda or some other garden statue in the corner. I’m keeping my eye out for something just right.