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Zep
Incredible Member (2000+ posts)
2298 Posts
Gratitude: 536
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 Posted - 02/24/2008 : 12:23:18
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Once upon a time, many years ago, Zep and her husband, K., decided to buy a nice piece of land and build their own house on it. It was such a simple plan....
This is part of our land. (It looks better in the Wet season.)
Zep.
Madness is merely a state of mind. |
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| Zep
Incredible Member (2000+ posts)
2298 Posts
Gratitude: 536
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Posted - 02/24/2008 : 12:25:33
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Our land has hills and ridges, paddocks and creeks. Here is one of our creeks...which, three weeks ago was a raging torrent, two metres across, complete with white water!!
Z.
Madness is merely a state of mind. |
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| Zep
Incredible Member (2000+ posts)
2298 Posts
Gratitude: 536
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Posted - 02/24/2008 : 12:30:36
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When I say "build our own house", I mean build with our own hands, in my case, violinist's hands which had never before wielded anything rougher than a freshly-rosinned bow!
Here we are, me specifically, preparing rock hard ground for the laying of the concrete slab...Be impressed, be very impressed!  I couldn't do it now!
Zep.
Madness is merely a state of mind. |
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| Zep
Incredible Member (2000+ posts)
2298 Posts
Gratitude: 536
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Posted - 02/24/2008 : 13:20:09
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We had decided on a kit home with a steel frame (cyclones!)...this was a compromise because I wanted to renovate an old-style highset Queenslander, and K. wanted to make his own mud bricks (god, we'd still be building!!!). So the kit had to be delivered, and, as we were nearly half a kilometre from the public road up on a hill, we had to have a driveway bulldozed....here it is...
Zep.
PS This is the stretch that I now use for power-walking!
Madness is merely a state of mind. |
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| Zep
Incredible Member (2000+ posts)
2298 Posts
Gratitude: 536
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Posted - 02/24/2008 : 13:28:24
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This, of course, was the absolute climax of the whole building experience for me. The excitement and anticipation of the kit being delivered....the hired crane standing by...the truck managing to squeeze between our gateposts...then this. As the crane swung the crate off the truck it didn't quite clear the truck tray...lo and behold! As the crane twisted and buckled in slow motion, I was screaming to the driver 'get out, get out!' because I could see the cabin beginning to buckle. He threw himself out just in time, so no one was injured. Then we had police, insurance reps, loss adjusters, truck companies... Finally the whole thing was salvaged, after a week of not knowing whether or not we had a house! As it turned out, the only damage was three broken windows...a credit to the packing!
Zep.
Madness is merely a state of mind. |
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| davidt
Super Incredible Member (10000+ posts)
82944 Posts
Gratitude: 2519
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Posted - 02/24/2008 : 17:27:26
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Unlike you two .....
I have to make do with more modest circumstances!
Congrats on this new blog Zep.
Cheers, David
We can change more than we think ... but less than we'd like too .... Do you agree? |
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| Zep
Incredible Member (2000+ posts)
2298 Posts
Gratitude: 536
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Posted - 02/24/2008 : 19:02:45
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Thank you, David. What magnificent photos, storm! You are rightly proud of your home. And don't we make a contrast - you with snow and ice, and me with dust and heat! 
Zep.
Madness is merely a state of mind. |
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| Zep
Incredible Member (2000+ posts)
2298 Posts
Gratitude: 536
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Posted - 02/25/2008 : 14:38:03
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So, we picked the house up, dusted it off, and started to put it together....
Madness is merely a state of mind. |
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| Zep
Incredible Member (2000+ posts)
2298 Posts
Gratitude: 536
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Posted - 02/25/2008 : 14:39:48
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With this particular kit design, we had to have the whole frame together within a day - in order for it to be solid....
Madness is merely a state of mind. |
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| Zep
Incredible Member (2000+ posts)
2298 Posts
Gratitude: 536
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Posted - 02/25/2008 : 14:40:51
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Finally finished!
Madness is merely a state of mind. |
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| Zep
Incredible Member (2000+ posts)
2298 Posts
Gratitude: 536
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Posted - 02/26/2008 : 06:19:49
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lol Thanks stranger...it's not quite finished yet....
Zep.
Madness is merely a state of mind. |
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| Zep
Incredible Member (2000+ posts)
2298 Posts
Gratitude: 536
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Posted - 02/26/2008 : 14:15:32
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While we built the house (which ultimately took MONTHS!!), we lived in a - shudder - caravan! Now, I am NOT a camping sort of person - this was serious torture for me. This is a picture of the "Amenities Block" which involved a tin shed and lots of wire. It was like an oven in summer, and you were sweaty before you even stepped out of the "shower". I have omitted one item from the picture, mainly because I cannot bear to think about it....even now, 16 years later! It was called a "Porta-Potty" - I think that says it all! There were numerous unpleasant incidents relating to this shed, but the worst was having a shower one day, and finding not one, but a whole nest of Redback spiders in my towel. Mother and offspring were unhappy about being distubed, and it was fortunate that we had no near neighbours as I dropped the towel and ran, screaming and naked, through the paddock! (I was insect-phobic at the time...something which I have had to overcome!)
Zep.
Madness is merely a state of mind. |
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| Zep
Incredible Member (2000+ posts)
2298 Posts
Gratitude: 536
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Posted - 02/26/2008 : 14:17:35
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Next, the cladding....(It was coming up to the Dry season - very cold overnight).
Madness is merely a state of mind. |
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| Zep
Incredible Member (2000+ posts)
2298 Posts
Gratitude: 536
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Posted - 02/26/2008 : 14:34:34
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The cladding was finished in the nick of time before the Dry season, aka Bushfire season!.
Madness is merely a state of mind. |
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| Zep
Incredible Member (2000+ posts)
2298 Posts
Gratitude: 536
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Posted - 02/26/2008 : 14:37:26
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Although this fire was only a little 'un, it was a bit terrifying for me as it was the closest I had ever been to a bushfire....not only that, but I was expected to help *fight* it!! (No fire brigade out here, it's DIY). We have fires through nearly every year, but we've learned to deal with them...get the kids out, get the animals out, watch the wind, etc.
Madness is merely a state of mind. |
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| Zep
Incredible Member (2000+ posts)
2298 Posts
Gratitude: 536
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Posted - 02/26/2008 : 14:39:02
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The house was not completely finished (painted, etc) until the Wet season, as can be seen by the sky....
Whadyareckon? :)
Madness is merely a state of mind. |
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The House that Zep Built....
