The Great Flood

Last week, I can't remember which day, but I was driving home from work and I thought "ow what a great sky, I am sure it is going to look awesome from the portico". So I called my Mum and asked her to grab the camera, as my one in the mobile is broken (see below).

I hit the Oran Park/Gregory Hills intersection on Cowpasture Road and it is raining. I call home and ask about the rain. My Mum says it's pouring and she wants to show me something when I get out of the car.

I get home and OMG:

The sky was lovely.


But because the block out the back sits higher, the rain rushed down to my backyard and down the sides of the house. It also came from the side neighbours backyard as her landscaping isn't complete yet but because of the way Allworth excavated my block, it just...


Pooled around the house. The water tank is on the back wall.


And at worst it was above my ankles. I'm wearing my gumboots, which come up to my knees.


My Mum reported this to a Mirvac SS the next day, and he said he is going to look into it.

Christmas tree and ceiling lights

After salvaging the tree from my Grandmother's house, despite still being November, it was decided to put it up instead of it staying in the box and cluttering the garage, which still isn't empty.

It sits in the loungeroom in the corner where the lamp was in a previous pic.


The light fittings came from Bunnings as a DIY product because I couldn't be bothered with downlights. Maybe in future it might bug me but right now I'm happy with these. There are 2, 3, and 4 light bars around the common areas of the house. If you pick something similar, look at how the lamp and shade go together as this has a spring inside that, when the lamp is clicked in place, holds the skirt - massive pain, so I am hoping the globes don't blow out quickly.

Lounge and Family Room

Lounge:

The glass in the tv unit is going to have a film put on it to make it opaque, really its just storage.



There is still a coffee table and lamp tables to come.


Family room:

Same deal for the glass as above.


The mirror is yet to be hung. And something has to be figured out for the tall cane vase. Where the white box is- the fish tank will go on that stand.

Bedrooms

My bedroom.


My Mum's bedroom (I think she had lighting envy, lol).


Mind you we both have so many quilt cover sets, so who knows what next month will bring.

Blinds, screens, bins and antenna.

The flyscreens, screen doors and blinds are from Wynstan Narellan. They were prepared to give a quote many weeks ago based on the window schedule with no hassle compared to some others. Pricing I think is pretty much on par as it depends on the quality of the selections.

The laundry door and sliding door is a diamond grill known as Bev. The front door is Crim-safe, so it is nothing other than a frame and mesh. I'm impressed that the laundry door is hung the way it is as the internal door swings onto a wall, but the backyard is to the right in the pic, so there is no struggling with laundry, unlike the internal garage door.


The bins were a welcome addition. This required completing a form for Camden Council and taking it with the interim occupancy certificate in for submission. And they were dropped of two days later.


The antenna came from Dragon One in Campbelltown. I find it funny that it gets the south coast channels. Also going to have points installed in the bedrooms with the tv's mounted on the walls or from the ceiling as appropriate.

How to get rid of packing boxes for free

Off Richardson Road, Spring Farm, there is a facility called the Macarthur Resource Recovery Centre, otherwise known as Jack's Gully. Like a normal tip there is a fee, but if you have seperated recycling you can dispose of it for free. I got rid of a third of the boxes that were used to move in with, but it was raining and so I didn't get to read the full sign properly. From what I read though this includes plastics, paint tins, gas bottles, etc but not foam or building materials.

Also they sell mulch, so this is useful to know.

I'm going back and hopefully will get better info, but they are open every day until 4pm, during the week opening at 6am and 8am on the weekend, closed on public holidays and the like.

I figure if there is one in the Macarthur district there are others out there, so google it.

Moved In, after removalist problems.

Over the last three days, my Mum and I moved in and things have happened to complete the house. One of my best friends was lovely and came and stayed with us from Friday night and returned home yesterday, as she lives a few hours away. One of my Mum's brothers and his wife also came and helped with some flat pack stuff and unpacking on Saturday morning.

The floors were finished last week with the carpet installed due to a traffic accident at Moorebank holding up the Lockwood team, so the carpet was installed on Thursday morning.

New furniture and beds were delivered on Thursday and Friday, and most of the flat pack stuff was assembled by myself and my best friend over the weekend, well except for the glass disaply cabinet from Ikea, which will stay in its box pending the spot it will be sitting in being emptied after all the boxes being removed. I love having a cordless power drill as this made assembly easier where a screwdriver was needed. The one I bought was under $40 from Bunnings, took 5 hours to charge, as per the instructions, and was a ripper.

Without changing the ongoing challenges, Saturday was the day a removalist was booked for 12pm to collect and transport all our stuff from the old place to the new. They called to say they were running late and would arrive at 3pm. They called again to reschedule for Sunday 9am.

Twenty past 9, no show. I called and they said they were having problems contacting the guys on the road. 10am, still no removalists, so I tried to call again - but they blocked my call!!! My friend tried from her mobile, tried from the house phone, got my Mum to try, and all to no avail. Just a message saying "the number you are calling is unavailble - please try again later". Thanks Telstra lady.

So I jumped online and contacted a few different companies, who said they don't work Sunday's or were booked. About half a dozen later I contacted A2A Removals, advertised as available 7 days, two men and a truck up to 10 tonne. They were FANTASTIC - eager to have the work, booked me in straight away, charged $65 per hour plus a fuel surcharge for Spring Farm, and in total was $325 cash in hand for just over 3 hours work. I would absolutely recommend them as they took great care, were happy to move everything I asked no matter shape and size, and made every effort to put things exactly where I wanted them after. Call them on 9789 2688.

Appliances installed Monday morning, and that went smoothly. I am very impressed with the alarm system, which I can switch on and off with the same remote for the garage doors.

After a weekend of rain, the yard is a mud pit so this morning I ducked off to Bunnings and grabbed some 300 x 300 pavers for $3.54 each and dropped them a step apart, making a path from the kerb to the front door. The guys from Wynstan arrived and I left them with my Mum installing the screens and blinds.

Pictures to come as the phone and net aren't in until Thursday. No TV until tomorrow as there is no reception. Waiting to hear about the driveway as the application is with Council. Still negotiating with the neighbours about fencing as I want all 3 sides done at the one time, but two neighbours are still works in progress, so this means negotiating with Mirvac too, but as a whole heaps of homes are within months of completion I am aiming to get a lot of the street on-side for one fencer and have it all done at once.