Really happening

It's been a while since the last post on this blog, but there is plenty to report!  The cottage is progressing well, and it is tantalisingly close to us being able to move in.  The huge difference now is that the verandahs are on!  And the front door is in place, although it still needs some trim around it.  And the ceiling is lined, ready for painting.  Some of the painting outside is finished, mainly the two sides.  The front and back still need some work.

I am very happy indeed with how it's looking!  I really like the colours that we have chosen, including the trim.  The outside is Dulux Hog Bristle. I have planned and dreamed about this project for a long time, and it's fantastic to see it becoming reality, and looking very much as I had imagined.

The weather wasn't great today for photos, very changeable and stormy, but anyway this is the back of the cottage, looking westish.  We plan to eat many of our meals at a table on this verandah, and of course, the barbecue will be here too.  The view from this verandah is looking straight at Girraween National Park, and no civilisation in sight!!

This is the lounge room, and the front door.  I'm really happy with how it is now, but it will be even better once it's painted too!  We're doing the walls Hog Bristle half strength, and the ceiling, including the rafters, Antique White.  We have a beaut fireplace and hearth ready to go in here too, and with weather like today (8°C) we may still need it!


So, that's the cottage, and I am incredibly excited about it!  I did some mowing in our 'front yard' today too, ie what you see when you step out onto the front verandah.  It took me at least two weeks of really hard work getting the grass down in this area when we first came home.  Now that it's down it only took me the morning to completely mow it, and it looks superb!!  Unfortunately no photos as I had to quit early due to a thunderstorm.  I'll take some in the days to come.  There is still a lot of long grass in the general vicinity of the cottage, and as I mentioned previously I can now tackle this in bite-size chunks, but it is very reassuring to know that the part that is mown is very easy to look after.  Mention should be made of my current favourite 'toy', my John Deere lawn tractor, without which I just couldn't manage this.  There's almost nothing I like better than mowing with Big John!!


Many of our overseas friends have the impression that Australia is a land teeming with snakes, spiders, crocodiles etc., which we usually dispel as being a myth.  Well, I have to report that within an hour of starting work again on Whistlestop I had a fairly close encounter with a snake!  It was either a harmless grass snake, or a baby big bitey snake, I didn't stop to find out!


The Trainbarn has been simmering on the back-burner for a while, as getting into the cottage takes precedence, but perhaps needless to say there has been a fairly steady stream of trains arriving for the various layouts and displays, mostly courtesy of eBay!  I'll post some photos in the days to come.


I look at the cottage taking shape, the beautiful property that it is on, all the plans and hopes for the trains at Whistlestop, even my current part-time work situation, and really, I have to pinch myself to believe it is real!  It is just so good!  Combined with the other aspects of my life, particularly our three daughters all leading very successful and interesting lives, and I just feel incredibly blessed.