First of August

It's been a while since the last post, as I've been away with work.  Little or no progress at the 'barn, although all the plasterboard and insulation have been delivered ready to finish-off the main area.  Over to the builders now!  

What is significant about today- the first day of August- is that it was 25 years ago on this day that we 'settled' on the purchase of this piece of land!  The story about how we came to buy this block is a long and rather amazing one, too long to re-tell here.  Suffice to say we are still absolutely thrilled that we can be the custodians of this block for a period of time.

We actually came up for a weekend prior to settlement, as at the time we were just about to head off as a family on a big adventure.  We needed somewhere to store a few of the 'treasures' that I had accumulated over the years and so we obtained permission from the (absent) owners to visit and drop off some things a couple of weeks before taking ownership.

Here are some photos from an old 'sticky' album of that visit, the very first time.  I brought a little mower and mowed a small patch by the front dam, and we set up our old tent for the girls to play and rest in.

The road is in the background.  Our youngest daughter, seen here on the rug, is of course now 25!

The two older girls sitting on the dam wall.  On the trailer is a 2 foot gauge Cane Inspectors 'car', which I regret to report remains unrestored.

For comparison, here are a couple of more recent photos of this front area.

There is still a lot of work to do on this front area before it's a fitting entry to the Trainbarn.  Getting there though!  The area at the back/top of the property where we now live was utterly inaccessible at this early stage.  It was only quite a while later that we ventured into 'the bush' and discovered the beautiful ridge where our cottage now stands.

The 'Title Deeds' for land now are boring computer printouts, but we were fortunate when we bought this block that a reasonably old 'proper' title was bestowed on us at settlement.  It only dates from 1941, so an earlier one must have existed, perhaps prior to the block being divided up from something much bigger.  We subsequently bought the block next door as well, when it came up for sale.

This now hangs proudly in my office, hence the window reflection. 

This property- 'The Land' as it used to be known, has been and is a fantastic blessing to us as a family.  For me it is absolutely a dream come true, as I had always wanted to do this sort of thing since I was a child.  Now I'm a bigger child, playing with bigger toys!!  Long may it continue!