Well it is crazy to think it is already the 22 Jan. We had a quiet Christmas just the two of us and even managed a couple of nights at Bluespur. We have also had some visitors over the holiday period which was awesome. First was Annie for a night and New Years with Helen & Bill (and Betty) then Brian & Jude for a couple of nights and lastly Dorian came over for a night. It was lovely to see them all and show them some Blackball hospitality. In between we have been busy carrying on with the house and have made huge progress. After the long stint of rain before Christmas it has been sunny and hot since. We are loving the great weather but it does make it hard working outside. Not that we are complaining – well not much lol.

The photos tell the story of our progress. This last week the 2nd floor framing arrived and we had the majority of the framing up by the end of the day. Smithy was back to help get the framing up and we also had Neil as another pair of hands which we needed as there were some big frames.

Being 2 storey some of the internal ply is bracing ply. Having lived through earthquakes (and we seem to moving closer to fault lines each time) we want to make sure the house is robust. With the framing just about all in place we can now really visualize our new home. The views from the 2nd floor are amazing and Al of course has designed the house to make the most of the views in every direction.

The next step is to get the concrete paths and patios down so we can get the scaffold up to start on the roof. In between we will continue with the internal and external cladding and also do some paid work and attend ambulance calls. Until next time – Margie & Al