A lot going on

This has felt like one of the busiest times we've had in a long while, with major renovations underway in Coogee and minor (but disruptive) works going on here in Canberra too. And we were without a computer at crucial times this month, which was especially stressful at the strata approval stage of proceedings with the Coogee reno. 

We have a new computer now but the hours required to update everything and get used to the new platform has certainly added to the fun this past month. Despite all this Autumn is a beautiful time in Canberra and we've been able to enjoy regular seasonal pleasures too like the French Film Festival offerings, and all the usual (enjoyable) busyness of our lives. There's been a lot going on!

Things started gently with the delivery of a new armchair in mid March......

..... and a new dining table a day or so after. Its not too different from our old one - just a lot bigger. We can even fit 10 people around this one at a pinch - very suited to our big family gatherings!

Much more major was the resurfacing of our marble bench tops in our kitchen, a process that took over a week counting the coordination of various trades involved. The cooktop was removed on the 26 March and things weren't back to being usable again until the 4 April - a very long 10 days in total.

For the duration - this was our "kitchen" set up. Let me tell you there wasn't much cooking going on here.

I found time for some crafty work in amongst all this. The Shibori dyeing I tried didn't look right made into a cushion cover - so I made it into a tote bag instead... cushions to coordinate with the distinctive claret red of our new armchair will have to wait!

But the hugest thing that has been happening in the past month (starting around the 27th March) has been getting our Coogee renovations underway at last! After a two and a half year delay it happened quite suddenly in the end. Our builder gave us the word that he was ready to start (surprise surprise) in early March. From then it was a mad rush to get by-laws drafted, plans finalised and get strata approval, involving a massive amount of paperwork and quite a convoluted process to follow. Somehow we managed to do all that in world record breaking time (12 days total) - but only after a huge, stressful effort on our part!

This is my last pic of our old Coogee kitchen ......

And this is how the kitchen looked last week when we visited: ceiling taken down, reinforcing beams in place, "nib" wall taken down, kitchen cupboards removed. The room already looks a lot bigger!

This is my last pic of our old Coogee bathroom....

...... and this is how it looked last week with EVERYTHING removed.

Tonnes and tonnes of dirt, dust and debris (100 years worth) came along with all this destruction. Our wonderful builder screened off the rest of our apartment to protect it from the deluge. ..... and it's worked, bless him! (we checked).

We spent a lot of our visit to Coogee last week in Harvey Norman at Alexandria - selecting tapware, hardware, mirrors, baths, basins, toilets and appliances. It was mind blowing to have so much choice (too much!). But after two days of concerted effort we got everything selected (spending many dollars in the process!)

We stayed at the lovely old Royal Randwick Hotel and managed to squeeze in some early morning walks around our 'hood as a break from all the reno planning.

On the way back to Canberra on Friday we stopped off at our fave Pool Cafe in Maroubra for lunch and made a vow to make a return visit the beautiful Mahon Pool (in front of the cafe) sometime soon!

In our busy weeks we've still been able to take Abi out for her evening visit to Sammy most Mondays. We love doing this with her and Sammy - and admiring the progress  this pair are making together. 

Joshy sent us this pic of the fam at the Yass Show in mid-March. The young ones really are a full blown horsey family now!!

Sammy shares his lovely home with mobs of kangaroos.

We haven't been able to keep up some things as well as we used to. We don't do as many lake walks, we haven't walked up Mt Ainslie at all this year and our morning weight sessions are a bit erratic. It's always good though when we can get out walking. This is a beautiful walking city, and it will be good when we can get back into it.

Rod has been at the Uni of Canberra Rehab Hospital for 48 days now. He has made great progress physically and is now walking unaided and conversing better. Just under two weeks ago he sent his first text unaided (and made sure the spelling was correct) - a big step for Rod and for us. We visit Rod most days and we're looking after his garden and Rob is managing his finances. It all takes time. 

Like I said there is a lot going on here.