Moving back in

The last week or so of July was an intensely busy and stressful time for us .... Rod's house went on the market which involved us in lots of paperwork and hands on action getting the house in top condition. We also moved Rod into his new home at Aranda (aged care) on Monday 28 July which involved doing hours of finance planning and analysis alongside some very stressful decision making and more paperwork. On some days we just wished this phase of this unexpected year could be over!!

But, in the meantime, our Coogee reno is finished - and thankfully, (and joyfully) we were able to move back in last week - over 5 very wet, windy and cold winter days in Sydney.

We achieved so much in these 5 days - doing a complete clean and unpack, ordering (and having installed) new kitchen blinds and getting a sleek new fridge delivered. We are so thrilled with the outcome and grateful to neighbour Greg who oversaw and managed the whole 4 and a half month long project along with his team of talented tradies. We think it all looks beautiful - and we could not be happier with our new Coogee apartment!

As a final surprise Greg restored the brass doorknob on the bathroom door to its original glory for us - a sign of the old alongside the brand new.

We've worked out its been over seven years since we've been truly "at home" in our Coogee apartment. We moved everything out in April 2018 so we could rent it for a few years (and use the rental income to fund this renovation). We ended up renting it for longer than intended due to all the pandemic lockdowns in 2020 -2021, so it wasn't until September 2022 that our tenants moved out and we could move back in - ready to get the planned renovations underway as soon as possible. 

That didn't happen as it turned out as 2023 was a crazy year for finding available tradesmen and building materials, and our builder Greg had a serious workplace accident and was out of action for MONTHS. By 2024 we all got distracted by the disruptions (and damage) caused by our major window replacement project and Greg's own bathroom renovation in the unit next door. 

After all these delays it almost came as a shock when Greg announced he was ready to start our job at the beginning of this year. So its been a full seven and a half years since we've been able to really think of our little Coogee place as "home". It's been nice to zhoosh up our other rooms in the apartment as part of the process too.

In amongst our stressful days leading up to the 28th (and Rod's move to Aranda) our zygocactus plants in the winter garden decided to have their best flowering season in as many years. They are such hardy plants.  Hopefully its a sign of better times ahead for all of us. 

July break

We were lucky enough to share the weekend in Coogee with the young ones - the last weekend of the July school holidays - a welcome break from wintry Canberra for us and all the difficult things we've been doing related to Rod's affairs.

We drove down early on Friday morning and Ella was able to come with us. It's always a great way to start a beautiful weekend in Coogee with her..... lunch at the Coogee Bay Hotel.....its our tradition! 

.... and a walk after - just to catch the beach vibe!

We also got our first view of recent progress with the reno on our apartment. We could not be more thrilled with how it looks and the standard of work that Greg and his team have achieved for us. It all looks truly amazing! We could not fault a thing.

The job is 99% complete now - we're just waiting on the glass shower screen, the final silicone finish around the bath and new skirting boards for the kitchen. We intend to head back up to Coogee next week and "move back in" - unpack all our boxes, clean up the remaining dust and have the joy of living in our beautiful "new" apartment. We are so excited about doing all that! 

Josh, Jody and Abi got to Sydney around 10pm on Friday, but they were all set to go on Saturday morning - ready to tackle our favourite walk again, the 4klm coastal path from Coogee to Bondi Beach.

All the beaches along the way looked stunning under the clarity of our bright winter skies.

Gordon's Bay......

Clovelly......

Heading to Bronte.......

Tamarama........

..... and rounding the bend to Iceberg's at Bondi Beach .......

Bondi was pumping, as always. There was even an ice skating rink set up on the beachfront (weird??)

We always head for the Bondi Hotel for lunch at the end of these walks - another family tradition!

Dinner together on Saturday night is always pretty special too. We didn't have to go far this time - to La Spaggia on Coogee Bay Road, a five minute walk from our accommodation...... Coogee's oldest Italian restaurant and an absolute classic.

It got our seal of approval.

.. and Yo-Chi for dessert for the girls later ... a popular choice

We celebrated Sunday with a lunch together at Cabramatta before heading back to Canberra in time to catch a spectacular sunset around Goulburn. Now our apartment is habitable again we are so looking forward to more time back in Coogee and sharing more of these wonderful times with the young ones in the future..... 

As a side note to July I finished my first patchwork quilted project at last. A long time in the making, it's going to do service as a sofa cover for our Coogee apartment - hopefully strong enough to withstand lots of couch time after all our beach and walking activities. I learnt a lot with this project - not sure if i would embark on another - but rewarding to solve all the challenges and get it finished!

More of the same, and a big birthday

There's been a lot of progress with the Coogee reno over the past week or so. The new kitchen and bathroom vanity were delivered to the apartment on the 1st July and installed the next day. It looks good to us in the pictures Greg sent. Can't wait to see it in reality!

Do you remember what it looked like at the start of all this? (Pic taken on the 14th March before demolition started at the end of March)

We have a new pantry too (not too wide, not too deep either!)

The new bathroom vanity .......

This picture was sent through today. The new cornice is in place and Joey has finished the painting in the kitchen. The stone bench top and splash backs will be installed at the end of this week and then the plumber and electrician will fit all the appliances, sink and tap off. Then finito!!!

And more pics sent through today ....... Greg and the plumber have installed the long delayed bath, and fitted the tapware and toilet. The vanity basin and tapware will have to wait until the end of the week when the stone top goes on the vanity.

Luckily that bath tap swings out of the way when not in use.

Back in Canberra we had Claire's milestone birthday to celebrate on Sunday night, with a happy family get together. In one of the biggest years we've had in a while with a lot of grief and stress it was great to get together and celebrate a big birthday with these special people. The fact it was the start of school holidays gave (some of) us an extra reason to feel happier than usual on a Sunday night

Ella always has a funny story up her sleeve ........ that Abi and Angus can always find a rif off - it's very entertaining!

We spent the afternoon before at Freshford with Abi, helping to prepare Sammy for his 3 event show at Equestrian Park the following day. Abi trimmed his mane......

.... and i helped her do the required braiding. This is the result - which Abi was happy with - although Sammy doesn't look as impressed with it in this pic. Please note all the chopped pieces of his mane on the ground.

Sammy and Abi came second in their grade on the day. Even Sammy looked impressed with their prize rosette in this pic. Their best event is cross country which both Abi and Sammy LOVE competing in!

Then for a complete change Rob and I spent a few hours at the National Gallery today - enjoying a talk and viewing of the Cezanne to Giacometti exhibition from the  Museum Berggruen in Berlin. Highlights for us were seeing the Cezanne collection, the amazing works by Paul Klee and a room full of Picassos. In between the stressful hours we spend sorting out the bureaucratic requirements of taking over Rod's admin as he enters aged care, under the watchful eyes of the NSW Trustee and Guardian and Centrelink (Aged Care) its wonderful to find these times of pure joy in our life.