Time for a major update!

Well we've had a busy few days and made a LOT of progress but before I update you all I want to answer a few questions from the comments made on the blog... so here goes:

• Penny :) I'm so pleased to hear you've been inspired to start on your bathroom!! I hope you enjoy your D.I.Y. project as much as I am!
• Ilka :) Thank you so much for all your comments!! I love how enthusiastic you are and Krystal loved her praise too!!
• Jenny :) I've had a little bit of practice with the Numeracy Project a couple of years ago but this is my first time working in the senior primary area.
• Janine :) Did I really need the gym workout??? Sure did!!! This physical work definitely increases the appetite LOL Plus I've found the gym workouts give me so much more energy and a HUGE upside is that I've had no trouble with my back during this whole project which is super cool!!!
• Irene :) Yep it's definitely satisfying doing these kinds of projects and we've been making lists of further 'weekend projects' to keep us busy over the coming months LOL
• Kirstin :) I'm teaching Year 5 & 6 this year. Thanks heaps for the offer to pick your brains about Maths because it's not really my strength!
• And last (but definitely not least!!!) Thank you Hannah for all your positive words of encouragement and support!!! I hope you're having a great time with your family and enjoying some much needed rest!

Right on with the update! On Saturday night we did do the first coat of sealer on the concrete but unfortunately it didn't work quite the way Dave had hoped! His plan was to did some soft brooms in the sealer and brush it on... sounded like a great idea to me until I noticed that we'd been through nearly half a tin a sealer in a matter of minutes so it was out with the 4 inch paint brush and on hands an knees for ME... because we only had one big brush!!! We got it done though and it looked great! Next morning I get woken up at 7am (Sunday morning sleep ins are a thing of the past around here!!!) to be told... "you better get that second coat of sealer on if you want it done"... so I was out with the 4 inch brush again! And how long does it take to do EACH coat of sealer on 3.6 metres of concrete??? 90 minutes each time!!! Mum reckons I'm either dedicated or insane... Thanks Mum... I'll go for dedicated thank you LOL

I'm super happy with the finished result and it's going to be really easy to keep it clean too :)Yesterday we had a real 'go ahead' day... I got some more batons stained... and these were the worst ones in my opinion because I do not like heights and these ones had me hanging on!!!Once that was done Dave got into building the first part of the new fence!!! We painted one side of each pailing and put that up facing the neighbours place so they get an instant new fence... I have to admit it looks pretty good from her side!And Krystal got busy staining more fence pailings too!Plus as you can see on the trailer we picked up some top soil, new live pungas, and shredded bark. I also bought some lovely new plants :) I got two coats of stain on the new fence after Dave was finished and got the capping stained (love that charcoal colour!) but it was a bit late to get a good photo so I took one first thing this morning! I love how it's turning out!!!Which brings us up to today! For those of you who remember when this happened... way back on the first day!!!Dave fixed it up this morning and it looks great now! (We've still got to do the long side of the wall but at least this one is done!)Dave got busy digging out some of the soil from behind the pungas because it's had all sorts of things over it... concrete spray, acid wash etc and I knew that nothing would grow in there!Then we recycled some of the old fence pailings by staining them and using them to cover up the back of the concrete. Plus we put some more in directly behind the pungas to hold the new garden :)Then it was in with some new top soil!

Then Dave and Krystal went down to get some more fence nails and I got busy weed matting, planting and spreading out bark... and Miss Mikayla took a sneaky photo!!! Gee Mum you've got them both catching me out now!!!I'm really happy with how the garden turned out and it's going to be super low maintenance! I've been watering the pungas too so I'm hoping they get some new fronds on them over the coming months.Once that was done Dave got underway with building the fence. I stained the pailings with two coats before he nailed them up so that I wouldn't have to try and paint them from the other side and it looks great! Then it was just a quick trim along the top with the saw and it was ready for staining on the patio side!It's a bit hard case when you're trying to build and stain a fence at the same time but somehow we seem to manage it. So far I've done a first coat on two of the sections and tomorrow I'm going to do the third section and then give them all a second coat reading for capping!Other things on the agenda tomorrow include buying Mikayla's school uniform because she's off to high school this year! I've also got to do the stationery shopping but luckily they've both got their lists of requirements. Time is definitely flying!!! Krystal starts school on Thursday, Mikaya starts on Friday and I've got Teacher-only day on Friday as well and then we officially open on Monday. The last few weeks have really flown by but this project has been awesome and we're getting a huge amount of satisfaction from seeing all our hard work finally paying off!

Thanks again to everyone for all your comments!!! It's so nice to hear what everyone has to say... and I promise to get some comments of my own on your blogs just as soon as I can!!