A lot has happened in the last couple of weeks… It has mostly been finishing touches which is the best part.

Hot tub tiles

The hot tub is now complete! Well when I say complete I have not filled it with water yet or connected the pump but I have to say it looks pretty good. This was a part of the project I wasn’t sure that would happen due to budget constraints but I thought if we didn’t do it now then it would never happen.

Almost complete

Most of the work has been focused in the back of the house at present as I wanted to get all the dirty jobs out of the way first. First thing was to get the grass bedded in – It totally transforms the garden, I never thought I would see it at this this stage.

Adding the grass

With most of the plants in it is starting to look like a proper garden now.

There was one big job upstairs that I had been putting off for a while which was the roof over the upstairs balcony – not that it was difficult or time consuming but just one I wasn’t looking forward to.

Setting the pillars

First of all I had to set the Mahogany beams that I had left over from the old roof which wasn’t the easiest of jobs. Then it was to put up the frame.

Balcony roof frame

You have to have a little fun when doing jobs like this.

Health and safety in DR

Like the garden this really changes the look of the back of the house and obviously has the practical benefits of not getting wet when you walk out of a room in the rain.

Upstairs balcony and railings

The main part of the house is also coming along. I have had massive trouble trying to find a floor sander for rent to start the 160sqm wooden floor. So I have started doing it using hand tools – this may take a while…

Upstairs floor

I have been sorting a lot of other bits and pieces such as we now have a solar hot water heater – not on the roof yet but it will be by the end of the week and I also have picked up a diesel generator for when the power goes out. We are actually pretty lucky as the power only goes off about twice a month here in the Colonial Zone; however with all the work happening in the Zone at the moment it has started to get more frequent as the government are putting the power lines underground. So it should come in very useful.

Rear view

As always I like to end on a happy note. Yesterday we got ourselves a new puppy! A pure breed German Shepherd who is so cute. He is only 5 weeks old and is a bit of a handful – I slept about two hours last night as he cannot stand to be alone. We have called him Jenson – after Jenson Button the Formula 1 driver. I thought that would go well with Enzo our Rottie. He hasn’t taken to him completely yet as he isnt sure what to make of him – its funny watching this little five pound puppy chasing a huge Enzo around the garden.

Our future guard dog

Until next time…