Still raining.

It hasn't stopped for over two days and we have more in store.

Yesterday I noticed water on the kitchen bench. I then I realised it was coming from the window sill. There were two leaks somewhere in the frame or the ceiling or somewhere.

Then we noticed the carpet near Himself's desk was damp. Looking up we found this.

Then a puddle appeared on the wood stove.

And behind the vertical blinds on another window we discovered this.

This morning when I went down to feed the cats in the bathroom I felt another splash and found that window leaking as well! 

I have reported them to the real estate agent but I doubt there is much they can do. It is all down the high winds and heavy rain. If it was my house I'd be doing some repairs  - but then again, if it was my house it probably wouldn't have got this bad in the first place. The stains on the window sills suggest this is not the first time this has happened.

Remember the saga of the retaining wall sleepers from Tuesday?

We found out yesterday that the sleepers we chose won't be available until January. They did offer to put the plain grey ones in and paint them but that is not acceptable. It would mean ongoing maintenance we don't want and we want a textured finish. We have said there are a couple of other types we would accept and are waiting to see if they are available. If not, it could be a long wait til January with nothing happening.

The site supervisor said he will try and get engineering to see if we can somehow batter the cut so we can get the slab laid.

This sort of explains what I am talking about ...

... so where the vertical retaining wall needs to go they might be able to put some dirt back from the cut to batter until the sleepers can be installed.

In the mean time I am grateful we were able to get this rental, even if it is a tad damp.

I think I'm losing mine.

Apparently the prime minister of Greece and the prime minister of the UK are not going to meet to discuss issues of great importance affecting both countries. It seems that 200 years ago an arrogant Pom stole some Greek marbles and the Greeks want them back. 

To my eternal shame I found out today that these are said marbles ...

not these ...

In building news (trying to change the subject here!) we went up to the block as is our usual habit and found the blokes were there to install the retaining wall. (I use the term "blokes" loosely as I swear they were both 15). Just as well we did because somehow, somewhere someone had got the order mucked up and rather than delivering these ...

...they delivered these ...

Just a slight difference! If it was a small wall we would have let it go but it is costing us nearly $20,000 and we don't want a 1.6m wall of pale grey. 

And no, this wall was not our choice but to build the house we want it has to be installed so there you go. We could have gone with timber but it is a big wall and timber bows and, to be honest, the sleepers themselves aren't that much more expensive. It's the engineering and holes and steel supports that bump up the price.

The aftermath

Looks like a swimming pool but I can assure it isn't!

Hopefully it will have dried/drained before anything needs to be done,

Tonight my goal is to not frog my knitting and to get beyond where I have been before.

One ball of yarn can last me a very long time! A bit like watching a series with Himself who has no recollection of the first (second and third) time.

 

Weather

We've had a bit today.

It started off with some spectacular cloud formations 

You can see the rain in this one ...

Then it started to bucket down with thunder and lightening.

And the town and ocean disappeared.

 

Himself went up to the block and our cut was flooded which wasn't unexpected considering the volume of rain in a short period of time. At least the agi pipe we installed made a difference.

Last weekend I decided to have a go at making a cheesecake. Remember I won't use the oven in this house so I had to find a recipe that didn't need one. Something popped up on facebook (as it always does) and I gave it a go. I uses chocolate ripple biscuits

crushed with melted butter and pressed into a slice tin as a base. 

You then beat cream cheese, sugar, melted white chocolate and thickened cream before adding gelatine. Pour the whole lot onto the biscuit base and chill.

When I made it last weekend I think I burnt the chocolate in the microwave and buggered up the gelatine. I also didn't let it sit long enough in the fridge. I was going to toss it but the next evening Himself dished some up with a bit of vanilla icecream and some fresh fruit and it was lovely. We finished it off last night so I made another batch this afternoon. This time I didn't burn the chocolate and the gelatine behaved itself. It is chilling in the fridge but we shall restrain and wait until tomorrow before we try it.

Mango season was late this year but they are finally hitting the shops. My favourite is Kensington Pride which is an early fruit but doesn't last long. The later varieties are OK but none are as sweet and fragrant as a KP. I am teaching Himself that the bigger the fruit doesn't mean the tastier.

Orange roughy (fish) for dinner tonight with sauteed asparagus.

Building stuff

First up, I apologise if your comments are going to spam. It seems that the spamometer has ranked up a bit. I try to remember to check every day but comments still slip through.

A few have asked about basements and garages and the like. For some reason we don't have basements dug into the ground here. Underground garages are becoming more prevelant in areas of medium to high density housing as street parking becomes non-existant but you wouldn't put one in an average middle class home. Our garages are under our roofline.

Most houses these days are built on a concrete slab. Some people still choose stumps which used to be made of timber but are now typically concrete. Timber stumps were prone to rot and needed replacing every few decades. Of all the houses being built in our estate there is one going on stumps. In this case it has given the owners more of a view but still a single storey house. Their block slopes like most of them do and the while the house at the front is level by the time you get to the back of the house it will be 2 metres off the ground. I assume they may use the space under the house for extra storage but it is certainly not a basement.

The couple live in Melbourne so I have been sending them photos of the progress of their build. 

This first photo shows the concrete slab for their garage floor and the beginning of the stump placement.

The builders then laid specially treated timber joists over the stumps and then laid the flooring. 

From now on the build will be similar to that on a slab.

There are signs that things are being done on our block but nothing worth photographing. A whole lot of pink tape attached to nails and bits of timber have been place around the site which must indicate something to somebody but we are still in the dark.

It is now Friday evening so nothing will happen over the weekend but hopefully next week they will install the retaining wall and start to map out the plumbing etc so they can lay the framework for the slab.

We did get a big green builders rubbish bin to complement our portaloo.

I frogged the scarf I started on Wednesday. I am not too annoyed as it needed to be narrower. I must learn to physically relax when knitting and crocheting as a) I enjoy it more and b) I make fewer mistakes.

*hic*

I had planned a post about building and differences and why we don't have basements and slabs vs stumps and a lot of other stuff.

I then had a long conversation with The Mermaid that involved deep and meaningfuls and a considerable amount of wine which was then followed by a delicious meal of lamb back straps and more wine.

So I will leave you with the latest addition to the block.

A port-a-loo

 

We have water!

This is the pit they dug across the road from us. One of the pipes is broken and our water pipe leads to nowhere. We thought it was going to hold things up.

This afternoon, however, (and yes we visit the block several times a day - wouldn't you?) we found the pit filled in and a water meter connected. I will never see such a low reading again!

They also connected a tap (which is probably where the 3 came from on the meter - have to make sure water flows). 

 The fence makes me realise how big the block (and house) is. 

Coffee group this afternoon which is always lovely. 

Last night the knitting ended up in the naughty corner. I will use the yarn in some weaving or maybe another pair of socks but it wasn't doing it for me and after dropping stitches and getting pissed off I decided life is too short to not enjoy a project.

As all my yarn is boxed up in the garage I had no choice but to visit the local yarn shop and buy some more for my zick zack scarf. I think these will knit up nicely. 

The grey has a nice amount of pink in it that complements the other one well.

Chicken and salad for dinner with some leaves and radishes from the garden.