All in good taste!

It's been a busy but a great week, lots seems to have happened but of course as soon as someone asks what you've been up to... the mind goes blank!

Friday evening we loaded up the car and took off again to Naracoorte, it was a great journey down there, very fast this time I wasn't driving and there were no trailers to pull so we didn't have to keep stopping to pick things up that had fallen off!

After a very peaceful nights sleep we got up very early (it was still dark).  Rick was on a mission to sort out the 'Dunny' at The Fox Den and unload the car.  We had an early appointment with one of the builders down there so we needed to be all done before 9 a.m.

I went down to help unload the car but was so excited about the birds waking up and the sunrise I got a bit side tracked and by the time I'd finished taking photo's Rick had almost finished.  He moves with great speed that lad.....
 

The dunny at the den!

We needed to see if the shower and loo were connected to a septic tank and they are.  So with a little bit of sorting out, like a loo, shower and window oh and a water supply too and some weather proofing it will be good to use.  I don't think it will be insect and arachnoid proof though so I'm hoping I will still be able to whizz up the road to Deb and Robert's.....

Meanwhile these are some of the photo's I took:

When I took this picture the light seemed much brighter than it looks in the photo.  Day break is gorgeous there, it's cool with a promise of heat once the sun has woken up.

This will roughly be the view we will wake up to every morning once the house is built.  Fantastic isn't it......

The sky was magical, very golden light.  The leaves that look like they are hanging down in bunches are mistletoe.   It's a big problem in these parts and spreads very quickly, sadly killing the tree's it attaches itself to.  That will be one job we will need to get on top of quite quickly, once we can work out how we get up the tree!

And these are the sleepy Galahs, chatting very noisily as they preen themselves ready for the day ahead.

There were Lorikeets, Australian Magpies (much larger than the real Maggies in the UK after which they were named).  And much to my excitement 4 Black yellow tailed parrots did a fly past while we were there.  These were on the decline and it seems it's still rare to see a group together.  Also all being very noisy... it was fantastic.

And then I spotted a male Superb Blue Fairy Wren a fantastic name for a fantastic bird.  They are about the size of sparrows, their tails are about the same length as their bodies and the colour is amazing.  A beautiful dark blue and turquoise feathers over it's head, the female is not as colourful. Very camera shy.

All done at the block and off the builders meeting.  The more we learn I think the more we realise we need to learn.  It was a very interesting meeting and if we go with them we should be able achieve a 7 star energy performance rating.  The standard now for new builds in Oz is 6 stars and the top is 10.  The higher the rating the more energy efficient the house will be.

We learnt a little about using black and grey water, as we'll be in the sticks we will need to have a system which deals with this waste.  What we would like is to have a system which cleans it up enough to be able to reuse the water after treating for watering the tree's.  There is a huge list of detergents, oils etc., we can't use.  Interestingly some which I thought were eco friendly are not!

And then there's the insulation, obviously the more we have the more passive the performance of the home, which will need less cooling in the summer and less warming in the winter.

I had to smile when they started explaining the joys of double glazing.  It's a fairly new concept on this side of the planet but can be very effective in energy saving.

All very interesting... our heads were buzzing by the time we finished 2 hours later.  They listened to our likes and dislikes and will do a concept drawing for us, we are not obligated to go with them but it is good in that they manage everything for us from the drawings to planning permission etc., etc.,

More research to do and at least one other builder to talk to.

Before I forget this is my beautiful restored spinning wheel.

Just thought I put that photo in before I forgot again.

We paid a visit to the local Taste Festival.  Sampling the joys of the local food and wine, in the shade of a beautiful tree, breeze gently blowing is a very pleasant way to spend a few hours.  It was great fun, there were some local bands playing, a couple of youngsters dressed as clowns handing out fruit to anyone who wanted some.  Face painting for the kids and lots of happy smiley families.

The weekend went very quickly and it was lots of fun.  Since then I've spent lots more time doing research into waste systems and insulation, I bet you can't wait to hear all about it!

Rick found a local yoga class which was fantastic, I will be going again, hopefully on a regular basis... And I've purchased a push bike.

This is Brigitte (to be said with a French accent) or I may just call her Betsy.  Anyway she is really lovely to ride... spot the comfy wide saddle (deep joy). It's very up right and no bar (to get my leg over) and she is very light being an alloy frame.  A joy to ride.

All I need now is a wee Cairn Terrier in the basket, some sparkly red shoes... oh and a yellow brick road!