I love my photobook!

Last week I visited www.clickonprint.com.au and downloaded their software to enable me to produce a book of our recent visit to the UK.

In amazing speed, the book has arrived with me today and I'm absolutely delighted with it! The process was so straight forward, the quality of the book excellent and I think it was really good value at just over $50. A lasting memory!

Highly recommended and much slimmer on the bookshelf than all those old photo albums!

Some photos of my photobook! (Dan is laughing that I am taking photos of my photobook...)

Proudly announcing the feature wall & introducing McLaren Lamb Banana!

When we were in the UK we picked up some wallpaper by the Belgian designer Marcel Wanders, which is part of the Habitat collection... we couldn't resist!

We're hoping this will go on one wall by our dining area...
















Just need a wall to put it on now!

I was also delighted to receive my very own 'SUPER LAMB BANANA' for my birthday from Richard and Keem. The super lamb banana, now named 'McLaren Lamb Banana', is going to be saved for display in the new home! For more info on the Super Lamb Banana's, click here! Good old Liverpool!

On with the build!...

Don't take the title of this post too literally. It's now the first weekend that we've been back and now the jet lag has worn off we're both ready and raring to build a house!

Whilst we were away, our 'settlement' happened which means we now officially own a piece of Australia! We've even now made our first mortgage payment which feels very exciting, though I'm not sure we quite yet realise how many years we will be making that payment! We also heard this from our builder -

"We have in the mean time achieved Planning Approval from the council, building and development approval to follow, I will keep you informed regarding these once achieved. For your information there is nothing that you are required to do to help at this time."

Must swat up on these different types of approval as it is all a little confusing!

As for nothing to do at this time, there's always something to do!

Here's a couple of Google Earth images of where we are building...

View west towards the sea

















View east towards the hills

In a blur of jet-lagged haze...

I'm writing this at 10.30am on Tuesday morning. I've been unable to go to work today as my functionability is limited to lying in bed moving my fingertips on the laptop. We both went to bed early and went straight off to sleep but woke up at 2am and didn't go back to sleep. We were wide awake all night and even the trusted 'becky always falls asleep when watching a dvd' method didn't work!

Dan has bravely gone off to work but I am a weakling and have resorted to self-pity and rest at home.

In case you wonder what I'm talking about, on Sunday we returned from a three week visit to the UK. I'm not sure where to start with the tale of our trip and I'm probably not going to go into it in my usual 'all out' manner. I'm too tired and drained to do that!

In a nutshell, it was lovely to be back in the UK and to catch up with family and friends. It was especially lovely that my sister announced she is pregnant (with her 4th - go Sis!) and my brother announced he 'might' be getting married (date and venue planned, just waiting for the proposal... there is a sweepstake). We also surprised Dan's Dad with our appearance at his 60th birthday party - a great evening and brilliant fun keeping the secret until then!

The big surprise!



I was amazed at how 'small' things felt - not in a bad way, but as the Americans would say in a 'quaint' way. The trees seemed extremely bushy and green and the air was quite thick with pollen - quite a different climate to what we have become used to. All in all, it was lovely.

At my Mum & Dads



I am sad to write that at the end of our trip Dan's Grandpa passed away. We had spent a lovely week with Gran and Grandpa and whilst Grandpa had been poorly, we hadn't expected it so soon. We postponed our trip back to Adelaide and spent time with the family. Grandpa was the number one fan of my blog and it is sad to think he won't be reading this post. We will really miss him.

With Gran & Grandpa



To finish up, I can't help but have a quick brag that the only flights available back to Adelaide were in Business Class... ok, it cost us our life savings but wow, what an experience! To lie down on an aeroplane with a proper duvet and pillow; have an a-la-carte meal and breakfast; drink champers and eat olivers before take off; and have a massage function on the seat is certainly one of lifes little treats! Highly recommended! Now we need to work out how we're going to fund this lifestyle we've become accustomed to!

Welcome to The Big Build!

I have become somewhat of a full-time blogger and following the success of The Great Escape have decided to launch The Big Build. Welcome!

The Great Escape told the tales of the process we went through to make the move from London to South Australia and our first year of life in Adelaide. On recent reflection, I felt that our adventures are no longer a great escape, but are now more building on what we've achieved... and the project for the coming year is coincidentally building a house!

So... a little history to set the context.

We arrived in South Australia in June 2007 and we found ourselves a lovely rental. After a couple of months we decided we should think about getting ourselves on the property ladder and began looking around at what we could afford.

We soon realised that a popular past time in Australia is to buy a plot of land and then build a house. We looked into various land developments and in September 2007 decided that McLaren Flat, about an hour south of Adelaide, was the place for us.

A joint 'hobby' of ours is wine - buying it, sniffing it, drinking it and if we could afford it, bathing in it. McLaren Flat is in the heart of the McLaren Vale wine region so this is a dream come true!

We signed the contracts in September 2007 but with various delays and procedures to follow we have only just become the official owners. The next step is to get planning approval from the local Council and the build can then commence!

Watch this space!

PS. It is my intention to not allow this project to become the 'be all and end all' of our lives so whilst the main plot of this blog is the house build, I will also keep you posted on any other goings on in our lives! Enjoy.