So – we finally now have all our glazing in!  It took just on a week for it all to be installed because some was sent because the builder andf the glazing company (Toops -:) ) weren’t happy with the powder coating finish on some windows/ doors.  It’s really lovely when other people are as fussy about your house as you are.   Ken at Toops Aluminium in Omahu Road has been awesome.  He was ever so patient with my indecisiveness and million questions about how this would look and what if we did that…   The other tradies are now just starting the pleasure of the KM (too many options) indecisiveness.    So here’s a little snapshot of what has gone on over the last week:

Friday 4th July – Some windows in but no doors.  Very cold for roof shout but that didn’t deter us hardy souls who donned beanies and gloves and jackets.   My habit of acquiring yet another ski jacket came in very handy with some being handed out for people to wear so they didn’t freeze to death. lol.  We also had a 2 1/2 hour walk through with the electrician.  all sorts of tricky questions like which lights do you want dual switches on, where do you want the light switches, and a debate about where to situate the (now changed to a pendulum) light in the entranceway (I lost that one…).

Fri/ Sat – Very windy – Made the lad accompany me to our flash outdoor ablution facilities at 4:30am as I was worried the toilet might blow over with me in it.  As a result we both then ended up with a hammer and nail and a torch reattaching some of the building paper that the boys had tacked up (at my request) to cut down the draft on Friday night that was whistling through the opening in our ensuite bathroom.    Re-attached it again on Saturday at abou 8:30am and then returned from Waipukurau just after lunch to find the whole lot wrapped around the internal framing – Oh well – at least it did the trick on Friday night.

Sunday – another meeting with our every patient Builder (Terry from Peak Homes).  The guy really is awesome.  He does ever so well to mediate the stylist differences between the lad and I to the point I think he might be actually keeping score to as to ensure it’s even.

We were hoping that the blockies were to start on Monday just been but every night I returned home showed no movement there.  I am now told that they will be starting tomorrow (Monday) so keep your fingers and toes crossed for us.

Thurs – 10th – The final pieces of glazing installed.  I therefore spent quite some time on Thursday (after they had all gone home – didn’t want to completely embarrass myself) going “open close, open close, open close” – evidence attached…)

Really happy with how all the glazing has turned out.  Was really worried about how the big front windows would look in the end as we had had our hearts set on them both being big picture windows but due to our site being rated “Very High  Wind Zone” we would have had to go to commercial glass and that also involved a big spacer between the two panes of glass (hence could have had some distortion in the view).   So we opted to follow Ken’s advice and do a narrow casement window at each end and I’m really happy with the result.   However, my favourite window in the whole house would have to be the big single pane one in the western wall in our bedroom.  It is such a stunning view and being one whole sheet of glass just makes it like a big picture.

This week I was also tasked with choosing a colour for the soffits.   The builder gave me a suggestion, but no – I had to go and look at the colour charts didn’t I!  Why o why???    After much angst and much patience from the colour consultant at Resene’s in Hastings (including holding up A4 samples outside), we settled on Double Alabaster.    whew. (only took me about 45 minutes hahahaha).  Have decided to have a go at using a colour consultant inside the house as I think we risk me getting completely out of control there otherwise and I’d never get anything else done.

Finally, I did my first lot of housework inside on Thursday night.  BEcause we had a lot of rain last week the house had lots of dirt, mud, sawdust and wood chips (from all the holes for the wiring). So being the person I am, I got to on Thursday night with their broom.  The boys are very good about tidying up but it had been a shocker of a week.  Goodness knows what they thought when they arrived on Friday and saw all these neat little piles of sweepings.   They’ll get used to me eventually and if they don’t, well they’ll just work faster to get it all done to get away from me then.     Mum and Dad then helped finish off the ‘housework’ on Saturday afternoon when they came to do their inspection of the progress.

So, here in photo’s is a summary of it all.”