@ jeannie...that's Oipe, my dancing Queen...despite her size she's very nimble and does a little dance for her bowl of dinner. She's a Norwegian Forest cat. In the winter she grows another coat on top of her shorter curly woolly one...not FUR but a long straight coat of waterproof wool! Here sh'e in between seasons so no "Puss in Boots" UGG BOOTS and no gaucho pants! Can you imagine that!? After one litter she decided she wasn't doing that anymore...and I was sort of glad too....with all that wool around her nether regions! She gets shaved mid Spring, looks very funny but its more comfortable for her. Her favourite red mate 'Yodle' is smaller. Oipe is classed as 'red' ( ginger) even though her coat colour is much closer to a pale apricot. Have a friend who collects all Oipe's wool from her periodical groomings and her annual shear, spins it, crochets baby clothes and sells them...much in demand, better than Alpaca and as rare as....cat wool! I think Oipe weighs a bit more than 22lbs. Everyone is taken by her and she's such a " lol-about and couldn't give a darn" that she allows all the attention and loves it. My lifestyle is every bit as fantastic as it is just plain hard Aussie 'yakka'. I planned that this house would be where I lived and died. All sounds so romantic and close to Nature...and it is...but one can get really muscle sore, and brain weary working oneself into this lifestyle. Thankfully I am quite a strong Aussie country woman now..but getting here from being a thin city lizzy with not much strength, let alone country naus, was an ordeal I thought I would not survive. I've needed every bit of brain and braun I could accrue... and all on my own. I've met some wonderful country folk who have taught me bush skills I never knew existed. Did you know, for example, that we should never kill ants? Black ants are the natural enemies of the white ants or termites. You need to know where your black ants live and keep them fed so they'll stay outside and hunt the termites. If you find termites just surround them with a handfull of sugar and bring a clump of dirt and black ants to where they are...you won't need to spray...ever! Once they know they'll alert all their relatives near and far and anything wooden in your dream home will be safe. Glad you all like my story..THANKS...it makes all the hardship all that much more worth it! Oipe reaps the full benefit of my, at times, sore, tired body. When I'm flaked out on the lounge from hauling in the heavy ironbark firewood for the night...she just ambles up and plonks her voluminous self right in my lap and up my chest and decides I need grooming and exfoliating with her raspy tongue. Then I get a massage! She purrs and vibrates like an idling diesel engine...its kinda relaxing! P.S. Never thought anyone would catch me wearing Jeans! The only place I wear a skirt is to church..and sometimes I'm too tired to be botheredironing it...so have a pair of Sunday jeans ...there's no such thing as a day of rest...but time for the gentler jobs...like cooking enough to last the week! All the girls get together for that...NICE. I think I'm one of the lucky people!

When I first wrote in August 2017 we got a lot of great suggestions and comments. At the time we had accepted the limitations of the block (easements, tree, solar access etc). It is now one year later and I can tell you we found a way to move the garage to the south-west corner. This allowed us to move Beds 2 and 3 and the bathroom to the northern side. Pantry and laundry between garage and kitchen/living/dining. I think it was all of the comments and suggestions that encouraged us to look at it again from different angles, rather than just accepting the limitations. Thanks to everyone for their generosity! The solution involved working around a lovely tree (it is nice, just in the wrong spot). It is still in the way (council said we couldn't remove it) but we've opted for a long, curving driveway that starts on the other side of the block and weaves its way around the treeline to the garage entry. Not ideal, because a large portion of the front setback will now be a hard surface, instead of a garden. But if there is one thing that designing teaches you - its all about compromises. Thanks everyone. MB Design & Drafting Shara C Nik Star girlguides oklouise siriuskey genkii saragraham76 Andy Pat brizcs Mel N 3D Home Concepts suancol Caro

we do as much of the demolition as possible including collecting all the rubbish and doing the tip runs so that workers arrive to a nice clean worksite, we usually sell or give away surplus goods on Gumtree (anyone want some old Velux roof windows?) and we found that careful salvage of old wiring and other scrap metal helps offset dumping costs BUT all this work takes time away from earning a living and looking after home and family so you have to weigh up the cost in time and money against the builders' demolition charges but i have to say some of our intentions have been disappointing as after carefully salvaging six 8mx 200mm x 50mm beams from our last reno our builder told us that they couldn't be reused in the new work without being chemically treated but, despite all the hard work we think demolition is fun and ripping out old plasterboard and tiles and concrete etc (after the asbestos removal has been done by professionals) is really great fun and dismantling buildings is a great way to help understand how they fit together

I think Louise has done an amazing plan. That is so nice of her to do that! The number one thing I didn’t like in your plan was how you had the kids’ bedrooms, bathroom and toilet directly off that living area. That’s one of my pet peeves. I much prefer a hallway off a living room so that the bedrooms etc are separate, as Louise has done. On Louise’s plan, my only comments would be: In the ensuite, how do you get to the bath by the window as the shower is in front of it and I assume it has frameless glass around the shower? I’m not totally keen on having a mudroom at my front door. We live on acreage too and unfortunately we don’t have a mud room but if I was to have one I’d probably prefer it near my laundry. That way I can keep a nice, clean front entry for visitors. That’s just my preference though. I certainly don’t hate Louise’s idea. I love how the pantry also the cavity door into the hallway as you could access it quicker when coming from the garage. The other thing to consider though is that doorway will take away cupboard/bench space but if you don’t need it, the door is a great idea. I agree with previous comments though. Definitely get professional help from a drafts person or architect to ensure whatever design you decide to go with works for your land. Good luck with your build.