Sooo ..We have been busy!

It's been ages since I added anything to this blog ..almost forgot I had it!

I have finally added a new album to our "Webshots" pages and for those of you that didn't get the message, you can go to http://community.webshots.com/user/travellinglifestyle and click on the 'new' album to have a look at the building of our new house on the river.

It had been months since we started the adventure of moving off the old house and replacing it with a new one that will look out on the river. Lots of comprimises from the "dream home plan" as we must keep 're-sale value' in mind and not over-capitalize as we know that this is not the final resting place and will be sold one day ......ah...a new meaning to the 'one day'! Have to admit though that all the moving from B&B to rental to another rental has me reluctant to even think about moving again once we finally get into this house but...??? It was so much easier when all we had was our suitcase/backpack!

Building here is more expensive than in Canada ...I keep getting a shock when I go to price things ..light fixtures, even paint ! And they have different names for building materials too ..the builders, two fantastic guys that we were so lucky to find , are still teasing us about refering to timber as lumber! " Like Lumberjacks?" they joked when Jim said something about moving the lumber. And we have taught them a couple of things too...like how to convert meters to feet and inches ...I can't visualize 1.5 meters but tell me it is 5 feet and I've got it!

It's been a real learning experience and the next house (listen to her..she is already talking about the next house!) .well, the next one I will know not to count on the knowledge of an architect, how better to build stairs, make the bathrooms bigger and a whole lot of other things that we sort of learned as we went. I sourced our own kitchen, flooring, lighting fixtures, and plumbing pieces (tubs, showers etc) as a way to save a bit but it has taken alot of time and of course, I have accepted a 20 hour a week contract just as it really gets hectic with electricians, plumbers and builders having questions for me every day. Naturally, to do it any other way would be too simple and boring right?

We are still using our mobile phone to access the internet and it is slow and painful doing this so I will close for now. I promise that I will get back to it and add all the interesting little stories about the last few months and the 'process' when I have a better connection.

In the meantime, keep those cards and letters coming folks ...okay..how about emails?...and think about your trip down here as we soon wil have lots of room for visitors!

lots of luv
J and J