House site

Now that the bulldozer has done its magic ($1500 worth ... ) I can walk around and pace things out, and it's really getting me excited. When it was all overgrown, no proper road, windrows and trees that needed to be moved, I couldn't visualise how and where things would work. Now I'm like an artist with an empty canvas! I've paced out where the orchard and gardens need to go on the north and east of the house site, and estimated that we'll need around 200 metres of kangaroo-proof fencing. That's just for a start! By crikey, if I ever needed a job, it's now!!!!

Before the site was cleared, we had figured out roughly where we wanted the house to go, allowing for existing features. Now that most of the existing features - fenced garden patch, pile of sandy soil, windrows, untidy treelines - have been eliminated, the only things to work around are the road, the shed, 30 metre distance from trees (bushfire regs), the view and sun angles.

Because the house site slopes down to the east, the western tree line provides shade quite early in the afternoon. This, plus the experience of living in my little cottage with its N/NE orientation, meant that we had decided long ago that the new house needs a N/NE orientation for best solar gain in winter. Also, because the west and south are heavily treed, the best views are to east and north - primarily due to the native tea-tree vegetation, which is low and scrubby, no more than two feet high.

So one view of the house (subject to change if needs be, of course) will quite probably be as per the star pickets in this photo. They don't show up very well, but you can probably get the gist of it. (Oh yes, and note the valiant steed - th' Ute. Maaaate!) Starting from the access road side (identified by the tyre tracks) the star pickets show roughly where the tank/s, double carport & house go.


The second photo probably means nothing to someone who hasn't been there, thanks to having no neutral reference points for scale, but it's taken from way back behind the where the ute is in the previous shot. If that helps. But when we've built the house, the first photo will give readers something to compare the northern face of the house with; the second will show the southern aspect prior to building.

It's all good!

Just fanging for the "all systems go".

Such a pity I'm the impatient type. Cos this house process is annoying me like nothing else. I'm even becoming *gasp!* ... a nagging wife.

Ah well, needs must ;-)