Yes we moved in and we didn't drop of the face of the earth

I know that it's been a long time between posts - I was trying to make a point with Derek (since it was his job to put the photos up - yes it was!) but I've relented.

We moved into the house in the middle of July, which was really good timing since I started working from home at the end of June, so I didn't have to spend too much of winter in the hard to heat house in Huonville.

There is still a lot to do before we get the certificate of completion (hopefully in April), but we're in and we're comfortable and slowly working through it all. So here are some pictures of the (semi) finished product.

Slightly blurry photo of part of the pantry - Derek did all of the cabinet work

The open plan living space is fantastic - so light and airy with the cathedral ceiling but still feels cosy

And of course the fantastic red stove - the hero of the kitchen

The window seat is the next on the list to be built, and the old lounges are gone now

Derek now has a reclining chair with footstool in place of the old lounge - lots of sleeping in front of the TV planned

Still working out what to have as our bedhead - too many choices

A few little bits to finish in our ensuite

And the vanity needs to drop about 10cm so I don't have to stand on tippy-toes

My studio - not as it will finally look. It's doubling as the guest room since the guest room isn't rendered yet. It also has everything we're planning on storing the guest room, so very cluttered. But the bookshelves are fantastic!

The main bathroom - or the guest bathroom as we call it

The woodland grey painting has now finished, so the downpipes are hidden against the house

There is still a bit of final coat render to do outside, but we will probably get someone else to paint it.

And the view of the house from up the road, with Lily in picture of course.

The house is extremely well insulated, so the extended winter that we've had this year has been very comfortable for us. Of course we've still had fires of a winter's night, but there were only a couple of days I had to have a fire during the day.

And it's just wonderful living up here. It's so peaceful and I occasionally get wallabies outside the window I work at. Of course we always have wallabies around the house at dawn and dusk, which can send Lily off on a chase, but we discourage that behaviour.

We also have a resident echidna, who I have named Ernie. I usually know he's around because Lily runs up to him and barks at him. I think she put her nose a little too close once, because she doesn't get too close to him, she just likes to let me know where he is. He's great as well because once I shoo her away he has no fear of me at all, which is how I can get cool photos of him.

We do have other wildlife - lots of birds, quolls, (we think) devils, rabbits, these odd little marsupial rats, and the odd snake. Fortunately we haven't seen any yet this summer, but the dog in the house up behind us was bitten recently so we're being vigilant.

And on other things
Derek has been enjoying his job, although I know he wishes he was still working on the house every day rather than driving into Hobart to deal with an office environment. I keep telling him if he can find someone who will pay him to finish the house then feel free :-) He hasn't managed to black out the State yet, so I think he's going pretty well.

I've launched my business 'dinkylune' (it's an anagram of my name), and am fortunate enough to have a job working from home that gives me time to work on it. It's a bit of a soft launch at the moment, since I still have a lot of work to do before I can really get things going, but since I published the ebook and have been making jewellery, I thought it was time to make the first move.

We hope that you all have a lovely festive season!!! We will be eating too much at the Taste of Tasmania again this year - some traditions are too good to break - and then I believe we're contemplating getting that final coat of external render on.