Peter and Natasha

1. pools?
(Comments)

...'t cost as much to install and hog a considerably less amount of power than a traditional pool. You two work too hard to not enjoy life a little bit, right?...

2. windows
(Comments)

So you installed a north-facing window! You did your homework...it can really cut down heating and cooling costs. Since you obviously are into being 'green', you should also consider double-paned wind

3. burning up
(Comments)

... up, it can hold in soot, resulting in a dangerous situation. You wouldn't want to see all of your hard work go up in smoke!...

4. Dylan's not a baby anymore!
(Comments)

... often do with owner builds) but hopefully that will change and things will speed up. Well done on your work on the blog, and continueing to share. We hope to do a blog too. I'll send you a link if we...

5. Decking
(Comments)

To be able to work outside in the temperatures you have been experiencing over the weekend is beyond my understanding. It is great to see the deck progressing and I'm really looking forward to seeing

6. Well done Tarshy.
(Comments)

Your blogs are charming Sweetheart. We all look forward to them. Keep up the good work. Long may you reign at the high plains ranchero. Dad.

7. Congratulations
(Comments)

Congratulations on the driveway and on installing the freebie storage! Warm wishes for Sunday! Great work guys, you just keep ticking along... Good to read your Earth Garden article too. It must hav

8. Good vibes
(Comments)

...to Aussie shores and I just know they're busting to meet their latest grandchild and see the incredible work you've both done with the house....

9. love the deck
(Comments)

the deck is looking greatm - fabulous work..... the staining on that decking looks impeccable (hehe)

10. Great work Pete
(Comments)

good on you Pete for keeping up with the stamina in the finishing up of your fab home.... I look forward to coming out on the build soon.... keep the blogs coming, even if they are only short punchy d

11. Summer heat in the Marsh
(Comments)

... great to see a real live piece of furniture in the house though. Very, very exciting! Keep up the good work and good luck for the next week or ten days....

12. Thar She Blows.
(Comments)

...nd Peter grumbles more and more It's not what he'd have choosed. But he's not one to be outdone He works out there undaunted The staw bale house grows day by day It's on their website flaunted....

13. brief comments
(Comments)

The walls look fantastic, the bales are beautiful, great work Tarsh & Nicole! I LOVE seeing the progress online every day, yours has become my favourite blog by far. The roof is going to be amazing

14. Fascia-ing facts
(Comments)

Yo Pete, well done mate. Cement sheeting is not terribly nice to work with but it sounds like a good solution. How's the bale hammer working out?

15. ALright!!!
(Comments)

...h. Amazing and absolutely inspiring, over budget as always but my what a home. Whoohoo I have 26th OFF work!! Think it'll be Clairey and me....

16. beaudy
(Comments)

Hey - you guys are legends. That's just looking fantastic. I wish I was down there to help out. Still working on finding a job, but not much going right now. Anyway, I hope to see you soon. Phil x

17. Red Tape
(Comments)

...to be endosed the number of letters stating no it a state matter no it a federal matter there system is working fine (the old saying Mind over Matter they don't mind and we don't matter inthat they s...

18. All is not lost...
(Comments)

...formation, that's what you have got. All there is to do now is get the detail clear and go on. Sweet. Rework means success is coming :-)...

19. nailgunasaurus
(Comments)

...ue of entertainment such as Dogs chasing each other all over the site, should not be underestimated for workplace procuctivity....

20. Briefs
(Comments)

Even brief blogs are greatly appreciated over on this cooler side of the Tasman. Keep up the good work and happy building.

21. great progress
(Comments)

...n, are they in the living room/dining room? You're enthusiasm is infectious, I've changed my shifts at work, will be there to help on 7-8 March. xx...

22. Classic
(Comments)

What was his pulse like? What a trooper, even working in your sleep! Any luck with getting long weekend off to come and build?

23. vegie sausage stumps
(Comments)

Love the squirty glue-sauce! And it's amazing how our brains can work through things in sleep and dreams, I tried to take Tim's pulse in my sleep the other night...he wasn't impressed but in the mor

24. Extremes
(Comments)

...nd devastation the fires are causing. And meanwhile you guys still have the tenacity and commitment to work on in the extreme heat and wind and still remain cheerful and positive. It is a lesson tha...

25. Go the Kiwis!
(Comments)

Glad you're taking the day off. All work and no play makes Pete a dull boy - or so they say. I hope you are successful in resolving your flooring and underfloor insulation without holding up the bui

26. cogitationary
(Comments)

...ation is the order of the day. It got to 43 today so I'll have lots of time to do that because I can't work in that weather! I stopped at 40Ú today. Midday! Phew. Lucky I started at 6.30am....

27. Singing and
(Comments)

... one which we are so happy to be able to share with you through this superb website. Keep up the great work!...

28. wild and windy
(Comments)

Good on you Peter for persevering in those conditions, you're both unstoppable. Might need to work in the early morning/evening this week though, the forecast is for 4 days over 35 degrees. Still, we'

29. Matt Noyes
(Comments)

...old under foot in winter. I reckon carpet is great in the living areas and either wood or tiles in the working areas (kitchen, laundry etc). Love how things are shaping up.... Matt...

30. HORRAY!!!!
(Comments)

...ve, respecting future generations! Good on ya! Can't wait to see it and to help build!!!!! Bring on the work party! :) t...

31. Hot water at last
(Blog/Living and Finishing)

...e could write 10 blogs alone on the trials and tribulations of trying to get our solar hot water system working properly. Today is a cause for some serious celebration - the mystery is solved, and in ...

32. When you're hot, you're HOT!
(Blog/Living and Finishing)

...forts of our new plumbers, they have been fantastic, it's just that what they have tried so far has not worked. But we are ever hopeful! I had a lovely drop in visitor today - Jan who I immediat...

33. In hot water, or not
(Blog/Living and Finishing)

... that hot water out of our taps has been fraught with failure since March 2010. Generally we can get it working by turning on multiple hot taps at once but that sometimes doesn't work and it's a barel...

34. New Life
(Blog/Living and Finishing)

...d would do anything to get horizontal, so my priorities have been else where! At the same time, Peter's work has really ramped up and his 'part time' job is often 6 days a week. Secondly, our lo...

35. The longest time
(Blog/Living and Finishing)

...uggage and other such stuff. Being a big fan of airplanes and airports, he is in his element, and he is working with a great team, which he loves. Another benefit to building our own home, as Peter wo...

36. Sunshine on my shoulders
(Blog/Living and Finishing)

...m my office into it, and then use my office as an office rather than a storage space, and get my office/work stuff out of Peter's music studio into my office. This will enable us to set up the studio ...

37. Moving along
(Blog/Living and Finishing)

...with the top part of most of the walls still to do. It was so good to get stuck into some good physical work, and get some momentum happening for Ari and Dean, and by Sunday night Peter and I had that...

38. It's all relative
(Blog/Living and Finishing)

...een able to get through the first hurdle of our build (getting the stumps in) if it wasn't for the work Peter did on Ari's house. The confidence that Peter gained by helping Ari was absolutely ...

39. Nice Dream
(Blog/Living and Finishing)

...It’s worth bearing in mind the relationship between the inside and outside of a house. When one works well the other can often be enhanced. We may not have a machine capable of tackling the o...

40. Our Fabulous Composting Toilets
(Straw Bale House/Straw Bale House)

... Now for some answers to the Flequently Asked Questions we have had about our loos: How does it work? Well we use the toilet in the same way (ie sit on it and do our thing!) and the stuff in i...

41. No Experience Necessary
(Straw Bale House/Straw Bale House)

...upport as well. If you think you can do it alone, think again! * Determination and willingness to work hard This may seem quite obvious, but it really is important.  Our test came ver...

42. How we built/compressed our external staw bale walls
(Straw Bale House/Straw Bale House)

...this really well.  Having the two sets of boxing and compression may not seem like much more work, but it was significant. Intermediate boxing added significant time (and costs) to the wall...

43. New Loo
(Blog/Living and Finishing)

...write he is driving down the road to talk to some potential employers in the Bacchus Marsh/Melton area. Work in his field (film - sound editing) is pretty dry. Part-time work locally is what we are af...

44. From the land of more door
(Blog/Living and Finishing)

... will go very nicely on bedroom 3 and the bathroom.  It's good timing for the bathroom because I'm working on that now, after using our ensuite as the main bathroom since moving in. I dug a nice ...

45. Deck done
(Blog/Living and Finishing)

...upplying us with more great material). So I still need to do the small section around the east side and work out a decent way to make the hand rails safe there. So we're inching towards another tick o...

46. Performance
(Blog/Living and Finishing)

...e inside the house and out. Today we reached a high of 37.3 (in the shade) and amazingly Peter has been working on our deck since early this morning (quite happily!). Yesterday was quite warm, 32 degr...

47. Ticking things off
(Blog/Living and Finishing)

... the house quite stuffy and hot. But those days are now a distant memory.  Peter has been working really hard, sometimes in quite warm conditions and Dylan and I have been his cheer squa...

48. Twos
(Blog/Living and Finishing)

This blog's theme is twos.   With our focus on working for the majority of the time recently, we've spent little time maintaining our block of land. As a result it's become a bit of a jungle. The

49. Off the wagon
(Blog/Living and Finishing)

...helped greatly by a visit from Aygun, who is always keen to hang out with us and get into some physical work. The last month I have had my 'head down, bum up' working in my environmental job&nbsp...

50. Carried Away
(Blog/Living and Finishing)

...ween blogs' time on record.... I think in part because we don't have much to report on! We've both been working part-time, and Sundays have started to become our only day where we are both off from wo...