I made the pilgrimage to our new property on Friday afternoon, heading through stop-start traffic on the Monash and through the tunnel until I hit the Westgate Bridge, when it all cleared and it was pretty plain sailing from then. I had with me some bedding, clothes, tools and a heap of flooring. Time to get serious about getting this house into shape for us to actually live, so I planned on spending two nights and get two solid days work done.

When I pulled up at the house I heard movement and calls in the trees behind the house, pointing my torch up I could see a number of bats, probably flying fox or large fruit bats, taking flight. After the long drive I just wanted to get something to eat and get my head down, so I unpacked the minimum, got myself some dinner - that blasted electric stove has got to go, and got to bed.

Saturday morning, I woke up, watched the sun rise over the hills behind the bedroom, and listened to the birds, and other sounds of farm life (someone has geese over to the north, as well as sheep and I'm sure I heard cows in that direction as well). After unpacking the car, including something like 700kg of flooring, it was into Maryborough to get some needed hardware and the paint for the walls.

I must say I love Maryborough. Truly love it. The Lyle Eales store for instance is just amazing. It has the stock of an entire shopping centre in a single shop. The people are just fantastic. Everyone was welcoming and genuine. People actually look at you, smile and acknowledge you. I had to double park to pick up the paint, and the paint store owner helped me with it out to the car, while a number of cars waited patiently for the transaction to complete before I got out of their way. No honking of horns, no heated discussion, no having to rush, just an acceptance that it needed to be done and our lives are not shortened one iota by not being 50m further up the road.

Back to the house and got started with the prep work. Somebody had obviously decided to fill some holes in walls and there was filler in a lot of places, but it hadn't been done well, nor had it been completed. I spent most of the day just filling in holes. Looked like they had an explosion in a darts factory inside the house. In the breaks I took care of the few other fix-it jobs that needed doing. The broken light fitting, dodgy light switch, loose or incorrectly installed door handles, that sort of thing.

Saturday night I decided to go to the Victoria in Avoca for a glass or two of the amber fluid. Lovely pub that. Not the posh place that the Avoca is over the other side of the road, but a real down-to-earth, no frills, friendly local pub. I have never really been a pub goer, but I felt really at home there.

Sunday was spent sanding and doing a wash-down of the ceiling, and pulling up the carpet. More of the little jobs as well, and I then had to toddle off back to The Patch. I was disappointed that I didn't get more done, but I had to get back to work on Monday so I couldn't stay over any more (well if I had an internet connection I probably could have, but that isn't likely for a few weeks yet).

I can't wait until next weekend when I can get the painting and hopefully flooring done, although Karen will be heading back and forth through the week, so at least things are still moving.