We did as we'd intended and early on Saturday morning (well early for us) we loaded up and headed up the new house. Both cars - the ute with the sofa bed, the old drinks fridge and other odds and ends, me in the car with 3 dogs. 2 little dogs who whinged from the Dandenongs to Ballan. One senior citizen who didn't whinge but still managed to surround herself with an aura of disapproval!

When we got up to Redbank the first thing we noticed is that it had rained - all the way up there was water on the ground (and it rained on us at Ballarat - what a bloody surprise). But there had been rain and both dams had raised their level, probably by about a foot. All the tanks were full. Happy. Very very happy.

Anyway we unloaded everything, and started work. The good news is that the washdown is finally completed, and the painting has started. The bad news is that we've not quite finished - but we're getting there.

Basically we've finished the main lounge, the small entrance lounge and the 3 small bedrooms - well finished except for the bits on the walls I can't reach. Adam's finished the ceilings except for some of the cornices, and we've started in the kitchen and bathroom. That leaves us with finishing off those areas then the toilet, laundry, main bedroom, walk-in robe and ensuite. Still - we didn't start the painting until late on Saturday afternoon so it progressed pretty well all things considered (including arms that were aching and backs and necks that were stiff and sore).

While we slogged it out inside - Jedda and Clancy patrolled the boundaries.

Now I will confess it's hard to concentrate on the slog. There is just SO much going on with this property, you want to be out there, poking around - looking / plotting planning.

This view is looking down from behind the big shed, towards the bushland plot / corridor - we're calling it the soak because there is a bit of marshy feel to it - even in this dry weather. We walked through there on Saturday afternoon - accompanied by heaps of little birds, checking out the grape vines on the other side and what looks like it has been used as a vine propagation area.

I'm constantly amazed by how productive this place must have been in earlier hands - there's a level of self-sufficiency that's been planned for here that just reveals more and more as you walk through - extra vegetable garden areas behind the cubby house - what looks like an old compost area that's just had the edging removed. It bodes well for productivity once we sort out the water management issues and get some cold / excessive heat protection into place.

This beautiful old thing is standing down in the bushland area - it's got fallen off bits, split off bits and it's an odd shape and it's absolutely beautiful.

But back to the house and the view out from the back towards the north:

And then there are the nights.

The night was stunning.

Okay, the day had been silent - no leafblowers, no ride on lawn mowers, no squealing tyres (even though we're on the main highway), no screaming kids, no screeching adults, no chainsaws - just the slight drone of a dirt bike over the back a bit which you could only hear if the wind blew the sound over. But the night was human silent. Occasional whoosh of a car on the Highway. You can see the lights of the neighbours houses off in the distance - but the only thing we could hear were the night birds calling. Lots and lots of different sorts of night birds which I'm going to have to put some effort into identifying, but there's definitely owls and all sorts of water fowl. It was a half moon and the sky was as clear as so we spent most of the evening leaning against fences gazing at the sky or walking around just looking. There's the ever present rustle in the undergrowth - we couldn't work out what was moving around, but there's something there. The walk to the dam around 10.00pm with the dogs meant we disturbed some sort of water fowl who flew overhead shouting their disapproval.

The night is stunning - such peace at last.

Early early early rise the next morning so we could get more painting done, but morning coffee was taken sitting on the front steps of the house, watching the cockatoos and parrots circling overhead and being mightily put out when the Wedge-Tail Eagle circled slowly (and rather low) above.

We're a bit worried about the orchard trees - there are a few that we're probably going to lose, they have just been so desperately neglected. Still we're trying to save them, and we've got replacements planned for the ones that have already died.

Jedda spied her first close-up cow on Sunday morning - she gave it a hell of a dressing down. It ignored her completely - the cows are a paddock or so over from the house so this isn't the clearest photo in the world:

Now in case you're wondering - Phoenix did come with us. She now has a hammock bed and a soft sleeping bed up there. She's not particularly thrilled about the change - she's very elderly and very set in her ways now and a change in scenery can't be appreciated that much as she struggles to get around with the arthritis so severe. But the hammock bed helped a little (although it's not hers and she was a bit thingy). The soft bed was good - although it got a bit crowded

But every time she went outside - she made darn sure that she kept a very close eye on the car!

Around 4.00pm we had to leave and head back. Stopped in Avoca and had a good chat to the lady that runs the shop that we've started stopping at for a snack. Headed home to the sound of whinging and panting from the little dogs all the bloody way (3 hours of it......)

Got home to a "smoke free" Sunday so there were clouds of smelly, stinky smoke rolling across the road over the top of our place. The house (which was locked up all weekend) stinks of smoke so obviously it was "one of those weekends".

So relieved to see that the smoke free Sunday is still a joke. We've got the hint people - we're leaving just as soon as the satellite connection is available.