I won't bother with lattice, barrels are partially obscured from the street by fencing and if I put it up I would have to work around the lattice in order to turn the valves for water. If I can just make better use of collected water I'll be happy. We are at the end of our growing season so I should be cleaning up the garden and putting it to bed for the winter, just can't seem to get motivated. We had our first frost last week. Usually, our average early frost date is 1 November. I got almost no produce from garden this year, but there is always next year. Chookchook2 I've seen some of those decorative metal panels and they are gorgeous, sure hope your budget will allow you to get some before too long. Most of our state has been on fire for a good part of the summer. The closest is across the river from us and they have been battling it for almost a month. Some friends have had to evacuate repeatedly. We've only been concerned once, a small grass fire on our side of the river on a day we had wind gusts up to 65mph. Fortunately, it was put out quickly. Australia and New Zealand have both sent firefighters to help with the blazes. I can't begin to tell you how appreciative we are. The closest fire was fought for almost a week by local volunteers only as there were no other resources available. They were all on other fires. The Army National Guard (reserve troops) were called out to help with support duties and for the first time ever the federal Department of Natural Resources (DNR) asked for civilian volunteers to help with non firefighting tasks, cutting fire breaks, moving supplies etc.

Thanks for the replies! My wife suggested we talk to a local real estate agent, so i think that is a good idea... just that Im not sure how helpful they are likely to be if we arent selling yet :) As for saving for our dream house, I dont disagree, however if doing this up nicely over the next ~5 years or so while we live here nets us some extra in the eventual sale, then that of course will help us as well. Interesting thing happened today actually. I got a knock on the door and one of the older neighbours asked if he could take some lemons from the tree. I of course said yes. Anyway he was telling me he had lived in the street for 40 years. I asked him if the house had always looked like this, and he said no that ~30 years ago the old old owner did a massive renovation and pulled off the timber and put up the bricks and gutted the inside of the house. Interesting stuff!

A very simple layout keeping the floor space within the kitchen, the WIP takes up a lot of space with not much gain, The broom cupboard could be moved to the Laundry/entrance, narrow. If the wall has been bumped out to the eaves on the deck side giving an extra 300 depth to the kitchen you could make the island 2700 x 1200 and all drawers. The wall of narrow pantry will hold all pantry needs and more, no deep cupboards to dig into. cheers

I couldn’t buy it. I was dependent on 3 other people to pay the rent, and have just $15,000 in Kiwisaver. Every Big Wednesday I think “If I win, I’m gonna find out who’s got it, and offer them whatever it takes to get it off them”. It might not be a good deal, but it’s my home. I could write a whole essay on how perfect that spot is. My whole life revolved around living in THAT EXACT SPOT. I twice told the landlord and the agent together that I want the house, but can’t afford it. The second time I said “If there’s any helper person that can buy the house for me, that’s what I want to do”. Alas no. That might sound laughable, like the ultimate in dreaming, but of course I was gonna ask. It has an RV of $500,000 ($440,000 land, and $60,000 house). It sold for $508,000. To renovate it would be almost building new: at most you’d keep the perimeter wall, what isn’t rotten of the framing and weatherboards, and everything else would have to be new. So you’re getting up near a million no matter what you do. Re: Deserving a medal for living there for 12+ years: There were spots you couldn’t stand on the floor. The floor wasn’t remotely level – people got a kick out of how it ramped up and down. The bathroom ceiling was covered in mould (though I’m sure I killed it). Weeds and ivy grew through the walls into the interior. Termites and clothes moths had eaten it. Every windy day when I got home form work, I was scared to look at the roof, thinking “Is it still there?” Of course Healthy Homes killed it as a rental. Staying so long was my way of staking claim to it in whatever little way I could ‘cause I couldn't let go of the spot. I ate at my computer desk, with is the kind of desk I had in primary school. I liked to jump down those two steps leading to the toilet. I did pick up speed like you guessed, and had to put the breaks on myself each time. Yes, that bedroom is the noisy one. I had that one. I go to sleep at 6PM to get up at 2AM, and it was near impossible to get sleep in that room. Though the 90's house I'm flatting in at the moment has cheaper walls even worse for keeping the sound out.