Getting on with upstairs framing

This is the back wall and this area will be divided into a bedroom and a study.
Vaulted ceilings will go almost to the apex.

Greg and his best friend - the framing gun.

This is the bit we have been dreading. The height to the apex upstairs is over 4 metres and we also have the roof angle (40 degrees) to work around. As it happened though, the back wall went in pretty smoothly. Watching Greg up on the ladder made me really nervous. And while he put on a brave face, he was pretty scared too.

Work stops for a few days now as we are moving up to the mountain this weekend. We have rented a house 2 doors down from the new house so we can be near our beloved building project and can keep an eye on it. This will save us 2 hours travelling time per day as well as give us the convenience of having a working kitchen and bathroom as we work. New estimated completion date? Probably February but who can tell???

Windows in!

Looking from the front entrance through the dining area to the back deck.

The back deck as viewed from the water tank.

The windows arrived on monday and while we expected (unrealistically) to have both ground floor and upstairs framing done by then, the reality is that we have finished downstairs only. The upstairs framing is alot scarier for heightaphobics like myself but there is alot less to do upstairs so that should only take a week or so to frame up. The place is starting to feel like a real house now that the wrap is on and the windows are in. We can actually have a cup of tea without the whole street watching us so that's nice.
Our 'Shadowclad' cladding arrived yesterday and I can't wait to start putting it up. Real walls! Luxury!
I have started gardening as well. There are watermelons, rockmelons, cucumbers and passionfruit in now. Hopefully they will ramble over the dirt and create some greenery (and some food). I have sowed grass seed but it is very dry on the mountain (just like everywhere else) so nothing has sprouted yet.
Today I am revelling in a day away from the building site - I am soooooo tired but there is a sense of satisfaction that goes with it. Only five weeks to go before we move up there - will we make it? Stay tuned...