New direction - house to home, garden to plate

Now the extension is finished I have been thinking what next with the blog? As many of you know even though an extension or house might have finished being built there is still lots to then do to make a house a home. This is what I am now going to focus on.

I had a good Summer break with the kids and now they are back at school and kinder, I have had a little head space and time to reflect.

A big thing for me is making our house a home, somewhere we feel comfortable, have fun and enjoy. Somewhere family and friends love to visit and spend time with us. The same goes for the garden, we would love a mini oasis in the middle of suburbia.

Over Summer holidays I quickly realised a few things, to have a comfortable home you want it to be cool and shaded. There is lots of  sun about and so was glad we got the solar panels in. For the garden water is obviously a necessity so hence a good size water tank. Other factors will come into play in Winter, so I am looking at sustainability measures to make our house comfortable all year around. This will also help keep the heating / cooling bills down.

The other thing I took in is with a lot of entertaining and the kids being home over the holidays we wasted a lot of fresh food by buying too much and then it spoiling before we ate it. So now I not only want to make a beautiful garden but a productive one. This has started with my bumper crop of cherry tomatoes which the kids, hubby and I not only enjoyed eating but the kids loved planting and picking them too. This also brings up the topic of fun things to do with the kids around the house and garden, another focus for my future posts.

Over Spring and Summer we have been working on our garden and thinking ahead we have started to plant tress that will not only grow to hide the fence and look good but will eventually grow fruit, our mini orchard in the middle of suburbia (see picture below-planting was something Hubby and son enjoyed together). 

So with all this in mind I hope you can join my journey of making my house a home and my garden a productive one. I am also aiming to come up with some great recipes, that use the fresh produce we have grown. I would love it too if you could share ideas with me along the way. So stay tuned for my garden to plate posts.

The effects of rain

Now I am generally a real sun person and love blue skies and warm weather but after the few days of heat that Melbourne has had I have loved all the rain over the past 24 hours.

After it has been so hot, the smell of rain, the coolness it brings and the effect it has on the environment is wonderful. Last night as I sat in my kids room while they were going to sleep, I had their window wide open and just listened to the rain and sound of crickets. Very relaxing.

This morning my little boy and I walked my daughter to school and there were puddles everywhere, the Eucalyptus smelt wonderful wet and the birds were all calling out, all because of the Summer rain.

Also yesterday we got our rainwater tank installed so now have another reason to love the rain when it has been so dry.

Today now the rain has stopped the builders are working on putting in a deck down this side and around the tank. This deck will wrap around the house and meet up with the back deck. So I will be sharing lots of deck photos soon.

Adelaide Zoo - sustainable design influence

I have just got back from visiting the Pandas at Adelaide Zoo. Well worth a visit they are absolutely gorgeous.
Now I am sure you are thinking well what does this have to do with a house renovation or house / garden design - well the visit to the Zoo highlighted the need for sustainable design and living.

At the Zoo I was reminded over and over again, how many animals are threatened by their habitat being destroyed. On top of which the Adelaide Zoo has an education / environmental centre which shows children the importance of managing water and discusses the effects of climate change.

Hubbie and I have been discussing how we can make our home as sustainable as possible. Currently the Building code in Victoria states that extensions have to meet 5 star standard but we are going to try and improve on this by putting in a higher level of insulation and double glazed windows. On top of this we will look at installing:

- a rain water tank
- grey water options
- solar panels
- low energy lighting (no or few down lights)
- high star rated fixtures and appliances
- good window coverage - blinds and shading.

Of course this is all well and good if we don't follow this through into the old part of the house so this will also be scrutinised for ways to improve.

We also need to consider the materials being used and ensure things like the wood for the deck is FSC accredited.

Along with this we will a look at options for the garden taking permaculture principles into account (more in a later post). Also I loved the butterfly garden at the Zoo, designed to attract local butterflies. Something worth looking into - I know the kids will love it.