Fua-fua!

Today when we went we found the roofing (asphalt) all completed, a spanking aluminium front door that looks just like wooden in place, pillasters on the porch, and two men in gnome suits stuffing glass wool insulation batts into the walls and window frames. The legally mandated 24-hour, forced-air ventilation system is now complete and hidden under the upstairs ceiling.

In the style of King George (titter)
(King George of Canadia)

One of the key features of Selco Home houses is the thoroughness of the insulation. It's thick, and it goes in everywhere. They even carefully stuff it in the cracks around the outsides of the window frames. The whole effect is very fua-fua (soft). It gets a layer of plastic sheeting on the outside to protect it from moisture.

Padded cell - the living/dining room

Filling in around the windows

One of the beauties of having a house designed for yourself is the potential to ask for things you've always wanted but that aren't generally possible in rented accommodation. I've always wanted a bar for doing pull-ups on. In the new house, I'm going to have two, built in -- one in the downstairs hall (doubling as an indoor drying rail), and one in the stairwell.

The location of one of the pull-up bars

Instructions to leave a cutaway in the ceiling
for head clearance

The staircase has yet to be started, so to get to the 2nd floor we have to use a ladder. I'm sure the young master will be disappointed when it's replaced with some un-pirate-like stairs.

Hazardous in slippers

On the way home, we went to look at some of the shops in our new vicinity. We found that they have an even better selection of local fresh food and more Japanese wines than the shops in town. They also have really nice bread at good prices. This came as a pleasant relief. There's also a shop selling wild boar and deer meat -- considering the hazards of modern-day industrial meat, some locally-hunted wild meat will be worth a look.

When we got home there was a rather fine winter sunset to enjoy. At the moment, our view of the sunset is blocked by another house, and to take pictures like this, I have to walk a few yards. In the new place, the sunsets will be visible from nearly every window and especially from the balcony.