No privacy has been our number one gripe. We live on a lane in Beverley town centre, which is in the process of being gazetted. With an actual name. Anzac Lane. The wheels of local government do not move quickly, so although this decision was taken months ago, there is no evidence of a street sign. Our corner block sits on the north/south bitumenised section and the east/west gravel section. Our sliding door which separates the house from the lane has no curtains as we hoped to build a privacy wall long before now.
The number of cars, trucks, caravans(!) and other vehicles that use the lane every day, at speed, is staggering. Plus, the public loves cutting the corner of our property. Every motorist up and down the lane always looks into our house, usually at the same moment they are securing their seatbelts. I always wave back, which tends to produce expressions of confusion and embarrassment. Do they really consider that nobody lives in this house?
Re-enactments of Demolition Derby occur on an almost daily basis. Even though our house has completely cut the vision of motorists approaching the ninety-degree turn, caution and moderation do not appear to be well used. We have lost count of the number of near-misses, hasty reversals and wheel spinning escapades that occur right next to our place of residence. Hence, we are not building an expensive carport on the corner. We have no doubt that one day it will be taken out by speed, inattention, fatigue or inebriation. Possibly all four at once.
My ongoing battle with dust from the gravel lane has been well documented. The northern windows and sliding door remain firmly shut in an effort at dust mitigation. We have written to the Shire about this issue, but most councillors do not live in town, so there has been little understanding or sympathy of our situation.
At last, some progress has begun. We are now the proud parents of an enormous trench - three and a half metres wide and ten metres long. All preparation for our privacy wall. Tomorrow the footings will be poured. The bricks, sourced from our hundred-year-old underground water storage tank four years ago, are ready to meet their destiny as the hardware for the wall. We have employed a local chap to clean and move bricks, ready for this momentous stage. The pavers for the ground have been ordered. We have no gates yet but we do have an endless supply of metal to masquerade as gates until Michael constructs them. And finally, our garden pots and outdoor furniture will be able to be placed in our courtyard for our pleasure.
Our building heroes, John and Lindsey, have promised us the carports, driveways and our front porch will be their next priority. I live in hope that our home and surrounds will be really, really finished before our first year anniversary of being in the house.
Wish us luck!
Our mechanical miracle worker...
Work beginning...
Mark pressed his Dad into being his TA!
Commander Mark orchestrating the show...
We have a trench!
At the end of a long day, Peter and Michael were both a tad weary...
but Peter still had the energy for a bit of a pose!
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