The House That A-M Built

I think the last time I posted a picture of the front elevation of the house, there was a big pile of dirt in the driveway and a port-a-loo off to the side!

So here she is today, waiting for a coat of paint for the front wall (it's just bare render at present), and the beautiful front gates we have on order. The gates will be similar in design to the porch balustrade. Some greenery would be nice too. We plan to plant a leopard tree in the 'garden-bed-to be, behind the wall, off to the right side.... and something else green, down the sides. The front steps and courtyard, up from the gate, will be paved in the same stone that we have out on the terrace.... eventually. The front wall lights are sitting in a cupboard, in my laundry, waiting for hubby to paint the front wall ..... and there they will sit while the back wall painting is completed first. We have one tiny strip of lawn up to the front gate, which our landscaper dropped off one day... excess from a job he was doing. At least it gives us a relatively 'clean' entrance up to the gate. The rest is dirt with building remnants all through it. It is still such a work site... I pick up stuff everyday and dump it in the bin.

So that's her. It's amazing to sit back and look at her now. The first house I have ever built. I know everything about her, every nook, cranny, beam, window dimension, tile. It is a surreal feeling to know her so intimately. She does have a presence in the street but she sits nestled into the block so comfortably, like she has always been there..... and living in her?... she's light and bright and warm and she feels like I have always known her. I love her now, even with all her flaws and blue sticky defect spots. She feels like home.