As I look back over time though, its amazing the story that photos tell about our lives, one that can be read and reflects so true of our changing times. This is what I can tell about the last 17 years from our pictures.
Our first "married" home was rented. We moved into Alexandra Parade in Fitzroy in January 1995. This home was a delightful home. Newly renovated, great colours and fit out. Noisy main road but great location.
Every morning David would ride to work and I would walk/run. Some days I would tram it in for the 10 minute ride. We would go to gym 6 days a week. We would sleep in til 7.20am three days a week and actually watch TV before heading to work. The other mornings we would be at the gym at 6.00am home at 7am and then off to work. We also did two days of gym on the weekend. David was studying and working during this time so it was a little lonely for me at times. I really don't know what occupied my time. We would visit our parents on alternate weekends for dinner and I would cook dinner at night when I came home. Grocery night was Monday night at Barkly Square. Rent back them was about $210 per week but this was up market city living. We paid nothing for transport.
BUT, we were young (and very fit) but not so wealthy. The house was mostly filled with bits and bobs from our youth and we added a few new (and now to look at very cheap) items of furniture. We also didn’t do much. We mostly stayed in. Only visiting Brunswick street a few times for dinner. We did go walking a lot and camping to escape the city. We rented for a year whilst saving towards our own place.
In 1996 we purchased our first home. We moved to Springfield Road in Blackburn in February. Again, a home which had had some updating and was quite pleasant in which to live. It was ours for $108,000. A mere shadow of what you would pay for a place in Blackburn today.
It was on a busy road and a smallish corner block, it lacked a separate toilet and cupboard space – and it took us years to get the curtains on and garden done how we wanted it but it was ours. We had a mortgage and set about our goal to pay it down.
This was also a time when we got our first dog – Wally. I would run Wally around the block every morning without fail for the whole time we lived in Blackburn. Most of the time he enjoyed it but there were some days when he would just lay on his back and refuse to budge. And we would walk him at night. We went to the gym in Forest hill 5 times a week and walked home 20 minutes from the station 3 nights a week. We would catch the bus to the station at 7.10 every morning and be in the city by 8.15.
Whilst we still had a mortgage we did have a little more income and we managed to fit in a very long awaited trip to the United States. We still did alot of camping and saw lots of movies.I was also working for a bank at the time which meant that a very low 3% interest rate made mortgage repayments very achievable. Pitty this is still not the case today.
The photos continue to tell a story when in 1998 we decided it was time for an upgrade and it was on the way home from gym one day that we noticed a place in Box Hill. Lovely on the outside – renovaters delight on the inside. This was the Wednesday night and the auction was on Saturday. So we went along, had a quick look around before hand, agreed on a price and the hammer went down at $176k. We were the new owner of Sweetland Road – a delightful place in a lovely, quiet tree lined street. It was within walking distance to most things, the station included. BUT, it needed alot of work. It is only when I look back on the photos that I can see how much but at the time, it was a project.
I have no doubt the family believed we had bitten off more than we would chew and we got started with our renovations. It was many years of hard work. Yet we really enjoyed it and found
it rewarding. This was a time when we spent most of our time renovating. I have culled many pictures of the various stages of the bathroom, lounge, bedrooms and outside of the home. We were proud of our achievements.
By now our lives were getting busier. We were down to four days a week at the gym – two weekend days and two weeknights. And most of out other time on the weekends was spent scraping roofs, digging it eh garden etc. I recall this time as one when I was very physically fit. We would still go bushwalking and camping a bit. We had another dog and I would run both Scooby and Wally every morning and most nights we would walk them. We walked too and from the station at Laburnum and on the weekends would walk a lot too. We would visit the inlaws most Sundays for a roast dinner and walk home – trashy magazines in hand. Pinkies Pizza was a regular Saturday night feast when we were exhausted from renovating - and then there were those days we would shower, close the doors and just go out to get away from it all.
I am not sure what prompted a move but after about three years David was itching for more space and on one Sunday drive we stumbled across a house in the hills. During our time in Box Hill we regularly visited the hills on what we would call “Dandenongs days”. Those that were misty and cold and wet and just called for a brunch or lunch in a warm café with a fire, usually followed with a stroll down the streets.
We literally stumbled across our current home in Mast Gully Road Ferny Creek. I still recall stopping and looking at the sign and reading it and saying – who on earth would buy a house with 4 bedrooms, two studies and 3 bathrooms – just mad. But by Wednesday the answer was “we would!!”. So in October 2001, having sold our Box Hill renovated renovaters delight for $317k, we upgraded two two acres of land. The best way to describe this home was homely. Warm and inviting – I loved it and felt at home from the day I moved in.
Over the last 10 years we have seen some changes though.
The trellis replaced with wire, the brown paint replaced with a more neutral tone, carpet, new floor boards to replace the mission brown tiles, gas heating to replace the expensive underfloor heating, solar panels and water tanks. We have also shuffled the spare rooms. Once it was a house we rattled in alone with two dogs – two very spoilt dogs who slept in the study with a view to die for. Now we have added two lovely boys to the mix to fill some of the space in our family home. The dog now sleeps under the stairs and the kids enjoy their own rooms. As I look around my study , colorful art work done by the kids now replaces our degrees. And I can tell you all this because of the story that is filed away in my photo album.
I can also observe that whilst some things have changed, some have stayed the same or gone on to find a new home. For example, I have now had my spice rack, a wedding gift – for 17 long years now and I still love it. The pumpkin soup toureen has also served many purposes and seen us through the last 17 years. It was once our bank, at a time when utility bills were small enough to be able to pay cash at the post office. Looking over our photos our taste is still uncluttered. Books on the bookshelf have changed from text books during my years of studying law, to novels, then books on having babies, to toddler books, to kids stories.
Pictures of my butlers pantry tell me that I still take the same vitamins I took 10 years ago. One of my prized pieces in my home is a lovely mirror my dear brother made for my 30th birthday from my cousin’s old door. It takes pride of place in the lounge in the spot that it was exactly made for. I will take it with me and hope there is equally a home waiting for it in the new home.
As delightful as our home is, a bought home can never really have ones own stamp on it and so for a while – watching Grand Designs has had us a little itchy with a new project required. Now we have children, our focus has changed and so have our priorities... and we seem to have so much less time. I work part time, cook dinners on a Sunday to feed the tribe for the week, give the boys vegemite sandwiches in the car for dinner, often have takeaway for dinner on Saturday night, walk the poor dog less, visit the gym three times a week if I can, commute over an hour each working day to the city and we still manage to only have one car!!
There have been three additional property purchases in the middle to throw excitement in the mix - but that is for another day.
xxx Mast Gully Road - you have served us well and given us many happy memories. Lets hope as we embark on our new build up the road that we have as much fun and reward.
