The day it almost all changed... forever!

The phone was ringing....it was early, very early. Who could be ringing now I thought as I woke and grabbed the phone.
All I could hear was crying, a horn blaring... (annoyingly the mobile phone was cutting in and out), my mind stitched together the words..... I.. have.. had.. a...serious... accident... come quick!

Nothing wakes a person up quicker then those words.

I had the Kids awake and in the car in a few minutes flat and then I was driving, like really driving.
The DW was on the way to work in the dark after some rain, she saw a possum in the middle of the road and just moved over a little. Unfortunately she was into a corner, the road was wet, next thing she knew she was skidding and then she saw the tree coming.

She hit the tree hard, most likely in the 60-80km/h range! Judging from how close the tree is to the road, the wet surface and the destruction of the front of the car.... I think the upper range was more likely. This tree was big and definitely stood its ground.

In hindsight we were lucky. The result of this accident could have been so much worse.

The car crumpled in all the right places, all the air bags went off (breaking the front windscreen) and they saved the DW's head. The safety features performed just as they should.
The cabin area was wrinkle free and was in perfect shape. This allowed for a quick escape through fully functioning doors.

A big thanks goes from our Family to the teams of Toyota Engineers.... your work is appreciated!

If you ever have thought if Toyota's safety features are worth the extra cash I can assure you they are!


The car is a total write off but the little Lady is fine. She has a few bruises and a little whip-lash but otherwise she looks fine!

Obviously we have all had quite a scare and are now sorting out the aftermath.

Despite the destruction of our beloved car, I can't quite believe how lucky we are..... it could easily have been so very different.

And then they were one.

It was time to get the trusses up and make them part of our House.
I pulled in some favors and talked two Mates into helping for the day. I hired a scaffold (expensive things even just for a few days!).
The crane and driver turned up and we were into it.

There were some hiccups along the way, somehow the trusses weren't the required height! After lots of worry and some amazing action most of the issues have now been solved.
I hope that another days work should see most of the remaining issues fixed.

By the end of the day this is what we achieved.



The trusses are at last in place!


Phew, there was a lot of worry and sleepless nights leading up to this day. I am so glad that the day finished with the trusses in place and that no serious problems occurred during the installation.


They have added the special element I was after which should really lift the House's appearance. I especially like the three dimensional chunky aspect.

I am hard at work adding the purlins, which are graded 145x45's.
Soon I can see I will be adding the final piece of sub-floor and then I will be onto building the deck and the first fix electrical and plumbing.

Lets make some big triangles

Those who have been following my building project will know that I have invested some serious time turning some very large, ugly pieces of hardwood timber into something that looks good.

Well the time has come to make these pieces of timber into something great.
These photos show how they were turned into our amazing trusses.

First you need a big flat area on which to assemble all the bits. This isn't such an easy thing to find out here. The solution saw me putting together my deck sub-floor out in the paddock!
I know that sounds crazy but there is a reason to my madness! Honest!

I then carefully moved my precious pieces of timber from careful storage to the platform. Help was supplied by Mum, Dad, levers, ropes and a trusty old ute that Dad had breathed more life into. Thanks again Dad!
M, D and the DW also applied some more sealant to areas that had missed out.


The pieces were then assembled with help and there was lots of referring to the Engineers plans. The walls and pieces of wood were measured, re-measured and measured again and then they were carefully cut and bolted into the hand made brackets.


The bolts are big, big enough to be used to build bridges! They are M20's, which means that the shaft is 20mm in diameter and the nuts are a lot bigger again.

We now have five very large, unique, handmade trusses. I really hope that they will add a very interesting 3D element to the House.

Now all I have to do is to get these trusses ...way up in the air and resting safely on top of the House's walls.

I NEED A CRANE because I can't even lift these trusses now they have been assembled.