Everyone tells you that building a house is frustrating and it will test your patience and persistence. Those pessimistic voices tend to fade away as you walk through display homes, study house designs and make changes to your dream home which will provide lots of wonderful memories in the future.

But those come flooding back once you have signed up and wait expectantly for them to start.

Surely Bob the Builder didn't have trouble finding a good subcontractor like Wendy and when he asks Lofty or Muck to be there for Friday you can be sure they are good for their word. I am also pretty sure that Scoop would work in the light drizzle if Bob needed a favour done.

Alas, I am not Farmer Pickles and there is a building boom in Perth so I will need to learn the virtues of patience.

Here is the transformation thus far from 'derelict my ...' to a slab.