Pineconeprim

Togs, Swimmers, Bathers

2011-09-15T14:21:00.000+10:00

Last year I bought myself some vintage one-piece togs off Modcloth.

I thought the expense was worth having a pair of togs that covered everything yet still made me feel sexy.

They did the job perfectly and I wear them happily.

However....

I miss being able to wear a two-piece.

I'm only a size 10 AUS so you think I'd be fine

but like a lot of mothers out there my stomach is a mass of loose skin and bad stretchmarks that extend to above my bellybutton.

I wouldn't let that loose on the unsuspecting public and I'd feel so self-concious that I know I wouldn't enjoy wearing them.

So imagine my delight when I found out Modcloth does high-waisted bikinis.

For $90.

I could justify the cost for my first set of togs but for another set, just for vanities sake.....uh uh.

So my mind started twinkling.

I wonder, could I make my own?

I've made my own patterns in the past by using other items for reference.

Then as if it was meant to be, I recieved a Lincraft voucher as a thank you for coaching netball.

It was just enough for this gorgeous umbrella

and half a metre of Lycra and four red buttons.

There wasn't much to choose from at Lincraft, just bright purple, blue, pink, yellow and black.

So black it was.

And I did it!

I measured and sewed and adjusted and made these.

The bottoms have a high band and a front skirt with ruching.

I'm so happy.

Here's a photo of them on.

They feel awesome on and not a stretch mark in sight.

So even if I had to pay for the fabric and buttons,

all up it still only would have cost me $20.

You can't get cheap, crappy togs for that amount.

I'm sold!

Rock Around the Clock

2011-09-13T20:56:00.000+10:00

Woo hoo!

I just had my first Rock 'n' Roll dancing lesson

It was for freestyle rock 'n' roll which is where you learn different moves

but the dance isn't choreographed.

I learned the basics,

the low spin,

the high spin,

the flick and half turn

and the 'under the arm twice'.

It's rather easy but looks really effective.

I love, love, love it.

I have no partner and had to dance with an instructor in his 60's but that was to my advantage because he knew what he was doing.

I can't wait for the next lesson.

Happy Days, here I come.

EAT

2011-09-04T17:18:00.000+10:00

Have a look at my new sign!

Doesn't it just fit perfectly with the bunting?

I've had these wooden letters for nearly a year and rediscovered them recently whilst sorting through some crap, I mean, really valuable stuff, that I've had sitting in a basket for months.

I painted and papered, sanded and varnished them to replace the sign that you would have seen in the previous post.

The "Oh Holy Night" sign......

......that I forgot to take down last Christmas.

Does anyone else do that?

Pack everything away then realise you've missed something and you're just too darn lazy to do anything about it even though it just means standing on a chair and lifting it off the hook?

Umm, no, not me either.

Anyway, after choosing the perfect paper for the letters I realised that the colour of the 'T' was pale blue. Nearly the very same blue I was using for the walls.

In fact, I colour-matched that paper to half strength for the wall colour.

Oops!

When I eventually painted the kitchen, all you'd see of the sign would be EA.

Luckily, I had a blank, already painted board that I was going to use for a handpainted sign two years ago.

Yeah, I'm really good at getting around to things.

A sign that was going to say

"Dittmar - established 1998".

Well, obviously due to my newly single state a sign like that would be kinda awkward.

So, with a bit of sadness I must admit, I used it to mount the letters

and I'm really happy with the result.

The kitchen has been the site of a few happy dances lately.

First the pantry door,

then the bunting

and now this.

I love it when things come together.

A new kitchen curtain and bunting

2011-09-02T10:24:00.000+10:00

Well, the title says it all really.

As usual, my inability to focus on completing just one thing has shone again.

Whilst on the ground and painting the white floors in the kitchen, I looked up and decided that I really didn't like the blue gingham curtain that was hanging on my kitchen window, and had been there for years since my 'primitive' decorating phase.

A new curtain had to be made and of course, it had to be white.

(Here's a hint for you, whenever I'm browsing through op shops and I see white sheets of fairly good quality or thickness, I snap them up.

I use them for slip covers, cushions, and of course, curtains.)

So out came the sewing machine and up went the curtain, adding instant lightness to the room.

I was very happy.

But it needed something more.

I make bunting for friends and to sell but realised that I didn't have any in my own house.What!?

So I raided my stash of vintage fabrics and made some bunting just for me.

Look at that delicious prettiness!

I love bunting, it is so cheery and festive and it's amazing how something so small can change the feel of a room.

Of course, looking at the photos you can see how horrible the paint is.

Well, that's in the process of being changed right now and my spare time is once again taken up with scrubbing walls, filling gaps and sanding to get them ready for the light blue that's to come.

Pantry Door Tutorial

2011-08-27T10:56:00.001+10:00

Yesterday I briefly showed you photos of my pantry door that I did over.

Now the patchwork design is not my idea. Someone, somewhere on the web had posted photos of how they did the patchwork thingy using wallpaper scraps.

It was love at first sight.

(If you, genius person, happen to stumble over my humble blog and go, "That's my picture!" drop me a line so I can give you credit.)

Edit: I found who the creator was. It was done by Simone of Beach Vintage. There happened to be a photo of her standing in front of it in her latest post. Eureka! You'll see her in my favourite blogs roll down the side if you wanted to check out her site and see what more prettiness she has in store.

Now they were a lot more adventurous with their colours. I am meanwhile trying to streamline my look and colour scheme in the (mistaken?) belief that it will make my house look less messy and jumblesome. While my walls are green at the moment, sometime in the future they will be turned pale blue so I chose a colour scheme that incorporates the two, rather successfully I think. I also tried to choose patterns that looked vintage and/or wallpaper-ish.

I also was not so adventurous in using wallpaper, as I've never hung wallpaper or even walked into a wallpaper shop in my life.

As the scrapbooking paper had worked quite well here

I thought I would go with it again.

The only difference was this time I used card instead of paper as it is less likely to get air bubbles.

Step 1.

Measure the place to be papered then decide how you want to divide it up.

I went with three across and three down for the top panel and four down for the bottom panel.

(The bottom rectangles are slightly longer than the top panel as it didn't divide neatly to the same measurements but you can't even notice.)

Step 2.

Lay your paper out roughly in a design that is balanced and pleasing to your eye.

Step 3.

Cut out your first rectangle to the dimensions you've chosen.

If you're not a straight cutter, I would recommend using a stanley knife and ruler as any gaps between patches will be noticable.

Step 4.

Using your rectangle as a template, trace around the other pieces of card and cut them out.

Step 5.

Glue the card down.

I used PVA glue thinned with water so it brushed on easier. I also spread the glue onto the panel rather than onto the paper as it gave a more pleasing result.

If your card isn't too damp, you can use a ruler to spread it down evenly, otherwise rub your hand firmly over the card to try to eliminate any air bubbles.

Step 6.

Leave it to air dry (which doesn't take long, I waited an hour) then paint with two coats of varnish, leaving drying time between, of course.

I use Cabot's Cabothane water-based varnish in Satin.

I like it because it cleans up in water, doesn't smell and doesn't yellow.

Step back and admire.

I did mine on panels which I then had to nail onto the pantry door frame. The beauty of this was that the frame covered up any messy edges.

I'm going to tackle the linen cupboard doors next which are already complete so I'll have to take more care with my edges, but this is such a simple project, it's really hard to mess up.

It turns something plain and utilitarian into a real focal point and work of art.

Let me know how you go if you try it.

Doing up a door

2011-08-26T18:15:00.000+10:00

Welcome to my new look blog.

I've been through a few different styles in the past and I've had lots of fun selecting a look and colour scheme that suits who I am now.

(If the font is too difficult to read, leave me a comment so I can change it.)

To celebrate opening the door to my new stage in life, I've given the back door a makeover.

It was painted the same green as the surrounding walls and I wanted to make a feature of it.

White always works wonders.

And it needed something pretty to dress it up and laud my love of vintage, so what better than some doilies.

I've also done over my pantry door with a patchwork look, which I love, love, love!

Tune in later for a tutorial on how to achieve the super easy look.

Time For A New Beginning

2011-08-11T15:23:00.000+10:00

Hi all.

Just a quick note to let you know that I am still here, lurking around the world of blogs, but strictly just lurking lately.

No posts, no commenting.

Lazy, maybe?

I blame the former on my phone which, while it takes fantastic photos, is very frustrating when it comes to downloading them. Unless it's absolutely, fully charged when I plug it in to the PC, it decides the only thing it wants to do when connected is feed off the new power source. Flat out refuses to anything else but charge up.

Greedy thing.

So I have to try to download photos at 7:15 in the morning after its had its overnight feast and is nice and contented, patting its full belly.

But you know that's not going to happen.

Download photos...amidst morning showers, breaky on the run, making lunches, prying kids away from the heater because they should be getting dressed. Dreaming!

And the sorry lack of commenting?

My excuse is that I'm hibernating, saving my energy to get through the cold season.

With everything else going on in my personal life all it seems that I get time for lately is a quick browse here and there when I need a little shot of inspiration or images of beauty to help get me through.

And when there's so many favourite blogs to get through, who has time to comment?

But rest assured, I do read and look and soak up your pretty pictures and send you my approving thoughts via ESP.

It seems I'm not the only one hibernating.

Reading through my blog roll I'm going to delete at least ten blogs that haven't seen any action for three months or more.

What my blog needs is a new start, a freshen up.

A new look,

a dedication to more photo downloading so I can start writing posts again.

(So many times I've thought "I'll have to do a post on that but that means enduring a battle between my phone and computer. Sigh!")

It's time to emerge from the hibernation just in time for Spring

and start creating again.

So bear with me while I 'powder my nose'

and fingers crossed that I actually keep to my promise.

(And as I have to rely for the moment on old pictures, forgive the randomness of the ones included

but what's a post without pictures.)

A lot of water under the bridge

2011-04-21T09:20:00.000+10:00

My blog is really out of date.

I haven't posted since early February.It was all about the gorgeous pendant necklaces available on Etsy.
I've been making my own and they've turned out lovely
(but that'll have to be another post as I don't have my camera with me).

According to my sidebar, I'm 32.I'm actually closer to 34.

I no longer have 5 chickens.
One chook is all that remains and she's going senile in her old age. Thinks imaginary monsters are chasing her every morning and runs screaming across the yard....almost like clockwork. There's no monsters, I've checked.....the first five times. Now it's a case of the hen who cried wolf.

But I guess the biggest change in status is that the husband and marriage that I thought was a dream come true has turned out to be more like a bad dream. We've been separated for three weeks now and it's certainly been a rollercoaster of a ride. But it's good to say that I've mostly been on top of the ride and from that high up I can see the view in the distance, and even though it's far away, it looks pretty.

Can you believe I'd never been there before?

2011-02-05T11:48:00.002+10:00

To Etsy that is.

I'd heard many a mention of it for ages

but finally went there yesterday to check out Dottie Angel's notebooks.

This morning I got an email with many things to drool over

but the one that caught my eye was this.

HidenSeek

I've loved pendants ever since I found this in an op shop last year....

one of my favourite bits of jewellery.

And I've always loved images of old ships in rolling waves,

maybe it's a hangover from childhood days of reading

Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

The pendants were sold out.

So I explored further and found

this......

xPiebaldx

and this.....

thependantemporium

and these.

all thependantemporium

Be still my beating heart.

But which one to choose.

Which one would you choose?

I got a wild idea...

did a bit more exploring

and purchased a set of 10 blank pendants.

So now I can make my own

and I've collected many vintage childrens books with the intention of one day making cards from the images.

I think some of them would be perfect for this project.

I'll let you know how it goes.

More white floors

2011-02-04T11:46:00.001+10:00

About two years ago I painted Ella's room blue, furnished with white furniture. I left the skirting boards off though because I always had the intention of polishing the hardwood floors first. Of course two years later they were still the same, with their blotches of paint and huge gaps between the floorboards.

Before - hardwood floors that are a nice colour but they are very uneven and gappy.

After the success of Rosie's white floors I was inspired to do the same in Ella's room. So after a lot of gapfilling (some of the gaps were HUGE and always used to bug me because of all the dirt that would get caught in them), and putting on of skirting boards (I'm getting better at cutting mitres) I put the layer of primer down yesterday.

Halfway through painting the primer.

And I'm loving the result already. The room is on the dark side of the house and the white floor lightens it so much.

Primer is finished - a taste of the final result.

I'm off to paint the first layer of paint. Is it silly that paint can make me so excited?

When do you go?

2011-02-02T11:18:00.000+10:00

I picked my daughter up from school early yesterday. She'd vomitted. Okay, that's no biggy. I can handle that. Just give her lots of attention and rest and water and let her watch TV, which is usually banned on school afternoons.

But this morning I got woken at 2:30am to her upset and clutching her stomach. She's in pain, she's crying and the hot water bottle isn't cutting it. A little questioning and I discover it's a sharp pain, below and to the right of her belly button. Uh -oh. From memory, isn't that where it hurts when you have appendicitis?

This is where the dilemma comes in. Does anyone else hate making these decisions? I HATE making a fuss. And I know gastro can give you tummy pains. What if I go to the hospital and it turns out to be wind? Will they think I'm an idiot?

I took her.

I had to carry her from the car park, she seemed all lanky arms and legs, because it hurt too much to walk. The doctor prodded and poked. He seemed to understand my concerns because of the location. Took a urine sample, gave her some pain killer, left her curled up on an emergency bed and waited to see if the pain eased. An hour later she was giggling at our attempts to draw portraits on the magnadoodle from the toy corner.

It turned out to be gastro.

I just have to monitor her and if the BAD pain comes back, go back to the hospital for blood tests.

So I'm home for the day and Ella's laid out on the couch, eating honey toast and watching "Robin Hood".

And I'm glad I went, even if it was a false alarm.

Looking like a fool is nothing when it comes to my daughter's wellbeing.

It's Raining, It's Pouring.....It's Flooding

2011-01-11T17:30:00.000+10:00

The Bruce Highway as seen from Aldi, near McDonalds.

The flood disaster that I've been watching unfold in the rest of Queensland has finally hit home.

It was rather ironic that for a town that so easily floods, it took this long, but from Saturday the warnings were flowing in. I and everyone else in town were frantically stocking up with groceries.

I knew that my house would be okay and I'd still be able to get to the shops, unlike others, but as all roads out of town are cut, I knew the shops would run out quickly.

I got up early Monday and spent the morning helping the staff at Best and Less clear out their store (I was thinking of you, Amos).

The afternoon was spent helping the convenience store down the road clear out everything. No one knew how high the flood was going to reach, estimations were for a peak of 20m but no one wanted to take any chances. Both places had flooded 1.5m deep in the last major flood.

Breaths were held overnight but the news was good... a peak of 19.24m.

There was flooding but not as bad as feared.

Best and Less was fine although the water filled the carpark

Memorial Lane, and the shops along it, was a canal

and there was one huge lake stretching from the river, over the highway

through the park and pool

drowning some shops up to roof level

and through Memorial Park.

Close to home the park across the road was flooded.

You could just see the tops of the swings sticking out.

The convenience store was just spared

but my old Indoor Netball centre next door wasn't so lucky.

The Soccer fields were swamped.

All in all, I feel we've been fairly lucky, although if we get more rain it will rise again.

This has certainly paled in comparison though to the disaster that has hit Toowoomba and the surrounding areas. 9 dead and 66 missing at this time. And Ipswich and Brisbane are preparing for major flooding.

My thoughts go out to all those affected. I hope it doesn't get much worse and the missing are found safe and sound.

Rosie's Room is Done!

2011-01-07T17:29:00.002+10:00

After long last, I put the final coats of paint on the sleepout last week and I've been painting furntiure and moving all of Rosie's things into the room. And seeing I love before and afters let me give you a short history of the sleepout.

This is what it looked like pre-cleaning and painting, when it was my sewing room. Neat, but look at those awful walls. Looking back, I can't believe that I lived with it for so long.

When we moved in, the floor was "carpeted" with fake grass. Beautiful.

That immediately went, but the floor below was painted green and covered with bumpy glue.

So in the meantime, we put down carpet from elsewhere in the house.

Rosie chose a really pretty pale spearmint for the walls. We were going to go for a shabby-chic look BUT halfway through Rosie decided that she wanted an Indian themed room instead. A darker green would have been better for this new look, but the paint was bought so we stuck with it...and it went well anyway as you'll see soon.

Walls painted...I now needed to tackle the floor. Paint stripper didn't work too well so I turned to my beloved hot air gun.

It wouldn't get all the glue off but rather spread it out, but that didn't matter too much as I just wanted it smooth enough to paint white.

I LOVE white floors.

I painted the furniture a glossy black (which was Rosie's idea) and it holds the room together really well.

The bed was pine

The bedside table was white MDF from Aldi which was painted and papered
(I just used scrapbooking paper glued on with PVA and covered with two layers of clear varnish)

and the dresser was one I picked up for $15 from an Op shop which also got the black treatment and new glass handles.

I still have a desk to paint and paper and I'm making curtains out of saris bought online to add some more of the Indian feel, plus I was also going to add some picture frames painted black and lined with Indian paper.

The furnishings and decorations were chosen by Rosie.

This has been such a fun project to put together and I'm amazed and so pleased by how well it turned out.

I think Rosie has an excellent eye for deisgn and has really sophisticated taste, especially for a 12 year old.

So again, before......

and after.

I'm joining in show and tell parties on The Shabby Nest and My Romantic Home.

vintage pillowcases

2010-09-28T12:05:00.000+10:00

It seems that lately I've taken to collecting vintage sheets and pillowcases.
You know how these collections creep up on you. You buy one by chance, then another, then before you know it, that's the section of the store you go to first. You see a floral corner peeping out from behind an ugly '80's quilt and you realise that your heart just went pit-a-pat.

(Why vintage 60's and 70's patterns now when a few years ago I would have groaned at their ugliness? Who knows? That's worth a whole other session on the couch.)

If you're a collector like me, you'd also know how rarely you find them.
So you can imagine my delight when two weekends ago I stumbled not just on one or two, but piles of pillowcases.

I showed restraint and bought just two piles of them for $3 each. That's twenty pillowcases, in one spot, for 30c each.

The colours, the patterns....be still my beating heart.

Of course, some went straight on my bed.

Some others, I'm keeping to cut up and make banners from.

The mirror I also got from the same garage sale for $3, but that's another story.

Relishing the small pleasures

2010-09-19T17:45:00.000+10:00

Things have been a little difficult at home lately and at times I've been feeling full of despair. So the little pleasures have been very important to me. That little bit of happiness I can get from creating something, especially if it's homely, can be enough to get me through the day and let me know that life can be good and beautiful. Making tomato relish is for me one of those small pleasures.

First you need 1 1/2 kilos of juicy red tomatoes, the more ripe, the better.

You'll need one old, stained recipe book that used to belong to your mother.....

some empty jam jars.....

and some of this.

Cut a little cross in the top of each tomato and cover them with boiling water for a few minutes. This makes them easy to peel and this is where the ripeness helps. The skin peels off easier, the more ripe they are.

Chop up the tomatoes and two large onions and put them in a large saucepan.

Cover with brown vinegar and bring to the boil. Simmer for 30 mins.

Add a heaped tablespoon each of dry mustard and curry powder, 1 teaspoon of salt and two cups of sugar.

Simmer for another 20 minutes.

Thicken with 1/2 cup cornflour which has been blended with 2 cups white vinegar.

Pour into jars which have been cleaned and heated in the oven on low heat.

Arrange in a row and admire your handy work.

Tasty with burgers and sandwiches or with oven baked potato wedges for an after-school snack.

Or do as Rosie does and just dip your finger in and enjoy the flavoursome tanginess.

What are your small pleasures?

More Procrastinating, This Time in the Pantry

2010-09-17T08:56:00.002+10:00

When we first moved into this house, it wasn't very clean but I only had time to clean one room properly and that was the pantry. It had mildew all over the ceiling and walls and revolting lino on the floor. I wasn't going to put food in there. I ripped up the lino and gave it a wash down but four years later it was back to looking like it had never been cleaned. So I got out the sugar soap and the bleach this time. Then I thought, "While I've got the shelves out and it's clean, I might as well fill the gaps. That won't take long."

(before and after cleaning)

And you can guess what happened next.

"Well, while I've cleaned it and filled the gaps, I might as well give it a coat of Primer so it's ready to paint when I am."

"Now that it's cleaned AND filled AND primed, I might as well paint it."

So I did.

(With Dulux Aqua enamel in Antique White USA for those who like the details.)

Here's an after picture of the same spot of the first photo.

It's a bit hard to see the difference in the above photos, but in the next photo you'll see how shabby the rest of the house is, and what a difference a coat of paint makes.

You'll notice that I painted the floor too.

You can imagine that after four years of being walked on and having food dropped on it, unsealed floorboards wouldn't look, or feel, very nice.

And not to mention the large gaps between the floorboards which had 60 years of accumulated gunk and dust congealed in them. It was a nightmare to clean.

But filled and painted......aaah, it's so clean. And easy to keep clean too. I can sweep the dirt right out of there now and any marks come off easily with some vinegar on a rag.

The white makes it look so clean and fresh

and with all my foodstuff back in, it's like the pantry that I always wanted.

I always wanted my pantry to kinda look like an old general store, with everything stored in old glass bottles, which I've picked up here and there. (They also keep out the grubs and moths better than anything else I've ever used.)

I've been making swing tags for labels to keep with that feel, but I'll show you how in another post...to come soon.

And if you're not sure why I call this procrastinating, when it seems like a lot of work, have a look here.

Thanks for stopping by.

I'm taking part in My Romantic Home Show and Tell Friday

It suits me to a tee

2010-09-12T16:11:00.000+10:00

Here's a little more craftiness that I've been doing in my "spare time" and I'm really pleased with the result.

I'm a real jeans and t-shirt girl and an idea had been bubbling away in my head for a while now to try a make a more vintagey-looking shirt with a bit of embroidery and "new-school" applique. (I call it new-school so you don't turn away shuddering with images of '90s country sunflowers or Raggedy-Andys.)

I found a really nice fitting black tee at my local factory outlet shop and I thought for $3, it doesn't matter if it goes wrong.

Okay, so the bird design is a bit popular at the moment but you've got to admit it's cute.

I sewed it all on my machine just using a straight stitch and went around all the applique about three times, purposely going out of the lines for a shabby feel.

Tried it on, wore it to work with jeans...I'm very happy. I think it would also go well with a skirt.

(I washed it today for a sturdiness test which it passed. Phew!)

So I think I'll be going back for more t-shirts. I've got another few designs running around in my head.

Painting the linen cupboard - a Housewife's Tale

2010-09-11T12:57:00.000+10:00

I've always been a procrastinator and whilst reading or watching TV are good ways to not do what you're meant to, my speciality is starting other small projects. I'm still painting the sleepout but in the meantime the linen cupboard had been bugging me because it was such a mess.

You know how it is....it starts off well but then the kids pull a sheet or towel out and with it 3 more. It's much too difficult to fold up neatly, so it gets shoved back in. Meanwhile, Hubby has been generously helping with the washing. He wants to get things put away with a minimum of fuss so puts things where they'll fit regardless of whether they are towels, sheets or blankets. Soon you open up the cupboard and a mess greets your eyes but it's too overwhelming to put right, so you shove things where they'll fit too.

One weekend I decided that I'd had enough. I was going to pull everything out and refold it and cull the excess. This is what it looked like as I took it out and stacked it to the side. I'm being brave and showing you things as they really are in my house. No stomach-turning perfection here.

Then I thought, what if I made it prettier so that I'd want to keep it clean. The rest of the house might be a mess but if my cupboards are tidy when I open them, it gives me such a little thrill in my stomach and then I can pretend I'm a good housekeeper. It's reverse psychology - we all know people who's houses are perfect...except for those hidden places they don't want you to see. I figure if people happen to open my cupboards and see them neat, (because lets face it that happens all the time, doesn't it) then maybe they would think I am really a neat person and the current state of the house is just a temporary hiccup. That's what I tell myself anyway.

The linen cupboards are nice, in a vintagey way with wooden boards and old doors. What a shame they are painted in 3 different ugly shades of cream and brown. I think they must of used up the rest of their paint tins in here.

I wanted to make it more like something you'd see in a Cath Kidston picture so I decided to paint the walls blue and the shelves white.

What's that?? I'm meant to be painting the sleepout? But I'm just cleaning the shelves. Oh, how did that paintbrush get in my hand? It's only a small job... it won't take long, just a couple of hours. I promise! Don't knock over the piles of linen stacked there. Yes, I know it's been two days now, but I might as well finish. Yes, I'm nearly done.

There. that looks so much better.

The doors are still cream. I'd love to paint them white then fill in the squares with wallpaper or scrapbooking paper, but I should quit while I'm ahead. For the moment. Get back to the sleepout.

Although the pantry really needs a good cleanout, don't you think?

Another change to the sleepout - office, sewing room...now bedroom

2010-07-05T10:01:00.000+10:00

After I posted last September how I had rearranged the sleepout into something more appealing, Rosie saw the potential for a space of her own. So in an act of saintly mother-love, I gritted my teeth and agreed that yes, she was getting too old to share a room with Ella's teddy collection and yes, I would move all my newly set-up sewing supplies and let her have the room.

So we got to work again, scrubbing, filling and bleaching the walls....then stopped. Life interrupted and I got tired of spending my spare time scrubbing, filling and bleaching. A couple of months passed, I did a bit here and there...I actually got some priming done. And in the meantime, the dirt and mould and cobwebs came back. Aaargh! It felt like I was back to square one.

So I know it's not the done way but I said "stuff the cleaning, I want to do something fun...like painting". So while the bottom still looks like this....

....I have finished painting the ceiling and top part of the walls.

And it looks SO good. So clean, so new. I confess to doing a happy dance every time I walk in there. Which is first thing in the morning...and last thing at night...and several times a day, you know, just to check that it still looks just as good as in my memory, and to watch the colour change in the different lights.

What colour is it?

Well, I'll give you a clue. It's similar to one of these Meakin plates.

Or maybe a lighter version of a colour on one of these birds.

And now it's inspiring me to hurry up and get the rest finished, so it's off to put on my painting clothes and get back to business.

A little bit of green

2010-06-03T12:44:00.000+10:00

Well, I never did get around to showing you the rest of my holiday down south and (yikes) I can't believe it's June already. Winter's just beginning over here and I've got the croaky voice to prove it. No wait, yesterday it was croaky. Hubby said sexy, but I thought I sounded more like Selma and Patty of the Simpsons. Definately NOT sexy. Today, I can't speak above a whisper hence the doctors appointment in an hour.

Even though it's getting cold, my garden has been doing surprisingly well. For starters, I finally got a start on the vege garden I always wanted just over a month ago and it's like a jungle now. Yippee! I don't kill everything.

As you can see, it really is a wilderness behind it, but my aim is to clear the cats claw and weeds in plots and build vege gardens, one by one. As the ground has lots of roots, I knew I'd have to build a raised garden bed but didn't want to pay too much money for edging or soil.

My solution was to use recycled iron from the dump for the sides which were then nailed to posts of pine sleeper. Conveniently, there is building going on up behind us and they dug up a lot of soil that is just sitting there in huge piles. Bucket by bucket, in the dead of the night (okay, on the weekend when the builders had gone), I shifted soil to my new garden and layered it with manure and lucerne hay. Total cost: $24 for the iron, sleepers and manure. I'll just have to try and build my next garden before they cart all that soil away.

I'm trying to grow things on a permiculture basis and the results have been fantastic. I've picked lettuce, beans and bok choy, and the girls have been taking lebanese cucumbers to school for snacks. I've also got potatoes, carrots, shallots, tomatoes, brocolli and herbs growing.

My flower garden in the front is going nicely too. It's slow going because I'm hand-digging up the lawn to make a garden up the path and along the fence. The final picture I have in my head is grandiose, but I'll get there if I chip away, bit by bit.

I love the colour combination of blue/purple and red/pink that I've chosen, with a splash of white which goes with everything.

The last thing I've done is finally clean out our pigsty of a shed. And I mean really clean out, down to sitting up late at night, watching bad TV and sorting out the hodge-podge of various nails and screws into piles to be put away in containers. Anal, maybe, but I'll sometimes go past and open the door to have a look and smile and give myself a mental pat on the back. Aaah, a little bit of control can lift my mood magnificently.

During my clean-up I found this old ammunitions box which I think belonged to my grandfather, possibly from the war???? I was going to throw it out but decided it would make a great planter.

It's now sitting against a blank bit of wall on a makeshift shelf made from our old tankstand and I love it. What do you think?

Wiseman's Ferry

2010-04-02T14:12:00.000+10:00

Wow, I haven't posted since January. It might seem silly to post about our summer holiday when it's now in the beginning of April. I was just going to sum it all up in a highlights post but I couldn't decide what to keep out so you'll just have to bear with me.

After staying the night at Coff's Harbour we made our way down the coast. The original idea was to stay in Sydney but I couldn't find anywhere prior to stay that suited us. We were planning on taking a side trip to a town called Wiseman's Ferry which is an hour NW of Sydney, so we decided we would stay there instead for a couple of days and just make Sydney a day trip.

Our reason for visiting Wiseman's Ferry was that it was named after my Great-great-great-great-grandfather, a convict called Solomon Wiseman. As kids we were raised on romantic stories about him....how he was transported for thieving, was apparently an astute and cunning business man but not a very nice one, how he supposedly murdered his first wife by pushing her down the stairs...and her ghost still haunts the inn. Not stuff you'd normally be proud of in an ancestor but it's far enough removed to make it thrilling rather than disgraceful. He'd gotten wind that the Great Northern Road (a convict-built road from Sydney that took seven years to build) was going to come close to him so he started the ferry that crosses the Hawkesbury River (still the only way to cross it) and that's how he made his fortune along with his inn he started and getting the contract for supplying the convicts and overseers with supplies.

I, naturally, passed all the stories on to my girls so you can imagine our excitment when after hours of driving, we came at last to this sign.

We crossed on the now-modernised ferry and into the town which was so small we drove out of it again without realising it. We had two nights booked at a lovely place called Retreat at Wiseman's, with a comfortable room, free breakfasts, swimming pool for the kids and a beach volleyball court where we taught Ella how to play.

Dinner, of course, was at Solomon's original house (which is now a pub) made with beautiful huge blocks of hewn stone and THOSE stairs. We got a thrill by standing on them and wondering..."Did he really do it.... and would we see her ghost?" Of course, I didn't have my camera with me.

The next day we went on the tourist drive around the valley where you could see old picturesque buildings

and places like this atmospheric graveyard

full of old graves

although I liked the ones better that hadn't been touched up.

The cemetery was partly overgrown and there were little graves here and there, nearly hidden by fern fronds and long grasses, some with only a word or part of a name still legible.

I liked to read them and muse "how did this "dearly beloved" child of three die and was his mother inconsolable, and what was life like for William Douglas, born in 1757. It makes history seem real and not just a flight of fancy from a novel. William Douglas would have really worn all those clothes I read about in my historical romances and driven carriages and maybe even carried a musket.

The girls didn't share my fascination, declaring it creepy which Mitch joked about when he found an old glove lying on the ground.

We ended up in the village of St Albans where the centrepoint is the Settlers Arms Inn est. 1836.

The potenial of this place had me seething in frustration, for although it was in a picturesque spot with outdoor tables and beautiful old trees and still very original and historical inside (the doors were so low Mitch had to duck to go through)

it was dingy and dark, the owner was a dour old man who gave you the impression that you were invonveniencing him by ordering a drink, there were no devonshire scones like advertised as they didn't make any that day and there was nothing else to choose from. In exploring the few different rooms, I walked into a parlour (?) which had the remains of a fish lunch covered in flies, which had been sitting on a table long enough to have dried up and filled the room with a decidedly fishy stink. I was just itching to take the place over and give it new life. I could see the tourists sitting at tables being served huge fluffy scones and dainty tea cakes. Although I must admit I would probably want to whitewash everything inside as it was so dark which would lose me points for historical authenticity.

We continued on our drive and one of the things I like best about holidays is the lack of deadlines. So we had time to pull over and take photos of old stone churches and admire the views and pat the horses on the side of the road.

After two days, I'd had enough of Wiseman's Ferry as pretty as it is. There is almost an atmospheric brooding to the place that had both Mitch and I reluctant to stay any longer. I think it's partly due to the fact that it's nestled at the bottom of a valley surrounded by these huge cave-dotted cliffs which you can see in the below photo, although it truly doesn't do them justice. It felt like more than that though and if I found out that it was a spiritually significant indigenous place or that there had been some atrocity commited there, I wouldn't have been surprised.

So we left for Sydney along the twists and turns of the Old Northern Road, just stopping for one last look at the valley were we had stayed.

Day 1- Coffs Harbour

2010-01-21T12:39:00.000+10:00

We've been on camping trips in northern NSW before but I really wanted to go to the Blue Mountains (with ulterior motives as you will later find out) and the girls wanted to see Sydney, which is about a 12 hr drive.

We left home at 5:30 in the morning so hopefully the girls would sleep part of the way. Our first stop for the night was going to be Coff's Harbour which is about the halfway point to Sydney. A seven hour drive...hence wanting to keep the girls quiet for as long as possible.

We stopped on the Gold Coast for a late BBQ breakfast and a swim (and climb)

then proceded on our way. I love the freedom of the road and the passing scenery which is so beautiful in northern NSW. We got caught in some slow-moving traffic outside Ballina, but that's not really a hardship when you've got views like this out your window.

Driving down the highway we'd pass through these tunnels which are built solely for the purpose so that koalas and other native wildlife can have safe passage over the top from one side of the road to the other. I love that! They should have them in Qld.

We'd also pass under possum bridges (like rope ladders) for the same purpose.

Yay, it's the Big Banana at Coff's Harbour.

We're here....oh, our booked accomodation is a dodgy motel that smells like stale cigarette smoke. Dinner, at a pub, isn't turn out much better.

We were excited by the two for one meal deal but when our $14 steak burgers turned out to be a burnt, tough piece of steak on a miniscule bun with only some limp lettuce to brighten it, you can imagine we weren't happy. But true to form, we didn't complain or send it back. (Is anyway brave enough to do that?) And I guess, what else could you expect from a 2-for-1 deal?

Recommendations - avoid the Golden Glow Motel and the Lucky Grills Resturant.

But that's all part of the adventure, isn't it.

Welcome to our slideshow night - drinks optional

2010-01-18T17:08:00.000+10:00

Wow, it's been a long time since I've posted. Nearly two months, to be exact. Am I the only one that can find holidays stressful, not so much the "keeping-the-kids-entertained"stress but the "now's-my-chance-to-do-everything-that-I've-been-putting-off-until-I-had-more-time-but-darn-it-these-are-my-holidays-and-I-want-to-laze-around-and-read,-not-clean-walls" stress.

I always seem to walk a tightrope between doing too much and getting annoyed that I'm not taking advantage of the holidays and relaxing, or else lazing around and getting annoyed that I'm not taking advantage of the holidays....you get the picture.

Earlier we had decided to spend our money wisely by using it to enjoy ourselves and do a NSW road trip which we've only just come back from, so that's what how you're going to be entertained over the next few sessions. This will be my version of inviting you over for drinks then boring you with a slide show of our holiday snaps. Prepare to be riveted.

Checkin' Out

2009-11-22T13:47:00.000+10:00

Hello and apologies to all my followers and passerbys for my slack posting record lately.

I have been, and am currently dealing with some personal stuff from the past and present and feeling like I should be updating my blog just adds to my stress. And I don't want to say "look at these pretty banners I made" etc. and pretend everything's hunky-dory. That sounds very alarming but it's not, so don't worry.

I will be back and in the meantime, here's a picture of Minni to make up for all that doom and gloom.

Look what they got me!

2009-11-12T11:25:00.000+10:00

Last week the girls had their netball break-up and as a gesture of thanks for my coaching and managing the team, the other Mums put together and bought me this gorgeous apron in shabby pink and green fabric...

which they had embroidered. (The Elmos was the team name.) I was very touched.

They also gave me a gift voucher for Apron, one of my favourite kitchen shops on the main street.

So I bought this plate stand

and these fluted blue and cream pie dishes. Not that I need two but they looked so pretty.

Next year the girls are moving up to B-grade and want to change their name. BUT half the girls want something cute and fun like the Elmos or the Big Birds and the other half want something sporty like the Bullets or the Rockets. So far the tentative name is the Redbacks (6 votes out of 9) but we're trying for something better. Please, help with suggestions.

I've thought maybe the Fireflys or the Hot Peppers? Maybe not!

Going green in a pretty way

2009-11-05T15:23:00.000+10:00

I found some pretty floral curtains in Vinnies the other day for $2 that came straight home with me. No, I didn't need new curtains but the material was great for a little project that had been stewing away in my mind.

Like most people I try to use green bags shopping but don't have anywhere handy to store them, except for chucked in a corner of the laundry area. Let's face it, they're ugly, I don't want them where I can see them....so of course I always forget to take them with me because out of sight,out of mind.

But I thought to myself, "What if they were so cute..so pretty that I'd be looking for an excuse to take them out?"

Are you making the connection? Nice, strong curtain material with a lovely vintage-esque print (when does something really become vintage? Does being second-hand and not obviously new make it vintage? I wanted to put vintage in the post title but wouldn't want to mislead anyone. I could just hear them say, "Vintage? Scoff! My mum has those curtains in her kitchen etc.")

Anyway...Nice, strong curtain material with a lovely vintage-esque print becomes trial bag number 1. I made it to the same dimensions of my current green bags so I could use their removable stiff bottom and I purposely made the seams on the outside for a bit of frayed goodness.

The only drawback that I can see is, unlike the original, the sides are all floppy, hence the posing with the fake groceries. But I can live with that. Now to make bag number 2 with the leftover fabric. And if you listen carefully you'll hear Rosie's horrified cry of, "Oh, no, Mum, not more granny fabric. Please don't take that out in public."

Thank God she's okay!

2009-11-03T13:21:00.000+10:00

Imagine this.

I'm in the kitchen. Mitch and I hear a scraping noise from outside and think "What on earth is that?"

Then we hear a scream. We bolt to the windows to see.....

our car rolling backwards down our driveway with Ella, terrified, inside.

We dash outside to see Ella dive from the car and to watch helplessly as our car just cruises out of our yard, across the road, through the park, perfectly between these two trees

and come to rest with an almighty bang in the shallow creek.

She was in the car getting a CD. We don't know how it happened because afterwards when we checked, the gear was in park and the hand brake was on.

The front door was open and scraped along our other car and hit our open gate. The front of the car was ruined, the back of the car was ruined, there was a huge bulge underneath where the exhaust was dragged along and stuck.

But it could have been so much worse.

It was Sunday and the traffic was light so no one else was involved.

When Ella jumped she also had to avoid the open door rolling towards her. She could have gotten crushed between the two cars, she could have been crushed on the fence. She could have stayed in the car longer and jumped out on the road. She could have stayed in the car, and injured herself in the impact of falling in the creek. She could have fallen UNDER the car while trying to get out.

All she got was a small cut on the finger and one HELL of a fright. The poor thing was firstly terrified because she thought she was going to get into trouble. Then she wouldn't stop shaking from the shock.

It's just a car and insurance is taking care of it, but even if we had no insurance...it's just a car. Replaceable!

We could NEVER replace our daughter. Someone was certainly looking after her that day.

P.S. If you see someone waiting with their car ready to be towed, by all means stop if you genuinely want to help (we had lots of angels all eager to help and concerned for my daughters safety) but do NOT just slow down and stare. We are not putting on a show.

Do not come over with your saggy pants and missing front teeth and go "Oh wow, look at that. Cool! What did ya do?"

And do not drive past cheering and yelling. How do you know that someone wasn't badly hurt and the person with the car isn't traumatised? Show a bit of respect.

Time for a change

2009-10-30T19:10:00.000+10:00

I've never really been one of high ambition and a desire to be a career woman. While friends from high school were mapping out their lives in terms of occupations and studies, the extent of my future planning was to get married and have kids. FAMILY and all that it entailed was my ambition and one that I succeeded at, getting married and having my first child at 21.

Since we moved to our new town 5 years ago, a change has been slowly happening. The thought crossed my mind that maybe it was time to get out there and do something, someone mentioned Teacher Aide which suited me...I get to work with kids but not have the responsiblity and planning of a teacher. And so that's what I've been working as full-time for the last 3 1/2 years and loving it.

Over my time, I've realised, without wanting to be big-headed, that I have a talent for it and this has blossomed into a desire to be a teacher, to relate to these kids in a way that they don't always get at home and to try to nurture a curiosity of life and a love of learning in them. The time frame was in about 5- 10 years though, when my kids were bigger. But with a bit of encouragement from a work collegue, that was moved ahead to NEXT YEAR. Why not? I could drop back my working hours and replace it with part-time study. I COULD DO THIS! YES!

But reading Leila's post here stirred something in me, something I couldn't quite pinpoint. Was it just my reoccurring desire to add another one to the family. This has been something that pops up with regularity although Mitch is quite adamant that he doesn't want any more children. Which is fair enough...this is his life and family too! And although mine is a legitimate desire, part of it is tangled up with dreams of being home again, of nurturing my own child and pottering around my own house and garden.

And having a child gives me an excuse to do that. I know working women say they feel guilty for working...when I was a SAHM, I felt guilty for not working...like I was being lazy, a sponge off my husband, a let-down to the sisterhood. I couldn't stay home home without a "legitimate" reason. (Although the money helps too.)

And then I went to a uni information night and just came home feeling weighed down and pressured.

A talk and a cry with Mitch later and it all became clear.

I needed to get my priorities right. I wanted to mother again. I wanted to look after my husband. I was sick of the house being in chaos all the time, of being busy all the time, of trying to find the right balance, of thinking if I could just tweak it right, it would all fall into place and blaming myself when it didn't. I wanted to gift my family with a peaceful home, I wanted to nurture them again as my MAIN priority, not something that I would get to when I had the time and energy.

So, I would still reduce my hours next year BUT not replace them with anything. That extra time would be for me and my family. And what a wonderful sense of peace and rightness I have now. I'll still make enough money to cover our mortgage, things will just be a little tighter. But that's okay. I can still study in the future when the kids are older. I'll only be 41 when Ella turns 18. There's plenty of time to do that extra stuff, but the time with my kids will pass in a flash and I'll never get it back.

And even Rosie (who is more obsessed with money and material things than I'd like) is excited at the thought of me "being a mummy again" as she put it, even if it means less money. She's even pushing for me to be at home all the time, so she can come home to a tidy house and the small of fresh baking. I've always known how important these things are, but am only just realising how much.

P.S. I'm proud to say that the girls won their netball finals on Monday. It was a nail-biting game that was yo-yoing back and forth, but they emerged victorious by 3 points. You should have heard the cheering and celebrations.

Don't mess with the netballers!

2009-10-12T19:03:00.000+10:00

I love reading and writing about decorating and thrifting finds and crafty ideas, but sports don't get touched on much. Until now.

Like most girls I played netball as a girl but it wasn't until I moved here that I picked it up again, as a way to get exercise and meet new people. It started as a vague interest, one that I'd reluctantly drag myself to at times, but this year something started to change.

I don't know if it was volunteering to coach my girls' netball team (the Elmos) and watching them transform from a mismatched bunch of girls, including two who'd never played before, to a team that were slowly but surely improving out of sight...not only winning but thrashing the opposition.

From there I found myself watching netball on the TV, practising for my social games (my own team isn't very good so we just make it fun) and then coaching a school team for a Queensland competition. I read books, trawled the internet for training activities and got together the cutest uniform any team had. (No ugly netball skirts for us.) I even started umpiring and that can be pretty daunting.

Well, today was the girls' quarter finals. They'd hauled their way to the top of the list and were playing their arch rivals, The Black Cats, who they'd beaten lately but were always a bit tough. We'd had a few upsets to start the game. Two of our players were sick, another only turned up at the last minute and in the first 5 mins of the game, our centre injured herself leaving us without a full team. You know when you have that sort of stress, it can be hard to pull yourself together.

Well, to cut a long story short, the game was neck to neck the whole way. They'd lead, then we'd catch up, then we'd pull ahead slightly. By the last quarter we were trailing by one but scored goal after goal after goal while they didn't get many at all. It was clear we were winning. So the final hooter goes and imagine our surprise when the other team starts cheering and yelling out "We won." I went over and checked the scoreboard (it was our quarter to score) and on it we won 20-19. I showed the board to the other team and said very awkwardly, "Uh, we actually won."

They were outraged. According to them, they'd being keeping score on a notebook and they 'apparently' beat us 22-17. Not a chance. I know it was neck to neck, and it could have been a little confusing and could have been out 1or 2, but them trying to convince us that they beat us by 5 was just ridiculous. And you could tell that they thought we were trying to cheat. I felt really insulted.

Ooh, there was muttering under the breath and dagger looks. I explained the problem to the netball conveners and they said that they go by the official scoreboard, which said we won (even though the other team wrote "their" scores on it before handing it back).

The animosity was thick in the air, and if looks could kill, we'd all be dead. I can't handle that sort of stuff very well, so I've just been trying to tell myself that they can hate me all they want and that's their problem. I know we didn't cheat, and we are at the top of the list which goes to show that we can play.

We'll be playing them again for the finals which will be a killer with both teams trying to prove that they are the better team. I just don't know why some parents have to be like that. (It reflects in the kids because most of them are the sort of players that will yell out critisism rather than encouragement "Why'd you have to drop the ball" whereas, even though we're competitive and like to win, I try to promote good sportsmanship and teamwork.)

Wish us luck!

I don't like strawberries...

2009-10-06T18:15:00.000+10:00

No, I don't. Call me crazy but I find them too sour,

unless....

they're fresh from the field,

warm from the sun,

so sweet and soft the juice runs down your chin.

It's a good place to break the journey from our home to Brisbane,

a nice tradition I share with my daughters,

and a good alternative to junk food to eat on the way.

Drumroll please......

2009-10-04T21:51:00.000+10:00

.....as my lovely assistant draws a name out of the hat...I mean, tin.

(If she looks a bit, well, underwhelmed, it's because she finds it hard to smile on cue, and she'd just had a bout of "I'm tired/it's the end of the holidays" tears. But she insisted on being in the photo.)

And the winner is....

Kristen of Shabby Vintage Mom.

Just contact me with your details and the handbag will be on its way.

Thanks to everyone who joined in. It was exciting to get that many comments, a nice, ego-boosting improvement on my usual 2 or 3 comments.

Oh-so-sweet handbag giveaway

2009-09-27T12:12:00.006+10:00

Well, it's very overdue as my one year blogging anniversary was back in August, but I'm finally doing my first giveaway.

Up for grabs is one of these two cute, little handbags. They're just the right size for when you don't want to take much, maybe your purse, keys, lippie and sometimes a camera. Well, that's what I keep in mine, anyway.

I'd like to credit the designer but I got the pattern out of a library book last year and for the life of me can't find it again, so I don't know who it is. I can't even remember the name of the book. But anyway, I DID NOT DESIGN THESE, I just made them, with a few extra touches.

Each bag is lined with a contrasting fabric, but I went a step further and made them so if you desire, you can turn it inside out for a different look.

So you can have one with this blue vintage fabric

(which I just love so much, I had to make another one for myself)...

or in pink with a spotty ribbon.

Or you can have black....

or white.

Each bag has a bow detail

and is able to be buttoned up.

So you know the usual drill. Leave a comment stating which bag you prefer, the blue/pink or the black/white.

So this means all you lurkers out there who I see on my sitemeter, but never comment, can now hopefully leave me some love. LOL.

If you link to my post on your blog, you will get two entries. If you link AND post a photo (we all know a picture is worth 1000 words), you get 3 entries.

If you don't have a blog, you are still welcome to enter....just leave your name with your comment.

The giveaway will be open until next Saturday 3rd Oct. so make me feel special and get those comments rolling in.

Welcome to the sleepout

2009-09-23T14:28:00.005+10:00

I reorganised my sleepout this week and made it somewhere that is pleasurable to now be. I didn't take any before shots but imagine a junk room, where everything I didn't really have a place for went. I already had the below table in that corner, supposedly to do my sewing etc on, but it was so covered with material and scrapbooking supplies and other assorted stuff that there was no room to do any actual sewing. (The only other place to sew was at the dining table but that wasn't practical as I couldn't leave anything out.)

As well, our front door leads directly into this room, and so many times I'd be embarrassed about people coming to the front door, that I'd try to block the view inside with my body.

My craft supplies were in various containers and cupboards throughout the house, but of course I rarely remembered where things were.

Well no longer, because now the room is like this. (Bear in mind that this was an organisational makeover. The walls are desperately crying out for a paint because at the moment they're this really bad mottled brown...primitive without meaning to be.... and the carpet is foul but that's all for another day.)

In the far right corner beside the doors I put up these shelves that I picked up secondhand for only $2 or $3. I've tried to store as much of my supplies as possible in jars, so I can locate things easily and I also cos it looks pretty.

I'm really happy with the way it turned out. This tin holds my spools of thread and I love these scrabble letters.

My pretty ribbons and button collection.

This tin was bought several years ago for Christmas and never got put away. It was holding my record collection (and various junk)

but with a bit of spray paint it's now doing a better job holding my unfinished projects. The wicker hamper holds the girls' dress-up clothes.

I needed more storage so I made a shelf to go above the window. I keep things up here that I don't use much. I'm not totally happy yet with the arrangement but with a bit of tweaking, I'll get there. (You can see where I started cleaning and bleaching the walls prior to this.)

I am happy with this though. Barn star before (not bad but too primitive)

and after (thanks to some toile-esque scrapbooking paper).

This is my now-tidy craft table. Also a nice place to sit in the morning and read the paper. These two chairs belonged to the lady we bought the house off, but they were peeling and chipped and dirty. I gave them a good scrub and painted one blue and one green.

A close-up.

You can see more jars of goodies sitting on my lovely wide window sills.

I bought another suitcase to hold more sewing supplies but I'm undecided about whether to keep it the way it is or paint it. Blue, maybe? And on the wall above is some "3D art-work" that I'm really proud of the way it turned out. Remember these pictures with the green frames,

They now look like this....

and this......

and this.

(These are my Grandmother's button and quick-unpick.

I got all her sewing supplies when she died.)

And this is our little computer nook in the corner when you first come in through the front door. Nothing fancy, just simple and adequate to the job.

There's still a few more things I'd like to do.

Valance curtains? What colour do you think? White sheeting? Red or blue gingham?
And I'd like to make some bunting to hang below the shelf

and I've got a picture in the making to go above the shelf.

But at least I'm not ashamed of people coming to the front door now.

A Road Trip....of sorts

2009-09-19T17:18:00.009+10:00

This last week of school had been a real struggle to get through. The hurry-up-and-bring-on-the-holidays, I-can't-stand-one-more-day-of-this blues. I was feeling worn down, worn thin, worn out. So Mitch, the wonderful man that he is, suggested that I take Saturday for myself and get out, out of the house, out of town. I jumped at the chance (but feeling a little guilty about treating myself...why are females so good at that?) and after dropping Ella off at a friend's "P" party dressed as a present,

I just kept heading on down the road.

It was wonderful. I had a loose idea of where I was going, but I took turn-offs I hadn't been down before, I stopped at places WHENEVER I FELT LIKE IT without having to justify it or put up with whinging, I took my time and just absorbed the countryside around me.

I could have stopped every 100m to take photos because everything just seemed beautiful and interesting and picturesque,

like these cows...

and these horses....

and these fence posts.

This house, nestled around a corner, was just crying out for a makeover but had the most wonderful character...

and I just loved this barn/shed that looked like it was going to collapse at any minute

AND YET had a new roof on the other side.

I stopped at this lookout

and was just still.....

and just basked in the scent of the eucalypts baking in the sun

and listened to the whipbirds and magpies.

I pulled over on the side of the road and listened to the bellbirds and thought of my Mum, who always made Dad pull over on holidays so she could do the same.

I drove through Kenilworth, stopping at a garage sale and a really dingy op shop where I bought some Country Style magazines, and then up to Maleny, where I browsed the shops and stopped for lunch.

Then turning towards home, I passed through Montville (completely full of tourists...yuk) and Mapleton, where I thought that I'd take a different road back to Kenilworth again.
Little did I know that it would turn into a one lane, isolated, really winding, really steep gravel road to get down the mountain. All I could think of was Mitch saying, "Now don't be foolish and go anywhere deserted or go bushwalking by yourself or anywhere where you could get into trouble." Well this female tackled it with ease (and a little relief when it finished)

and drove back refreshed and ready to be around people again, all the while thinking of Robert Frost and The Road Not Taken.

My lounge room - the good, the bad and the ugly.

2009-09-12T17:54:00.007+10:00

I moved a few things around in my lounge room during the week, 'cos I always like a bit of a change so I thought I'd post a few photos and give you a little tour. It's nothing fancy but has lots of potential with it's nice size (4.5 x 5m), and its lovely (unpolished) hardwood floors and VJ walls.

This is one view from the hallway. All of our couches have been hand-me-downs so we've been lucky in that regard, but one day it'd be nice to treat myself to a matching set. The orangy coloured ones are okay in shape but I hate the fabric. The dark rust ones were part of a modular lounge and I can't wait til it gets replaced.

I love these shelves that go all the way around the room. They were one thing that really caught my eye when we first looked at the house to buy. At the moment, they are three different colours (which you might see in the above picture). They were originally white,then in a fit of boredom one day I started painting them dark blue but then decidesd that I didn't like it and so stripped one right back.

This is the view from the long orange couch. To the left is the doorway into the kitchen and to the right is the doorway into the hall. The two suitcases hold our CDs and board games.

This is the view from the kitchen. The doors you see go into the sleepout (currently closed to hide all of my sewing mess.)

Above the corner couch you can see an oil painting I bought from the op shop. It had been there for about two months, and I was baulking at the $15 price, but every time I went in, I would see it and it would call out to me. In the end, it won.

Here's a close-up. I think I'll paint the frame white but it's been professionally framed and I don't want to ruin it by pulling it apart.

The ugly TV corner. I want to put a built-in cabinet in this corner to hold the TV and all of Mitch's boxing trophies.

Hopefully on the holidays, I'm going to start preparing the room for painting. I'm planning on doing the lower plaster walls in a really pale robin's egg blue, the top cream and the shelves, cabinets and all trimmings in antique white. I'm open to any suggestions regarding decoration, colour, curtains etc. What do you think?

C'mon, Get Happy!

2009-09-09T16:13:00.004+10:00

I've just got to tell you about this new blog, Happy Loves Rosie, that I stumbled across recently, because it's quickly become my favourite.

The owner, Happy Harris, has the best style; a bit funky, a bit retro/vintage and most of all, a lot colourful.

She's always cheerful and bubbly and it's one of those blogs that I need to have my FIX of every day.

I been scrolling through all of her older posts and saving pictures to my "inspiration folder" like mad. Check out her gorgeous vintage caravan that she has in her yard.

This is what it looks like inside. Love it, Love it, LOVE IT!

I also recommend that you check out At Home with Melmel. She loves Cath Kidston and her house is very sweet and colourful too but in a more feminine way.

Market Finds

2009-09-06T14:23:00.006+10:00

Sunday morning is market morning although I haven't been for a while. I was going to get some plants from my favourite plant seller but I was lucky enough to also find

this adorable pink teapot (just the right size for one) for $3 and this blue bowl for 50c.

I have a pastel green bowl and teapot that match them perfectly.

They'll be great for when I put out my pastels which should be soon, now that it's Spring.

I also found this vintage children's story book.

I love collecting them for their quaint pictures and bright colours and their retro language.

Earlier in the week, I also scored this Marks and Spencer tin for 50c. I'm not so fussed about the flower on top but I love the spotty sides.

I also got this jar for my pantry.

I'm going to paint the wooden top red and store my muesli in it.

And lastly, this great crocheted blanket in my favourite colours, red and light blue.

I love it.

I'm DEVASTATED

2009-09-04T17:40:00.003+10:00

I know that I promised I was going to post a giveaway on Sunday BUT our computer has been in the shop all week getting fixed. Some nasty virus wormed its way in and we only got our computer back today. Good news = it didn't cost to much.

Bad news = The damage was so bad that the computer guy couldn't save any of our documents. (Not for want of trying...that's why it took so long.)

So that means all my wonderful planning stuff....menu, budget, grocery list etc etc....gone.

Mitch's novel that he was in the process of editing...GONE. (He fortunately has a hard copy BUT that means typing it up all over again.)

All of our photos from the last five years....GONE.

That's why I'm devastated.

Photos of the girls' when they were younger, their birthdays, their Christmases, our holiday trips, our pets including Willy who died 3 years ago, our old house, our new house when we first moved in, photos with my Opa who died not long ago...

Gone, Gone, Gone.

I feel like I could cry. If any family has any photos of the last five years you could email me, I will be your best friend and love you forever.

Edited : I found a disk that I had backed up our photos onto early in 2006, so I have gotten a few of them back from our first year in Gympie. Thank God I was smart enough to do that. Now if only I had done that every month. Promise me now that when you hop off the computer, you will get a blank disc and copy your photos onto it. You never know when that virus or other bit of unfortunate trouble might pop up.

I wish I had the other 4 years back, but beggars can't be choosers and at least I got back this photo of Ella's first missing tooth.

A Pantry Re-do

2009-08-29T15:31:00.007+10:00

I love my pantry. It was one of the things I was really excited about when we first bought this house. It's not large, but you can walk into it, there's shelves all around and a cute little window.

I painted the shelves when we first moved in, put up a few more, and have slowly been building my glass jar collection by buying bits here and there when I find them cheap. No plastic containers are allowed in my pantry. Since I'm lucky enough to have one, I want it to look beautiful too!

Now I do my grocery shopping once a month (I plan a month's worth of meals and work out exactly what I need to make them) and before I do it, and when the shelves are kinda empty, I like to give them a wipe down. Now this month, we were running out of EVERYTHING, so not just the shelves were empty but my jars too.

(No teabags left...I don't know how I survived the week.)

So what started out as a shelf wiping, turned into a let's empty the scraps out, wash the dust and gunk off the jars and hey, while we're at it, let's give them new labels too. I printed some labels with a cute border onto a sticker sheet and wrote the names on them.

While I was at it, I got this old basket,

and this old tin (that were alright when I was into primitive decorating,)

and gave them a blast of my new favourite powder-blue spraypaint.

The results really brightened up the darkness of the pantry.

(The colour is a bit intense in these photos.)

So it may not be much, but my pantry is now sparkling clean, and super-dooper organised and I love stepping into it and seeing all my jars filled up.

I love baking so I've got everything you could possibly need.

It makes me feel so rich and lucky, that come-what-may, we have enough food to last the month. Also, thanks to my new extra little freezer, I've been really, really organized and bought all my month's worth of meat (that we could NEVER have fit in our normal tiny freezer), cut it up, packed it and labelled it with the meal it's for. Couple that with the week's worth of bread that I bought cheap 'cos it was close to closing time, the well of abundance feels like it's overflowing.

And speaking of painting and brightening up, I have two of these flour sieves (from the primitive phase) that I was considering tossing as now they just look dingy.

But I dry brushed one with red for a bit of colour and I quite like the results. I think it'll look great at Christmas time with a green wreath. I might paint the other one white.

P.S. Stay tuned tomorrow for I plan to do my first give-away.

A quick stool makeover

2009-08-22T16:08:00.005+10:00

I thought of making a silly toilet-humour joke to tie in with that heading...but thought, musn't, I can act juvenile at home but not out in public. Good breeding and all that.

Anyway, I always look in the furniture section at my local St Vinnies but come away discouraged as everything is too hopelessly vile or else they've taken to redoing the pieces themselves (NOT in my style) and charging a pretty penny for the end result. I wanted something small that I could easily smuggle home and hide from Mitch (I know we don't need more crap in our house), cheap so it doesn't matter it I mess it up and simple to redo as I have a short attention span.And it has to have definite potential. So when I saw this stool for $2 my eyes lit up.

It was gross. Rusting brass finish, plastic ends on the legs and a blue fluffy cover that was so disgusting that after removing I had to de-germ my hands immediately.

But after a light sanding, some powder blue spraypaint and some pretty new material, I was rather pleased with the result.

I'm not totally satisfied with the fabric, (actually some toile and black spraypaint could've looked rather sophisticated) but that's easily changed if I find a better replacement.

I love the blue spraypaint. Usually I would go for white, but I've been thinking about painting our fridge blue, so thought I would give this paint a go. I think I'm onto a winner.

P.S. I just realised it's been a year since I started blogging so I'm due for my first giveaway. So stay tuned, I'll be having one in the next week, as soon as I can work out what to give away. Any suggestions???

A few things I've made

2009-07-30T17:04:00.006+10:00

I haven't been by for a while. I guess I've been busy and I'm also trying to be more disciplined around the house and build up some good routines.

But Kimba is having a DIY day and I thought I'd join in and show off a few little projects that I've completed lately.

I made this bag a few weeks ago as part of a birthday present for one of Ella's friends. They're all quite "into" their cuddly toys and so we bought her a large bear. But to make the present a little more interesting we also got some kids clothes that would fit (a dressing gown, a shirt etc) and a selection of cute ribbons for around it's neck so it would have it's own wardrobe and I made the bag from bits and pieces I had, to keep them all in. I think Ella would have liked some for her own as I had to stop her repeatedly changing it's outfit prior to wrapping it up.

Next on show is the mantle piece that I put up in the kitchen. We have a little alcove where the oven is and where the wood stove used to be. It still even has the holes in the ceiling where the chimneys used to go. Well as you can see from the below photo, it has really bad lighting and Mitch probably has to duck his head to go under there and so I can't decide whether I hate it as a nuisance or love it as a bit of character-adding architecture. I decided to play on it as the latter by putting a mantle piece on, plus I've always wanted something like that to decorate for Christmas.

I found one end bracket all dirty and chipped at the markets and asked Mitch to make me a matching one. Painted them white, put up a shelf and voila. I'm still not sure what to put up there, at the moment these are things that I don't really have a spot for elsewhere. I love my spotty teapot and creamer plus I have a matching sugar bowl. I'm saving up for the matching cups and saucers. I also love my vintage flour tin which I bought not long ago for 50c.

Next on show are some long overdue photos from the girls' bedroom. (I promise to do a full room tour soon.) Below is one of the shelves that Mitch made for me to my specifications, which I finally got around to painting and installing on the holidays.

Rosie and Ella each have one above their beds. You can also see on Rosie's bed a raggy quilt I made for her for winter out of new and vintage flannelette. For raggy quilts you are meant to normally have three layers - the top, batting and backing. I thought I'd skip a step and save money and just backed the top with an old blanket. Ella's (in shades of blue and yellow as opposed to Rosie's blue and pink, so we can tell them apart) is cut up and ready to go...I've just been waiting to find the right blanket which I think I found today.

A closer-up look.

And last up is my battered old khaki suitcase (no before photo - I never think of that until too late) which I gave a lick of white paint and some cheery ribbon around the handle.

I use it to store some of my material.

Mitch says it looks like a clown's suitcase. I don't know what I think yet...but it is better than how it started.

And talking about Mitch, I'm very proud to announce that he won the Australian Amateur Heavyweight Boxing title two weeks ago, so he now holds the Australian title for both Cruiserweight AND Heavyweight. Yay Mitch.

A scrapping money box tutorial and a celebratory canvas

2009-06-13T14:21:00.006+10:00

How do you do pocket money in your family?

In ours, the girls get $5 every fortnight BUT $2 of that is enforced budgeting. It is put aside as "present money". That may seem a strange thing to budget for but I don't see the point of saying "Okay kids, it's my birthday coming up, here's $20 of my money to go and buy me a present."

Also, I'm all for teaching that it's the thought that counts and they don't have to spend a lot of money to show they care. Otherwise they'd have grandiose ideas for what they'd want to buy and expect Mitch and I to fork out for it. This way they might have $5 saved up and they'd have see what they could buy for the amount they have, rather than the other way around. When I was a kid, our pocket money was pitiful (sorry, Mum and Dad, put it's true). We got whatever grade we were in at school, times by 10c per fortnight. So in Grade 5 I'd get 50c etc.

BUT however this was a good thing. We learned that it wasn't about the excellent presents that you gave or recieved, it was learning about the good feeling that you got when you gave someone something, anything, and also about recieving, when you knew that a sibling sacrificed their whole fortnight's pay to buy you that packet of Fruit Tingles (a favourite present of mine, you got more in the packet than in a packet of lifesavers AND it was 3c cheaper - see I put a lot of thought into it - and, okay, I admit I still have those frugal tendancies :D).

Anyway back to the topic at hand. Ella had 2 piggy banks, by way of birthday presents, in which to divide and store her money. Rosie, however, had none, and couldn't see why I said "no" to buying her some really cute ones for "only" $20 that she had seen.

When I found these empty cream of tartar containers in the pantry, the potential straight away hit me, although Rosie was horrified by the idea of using these as money boxes. But of course I intended to do some prettying-up first.

I got out my stash of scrapbooking paper and odds and ends that don't see the light of day often enough, and with instructions that the boxes had to have purple on them, chose some of this for my equipment.

First I traced around the container as I rolled it along, to get the size,

and cut out a pice of floral paper which I glued on with craft PVA. Using the first piece for a template, I cut out a piece of spotty paper and likewise glued it on, overlapping the first. On the two different containers, I swapped the order in which they were positioned.

I then proceeded to decorate them using a torn paper strip and purple ribbon which was actually the hanger straps from a new shirt I bought yesterday.

I used 'S' stickers on one for 'Spending'

and on the other I cut out some plastic 'Ps' for 'Present'.

The plastic was from some tags that a parent had donated a whole boxful of for collage and I'd kept a few as I knew they'd come in handy one day. I then painted over all of the paper with more glue to help preserve it and cut a coin hole in the plastic top.

Rosie is very happy with them.

(And there's another successful lesson in 'make-do with what you have'.)

Also this week, I was asked to paint a canvas for a colleague's 21st birthday party as a momento which everyone could sign. I had previosly done one for another colleague's bridal shower, which had their initials entwined with vines and "May your love bloom and grow forever" in the center. As Amy is a shoe afficiado of course I had to put one on, which just happened to look like Cinderellas shoe so I gave the whole canvas a fairytale theme.

Here's some details.

She loved it even though everyone unfortunately signed on the front instead of the back. (It was designed to have that choice, but I personally wouldn't want to have a picture hanging on my wall that everyone's scrawled over.) I've now got an order for a friend's 25th wedding anniversary celebration which is coming up, and someone else has expressed interest so I might have a little side business in the works.

Letter to a Kindred Spirit

2009-06-10T10:00:00.006+10:00

Today I recieved this email.

Hi,

My name is E. I found you on my friend Marcia Meehan's blog "Bees in the Antipodes". Marcia is an amazing person and I am blessed to know her. Of course we've never met face to face, because I live in the USA in the state of Mississippi. Even though you are 31 and I am 61, you are a kindred spirit. I can't tell you how alike you and I are. I love old time crafts and learning about how to knit, sew, crochet...I just love to learn.

I grew up in the country in Alabama and know a little about old time skills, ie. gardening, sewing, knitting, crocheting... Right now, I'm trying to get a movable chicken coop made so I can have a couple of laying hens. Supermarket eggs can't compare to fresh. There's a real difference.

I like the rug you made. I just read about cutting old tee shirts and making rugs out of them. My grandmother had braided rag rugs that she had made.Well, anyway, I just wanted to tell you that I enjoyed reading your blog and listening to the music. (Also my kind of music).

Keep up the creative work. What would life be without the thrill of making something ourselves, or the thrill of discovering something new in nature or a new skill or new friends.

Life is a wonderful adventure if we never lose our childlike wonder.

Thanks for sharing your knowledge with others. Knowledge is nothing unless it's shared.

I wish you well.

Dear E,

Thank you for your lovely email. It really made my day. It's nice to know I can make a little difference in someone's life. Sometimes I question whether its worth having a blog as especially lately, I seem to have little time to update it, and I know it's vain, but I don't have that many people looking at it or commenting. But it's connecting with people like you that make it worthwhile and I guess even if I didn't "make any friends" online, I'd still feel the urge to share and connect.

I know that I can be a bit different from most people around me and always have been with my love of old things and old ways.

Sometimes it's a bit hard being true to myself when I'm surrounded by people at work and in society in general that place such an emphasis on modern tastes and accumulating bigger and better things. I'm sure they think of me as a bit strange and daggy, especially when compared to others my age, and sometimes in weaker moments, I feel ashamed of my little rundown home and unconventional decorating. But the stronger side of me embraces my uniqueness and tries to remember that I not only embrace this lifestyle because its a reflection of who I am but its also a choice that I conciously make as a reaction to the modern lifestyle.

I want to teach my children that they don't need "things" to make them happy in life,

that an hour spent outside in the yard,

or reading

or drawing or playing games can bring them joy,

that their imagination can build castles where there are none,

that it's being with people and the memories that are made, or in being happy and content in being alone, that can bring true satisfaction in life, which the latest toy or fashionable house doesn't truly fill. These can be nice (we've just had to replace our old microwave and phone out of necessity and I admit that I love my new toys BUT its also nice to know that because we aren't extravagent in our lifestyle and spending that there is always money there to do those things when we need to, without having to get them on credit.)

I like the old-fashioned life because people worked harder but lived more simply and it was easier to find and appreciate the real blessings in life, to know what you really needed to be happy. I love Little House on the Prairie and how excited they got because Pa built them a door or made a fireplace so Ma didn't have to cook outside anymore.

It is why I love living in the country. It's going to the shops and having the time to notice the bird poking its head out of the hedge,

it's hearing the geese honk over at the ponds,

its having a main street of shops that you stroll up and down rather than losing your way in a giant, busy shopping centre,

it's driving 5 mins out of town and being surrounded by green hills.

I love the fact that the shops are closed here on a Sunday. I love the fact that my butcher knows who I am and cuts meat up specifically for me. I love the fact that when the girls play with their friends, it's doing things like catching yabbies at the dam or exploring the paddocks, avoiding the cows and the kangaroos, or dressing up

or playing Blind Man's Bluff.

So thank you for the affirmation. It's nice to not feel alone and its given me the lift I needed when I was feeling a little flat. Writing that has helped me reaffirm what I want in my life and the next time I feel down or embarressed about the peeling paint and cobwebs in my life, hopefully I'll remember it, and that while it's nice to have a fancy house, if it stayed unpainted and unpolished it doesn't really matter

because we're lucky to have a comfortable roof over our heads,

food on the table

and laughter inside.

Cute DINNERTIME recipe book

2009-06-09T10:00:00.005+10:00

In April, I made a recipe book for meals to match my cute recipe book that I posted about here. I made one for myself and my two sisters. My younger sister's and my books have a darker colour scheme (the first picture in each set)but I made a lighter, more pastel one for my eldest sister. I divided it into 5 sections.....

Pastas

(I struggled with making something looking like pasta, until Ella suggested pasta in a jar...Thanks Ella)

Light meals

(for things like homemade pizza, quiche, fajitas...all those meals that are good for summer)

Warming Dishes
(casseroles and yummy winter food)

Meat Dishes

(for marinated meat, roasts etc)

and Soups and Side Dishes which is pretty self-explanatory.

I've yet to make the fabric covers but I was going to label it Dinnertime Favourites rather than Sweet Favourites.

Soft furnishings on a budget

2009-05-13T11:13:00.006+10:00

I wanted a bunch of blue, pastelly cushions for my lounges without too much effort or cost, and I just happened to hit the paydirt at St Vinnies. No, not cushions, but pillowcases for 50c each. That takes care of the cost and as they're already sewn with just a bit of tweaking to do, that takes care of the effort as well.

Of course they're a bit long and the tinsiest bit wide so I just cut them down to size along two sides, sewed them up again and whoila. Total time...about 10 mins per cushion.

I love the embroidery detail on these ones. I just kept the part of the pillowcase that had the folding opening and cut off the top.

I thought this floral pattern was very cottagey and I added some blue ribbon to hold them closed.

These ones were made using offcuts from the other blue pillowcases (the ones with the embroidery) and some leftover material and and lace that I had.

I also made some with a back opening from a tablecloth with a blue sprig pattern that I picked up for $2. It made some cushions for this lounge...

one for this chair...

and a chair pad for my rocking chair.

I needed to change the curtains to match so I bought a white single sheet for $2 which I cut up and added some lace and ribbon for some cottage prettiness. (Just don't look at how dirty the walls are. The crisp whiteness of the material really brings out the grime.)

And here's my oven mitt that I made out of the cot sheet that I found earlier from St Vinnies. I actually made two, and also a pot holder which I haven't quite finished.

Total cost excluding the ribbon, lace and cushion inserts which I already had.....$6.50. Not bad.

I feel very special and loved today...

2009-05-10T08:22:00.005+10:00

...thanks to my wonderful children who really went out of their way to make my Mother's Day special. I kidd you not when I say I heard whispers and stealthy noises and the microwave opening VERY early this morning...4 am to be exact. They got up extra early and snuck out to the chicken coop in the dark to get some eggs (even though there's a huge resident spider who sometimes blocks the path...now that's love and sacrifice) to whip up these cake towers for me.

AND they washed up afterwards.

But I was greeted this morning in bed at a more reasonable hour by a paper flag banner (because they know how much I like them) a menu to choose from (which even included tuna on toast, something I confess to having quite often for breakfast much to the girls' disgust and much nose holding...again more love and sacrifice) and Rosie and Ella dressed like me in my poor boys caps, scarves and big boots.

After eating my delicious bacon and eggs they gave me their presents. From Rosie I got a really cute bunny mug (she said she chose it so I could use it for Easter decorating...she knows me well) filled with lollies and Ella gave me a great hand spade with a packet of lettuce seeds. Plus she gave me a pot that she painted in class.

My favourite things though were the cards/pictures that the girls made. Here's Rosie's.

I'm saying "Oh, no, not more washing", Sir Mitchell is saying "Who used all the toilet paper?", Princess Rosalie is saying "Ewww, Ellanor, you're feral!" and Princess Ellanor (in a Robin Hood outfit...very appropriate) is saying back "You're a yam-wam." No, none of us, except Ella, knows what that means and it drives Rosie nuts when Ella says it to her, hence it's effectiveness. So now you all have a little window into what our family life is really like.

Ella's picture is my favourite. Last week after taking the girls to see the local play of Oliver, which was VERY good, I mentioned that if I could act as anyone, I'd love to play Calamity Jane, of course. So Ella made me my own "Mummity Jane" poster complete with a photo of my face stuck on the picture.

I hope all you mothers out there have a lovely day being spoilt by your families. May you do no laundry, may your dinner be cooked for you and may all your dishes be washed and the house stay tidy with out you lifting a finger. Amen.

Real rag balls and what to do with them.

2009-03-12T13:59:00.005+10:00

I've often had rag balls around my house for decoration but just fake ones with foam in the middle. But now I have a reason to have real ones.

My crafting buddy and good friend, Lisa, has recently shown me how to make braided rugs by crocheting strips of material that I ripped from old sheets. To stop these strips getting tangled, I wind them into a ball and hey, presto, a rag ball that is both pretty and functional.

My first rug I started on, I unwound and redid several times as I practised getting the tension right as it always seemed to pucker and make a hat shape. Then I decided I didn't really like the country colours anyway, and started on a new one in shabby greens and blues to put next to my bed to keep my footsies away from the freezing floor boards in winter. I'm nearly finished and I'm really happy with this one.

I've always loved the look of braided rugs but new, factory-made ones are sooo expensive. I much prefer the fact that I've made it myself and did a bit of recycling in the bargain. And I've never really liked when things that are old-fashioned from a make-do time are mass-marketed. It's like you get the look without the work, just buy it all from a catalogue for an instant finish. Although I've certainly been guilty of that at times. I've always felt a bit fake having ragballs that weren't real. I much prefer the real thrifty beauty of reusing and prettying up old things for a new purpose.

Lisa came over today for our fortnightly craft morning. Last time she taught me crocheting, this time I helped her make one of my recipe books. She bought me this cute spotty mug and pretty teatowel because the cupcakes made her think of my recipe book. Isn't that lovely.

I've also been wanting to make myself a new double-handed oven mitt in pastel colours (my old one is in bright blues and greens and is really grubby) and I found this cot sheet with little teapots and cupcakes at Vinnies today for $1.

It'll make a great oven mitt to hang on my oven door next to my new teatowel, don't you think. And there'll be heaps left so maybe I'll make some placemats as well to replaced my dark blue primitive ones.

I usually just have the morning off on Thursdays but Rosie's a bit sick today so I took the whole day off. I think I needed it too because I sprained my ankle really badly at netball last night. I'm sure I heard or felt a real crack it seemed, and I had to hobble off the court and spend the rest of the game with ice on it. I managed to drive home okay but when I got home and Mitch bandaged it up for me with ice, I burst into tears like a baby. It really, really hurt and I think I got a bit of a shock. It's okay today, although swollen, and I'm limping around, so an afternoon on my feet running around after kids probably isn't a good idea.

A bathroom re-do

2009-03-09T17:34:00.007+10:00

It's a deliciously drizzly day today with a surprising touch of autumn in it. I say surprising because autumn doesn't usually start until about May, we have about a month or two of coldness and then it skips straight to heat again. I'd love to live in a place where there was a real change of seasons. Netball was cancelled today because of the rain, and it was such a cozy afternoon that I let the girls park themselves in front of the TV with a big bowl of popcorn and a quilt or two....a rare treat because usually TV is banned on school afternoons.

And our internet is finally working properly again (it kept dropping out after about 5 minutes or less - very frustrating) so I am parked in front of the computer (obviously) with a mug of tea and some chocolate. A chill breeze is coming in through the window next to me and I can hear the trees rustling and a soggy magpie chirping on the telephone line outside. Heaven!

I was in a bad mood on the weekend, in one of my "the housework is never-ending and as soon as I clean up one room, people just mess it up again, and don't you dare just place that dirty mug on the sink, you wash it up right now" mood. The ladies at work asked me if I was pregnant because I've been going on a cleaning and organised rampage the last few weeks. Sadly, I'm not pregnant...just frustrated by chaos I think.

Anyway, I did a little redecorating of our poky,dingy hole...I mean, bathroom, on the weekend. I look at some people's posts about how they complain about their bathrooms and how it desperately needs a paint job and I think "Lady, there ain't nothing wrong with your bathroom. Come and check out mine". It is literally tiny, 2m by 2m, no, in fact not even that big as the linen cupboard juts into it. It has peeling beige paint, plastic sheeting on the walls, horrible brown lino on half of the floor and brown tiles around the toilet. I don't have many before photos to show you the true extent of it's horribleness but here's two.

I would LOVE to have a bath but it's just not possible as this 4 square metres houses shower, basin AND toilet. But it does the job, so I'm thankful for that.

It needs a total overhaul but that's way down the track so I thought in the meantime, I'd make it a bit more bearable and workable. We had already replaced the toilet and on the last day of the christmas holidays, Mitch replaced our old cabinet which was a stunning combination of rotting chipboard and a yellow fake marble top. When we took it out, we just looked at it amazed that we had put up with it for so long. We were just going to replace the taps but they had this cabinet on sale so we decided to get it. One nightmare and expensive plumbers bill later, it was in and it made a huge difference already. It had a lovely big china basin and a good cupboard

so the next thing I was able to do was take down the cabinet on the lefthand wall which jutted out in front of you as you walked into the bathroom.

On the weekend, I put up a shelf above the mirror (which I'd like to replace) to hold some pretty jars with soap and cotton buds etc.and some plates and this Royal Albert tin ($1 from Vinnies) which holds my makeup. I'm going for a white and red scheme and it really brightened up the bathroom. No, that's not a ghost in the corner of the photo, just a dirty camera lens. I'm such a professional.

Next I made a hook rail for our towels from this old scalloped piece of wood which I had removed from an old dressing table.

Before this, we only had one towel rail and the other towels hung on hooks behind the door, so they didn't dry very well, also due to our teeny, tiny window.

Next, I made a hook for a hand towel for guests because I don't know about you but I always feel really rude drying my hands on other people's bath towels. I am going to make some prettier handtowels, maybe with red gingham ribbon or something. (I need to paint that screw.)

I think it's all made a huge difference and the ugliness of the bathroom isn't as noticable anymore. (This photo's not that good, everything doesn't usually have that pink glow.)

Everytime I come into the bathroom now, it makes me smile. I think if we replaced the brown shower cubicle and gave the room a paint and maybe put in a larger window, I wouldn't feel like I have to build a whole new bathroom. It's amazing what a few strategic changes can make.

On another note, don't you love this vintage chenille throw that I bought from Vinnies for $4.

On another note again, remember Matt Caltabiano, the bad sport who Mitch fought in Caloundra last year. He died in a motorbike accident last weekend. I feel a bit bad for trashing him now...but it was kinda true.

I don't wanna grow up.

2009-03-03T17:07:00.008+10:00

Ella asked me today if I was an adult or a grown-up. Not quite understanding the difference, I replied, "Both."

"So you've grown up and don't like to play games or have fun anymore? Because you said when I've grown up I won't be interested in those things as much." she replied.

It was a real Peter Pan moment. I can't believe I ever said that to her. Shame on me.

"Sorry, Ella, I didn't understand you. I'm an adult but definately NOT a grown-up."

But I have to admit, growing up has been creeping up on me and I've been in danger of turning into one of these.

Full-time work, coaching the girls' netball team, assistant treasurering (is that a word?) for the gymnastics club and housework doesn't leave much time for sponteneity, fun and games...IF YOU LET IT. It's always good to get a reminder now and then to ease up. My crippling migraine that sent me to bed last night at 6pm was one of them. I'd been promising myself an early night for ages but never took it until my body rebelled.

The conversation made me think of this gorgeous box that my sister Mary made for me for my bridal shower years ago which I keep all my "special things" in. It's decorated with a collage of "Esther" things and pictures.

On it is a scrap of note paper on which is written in my teenage handwriting, "I, Esther Plant, solemly vow to never grow up. 30/3/92" When I was a teenager, I was ennamoured by the movie Hook and the message behind it. I hope that I can keep remembering it and stay in touch with my child-like self.

As an inspiration to help me keep going, Kimba had a great post on her blog today. Check it out here.

I finally use up some of my stash and make a skirt

2009-02-21T20:19:00.008+10:00

You might remember when I picked up this material for $2 at the local markets last year.

I thought it would be great to use it for a reversible wrap-around skirt like I saw on Alicia Paulson's funny and creative blog. But I was just waiting to find some material to go on the reverse side. I could've gone out and bought some new material from a fabric shop but when I find something cheap , I don't want to go to a lot of expense using it. I knew that if I waited long enough, the right piece would find me. And it did this week at the local St Vinnies for just 50c.

I loved this embroidered fabric as soon as I saw it, and it was blue and red so it co-ordinated beautifully and it was just the right size.

I felt like being creative this weekend and wanted something quick and easy to make so I had a go at making the skirt. Now, I am a lazy sewer. I don't really measure, (I didn't have a wrap skirt to make a pattern from so I just grabbed a dress with an A-line, guessed where the waist would be, laid it on some newspaper and traced around it....very professional, not), I don't always pin and most of the time I go "that's close enough". I'm too impatient and just want the finished result. So yes, my skirt did pucker a bit because I didn't follow Alicia's advice and let it hang overnight and the binding is actually two different reds made from scraps in my overflowing cupboard because I couldn't wait until Monday to get some from the shop but I think it turned out nice. Ella even asked if she could have it when she's older and I outgrow it. (Ella's getting in touch with her feminine side but that's a story for another day.)

So here's my pathetic attempts to model it. I'm such a natural in front of the camera. Groan.

So, two skirts for the price-of-one and only $2.50 at that. Don't you love a bargain.

A Sneak Peek

2009-02-20T09:25:00.004+10:00

There's a few more things I still want to add to the girls' bedroom so I'm not going to show you it all yet, but in the meantime here's a few snaps to tantalize you.

(Once I added the curtains, I couldn't help but sing "A Woman's Touch" from Calamity Jane.)

I'm loving it.

My little misadventure with the car.

2009-02-18T09:24:00.009+10:00

Well, I've been back at work and back to being busy..too busy to write any new posts, let alone look at anyone else's. But I'm having a sick day off work today so I thought I'd play some catch up. But it's February...too late to catch up on everything I did on my holidays, like

going to Perigian for a few days with the family...

and Mitch putting in a new driveway on a stinking hot day with some of his workmates (one had to go home suffering from heat stroke) so now we can actually get up our driveway when it rains...

or adopting a new puppy that Mitch found abandoned in a carpark, who became a member of our family, only to run into his scruffy owner at the markets after a month so we had to give him back (boo hoo)...

or the fact that yes, I finished painting the girls' bedroom and they moved into it just before school started. But I'm not going to show any photos of that yet. It's important enough to deserve a post all to itself.

So I thought I would tell you about how last week I got the car wedged against a tree in our yard and couldn't get it free.

I was reversing down the driveway to pick up Rosie from gymnastics when I realised I was rolling and there wasn't anything I could do to stop. I realised later that I had accidentally put the car into neutral instead of reverse so I don't know whether it was that or that in my panic I was trying to stomp on the brake and was stomping instead on that little footrest they have in automatics. Two thoughts flashed into my mind in the few seconds it was rolling. 1. Don't roll onto the road....so I turned the steering wheel to the side and 2. Put the hand brake on, but by that time I had rolled up over the pile of leftover dirt from the driveway and rear-ended into our crepe myrtle tree.

The car was stuck. The back left wheel was in the air with nothing to grip onto, Mitch had just left for boxing and the car was sticking out into the driveway so their was no way I could get a tow-truck in to pull it out. So I walked around saying a few choice swear words, realised I still had to pick Rosie up so walked there instead (fortunately it's only about 10 minutes away).

When I came home, I shovelled dirt away from under the car and piled logs and stuff under the back wheel but still no good.

Mitch arrived back from boxing training all sweaty and tired and he walked around with a few choice swear words too. We tried all sorts of things but everytime we tried to drive the car off, the wheel would just pushed the logs away instead. It's getting dark and the mozzies are biting and there is bouganvillia all around the car sticking into us any opportunity it got. (Whoever thought that planting bouganvillia in a garden was a good idea ought to be shot.) You can imagine the joy.

I hit on the idea of using the packing crate across the road for traction. But wait, it's just a little too thick. I had another brainwave and we used a jack to push the car up high enough to getting the packing crate under. Nearly there, but not quite. The car is stuck on the tree and not moving. No good, we gave up for the night.

The story ends well. When I got home from work the next day, Mitch had solved the problem by borrowing a chainsaw from work and cutting down the tree in his lunch break. And fortunately there wasn't too much damage to the car, just a few dents.

I have to say, it's the first time that I've had an accident in the car that was my fault, so in 12 years of driving that's not too bad. Needless to say, I always double-check the gear now and get a bit nervous when I'm backing out.

Camping at Cedar Grove

2009-01-29T16:38:00.005+10:00

After Christmas I took the girls camping for 11 days at Cedar Grove camping ground, which is just past Amamoor. Amamoor is this little "don't blink or you'll miss it" town but I love the corner store they have there.

I've been camping at Cedar Grove every Christmas since I was 9, only missing two years, I think. Most of my family were camping there as well so it was good to catch up with them and for the girls to have time to play with their cousins, who they don't ge to see very often. They also came to my rescue on the first night we were there when we were hit by a severe storm and my campsite was literally flooded. My tarps were blown down and the water was halfway up my calf and things were washing away. Even though they got drenched my family all came over to help me out. I actually gave up and drove home at 10:30 at night to sleep. Luckily we don't live too far away. It turned out that I was just camped in a really bad spot where all the water from the camping grounds just flowed through like a mini river, while everywhere else barely had puddles, it seemed. When I came back the next day my wonderful Dad had moved my tents and stuff to a better site for me.

The rest of the time was great although very hot. We found a swimming place away from the main waterhole which was shady and less crowded and we would spend most of the day there.

I'd bring a chair and read when I wasn't swimming and the kids just mucked around in the water all day, swimming, making dams and catching tadpoles and fish.

I just love getting away from the house because I find it hard to relax at home or I feel guilty if I do, because I'm always thinking "I should be doing this" or "that really needs to be cleaned". At camping I don't have to worry about any of that. I went riding with Ella, had balancing competitions on the air mattress on the water (I sucked...my record was 7 seconds, Rosie the gymnastics queen stood up for over 2 minutes), sat at dusk with the girls looking for turtles and platypus but also just enjoying the evening and the silence. We took turns trying to take creative photos in the dimming light.

A Christmas Summary

2009-01-23T12:09:00.007+10:00

I'm baaack. (See Mitch, I don't spend all my time on the computer.) It's been a month since my last post. I feel like I've been very busy since Christmas and I've been thinking "I'll have to write a post on this and a post on that" but time has passed too quickly, so I'll try to do a few short summaries over the next few days to keep you up to date. I was going to try to do it all in one go, but that would have been one mammoth post.

Here's my recipe book that I made for my sister, Veronika, for Christmas but I tried it in a different colour scheme. I like it, although I think I prefer the pastels. But I might do these colours for my meal recipe book, which I've yet to make.

For my nephew, Isaac, I made a photo peg puzzle. I did get the idea off a photo I saw on someone's blog, but I can't remember where. Contact me if you know so I can credit them properly. He was very excited pulling out the pieces to see which photos were underneath.

It was great to see all my family for Christmas. We spent it together on the weekend before, which is great because it makes the actual day nice and relaxed with no travelling. We did the obligatory family photos but not many of mine worked out, except this one of me and my sisters, which I love.

I did very well present-wise for Christmas, being showered with all manner of gorgeous red things for my kitchen, from hubby and the kids. I also got some red bowls from my brother and his wife which go perfectly. And don't forget the packet of jellybeans, my favourite lollies, from Ella.

The decorations are all down now, which should mean that I go back to my pastel decorating, but I couldn't put all my red things away without using them, so the red's here to stay for a while. Here's my hutch in it's red, white and blue. Very patriotic.

Christmas Decorating

2008-12-22T13:56:00.004+10:00

I thought that it was about time that I posted some pictures of my Christmas decorations. Continuing my love affair with red (and white) I've made some easy rag balls to give an injection of colour and fun. I've stacked them in bowls...

and in this op shop basket, spray-painted white (spray paint is now my new best friend), tied with a jaunty gingham bow. Ignore that fly on the handle.

Here is my hutch, which since I lack a mantlepiece, is my favourite thing to dress up

And some close- ups of my favourite things.

A stitchery I made a few years ago, when I still had time to make things more involved than a rag ball.

And this cute vintage bird which my Mum generously let me have on the weekend. She used to have two and they used to be some of my favourite things to put on the tree.

I couldn't show you the rest of the tree, because it's a disgustingly cheap one and looks really threadbare with a big gap right in the middle. I thought about forking out the money for a you-beaut tree but can't bring myself to spend that much. So I decided that after this year, I'm going to go back to live ones, cut secretly from the side of the road. (Shhh, don't tell anyone.) I know they don't have the lovely symmetry of a fake one, but they have THAT smell. And THAT was one of my favourite parts of Christmas. When I would walk down the stairs to the lounge room and smell that piney scent...then I'd know that Christmas really was here.

Missing - Christmas spirit and child-like joy

2008-12-17T11:12:00.007+10:00

I just haven't been able to get into Christmas as much this year. Yes, the decorations are up and the tree is decorated, but thanks to the girls, not me. I actually went and had a sleep and let them do the tree. That is unheard of for me. What happened to my Christmas spirit? I was usually the one in my family that insisted on getting the tree (a real one...nothing else would do) and getting the decorations up. I remember one year getting my younger brothers together, packing a picnic, then dragging them across the creek to find a tree and chop it down and drag it home...all by ourselves. It was a fun adventure, never mind the fact that I was meant to be babysitting my toddler sister while Mum was out and I totally forgot about her because she was sleeping. Mum came home and found her over at the neighbours across the road where she had gone crying because she had woken up to a totally empty house...in a family of nine kids, a rare occurance which must have made it all the more scary. Sorry Veronika, I hope I haven't scarred you.

Anyway, I digress. This year I found myself getting stressed over getting the "right" arrangements up, not helped by all the beautiful decorating pictures I see on everyone else's blogs. I find that because I'm a creative person, I have to fiddle and tweak things until they are just right. I can tell they are right because of this feeling I get in my stomach, when everything just falls into place. If I don't get it right, then my stomach just stays churning. Crazy, huh? Well this year my stomach's been churning like mad and to make it worse, I just haven't had the interest in making it better. And I'd usually make things to fill spaces or as inspiration hits me, but again, no interest. I think it's partly because I'm busy making gifts so I don't have time for other crafts plus trying to get the giirls room finished. And I'm just burnt out after a year of work.

So, I found this in the school newsletter and I've had it up on the fridge, and it's been a good daily reminder. It calms me down when I feel like I'm just not doing things well enough.

1 Corinthians 13 - a Christmas (source unknown)

If I decorate my house perfectly with tinsel, strands of twinkling lights and shiny balls, but do not show love to my family, I'm just another decorator.

If I slave away in the kitchen, baking dozens of Christmas biscuits, preparing gourmet meals and arranging a beautifully decorated table at mealtimes, but do not show love to my family, I'm just another cook.

If I work at Meals-on-Wheels, sing carols in the nursing home and give all that I have to charity, but do not show love to my family, it profits me nothing.

If I trim the tree with shimmering angels and snowflakes, attend a myriad of holiday parties and sing in the local choir but do not focus on Christ, I have missed the point.

Love stops the cooking to hug the child. Love is kind, though harried and tired. Love doesn't envy another's home that has co-ordinated Christmas china and table linens.

Love doesn't yell at the kids to get out of the way, but is thankful that they are there to get in the way. Love doesn't give only to those who are able to give in return but rejoices in giving to those who can't.

Love bears all things, believes in all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. X Box games will break, DVD's will be lost, golf clubs will rust, but giving the gift of love will endure.

And it got me thinking...when I was younger, we didn't have all the beautiful handmade decorations like I have now, but did that bother me. No! We had our few simple decorations that we hung up in the same place every year and I loved them because I was a child and it was Christmas and what could be more exciting than that. Ella's been trying to remind me of that. Nearly every day she says to me, "It's nearly Christmas. I'm so excited. Aren't you excited, Mum?" And she says she loves getting presents but loves choosing them for other people and giving them even more. Thank God, I have a child to learn from and to remind me NOT to grow up.

It's VERY blue.

2008-12-15T17:56:00.003+10:00

Well ,I've finally painted the ceiling and I've put the first coat on the walls of the girls' bedroom. Now I know why they suggest painting a bit of the wall first with a sample pot of paint...because it is NOT the colour I was going for. But no, I grabbed a colour card, said that'll do and bought a whole tin of paint. I was aiming for a very, very pale blue...and it looked pale on the card but when you've got a whole wall of that colour, it is a lot brighter. Here's a sneak preview.

It doesn't look too bad with the white, unpainted wall to tone it down, but now all 4 walls are that colour. Whoa. I'm torn between actually liking it, especially in the morning when it looks light and fresh, to hating it, especially at night when the colour just seems to get darker and darker.

But the girls love it, and it does look nice with the white windows etc against it. And anything looks better than the original. Here's a photo on the first day we got the key to our house. Horrible lino in two different patterns and a rug which isn't too bad in a shabby chic way, but in bad condition. The walls don't look too bad, but they were flaking with gaps between all of the wall boards and ceiling boards. Just patching them up and painting over with primer made a world of difference.

The walls were a colour which looked like dirty cream, but against the white they turned out to be a horrible beige colour. The door in the photo below was the original colou of the room. The light's not too good in the photo.

But like I said, the girls' love it and are very excited about finally moving into their room soon. And Rosie's got hope now that yes, the rest of the house can be done up to look nice too.

School's Out!

2008-12-06T16:31:00.005+10:00

...and it's sweltering hot! I'm at home, drooping like a cheap candle.

I'd like to be doing this even if I can't wear bikinis any more (damn, stretch marks) but I can't even muster up the energy to do anything except lay in bed and read the paper....and blog. But I deserve it. Usually my weekends are spent cleaning up that week's mess so I can be ready to start all over again on Monday, but now that I have 7 blissful weeks of holidays stretching out before me and all that time to catch up on housework, my urgency has left me.

And I'm still recovering from yesterday. We had our usual end-of-year staff party but after about an hour and a half I had to excuse myself, hurriedly drive home and flop down on my bed. It's been years since I've been properly, hug the toilet bowl, sick. It could have been the champers but I only had 2, okay...maybe 3 tiny glasses. But then I drink so little that one Strongbows can get me feeling light headed. Maybe it was something I ate or the Nurofen I had just taken. Fortunately the kids were at a friends house but when they came home and saw the condition I was in, they were great. They quickly got me a bowl and glass of iced water and a damp washer. Rosie even felt my forehead with the back of her hand and stroked my hair and kept coming back and giving me kisses and checking on me and Ella made dinner for the family. She would trot in and out of the bedroom asking things like "How much is a small tin of tomato paste?" "Just use about 3 or 4 dessertspoons." "Are they those big ones that you and Dad use to eat your cereal?" "Yes,dear."

I was well enough later to lay and watch the "Family Movie", a Friday night tradition that is so important that it needs to be spelt with capital letters. I knew they'd be disappointed if I didn't join in.

Mitch is down in Caloundra for his big fight tonight. He's fighting the horrible Matt Caltibiano again, but this time it's for the Australian Cruiserweight title. I'm confident that he's going to do well. It was too hard for me to get babysitting so that I could go too, but I'm kinda glad as the atmosphere was too nasty last time. But I told him to ring me the moment he could, so I know how he went. It would be nice to add an Australian belt to his two Queensland Title belts.

Christmas goodies in RED.

2008-12-03T10:29:00.003+10:00

Now that my Christmas decorations are up and the pastels are put away for the season, I'm having a love affair with RED. I love the way it just brightens up the kitchen. But now I need more red things to fill the gaps where my pastels were. So to help in that task, here are some more Christmas present ideas, just in case you're having trouble.

How about a cute RED teapot, with or without the spots...

or a red colander, but not plastic.

A red mixing bowl would be good, but again, not plastic.

I've got my red dinner plates and red bowls and red mugs, but I need some side plates. These are nice...

and so are these....

but plain red is also fine. I hope this helps.

My Christmas Wish List

2008-11-28T16:57:00.010+10:00

I know, I know, I'm meant to wish for peace and love and happiness and an end to worldwide hunger...and I want those things, I truly do, BUT, who am I kidding...I love getting presents. I love giving them too and try to make as many as I can because I just like that (sorry to all those people that cringe when they see that I'm buying for them because they know that they're going to get something homemade..but too bad. Hee hee.) I'm making something cute for my niece and nephew but of course I can't show you those until after Christmas.

Here's my Christmas list, so pay attention Mitch and Joe, although most of the stuff here isn't practical for you, Joe, because you only get to spend $10 - $15.

First up is a Cast Iron Reversible Griddle from "Apron" on Mary St. About $35. Then I'll be able to cook your steaks properly ,Mitch, and cook kebabs for the kids.(They won't fit in a frying pan and our griller doesn't work. The kebabs...not the kids.)

A new watering can. Okay, so a plastic one would work just fine, but metal is so much better looking...and how could you go past one as bright as this. Try Big W.

This picture's too small, but it's a mattock. For digging up my lawn and jungle, I mean (weedy, overgrown, disgustingly messy) garden beds, and turning them into "real" gardens.

Mitre 10...$25.

Okay, we've got a gardening theme happening here. This thing is called Grampa's Weeder.

Mitre 10....$25.

I know this one's just wishful thinking and I don't just mean the perky bum and "ahem" bosoms, but the real item of interest is the croquet set. You can get one (quite cheaply) at Sports Power for $70, but unfortunately our budget is $50 for each other for Chrissy. That's the Budget Rules. Sigh.

This cookbook which has recipes from classic childrens literature including Famous Five fruitcake, with little snippets from each story it accompanies.

And speaking of the Famous Five, I'd love to get this book, which I know is much cheaper from Big W. (And I think it has a different cover.)

Oh, and anything in the "Rosa" range by J & G Meakin. For the uninitiated, these are plain coloured plates, bowls, cups, teapots etc that I am currently having a love affair with. They were made during World War 2 when England producers weren't allowed to make anything with patterns. Some are just plain, but I particularly love the ones with the scallopy edges. You can also get them in blue (Celeste), green (Jade) and creamy yellow (Sunshine) all in yummy, pretty pastel colours which I also collect, but I particularly love the pink.. Actually I also have ones that look similar made by Johnson Brothers and Grindley. I don't really care about the company, I just love the look. You can get them on ebay but with the postage it can get quite expensive. I've picked most of mine up from thrift shops and second-hand markets/sales, most times for just a couple of bucks.

The picture isn't of my collection, unfortunately.

So Mitch, take your pick of all these wonderful presents that you so carefully thought up for me. And Joe, you sort of know my tastes, don't you. Anything vintagey or cottagey, in red or pastel for the kitchen or navy or blue or white is fine. I like spots too. (I'm just not really into the "country" thing with farm animals and cutesy dolls anymore.) I love the houses on these blogs that are all listed down the side if you need further inspiration.

Daisy Cottage
Cherry Hill Cottage
Posy Gets Cosy
An Enchanted Cottage
Little Red House
At Home with MelMel

I hope this helps.

And a final thank you to all the random websites on the internet that I got my pictures from. I know I should probably credit them properly, but I'm lazy like that.